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

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.

Am in love with this watch. Came from a Fitbit Charge 2, Garmin Vivoactive HR, and this watch provides way more analytics such as recovery time, post workout review, and the HR sensitivity is a lot more consistent too. However the best part about this watch is its ability to be used in all occasions. Something which the vivoactive was terrible at. One thing I recommend though. Is that you consider the sizes carefully. I am a fan of big faced watches, and have a decent sized wrist. The standard 5 is as large as I would go. Also, I went with the non sapphire version because: 1. I dont need the wifi for syncing 2. Reviews on the Garmin forum have shown that the sapphire vs mineral: mineral is clearer. 3. Go with slate grey if you want darker. But not the black that is the only option avail for the sapphire with black silicon band. The black chips easily. And will reveal the silver metal underneath - feedback from Garmin forums. 4. Added a $7 screen protector, and I think my glass will remain as scratch free if not better than a sapphire one. 5. These watches are constantly updated with new models so often, I cant imagine myself keeping this longer than a year before wanting an upgrade - for features.

I switched from Apple Watch to Garmin and I can’t see myself ever going back. I don’t miss the touch screen at all. Navigating this Watch can be a little weird at first but after the first week I could navigate anywhere. The App Store does have some neat apps for the Watch. Biggest pro: Battery Life. After having an Apple Watch and charging it every other day this is a huge plus. Biggest flaw:The size of the Watch This Watch is big. Going from an Apple Watch to this was different. It’s much taller and a lot wider. But after having it on a few days I have gotten used to it although it’s a little more awkward to wear with full length sleeves. Workout tracking is awesome on this. It gives me a real time print out of my heart rate and the heart zone I’m in. After the workout it will tell me how long recovery should be. It breaks down my aerobics vs anaerobic activity. Much more in depth than Apple Watch.

I am far from a good runner. I actually hate running. But I do it anyway because I love the feeling I get AFTER I run. Over the years I have had multiple Fitbit devices, a Samsung Galaxy Watch, and an Apple Watch series 2. This is by far the best sports watch Ive ever used. PROS: - Extremely rugged design. This thing is a tank. - Accurate GPS tracking - Easy to read stats while running. I like to know my pace, distance and time. This gives me the info that I want. - You can read this thing in the brightest sunlight while running (see pic for example of mid-day run with full sun) - Its easy to use. Its not bogged down with too many smart watch features. - Physical buttons! You can start and stop activities with a button press rather than swiping on a touch screen. - ANT+ is a great feature. I use this to connect to my Peloton and it displays my heart rate in real time during a ride - no chest strap needed. - The Garmin App is great and is easy to set up. CONS: - For me, there is only one con: the floor count is just straight up trash. Google it. You will find tons of people complaining about how the Fenix 5 doesnt accurately count floors. There is no fix for this that I can find. Its just a feature that you have to live with not working. This wouldnt be a huge deal to me except Floors Climbed is a metric that Garmin gives you to measure and sets a goal for you to reach each day. I hate that most days I dont hit the goal. I can walk up and down the stairs 20 to 30 times in a row and only get 1 or 2 floors. If you can live with the floor count not working, this watch is amazing.

I have been using Garmin for several years now to track my running (road and Trail), cycling (road and mtb) and swimming (pool and open water). I debated long and hard about going to the Fenix 5x and compared to the latest comparable Suunto products and other Garmin products (935), but in the end decided to stay with Garmin and the Fenix. I’ve had the forerunner 310 and 920 and found them solid and reliable. The only real issues I’ve had were operator created issues...if Garmin could just read my mind that would be great so tracking could start when I forget. 1 week into using the Fenix and I really am impressed with the Fenix. I’ve had it outside running, on the treadmill, in the pool and tracking my indoor bike training sessions...there has been a slight learning curve, but I have been able to jump right in and use the Fenix and it has performed flawlessly. One of the benefits of getting the Fenix 5x a year after its launch is that many of the bugs and issues I saw others report seem to be worked out. GPS picks up incredibly fast and tracking has been accurate. It is heavier than my 920 which I’m adapting to. I was also worried about the screen resolution, but so far I have found it clear and easy to read. I have used some screen faces and custom fields that were too small for me to see comfortably, but I just switch to something more friendly to my eye sight. I will likely provide another update after using the Fenix 5x for the next few months of a busy race (run and Tri) season.

Im very happy with this watch. Its my first Garmin, and Ive been using it mostly for trail running, hiking, and moutain biking. Definitely worth getting one.

I went from a Galaxy watch to this watch and at first I hated the lack of smartness to it. But in reality, I like it more now because I dont get bugged by constant alerts about my life on my wrist. I got it as a training watch but I wear it every day and all night. I love that it tracks sleep, it lasts at least a week unless you work out hours a day, it is integrated with the Connect environment, and is really one of the best adventure watches you could ask for. I wanted it for hiking, but it turned out being a big factor in me getting back into fairly decent running shape and it became my cycling computer. It works so well, that it convinced me to upgrade my Edge 800 to the 830 for the advanced metrics the new devices give and I am every trying to convince myself to get the 6X. It is huge, but I am 61 and it fits well on my wrist. It doesnt play music and music control for your phone isnt great... but the 6X has it haha. The GPS isnt all that great for serious running and the barometric altimeter has a pretty serious drift too large for reliable data in flat terrain. I live at sea level and in flat terrain and the drift is 100 ft or so throughout a bike ride or longer run. Sure, it is within the GPS accuracy but I demand a lot from my altimeter. For hiking, the altimeter can work like a charm if you properly calibrate it and such. Sometimes it was a few hundred ft off and when I pay attention to calibration it was within 50ft - closest you will really get. Overall... I love this watch and it hurts my wallet to say that I dont see getting a watch outside of the Fenix line until some other company targets this line specifically. I know there is Suunto... but they are similar enough for me to stick with the Connect ecosystem since I do multiple sports that are in the Garmin environment.

I bought this right after it came out, and spent about 100$ more than they currently sell for. I would make that purchase again. This is an outstanding watch. the battery lasts way longer than you will every require it to, the smart watch functions are seamless, and it is very comfortable. As with all Garmin products, the customization and availability of third party apps is outstanding. The mapping is the ONLY reason to get this over the Fenix 3 series, however. The difference between a Fenix 3 and a Fenix 5 is pretty much non existent. Certainly not at the cost tradeoff. The 5X has the ability to use detailed maps, which is priceless when you spend time in the woods or on deployment. Even better, by using third party sources you can load this with FREE maps, so do not feel obligated to purchase Garmins expensive maps. the HR sensor is NOT as accurate as a chest strap, so if you do detailed HR training, I recommend buying their chest strap to pair with this watch. It tends to read lower than actual HR, and requires the watch to be painfully tight to read even close to accurately. It is extremely durable, I have dropped it on concrete many times. It has stood up to austere living in Afghanistan, back country trekking in the Cascades, swimming, a dog that is pretty mouthy and day to day use. The only thing that is showing wear is the wrist strap, which i plan to upgrade to a nylon strap anyway.

Garmin continues to impress me with the level of quality in the product the more I use it and get used to its features. The only reason this product is getting 4 stars is because of the price point; I am used to paying around $200 for fitness watches/trackers but I decided this time around to get something with more features and durability. I have been a Fitbit user since 2014 with the Flex, then Surge, then Blaze and I decided that I would switch to Garmin after I purchased my husband the Garmin fenix 5X. After tinkering around with his watch and the app interface, I decided to upgrade from my 1.5 year old Blaze due to sheer number of functions it couldnt perform and I was not happy with it anymore. Once I got my watch, it was a hard adjustment, as with any brand-to-brand switch. In addition to the non-touch screen interaction, I had to familiarize myself with activity selection and start/stop buttons as well as data review functions. If you are making a drastic switch like I did, I recommend setting quite a bit of time aside to familiarize yourself with this watch as well as the Garmin Connect app. This watch is VERY customizable; there are so many things you can change to your liking that it is overwhelming (coming from a Fitbit user). I really like this aspect but it takes some getting used to. You can also customize the band; this particular package comes with a yellow band as a bonus. I do not have the intention of using this color, I actually ordered the turquoise band from Garmin. The watch itself is very sturdy feeling and has some weight to it (rugged). I prefer the round face versus the square with my old Fitbit; it just looks better in my opinion. The 5 buttons on the side of the watch feel very good when you press them. You can choose whether or not to have haptic feedback when you press the buttons as well as a tone/chime; I have both enabled. The watch face is obviously customizable as well, you dont use the pre-loaded one like Fitbit, you have the ability to download more from the Garmin Connect app and even further customize it (colors and data displayed). With the same app, you can also download widgets and add them to your watch and the order they appear. I got this watch just in time for a class I am now participating in; RIP = running improvement program. I have only ran with this watch 3 times since I got it about 1.5 weeks ago. The GPS is not exact, I was running 1.5-mile run test and it gave me my 1-mile time about 75m too soon. I am not too finicky with the distance difference. What really sent me over the moon was the VO2 max as well as the heart rate zones; not only will track this for you but based on this data it will suggest a rest time (usually 24-48 hours for me). I also loaded a yoga activity function on this watch as well; it tracked my heart rate as well as time spent in this activity. I have not tried the golfing function on this yet but I intend to use it whenever I get to the course in the springtime. I recommend this watch to anyone; you dont need to be a hardcore gym rat or marathon runner to get use out of it. I am not super athletic by any means but I have been using fitness watches for a few years now. I also like to jog/run for hobby and as job security (military member) so the fact that this watch and the app can track every aspect of my workout and improvements is amazing. If you can afford it, I think it is worth the money.

I love so many features of this product, but hate the stress program on it. On my watch the heart rate sensor and the stress program that is based off of heart rate variability does not work properly. I have contacted Garmin three different times and either no resolution or no response to them. I was told the first time I contacted them regarding this that could be a sensor error and they would get back with me. Two months later and I have tried contacting them 2 more times with absolutely no response. I can do a hard reset of the entire watch and the feature will work for 3-5 days before malfunctioning again. I really do not want to have to hard reset my watch constantly and lose all the other customization. Because of this error I am not sure how much I can trust other features of the watch. If this feature worked and Garmin had responded to my problems I would probably have given this product a 5 star rating but not happy with the watch or the customer service at this point. The sensor problem finally resolved with latest update. Now i LOVE the watch!!