Convince me- smartwatch

[The Ri Guy]

I bought into all the Garmin Fenix hype a year or two ago and bought the 5x Sapphire.

TBH I use literally 0 of the functions and the weight often agitates my wrist, which is not very large. The constant emails/texts/etc. piss me off more than anything, so much so I had to turn them off. I really only get value out of the the hike tracking function and the maps maybe a couple times a year if I don't want to pull out my Topo or inReach.

As someone who could care less about tracking their stats, I wish I had saved a few hundred bucks.

Nice watch tho, has taken a hell of a beating.

 

[Pgohil]

I bought into all the Garmin Fenix hype a year or two ago and bought the 5x Sapphire.

TBH I use literally 0 of the functions and the weight often agitates my wrist, which is not very large. The constant emails/texts/etc. piss me off more than anything, so much so I had to turn them off. I really only get value out of the the hike tracking function and the maps maybe a couple times a year if I don't want to pull out my Topo or inReach.

As someone who could care less about tracking their stats, I wish I had saved a few hundred bucks.

Nice watch tho, has taken a hell of a beating.

What smartwatch do you feel would have been a better option for you?

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[The Ri Guy]

What smartwatch do you feel would have been a better option for you?

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In all honesty I would still probably get a Garmin, but I would get the smallest one available (42MM I think?). I can't not recommend it, as it's a phenomenal watch and impressive piece of technology, I just don't get any value out of all the additional features for my lifestyle. In an ideal world, they'd make a 41MM Solar w/GPS & Maps and I would get that and turn off all the notifications and features I don't want. That doesn't exist so I probably would have gotten the Garmin Instinct if it had been available at the time, quite a bit less expensive but checks the boxes besides solar.

It is great to have all the features in the world available at your fingertips with an easy on/off, I just find I don't use them at all personally. Despite it being bulky and my pocketbook regret, I do still wear mine at all times unless I'm working out (too constrictive with how tight I have to synch it) or relaxing at home.

As someone else noted earlier, the one time I've needed the map function it saved my ass from a lot of wandering. I was ~3 miles from base camp in the bottom of a dark timber swamp I had never hunted and got turned around, inReach dead, battery pack died, Topo and Compass in the truck, but my watch had battery. Got me out no problem because I had it synced with my inReach pins.

Edit: Here's a nice comparison between the 5X and Instinct, you can change the comparison in the top right, useful site: https://versus.com/en/garmin-fenix-5x-vs-garmin-instinct

 

[DrHogfan]

Sorry to bring up an older post, but I just ordered a Fenix 6X Sapphire. I wanted the solar version and with 20% off on black ovis, it was tempting. But from everything I read the solar is not that big of a deal. The 6X already has a substantial increase in battery life over the 5 series. And with all the different "modes" you can extend the battery well beyond any hunt I'll be on. I just couldn't justify the extra $150-200 when I hunt in timber 99% of the time, and even when I'm not my watch isn't facing direct sunlight. Maybe in the future the solar capability will make it worth it. I do like to track fitness stats, and use a smart watch in my normal life. But my main intended use is to able to easily pull UTM grid coords off my watch and plot on a topo map. A watch is much lighter than my GPSMap 66s. Like I said, I hunt timber/big woods/swamps back home and there's not many landmarks to shoot an azimuth off of like there are when I'm in CO elk hunting.

 

[Pgohil]

I'm glad this post got brought back up. I'd forgot about it. I ended up buying a Phoenix 5 from the classifieds. I really like it. I did a week scouting trip in Montana and was amazed at the feedback it gave me as to my day. Battery life is really good except when tracking and GPS mode at that point it needs recharged every night. Overall extremely satisfied and it gets me all the information I need plus a backup GPS. Love it!

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