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Buying new watch

matej787
5 months ago

Hy.

I have Fenix 6 sapphire and it is time to upgrade. I have some problems with watch, and some of them still are not resolved, like HR readings in some sports. Prices for Garmin watches are going up each year so now we are 1000eur+ teritory. For that price you expect perfect watch leading in market. But i see that lot of people still have a lot of problems. And if history is a teacher Garmin wont resolve all of them. So i am not so sure my next watch will be Garmin, maybe folks in forum can help me decide.

I want a reliable watch with properly functioning basic functions like HR, GPS, altimeter and so on. I want anti chratch watch and if i pay premium price i want ECG and other premium functions.

So i am curently looking at fenix 8 47mm and Huawei watch gt5 pro. They both have amoled 1,4inch and sapphire, they both have ECG and all functions, maybe Huawei have more helth function and Garmin have more sports functions. Both have more than 1 week of batery life which is enough for me. I dont think i wouldnt miss anything at any watch. Only thing that holds me is Garmin ecosystem, i have many people there. But except that i cant find a reason to speend 600 eur more on fenix. Maybe you can point to decisive advantages that are worth 600 eur more for watch. Or is there any alternative at Garmin that has lower price and have everything that this 2 watches have?

Thanks for help.

  • 0 5 months ago

    I feel that the new Fenix 8 watches are way too expensive. These days if possible, just keep using your older watch and wait for the next model watch to come out, then you can buy the previous model at a discount price and hopefully they've also fixed most of the bugs too by then.  

  • 0 5 months ago

    Well today i pulled the triger and ordered Huawei watch gt 5 pro. We will se how that goes. I feel quite sad to abandon Garmin but it is what it is. I will be happy to go back to Garmin someday if they can offer good watch(without major bugs and new tehnologies) for fair price. 

  • 0 5 months ago in reply to matej787

    Seriously considering a AWU next time. Battery is enough for almost everything and the Workoutdoors app gives you a Garmin experience. 

  • 0 5 months ago

    I don't have, and never have had issues with any of my Fenix watches, they do what I need and for me they do it well. I have I also use Edge cycling computers so am deeply invested in the Garmin ecosystem. There are undoubtedly other good watches out there and only you can decide whether you want to stay within the Garmin ecosystem or are happy to venture elsewhere.

  • 0 5 months ago

    I am an F8 owner myself and bought them 3 days after they were released. Definitely don't buy the F8. Still lots of bugs, the system freezes when scrolling. The F8 is definitely not worth this price. The F8 should have cost a maximum of €800/$ for the price of €1200 you can buy a much better and less problematic Watch.

  • 0 5 months ago in reply to 6085704

    I haven't had an issue with my F8 47 Amoled, not even yesterdays crashes. I'd be quite happy to recommend it and in fact one of my friends has just bought the same watch based on my recommendation. As I said above though there are alternatives which may be cheaper.

    This video from DC Rainmaker has some cheaper Garmin alternatives including the Epix 2 which can now be had for quite a reasonable price.

    www.youtube.com/watch

  • 0 5 months ago

    Unless case size is a limiting factor, the Enduro 3 is a much cheaper and more practical choice for most people.  Only the dive capabilities, speaker and microphone are taken away.

  • 0 5 months ago

    You don't have to go with the most expensive one. Fenix 7, Epix 2 or even Enduro 3 are much more meaningful alternatives. Fenix 8 simply have some software shenanigans that Garmin couldn't resolved all the bugs yet and basically does the same duty with Fenix 7 or earlier models. Btw, if you buy Garmin, you'll need to buy a heart strap to use during your heavy activities.

  • 0 5 months ago in reply to mcbit

    I know there are older versions, but they dont have ECG in Europe. I know there are workarounds, but there is no guarantie that this wont stop working or banned or something. Well i just bought huawei watch gt5 pro, we will se how that goes. So far so good.

  • 0 5 months ago

    from 6x Pro to Enduro 3. Good upgrade, very happy with it. Has some good improvements for me. I use it for hiking.
    Only down side for me is the inability to remove annoying data screen from navigation screen. Hopefully will get fixed.