Garmin Fenix 8
MSRP $1,000.00
“The Garmin Fenix 8 is among the most feature-rich smartwatches ever, however all this comes at a price, each actually and figuratively.”
Pros
- Excellent show
- Outstanding battery life
- Tracking of nearly each sport
- Offline voice assistant
- Built-in LED flashlight
Cons
- Extremely dear
- Forgettable smartwatch expertise
- No wi-fi charging or mobile connectivity
- Laggy maps, transitions, and UX parts
Like all facets of know-how, smartwatches have at all times prioritized thinness and design over the chief criticism that most individuals have: battery life. The legal guidelines of physics at all times show true: you possibly can have one thing skinny, one thing that lasts eternally, or one thing that does every thing, however you possibly can by no means have all three.
Yet, amid all of the best smartwatches offered by Apple, Samsung, and Google, a vary of thicker watches guarantees battery lifetime of as much as a number of weeks longer. Some of those are hybrid smartwatches, specializing in combining analog watches with restricted digital capabilities, whereas the premium vary of smartwatches gives higher battery life in a larger construct.
The Garmin Fenix 8 sits someplace between a common smartwatch and a hybrid. It gives all the standard options you’d anticipate from a sports activities watch. The profit? Seventeen-day battery life and all of the sports activities monitoring you possibly can ask for. The price? A heavier construct and a mean smartwatch expertise. The consequence? A watch that’s exhausting to advocate at $1,000, until you’re critical about sports activities. This is our Garmin Fenix 8 evaluate.
Garmin Fenix 8 specs
| Size | 43mm
47mm 51mm |
| Dimensions | 43 x 43 x 13.8 mm (43mm)
47 x 47 x 13.8 mm (47mm) 51 x 51 x 14.7 mm (51mm) |
| Weight | 43mm: 50g (chrome steel)
43mm: 44g (titanium) 47mm: 59g (chrome steel) 47mm: 52g (titanium) 51mm: 74g (chrome steel) 51mm: 64g (titanium) |
| Display | 43mm AMOLED: 1.3″, 416 x 416 pixels
47mm AMOLED: 1.4″, 454 x 454 pixels 47mm Solar: 1.3″, 260 x 260 pixels 51mm AMOLED: 1.4″, 454 x 454 pixels 51mm Solar: 1.4″, 280 x 280 pixels |
| Storage | 32GB |
| Health and health monitoring | Heart price monitoring
Abnormal heart-rate alerts Respiration price Fitness age Body battery Stress monitoring Sleep monitoring Cycle monitoring Skin temperature Jet lag adviser |
| Sensors | GPS GLONASS Galileo QZSS Blood Oxygen Saturation Monitor Barometric altimeter Compass Gyroscope Accelerometer Thermometer |
| Price | 43mm AMOLED chrome steel: $1,000
43mm AMOLED titanium: $1,100 47mm AMOLED chrome steel: $1,000 47mm AMOLED titanium: $1,100 47mm Solar titanium: $1,100 51mm AMOLED chrome steel: $1,100 51mm AMOLED titanium: $1,200 51mm Solar titanium: $1,200 |
The Garmin Fenix 8 is massive and constructed for something
There’s no getting round it: the Fenix 8 is a stylish-looking rugged watch. This wtach is designed for many who know no bounds, and whereas many design modifications guarantee it’s appropriate for everybody, Garmin prioritized battery life and ruggedness over thinness. The design language skews much more towards rugged attraction than the Galaxy Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Ultra 2, which obtain far much less, however mix higher into day by day life.
I’m utilizing the 47mm mannequin in chrome steel, which weighs 80 grams with the included silicone wrist strap or 59 grams by itself. The titanium mannequin is a bit lighter at 73 grams with the watch band (and 52 grams by itself). For context, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 weighs 62 grams. The added heft is a obligatory trade-off for the ruggedness and battery life, however that doesn’t cease the Fenix 8 from feeling heavy on the wrist.
- 1.
Garmin Fenix 8 with the flashlight off - 2.
Garmin Fenix 8 with the flashlight on
This heft comes with many advantages. Every smartwatch can double as a mean flashlight, however this implies a shortly depleted battery and having to position your arm at a clumsy angle. The flashlight on the high of the Fenix 8 beneath the show faces ahead, and it’s a super, if not excellent implementation. I typically flip to my cellphone for a flashlight, and whereas the iPhone 16 Pro flashlight is considerably brighter, the Garmin Fenix 8 is extra sensible.
From diving within the Atlantic to snowboarding within the Alps, the Garmin Fenix 8 is designed to outlive all of it.
There’s little doubt that this watch is made to be rugged. Regardless of which mannequin you purchase, there are leakproof metallic buttons, a new guard protecting the important sensors, and a army score for shock, thermal, and water resistance as much as a depth of 100 meters. From diving within the Atlantic to snowboarding within the Alps, the Garmin Fenix 8 is designed to outlive all of it.
This is my first Garmin watch and, after having used extra conventional smartwatches for a few years, the buttons on the Fenix 8 are nice, however mildly complicated. However, when you’ve used a Garmin watch earlier than, these controls can be tremendous acquainted. We’ve all been annoyed when making an attempt to make use of a smartwatch with a moist display, however with the ability to navigate by way of the whole expertise utilizing buttons is extra helpful than I might have anticipated.
On the rear, you’ll discover the optical coronary heart price sensor, in addition to the charging connector pins. Unlike most smartwatches, there’s no wi-fi charging. Instead, the Garmin Fenix 8 connects through a proprietary USB cable, which implies it’s unusable whereas charging. Thankfully, you possibly can nonetheless prop the Fenix 8 up on its facet whereas it’s topping up, nevertheless it’s far much less handy and safe. There are a few design selections that will really feel odd coming from a common smartwatch, however the Garmin Fenix 8 delivers on its ambitions of being a rugged smartwatch that’s prepared for something.
A selection of two shows
When researching the specs of the Garmin Fenix 8, I shortly realized why I had strayed removed from Garmin previously. Alongside a few watch strap kinds and two selections of construct, there are additionally two selections of show. Each has its advantages, however a lot of that is the remnants of merging two earlier product strains into the Fenix 8 vary.
First, there’s the mannequin I’m testing with an AMOLED show. The Fenix 8 I’m testing is successfully a Garmin Epix watch, though the smallest sizes have a 0.1-inch bigger show. Then there’s the MIP-based Fenix 8 Solar, which has a less-reflective and less-vibrant show, however also can recharge itself utilizing photo voltaic. This is from the earlier Fenix vary. Not complicated in any respect, proper?
The AMOLED mannequin I’ve been testing is implausible. It’s vibrant and pretty straightforward to learn in all situations, and it’s giant sufficient to be helpful for mapping and triaging info. In explicit, a few of Garmin’s watch faces have improved massively, and the color-rich AMOLED show makes them a pleasure to make use of. It’s designed to work in a number of environments, which performs into the sports activities focus of the well being options.
Plenty of sports-centric well being/health options
Everything on the Garmin Fenix 8 is designed with particular sports activities in thoughts. If you have an interest in snowboarding, diving, mountain climbing, browsing, or {golfing}, that is the smartwatch for you. Like the Garmin Descent collection, you get a absolutely useful dive pc that you just at all times have on you. It gives key info like depth, time, compass, and water temperature out of your wrist, nevertheless it gained’t combine with an oxygen tank, so it gained’t be appropriate for critical divers.
The Garmin Fenix 8 is right if you’re multidisciplined. It’s extra than simply a companion in your wrist; lots of the new options are tailor-made that will help you get higher on the sports activities you want. Enjoy browsing, {golfing} or snowboarding? There’s a devoted exercise profile for these, and there’s help for monitoring nearly the whole spectrum of common sports activities. In faculty and wish to make the massive time? This might be the watch you could observe your information.
There is a lot extra worth than simply for sports activities fanatics. The coronary heart price monitor is ECG-enabled and gives 24/7 steady coronary heart price monitoring. The watch also can use the information from a paired coronary heart price monitor in the course of the exercise, which appeals to me for its advantage of monitoring my coronary heart throughout train.
There’s additionally detailed sleep monitoring, and the lengthy battery life on the Garmin Fenix 8 makes it splendid for this problem. However, it’s value noting that the interface on the watch and the accompanying Garmin Connect app means there are a number of faucets requiredto discover the earlier night time’s information. The Garmin Fenix 8 tracks a lot of information, however makes it far too troublesome to entry and study from it.
Far extra common than a common smartwatch
If I have been a critical sportsperson, the Garmin Fenix 8 would seemingly be my dream smartwatch. But it’s exactly as a result of I’m not that it has left me wanting. Although it’s billed as a smartwatch, it’s a considerably inferior expertise to these choices from cellphone makers.
The navigation buttons make it straightforward to traverse the interface, however as you achieve this, the Fenix 8 begins to collapse. There’s a massive show, however when you get a number of menus in, notifications nonetheless present little or no. There are not any fast replies or actions, making it a pretty ineffective approach of triaging your life. There are additionally a lot of various menus that require acclimating to; the Garmin Fenix 8 is a watch that you would be able to evolve and discover with, however there’ll be rising pains alongside the way in which.
The expertise is proscribed, and this can be by design, however the remainder of the watch is equally irritating. Most smartwatches are quick within the transitions, however the Garmin Fenix 8 is noticeably slower. There’s a perpetual lag, particularly after utilizing the buttons for enter, and whereas it has improved with an replace, it’s nonetheless irritating given the worth tag.
The Garmin Fenix 8 is a look ahead to all of your adventures, however there’ll be rising pains alongside the way in which.
A selected shock is the dearth of mobile connectivity. The Garmin Fenix 8 is designed for the good open air, however you at all times want a cellphone close by for something aside from some easy voice instructions. There’s an irony to this, as one of many new options is the speaker/microphone, which may solely be used for voice instructions. These voice instructions are helpful, permitting you to begin actions, set timers, or document notes straight from the watch, however the lack of mobile connectivity is missed.
You can get some options like satellite tv for pc SOS, monitoring, and climate with the inReach options within the Garmin Messenger app, however this requires further {hardware} and software program. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 prices $200 much less and consists of each satellite tv for pc options and the {hardware} for mobile connectivity.
There is one significantly good function in regards to the Garmin Fenix 8: the Glance menu. This combines key info resembling calendar, battery, climate, dawn and sundown instances, well being metrics, and extra in a single straightforward to digest display. There’s simply sufficient information to make it very helpful as a dashboard to your life. It’s easy, but extremely efficient.
Battery life for days
Even although there are challenges with the Garmin Fenix 8 expertise, it excels in the important thing space that almost all wearables fail: battery life. How a lot battery life you’ll get will rely upon how you utilize your watch.
The mannequin I’ve been testing (47mm AMOLED non-titanium) is slated for a most of as much as 23 days on a single cost. However, that’s within the battery saver watch mode that disables many options. If you wish to use it as a smartwatch, it’s rated as as much as seven days with the always-on show (AOD) or as much as 16 days with out. That’s much less spectacular, however nonetheless considerably higher than the competitors.
As anticipated, the battery life drops when utilizing varied sports activities modes or with intensive duties. In GPS-only mode — the fundamental kind of GPS monitoring — the battery life is rated as as much as 47 hours with out the AOD and 37 hours with. Need GPS whereas preserving battery life? You’ll rise up to 81 hours, nevertheless it’s not accessible with AOD enabled. Want one of the best sign utilizing all satellite tv for pc techniques and a number of frequency bands? You’ll rise up to 35 hours of steady utilization, though when you allow music mode, this drops to simply 10 hours (the bottom potential).
Things get attention-grabbing when contemplating the scale. I’m utilizing the 47mm mannequin, however when you go for the smaller 43mm model, battery life drops considerably. The most battery life drops from 23 days to fifteen days, whereas smartwatch mode drops to simply 4 days with the AOD enabled (versus 7 days). Every score is considerably decrease, typically as much as 40% decrease.
The Garmin Fenix 8 is a shining instance of smartwatch battery life performed correctly.
Conversely, when you go for the larger 51mm mannequin, the numbers enhance by a related quantity throughout all metrics, with battery saver watch mode growing to 41 days and as much as 29 days in smartwatch mode with out the AOD. That’s phenomenal battery life given every thing this watch can do. Not sufficient for you? The Fenix 8 Solar drops the AMOLED show, however gives the identical expertise with as much as 107 days of battery life utilizing photo voltaic charging and 48 days with out. The Garmin Fenix 8 is a shining instance of smartwatch battery life performed correctly.
Garmin Fenix 8 value and availability
The Garmin Fenix 8 represents an amalgamation of options accessible on different Garmin gadgets. Garmin has packaged it up as a new product with new options and, crucially, important value hikes.
The least expensive Fenix 8 is $1,000 for the Fenix 8 47mm Slate Gray with a black band that I’ve been testing. The titanium possibility prices $100 extra and is available in two colour mixtures: titanium with an orange band like the unique Apple Watch Ultra 2, or a darkish grey titanium physique with a black silicone band.
The 43mm mannequin is priced the identical, though it is available in totally different colour mixtures. Then there’s the 51mm mannequin, which prices $100 extra at $1,200. This is one of the best worth for the numerous battery life will increase, when you don’t thoughts the bigger measurement. If you need the Solar version for the additional battery life or the choice show selection, it’s priced the identical because the AMOLED variations.
Should you purchase the Garmin Fenix 8?
The Garmin Fenix 8 is among the most feature-rich smartwatches ever, however all this comes at a price, each actually and figuratively. The $1,000 price ticket makes it exhausting to advocate given a mean smartwatch expertise, whereas the sheer suite of options means it does an excessive amount of for many customers.
The largest difficulty with recommending the Garmin Fenix 8 is that many of the options can be found in different Garmin smartwatches which might be considerably cheaper. In some ways, it’s a repackaged smartwatch, the product born of a need to incorporate all of Garmin’s best hits in a single gadget. Considering that is aimed toward loyal Garmin followers, the worth enhance of as much as $300 during the last technology is a step too far for most individuals.
If you’re a hardcore health fanatic, take pleasure in Garmin’s smartwatch expertise, and have a minimum of $1,000 to spend, the Garmin Fenix 8 is an undeniably highly effective smartwatch — and one you’re sure to take pleasure in. But for everybody else, you’re seemingly higher off with a rugged watch from Apple or Samsung, and even one of Garmin’s cheaper smartwatch options.
