Fenix 7s > Fenix 8… thoughts?

Comparing these options, it looks like a viable upgrade option though I’m. Or positive it truly offers anything I really NEED (and the dive stuff is useless to me)

47 vs 42mm… might feel too big? But it’s actually thinner which sounds appealing? Any less thickness is

looks like better battery life across the board with always on. And if there’s times I actually do need more battery life (backpacking trips?) I could switch off always on and get a big bump?

I live in the PNW. Solar is useless to me

screen size would be better and more readable and map details should be better?

newer HR sensor but I’m also not hearing it’s a true measurable improvement?

as mentioned dive useless. I expect microphone and speaker to be borderline useless to me as well

I do think the MIP looks fantastic in sunlight, but MOST of my time isn’t spent in great bright sunlight. Plus with the 7s solar I have the reduced clarity because of the solar layer

Anything else I might be missing from these generations? I guess it would be a size bump and a sort of 1.5 generation improvement (7>7 pro>8)

0 jfb9301 7 months ago

having had a 7s+saphire+solar, and moving to a 8 AMOLED 47mm:

The screen is amazing, as a shift worker I found that solar was useless for me. The upgrade to AMOLED offers even more battery life. Though I keep gesture on, and AOD off. It is about 2 days longer life, and battery charging is significantly faster. the 7s got me around 10-12% for 25 minutes, and I used right around the same per day, so I charged while I showered and got dressed in the morning. The 8 charges 25-30% in the same time, but only uses 10% a day, so I only charge every 3rd or even 4th day.

HR is marginally better, but offers AFIB,

Map is better, and far more readable.

Compass is a significant improvement, and is not affected by the 7s' issues with the watch band bars interfering with the compass.

I've never used the speaker/microphone, I'm not *** Tracy, I will NOT talk to my watch. The speaker is pretty much better at letting me know I have an alert.

I don't dive so same.

The AMOLED is viewable in sunlight if you have the right color settings for the watch face, so no great loss from MIP, though I do miss how clear the MIP was in direct sunlight, but not enough to regret getting my 8.

The flashlight is a neat toy, but it's still a toy. when you have 1000lm flashlights handy, who needs one on the watch. It's a waste of space, and Garmin would have been better off forgetting about it, and just giving me a bigger battery.

I have a small wrist for a man, and I felt that 42mm was about as big as I could comfortably go, but I don't regret the step up to 47mm. it suckes that the old bands won't fit.

I skipped the 7 pro and went from the 7s to the 8, I don't regret it. The 8 is great, but the OS still has a few bugs, things get better every update.

0 jfb9301 7 months ago in reply to jfb9301

Oh, and I grew up in Seattle. So I know what it's like plenty of sun in the summer, but 0 sun all winter long....

0 RosscoP 7 months ago

If you're not interested in Diving and don't need speaker, microphone or OLED. Then the Enduro 3. Has everything else.
Love it so far.

0 swtex15 7 months ago

I went from 7 Solar to 8 47mm AMOLED. I’ve never owned one of the 42mm watches, so I can’t do a size comparison there. I can say the 8 feels similar in all dimensions on my wrist to the 7, but I think it looks sleeker/slimmer with the smaller bezels.

As for your other questions, I agree with jfb9301 on just about everything, but I’ll offer different opinions on a couple things…

Mic/speaker: I use the microphone occasionally. It can be convenient, but it can be frustrating too (invoking Siri is slow, Garmin voice commands are often misunderstood). The speaker, though, has been a pleasant surprise for me. Having the watch announce my splits while running or tell me the next interval pace/time is a great feature.

Flashlight: I use this constantly. If you’re somebody who uses your phone flashlight a lot, I think you’ll find it very useful. I don’t think I’ve turned on my phone flashlight once since getting the watch. It’s infinitely quicker and easier for me to double tap the watch light button than to dig out my phone, not to mention I still have both hands free.

And another “feature” I really appreciate…the amount of data the AMOLED screen can display vs MIP (particularly for phone notifications). I can usually see full notifications without scrolling instead of only getting the first several words.

Like I said earlier, I can’t speak to the 42mm vs 47mm size difference, but as far as moving from the 7 generation MIP to the 8 AMOLED, I’m happy I did it and would do it again.