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IThe Fenix 8 is a milestone for Garmin. By adding voice control, an OLED display, and other perks, it has merged its Fenix and Epix lines of adventure watches to better compete with increasingly advanced smartwatches from Apple, Samsung, and other major players.
The Fenix has always been the first device Garmin has introduced its technology and features to before incorporating them into other products, such as the popular Forerunner series. It certainly looks more modern, but at £870 (€1,000/$1,000/AU$1,699) – an increase of around £120 over its already expensive predecessor – these new advancements, including dive tracking and access to AI assistant, don’t come cheap.
The Fenix 8 still has Garmin’s signature combination of five physical buttons and a touchscreen, a rugged yet premium look, and even has a new metal guard on the side to protect some of its sensors. The new “leakproof” buttons are ready for diving.
The display is a bright, crisp OLED from the Epix line, and looks a lot more stylish than the low-power LCDs Fenix has traditionally used.
The interface has also been revamped to be more modern and responsive. There’s haptic feedback for actions across the board, including vibrations for buttons since they no longer physically click, something that takes some getting used to. Swipe down from the top and you’ll get a new notification panel like you might get on an Apple Watch. Notifications are color-coded to the app, and, at least when paired with an Android, you can view images and quickly respond to messages sent to you. Notifications on an iPhone are limited to read-only text.
A microphone and speaker allow access to a couple of new things, such as calls and voice assistant from the phone. Calls work well for short conversations, but not much else.
Accessing Siri or Google Assistant from your wrist is a bit fiddly and complicated, but it’s still useful for changing things on your phone remotely. Press the button, wait for a little microphone animation to appear, and ask your question.
More interesting is the new voice command feature, which works offline. It’s basic and a bit slow, with a “processing” time of about a second, but it works as a quicker way to perform actions, such as starting a timer, opening settings, or accessing a metric hidden in a few menu options.
For me, being able to quickly set a timer using your voice is an absolute must-have feature on a smartwatch, something Garmin has lacked until now. The watch can also record voice memos, which are very useful for recording those moments of inspiration you might have while running or cycling without your phone.
Budget
Screen: 1.3 or 1.4 inch AMOLED
Box size: 43, 47 or 51 mm
Case Thickness: 13.8 or 14.7 mm
Band Size: Quick adjustment of 20, 22 or 26 mm
Weight: 44 to 74 g body only
Storage: 32 GB
Water resistance: 100 meters (10 ATM)
Sensors: Multi-band GNSS, compass, thermometer, heart rate, pulse oximeter, depth
Connectivity: Bluetooth, ANT+, wifi 4
Go anywhere, track anything
The Fenix 8 packs one of the most comprehensive fitness and activity tracking systems available on any device. It has the same super-accurate dual-band GPS and fifth-generation optical heart rate sensor as its predecessor, which is just as good as a chest strap for most purposes.
It tracks over 100 different activities out of the box, with more available to download via the Connect IQ store. Whatever you want to do, there will be an activity profile for it. New to the Fenix line is the ability to dive to depths of 40m using some of the features that have made Garmin’s Decent dive computers popular.
Of course, the Fenix 8 excels at more everyday activities like running, as it tracks all the metrics you could want, similarly to its predecessor, including running dynamics and race-day tools. The flashlight can even be used as a strobe light for running to improve visibility at night.
Garmin’s overall health tracking is also very effective, covering most heart, energy, sleep and everyday activities, including recovery from training sessions. ECG measurements are currently only available on the Garmin United States and some parts of Asianot in the UK, Europe or Australia.
He Garmin Connect IQ The App Store features a growing library of third-party apps, including thousands of watch faces, additional data fields, apps for different workouts and fitness equipment, navigation apps, weather apps, and music apps like Spotify for offline playback. The watch has Garmin Pay for contactless payments, though banking support is limited compared to its competitors.
The OLED display does cut into the watch’s battery life compared to the LCD displays on its predecessors, which lasted over 22 days. The 47mm version of the Fenix 8 manages just over seven days between charges with the display on all the time, and 2.5 hours of offline Spotify operation. That’s very good for an OLED watch, lasting three to four times longer than major smartwatch rivals and a bit longer than the Epix it replaces. The smaller 43mm model has a battery life that’s a few days shorter, while the larger 51mm version should last around 13 days between charges.
Sustainability
The Fenix 8 is Generally repairableThe battery is designed to maintain at least 90% of its original capacity after two years of weekly charging. The watch does not contain any recycled materials. Garmin guarantees at least two years of security updates from launch, but typically supports its devices for much longer. It offers trade-in plans for some lines and complies with WEEE regulations and other local laws regarding recycling of electronic products.
Price
The Fenix 8 AMOLED series starts at £869.99 (€999.99/$999.99/AU$1,699) and tops out at £1,119.99 for the most expensive model. Models with solar charging and an LCD display start at £949 (€1,099.99/$1,099.99/AU$1,849).
For comparison, the Garmin Forerunner 965 costs £499.99, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 costs £799, the Coros Vertix 2s costs £599 and the Sunnto Vertical costs £445.
Verdict
The Fenix 8 is certainly a step in the right direction for Garmin in its competition with Apple and Samsung. It’s capable of performing more of the functions that have become staples of smartwatches, such as access to voice assistants.
The crisp OLED display looks much better than the low-power LCD screens that made Garmin’s more expensive watches look a little cheap and basic in the past. I think it’s worth the sacrifice in terms of battery life, as it still lasts seven days straight between charges, and there are solar-charged versions available with utilitarian LCD screens if you really need it to last longer.
Garmin is unrivaled when it comes to sports tracking and hundreds of activity metrics. I don’t think anyone is going to use everything the Fenix 8 can do, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a sport or activity it can’t track in some way. The flashlight on the top is an extra everyday tool that you’ll wonder how you ever lived without, and there’s no other watch I’d rather rely on to get me home when I get lost hiking in the middle of nowhere.
But as good as it is, the price increase hurts for an already expensive watch. And while they’ve improved, Garmin’s smartwatch features still lag far behind an Apple or Wear OS watch in terms of capability.
Advantages: Large OLED display, tracks virtually everything, built-in flashlight, offline phone and voice control, 7+ day battery life, Garmin Pay, full offline maps, Spotify offline, 100m water resistance and 40m diving, buttons and touch, more accurate GPS.
Cons: Extremely expensive, limited Garmin Pay banking support, voice features are slow, smartwatch features are still limited compared to Apple/Google/Samsung watches.