I really struggled to write a comment in this forum, since I highly doubt that anyone, especially Garmin, would read it or care about it.
.. But here we are:
I'm just too frustrated with Garmin who make it impossible for me to update my trusty 5,5 year old fenix 6x Pro whose battery is the limiting factor at the moment. There are several problems I see with Garmin's product offering, but exept for the first and my major complaint, all the other listed complaints are easily fixable via a software update.
My complaints:
- OMG, that glare!!
I really tried using the fenix 7x (non Sapphire), 7x Pro (non Sapphire) and the fenix 8 Solar, but I had to return all of them, simply due to the fact that I can not see anything on the display. Being forced to turn the backlight on every time I actually want to read the screen is just annoying and prunes any battery gains the solar panel could possibly provide. In direct comparison the screen of the old fenix 6x Pro (non Sapphire) is so much more beautiful, crisp and clear and the anti-glare coating on the glass ensures deep blacks and beautiful contrast.
AMOLED-versions of the fenix are absolutely no option for me due to the obtrusiveness of an emissive display and the annoyance of a constantly changing display brightness.
I understand that Garmin is offering the fancy sapphire version, but why on earth is the fenix 7x / Pro (non Sapphire) not using Corning's Dx-Glass, but rather an extremely high reflective Gorilla Glass? The Forerunner 955 Solar on the other hand has an awesome anti reflective Dx-Glass but it's display is just too small for me.
I am an enthusiast and I would like to purchase the fenix 8, but the sapphire it horrible! So just why is there no version offered that has proper anti-glare treatment? Or at least, why is there no optional proper anti-glare foil in the box, that can be installed by the user? The problem is, that there simply is no proper anti-glare foil offered on the market. Everything that can be purchased is a matt, dispersion foil, which decreases the readability even further.
The only proper anti-glare foil I was able to find is very difficult to cut to size, so the result is ugly. (see the pictures below)
As you can see in the pictures, the difference in readability between fenix 6x Pro vs. 8 Solar is massive. A proper anti-glare foil, however, reduces the problen to a great ammount.
So, please offer a Dx-Glass variant of the fenix or at least put a proper anti-glare foil in the box! - Why no direct address entry via the touchscreen?!
Why is it not possible to simply enter an address (city, street name, number) directly into the watch? There already are fully routable maps available on the device! So far I understood that without a touchscreen typing via the buttons is too cumbersome. But a proper touchscreen keyboard has been added to the fenix 8, so there really is no reason (i.e. excuse) any more, why direct address entry is not possible on the watch. This feature alone would be enough of a reason for me to purchase the thing. - What's the point of that mic / speaker if no voice-messaging is supported?!
A better whatsapp integration is necessary: Why is it still not possible to add the option to play a voice-message? When selecting the corresponding voicemail whatsapp-notification on the watch, there should be the option to 'play' that audio message.
Equally, why is there no option present to reply to a whatsapp-message via a voicemail using the watch's microphone? This is so obvious to be added and such a 'low hanging fruit'. - Add the option to remove the music control timeout!
The addition of an automatic timeout for the music control screen during an activity might be pleasing for some users. But I really, really hate it so, so much that this feature alone is enough to prevent me from buying the watch! There simply is no point for me to have a non deactivable timeout for the music control screen simply due to the fact that the majority of the time I'm not looking permanently on the datafields when I'm having a normal everyday run. But I want the option to directly skip a song I dislike by one button-press and I absolutely do not want to be forced to look at the screen and follow several steps every time I encounter a song I dislike.
When I'm using the datafields the automatic timeout is way too long anyways, so it's the worst of both worlds. - I need more datafields!
Add a display layout which is capable of displying more than the ancient 8 datafields! Why is it still not possible to have 10 datafields on the biggest watch sizes? The fenix line up is meant for enthusiasts and I want to have more data at a glance and I don't want to be forced to scroll through the screens during an activity.
For future fenix models: my #1 request is a bigger screen. 1.4'' is just too tiny!
Thank's to everyone who found the time to read this.
