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645 vs Fenix 6 comparison

TheSalamander
over 4 years ago

Received my Fenix 6 Sapphire Titanium yesterday, unfortunately I'll be sending it back due to a couple of issues (defective screen and OHR sensor), however thought I would post some comparison photos.

Background: 46 yr old male, 155 lbs/70kg. I bought my first Garmin watch (Vivoactive HR) in July 2016 to support my get-fit focus which was primarily elliptical and some weights in the gym. Overall good experience with the VAHR although I found the styling very dated. In March 2018 I decided to replace it and chose the Forerunner 645 over the VivoActive 3 as I wanted to have more than 1 button and there were some features of the F645 I preferred. The 645M also encouraged me to start jogging so I went from never having jogged to now running 6-7km every day and last weekend completed my first formally timed 5k run (Park Run) in 20:35. My 645M experience has overall been positive, yes I had a few resets/blue triangle of death in the early days with audio alerts but the 645M has been 95%+ a positive experience. I originally used Beats PowerX headphones and have just switched to Powerbeats Pro. 

Initial thoughts:

  • F6 is significantly larger/heavier than the 645M. It is something that shouldn't be too difficult to get used to but it is worth being aware of. I went for the 6 rather than the 6S as I wanted the bigger screen and better battery life
  • The new widget view is good
  • The default watch faces on the F6 don't particularly appeal to me and I wish they would allow Active Calories as a data point on the main watch face as that is my daily goal rather than steps etc
  • F6 OHR issues where it decides to stop working - quite a few other people have the same issue if you look on the F6 forum
  • Defective screen - when screen has white background it has a very noticeable black smear beneath the glass
  • Sapphire screen much duller than non-graphite so may be worth going for non-sapphire and getting a screen protector
  • F6 bluetooth connectivity to Powerbeats Pro headphones is better/stronger than the 645M
  • No issues with connecting to Wahoo Tickr X HRM
  • Can't test much from the Connect IQ store, e.g. running power with RD Pod as they have not been made compatible for the F6 yet.
  • Repsiratory rate shows in Garmin Connect for the first activity I did
  • GPS seemed ok from a quick walk, but have not extensively tested it yet.

This actual F6 will be being returned due to the defects, I will decide over weekend whether to get a replacement or wait for the 655 which will likely have the extra data metrics etc which is why I bought the F6, but for half the price. I was initially very excited with the F6, but the two issues experienced in first 24 hours have put a dampener on it - appreciate that is just bad luck.

Weight of 645M

Weight of Fenix 6 Titanium

Comparison side by side

with backlight on

regards

TheSalamander

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Is it possible, via power manager and just turning off some of the battery-draining functions, to get 24 hours out of the battery if gps and music are on? I know the time quoted is between 12 and 15 hrs but how extendable is that? TIA

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 1144054

    If you're querying specific to the Fenix 6 then it might be better to post on the Fenix 6 forum as there should be people with more experience who can answer. My exercises are typicall 45 to 120 minutes and I've never tried to see how long it can go for.

    However, it will also depend on which Fenix 6 you go for and which GPS/other settings you select. Even with GPS on there are a myriad of options depending on how frequent you want the plot, however it would be the music that would be the biggest drain. My guess is that 24 hours of continuous music without some for on charging on the fly would not be possible. But that is just a guess.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to reflecx

    I also run the same route every time. And nonly once in 6 months experienced a false GPS tracking with my 645 music. You might turn of GPS by Galileo. That was a tip I followed directly from the beginning.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to DaKo

    Thnx. I think the best solution for me is a 245 and an apple watch for the apple music. I need 24 hours gps and music. I should get 24 hrs gps on the 245 and if I don't listen to music all the time and charge the watch when I stop for food, water, toilet breaks for 20 mins every 12km, I should manage. An apple watch 3 is all I need as it really is just for the music.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    Thanks for the review i am looking at doing something similar in the future as i also currently own a 645 music. Could i ask what watch face it is you are using on the 645?

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 1537455

    The earlier watch face in the thread is Royal by TRexOne - unfortunately he is not very active anymore so it hasn't been updated to work on the Fenix 6.

    The latest watch face in the thread is Infocal by RStudio which works on both the 645 and Fenix 6. I like it as it has Active Calories as a metric on the watch face which is the main metric I focus on (rather than steps etc)

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to TheSalamander

    Thank you very much they are great, I am the same with regards to chasing the active calories rather than steps.