Spectacular, however not with out its points

Key Takeaways

With the Fenix 8, Garmin consolidated its Fenix and Epic lineup of watches.
The addition of a mic and speaker provides extra smartwatch performance.
Garmin nonetheless has some efficiency and options to work out in future software program updates.

It is no secret that Garmin’s watch lineup is in depth, which leaves it a bit convoluted at instances. The corporate’s latest release, the Garmin Fenix 8, aimed to consolidate issues barely, merging the Fenix and Epix underneath one product title. Whereas this, in idea, simplifies issues, the variety of choices to select from stays the identical. Earlier than the Fenix 8, the primary deciding issue between the Epix and Fenix lineup was a colourful AMOLED show or lengthy battery life. That selection stays, simply inside the Fenix 8 title alone.

Essentially the most vital change with the Fenix 8 is the addition of an onboard microphone and speaker, which brings Garmin’s newest wearable into the realm of the Apple Watch Ultra 2. That addition allows you to take and make calls out of your wrist and entry voice assistants, one thing solely Garmin’s Venu may do earlier than. Garmin revamped the photo voltaic panels on the Photo voltaic mannequin to extend readability and enhance photo voltaic charging capabilities. Garmin additionally elevated the sturdiness of its newest wearable and carried over dive options from its devoted dive watch, the Descent MK3.

Past these {hardware} additions, although, the Fenix 8 stays basically the identical because the earlier mannequin. A handful of software program updates goal to make utilizing the watch simpler, particularly for brand spanking new Garmin customers. There are additionally a handful of latest map and navigation options, however that is actually about it. I have been utilizing the 47mm Fenix 8 AMOLED for a couple of weeks now, and whereas there actually are variations from previous fashions, this watch simply would not have me as excited as earlier Garmin releases.

Advisable

Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED

The Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED blends smartwatch and journey watch options into one extremely superior wearable with a vibrant AMOLED show. It encompasses a microphone and speaker to take calls and use voice instructions proper in your wrist, plus an expansive record of coaching and navigation instruments.

Professionals

Extra rugged construct with leakproof buttons
Flashlight controls are extra simply accessible
Loads of fashions to select from
Extremely correct information
Nice battery life

Cons

Not a lot of an replace over the Epix Gen 2 and Fenix 7 Professional
Laggy efficiency in some menus
Some finicky points with the voice assistant instruments

Worth, availability, and specs

The Garmin fenix 8 is on the market in 15 completely different fashions and colours, so there are many choices to select from. Relying on the actual mannequin you select, pricing ranges from $799 to $1,299. On the low degree is the Fenix E (which isn’t technically the Fenix 8, however price mentioning), which lacks a flashlight, microphone, and speaker however provides a vibrant AMOLED show. It is solely out there in a single 47mm case dimension and both chrome steel and black or slate grey and black.

Subsequent is the Fenix 8 Photo voltaic, which retains the spirit of the unique Fenix lineup. It makes use of the normal transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) show with Garmin’s Energy Sapphire photo voltaic charging expertise for longer battery life. Garmin ditched the smallest dimension for the photo voltaic model with the Fenix 8, doubtless as a result of a photo voltaic panel simply is not price it at that dimension. As an alternative, it is solely out there in 47mm and 51mm case sizes. It is available in two colours (for each case sizes), together with the Carbon Grey DLC Titanium with Black/Pebble Grey Silicone Band or the Titanium with Amp Yellow/Graphite Silicone Band. The Photo voltaic model contains the brand new mic and speaker, together with a flashlight.

Lastly, there’s the Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED, which basically merges the Epix line into the Fenix. The AMOLED model is on the market in 43mm, 47mm, or 51mm case sizes with three coloration choices for every dimension. The colours for the 2 bigger sizes are the identical (Titanium with Spark Orange/Graphite Silicone Band, Carbon Grey DLC Titanium with Black/Pebble Grey Silicone Band, and Slate Grey with Black Silicone Band), whereas the 43mm is available in a Gentle Gold with Fog Grey/Darkish Sandstone Silicone Band (similar to the Epix Professional Gen 2 Sapphire) and Silver with Whitestone Silicone Band, together with the Carbon Grey mannequin. You may also go for an AMOLED mannequin with or with out a sapphire crystal lens, relying in your funds and the way sturdy of a watch you want. Lastly, all fashions of the AMOLED model embrace a mic, speaker, and flashlight.

Garmin fēnix 8 Photo voltaic

Model

Garmin

Coronary heart Price Monitor

Sure

Colour Display screen

Sure

Notification Assist

Sure

Battery Life

As much as 21 days (28 days with photo voltaic) for 47mm mannequin

Onboard GPS

Sure

Lens Materials

Energy Sapphire

Case Materials

Titanium bezel with fiber-reinforced polymer with metallic rear cowl with

Calendar

Sure

Climate

Sure

Case dimension

43mm, 47mm, or 51mm

Show

Daylight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP)

Connectivity

Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi

Well being sensors

Coronary heart fee monitor, thermometer, pulse ox monitor, barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer, ambient mild sensor

Dimensions

47 x 47 x 15.2 mm (47mm mannequin)

Weight

80 g (47 mm mannequin)

Audio

Sure

Cellular funds

Sure

GPS

GPS, GLONASS, QZSS, Galileo, BeiDou
Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED

Model

Garmin

Coronary heart Price Monitor

Sure

Colour Display screen

Sure

Notification Assist

Sure

Battery Life

As much as 16 days (7 days always-on) for 47mm mannequin

Onboard GPS

Sure

Lens Materials

Corning Gorilla Glass or sapphire crystal

Case Materials

fiber-reinforced polymer with metallic rear cowl

Calendar

Sure

Climate

Sure

Case dimension

43mm, 47mm, or 51mm

Show

AMOLED

Connectivity

Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi

Well being sensors

Coronary heart fee monitor, thermometer, pulse ox monitor, barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer, ambient mild sensor

Dimensions

47 x 47 x 13.8 mm (47mm mannequin)

Weight

Stainless-steel: 80 g, Titanium: 73 g (47mm mannequin)

Audio

Sure

Cellular funds

Sure

GPS

GPS, GLONASS, QZSS, Galileo, BeiDou
Garmin fēnix E

Model

Garmin

Coronary heart Price Monitor

Sure

Colour Display screen

Sure

Notification Assist

Sure

Battery Life

As much as 16 days (6 days always-on)

Onboard GPS

Sure

Lens Materials

Corning Gorilla Glass

Case Materials

fiber-reinforced polymer with metallic rear cowl

Calendar

Sure

Climate

Sure

Case dimension

47mm

Show

AMOLED

Connectivity

Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi

Well being sensors

Coronary heart fee monitor, thermometer, pulse ox monitor, barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer, ambient mild sensor

Dimensions

47 x 47 x 14.5 mm

Weight

76 g

Audio

None

Cellular funds

Sure

GPS

GPS, GLONASS, QZSS, Galileo, BeiDou

What I preferred in regards to the Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED

Vibrant show, loads of customization, and well-rounded options

A hand holds the Garmin Fenix 8 watch in front of a blurred forest.

The very first thing that catches you when turning on the Garmin Fenix 8 for the primary time is the intense, vibrant show. It’s lovely. It is simple to learn in vibrant solar, and auto dims sufficient, so it isn’t blinding me at evening, both. I may even see footage pretty effectively when somebody texts them to me, which is good. Additionally, although a minor function, one of many first prompts on the watch (which you too can change later) is to regulate the textual content dimension, which is the primary on a Garmin watch. Setting the textual content to a dimension that is comfy for me is surprisingly superior, and I get pleasure from it excess of I anticipated I might.

When it comes to sensors, nothing has modified within the Fenix 8 in comparison with the Fenix 7 Professional. It makes use of the identical optical coronary heart fee sensor and the identical GPS parts and multi-band design, leading to extremely correct information in a variety of circumstances. The guts fee measurements from the Fenix 8 constantly matched my chest straps (from Wahoo and Garmin) and my arm-based strap from Coros. There have been some barely off numbers throughout parts of gravel bike rides, however that is to be anticipated as a consequence of vibrations and the place of my wrist whereas on a motorbike.

Garmin leads the best way in GPS accuracy and that is still true with the Fenix 8. I did not get out for any swims throughout my testing interval, however the information was glorious for walks, hikes, and bike rides. The GPS tracks precisely mirrored my path, even after I purposefully weaved round just a little. I did not deal with something in a metropolis with tall buildings however have been in thick tree cowl with zero points.

The Fenix 8’s battery life is spectacular, even on the AMOLED model, which lacks photo voltaic charging. Garmin guarantees 16 days (with out the always-on show) in smartwatch mode, and that is precisely what I used to be capable of get, even with a couple of actions blended in. Having the always-on show will convey that life all the way down to seven promised days. That places the Apple Watch Extremely 2 (a promised 36 hours with regular use) and Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (roughly two days in my testing) to disgrace, which the Fenix 8 now competes extra instantly with, because of the addition of the mic and speaker.

A wrist with the Garmin Fenix 8 is held in front of a weight machine.

I wore the watch on a visit to Berlin and forgot to convey a charger alongside. In the beginning of my 10-day journey, the watch was roughly 25%, making me fairly nervous. I did not have time for a lot exercise on the journey, however I did observe a stroll and an indoor bike journey and wore it each day. I did not flip the watch on in battery saver mode, however I turned it absolutely off at evening (so I wasn’t monitoring my sleep). It in some way lasted as much as my final day, dying throughout the 17-hour journey house.

Most health watches focus particularly on working and pass over power coaching, which is a very powerful factor you are able to do to forestall accidents and stave off growing old.

Because it normally does with new watches, Garmin added a handful of latest health and mapping options. My favourite of the bunch are the brand new power coaching plans, accessed by way of Garmin Connect. Most health watches focus particularly on working and pass over power coaching, which is a very powerful factor you are able to do to forestall accidents and stave off growing old. It is big that Garmin has included particular power coaching plans this go round, particularly with three completely different selectable objectives.

The most important change on the Fenix 8 is the addition of a mic and speaker, giving it a extra strong record of smartwatch talents. You possibly can play music via the speaker, however, as you’d doubtless anticipate from a watch, the sound is fairly horrible, so it isn’t a substitute for headphones. Plus, please do not skip the headphones round different individuals.

Maintain the highest proper button to entry the offline voice assistant.

The Genix 8 provides two completely different voice assistant choices. One is a completely offline, watch-based assistant that lets you management numerous features of your watch with out a telephone connection. For instance, you may ask it to set a time, begin an exercise, or play a sure playlist. I discovered it responsive, although it’s a must to get the phrasing proper, or the watch will not do something. It would not management something in your telephone, both, because it’s an offline device that does not require a related telephone.

Once you do have your telephone on you, you need to use the Cellphone Assistant, which pulls up Siri, Google, or Samsung voice assistant in your telephone. It mechanically chooses the appropriate one with none particular setup. You should use this similar to you’d in your telephone, although it would pull every little thing up in your telephone, not the watch. Verbal outcomes are via the watch, although. I discovered the outcomes to be simply as responsive as after I speak to Google, although I did need to purposefully converse into the mic on the watch to get it to listen to me.

What I did not like in regards to the Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED

Laggy efficiency and speaker points

A watch holds the Garmin Fenix 8 with the speaker showing in front of blurred woods.

I anticipated to be enthusiastic about this watch, however the Fenix 8 did not spark the identical pleasure I sometimes get with new Garmin watches. It simply fell a bit flat, to be trustworthy. My greatest challenge was shockingly laggy efficiency, one thing I have never skilled on a Garmin watch but. Scrolling via watch faces to choose one had me sitting and ready or urgent a button once more, pondering it did not register the primary time, solely to make it enter a menu I did not need.

I anticipated to be enthusiastic about this watch, however the Fenix 8 did not spark the identical pleasure I sometimes get with new Garmin watches.

Fortunately, not all menus or parts of the watch are like that. Scrolling via graphs of my well being and coaching stats is the acquainted clean efficiency of my different Garmin watches. Utilizing the maps and climate radar entails roughly the identical lag as different watches as effectively. However there have been sufficient conditions with vital lag that it was fairly irritating.

One other irritating side is that the Cellphone Assistant quantity is managed via the telephone, not the watch, which took me far too lengthy to determine. At first, after I requested Google issues by way of my watch, the quantity was so quiet that I needed to maintain my wrist proper subsequent to my ear to listen to. I attempted to regulate the quantity from the watch settings, however it was nonetheless very quiet even when each the Voice and System quantity settings had been at 100%.

It took asking Google a random factor after which growing the quantity by way of my telephone’s quantity rocker to lastly make it audible. But when I am utilizing the voice assistant on my watch and it is taking part in the outcomes on my watch, I most likely do not have entry to my telephone to regulate the quantity proper then. It’s an odd mixture of controls at this level, however hopefully, Garmin can work out the kinks.

Fortunately, you may modify name quantity proper on the watch when taking calls in your wrist. However, sadly, even the max quantity could be very quiet. I used to be in my workplace with basically no background noise, and it was considerably powerful to listen to. The individual on the opposite finish stated the sound was a bit crackly for them, which is not normally the case after I name by way of my telephone. I additionally needed to maintain my wrist at about chest peak for him to listen to me effectively sufficient. Whereas this will surely work for taking calls in a pinch when you do not have an alternative choice, general, it isn’t a terrific expertise. That stated, I am not a fan of any smartwatch name performance.