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Fenix 7x Buttons issue

Hi there, new owner of Fenix 7x , I noticed that mainly the left buttons have the feeling of lightness and a little strange sound upon press & release them. However the buttons are 100% functional.

I had the fenix 6 pro before, with much better buttons, and I just wondering if it's normal or not.

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0 4241327 over 2 years ago in reply to Geroelltrampel

Geroelltrampel said:
Casio for instance manages to build their G-Shock models for a double-digit amount with everlasting buttons, so its funny that Garmin still seem to have problems with their "button technology" at their lets say not so cheap watches...

That is exactly what I feel. Casio makes far cheaper watches that actually work for years. Their solar models easily last a decade before you have to swap the battery, which by the way is possible. Garmin is planned obsolescence. I think there are two totally different philosophies at work here.

Every technical problem regarding switches has long been solved. The added cost is miniscule.

40.000 operations minimum: https://www.nkkswitches.com/pdf/GP01.pdf

0 who knows over 2 years ago in reply to scotthunter2

scotthunter2 said:
disagree. I personally find the inconsistency very annoying.

And this is what I meant when I said it's a personal preference. When you press a button; regardless if there was a click feel or not, and the button failed to perform its intended function, then it's defective. There's no doubt some here will now flood the thread with that's what's happening, or post pics of a button popping out, but it's not the case. Man bites dog, I get it. But the issue in this thread and the vast majority of related threads is based on feel. Feel is a preference and not a requirement for functionality in this topic. I can actually give a perfect example. I just recently moved and purchased a new home. All the light and fan switches were white and had a click feel when turned on and off. I replaced a few in the house with beige switches and covers. Those don't have a click feel and all work properly. Did I buy defective switches?

0 bluefish over 2 years ago in reply to who knows

who knows said:
All the light and fan switches were white and had a click feel when turned on and off. I replaced a few in the house with beige switches and covers. Those don't have a click feel and all work properly. Did I buy defective switches?

Maybe you can tell us in a year

0 Steve over 2 years ago

I've had my fenix 7 sapphire solar for 2 weeks. To begin with, the Down button was quite mushy, and definitely lacked the audible click and tactility of the other buttons. The Light button was not much better. After a few days, these two buttons improved, with greater travel, a more positive return action and a definite audible click that wasn't present at the beginning.

However, 2-3 days ago the Down button lost its 'click' and became mushy again, with reduced travel.

I wash the watch most days under running water although recently there's been very little in the way of contaminants that could work their way into the button recesses.

I decided to buy some dry PFTE spray lubricant to see if that would improve matters. I applied a small amount to each button (a few drops at most) and allowed this to seep through the button recess. I then pressed each button a few times to work the lubricant film into the recess. This stuff is great because being a dry film, doesn't attract oil, grease and grit that can bond to some lubricants. It's also safe on the rubber seals.

I now have 5 buttons that behave almost identically, with audible clicks and much improved feeling (very close to my old fenix 6 solar).

0 Bowman over 2 years ago in reply to Steve

Sounds great.

will try that!

0 Steve over 2 years ago in reply to Bowman

Would be interesting to find out if it improves yours too!

0 Bowman over 2 years ago in reply to Steve

I’ll let you know, but it’ll take a couple days before I can get a hold of the pfte.

0 Larzy007 over 2 years ago

my fenix 7x was really bad initially, buttons mushy, clicky, felt cheap... however they are certainly feeling better and more 'normal' after a few weeks of use

0 wolf04 over 2 years ago

I also had problems with the biuttons of my 7x Sapphire while my old 6x has quite fine klicky buttons.

The biggest issue was the down button that had a two step when releasing the button. The other ones were also very different in their feeling.

I tried it a couple of days hoping to get used to it but after the down button seemed to get even worse and seemed to stuck in a little and with regard to the music quality-issue I also had, I decided to return the 7x and keep using my 6x.

I will keep having a look at the forum and the issues hoping that Garmin might improve the button quality with a maybe 2nd revision of the 7x but that will take some time (remembering the data connection issue with the 5x and after a couple of months it got gold plated contacts...).

I am quite sad as I really like the 7x and all the new features. I hope to give it a second try in a few months....

0 wolf04 over 2 years ago

I also had problems with the biuttons of my 7x Sapphire while my old 6x has quite fine klicky buttons.

The biggest issue was the down button that had a two step when releasing the button. The other ones were also very different in their feeling.

I tried it a couple of days hoping to get used to it but every time I used the buttons it was really annoying. After the down button seemed to get even worse and seemed to stuck in a little and with regard to the music quality-issue I also had, I decided to return the 7x and keep using my 6x.

I am quite sad as I really like the 7x and all the new features. I hope to give it a second try in a few months....