Garmin Fenix 3 Advice

[ezron]

Hi.

I am looking at getting a Garmin Fenix 3. Was wondering if the community could help a brother out with some advise.

I will be wearing this watch as my every day watch. I will be using it for normal exercise in the gym (cardio and weightlifting), and a lot of hiking (5 days +). My questions are

1. Should I get the sapphire version or the normal mineral glass version
2. Should I get the HR version or the non HR version
3. Best place to buy the watch. Was looking at easybike.co.za as their prices seems to be the best

From what I've read online it seems that the sapphire version is the one to go for if you are afraid of scratches and such but their also seems to be allot of people with the mineral version that is happy with it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

 

[Blu82]

Navworld might be another place to look at buying it from since they are the official after sales provider for Garmin. The Sapphire is more scratch resistant and the HR allows for HR monitoring without a chest strap which can be handy in certain situations. If I had the money I would go for the Sapphire HR in a heart beat but buy what you can afford since the software platform is the same across the Fenix range.

 

[web]

Navworld, easybike are your best bet online in SA, there are usually deals on Bid or Buy if you want to go there. You can take the risk and buy it online from overseas.

Navworld will still give you excellent after sales support if you buy it from Easybike, there are plenty of threads about the Fenix on thehub.co.za

 

[geezer]

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/03/garmin-fenix3-detailed-review.html

A very good review.

 

[Blu82]

Most of the reviews are in the line of it is the best fitness device on the market that does everything (except optical HR tracking while swimming) so if you can afford it buy it.

 

[SupaMonkey]

I'm quite happy with my Garmin Fēnix 3 HR. Never take it off except to charge. HR isn't 100% accurate, but that's keeping in mind I got the steel band which isn't a snug fit (snug fit on a steel band feels like it's cutting into you).
I don't regret forking out the cash for this puppy (was an upgrade to my very old Polar RS800 CX PTE or something like that's).

 

[lestoran]

Have the non-HR version that uses a strap for heart-rate (included) and the sapphire glass:

Bit annoying that HR monitor is not built in as it would be nice to see some graphs of my HR throughout the day. For actual training though the strap is far more accurate and also does things like measure ground contact time and if you are leaning over while running.

Note that if you do the get HR version you still have the option of buying the strap separately later.

Not a single scratch on the glass after 10 months and I only take it off to sleep. By contrast the outside of the metal frame has a few little scratches.

Only complaint is the altitude meter is hopelessly inaccurate - Few times I manually set it to 0 when at the sea only for it to tell me I'm 14m under sea level a few hours later.

So far I'm happy - the downloadable apps by the community are a nice addition and some are pretty useful - there's a few specifically for gym.

 

[Sneeky]

I have one , sapphire. It the Fenix 3 that uses the straps, not the newer one with the HR on the backplate of the watch.

Regarding that, speak to a lot of runners and those types of HR sensors are not as reliable as a strap and have to be tight on your wrist.
I haven't noticed major probs with the Altitude sensor tbh.

Its a great device with its own quirks as you get with things like this but overall very happy.

The navigation on the trail is also pretty good. Used it a few times out in the hills and valleys on routes I don't know and the trackback works well.

Have hardly ever used the metal strap, although it is quite sleek and nice I just left the rubber on on.

Battery life.
If you are using it as just a watch it last around 2 weeks or so.
When you start turning sensors on this is greatly reduced but for general activities it seems to have enough in the tank.

One thing, pairing your phone and stuff is fine, but sometimes it looses the phone and wont connect again, it hangs in a search mode that drains the battery super fast. Not generally a problem but something to be aware of in case you encounter a dead screen and cant understand why.

 

[SupaMonkey]

Just to add to my previous post (I have the Fenix 3 HR which is only available in Sapphire):

1. Should I get the sapphire version or the normal mineral glass version: Sapphire. Every single review and 'follow up review' I found on the watch (before the HR version came out) said how they regretted going with the normal glass version.
2. Should I get the HR version or the non HR version: How serious are you about your HR data? In a nutshell, Its not as accurate. I wore a strap for about 10 years - so really, I am so over straps and am willing to sacrifice a bit of accuracy for the convenience of an optical HR version.
3. Best place to buy the watch. Was looking at easybike.co.za as their prices seems to be the best : I got mine overseas

I go to gym 5-6 times a week and use the watch for activities for about 40-60 minutes each time (except on saturdays when thats more like 120 minutes). A single charge will last me about a week. and thats with GPS+GLONASS on. Keeping in mind that only my long session and maybe 1 of the other sessions are GPS while the rest are indoor activities.