Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar 47 mm, Slate Grey/Black (010-02540-21)

Product Information

I appreciate the technology behind GPS, I realize the problems with overpasses, tunnels, canyons and the accuracy of maps. But you cannot blame overpasses, maps, the weather if other watches are consistently more accurate. If you were to go out with a running group and your F6 is the only watch that shows the problem you question why. So you look into it and find out there are a lot of people unhappy with the F6. It is an expensive watch so as you would appreciate it is somewhat unacceptable that it should be less accurate than a cheaper watch, especially other cheaper Garmin watches. If other watches are always more accurate then do we assume the F6 either has a defect or that it just was not designed very well? New & existing stats like VO2max, lactate threshold detection, stamina, training load and training focus are but a few of the many gems that are well-presented and straightforward to interpret.

I have had good and reliable but not amazing performance on the 6X with GPS+Galileo (the default) and GPS-only (although this was over Ultra distance in mountains so minor wobbles would not be that obvious. However I didn’t get lost which was a win. First, it's worth clarifying something – while the new luxury watch is usually referred to as the Epix, it's technically the Epix 2.Hopefully, we’ll see this feature expand to the rest of the Fenix series in the Fenix 8. Or, to other Garmin watches. As with every Fenix series, the ‘X’ variant (e.g. Fenix 7X) always gets some new experimental feature first, and in the case of the Fenix 7 series, that’s the flashlight. Sports Usage:

The Fenix 7 comes loaded with topographical maps for a variety of activities including cycling, walking, running and golf. Available Gym Activity Profiles: Strength, HIIT, cardio and elliptical training, stair stepping, floor climbing, indoor rowing, Pilates and yoga

And all of this data is ultimately synced to Garmin Connect where you can dive into days/weeks/months/years worth of data. For example, here’s my steps data on Garmin Connect Mobile (the smartphone app):

The heart rate data forms the basis for the watch’s ‘wellness’ functions, providing snapshots of your sleep quality, perceived energy levels and stress. This data also informs the watch’s suggested recovery time (how long you rest after an activity), workout suggestions, training load and VO2 max estimates. Now, there are some notable omissions here, especially coming hot on the heels of the Venu 2 Plus release two weeks ago. There is no voice assistance, or speaker/microphone for making/receiving calls. Even more, despite Garmin releasing the FR945 LTE last spring, there’s no LTE edition of the Fenix 7 either – a seemingly bizarre and odd gap. Nor is there an LTE version of the Epix Gen 2 either.Meanwhile, the touchscreen allows you to swipe through and tap menu items just like you would any other touch device. It works reasonably enough while sweaty or in the rain, though precision tends to be slightly less. In general though, as you can see in the video, it’s pretty responsive. Note that no function requires touch, so you can go pure button if you want to. Or inversely, you can get away with mostly touch if you want to (save starting/stopping an activity, and pressing the lap button).

Only Sapphire models have the dual- frequency GNSS reception from the Airoha chip (MediaTek). All models have dual- constellation but that’s always been the case. Perhaps non-Sapphire models retain the Sony chip? (Edit: dc rainmaker sources confirm only Airoha, as expected) Within the Connect IQ app store app, in addition to the 3rd party free watch faces, you can also create your own watch face, such as with photos or the like: So how close was that to reality? Well, reasonably close. In my case the ride finished on a 1.5KM 12% climb, which I dutifully hammered. So by the time I got to the finish point, I was baked. But was I absolutely 0%-1%? Probably not. As any endurance athlete will tell you, much of sport is mental as much as physical. In my case, I was shot, but I suspect if push came to shove I could have done another 5-10KM (after doing 118KM with 10,000ft of climbing). Probably not at any meaningful intensity though. Still, I was beyond-done mentally, and certainly in most other respects too. So to that end, it got things more than close enough. While the thin rim around the Fenix 6 wasn’t as obvious, the much wider rim on the Fenix 7 is clearly visible. Though, I guess I’ve just gotten so used to the look that it doesn’t bother me any. Here’s that identified:Move Bar: Displays on device after a period of inactivity; walk for a couple of minutes to reset it Leaving the watch in the sun for three hours on a typical summer day, with a mix of bright sun and intermittent cloud cover, I saw only a one per cent drop in the battery. The watch reported that it had been exposed to 63,700 lux hours in this time. Undoubtedly, Garmin will eventually come out with an LTE Fenix/Epix series. Where that’s just an Epix LTE, an Epix Plus LTE, or down the road in a Fenix 8 or Epix V3 (or whatever they call it). I don’t know, but as you’ll see – what’s here today is undeniably cool. But it’s also hard to reconcile this missing bit with one’s purchasing considerations.