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

I love the Fenix range they have amazing build, ease of use and long battery life. I especially love the multi sport options. For some reason the heart rate monitor falls short of recording actuals by about 20% so I use a strap on heart rate monitor. Perfect sports watch.

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.

Amazing for training. Great life watch. First off. Only have had this watch for a month. Initial thoughts were it is pretty big as I never wear watches but have been teetering on buying a garmin watch because I am big into fitness and there are a lot of benefits with this watch. I have only charged this watch once for 2 hours in the month Ive owned it and it has never left my wrist. Cant speak highly enough on this. It is amazing to track my mile splits and I havent even began to break the full potential of what this watch offers. For $350 to me, this is worth it 10x over. If you are on the fence pull the trigger. You wont regret this purchase. Wish I had done it earlier. Love love love. 10/10. Excited to break it in further

I bought this to use on my mountain bike rides & wear it all the time. Im using Strava segments so I can keep my phone(Galaxy s9+) in my backpack or not even bring it. It syncs up immediately after the activity & the live segments work fine. Ive had almost all the fitbit models since early 2014 and the Garmin Instinct. This blows them all away! The watch & app have every statistic you could want & the heart rate even works great. It doesnt give you extra floors like the newer Fitbits either. I bought the rubber cover to go over the outer ring to keep it from getting scratched up. I havent used the maps much since Im on a bike but it seems to work fine. Theres a ton of free watch faces & apps on the Connect iq store. It is big but I got used to it fast. Totally worth the money!

Overall I am very impressed with the Fenix 5s sapphire. I actually purchased the Fenix 5 originally but returned it because it was just a little too big to wear as an everyday watch. The 5s is a great size and great looking watch. I was worried it would be too small considering all the marketing aimed toward women and small wrists. I am 5 10 with medium sized wrists and it looks and feels just right to me. The only complaint I have is that the band is a little short. They should have provided or offered a regular and large size band. The band buckles on the 4th hole for me so it is fine but it would be a better fit if the band were longer. Other than that I have run with the watch a few times now and it is very accurate and performs well. The smart notifications from my iPhone are consistent which is more than I can say for the apple watch I had in the past. The display is fantastic in outdoor sunlight. It could be better indoors and the built-in light to read in the dark could be better as well. It can get bright but that display is not crisp when the light is used in the dark. Again, overall this is a stellar watch and I am very happy with it. Highly recommend the 5s if you are on the fence between the 5 / 5s.

Beautiful watch but typical Garman operating system and dark hard to see backgrounds. There’s 3 different menus, took me 3 days or so to figure out some of it. The connect app which you need didn’t have the oxy pulse on it???? Wife’s does, so thought maybe it had to go through the computer to add it in. Garman connect app wouldn’t even find the watch. Lots of connection issues watch to all apps you need to work this complicated thing. Would be great watch for someone who enjoys dickering around finding functions on the various button menus. I’m an old guy who started on windows 3.1 and sick of learning new OS. Espeacially garman stuff that won’t connect up half the time, literally! Sent it back and put my old timex back on!

This is my third Garmin watch in about ten years. I was a little nervous to buy it refurbished but I couldnt justify the price of a new one. Its great because I cant tell the difference. It looks and acts brand new. It has a lot more activity options than Im used to which is fun. I havent used them all. I mainly use walk, bike, and run, which have worked flawlessly. Eager to try strength, hike, and the navigation tool. I use the GPS every single day on an evening walk and I have only really had to charge it once in the week that I have been wearing it. Still, I could have probably gone a few more days without charging yet. The battery is great, in my opinion. The watch is built tough. Its not too heavy but you can definitely feel it. Its a good size and weight for what I would call a medium sized wrist. Not to mention the watch is just beautifully designed. It came with two rubber straps that I didnt think I would like but honestly I do. They are great. I bought a black stainless steel band to wear to work and it makes the watch look professional. If you are on the fence just do it. I love this watch.

Love This Watch. Im not a big review writer but I must tell everyone that this is a great watch. I must first tell everyone that I purchased a Fenix 5 and sent it back, because the menu button didnt work. Then I purchased a forerunner 935 because of reviews that I had read. I really liked the 935. Functionality is exactly the same as the Fenix 5. I kept it for nearly a month and then decided that the plastic look just wasnt for me. I decided to upgrad to the 5x strictly for vanity reasons. It looks better. While I was concerned about the size I actually really like the larger size. Im a big guy and it doesnt look too big. Its also not heavy, like I thought it would be. I think I have looked at every fitness watch on the market. I hate the thought of charging a watch. I travel a lot and am absent minded so I will just forget. With daily exercise and no gps, I charge the watch about once ever 14 days, which works for me. I almost never take this watch off. I swim, shower and do everything else and it just works. Just getting into the different apps and watch faces. My wife has a Fitbit and I just cant understand how people charge a watch every other day and take it off to shower. I shower at the gym and would definitely lose it. In all honesty, I could live without the notifications but they also work really well. Anyway, I love this watch. Ill update my review of I find any issues.

I was not asked to write this review nor paid for it. Its a great watch, let alone a great smart watch. Use it for running, and hiking mostly. Have to scout out places for the upcoming hunting season! I like saving points via gps for later use. I mostly use the silicone band over the metal unless I am dressing up. (Just a quick thing for hunters: Having accurate map gps on your watch as a backup is a huge. If my Rhino fails, I can use my watch, etc.) I use a second HR sensor for HIT training, weight lifting and crossfit. It connects easily, with zero problems. The HR on the watch works great for most exercises except for the above. Having the ability to download watch faces is pretty cool. I enjoy having my workout watch face during the day and a classic looking watch face for the evening. Without heavy gps use, my watch lasted about 2 weeks with zero problems. With everyday light gps use during workouts or hiking, it last just over a week. I would recommend this watch to anyone that might be on the fence about it. I dont own another smart watch nor have I.

Update : Feb 21, A little over a year of usage: changed to 4 stars as the rubber band is tearing apart at a few punch holes . buying a new band. BTW - the watch did not undergo any extensive water / training - but was used also in the shower. The sapphire is great , holding on very well as well as the watch body. ======================================================================================== Im using This watch for running and HIIT training . Pros: + As a Hebrew user , the Watch has built in Hebrew support. + Battery life is great + Although the big size - it is very comfortable on the hand. + Buttons works very well . and their placement and feel are very well designed. + Sapphire display is a great when the type of activity is Crossfit/HIIT using kettlebells etc. Cons: - User interaction with the clock is done ONLY with buttons on the side - The charging cable is not that comfortable. ( i bought a their party cradle charger which i prefer)