Garmin 010-01733-00 Fenix 5X Sapphire - Slate Gray with Black Band

The best thing about the watch, thankfully, is the watch itself. The hardware for my 5S is light years ahead of the fitbit ionic it replaced. It feels like a tank, but is light and satisfying on the wrist. Unfortunately, thats where the fun times end, because everything else about the device is desperately frustrating. Lets eat this elephant of frustration one bit at a time. Garmin Express: It just never worked. I tried it across two of my Macs, on different versions of the OS, different versions of the app. Always the same thing. It would install, but then would time out saying the background service is unreachable . I worked at it for a few hours, scouring the Internet for hints. None of them worked. I work in the tech field professionally, so I am not lacking in the skills to fix this sort of issue, but it was nevertheless fruitless. Garmin Connect: This mobile app suffers from an identity crisis. The cards you see for My Day are the kind of data-dense and friendly analysis you would expect from a modern app, but everything about managing the devices is ancient and awful. Wifi was impossible to connect to, even after I finally tricked the watch and phone in to listing the endpoints. The IQ store is awful and the controls to manage watch faces is so counterintuitive as to be indecipherable. In short, the software is a crime against usability. It is obvious that Garmin just doesnt have it together here. They made a solid watch that is hard to operate, has a terrible and ancient interface that only half works, and a desktop app (in 2018? Seriously?) that is nonfunctional. Each of these components feels like they were made separately by dev groups that actively disliked each other, and conspired to make a 700$ watch that makes you curse them in ways great and small. Also, to top it off, if you look at the Size dropdown for this listing (at least at present moment) it says that its a 5 Plus, not the plain 5. Add this piece of misrepresentation to the whole wretched experience and you will see why the process was desperately frustrating. IF you like the watch for what it can already do, and dont intend to do much beyond tracking workouts and getting a nice summary of your overall activity and vitals, it is a solid piece of hardware. For everything else, look for something more polished, less expensive, and less poorly supported.

Ive been rocking the Fenix 5 for about 3 weeks and I am very pleased with it. I came from the Nike Apple Watch Series 2 and have no regrets. I previously used the Garmin 235 but returned it due to the crappy back light and switched the Nike Apple Watch - (just to save my Nike Run history). I then purchased the 935. The back light was fantastic but was afraid of the plastic built quality and went for the Fenix 5. Fenix 5 feels great! Sturdy, reliable (unlike Apple watch, too many Nike run crashes), ridiculously long battery life, awesome backlight. I have three comments for the watch though: 1. Too expensive and pricing scheme is all screwed up. I would think 5s, 5 and 5x would have three prices due to size differences, battery life and minor feature (ie 5x with 16gb maps storage). 5s should be $499, 5 - $599 and 5x-$699 with sapphire default. My opinion. 2. Size - Im a small guy with small wirst. I should really get the 5s, but extra screen real estate and battery life for the same 5s price made me go with the 5. 3. Should have included onboard memory for music storage for the price. At the end of the day, do I really need the Fenix 5 and do I really use all the features? Probably not. This watch is more of a commitment watch. Keeps me active and helps me train. I am also a watch enthusiast and surprisingly the Fenix 5 competes well for my wrist time against the SeaDweller and GMT. All in all great watch and fun watch to own. See pictures - added 5 and 5s comparison on my small wrist. Demo units at local store

This review has been updated and its rating increased from 3 to 4+ stars since Garmin Fenix 5 software upgrades have improved Altimeter accuracy (see TIPS section below for accuracy improvement settings). While I use my Fenix 5/S for all sorts of things, this review is predominately from the perspective of the hike/climb activities. I have no association with Garmin or any other seller. I use the Fenix 5/5S to track half-day and full-day activities. Activities include on/off-trail hikes with steep mountain ascent/descents, with/without trekking poles. Climbing in mountainous terrain can present unique accuracy issues, especially for Altimeter, Ascent/Descent, and Step-Count metrics. See the TIPS section at the end of this review for ways to improve the accuracy of these metrics. ---------- BACKGROUND ---------- This is the fifth Garmin wearable device Ive used (my first 3 were FR610s, my forth F5, and fifth F5S). I was originally going to purchase a Fenix 5 (F5) when someone who was having accuracy issues asked me if I would like to try it out. While I liked the F5, my thinking evolved as follows: 1) I noticed May-June F5 devices had un-explainable Altimeter accuracy issues. 2) I knew historically Garmin software updates have addressed accuracy issues. 3) I felt the F5 47mm was too big for me (8 wrist) which excluded F5 and the F5X. 4) Fenix 5 devices come in 3 models: 42mm F5S, 47mm F5, and 51mm F5X. 5) I originally excluded the Fenix 5S as a womens watch due to colors shown. 6) After reading reviews, I realized Fenix 5S does everything the Fenix F5 does. 7) As a result, I found the Garmin Fenix 5S a welcome alternative to the F5/F5X. 8) In June 2017 I ordered a black/black Fenix 5S (42mm) with Sapphire option. I picked the Sapphire option not so much for the crystal, but for direct WiFi connectivity and fast upload associated with the sapphire option. While the sapphire crystal is nice to have, I still purchased tempered glass screen protectors which I strongly recommend for hike/climb activities because these are contact sports with rock. The screen protectors for the F5S fit great. You cannot tell theyre installed unless you bash your watch into a rock while climbing and the protector saves the watch face from being scratched. ---------- IMPRESSIONS AFTER 1 DAY ---------- My first impression of Garmin Fenix 5 devices is that they are precision made, especially in comparison to many other GPS watches. The buttons on the Garmin Fenix 5/S/X have a very high-quality look and feel. Within 15 minutes of setup, I found the watch friendly and easy-to-navigate. Thats coming from someone who has only used touch screen devices until now. Button functions seemed logical and rugged with advanced features such as programmable hot-key/long-press button re-assignment. I quickly learned how to customize the display of altimeter, elapsed time, distance, lap, heart-rate, sunrise-sunset, moon rise/set/phase, and GPS info. These are all useful features for mountain wilderness climbing activity. Out of the box these watches allow customization of up to 4 fields per screen. For example, for hiking in mountainous terrain I setup one screen with: Elapsed Time, Distance, Elevation, and Heart-Rate. You can also add multiple-screens to an activity, so I added a GPS screen to show GPS signal strength, longitude, latitude, and elevation; I also added a screen with current time, sunrise, sunset and elapsed time so I can be aware of how much daylight or night time I have left during an activity. You can also add more customized screens to an activity if needed. There are also add-on screens/data-fields that allow many more fields per screen (if desired, but I found I didnt need these). ---------- IMPRESSIONS AFTER 60 DAYS ---------- I initially encountered accuracy issues with Altitude, Ascent, Descent, Heart-rate, and Distance metrics. After the first month, Id found partial solutions for some accuracy issues (see TIPS section below for detailed info). After 30 days, I liked my F5S enough to keep it. I had initially considered returning the device because I was unhappy with Altimeter and Heart-Rate accuracy. After 60 days I still liked the watch, but was disappointed with Altimeter inaccuracy. For the first 3 months, my Fenix 5 altimeter was off by up to 150 feet per 1000 foot gain. But after the Garmin software update in October 2017, Altimeter accuracy became greatly improved. Altimeter error was reduced from 15% error down to less than 2% elevation error. My daily workout involves an activity with known elevations. Thus my altimeter accuracy analysis is based on waypoints with known elevations compared to the amount of elevation error observed per 1000 feet ascent/descent. Before the October update, the elevation error per 1000 foot of vertical climb was accurate to only within 150 feet (15%). After that Garmin software update, the altimeter was accurate to within 20 feet per 1000 feet (2%). Thats a BIG improvement. I now feel the Fenix 5 is an awesome watch for Hike/Climb activities (see TIPS section below for settings used to achieve this accuracy level). After 60 days I was also surprised by many features present in the Fenix 5 devices that I was not expecting. For example, I was not expecting FENIX F5 watches to be smart watches in the sense that they could display: text messages, email, and calendar notifications. The watch also includes a widget to display your mobile devices music track name and artist automatically. In addition to that, the Music widget lets you control Volume, Pause, Play, and Skip music on your paired mobile device. I was also surprised I could control the Spotify app on my mobile device from my Fenix F5 device. To be clear, you can use your F5 watch to control Spotify on your mobile device. What was most surprising, you can control the Spotify Desktop for Windows from your F5 device via your paired mobile device. Thus, you can control a whole home sound systems Volume, Pause, Play, and Skip music. These features were not something I was expecting, nor was I looking for them, but now that I have them on my wrist, I find that I use. Another pleasant surprise was Garmin Connect IQ (which is the Garmin app store). Connect IQ includes many useful additional apps, widgets, watch-faces. For example, theres a Weather Underground widget that lets your obtain localized Temperature, Wind, Humidity, Precipitation for the closest WU weather station near you. The WU Weather widget is especially useful for those of you who adventure in remote areas, since the standard Weather Connect IQ app from Garmin only provides weather information for major cities (which is not useful in mountain wilderness areas). In contrast, the WU widget lets you assign a home weather station. With over 100,000 weather stations in the WU database, that means you can obtain localized weather info such as Wind, Temp, Humidity, and Precipitation for your local hike activity. Battery life is also much improved over older Garmin wearable devices such as the FR610 which could only GPS track for about 5-6 hours before the battery was dead. In contrast my Garmin F5S on its first 9 hour climb used less than half the battery (with HR turned off). Thus, you can GPS track 2 day treks on a single charge on the 5S, and 3 half-day treks on a single charge (I turn OFF the wrist Heart Rate monitor except during steep ascents to conserve battery... no point burning wrist LEDs to monitor hours of level/downhill HR). ---------- IMPRESSIONS AFTER 120 DAYS ---------- Altimeter accuracy errors were fixed with Garmin Fenix 5S October 2017 software updates. As mentioned above, my altimeter accuracy per 1000 foot is now within 2% (within 20 feet per 1000 foot gain, and often is within 10 feet). Given these improvements in altimeter accuracy, I now use my Fenix 5S for all hike/climb activities, and have become a Fenix 5/S fan. Through software updates, the Garmin Fenix 5S became the high-quality high-precision activity tracking device I hoped it would be. I have noticed there are still several Amazon reviews that state they have Fenix F5 or F5X altimeter accuracy problems. Hopefully this is a case of folks not updating their firmware and/or their reviews, rather than defective devices. Or could altimeter accuracy be due to differences between different Fenix 5 models? If recent Garmin software updates did not fix altimeter issues on your F5/F5X device, please comment below. Im considering purchase of a second backup Fenix 5 device, but cannot decide whether I should consider a F5, F5S, or F5X due to concerns about this altimeter issue with different models. ---------- PROS ---------- 1. Built-in heart-rate accuracy improved (was inaccurate until I used Tips below) 2. WiFi with Sapphire (WiFi allows fast SAVE of activity without mobile phone/wires) 3. Mobile Connect interface seamless (allows up/download of data, apps, widgets) 4. Decent Battery Life (can do multiple/day-long GPS activities on single charge) 5. Custom screens: Elapsed-Time, Distance, Elevation, Heart-Rate, GPS, Sunrise/set 6. Custom activities and fields allow extreme customization of data fields/screens. 7. Copy/Create activity allows Copy HIKE, Create HIKE2 with different metrics/screens. 8. Custom watch faces allow extreme customization (e.g. Hands Five dial watch face) 9. Text, Email, Calendar Notifications display on watch, with easy read/delete functions. 10. Music app controls Volume, Pause, Play, Skip; even works with Spotify for PC. 11. Up-to-speed quickly with easy-to-learn, intuitive user-interface. --------- CONS ---------- 1. Wrist Heart-Rate monitor not always accurate (see Heart Rate Tips below). 2. Altimeter/Ascent had 10-15% error out-of-the-box (see Altimeter Tips below). 3. GPS setting caused inaccurate Distance metric (see GPS Tips below). 4. Step-Count is inaccurate with hike/trek poles (see Step-Count Tips below) ---------- TIPS ---------- 1. HEART-RATE monitor is not accurate unless the watch band is VERY tight. If you find this bothersome, or cannot obtain accurate readings, use a chest strap instead for accurate heart rate info. As someone who has used a heart rate strap for 5+ years, I like the freedom of a wrist heart-rate monitor, especially since I only use heart-rate during steep ascents to avoid overreaching my HR. I especially like not having to wear a chest strap while climbing. I turn OFF the wrist heart-rate monitor while not climbing during long activities to: a) Reduce Battery drain from illuminated wrist LEDs. b) Not track low effort heart-rate activities during long hikes in/out of climb. 2. ALTIMETER and Ascent/Descent metrics had accuracy issues out-of-the-box, especially in mountain terrain. The watch consistently under estimated Altimeter/Ascent metrics by 10-15% while hiking steep terrain. For example, a known 2000 ascent instead showed as being a 1700-1800 foot ascent. I discovered the cause for this: a) Fenix 5 software needed updating, and b) the Fenix 5 watch by default uses the AUTO setting for the built-in Barometer to determine elevation changes during the hiking activity. Fenix watches have a setting that allows you to indicate whether pressure changes are due to weather conditions or due to elevation changes. The default AUTO setting for the Fenix watch allows the watch to potentially incorrectly attribute barometric pressure changes to changing weather conditions rather than to elevation changes while climbing. When climbing in steep terrain, the AUTO setting consistently resulted in underestimation of pressure changes due to elevation changes. You can eliminate these types of elevation ascent/descent accuracy issues by changing the Barometer Watch Mode setting from AUTO to ALTIMETER with the following steps: a) Long Press Up/Menu button. b) Scroll and select Settings c) Scroll and select Sensors d) Scroll and select Barometer e) Scroll and select Watch Mode f) Scroll and select ALTIMETER Once you do this, you should also re-calibrate the altimeter at the start of a climb regardless of the barometer setting. Thus at the beginning of each hike scroll to the Altimeter Widget, select Calibrate, and either Enter Current Elevation, or Use GPS so you start with the correct elevation. It is always better to calibrate using known elevation, rather than use GPS, since Garmin advises that GPS derived elevations can be off by hundreds of feet (although from my experience hiking/climbing in the Colorado Rockies, the GPS elevation is usually accurate to within 50 feet). For more about this subject you can Google Troubleshooting Fenix 5 barometer. 3. GPS and DATA RECORDING settings can cause Distance accuracy issues when hiking in mountainous terrain. I almost returned my Fenix because I kept getting wildly inaccurate distance metrics when the GPS setting was set either to ULTRATRAC or to GPS. Distances were consistently 10-20% lower than the actual distance when GPS was set to UltraTrac when hiking is mountainous terrain. Distances were wildly and erratically higher when GPS was set to GPS instead of GPS+GLONASS, with distance metrics off by as much as 50% (e.g. a known 8.5 mile hike kept coming up as 12.5 miles). How to set HIKE Settings for GPS to GPS+GLONASS instead of GPS or UltraTrac: a) Long Press Up/Menu button. b) Scroll and select Settings c) Scroll and select Activities d) Scroll and select Hike e) Scroll and select Hike Settings f) Scroll and select GPS+GLONASS. How to set DATA RECORDING to Every Second to avoid inaccurate tracking: g) Repeatedly press Back button to return to main screen. h) Long Press Up/Menu button. i) Scroll and select Settings j) Scroll and select System k) Scroll and select Data Recording l) Set to Every second. 4. STEP-COUNT metric can be inaccurate when hiking in steep terrain and/or with trekking/hiking poles. People who hike/climb in steep mountain terrain often use trekking/hiking poles to reduce odds of slipping/falling on scree, talus, boulder-fields, snow, ice, etc. As a result, step count can be low due to: A) Hiking with poles makes arms stationary for duration of pole plant (3-5 steps instead of 2). B) Hiking in steep terrain and slowly selecting pole placement results in little/no arm motion. C) If hiking steeps with poles, actual step-count is 1.5 to 2.5 times more than reported by F5. D) Even without poles, hiking/climbing causes use of hands to steady oneself, resulting in inaccurate step-count since it relies on arm motion. Step count assumes you take 2 steps per arm swing, but when hiking in steep terrain actual steps per pole plant are from 3 to 5 steps instead of 2, thus step count reported by F5 is much lower than your actual step count. If you are steadying yourself with poles or climbing with hands on rocks, there is less arm motion for more steps, thus step count reads low. Step count for trekking pole hikers would be greatly improved if Garmin provided an external sensor for step count. Unfortunately, the Garmin Foot Pod accessory does not update the step count metric, but rather provides an alternative distance metric, and only if GPS is unavailable (e.g. when on a treadmill or indoor track). Readers, please comment if you know of an accessory that attaches to the foot and provides an accurate step count for F5 devices as an alternative to wrist-arm movement step count. 2017/11/8 – Updated review, corrected grammar, changed rating from 3 to 4+ stars due to greatly improved Altimeter accuracy. Why not 5 stars? I still occasionally experience a GPS track issue that causes a wild GPS track in valleys (I will upgrade rating when/if the issue is resolved).

Smart, attractive, dependable, and accurate. I bought this for mountain biking and wilderness exploration. To be absolutely truthful, I thought it might be a little too big, but nope, it fits me perfectly. As a matter of fact, I use it for everything now. Running, sleep, the gym, on trips (it keeps track while youre flying @30k feet), and all things in-between. I never really put much into the data component of my daily routines, but now I have interesting characterization from day to day, and enjoy the watch. When I first decided to purchase a gps watch I took some time to look around and decided Garmin would be what I wanted, because the application was Gps. If you want other things more relegated to daily life responses, and an iterative component, there might be better watches for that, but if you want to know where the hell you are!, this is your watch. I also thought about the smaller version without the map, but after using the map to generalize from a macro perspective while out in the deep brush, Im elated that I didnt. This watch helps me stay the course from reference vector to vector. I have no limitations with where I go and how to get back. Frankly speaking, its the BEST. I count on it.

I waited about a year to price go down and after release of Fenix 6, finally got it. Arrived in his sealed box, brand new, right away connect to my app and recharged, arrive with 80% aprox of charge. This watch seems like a US version. Shouldnt be any difference anyway. I dont use maps options cause I live in outside the US. 9Battery consuption is almost the same at my old Fenix 3HR. This is the only dissappointment, however charging time is actually faster than my previous fenix. I downloaded some apps and watch faces, just make sure you need to download the IQ app on your phone. Otherwise it wont work. Some people bought the refurbished model and leaving nasty comments on this one, which is a brand new model. If yoy need US or Europe maps in the watch, you need to install the Garmin Express in a computer and download it, also it helpa to update any firmware and fix the bugs, do it ofter only make sure you dont disconnect watch by unplugging Use the USB ejection option on your windows otherwise maps wont be updated.

I got this watch on Prime Day for 50% off. Its an amazing purchase. The fact that the GPS works anywhere in the world is unparalleled, from the US to the ROK-DPRK DMZ. Battery life is amazing. However, activity tracking drains it, so I turned it off - I dont find the steps or stairs climbed or heart rate particularly useful to me. I charged the watch to 90% about 11 days ago and its still at 23% with daily or near-constant use of timer, stopwatch, notifications, activity tracking on runs, etc. If you wish to go for the Fenix 6 series, by all means do, as the 6X Solar looks particularly amazing. However I find the 5X goes above and beyond in its abilities. Once, I got lost in South Korea and I had to find my way back home (30 minute walk). I used the GPS, and luckily I had done a workout where I was staying. Therefore on the map my home showed up as a significant location, and I was able to find the directions to get home. CONS: Sometimes the directions for the routes are a little confusing. I have trouble sometimes figuring out where the GPS is telling me to go but I find that zooming in/out appropriately fixes this. I rarely take it off, its waterproof, the Sapphire glass has yet to get any scratches, I have one small scratch on the metal casing from regular use, it doesnt bother me.

It’s a beautiful watch. The Safire face shines and the watch is a perfect size - Not ostentatious as I find the larger ones, classy size. Heart rate monitor is fantastic, as are the associated data. Got to wear it a bit tight though, but it’s comfortable overall. Here’s the one thing that I didn’t like at first but got over: If you’re expecting an iPhone quality face, it’s not. It’s “analog”. The only thing I wish is that this watch had an LED face but the same battery life. Outside our technological frontier, yes I know. But just be aware that the face looks like something out of the late 80s. Seriously. I found d a very nice watch face at their Ap store that looks really nice, but again, it’s analog with poor graphics. But again, if your primary interest is monitoring your health stats with a great looking and well constructed watch is your goal, then this is the watch for you. I wouldn’t wear an Apple Watch as I find it cliche and too popular. Garmin offers something more destinguished and unique. Waiting for iPhone quality interface next generation, but very happy overall.

So i bought this more for hiking and snowboarding purposes (as well as the gym), but mainly because of the map feature on here. I have yet to try it out snowboarding, but myself & my wife did hit a few of the national parks in Utah recently and I found it brilliant. Firstly we had been hiking in one of the canyons around capital reef national park, Utah, and we had ventured off our trail and I was able to use the Back to Start function to get us back to our car, and it worked a treat. It did tell me a few times that i was off course, but that was because i was a few feet away from the exact path i took or i was taking a small short cut. Also, in the Canyon, especially when it got narrow, i did lose the GPS signal, but it quickly came back. People do mention the battery life, and i have to agree it was brilliant. After coming from a fitbit blaze when i had to charge every 2nd /3rd day, this shines head & shoulders above. As i mentioned earlier i took this on a hiking trip, i had hit 3 national parks for 3 days straight using the GPS function on each of my 5-6hr hikes. Little did i realize when i left for my trip was, that i forgot the charging cable. So 3 hrs into my final days hiking (and after hiking approximately 12hrs in the last 2 days), the watch told me i was running low on battery. At this point i switched off the hiking activity so it would be on the watch mode, then soon after, the power saving function kicked in. At this point my fitbit would have been getting ready to switch off completely, but not this guy. I had 3hrs of a hike left and 2 days before i arrived home from my trip, where this could be reunited with the charging cable, and guess what, by the time i arrived home 2 days later this was still going. I may have had only 3% battery life left, but after 15 hrs of hiking, with the GPS maps going, and wearing the watch for 6 days, i think that this is good going. This may be expensive, but personally, functions like the GPS (which doesnt need a phone signal) and the back to start function, if running, hiking, biking, skiing or snowboarding will be beneficial for outdoor people everywhere. I will go as far to say that i think this may even be life saving if you are the type of person who has got lost on trails before. One thing to keep in mind for those who have a partner with the similar frame of mind as my wife, she figured this to be similar a GPS for your car and cant understand why i spent so much money on something like this if you cant use it like your car or phone GPS. With so much functions packed into this, who knows maybe it can do that on here, but if i want a GPS for my car, i will use my phone or car GPS. In conclusion, this is packed full of functions i havent even discovered yet. I love the battery life, the map, the fact its waterproof and load of other activities it has on here for the things like the gym, and as an outdoors individual i see it as a worth while investment.

I bought the Fenix because I was dissatisfied with what I had - a low-end smart watch (Zenwatch II) and an older GPS watch for my activities (Forerunner 310XT). I wanted a device that would replace both, serve as both a reliable daily timepiece and a GPS watch for my runs, bike rides, and open water swims. The Fenix 5 turned out to do that and much more. Here are my biggest likes and not-likes (there arent really any dislikes). On the plus side: - Instantaneous GPS fix with no wait (older Garmin devices could take a few minutes and if not allowed sufficient time for the GPS fix would produce very inaccurate GPS data for the first few miles) - Quick charging, e.g. while I am in the shower and getting ready in the morning, means that I can wear it almost 24x7. This means I am not missing any steps and can use it for sleep tracking every night. - I dont have to travel with 2 devices, chargers, and cables. - I dont have to bring any charger on shorter business trips. If I make sure that I give it a full charge on Sunday night, I still have 30% or more of charge left when I return on Thursday. - While the visibility is not stellar and inferior to the Forerunner, and some screens and watch faces can be difficult to read for the 50+ generation, I do not need reading glasses for the basic functions and I can operate all its features equally well in complete darkness and in bright sunlight. - Tracking alpine skiing activities worked surprisingly and unexpectedly well. Just turn it on and forget. It detects runs. - The watch was easy to pair with all my legacy accessories (mainly speed/cadence sensors on 3 bikes, and chest HRM straps) - I dont need scientific HR data. When I compare the HR data between the watch and the chest strap on similar activities, the accuracy of the built-in optical HR monitor is similar enough that I dont fret when I forget the chest strap. - The voice announcements via the phone speaker are configurable and useful, e.g. for lap times. - Notifications from the phone, mainly for texts, emails, and incoming calls make it less likely to miss something important and are the main reason why I liked wearing the Zenwatch. The Fenix does this equally well. On the could be improved side: - The lack of voice operation is a small inconvenience. I appreciated the ability to make calls or send short texts with the Zenwatch while driving or riding a motorcycle or bicycle. It would be great if this could be added in future models to make it truly perfect (but I realize that this poses technical challenges and might require a compromise with waterproofness). - I did get an external temp sensor that is attached to a running shoe. The built-in temp sensor does not provide useful temperature data because it displays a mix of ambient and body temperatures. Garmin says its real purpose is for calibration of the altitude sensor. Then I dont understand why they bothered with exposing the data to the user. - The altimeter requires frequent manual calibration, especially after air travel. It does not recover on its own and will happily display negative altitudes for a while after landing. When I am on a plane, it seems to cut off at about 5,000 feet, which is odd. I have not taken it to higher elevations on the ground yet, so I dont know what it does during workouts on Mt. Everest. - I prefer the metal band even while running, but the clip makes it a bit difficult to use the Garmin handlebar mount on a bicycle. - Sizing of the metal watch band was more difficult than expected, even with all the right tools. The pins were very difficult to remove, did not have a defined click when pushing them out, and required substantial force that almost destroyed my watch band link pin remover. I took it into the pool with no issues but have not had a chance to track a swim workout yet. I hope it will produce better GPS data than the 310 when worn on the wrist in the water. I used to put the Forerunner under my swim cap to get meaningful GPS tracking in open water. With the Fenix, I fear that it might slip out from under the cap due to its size and weight. I wore it on the wrist on a mountain bike ride with good results.

The watch has some really good features especially the garmin maps. You can set way points of places you have been then go back to them whenever you want. The hr monitor and sleep monitor seem very accurate. It pretty much records everything you do, tracks steps, mileage and great for training. You can see all your previous runs or bikes on the app. The watch battery lasts 2-3 weeks between charges and that is with biking or running 5-6 days a week which is pretty good I think. The watch is a little big but it does have tons of features. It would be nice to have a touch screen to move thru the maps faster. The only bad thing is the first watch I bought started to have this really loud annoying internal buzzing/screeching when it vibrated like something broke loose inside of it. Which is kind of bad since its such an expensive watch. Of course this happened about 10 days after my 30 day return period. So I called garmin and they were only willing to send a me a refurbished watch when I sent mine to them which was kind of a bummer since I had just bought a new watch 40 days ago. I was just about to send it garmin but decided to call amazon help desk first to see if maybe they had any ideas how to fix it. They didnt but they were willing to send me a new watch even though it was over the 30 day return period which I thought was fantastic! And I didnt expect that. So far the new watch is working great and actually gives me little tips about how to use the watch better which the old watch never did. I dont know if I will ever buy another garmin watch but if I do Im definitely buying it from Amazon!