Six months in. Run, golf, alpine-skied, ski-toured, mountain biked. Best smart Garmin watch I've had (#4) by a mile. Not mentioned often but it basically integrates all the functionality of the golf watches too. Great battery life. I did manage to very slightly scratch the sapphire glass early on before I'd adjusted to the bulk (6X Pro). Personally I like the weight. Strap also great for 247 365 wear.
Same here. The apple watch is good at everything but sport and autonomy. Garmin makes some of the best stuff Plus the apple watch doesn't even have a course track, no cartography, just google map but you need to pair it to an iphone. And speaking of pairing, it only works with iphones, apple exclusive and highly depending to the phone. Screw apple!
Same...I have AW series 3 & was thinking of upgrading to series 6 but picked up a new Fenix 5+ for £240...love it & love not having to charge it daily.
@@mattiasandersson3444 yeah, and in the normal 6 pro and in the fenix 5 plus to, but what I clearly meant is that Garmin is the only brand that has a watch that has those 3 in 1 watch!
koen miseur yes, unfortunately. That’s why they can afford to have so many bugs and so many incomplete features. Their hardware is pretty nice, but software-wise... 🤨
I managed to buy the 6x Pro Solar Titanium on sale (400€) recently. I have used it when packrafting and the map feature is wonderful. I can easily pin point where I have to portage, where I can make camp, where I should look out for rough whitewater etc.. I'm loving it! No longer do I have to mess about with the phone, I just have to check my wrist for directions and locations ;-)
Garmin Forerunner 945 basically same watch with reduced weight, feels great on the wrist and sleep tracking is very accurate. Actually loving it! Bought it after weeks of seeing your reviews thanks for the content.
Thanks for posting, I'm former 5,10k marathon runner (low 2:20's) now 66 with two bulging discs running is less painful than walking so having a larger screen and metrics keeps interest up.Just ordered 6X Pro.Might try trail running if the hills aren't too steep.
I switched from Fitbit to Garmin when Garmin released the Fenix 5. I have since upgraded to the Fenix 5 Plus and than the 6X Pro Solar (Titanium).. I love these devices and can hardly wait to see what Garmin does in the Fenix 7 (whenever that drops). Great video and NEW Subscriber! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Love your content! Honest and well executed. I purchase my Fenix 6 as a result of your videos and I am more than happy 😃. Thanks from Lincolnshire UK 👍🏼
Had my Fenix 6 Pro for a couple of weeks, love it. I bought the watch because GPS tracking on my phone was unreliable, forget accuracy, I would do a 20 mile run on an android phone, and halfway through it would just stop tracking, run ruined. The Garmin might not be the most accurate but I believe it will continuously try to pick up a GPS signal so should solve that issue. The other thing I like is the run information is always available the alerts are amazing, especially pace pro and turn by turn for mapped routes. The screen is the only real disappointing thing I've found so far, it's like looking at Nokia 6310, where's the OLED screen LOL but apart from that it's a brilliant watch, highly recommended unless you want to wait for a new version.
interesting! I didn't ever want to use the music on the watch just because how you have to do it, I'd rather have battery power and I'm not usually on runs for 6 hours, I always have my phone on me too. My Fenix 6 doesn't have the sleep problems you've experienced it works like a charm. still loved the video, I love the watch up and down. :)
@@ChaseTheSummit can you control playback on your phone from your watch. For example if I am listening to an audiobook on my iPhone that’s in my back pack, can you pause, rewind, etc via the watch? - thx
@@ChaseTheSummit just finished the video and saw you have reviews on other watches...any recommendations for phone control from the watch, and a decent wrist heart rate maybe with some other fitness tracking features. Maps aren’t as important to me since I’m mainly just on the road - thx for info!
Dude you did a superb job with this review. A product review cannot get any more real and down to Earth from a user perspective. I just upgraded from the ForeAthlete 45 to the Fenix 6x Pro. I am counting down the days until it arrives. I were hoping you would discuss swimming and lap counting. I love swimming laps, and that is one of the features I felt I cheated myself out of when I purchased the 45. I have also heard a lot of different opinions about weight training workouts, as well as Yoga. I am now a subscriber because maybe you will touch on a few other details about the Fenix series.
@@ChaseTheSummit Yes it is a huge upgrade. I hope to hit the bike and running trails even harder through the hills of Japan in order to justify the price LOL. Thanks for the heads up about your content. It reminded me to turn on the notification bell.
They just changed the sleep tracking with the latest update. Now it's great, perfectly accurate . Also they improved the WHR. I own the 6Spro which IMO is better than the 6pro. It's smaller, lighter and better in recording WHR and other metrics due to its reduced weight and size. Garmin 6s pro is really a fantastic watch.
+1! 6S Pro and updated sleep tracking in the public beta is brilliant. Reinforces the point in the video about Garmin constantly updating post-release.
@@ChaseTheSummit Total noob question, but are updates accessed by connecting to Wi-Fi, and how do you acquire beta, Vs. actual official updates? Thanks!
@@Alistair_Spence official firmware updates should happen without you even noticing. Over wifi or just from the Bluetooth connection to your phone. The beta firmware is a manual installation you'll need to visit the beta firmware Garmin site to download it and install it via their directions over a USB connection to a computer. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the review! I am having my Fenix 6 Sapphire since 1st June 2020! Honestly? I could not be more satisfied with the watch! The weight 82grams doesn't bother me AT ALL (like it does you)! I am making for years a lot of push ups daily so it might be something on it, that I don't feel it at all... Even when sleeping doesn't disturb me at all! And for me it shows sleeping tracking very accurate as well! For example if I go to toilet at 3am or something it will show that! I wear the watch all day long, only when showering not, because I like to wash my body without anything on it and the watch as well! Battery life I was VERY impressed!! Running 3 or mostly 4. times a week is like 5 hours of running, biking for 3 hours and walking 3 hours... Beside the Bluetooth all the time on, getting all messages, calls etc. whole week long and also changed brightness to 80% and as I turn lights go on...etc. Long story short... it held awesome 8.days (at first)! Now, last one week I uploaded like 10 different watch faces from Garmin Connect IQ and it warned straight away about the battery life... BUT... I never expected that this fancy watch faces can reduce battery life so drastically!! It is reduced like 50%, so it will hold like 4.days now... I am just thinking to remove them or remove some and try one for one at the time... It is fancy and fun with tons of information, but it reduces battery life pretty much... Overall, EXTREEMLY HAPPY with the watch and can only recommend to anyone who wants a good looking/durable quality watch!! Keep up the good work, cheers...
You're welcome man ...and I need to thank you too! Before I've bought my Fenix 6 Sapphire I have been watching different reviews on ytube and also yours...the Fenix 6 vs. Forerunner 945 and Fenix 6 PRO vs. Sapphire... It honestly helped me to make the right decision, so among those three mentioned, I've closed my eye and went for the best one! The reason is simply because if you spend already such amount of money you add a bit more and you have better quality / more durable product! Now you imagine you spend €100 less for the PRO version and you break the glass or have some scratches on it... huh You don't buy watch every month, even every year not, so it is worthy to pay €100 more and you know what you have! Mine old Garmin 910XT (Triathlon version) I was using since 2014 and ran over 8000km with it...biking, swimming etc. and it's still working like new!!! We have more of Garmin watches in our family (2x 910XT, 210, vivioactive3 and now added Fenix 6 Sapphire)... They ALL work great for years!! It is why I knew that I will be going for Garmin AGAIN!! Thanks again for your reviews, appreciate it so much!! Take care and all the best!
I have a Fenix x sapphire and is the greatest. I had a Suunto 7 and a Rangeman from Casio but this Garmin is mind blowing. My dearest garmin, in mountain you are my only partner. If I win the lottery I bought the Delta tactix too (is the same watch nevertheless)
Finally, after weeks of looking around, I've got a good eBay offer for the Fenix 6 Sapphire at $480. Can't wait to get it. Thanks for all your videos, they really helped a lot
Don’t expect too much regarding major software updates. Garmin wants you to buy a new watch instead. Check out the Garmin forum, there are many more people that want new features, but no chance. #dontbuyaGarmin
Well you’re in luck. Big update coming for sleep in a few days. v10.00 is in public beta right now and it pulls in a FirstBeat module and an on-watch sleep widget. It’s much more accurate than the previous sleep detection
The 10.10 firmware update improved the sleep function in a pretty big way in my experience so far. Hopefully everyone sees such a big change. Thanks for watching.
I'm a Forerunner 235 WHR user since December 2015. I've been thinking about upgrading to the Fenix 6 about a year now. The only thing which holds me back: price. I won't pay 599 € (which are asked from a bunch of resellers in Europe). If it would be closer to 300 it would be a bit easier to swallow. Beside the price point I think the Fenix 6 is the only reasonable upgrade from my Forerunner 235.
I'm behind the times and just ordered a Fenix 6x Pro even though I'm sure the 7 will be out soon but thank you for the update after 1400 miles. Great video! I'm sure I'll be very happy with my purchase
Have had mine for 2.5k miles, 10 months of so and apart from knowing a bit more about how it works, it remains a great watch. Couple of annoyances: sometimes (especially if you pause it for a while) you can't restart music + deleting a Spotify play list sometimes doesn't work. And sleep isn't great. But these are way down on thd list of things I would like to have on a fitness watch, plus there's some improvements on their way for sleep and lifestyle tracking
I got the X Pro and love having onboard music. Most of my runs I can head out the door with nothing more than my watch and headphones. I did a 4 hour trail run on Saturday with music and GPS+Glonass and still had 70% battery life when I was done. Pretty happy about that. BTW - Garmin is beta testing sleep tracking through a third party now.
Really appreciate these videos, thank you seriously. Just purchased a brand new F6 Sapphire today after running with the 5X Sapphire the past 2 years! Excited for the upgrade.
@@ChaseTheSummit definitely. I don’t know how you juggle all that you do with reviews and runs while working and maintaining family life. God‘s blessings brother.
I have the Fexnix 6 pro titanium. I've had the issues in the past with rubber and silicon based straps in getting irritation marks around the wrist that would itch and really annoying. I don't get this with the titanium strap. I'm a freelance photographer in landscapes and often away from home in the wilderness. Having a GPS watch that last without charging is great and having the MAPS is a great benefit... It's not better than others and the others are not better than Garmin Fenix 6.. It suits me more.... Great video...
Nice! You could also try a Nylon Band. Coros actually started making QuickFit compatable 22mm Nylon bands that are really nice and easy to get on/off. Glad to hear you're enjoying the F6!
I know the Fenix 7 is around the corner but I just picked up a Fenix 6 Sapphire on sale up here in Canada and am super excited about it. Plus, by this time all the software bugs have been worked out hopefully. Can't wait to get it!!!! Btw, I will be using it for hiking and navigation and durability were on the top of the list. Thanks for the awesome review!!!
You nailed it on that navigation part. The color topo maps have become an on-trail essential for me, and I can't bring myself to shell out cash for a different brand until they have something comparable to the Garmin maps. After using the Fenix 6, breadcrumb maps just won't cut it anymore for me.
I purchased the Solar Pro version about 3 weeks ago and have nothing but good things to say about it. I pair it with the Garmin Heart Monitor chest strap and its the perfect combination. I don't think the solar makes that much of a difference in my opinion. Excited to see what they release next. Thanks for the video.
Love your videos Dave. I've had my Fénix6X since Jan and absolutely love it. I too had a similar issue with HR band causing massive vo2max increase, I was upto 55 and was looking at other people's 10k times on similar score (via connections) thinking, 'im nowhere near that time' - Glad it's not me going mad, that explains a lot! I've now bought the HRM TRI. Works great so far. Thanks for your video update, much appreciated 👍🏻
on general thinking: if the HR Band would be on since start and not on begin on the midway as you and Dave did, would it give out different score or would it raise to the different highs too? ( I´m actually researching and focused to maybe Fenix 6 Sapphire to replace my 4yr old Samsung Galaxy Watch )
Love my Fenix 6x sapphire. Got it for a crazy discount and couldn't pass it up. I'm just a roadrunner and this is overkill but very capable and fun to use.
Trust me...when I set an interval training thinking I can make a 6 x 1.6k below a certain PACE and I failed ...I imagine my Garmin Fenix 5 plus with the voice of Terence Fletcher (Whiplash movie) saying: NOT QUITE MY TEMPOOOOO!!!!!!!
Hey new sub here, I’m a High school student and I’ve been trying to get my hands on a Garmin but they are definitely way out of my budget, I see that you have been using yours for a long time so I wanted to see if you were interested in selling it to me? I would get a lot of use out of it and probably be able to even afford it.
I've got a Fenix 5 and love it still. I was tempted by the 6 but just can't justify the cost jump at this point. Maybe next year as a birthday present to myself! Great to have a 'living with it' review though. Thanks for that!
The 5 is still a fantastic watch! Even has a slight edge in GPS accuracy due to the more power hungry Mediatech chip. The only thing it's missing is Mapping and Music which most people don't even use. I'd say use it as long as it does what you want! Thanks for watching.
Great video, as always. Have you done a review about the stryd? I know you have mentioned it a few times. I use the Garmin foot pod and RD pod. How do they compare? Thanks.
I just ordered a Fenix 6 Pro praying I like it first big purchase for a watch like this I ever did. Hope it’s still kickass in 2024 Edit: Your end speech won my sub and thumbs up. You’re a cool dude. You think my Fenix 6 Pro will be viable in 2024? I have never owned a smart watch before.
Just got my fenix 6 pro coming from a garmin instinct , very happy with my timepiece as a mtb’er I love the screen brightness while out on the trails easy to see , love the gps , love the accuracy, well worth the $500 .
I'm into many sports, and watch a fair amount of videos, and this is a damn good review. Clear and concise, thanks for the info! Maybe just turn that music down a bit :) Off to watch your next one now.
Picked it up during the holidays for about half off. For me it was worth it since I am already in the Garmin ecosystem. I did wish the GPS was better. I'm surprised how bad it is even on road runs. I'm still happy with the purchase.
I just got the 6X Sapphire for $549 on Prime Day... and now I'm watching videos about it again (haven't since it came out). For this price, I think I'll be happy. I had the Fenix 3 HR and the Vivoactive 3.
I just got one of those to upgrade from a 3. I can say that even the 3 still receives updates. The 3 was perfect for me, I am sure this one is going to be even better. Thx for the review!
Just bought the secondhand of Fenix 6 pro solar, bit pricey for secondhand but really worthy, i only tested for 5k right now and yes i love it, after ramadhan I'll test it for full marathon
I just upgraded my Fenix 5S Plus to a 6 Pro Solar. I only upgraded because the 5S has poor battery life in GPS (max 8 hours). Other than that, it was a perfect watch. But the 6 Pro Solar? WOW! This is a beast of a watch and I'm loving the amazing battery life. I've had it a month and have hours and hours of mountain bike rides with GPS and I've charged it twice. The new battery features and solar are a welcome addition. I hope you can get your hands on one to try out as this thing is freakin' amazing.
@@ChaseTheSummit Yeah, the lack of sapphire worries me too. When I sold my 5S after getting the 6 Solar, it looked brand new. I abused that thing for over a year, wearing it as my daily watch and through numerous mtb crashes, beach trips, paddling, surfing, airports, etc. and there wasn't a mark on the crystal.
Already bought he watch, but enjoy watching others thoughts. Great input. Took it out for a few 20+ runs, seems great, hardly a hit to battery, will be ramping up for a few ultras and IM in 2021
Great review thanks, brilliant that's it's from someone who has actually used and abused it. I have just bought the 6x Pro Solar and love it. Thanks again.
i still use my Fenix5x Sapphire since 2016, lifetime stats 15.652,18 km so far and still does it's job and motivates me since i am a badge sucker, would be nice for garmin to add extra badge levels so i won't be stucked on max lvl 5 forever. cheers
Great video thanks! I am thinking about getting the fenix 6 as my first smartwatch ever but we are close to the release of fenix 7 and I ll wait. Thanks for the review tho great seeing that from a person that actually fully utilises it.
I dont think we'll see a Fenix 7 until 2021 at this point. They actually just released a new version of the 6 last week so its still relevant. Thanks for watching!
the Fenix series is really solid build! I'm still running with my Fenix 5 thousands of kilometres later.... I never got a problem and also love that when the battery dies the activity is saved before properly.... The map feature and the Garmin pay made me think to upgrade to the Fenix 6, but when you pay so much for a watch, you wait as long as possible and wait for major updates to happen before you upgrade :P THANKS for the great video
here i am still with Fenix 3 (Non HR) 2015 :v still solid for my ultratrailrunning, eventho i have to carry small powerbank if my races take morethan 12 hours LOL hahaha
Yeah, that's pretty exciting! I hope that means they'll include firstbeat modules on all of their watches instead of only the premium ones. Since they won't need to pay to license per module this could be a reality! Thanks for watching.
Thanks for all the videos. I really was in betwenn Fenix6 and Vantage V2... finally i got the Fenix 6x sapphire thanks to your videos. the best watch i have ever had. insane what you data get out of it. With HRM Tri u get so much more infos.! cheers!
You helped me make the decision to buy my 6 titanium sapphire, and I absolutely love it. Have several other fitness and smart watches, that are just collecting dust...including the new galaxy watch 3.
I remember Fenix 3 being the turning point for Garmin. Color screen! It was an exciting time. The 5X Plus is still a very relevant device. Thanks for watching!
I run without phone almost all the time - so music is a must for me. I see how much of a drain is for the battery. It it’s a good trade off. But biggest win is all the audible info - laps, pace, he zones alerts I did setup - it helps a lot for me when running. So even without music I would keep earphones in (or at least one). I still charge my 6X pro Solar mostly once a week to ~80% and drain it no less that to 20% to preserve battery life for longer period of time.
I had a Garmin Fénix 6 when I encountered a Grizzly, and thanks to the watch getting stuck in his teeth after he ripped my arm off, I was able to escape death, thanks Garmin!🤙🏼 Great review, thank you.👍🏼
Thank you for the review but i think there is 3 thing i which garmin can improve: 1. Backlight display is too dimm for glancing early in the morning. Please bump the brightness in the AOD +10%. I think it would be better. 2. The heart rate sensor measure every second or in real time, should there be an option to select by interval 2 minutes would be great for both battery and data storage. 3. Due to the collection enormous data, the sync process to phone is quite slow especially when wakeup in the morning and i open the app, it is still not ready and in sync.. almost 1 hrs to sync. For me i turn on the pulse ox during sleep also. For this maybe implementing the no.2 will reduce the data transfer size and maybe another idea is by sync partially (half data) at night during sleep to the phone. Maybe you can comment about it.. 😊
I do more than run or trail run. The maps are probably the most important feature for me. I have used the specialized Boundary Waters Topo maps downloaded to my F5X to keep on track across various lakes, find designated portage points and campsites. Hikes on unfamiliar trails are less of a worry because you know you can get back to your starting point via track back or direct routing. It is also helpful to see landmarks in your vicinity. “Oh, look at that nice lake.” And see on the map that a side trail goes to a lakeside clearing to enjoy a trail break and a quick dip. Try doing that with a breadcrumb track. The only thing I wish is that Garmin would own up to the fact that they screwed up the design of the charging mechanism. Corroding contact points on a watch designed to get sweat, rained, and grimed on is ludicrous.
Sounds like you're fully utilizing the Fenix! Nice! I've seen corroding contacts on some Garmins but it's never happened to mine. I wonder what the factor is there.
@@ChaseTheSummit It appears to be a big deal on the Garmin forum. Several topic conversations about watches not charging, or charging but data not transferring. I noticed on the 945LTE that the charging nodes are silver in color, rather than gold, but the charging mechanism style is still the same. Maybe the change in metals will improve longevity/functionality. Out of curiosity, do you use one of those rubber charging port covers on your F6Pro Sapphire to keep out gunk and sweat?
On paper, the Fenix 6 Pro was the ideal watch for me. I train for high altitude climbing and I also need a watch for expeditions. What I have learned is that the heart rate monitor is absolute garbage and I am better off guessing than looking at the watch. What I have learned through experimentation and from hundreds of posts on the topic is that the activity profiles take over and try to predict your heart rate. The watch refuses to go over 100 bpm when climbing steps with 80lbs on my back at high pace (when my real bpm is in the 150-180 range). The graphs also show long periods of time (20+ minutes) of identical, unchanged bpm, like I flat-lined at 90. There are other examples but the point is that if you care about the heart rate monitor, this is not the watch for you. Even their support told me that. I'm still using it because, as Dave said, it does excel in certain areas, areas that are more important to me than my heart rate.
It's certainly not perfect... But it still lives on my wrist because of the functions that I find valuable. Right tool for the right job! Thanks for watching.
D. L. Yes, the heart rate monitor is garbage. I’m really disappointed with Garmin. They should ask Apple for help to solve the problem. Because my Apple watch measures my heart rate reliably. All those fancy reports are useless if the underlying data is wrong...
Nov 2022 just ordered a 6S Pro for $350. My concerns are battery (maybe I should have paid the extra $50 for Solar, but would have been stuck with gold and wanted black). And the touch screen. Upgrading from a Vivoactive 3 that does have touchscreen, and that will take some getting used to.
I have had mine for about 6 weeks now, I agree with all the points you made. Especially the maps part. I like to do a lot of off grid camping which entails frequent exploring via trail runs and MTB. Cell service can be non existent in most places we go so being able to see roads, trails, streams, etc. has been a huge step up. I also love the "back to start" feature so I can wonder aimlessly without fear of getting lost ha ha! Two quick questions for you: 1) Does the running pace tend to lag when changing speed on yours? Whenever I do any sort of interval run, it seems to take a good 15-20 seconds to calibrate. (Previous watch did this almost instantly) 2) When out with a group, is your elevation often much higher? Trying to just let it be, but I feel like I always as its get way more "credit" than everyone else lol
I do notice that my running pace lags a bit. I think it's intentional though. People used to complain that pace jumped all over the place too much so Garmin added a filter to it to reduce the rapid changes. This data comes from GPS information so it takes a few seconds to process. I find the Pace on the Garmin to be better than my Coros or Polar watches. As far as elevation it's a gamble. Sometimes I'm higher, sometimes I'm lower. You can manually calibrate your altimeter to a known elevation (if you live near sea level this is easy). This will make your altimeter much more accurate.
@@ChaseTheSummit Okay, that's good to know. This is my first Garmin (Go big or go home) so I'm still working through the kinks. Not your problem to solve but the insight is very helpful! Really enjoy your videos, keep it up!
Got both the fenix 6 sapphire, instinct solar, and a garmin 64 handheld. I love all of my garmins. The instinct solar is my main backup watch. I charge the fenix once a week the instinct once a month. So yeah when my fenix is down I got the instinct in the center console or backpack. And the combo is awesome. Plus I won't loose any sleep over messing up my garmins compared to the freak out ill have if get even a smudge on my omega mechanical.
Awesome review. I went for the 6s (non-pro). I've been pretty happy overall, but I do wish it had a bluetooth audio telling me to speed up or slow down. I don't like glancing at my wrist all the time. Otherwise I'm pretty happy.
This watch looks like it might suit me. The important thing is the mapping for mountain biking. I just don't wanna get lost, heart rate and fitness tracking are highly secondary.
Love my 6X pro solar. Increasing the period and times to climbing, hiking or even spending more time at gym just only to add more records into the logs and encouraged by the training improvement chart💪
Thank for this video, it’s very helpful for me, I planing change my FR735xt on fenix 6x. now I know something they don't say when reviewing the watch straight out of the box(new) Greetings from West Pomerania, Poland
I have had my Fenix 6 Saphire about 3 weeks now and I am satisfied with it. I find the heart rate monitor is ok just for everyday measurement, but I bought a Garmin Run chest strap for running and cycling. I have an old fitbit for sleep recording and I found the Garmin was more accurate concerning the hours slept but the Fitbit more accurate for sleep stages. Calories the Fitbit over estimate and the Garmin under estimates but is more consistent day to day. I just add 400 calories at the end of the day for the Garmin and that would be about right. I really like the map feature. I like hiking in the winter and maps are great for this.
Nice! Yes, a big reason why I own a Fenix or 945 is for the navigation and offline map features. Super powerful to have that on your wrist. Thanks for watching!
I bought a COROS vertix but sold it for some reason I was drawn to the garmin Fenix 5 plus and never looked back. All around just like it better and the way it looks better and little more sleek, feel it’s more accurate too
Clearly the vlog was made before the hack. I think the Fenix series are good watches but you're right, it depends on what you use it for. I purchased a Fr 935 and it first failed during a 65km ultramarathon in a very remote part of NW Tasmania. It was fine until about 27km, when I suddenly realised I was moving at about 2:30min per km, while hiking on a beach. I arrived at the 28km check point and when I sat down to throw up, I was still moving at 5:30min per km. I had covered 3km on the watch in about 1km. Garmin were less than enthusiastic to do something. Eventually, after several other failures, they replaced it. The new one failed within a month. Eventually Garmin replaced that with a Fr 945. It's ok, but the HRM is highly questionable and the moving pace is similarly problematic. It is a very expensive watch, but Garmin insists on calling all these, including the Fenix series as "recreational devices", as if that is a way to avoid fixing the known faults. And then there is the hack.
Fortunately the hack is over with. I've been using Garmin devices for a decade and this is the first time something like this has happened. I'm not too worried about it happening again but I suppose it could. Sorry to hear you've had issues. These are certainly "recreational devices" but in some situations we're out there really trusting them. Hopefully you find one that works. Thanks for watching!
Had the Fenix 5x and now forerunner 945. I like the overall experience of Garmin and I’m used to their “ecosystem.” Oh and besides running, biking I also golf and the watch is fantastic for that. It’s good there are great alternatives as the competition drives innovation and pricing which ultimately should be good for us the consumers.
Agreed! Garmins going to need to innovate if they want to remain on top. I also hope some other brand is able to bring offline maps to the table. That would really make things interesting!
As you say that's the thing.... No other company offers the mapping functionality... I can upload any maps I want even my own.... I wish more companies would have the mapping functionality like Garmin on their watches.... not just token mapping like the casino protrek watch or smart watches etc....I'd love more choices!... as of now... If you want real mapping loaded into the watch its just Garmin.. I have the Fenix 5x/5x plus / Fenix 6x sapphire with Black DLC coating and brown leather strap is coming on Christmas day... Thanks for a great review as always! 👍
Garmin was lucky that they had the GPS mapping history behind them. It was a lot easier for them to roll it into watches than it is for other manufacturers. I'm sure we'll see a big shift soon though. Thanks for watching!
@@ChaseTheSummit That's a very good point about Garmins GPS mapping background..... yes perhaps soon more companies will catch up and we'll all have more choices : -) All the best.
The 945 is a great device just because of how light it is! It's great that Garmin backported some of the new features from the Fenix 6 too. Thanks for watching.
Great video! Small suggestion! Please pick a background song that isn’t so repetitive. I get songs stuck in my head really bad to the point that it torments me, and this background song is perfect for that. It just repeats the SAME EXACT melody for 10 minutes straight.
Yeah, love the watch minus the GPS which is pretty awful. Also use the Stryd pod. The GPS tracks shift left pretty terribly unless you wear the watch on the right hand. I assume this is somehow related to where the antenna is placed or something. Its just weird how different the tracks look depending on the wrist you wear it on (this is not an isolated case, I posted on the forums and dozens of others replied with the same issue)
Hah yeah, the GPS isn't perfect but I've come to accept that I don't need "perfect" GPS tracks. I find the other features outweigh the downsides. Thanks for watching!
Hey the good news is that in the latest Garmin Fenix 6 beta sleep tracking analysis is done by FirstBeat now. I think the overall consensus is that anything over Garmin sleep tracking is an improvement.
Hi there, thanks for the honest review. Appreciated. I found there are very few people mentioning about map features. The watch is large and small. It’s difficult to see the map while running. I know it has step-by-step guide. Can you a bit more or point me to where I can find out more. I found it difficult to navigate with many presses to move around the map. Thanks 🙏
Another great review. Bought one a year plus now and you played a key role in decision making. I practice regular MTB, snowboard ( unfortunately not tried this year stations were closed in France) not a big sportive man but haven’t been disapointed by the watch at all. Like you mapping was and still a key feature, not limited to sportive practices. I have noticed battery days/ hours left not being super precise, the software calculation keeps a sort of priority versus real usage measure tends to be a bit optimistic below 30%, that said battery gauge app solves this. Some bluetooth earbuds appear to not be compatible ( no volume control) but not from famous brands such as bose or sony. Seems related to Garmin environment sknce the vivoactive 4s I offert my wife had the same prob. Again very minor things that aren’t annoying at all. Overall fantastic watch, Garmin pay rocks and is a great feature nowadays. Thanks again for your videos that are constructive and keep your style.
I've had exactly the same experience with HR. Writst based is 10-20 BPM higher than the garmin chest strap and my vo2max jump 4 points in a matter of weeks after switching.
Thanks for all the great reviews Dave! I’m sold on Sapphire glass w/ either the Fenix6 or Coros Apex. Still trying to decide how important mapping is to me. I noticed that your Amazon link to the Fenix goes to the Pro model for $699 but there is not any mention of Sapphire on that link?? When I do a search for Sapphire with the Fenix6 it comes up with a model that’s $784.95. Just wanted to make sure folks who really want the Sapphire confirm that before they buy.
Would you recommend to go with the fr 955 or the fenix 6 pro? Seems that the GPS is much better. But how about the bugs in the maps on the 955? Are they solved by now?
Great review! I've had it in my Amazon queue a couple times but can't quite pull the trigger. 😀 When it gets to below $600 I'll not think about it so much.
Have sapphire for a month now. The only thing that really bothers me is the bezel. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to change it, but get new or refurbished watch, and it costs like 200$. Bought even metal strap and it is a whole new experience. 😊
Does the Fenix 6 have any emergency features? For example, if you get lost or injured, can you send out a distress call or enable other people to find you based on GPS?
![KSI - Dirty [Official Visualiser]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VoDh1h1dPUE/mqdefault.jpg)
It's good to have a review from somebody who actually uses the product to the extent you did. Thx.
Thanks!
Six months in. Run, golf, alpine-skied, ski-toured, mountain biked. Best smart Garmin watch I've had (#4) by a mile. Not mentioned often but it basically integrates all the functionality of the golf watches too. Great battery life. I did manage to very slightly scratch the sapphire glass early on before I'd adjusted to the bulk (6X Pro). Personally I like the weight. Strap also great for 247 365 wear.
Thanks for sharing!
Im new to garmin, sold my AppleWatch 4 and bought a Fenix 6 pro, i love it :)
Awesome! Thanks for watching.
Good going...I returned the apple watch to get the garmin fenix 5x and very happy that I did.
Welcome to the other side
Same here. The apple watch is good at everything but sport and autonomy. Garmin makes some of the best stuff
Plus the apple watch doesn't even have a course track, no cartography, just google map but you need to pair it to an iphone. And speaking of pairing, it only works with iphones, apple exclusive and highly depending to the phone. Screw apple!
Same...I have AW series 3 & was thinking of upgrading to series 6 but picked up a new Fenix 5+ for £240...love it & love not having to charge it daily.
I bought a Fenix 6s Pro because it was the only watch that did these 3 things in 1 watch: Maps, Music and Open water swimming!
I have that in my Fenix 6X Pro Solar too.
@@mattiasandersson3444 bro ...
@@mattiasandersson3444 yeah, and in the normal 6 pro and in the fenix 5 plus to, but what I clearly meant is that Garmin is the only brand that has a watch that has those 3 in 1 watch!
koen miseur yes, unfortunately. That’s why they can afford to have so many bugs and so many incomplete features. Their hardware is pretty nice, but software-wise... 🤨
@@uncle-k3m i haven't encountered any bugs yet, though I just bought mine a month ago
I managed to buy the 6x Pro Solar Titanium on sale (400€) recently. I have used it when packrafting and the map feature is wonderful.
I can easily pin point where I have to portage, where I can make camp, where I should look out for rough whitewater etc.. I'm loving it!
No longer do I have to mess about with the phone, I just have to check my wrist for directions and locations ;-)
Garmin Forerunner 945 basically same watch with reduced weight, feels great on the wrist and sleep tracking is very accurate. Actually loving it! Bought it after weeks of seeing your reviews thanks for the content.
Yep, very similar.
Thanks for posting, I'm former 5,10k marathon runner (low 2:20's) now 66 with two bulging discs running is less painful than walking so having a larger screen and metrics keeps interest up.Just ordered 6X Pro.Might try trail running if the hills aren't too steep.
I just turned 50, eyes are showing their age now - which is why I want the 51mm 5X/6X model too. Good luck with back
I switched from Fitbit to Garmin when Garmin released the Fenix 5. I have since upgraded to the Fenix 5 Plus and than the 6X Pro Solar (Titanium).. I love these devices and can hardly wait to see what Garmin does in the Fenix 7 (whenever that drops). Great video and NEW Subscriber! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Thanks for subscribing! Happy New Year!
Love your content! Honest and well executed. I purchase my Fenix 6 as a result of your videos and I am more than happy 😃. Thanks from Lincolnshire UK 👍🏼
Thank you!
Had my Fenix 6 Pro for a couple of weeks, love it. I bought the watch because GPS tracking on my phone was unreliable, forget accuracy, I would do a 20 mile run on an android phone, and halfway through it would just stop tracking, run ruined. The Garmin might not be the most accurate but I believe it will continuously try to pick up a GPS signal so should solve that issue. The other thing I like is the run information is always available the alerts are amazing, especially pace pro and turn by turn for mapped routes. The screen is the only real disappointing thing I've found so far, it's like looking at Nokia 6310, where's the OLED screen LOL but apart from that it's a brilliant watch, highly recommended unless you want to wait for a new version.
I'm excited for whatever the new version is but the current Fenix 6 is still excellent!
interesting! I didn't ever want to use the music on the watch just because how you have to do it, I'd rather have battery power and I'm not usually on runs for 6 hours, I always have my phone on me too. My Fenix 6 doesn't have the sleep problems you've experienced it works like a charm. still loved the video, I love the watch up and down. :)
Thanks for watching.
@@ChaseTheSummit can you control playback on your phone from your watch. For example if I am listening to an audiobook on my iPhone that’s in my back pack, can you pause, rewind, etc via the watch? - thx
@@ChaseTheSummit just finished the video and saw you have reviews on other watches...any recommendations for phone control from the watch, and a decent wrist heart rate maybe with some other fitness tracking features. Maps aren’t as important to me since I’m mainly just on the road - thx for info!
I use the Amazin Music App on phone, but it's frustrating when it stops.
@@Lgm21 yes
Dude you did a superb job with this review. A product review cannot get any more real and down to Earth from a user perspective. I just upgraded from the ForeAthlete 45 to the Fenix 6x Pro. I am counting down the days until it arrives. I were hoping you would discuss swimming and lap counting. I love swimming laps, and that is one of the features I felt I cheated myself out of when I purchased the 45. I have also heard a lot of different opinions about weight training workouts, as well as Yoga. I am now a subscriber because maybe you will touch on a few other details about the Fenix series.
Big upgrade! Hope you enjoy it! I've got lots of Fenix content on my channel and there will certainly be more!
@@ChaseTheSummit Yes it is a huge upgrade. I hope to hit the bike and running trails even harder through the hills of Japan in order to justify the price LOL. Thanks for the heads up about your content. It reminded me to turn on the notification bell.
They just changed the sleep tracking with the latest update. Now it's great, perfectly accurate . Also they improved the WHR. I own the 6Spro which IMO is better than the 6pro. It's smaller, lighter and better in recording WHR and other metrics due to its reduced weight and size. Garmin 6s pro is really a fantastic watch.
I saw that it was updated in the beta firmware. We'll see how that works when its fully rolled out! Thanks for watching.
@@ChaseTheSummit it's good. It will be soon fully released. Thanks for the videos 👍
+1! 6S Pro and updated sleep tracking in the public beta is brilliant. Reinforces the point in the video about Garmin constantly updating post-release.
@@ChaseTheSummit Total noob question, but are updates accessed by connecting to Wi-Fi, and how do you acquire beta, Vs. actual official updates? Thanks!
@@Alistair_Spence official firmware updates should happen without you even noticing. Over wifi or just from the Bluetooth connection to your phone. The beta firmware is a manual installation you'll need to visit the beta firmware Garmin site to download it and install it via their directions over a USB connection to a computer. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the review!
I am having my Fenix 6 Sapphire since 1st June 2020!
Honestly?
I could not be more satisfied with the watch!
The weight 82grams doesn't bother me AT ALL (like it does you)!
I am making for years a lot of push ups daily so it might be something on it, that I don't feel it at all...
Even when sleeping doesn't disturb me at all!
And for me it shows sleeping tracking very accurate as well!
For example if I go to toilet at 3am or something it will show that!
I wear the watch all day long, only when showering not, because I like to wash my body without anything on it and the watch as well!
Battery life I was VERY impressed!!
Running 3 or mostly 4. times a week is like 5 hours of running, biking for 3 hours and walking 3 hours...
Beside the Bluetooth all the time on, getting all messages, calls etc. whole week long and also changed brightness to 80% and as I turn lights go on...etc.
Long story short... it held awesome 8.days (at first)!
Now, last one week I uploaded like 10 different watch faces from Garmin Connect IQ and it warned straight away about the battery life...
BUT...
I never expected that this fancy watch faces can reduce battery life so drastically!!
It is reduced like 50%, so it will hold like 4.days now...
I am just thinking to remove them or remove some and try one for one at the time...
It is fancy and fun with tons of information, but it reduces battery life pretty much...
Overall, EXTREEMLY HAPPY with the watch and can only recommend to anyone who wants a good looking/durable quality watch!!
Keep up the good work, cheers...
Glad you're enjoying your watch! Thanks for the kind words. Cheers!
You're welcome man ...and I need to thank you too!
Before I've bought my Fenix 6 Sapphire I have been watching different reviews on ytube and also yours...the Fenix 6 vs. Forerunner 945 and Fenix 6 PRO vs. Sapphire...
It honestly helped me to make the right decision, so among those three mentioned, I've closed my eye and went for the best one!
The reason is simply because if you spend already such amount of money you add a bit more and you have better quality / more durable product!
Now you imagine you spend €100 less for the PRO version and you break the glass or have some scratches on it... huh
You don't buy watch every month, even every year not, so it is worthy to pay €100 more and you know what you have!
Mine old Garmin 910XT (Triathlon version) I was using since 2014 and ran over 8000km with it...biking, swimming etc. and it's still working like new!!!
We have more of Garmin watches in our family (2x 910XT, 210, vivioactive3 and now added Fenix 6 Sapphire)...
They ALL work great for years!!
It is why I knew that I will be going for Garmin AGAIN!!
Thanks again for your reviews, appreciate it so much!!
Take care and all the best!
I have a Fenix x sapphire and is the greatest. I had a Suunto 7 and a Rangeman from Casio but this Garmin is mind blowing. My dearest garmin, in mountain you are my only partner. If I win the lottery I bought the Delta tactix too (is the same watch nevertheless)
Finally, after weeks of looking around, I've got a good eBay offer for the Fenix 6 Sapphire at $480. Can't wait to get it.
Thanks for all your videos, they really helped a lot
Good deal! Hope you like it!
I have it and for the price we paid, I am really expecting some major updates in sleep and heart trackers. I like it so far, it motivates me :)
Don’t expect too much regarding major software updates. Garmin wants you to buy a new watch instead. Check out the Garmin forum, there are many more people that want new features, but no chance. #dontbuyaGarmin
Well you’re in luck. Big update coming for sleep in a few days. v10.00 is in public beta right now and it pulls in a FirstBeat module and an on-watch sleep widget. It’s much more accurate than the previous sleep detection
The 10.10 firmware update improved the sleep function in a pretty big way in my experience so far. Hopefully everyone sees such a big change. Thanks for watching.
I'm a Forerunner 235 WHR user since December 2015. I've been thinking about upgrading to the Fenix 6 about a year now. The only thing which holds me back: price. I won't pay 599 € (which are asked from a bunch of resellers in Europe). If it would be closer to 300 it would be a bit easier to swallow.
Beside the price point I think the Fenix 6 is the only reasonable upgrade from my Forerunner 235.
Yeah it certainly isn't cheap! I think the 945 is also a solid upgrade for you for a bit less. Thanks for watching!
Black friday 😉
If you look on Wikipedia you will see the fenix life cycle is five quarters so we should see a Plus or a 7 by end of year/CES
Good insight!
I'm behind the times and just ordered a Fenix 6x Pro even though I'm sure the 7 will be out soon but thank you for the update after 1400 miles. Great video! I'm sure I'll be very happy with my purchase
Nice! The 6X pro is still great!
Have had mine for 2.5k miles, 10 months of so and apart from knowing a bit more about how it works, it remains a great watch. Couple of annoyances: sometimes (especially if you pause it for a while) you can't restart music + deleting a Spotify play list sometimes doesn't work. And sleep isn't great. But these are way down on thd list of things I would like to have on a fitness watch, plus there's some improvements on their way for sleep and lifestyle tracking
That's a lot of miles! Have you found the sleep to improve with the new 10.10 update? Mine has gotten a lot better since filming this video.
I've had my Fenix 5X for several years. Love it. I swim a lot. My longest pill swim with it was 20km.
Nice! Thanks for sharing!
I got the X Pro and love having onboard music. Most of my runs I can head out the door with nothing more than my watch and headphones. I did a 4 hour trail run on Saturday with music and GPS+Glonass and still had 70% battery life when I was done. Pretty happy about that.
BTW - Garmin is beta testing sleep tracking through a third party now.
I'm testing the beta firmware now with the new sleep tracking. Definitely better, thanks for watching!
I have the x pro too and I like the big screen for navigate and the music without phone too. 😊The battery life is pretty good
You don't need to wear a cape to be superhuman, just wear a Fenix 6! Your fitness is simply impressive, Dave.
It pains me to see my VO2 Max in this video because it's slipped over the past couple of years lol! Thanks for watching Lee!
Cant help but stair at your Greek tattoo that says "I miss you" i hope thats what you where going for...
Thats what I was hoping it says. Thanks ❤
Your video made me buy a Garmin Fenix 6 sapphire! Great video, keep it up! Love from India 🇮🇳
Awesome! Enjoy it!
Holy crap can't listen to that music a second longer!
Ha, good to know. Thanks for the feedback 👌
I just ordered the watch it will be here next week 👍🏼💪🏼
Just ordered on --sale going on the website.
Every year I consider getting a watch like this then I don’t and am glad I didn’t every time it gets updated lol
I'm curious when this will get updated!
Really appreciate these videos, thank you seriously. Just purchased a brand new F6 Sapphire today after running with the 5X Sapphire the past 2 years! Excited for the upgrade.
Awesome! Hope you enjoy it!
Thanks for the review. You highlighted exactly those features which I am interested in but haven't found in other reviews, like that map function 👍
Thanks!
Thanks for your diligence and attention to ALL the things you do. Blessing
I appreciate that
@@ChaseTheSummit definitely. I don’t know how you juggle all that you do with reviews and runs while working and maintaining family life. God‘s blessings brother.
Thank you for answering my question about sleep tracking even without asking.
Any time!
I have the Fexnix 6 pro titanium. I've had the issues in the past with rubber and silicon based straps in getting irritation marks around the wrist that would itch and really annoying. I don't get this with the titanium strap. I'm a freelance photographer in landscapes and often away from home in the wilderness. Having a GPS watch that last without charging is great and having the MAPS is a great benefit... It's not better than others and the others are not better than Garmin Fenix 6.. It suits me more.... Great video...
Nice! You could also try a Nylon Band. Coros actually started making QuickFit compatable 22mm Nylon bands that are really nice and easy to get on/off. Glad to hear you're enjoying the F6!
This is the best watch I have ever owned it’s wonderful !
Agreed!
I know the Fenix 7 is around the corner but I just picked up a Fenix 6 Sapphire on sale up here in Canada and am super excited about it. Plus, by this time all the software bugs have been worked out hopefully. Can't wait to get it!!!! Btw, I will be using it for hiking and navigation and durability were on the top of the list. Thanks for the awesome review!!!
Nice! Enjoy the Fenix 6!
You nailed it on that navigation part. The color topo maps have become an on-trail essential for me, and I can't bring myself to shell out cash for a different brand until they have something comparable to the Garmin maps. After using the Fenix 6, breadcrumb maps just won't cut it anymore for me.
Totally agree. Certainly worth the trade off! Thanks for watching.
I purchased the Solar Pro version about 3 weeks ago and have nothing but good things to say about it. I pair it with the Garmin Heart Monitor chest strap and its the perfect combination. I don't think the solar makes that much of a difference in my opinion. Excited to see what they release next. Thanks for the video.
Great to hear!
Love your videos Dave.
I've had my Fénix6X since Jan and absolutely love it. I too had a similar issue with HR band causing massive vo2max increase, I was upto 55 and was looking at other people's 10k times on similar score (via connections) thinking, 'im nowhere near that time' - Glad it's not me going mad, that explains a lot! I've now bought the HRM TRI. Works great so far.
Thanks for your video update, much appreciated 👍🏻
on general thinking: if the HR Band would be on since start and not on begin on the midway as you and Dave did, would it give out different score or would it raise to the different highs too?
( I´m actually researching and focused to maybe Fenix 6 Sapphire to replace my 4yr old Samsung Galaxy Watch )
Love my Fenix 6x sapphire. Got it for a crazy discount and couldn't pass it up. I'm just a roadrunner and this is overkill but very capable and fun to use.
where did you get your watch
Nice! Enjoy it!
Am I the only one who talks to their watch like a human? 😂
@@Ecoroof1986 The Fenix 6 is such a good listener. Glad my videos could help in some way. Thanks for watching.
@@ChaseTheSummit the beta has improved sleep tracking, and on watch info and advise. Relase candidate is out since friday on the beta forum
@@ChaseTheSummit no naps yet tho :( there are dozens of us in the beta community that want it ahahah
Trust me...when I set an interval training thinking I can make a 6 x 1.6k below a certain PACE and I failed ...I imagine my Garmin Fenix 5 plus with the voice of Terence Fletcher (Whiplash movie) saying: NOT QUITE MY TEMPOOOOO!!!!!!!
Hey new sub here, I’m a High school student and I’ve been trying to get my hands on a Garmin but they are definitely way out of my budget, I see that you have been using yours for a long time so I wanted to see if you were interested in selling it to me? I would get a lot of use out of it and probably be able to even afford it.
I've got a Fenix 5 and love it still. I was tempted by the 6 but just can't justify the cost jump at this point. Maybe next year as a birthday present to myself! Great to have a 'living with it' review though. Thanks for that!
The 5 is still a fantastic watch! Even has a slight edge in GPS accuracy due to the more power hungry Mediatech chip. The only thing it's missing is Mapping and Music which most people don't even use. I'd say use it as long as it does what you want! Thanks for watching.
Great video, as always. Have you done a review about the stryd? I know you have mentioned it a few times. I use the Garmin foot pod and RD pod. How do they compare? Thanks.
Stryd review is coming! (Spoiler, its really good)
@@ChaseTheSummit that's super cool. Like I said before, my checking account does not like these videos, but I do. 😂
@@ChaseTheSummit awesome!
I just ordered a Fenix 6 Pro praying I like it first big purchase for a watch like this I ever did. Hope it’s still kickass in 2024
Edit: Your end speech won my sub and thumbs up. You’re a cool dude. You think my Fenix 6 Pro will be viable in 2024? I have never owned a smart watch before.
Absolutely viable in 2024. I have one I bought last year and I love it. I went with the 6x sapphire. It's a beast
is the gps accurate enough? I’m considering a 6 pro but I hear the gps is often inaccurate
i know what you are saying about the relationship with he watches. My fenix 5 has been through 2 chicago marathons and haas about 3500 miles on it.
Thats a lot of miles! Nice work! 👌
Just got my fenix 6 pro coming from a garmin instinct , very happy with my timepiece as a mtb’er I love the screen brightness while out on the trails easy to see , love the gps , love the accuracy, well worth the $500 .
Nice! Enjoy it!
3:07 NEXT WAYPOINT: AS5 BAG :D
I was really looking forward to that Aid Station 5 drop bag!
I'm into many sports, and watch a fair amount of videos, and this is a damn good review. Clear and concise, thanks for the info! Maybe just turn that music down a bit :) Off to watch your next one now.
Thank you!
Picked it up during the holidays for about half off. For me it was worth it since I am already in the Garmin ecosystem. I did wish the GPS was better. I'm surprised how bad it is even on road runs. I'm still happy with the purchase.
Yep, unfortunately the Sony GPS chipset wasn't perfect. The newer multi-band models have gotten a lot better.
I just got the 6X Sapphire for $549 on Prime Day... and now I'm watching videos about it again (haven't since it came out). For this price, I think I'll be happy. I had the Fenix 3 HR and the Vivoactive 3.
Such a good deal! Enjoy
I just got one of those to upgrade from a 3. I can say that even the 3 still receives updates. The 3 was perfect for me, I am sure this one is going to be even better. Thx for the review!
Nice! That's a solid upgrade. Enjoy.
Just bought the secondhand of Fenix 6 pro solar, bit pricey for secondhand but really worthy, i only tested for 5k right now and yes i love it, after ramadhan I'll test it for full marathon
I just upgraded my Fenix 5S Plus to a 6 Pro Solar. I only upgraded because the 5S has poor battery life in GPS (max 8 hours). Other than that, it was a perfect watch. But the 6 Pro Solar? WOW! This is a beast of a watch and I'm loving the amazing battery life. I've had it a month and have hours and hours of mountain bike rides with GPS and I've charged it twice. The new battery features and solar are a welcome addition. I hope you can get your hands on one to try out as this thing is freakin' amazing.
Nice! I did actually test the Pro Solar. Indeed a really nice device! I only wish they could manage to put Sapphire on it... Gorilla Glass scares me 😱
@@ChaseTheSummit Yeah, the lack of sapphire worries me too. When I sold my 5S after getting the 6 Solar, it looked brand new. I abused that thing for over a year, wearing it as my daily watch and through numerous mtb crashes, beach trips, paddling, surfing, airports, etc. and there wasn't a mark on the crystal.
Already bought he watch, but enjoy watching others thoughts. Great input. Took it out for a few 20+ runs, seems great, hardly a hit to battery, will be ramping up for a few ultras and IM in 2021
Awesome! Enjoy!
Great review thanks, brilliant that's it's from someone who has actually used and abused it. I have just bought the 6x Pro Solar and love it. Thanks again.
Thanks for watching!
i still use my Fenix5x Sapphire since 2016, lifetime stats 15.652,18 km so far and still does it's job and motivates me since i am a badge sucker, would be nice for garmin to add extra badge levels so i won't be stucked on max lvl 5 forever. cheers
That's awesome!
Thank you so much. I appreciate you this. The best I have ever watch in all of RUclips
Glad it was helpful!
Great video thanks! I am thinking about getting the fenix 6 as my first smartwatch ever but we are close to the release of fenix 7 and I ll wait. Thanks for the review tho great seeing that from a person that actually fully utilises it.
I dont think we'll see a Fenix 7 until 2021 at this point. They actually just released a new version of the 6 last week so its still relevant. Thanks for watching!
the Fenix series is really solid build! I'm still running with my Fenix 5 thousands of kilometres later.... I never got a problem and also love that when the battery dies the activity is saved before properly.... The map feature and the Garmin pay made me think to upgrade to the Fenix 6, but when you pay so much for a watch, you wait as long as possible and wait for major updates to happen before you upgrade :P
THANKS for the great video
Totally agree, the 5 is still an awesome watch! Thanks for watching.
here i am still with Fenix 3 (Non HR) 2015 :v still solid for my ultratrailrunning, eventho i have to carry small powerbank if my races take morethan 12 hours LOL hahaha
Will get mine in 2 days...Have a Grit X as well but the lack of some features pushed me towards Garmin again.
Awesome! Enjoy!
Good honest review buddy.
Thanks!
Garmin just acquired Firstbeat analytics and I’m waiting those sleep monitoring abilities to improve quite a bit in the near future
Yeah, that's pretty exciting! I hope that means they'll include firstbeat modules on all of their watches instead of only the premium ones. Since they won't need to pay to license per module this could be a reality! Thanks for watching.
Thanks for all the videos. I really was in betwenn Fenix6 and Vantage V2... finally i got the Fenix 6x sapphire thanks to your videos. the best watch i have ever had.
insane what you data get out of it. With HRM Tri u get so much more infos.! cheers!
Lots of data! The hard part is learning what to do with it all. Thanks for watching!
You helped me make the decision to buy my 6 titanium sapphire, and I absolutely love it. Have several other fitness and smart watches, that are just collecting dust...including the new galaxy watch 3.
That's an excellent watch! Enjoy it!
Great video. I have the 5x plus and love it. I had the 3 before that and also loved that one
I remember Fenix 3 being the turning point for Garmin. Color screen! It was an exciting time. The 5X Plus is still a very relevant device. Thanks for watching!
I run without phone almost all the time - so music is a must for me. I see how much of a drain is for the battery. It it’s a good trade off. But biggest win is all the audible info - laps, pace, he zones alerts I did setup - it helps a lot for me when running. So even without music I would keep earphones in (or at least one). I still charge my 6X pro Solar mostly once a week to ~80% and drain it no less that to 20% to preserve battery life for longer period of time.
Thanks for sharing!
I had a Garmin Fénix 6 when I encountered a Grizzly, and thanks to the watch getting stuck in his teeth after he ripped my arm off, I was able to escape death, thanks Garmin!🤙🏼 Great review, thank you.👍🏼
My prosthetic arm...😉
Savage!
Thank you for the review but i think there is 3 thing i which garmin can improve:
1. Backlight display is too dimm for glancing early in the morning. Please bump the brightness in the AOD +10%. I think it would be better.
2. The heart rate sensor measure every second or in real time, should there be an option to select by interval 2 minutes would be great for both battery and data storage.
3. Due to the collection enormous data, the sync process to phone is quite slow especially when wakeup in the morning and i open the app, it is still not ready and in sync.. almost 1 hrs to sync. For me i turn on the pulse ox during sleep also. For this maybe implementing the no.2 will reduce the data transfer size and maybe another idea is by sync partially (half data) at night during sleep to the phone.
Maybe you can comment about it.. 😊
I just bought a Quatix 6 which as far as I can tell is this watch with sailing features. I think these watches are fantastic.
Very cool! Thanks for sharing.
I do more than run or trail run. The maps are probably the most important feature for me. I have used the specialized Boundary Waters Topo maps downloaded to my F5X to keep on track across various lakes, find designated portage points and campsites. Hikes on unfamiliar trails are less of a worry because you know you can get back to your starting point via track back or direct routing. It is also helpful to see landmarks in your vicinity. “Oh, look at that nice lake.” And see on the map that a side trail goes to a lakeside clearing to enjoy a trail break and a quick dip. Try doing that with a breadcrumb track. The only thing I wish is that Garmin would own up to the fact that they screwed up the design of the charging mechanism. Corroding contact points on a watch designed to get sweat, rained, and grimed on is ludicrous.
Sounds like you're fully utilizing the Fenix! Nice! I've seen corroding contacts on some Garmins but it's never happened to mine. I wonder what the factor is there.
@@ChaseTheSummit
It appears to be a big deal on the Garmin forum. Several topic conversations about watches not charging, or charging but data not transferring. I noticed on the 945LTE that the charging nodes are silver in color, rather than gold, but the charging mechanism style is still the same. Maybe the change in metals will improve longevity/functionality. Out of curiosity, do you use one of those rubber charging port covers on your F6Pro Sapphire to keep out gunk and sweat?
On paper, the Fenix 6 Pro was the ideal watch for me. I train for high altitude climbing and I also need a watch for expeditions. What I have learned is that the heart rate monitor is absolute garbage and I am better off guessing than looking at the watch. What I have learned through experimentation and from hundreds of posts on the topic is that the activity profiles take over and try to predict your heart rate. The watch refuses to go over 100 bpm when climbing steps with 80lbs on my back at high pace (when my real bpm is in the 150-180 range). The graphs also show long periods of time (20+ minutes) of identical, unchanged bpm, like I flat-lined at 90. There are other examples but the point is that if you care about the heart rate monitor, this is not the watch for you. Even their support told me that. I'm still using it because, as Dave said, it does excel in certain areas, areas that are more important to me than my heart rate.
It's certainly not perfect... But it still lives on my wrist because of the functions that I find valuable. Right tool for the right job! Thanks for watching.
D. L. Yes, the heart rate monitor is garbage. I’m really disappointed with Garmin. They should ask Apple for help to solve the problem. Because my Apple watch measures my heart rate reliably. All those fancy reports are useless if the underlying data is wrong...
Fenix 5 with 2500+ miles. Everything still works, except the charging connect is a little wangy. Waiting for Fenix 7.., yessss.
Wow! Awesome!
Nov 2022 just ordered a 6S Pro for $350. My concerns are battery (maybe I should have paid the extra $50 for Solar, but would have been stuck with gold and wanted black). And the touch screen. Upgrading from a Vivoactive 3 that does have touchscreen, and that will take some getting used to.
I have had mine for about 6 weeks now, I agree with all the points you made. Especially the maps part. I like to do a lot of off grid camping which entails frequent exploring via trail runs and MTB. Cell service can be non existent in most places we go so being able to see roads, trails, streams, etc. has been a huge step up. I also love the "back to start" feature so I can wonder aimlessly without fear of getting lost ha ha!
Two quick questions for you:
1) Does the running pace tend to lag when changing speed on yours? Whenever I do any sort of interval run, it seems to take a good 15-20 seconds to calibrate. (Previous watch did this almost instantly)
2) When out with a group, is your elevation often much higher? Trying to just let it be, but I feel like I always as its get way more "credit" than everyone else lol
I do notice that my running pace lags a bit. I think it's intentional though. People used to complain that pace jumped all over the place too much so Garmin added a filter to it to reduce the rapid changes. This data comes from GPS information so it takes a few seconds to process. I find the Pace on the Garmin to be better than my Coros or Polar watches.
As far as elevation it's a gamble. Sometimes I'm higher, sometimes I'm lower. You can manually calibrate your altimeter to a known elevation (if you live near sea level this is easy). This will make your altimeter much more accurate.
@@ChaseTheSummit Okay, that's good to know. This is my first Garmin (Go big or go home) so I'm still working through the kinks. Not your problem to solve but the insight is very helpful! Really enjoy your videos, keep it up!
Just got mine ordered, titanium 6, looking forward to it.
Nice! The Titanium is a solid weight reduction from the regular version. Hope you enjoy it.
Got both the fenix 6 sapphire, instinct solar, and a garmin 64 handheld. I love all of my garmins. The instinct solar is my main backup watch. I charge the fenix once a week the instinct once a month. So yeah when my fenix is down I got the instinct in the center console or backpack. And the combo is awesome. Plus I won't loose any sleep over messing up my garmins compared to the freak out ill have if get even a smudge on my omega mechanical.
Nice!
Awesome review. I went for the 6s (non-pro). I've been pretty happy overall, but I do wish it had a bluetooth audio telling me to speed up or slow down. I don't like glancing at my wrist all the time. Otherwise I'm pretty happy.
The 6s should have the audio prompt feature? Make sure it's enabled in Garmin Connect settings and your phone is paired while you're in an activity.
This watch looks like it might suit me. The important thing is the mapping for mountain biking. I just don't wanna get lost, heart rate and fitness tracking are highly secondary.
Sounds like it might be a good fit!
Love my 6X pro solar. Increasing the period and times to climbing, hiking or even spending more time at gym just only to add more records into the logs and encouraged by the training improvement chart💪
I'm hoping they add solar to some of the smaller watches in the next iteration! That would be preeeeettty cool. Thanks for watching.
Thank for this video, it’s very helpful for me, I planing change my FR735xt on fenix 6x. now I know something they don't say when reviewing the watch straight out of the box(new) Greetings from West Pomerania, Poland
Thanks for watching!
I have had my Fenix 6 Saphire about 3 weeks now and I am satisfied with it. I find the heart rate monitor is ok just for everyday measurement, but I bought a Garmin Run chest strap for running and cycling. I have an old fitbit for sleep recording and I found the Garmin was more accurate concerning the hours slept but the Fitbit more accurate for sleep stages. Calories the Fitbit over estimate and the Garmin under estimates but is more consistent day to day. I just add 400 calories at the end of the day for the Garmin and that would be about right. I really like the map feature. I like hiking in the winter and maps are great for this.
Nice! Yes, a big reason why I own a Fenix or 945 is for the navigation and offline map features. Super powerful to have that on your wrist. Thanks for watching!
I bought a COROS vertix but sold it for some reason I was drawn to the garmin Fenix 5 plus and never looked back. All around just like it better and the way it looks better and little more sleek, feel it’s more accurate too
thanks for sharing
Clearly the vlog was made before the hack. I think the Fenix series are good watches but you're right, it depends on what you use it for. I purchased a Fr 935 and it first failed during a 65km ultramarathon in a very remote part of NW Tasmania. It was fine until about 27km, when I suddenly realised I was moving at about 2:30min per km, while hiking on a beach. I arrived at the 28km check point and when I sat down to throw up, I was still moving at 5:30min per km. I had covered 3km on the watch in about 1km. Garmin were less than enthusiastic to do something. Eventually, after several other failures, they replaced it. The new one failed within a month. Eventually Garmin replaced that with a Fr 945. It's ok, but the HRM is highly questionable and the moving pace is similarly problematic. It is a very expensive watch, but Garmin insists on calling all these, including the Fenix series as "recreational devices", as if that is a way to avoid fixing the known faults. And then there is the hack.
Fortunately the hack is over with. I've been using Garmin devices for a decade and this is the first time something like this has happened. I'm not too worried about it happening again but I suppose it could. Sorry to hear you've had issues. These are certainly "recreational devices" but in some situations we're out there really trusting them. Hopefully you find one that works. Thanks for watching!
Had the Fenix 5x and now forerunner 945. I like the overall experience of Garmin and I’m used to their “ecosystem.” Oh and besides running, biking I also golf and the watch is fantastic for that. It’s good there are great alternatives as the competition drives innovation and pricing which ultimately should be good for us the consumers.
Agreed! Garmins going to need to innovate if they want to remain on top. I also hope some other brand is able to bring offline maps to the table. That would really make things interesting!
@@ChaseTheSummit They could do that with better software and hardware support. That's the only thing I see holding them back
As you say that's the thing.... No other company offers the mapping functionality... I can upload any maps I want even my own.... I wish more companies would have the mapping functionality like Garmin on their watches.... not just token mapping like the casino protrek watch or smart watches etc....I'd love more choices!... as of now... If you want real mapping loaded into the watch its just Garmin..
I have the Fenix 5x/5x plus /
Fenix 6x sapphire with Black DLC coating and brown leather strap is coming on Christmas day...
Thanks for a great review as always! 👍
Garmin was lucky that they had the GPS mapping history behind them. It was a lot easier for them to roll it into watches than it is for other manufacturers. I'm sure we'll see a big shift soon though. Thanks for watching!
@@ChaseTheSummit That's a very good point about Garmins GPS mapping background..... yes perhaps soon more companies will catch up and we'll all have more choices : -)
All the best.
I like the F6 design. Consider the weight, I stay stay with my F945 which is a very nice gps watch too.
The 945 is a great device just because of how light it is! It's great that Garmin backported some of the new features from the Fenix 6 too. Thanks for watching.
Fenix 6 and 945 have tha same functions?
Amazing review! Lots of value! Thanks
Thanks!
Great video! Small suggestion! Please pick a background song that isn’t so repetitive. I get songs stuck in my head really bad to the point that it torments me, and this background song is perfect for that. It just repeats the SAME EXACT melody for 10 minutes straight.
Lol yeah, I’ve learned my lesson since this video and no longer use music (or very low volumes)
Yeah, love the watch minus the GPS which is pretty awful. Also use the Stryd pod. The GPS tracks shift left pretty terribly unless you wear the watch on the right hand. I assume this is somehow related to where the antenna is placed or something. Its just weird how different the tracks look depending on the wrist you wear it on (this is not an isolated case, I posted on the forums and dozens of others replied with the same issue)
Hah yeah, the GPS isn't perfect but I've come to accept that I don't need "perfect" GPS tracks. I find the other features outweigh the downsides. Thanks for watching!
Hey the good news is that in the latest Garmin Fenix 6 beta sleep tracking analysis is done by FirstBeat now. I think the overall consensus is that anything over Garmin sleep tracking is an improvement.
I saw! Hopefully the official release comes out soon. I don't mess with the beta firmware. Thanks for watching!
Hi there, thanks for the honest review. Appreciated. I found there are very few people mentioning about map features. The watch is large and small. It’s difficult to see the map while running. I know it has step-by-step guide. Can you a bit more or point me to where I can find out more. I found it difficult to navigate with many presses to move around the map. Thanks 🙏
Maybe I'll make a video about using Navigation on the watch. Thanks for the feedback!
Another great review. Bought one a year plus now and you played a key role in decision making. I practice regular MTB, snowboard ( unfortunately not tried this year stations were closed in France) not a big sportive man but haven’t been disapointed by the watch at all. Like you mapping was and still a key feature, not limited to sportive practices. I have noticed battery days/ hours left not being super precise, the software calculation keeps a sort of priority versus real usage measure tends to be a bit optimistic below 30%, that said battery gauge app solves this. Some bluetooth earbuds appear to not be compatible ( no volume control) but not from famous brands such as bose or sony. Seems related to Garmin environment sknce the vivoactive 4s I offert my wife had the same prob. Again very minor things that aren’t annoying at all. Overall fantastic watch, Garmin pay rocks and is a great feature nowadays. Thanks again for your videos that are constructive and keep your style.
Thanks for sharing and I’m glad you found my videos helpful!
I've had exactly the same experience with HR. Writst based is 10-20 BPM higher than the garmin chest strap and my vo2max jump 4 points in a matter of weeks after switching.
It would be nice to see them dial the HRM in a bit more in the future!
Thanks for all the great reviews Dave! I’m sold on Sapphire glass w/ either the Fenix6 or Coros Apex. Still trying to decide how important mapping is to me.
I noticed that your Amazon link to the Fenix goes to the Pro model for $699 but there is not any mention of Sapphire on that link?? When I do a search for Sapphire with the Fenix6 it comes up with a model that’s $784.95. Just wanted to make sure folks who really want the Sapphire confirm that before they buy.
Good catch. I just updated the link! It should work correctly now!
Thank so much! really in depth
Glad you found it helpful!
Would you recommend to go with the fr 955 or the fenix 6 pro? Seems that the GPS is much better. But how about the bugs in the maps on the 955? Are they solved by now?
Great review! I've had it in my Amazon queue a couple times but can't quite pull the trigger. 😀
When it gets to below $600 I'll not think about it so much.
The Fenix 6 Pro is under $600 right now! amzn.to/3mjrQGE
Thank you for the honest and informative review
Thanks for watching!
Have sapphire for a month now. The only thing that really bothers me is the bezel. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to change it, but get new or refurbished watch, and it costs like 200$. Bought even metal strap and it is a whole new experience. 😊
I just consider any scratches on the bezel character 😉
Does the Fenix 6 have any emergency features? For example, if you get lost or injured, can you send out a distress call or enable other people to find you based on GPS?
Yes, but you need your smartphone on you for it to work and the smartphone needs to have service.