Garmin Fenix 8 review: The King is back

The Garmin Fenix has become a sports watch institution – and the go-to outdoor watch if you crave the best tracking, features, mapping, navigation, and battery life wrapped up in an adventure-proof design.

But now it has serious competition. The Apple Watch Ultra 2, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra and the likes of the Suunto Vertical and Polar Grit X Pro 2 all prove that you don’t have to go Garmin to get a watch that’s fit for the outdoors.

So, how is Garmin aiming to stay on top? It now wants to be a better smartwatch. It packs AMOLED display with impressive battery numbers, and it’s improved mapping and training analysis.

But does the Fenix 8 deliver and justify its chunky price tag? We’ve been testing it out to find out.

Price and competition

The Fenix 8 not only comes in different case sizes now, it also now comes with display options. Here’s the breakdown of the Fenix 8 pricing:

Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED models

• 43mm Fenix 8 AMOLED price: $999/£869 | Sapphire: $1,099/£949
• 47mm Fenix 8 AMOLED price: $999/£869 | Sapphire: $1,099/£949
• 51mm Fenix 8 AMOLED price: $1,099/£949 | Sapphire: $1,119/£1,039

Garmin Fenix 8 solar models

• 47mm Fenix 8 solar price: $1,099/£949
• 51mm Fenix 8 solar price: $1,119/£1,039

First, to address the missing 43mm Fenix 8 solar model. That decision was apparently according to Garmin because having its Power Sapphire solar lens technology on a 43mm-sized watch seemingly didn’t deliver the big battery gains, so it gets left out, at least for now.

If we compare that pricing to the Fenix 7 Pro, that’s a pretty big jump in price. Looking just at the 47mm Fenix 7 Pro compared to the equivalent Fenix 8 solar model it’s about a $200/£200 price jump.

If we compare the 51mm Fenix 8 AMOLED model (tested here) and compare it to the 51mm Garmin Epix Pro, and it’s almost a $300/£300 difference. So that’s again a big jump in cost.

If we look at where it sits with other premium outdoor smartwatches, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 costs $799/£799 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra sits at $649/£599, so both are significantly cheaper buys. That’s why Garmin has launched the Fenix E, which sits at $799/£689.

Compared to other premium outdoor sports watches, the Polar Grit X 2 Pro is $749/£649, the Suunto Vertical is $629/£599 and the Coros Vertix 2S is $699/£599. So even against pretty much all of the competition, the Fenix 8 comes out top on price.

Design and display 

When you buy a Garmin Fenix over something like a Forerunner, you’re accepting that it’s going to be a watch that doesn’t sit discreetly on your wrist. A Fenix is big, and brash, with a prominent bezel, and it looks like it’s primed for adventure.

The 51mm Fenix 8 is the biggest of the case size options and effectively matches the look and stature of the 51mm Epix Pro. There’s a big titanium (pictured) or stainless steel bezel, five physical buttons, and for the AMOLED version a 1.4-inch, 454 x 454 colour screen. On the same-sized solar model, you’ll get a 1.4-inch, 280 x 280 resolution transflective touchscreen.

There are some changes with the buttons from the Fenix 7, 7 Pro, and Epix Pro as Garmin moves to inductive, leak-proof buttons.

This, along with a new depth sensor, means the Fenix 8 is now suitable for recreational diving up to 40 meters. Outside of that, they just feel like very solid metal buttons.

It should also be noted that there are Sapphire/non-Sapphire options, which refers to the screen covering. Wareable’s Conor Allison also tested a 47mm Fenix 8 non-Sapphire, and scratched the screen pretty badly. So it’s worth paying the extra for the toughened glass display, if you’re going to be bashing the watch about.

You still get the LED flashlight that can be set to strobe or blink and seems a touch clearer and brighter than the one featured on the last Fenix. The reduction in tinting seems to help on that front and it’s still a handy feature to have.

The 47mm version would be a better fit for my skinny wrists, the 51mm model hasn’t been an awkward or heavy watch to live with – but the titanium certainly helped. It’s not ideal if you want to take it to bed to track your sleep stats, but in terms of build, ruggedness and having durable qualities like sapphire crystal, those tougher buttons and one of Garmin’s workout-friendly silicone straps, it gives you everything you’d want from an outdoor watch.

Battery life 

This is obviously a biggie here. You buy a Fenix because you don’t want to entertain the idea of charging the battery every couple of days. Thankfully, that’s absolutely not the case.

I’ve had the 51mm version of the Fenix 8 to test, which promises the biggest battery numbers of all the Fenix sizes. Opting for the AMOLED version over the solar display option gets you less battery to play with, but the AMOLED Fenix still performs very well.

Garmin claims the 51mm Fenix 8 AMOLED can last for 29 days when using it as a smartwatch and that drops to 13 days with the screen set to always-on. It’s perhaps most useful to compare it to the battery numbers attached to the 51mm Epix Pro, which promised 31 days and 11 days with always-on in the same mode.

In my testing, it’s lasted on average a couple of weeks. That was using the watch with a mix of the raise-to-wake and always-on display modes.

I also used smartwatch features like viewing notifications, streaming music, accessing the new voice features, and continuously monitored heart rate and stress. On days when I hadn’t tracked an activity and had the screen on at all times, the battery dropped by 3-4% during the day and dropped 1% overnight.

Unsurprisingly, when you add GPS into the mix, the battery drop is more severe. I mainly used it with the most accurate multi-band GNSS mode, and for 2 hours of GPS use the battery dropped by 2%.

Garmin says the Fenix 8 can last up to 62 hours (or 49 hours with always-on). I was also making use of the mapping and navigation features as well too, but on the whole, I was impressed here.

This is the best performance I’ve experienced on a premium outdoor watch with an AMOLED screen.

Training features

In terms of workout tracking, there’s not a huge amount added to the Fenix 8 from previous generations. It still offers tracking for every conceivable type of exercise – and essentially every Garmin metric across its entire range is present here. That means epic tracking levels for running, cycling, swimming, triathlon, and even golf.

It also packs in Garmin’s huge range of training features and insights – including VO2 Max, Training Status, and Race Predictor. As before, all of these are excellent – and feel the most intuitive of any sports watch out there.

Training Readiness still seems to chime with our level of training – and when I was pushing things too hard, and didn’t give myself enough recovery time, it suggested I should take a rest day.

You can also tap into Garmin Coach, which has now been updated to offer plans for cyclists as well as adaptive plans based on performance and recovery needs.

One area Garmin has sought to bolster is using the Fenix to track strength workouts, and workout plans tailored for runners or riders who may neglect that all-important strength and conditioning work. And that’s a big improvement for the Fenix 8.

Along with existing support like automatic rep counting and the ability to build workouts you can now follow pre-loaded strength-based workouts, with animations displayed if you’re not sure how to perform exercises.

In addition, Garmin includes strength training plans, a bit like its running (and now cycling ones) that build you a plan over weeks to help you reach your target strength goals. It will add workout days to your calendar and sync workouts to the watch to follow on-screen. Currently, you cannot follow a Garmin Coach and a strength training plan at the same time.

What I like about the plans is that you can choose to do ones based on whether you have access to dumbbells or heavier weights. The automatic rep counting isn’t integral to how the plans operate, which is ideal as it’s still hit-and-miss.

The plans are easy to follow and while strength training and tracking on watches still has some way to go, this is a step in the right direction.

Mapping and navigation 

One of the biggest features that sets the Fenix apart from other outdoor watches and smartwatches is what it offers on the mapping and navigation front.

While the competition is playing catch up in terms of mapping on the wrist, Garmin is still a few steps ahead.

The AMOLED Fenix offers a vibrant screen to view those maps on. And they take advantage of the touchscreen support for easier navigation.

Garmin has increased the mapping detail you can see on its topo maps, letting you see terrain contour lines to add to the already detailed level of mapping on offer here.

The big new navigation feature is the introduction of dynamic round-trip routing. You can plan a particular route to cover a certain distance, to get you back to your starting point without covering more ground than you planned to.

If you veer off course, the watch will automatically adjust the route for you.

I tested this by deliberately changing course, and it’s simple and effective. It isn’t instant and takes a few minutes – and in my experience, felt suited to long hikes and treks rather than runs or races. But it’s still really useful, and very effective.

Mapping is one of the huge aces up the Fenix’s sleeve. If you want great, feature-packed mapping and navigation support, then the Fenix 8 certainly offers that. Whether it’s enough of an upgrade for Fenix 7, 7 Pro or even the Epix Pro users is up for debate – as the support on those watches is still very good.

GPS and heart rate accuracy

The Fenix 8 is certainly capable of providing solid GPS and heart rate accuracy.

On the heart rate front, I tend to find that Garmin’s larger watches suffer a little more than smaller ones when it comes to high-intensity activity like sprints or HIIT workouts. Especially on my wrist – and the 51mm is a little too big.

The Fenix 8 uses the same Gen 5 version of Garmin’s Elevate sensor setup that was included on the Fenix 7 Pro and from testing both watches extensively, I’d say that performance is pretty much on par.

For day-to-day, continuous monitoring that accuracy was good on the whole and felt like data I could rely on.

During a range of workouts, it was a solid performer on the whole – but did have some issues at times. After years of testing Garmin Elevate sensors, we have seen issues with the sensor getting a good reading at the beginning of runs – and that was evident in our testing here. The above screenshot shows the sensor producing lower bpm compared to a chest strap – before correcting.

And I found that it still falters on high-intensity workouts and in some hotter conditions. And having a 51mm watch on a thin wrist has to be taken into account.

In short, we have seen better optical HR performance on rivals. My advice would be to pair it with an external heart rate sensor if you’re basing your training on heart rate. Garmin makes it easy to do that and I’ve had no problems pairing the Fenix 8 with Garmin’s own heart rate monitors and ones from Polar and Wahoo.

But as a guide, the Elevate 5’s sensor is good enough.

On the GPS front, it’s more of the good stuff we’ve seen from Garmin since it introduced its multiband GNSS support to the Fenix, which is also referred to as dual-band or dual frequency by other watchmakers.

Above you can see the GPS tracking for a track session, with almost no GPS wandering. This was also in a fairly built-up area, and the performance was impressive.

In addition to multiband mode, Garmin has also introduced a new position enhancement feature that performs post-processing of GPS data for activities where getting reliable GPS tracking is more problematic. So that’s for workouts like open water swims for example.

I’ve found the GPS performance for road and trail runs and open water swims very good. The swims in particular have felt more reliable in general compared to testing older Fenix watches.

If you want a watch with accurate GPS, the Fenix 8 certainly can deliver that.

Smartwatch features

It’s clear that Garmin wants to bring its smartwatch abilities closer in line with Apple Watch Ultra 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra. It offers a better smartwatch experience than other sports watches that’s for sure – but is it a match for the best smartwatches? Well, it’s getting there.

There’s still no LTE support, for those that like that kind of thing. And you don’t get the kind of apps and services found on Apple Watch. A great example is the new Tides app on Apple Watch, which offers such a slick experience for those heading out for a surf or swim. There are Garmin Connect IQ versions, but the whole experience is nothing like Apple’s.

Likewise, Garmin Pay is still extremely limited in terms of banking support. So those who are buying the Fenix based on its style, and are less serious about performance, will still likely be better off with an Apple Watch Ultra.

Voice control

Garmin’s next play is to embrace voice, something we saw it do first on its Garmin Venu series. Like the latest Venu 3, you can summon your smartphone’s smart assistant and take and make calls over Bluetooth.

You can speak to the Fenix 8 to navigate your way around the watch to see information like heart rate, set a timer, or to start tracking a workout. This is done without needing to be connected to your phone. It takes a few seconds to process the request and then does what it needs to do. It’s simple but it works.

Another new feature is the ability to use the onboard microphone and speaker to record and listen back to voice notes. When you record a note it’ll also give you the option to geotag where you recorded it, so you’ll remember where you were when you had that great idea on your run that you usually forget by the time you get back.

Again, this is a feature that’s been on smartwatches for a while, minus the geotagging. It works fine, though I wished the volume was a little louder for playback. Ultimately though, are these features that changed my experience and I wanted to use on a regular basis? Not really, but I can see how some will like them as additions.

New user UI

On top of those voice features Garmin has decided to rework the user interface and moved things around. When you hit the workout tracking button you’ll now find a menu for features like workouts, music support, and the Garmin Connect IQ Store.

The Activities menu is moved to the top of the screen. If you hold the bottom right physical button it opens up quick access to features and metrics like Hill scores, heart rate, and HRV Status. Garmin does keep its feed of widgets and quick settings wheel, so that will still feel like a familiar watch to use.

What Garmin has sought to do with these changes is minimize the steps you need to take to get to the features you want. While I’d agree it’s done that, I do worry if things are getting a little crowded in places. I’m sure it will all make sense, but the changes take some adjusting.

Like Apple Watch, there are new Focus modes, which are tucked away in the settings menu. It will let you adjust settings so you’re not hassled by notifications. Right now, there are sleep and activity focus modes that give you control over what voice features are enabled, the type of GPS mode that’s selected and adjusting display brightness.

This feels like a feature that could be useful, but it needs to be better integrated into day-to-day use.

The post Garmin Fenix 8 review: The King is back appeared first on Wareable.

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