This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Anyone have both the Venu 2 and the Epix ?

Reason I'm asking is I got the Epix SS to replace my FR935 and while I love the screen (coming from many Forerunners before that) but don't like the bulk, weight and have no use for the former Fenix "pro" features like Music and Maps. I might miss the "smart training features" like training effect, recovery, etc...but I have an Edge 530 so if I can be bothered to boot it up I can it to do these calculations via "Physio True-Up". I would also miss the buttons on the left to move around screens but that's not the end of the world. The 4 max DFs could be a bit of an issue but could be overcome with ConnectIQ DFs most likely.
Anyway has anyone spent some time with both these watches and have some insight to share ? Thanks !

  • It's beautiful...looking at it seems like the Epix is huge but it's still lightweight and i don't have any issue with it.

    Design: Epix the whole life. Venu 2 is a lot better than the original Venu(that was just a copy of the VA4 with a different display) but it's still pretty "flat" compared to all the details that the Epix has(well, it's the top watch from Garmin as it's the Fenix so understandable i guess).

    Functions/data: i just got it so i didn't have much time to test many things but they are 2 different worlds. Epix has so many extra things that is even too much for me but better more than less(still love the Venu 2 but i will get used with the Epix too, for sure)

    The band(minor thing, i guess, as they can be replaced) is a lot more comfortable on the Epix.

    Epix is a bit less bright due to the sapphire but still very nice.

    What i'm missing from the Venu 2(hopefully it's something temporary) is the live HR on the AOD watchface and the body battery for example.

    I don't think that i will use too much maps and music(never used on Venu 2) but they are there and maybe, one day, it will come handy.

    As i said before, i wanted something complete with all the functions of the Fenix but i didn't want the MIP display. Epix is, at the moment, what i was searching for and i hope that i will be able to stop to think about smartwatches for few years Smiley

  • Thanks for sharing the picture and your thoughts. All good points ! The extra features might come in handy one day indeed. I think THE big problem of the Venu 2 is the lack of the three buttons on the left. When you're running it's crucial to have them (access to the audio player, changing the settngs on the fly, even if it's not easy). One day maybe...

  • So how are you getting along with your Epix ? I'd gotten used to its size but the bugs are just not acceptable for a 999€ watch, especially since Garmin is ignoring them (horrible audio, buggy multi-band and triple-click buttons on mine) so I'm about to send it back to get the Venu 2 instead.

  • I love it...the weight was never a problem...the watch is definitely bulkier but i'm not feeling it at all. Due to the double keeper on the band, it's a lot more comfortable than the Venu 2. I'm not sure about some bugs as i don't need music on the watch and i still didn't try the multi-band(still too cold where i am). 

    I'm fine with the buttons...i, probably, understand what some people are complaining about(one of the buttons makes a different sound but not always) but i don't care too much.

    I'm surprised about one thing to be honest...i never thought that i would like the buttons instead of the touch screen. I still use the touchscreen when i need to edit the data fields for an activity or check some general settings but for the other stuff, i'm perfectly fine with the buttons and the fact that i don't wake up the screen, accidentally, when i'm not doing any activity is a nice plus.

    The battery is incredible. With AOD and my usage(1/1.5 hours of activity, without GPS, 5 or 6 days per week), i get 7days or even more. Still difficult to understand because i recharged it to 100% only once and currently i'm waiting to reach 10% for the next charge(actually the watch is saying still 3 days of battery life and i think that i recharged it on Monday).

    As much as i loved the Venu 2 and i was perfectly fine with 2/2.5 days of battery life with AOD, charging the Epix, once per week, is another world.

    On Venu 2 the GPS was not eating a lot of battery so when i start to run outside, again, it should not be a big change and the recharge is pretty quick if you stop at 80/90%.

    As i said in the previous post, the Epix 2 is what i was looking for so i could be not 100% objective in my "review".

  • Sounds good ! Glad it's working for you so well so far.

    Yeah the lack of buttons is what worries me with the Venu 2 since I've always had these three buttons on the left on my Forerunners, we shall see...I'm not too bothered about the battery life or having to recharge every other day, or even every day, the battery is a lot smaller than on the Epix so it will also charge a lot faster.

    On the Epix I have AOD, gesture off, touchscreen on, and don't find I wake up the screen accidentally very much.

    I suppose I could live with the three serious problems I outlined but I know that once again Garmin isn't going to want/be able to do anything about them and frankly for a 1000€ watch it's unacceptable and I'm not going to vote that down with my wallet.

  • Pretty much you have my settings...for the waking up it's more during the shower for example. Considering that i'm not recharging it daily, as i was doing with the Venu 2, ii'm keeping it always on me. When i tried to deactivate the touchscreen, for that particular situation, i found that i don't really need the touchscreen as i use the watch, mainly, as a data collector and i like to see the stuff in detail on the computer or on the smartphone. Same during some stretching exercises in which the watch get in contact with something else.

    For my usage, i don't need an Epix 2 but the problem is that, at the moment, i don't see anything else with a nice display, good(awesome) battery life, and all the training stuff that Fenix/Epix offer(a nice looking watch is a plus too but not a must).

    Curious to see how will be your impressions of the Venu 2 Slight smile

  • Ah ok; I've never showered with any of my watches, even the waterproof ones, why take the risk ;-)

    Yeah I'm looking forward to trying out the Venu 2, my only real concern is the lack of the three buttons on the left. They do make it possible to change settings while running, with the touchscreen only I can't see that being a viable option. Also the button shortcuts to control music for instance. I suppose that on the Venu you need to scroll down to the music control screen, oh well...

    As for all the Fitbit metrics, yeah they're nice on paper and it's always nice to see you VO2Max go up after a run, or look at the Stamina while running/cyling but how much of it is really actionable ? Practically nothing TBH apart from maybe the Body Battery. Besides Garmin's crippled the Venu series but with online tools like Runalyze you see the Garmin VO2Max and recovery time !

  • So my Venu 2 came in yesterday and I've now configured it my liking and I'm quite impressed ! It's a much "nicer" watch than the Epix 2 for a start, lighter, lower profile but still substantial on the wrist. It's nice not to have a watch that's not always wanting to stick out from your shirt or sweater !

    The screen looks similar but the fonts are definitely not the same, the default font is larger and not bolded like on the Epix 2. It's hard to see why Garmin changed it...to my eyes the larger and thinner font looks nicer and is more legible.

    The scrolling was indeed pretty stuttery with the FW 5.xx it came with but with the latest 8.11 it's hard to see a difference with the Epix TBH.

    I took it for a running session on the track this morning with the Epix in multiband on my right wrist and was relieved to find that the lack of scrolling buttons on the left was not a problem. Even though I was wearing gloves the scrolling worked ok. It would be nice to have the option to go directly to the next screen by tapping on the screen like the FR610 did. Incredibly it was a lot more accurate than the Epix 2 on the track, with a distance overestimated by 1% or less, making pacing with GPS quite possible. On the other hand the Epix 2 was more around 5% off, not sure what's going on there. WristHR was also excellent, nearly perfectly in sync with the HRM-Pro I was tracking with the "Auxiliary HR" CIQ DF. I need to look more in detail at the Epix but it was irregular, probably due to the weight related bouncing. I used a velcro for both watches.

    Garmin severely crippled the data screens on the Venu 2 but thanks to the GRun CIQ DF it's not really a problem. The only issue is that you can't create multiple Run activities like I have on the Epix, one for normal runs and one for races. DFs will have to be changed manually, maybe someone knows a way around that ?

    Other slight annoyances :
    - even though I set "general use" to AOD and No Gesture I've found that in some cases it still woke up !
    - also notifications seem to have a mind of their own and don't always pop up although the settings are exactly the same as on the Epix.

    For straps I used some 22mm pins I had and I'm able to use all the QuickFit straps I've had since the FR935, silicone, a cheap leather one and a cheap vented titanium one too. The pins are 1.8mm wide vs 2.0 on the Epix so the Ti strap can come lose, I'll need to look into that.

    Anyay, so far, so good, I need to see how the battery life holds up, the CIQ Battery Widget is saying 2.5 days so far, with 1+ hour of GPS use, so that's about 50% of the Epix, can't really see that as a huge problem, it should charge a lot faster too since the battery is smaller. I'm going to look into getting a glass protector too, just in case.

  • Glad that it's working fine :) Enjoy it.

  • Thanks, did you also notice that gesture activation even when it's toggled off ? It doesn't happen on the Epix.