Garmin Fenix

Long-term owners

after 6 years with a Garmin Fenix still holding 90% of its battery

Jul 2026 · comment

2 years ago I got a Fenix 5 for 180 and it was amazing for me

Sep 2026 · comment

within the 6+ years I have had mine

Jan 2026 · comment

What hackers pick instead

• Garmin watchRecommended for battery life lasting weeks, accurate fitness and health tracking, and phone-independent utility, though many find the interface clunky and dislike the proprietary charger.123recommend
• Garmin InstinctRecommended for weeks of battery life from solar charging and a rugged build; the common caveat is poor software UX.33recommend
• Coros watchPeople recommend Coros watches for fast performance, simple software and good value compared with Garmin. The most common caveat is a closed platform that does not support third-party apps.17recommend
• Una WatchPeople recommend it for its good hardware, fair price, repairability and USB-C; the most common caveat is limited water resistance.12recommend
• Garmin ForerunnerRecommended for long battery life, lasting years of running use and a well-regarded stress score; the most common caveat is a confusing button-based software interface.10recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 53 comments. Each links to the original.

1. I love the look of the watch but it does not feel snappy to use in any way- significant lag after each button press.

   Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “Apple, fix my keyboard before the timer ends or I'm leaving iPhone”

2. It's good enough to do that, not nearly bright enough to be useful for taking the dog out at night

   Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “Pebble Production: February Update”

3. Love the industrial design, far more than Apple Watch Ultra or certainly any Android watch.

   Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Pixel Watch 5”

4. Garmin smart watches are great. They last for days or weeks depending on the model.

   Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “I Do Not Recommend Google Hardware”

5. I love my Coros Nomad and Garmin Fenix so much more than the Apple Watch Ultra

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Una Watch: Garmin watch competitor but repairable, open ecosystem and USB-C”

6. Garmin battery life and durability is just so much better for my use case

   Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Apple Watch Series 12”

7. albeit the screen will be a bit small to use as a proper bike computer

   Mixed · Dec 2025 · in “Autoland saves King Air, everyone reported safe”

8. My Fenix 8 lasts for about a month with 10 hours per week of training.

   Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Pixel Watch 5”

9. this thing lasts a full month if I'm not actively tracking workouts

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Pebble Round 2 – The Most Stylish Pebble Ever”

10. I liked its feature set, but it's just too large for me physically.

    Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Una Watch: Garmin watch competitor but repairable, open ecosystem and USB-C”

11. after 6 years with a Garmin Fenix still holding 90% of its battery

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Una Watch: Garmin watch competitor but repairable, open ecosystem and USB-C”

12. 2 years ago I got a Fenix 5 for 180 and it was amazing for me

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Exercise intensity is associated with cardiometabolic health”

13. The only smartwatch I've had luck with is the Garmin series

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Pixel Watch 5”

14. the screen looks brand new. really phenomenal watches.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Una Watch: Garmin watch competitor but repairable, open ecosystem and USB-C”

15. my 2018 hardware still does everything it did in 2018

    Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “Pebble Production: February Update”

16. the metrics consistently back up the actual results

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Una Watch: Garmin watch competitor but repairable, open ecosystem and USB-C”

17. send the GPX overs to a gpsmap unit or Fenix watch

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Siri AI”

18. has over two weeks with regular activity tracking

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Apple Watch Ultra 4”

19. I have a 7S and it still gets updates regularly.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Una Watch: Garmin watch competitor but repairable, open ecosystem and USB-C”

20. my 2yo Fenix 7 Solar definitely lasts 3-4 weeks

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Is this the end of the once-mighty GoPro?”

21. Garmin UX and software overall is such dogshit

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Apple Watch Ultra 4”

22. for route tracking and the long battery life

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Una Watch: Garmin watch competitor but repairable, open ecosystem and USB-C”

23. My Fenix 8 charges once every 26-29 days.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Apple Watch Series 12”

24. within the 6+ years I have had mine

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking”

25. it has an insane number of features

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Una Watch: Garmin watch competitor but repairable, open ecosystem and USB-C”

26. Garmin battery life is insane.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Pebble Round 2 – The Most Stylish Pebble Ever”

27. I just wish Garmin would get their act together with filtering notifications on iOS.

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Apple Watch Series 12”

28. the new watches are $1300 luxury items now, that's not the price of a fitness watch

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Pebble Production: February Update”

29. Garmin would get their act together with filtering notifications on iOS

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Apple Watch Series 12”

30. my Fenix 8 is often so slow that I had to pause cycling to zoom in/out

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “Is this the end of the once-mighty GoPro?”

31. $1200 for a titanium Fenix? I don't care how long the battery lasts

    Criticizes · Sep 2026 · in “Apple Watch Ultra 4”

32. their crappy iOS support where you cannot filter apps out

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “Pixel Watch 5”

33. Maybe it is not super accurate, but it was eye-opening for me to see how the score changes for the worse even with a little bit of alcohol.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Training My Smartwatch to Track Intelligence”

34. they completely redid the onboarding process last year. watch data and everything transfers right over to new devices now

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Pebble Round 2 – The Most Stylish Pebble Ever”

35. So much handier than fooling around on small touch screens when you are e.g. on a bike or hiking

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Six Years Perfecting Maps on WatchOS”

36. For the models that do (e.g. Fenix, Venu X1, high-end forerunners), it is glorious though.

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Six Years Perfecting Maps on WatchOS”

37. I'm very happy with it, including the microphone, sometimes even use it to take calls

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Pixel Watch 5”

38. I'm very happy with the ability to toggle the backlight on with a single button

    Recommends · Aug 2026 · in “Pixel Watch 5”

39. I use the white screen backlight "flashlight" on my Fenix 6 every day

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Pebble Production: February Update”

40. obviously still using the Garmin for workouts

    Mixed · Aug 2026 · in “Pixel Watch 5”