I know this is a user forum where people (including myself) look for advice when things aren’t working as they should, but so much of what I read here are negative impressions, bug notices, quirks, and general unhappiness (some warranted I’m sure). I’ve now been wearing my Fenix 8 for over 6 months and I wanted to share how I’ve been using mine for whatever it might be worth to other Fenix users (or possible Fenix users). I may be an outlier, but for me, the Fenix 8 is a reliable part of my running/workouts, and daily health tracking. I average between 60-80mi per week running which translates to about 10-15hrs/week of GPS activity tracking/week. I don’t use it for cycling, golf, diving, or swimming so I can’t comment on how it performs under those circumstances. I do use it when running, weight training, walking, and hiking and have found it reliable across the board. I have my Fenix 47mm Amoled (non-solar/sapphire) set up as follows:
- GPS: Auto-Select
- PulseOx: Set to on-demand (off)
- Always on display: Off
- Touchscreen: Off (I prefer to use buttons)
- Gesture: On
- Screen Timeout: 4 seconds
- Screen brightness: 2/3
- Sleep Schedule: 10P-6A everyday (gesture and notifications disabled during sleep)
- Temperature: Set to record
- Notifications: On
- System Updates: Off, I manually update when new FW released
- Music streamed from Fenix: No
- FW: 13.37
I usually pair with an HRM Pro for most runs except when I’m wearing a running vest. I’ve done several races and used ‘Live Track’ every time with no hiccups. My noted contacts get their notification email and can reliably track my progress. The only issue I’ve had with LiveTrack was during a somewhat remote trail race. During that run, the Fenix 8 reported “Live Track Disconnected” or something similar several times over a 4 hour period. My impression was this was a cellular reception issue with my phone and not the Garmin. In any case, my contacts on the other end did not notice any break in the progress nor did my run activity stop or become hung up in anyway.
Coming in a bit late to the game may have helped me avoid most of the initial bugginess (I purchased mine in November 2024). As I’ve mentioned on a previous post, I’ve had absolutely 0 issues, bugs, reboots, or battery drain anomalies. The only issue I noticed was the endurance score seemed to be stuck for about 2 weeks after a marathon in February. That seemed to resolve itself and appears to be updating as it was before.
Things I’ve changed: Silicone strap and watch face. I personally find the nylon ultra fit bands super comfortable and highly adjustable to the perfect fit. My older eyes have a hard time seeing some of the info on the smaller fields so I opted for the ‘Glance’ watch face. I set colors to mainly white for info over black background. All I really want to see at a glance (pun not intended) is daily distance, weekly mileage, steps, heart rate, and of course time/date very readable. This setup works great for me. I’ve gone back and forth with other watch faces and few of the Garmin stock faces but always came back to Glance (ended up paying for the pro license to display weekly distance).
Battery impressions: I get comfortably 7 days and charge every Sunday for about 2 hours. I could probably get 8-10 days but find charging once per week to be a nice routine.
Overall Impressions: The Fenix 8 to me feels super solid and well built. The titanium bezel includes titanium all the way down over the top of the lugs (unlike the Enduro 3). The rear case I believe is also Ti. The only other Garmin I considered in place of a Fenix 8 was the Forerunner 965 and the Enduro 3. The Forerunner 965 was a fantastic watch and I tried it for several weeks. I honestly wanted a more scratch resistant screen and the robustness of the Fenix 8 and extra battery life made the choice easy. I actually bought an Enduro 3 and ended up returning it. I loved the build quality of the Enduro 3 and the battery life was a huge selling point (although he Fenix more than has me covered for the types of activities I do). All in all, none of that was a deal killer for me and the Enduro while bigger, actually felt better on my wrist. It was a bit lighter also. I’m one of those people who once they got ahold of an Amoled, I could never go back to MiP. I looked at them side by side (Enduro 3 and Fenix 8 Amoled) and the brilliance of the Amoled just made the decision. I know there are others who feel the exact opposite and I certainly respect that opinion. I spent years with the Fenix 3HR with MiP and it served me well.
So this was my 2 cents to throw out there for consideration. I know the Fenix has had more than their share of bugginess during the rollout. However, my experience since unboxing and using daily has been reliable, very durable, and pleasing to the eye on the wrist. Never had a hiccup on any activity. I love the look, feel, and performance in almost every aspect. It is also my daily wearer - I really only take it off to charge and clean the band occasionally.
Best wishes to everyone out there.
