I've tried the following watches…
- Apple Watch ultra 2
- Galaxy Watch Ultra
- Suunto Vertical Solar
- Polar Grit X2 Pro Titanium
- Every Garmin Fenix from the 1st to the 7x pro
- Garmin Epix Pro SS
- Garmin Instinct 2X Solar
- Garmin Fenix 8 – 51 mm, Solar
- Garmin Enduro 2, and Enduro 3
- Coros Vertix 2
… so…
I think I’m at least a little qualified to determine a good fitness watch.
Simply put, Garmin has the best fitness watches on the planet, and the Fenix line is the top dog IMO.
Apple and Samsung are more smart watch with “some” fitness features, and the rest I’ve listed are fitness watches with “some” smart watch features.
Back in the day (almost a decade ago)… Polar and Suunto were very competitive with Garmin, and Garmin software was a lot worse than it is today. But over the years Garmin made major improvements in their software, and kept adding features that people liked. Polar and Suunto just did not keep up, and fell way behind. Coros is a newer comer to the fitness watch world, and seems to be making progress, but is still way behind Garmin.
I know a lot of people on this forum complain about Garmins software, and yes… all software has bugs, but… the more features a product has, the more complicated the software becomes, and the more bugs it has.
I tried all these fitness watches so I could determine the best. I kept buying them and returning them. Polar, Suunto, and Coros all got returned within only a few days, and I tried to like them, but they just could not hold a candle to the Garmins. The AWU2 and GWU were fun for a bit, but then I got bored with the lack of advanced fitness features, and realized that I prefer to use my phone over the smart watch features for most things. The only thing I really need to go to my watch are text, calls, and certain app notifications.
The reason why I settled on the Fenix 8 – 51 mm, AMOLED is the display. It’s just so much easier to see than the MIP display, and in direct sun light, I don’t have to hold the AMOLED display at a certain angle to see it. I can see it at any angle and any lighting conditions. Sure the MIP/Solar watches get longer battery life, but I should get 1 to 2 weeks out of this watch with my 30 minutes to an hour of GPS activities per day that I do, and that is plenty for me.
And the reason I settled on the Sapphire, Titanium with Spark Orange/Graphite Silicone Band is, well... because it’s just awesome looking, and the sapphire will protect from scratches. I don’t think anyone can deny how awesome this color way looks. And if the titanium gets scratched, it can be buffed out to look good as new with very little effort. You can’t say that about the DLC coated watches.
I know some of you are having issues with your Fenix 8’s, and I’m sorry for that, but so far I have not had any major issues with mine, and I’m sure Garmin will resolve them in time.
If you think that Polar, Suunto, or Coros may be a better fit for you, then I would say… go try them out like I did, and see for your self. You get 30 days to return them.
