Garmin Wearable Owners

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#2560256 8-Sep-2020 12:54

Another garmin user here, on a 645 now from a Vivoactive. Glad I skipped the whole Apple watch thing.....I only looked that thei first couple of versions of those, at a time when they didn't have a dedicated GPS, and by the time they did I was pretty happily entrenched in Garmin.

Their links with strava are a bonus as well.

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#2560296 8-Sep-2020 13:28

Wow thanks guys awesome feedback. A few things from the combined posts so far

Yes they are insanely expensive but a completely different product to a fitbit or even an Apple Watch, to me it's a multi sport watch as oppose to a smart watch, the lack of touch screen is a plus for me not a negative

I had stumbled upon DCRainmaker and Desfit thanks for that

Happy to see the positive feedback......pretty sure I'll be getting one at some point, the Fenix 6x sapphire is my chosen model if I go ahead, I am more concerned about scratching it than solar

One of my main concerns which nobody has mentioned is Garmins support and their fix one thing break 2 others when releasing new firmware, happy to hear this hasn't been an issue for anybody here

Cheers

geekiegeek

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#2560304 8-Sep-2020 13:41

What's your use case for it? Do you actually need the features that it offers?

I have owned both a Fenix 5 and Fenix 6 pro but have gone back to Apple as I only need run tracking (my Wahoo bike computer does my cycling) in terms of sports tracking and the Apple watch does that just fine. If you just run a bit for exercise and don't really do any other activities that it can track, I think the Fenix series is a bit overkill.

PoHq

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#2560314 8-Sep-2020 14:01

geekiegeek:

What's your use case for it? Do you actually need the features that it offers?

I have owned both a Fenix 5 and Fenix 6 pro but have gone back to Apple as I only need run tracking (my Wahoo bike computer does my cycling) in terms of sports tracking and the Apple watch does that just fine. If you just run a bit for exercise and don't really do any other activities that it can track, I think the Fenix series is a bit overkill.

Good question, I am probably somewhere in the middle, nothing at all resembling a serious multisport athlete but not a once or twice a week runner either, the apple watch can without a doubt handle my fitness activities but I am interested in the Fenix for other benefits, the battery life, durability and mapping to name a few. It will replace my old bike computer to.

Undoubtedly I won't use all the features probably nowhere near. I know not many people like the look of it but I do, I like a larger watch and as previously mentioned I also like the fact it's not a smart watch as such.

sidefx

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#2560315 8-Sep-2020 14:04

PoHq:

One of my main concerns which nobody has mentioned is Garmins support and their fix one thing break 2 others when releasing new firmware, happy to hear this hasn't been an issue for anybody here

I've heard this too, but TBH have not noticed it at all. Other than the recent blip where all their systems apparently got ransomwared everything seems to work well.

The only complaint I would have about my watch is one of the charging pins seems to have corroded over time. Apparently it was a fairly well know issue, and mine has almost completely disappeared (but still charges fine) - I researched it when I first noticed it and apparently Garmin would happily send you a brand new watch under warranty if you contacted them direct. My partner also had a FR645 for a while which had an issue and after contacting Garmin and doing some troubleshooting on the phone they told her that they would replace it under warranty, but with a FR945 because they didn't have any more FR645s readily available in the country... Pretty impressed by that TBH.

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alasta

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#2560319 8-Sep-2020 14:10

PoHq:

Happy to see the positive feedback......pretty sure I'll be getting one at some point, the Fenix 6x sapphire is my chosen model if I go ahead, I am more concerned about scratching it than solar

Just make sure you are aware of how big the X versions are. It would look ridiculous on me, but if you're a big guy who can wear one comfortably then the extra display real estate would be nice.

One of my main concerns which nobody has mentioned is Garmins support and their fix one thing break 2 others when releasing new firmware, happy to hear this hasn't been an issue for anybody here

I haven't experienced this, although as a precaution I always delay installing iOS updates to give Garmin enough time to update their software for whatever Apple's latest OS update might break. I'm not a computer nut so I don't really want Apple's latest and greatest until they've proven that it works properly anyway.

My only other advice would be to consider what accessories you might want so that you can budget for that. I bought an orange silicone band ($90), a chest strap HRM ($160), and a charging cable ($40). You can see how the cost starts to add up.

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geoffwnz

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#2560326 8-Sep-2020 14:21

alasta:

My only other advice would be to consider what accessories you might want so that you can budget for that. I bought an orange silicone band ($90), a chest strap HRM ($160), and a charging cable ($40). You can see how the cost starts to add up.

dcrainmaker...the-best-garmin-charger-only-9-for-a-two-pack-of-these-pucks

I followed this link and grabbed a couple of two packs of these charge cables. A little more than $9 each pack now, but still cheap.

As for software updates, neither the app nor the watch has seemed to suffer any issues from updates. *touches wood*
As mentioned, the only issue of note was the ransomware attack on Garmin themselves that took them offline for a week but the only outcome of that was being unable to upload activities or use most of the app during that time. Activities were still stored on the watch and you could manually grab the file off the watch and manually upload to Strava if you really wanted to.
Seems to overall be a fairly solid platform. It's almost like they take pride in their products and do things like, I don't know, testing before they release updates.

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davidcole

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#2560329 8-Sep-2020 14:23

geoffwnz:

alasta:

My only other advice would be to consider what accessories you might want so that you can budget for that. I bought an orange silicone band ($90), a chest strap HRM ($160), and a charging cable ($40). You can see how the cost starts to add up.

dcrainmaker...the-best-garmin-charger-only-9-for-a-two-pack-of-these-pucks

I followed this link and grabbed a couple of two packs of these charge cables. A little more than $9 each pack now, but still cheap.

As for software updates, neither the app nor the watch has seemed to suffer any issues from updates. *touches wood*
As mentioned, the only issue of note was the ransomware attack on Garmin themselves that took them offline for a week but the only outcome of that was being unable to upload activities or use most of the app during that time. Activities were still stored on the watch and you could manually grab the file off the watch and manually upload to Strava if you really wanted to.
Seems to overall be a fairly solid platform. It's almost like they take pride in their products and do things like, I don't know, testing before they release updates.

Mine seems the other way, the 645 seems to be this weird forgotten child. It looked like it had more features than the similarly priced 245 (barometric pressure) but I've had it a year now, and not sure it's actually fully had a firmware update yet.

geoffwnz

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#2560332 8-Sep-2020 14:41

davidcole:

Mine seems the other way, the 645 seems to be this weird forgotten child. It looked like it had more features than the similarly priced 245 (barometric pressure) but I've had it a year now, and not sure it's actually fully had a firmware update yet.

I presume you have it registered on Garmin Express?
Maybe it was perfect from day one. :-)

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davidcole

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#2560337 8-Sep-2020 14:46

geoffwnz:

davidcole:

Mine seems the other way, the 645 seems to be this weird forgotten child. It looked like it had more features than the similarly priced 245 (barometric pressure) but I've had it a year now, and not sure it's actually fully had a firmware update yet.

I presume you have it registered on Garmin Express?
Maybe it was perfect from day one. :-)

I think there's been one update, I thought firmware was part of Garmin Connect and ConnectIQ. That's how my Vivoactive got updated. I did seem some complaints so i'm not overly too keen to be bleeding edge, and don't have any issues.

geoffwnz

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#2560340 8-Sep-2020 14:51

davidcole:

geoffwnz:

I presume you have it registered on Garmin Express?
Maybe it was perfect from day one. :-)

I think there's been one update, I thought firmware was part of Garmin Connect and ConnectIQ. That's how my Vivoactive got updated. I did seem some complaints so i'm not overly too keen to be bleeding edge, and don't have any issues.

I believe Connect does do updates fairly automatically on sync. I've mostly got mine through Express since I already had that on the PC for the car GPS unit.

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muppet

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#2560343 8-Sep-2020 15:00

I have a Fenix 6 Pro.

It's a great watch, I love it. Utterly love it. If I could only save my Pixel 4XL or my F6 Pro, I'd save the Fenix.

Battery life is great, they release regular firmware updates for it etc. You can even if you're keen download and test Beta updates (they don't push these via Garmin connect, you have to apply them manually)

I would really suggest you read the Garmin Fenix 6 forums though, some people have issues with

Wrist Heart Rate. For me it's fine, BUT I run with a HRM-RUN chest strap to get extra metrics.
People also moan about GPS accuracy, but I personally feel that's people not understanding that GPS isn't millimetre accurate. Some people aren't happy about the how you have to orient the watch to get a "good" GPS signal.

Most complaints seem to be from people who seem to expect it's going to be 100% accurate in everything it does. If you're the sort of person that's going to get annoyed because it doesn't record your naps (it doesn't) or it says you ran 48.74km when you know for a fact it was really 48.83km, then this watch isn't for you. If you need it to record every single heartbeat with 100% accuracy, this watch isn't for you. I will find (as I found with my Fitbit before it) that if I suddenly go from sitting still to running up the hill outside work, the wrist heartrate won't pickup my HR going through the roof instantly (chest strap will though)

But yea, I love mine, utterly love it. I had a Vivoactive 3m before this (it helped me train and then run my first ever Marathon), it's WHR cracked though which annoyed me. I think it got mozzie spray on it though, it's plastic. I love the F6 doesn't have a touchscreen though, it's a bit harder to do some things like entering pin number for Garmin Pay, but otherwise it's great. No accidental features activated.

I record at least two activities every weekday (ride to/from work) with it, plus additional runs and walks. I listen to music with it, and sometiems do a bit of geocaching etc with the maps feature.

It's also important to know it's "Smart" capabilities are limited. You can from an Android phone answer/reject calls, and reply to txt/messenger messages with (Customisable) pre-defined messages. It'll remind you of meetings etc and show you the weather, all as long as it's paired to your phone. That's about the extent of the smartness though. Oh and it's got Garmin Pay which I love, I can activate it with a shortcut and pay for things instantly without even having to grab my phone/wallet.

One final thing: I got my F6 Pro back in Jan, and the main start/stop button has just started playing up badly. Sometimes it won't depress, or it'll think I've pressed it 3-4 times when I've pressed it once. So I'm right at the moment working on getting a replacement.

My only reget is I didn't wait for the f6 Pro Solar (the 6X Solar was available, but too big for my stick wrists)

PoHq

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#2560361 8-Sep-2020 15:28

muppet:

I have a Fenix 6 Pro.

It's a great watch, I love it. Utterly love it. If I could only save my Pixel 4XL or my F6 Pro, I'd save the Fenix.

Battery life is great, they release regular firmware updates for it etc. You can even if you're keen download and test Beta updates (they don't push these via Garmin connect, you have to apply them manually)

I would really suggest you read the Garmin Fenix 6 forums though, some people have issues with

Wrist Heart Rate. For me it's fine, BUT I run with a HRM-RUN chest strap to get extra metrics.
People also moan about GPS accuracy, but I personally feel that's people not understanding that GPS isn't millimetre accurate. Some people aren't happy about the how you have to orient the watch to get a "good" GPS signal.
Most complaints seem to be from people who seem to expect it's going to be 100% accurate in everything it does. If you're the sort of person that's going to get annoyed because it doesn't record your naps (it doesn't) or it says you ran 48.74km when you know for a fact it was really 48.83km, then this watch isn't for you. If you need it to record every single heartbeat with 100% accuracy, this watch isn't for you. I will find (as I found with my Fitbit before it) that if I suddenly go from sitting still to running up the hill outside work, the wrist heartrate won't pickup my HR going through the roof instantly (chest strap will though)

But yea, I love mine, utterly love it. I had a Vivoactive 3m before this (it helped me train and then run my first ever Marathon), it's WHR cracked though which annoyed me. I think it got mozzie spray on it though, it's plastic.

I record at least two activities every week day (ride to/from work) with it, plus additional runs and walks. I listen to music with it, and sometiems do a bit of geocaching etc with the maps feature.

It's also important to know it's "Smart" capabilities are limited. You can from an Android phone answer/reject calls, and reply to txt/messenger messages with (Customisable) pre-defined messages. Oh and it's got Garmin Pay which I love, I can activate it with a shortcut and pay for things instantly without even having to grab my phone/wallet.

One final thing: I got my F6 Pro back in Jan, and the main start/stop button has just started playing up badly. Sometimes it won't depress, or it'll think I've pressed it 3-4 times when I've pressed it once. So I'm right at the moment working on getting a replacement.

My only reget is I didn't wait for the f6 Pro Solar (the 6X Solar was available, but too big for my stick wrists)

Superb info thank you very much. Aside from Garmin pay which will be very useful I'm happy at the lack of "smart" features. Just a bit less in your face than a constantly dinging with smartphone notifications true smart watch.

muppet

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#2560365 8-Sep-2020 15:43

PoHq:

Superb info thank you very much. Aside from Garmin pay which will be very useful I'm happy at the lack of "smart" features. Just a bit less in your face than a constantly dinging with smartphone notifications true smart watch.

Yes, I like that it's very easy to either

a) Just turn off the BT between the watch and the phone (saves you battery life too) or

b) Turn on the DND function, which will stop you getting notifications from your phone and also (if you have it turned on) the reminders to get up and move etc.

My final bit of advice I forgot to post in the initial post is that sometimes places like Rebel Sports will have a 30% off EVERYTHING sale. If you can find the watch for sale from them, you can then walk into Noel Leeming and get the price match thing. I can promise you, it makes their staff go from super friendly to pissed-off-and-grumpy at 100 miles an hour when you ask for it, but that's exactly how I got my F6 Pro 30% off. Even then, far out, it was a big $ commitment. However, I don't regret it at all.

PoHq

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#2560400 8-Sep-2020 16:14

muppet:

PoHq:

Superb info thank you very much. Aside from Garmin pay which will be very useful I'm happy at the lack of "smart" features. Just a bit less in your face than a constantly dinging with smartphone notifications true smart watch.

Yes, I like that it's very easy to either

a) Just turn off the BT between the watch and the phone (saves you battery life too) or

b) Turn on the DND function, which will stop you getting notifications from your phone and also (if you have it turned on) the reminders to get up and move etc.

My final bit of advice I forgot to post in the initial post is that sometimes places like Rebel Sports will have a 30% off EVERYTHING sale. If you can find the watch for sale from them, you can then walk into Noel Leeming and get the price match thing. I can promise you, it makes their staff go from super friendly to pissed-off-and-grumpy at 100 miles an hour when you ask for it, but that's exactly how I got my F6 Pro 30% off. Even then, far out, it was a big $ commitment. However, I don't regret it at all.

Thanks again! Great info

Went straight to the rebel site but they do not stock the model I want, the 6X Sapphire. That would have been amazing to get 30 percent off RRP!

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