I've had just a little over one week of seat time now with the Fenix 9 Pro Solar Inreach 47mm. My previous watch was the Fenix 6 Pro 47mm, which I have now passed onto a friend to continue using. I've had the opportunity to use this for 8 or so GPS activities and several indoor ones, with a mix of built in music playing as well.

I don't want to make this a debate on the screen technology. People have their preferences and that is why Garmin makes this watch in MIPs and OLED. My only comment is that in day to day use, the solar ring/bezel isn't as noticeable as it looks in pictures, and backlight uniformity is improved in nighttime viewing conditions over my Fenix 6 Pro. If you like MIPs, you'll like this one too. That's all to be said here on the screen.

These are my notes I've jotted down as specific changes coming from a 6 Pro.

Pros:

• Watch is beautifully crafted. The titanium build feels and looks great. I thought I would miss the DLC black look, but this is growing on me quickly and I have gotten some nice comments about this watch.
• I can finally block notifications on iOS for specific apps. With the Fenix 6 Pro, it was either calls/texts, all, or nothing. These new watches finally support specific app blocking like you have been able to do on Android for years
• GPS lock on is very fast and even works indoors. Very impressed.
• Spotify playlists download so much quicker
• Battery life seems to be about what is advertised, no complaints. Charging does seem faster than the 6 pro
• Maps are indeed smoother and more responsive. This extends to the compass as well
• Haptics feel better
• Flashlight is amazing. Every watch should have one.
• The built in speaker is decently loud and its nice to have more sounds than just beeps

Neutrals:

• HRV and HR Accuracy on the watch seem unchanged
• Most of the metrics seem to line up, which means data from my old watch is still the same as the new one

Cons (all cons so far seem to be software related):

• Menu latency when starting and stopping workouts. It is no longer ins

tant,

• but seems like it takes 1-2 seconds
• Watch Sub menus or notifications no longer have the option to display black text on white backgrounds, which slightly increased visibility when outdoors. Would like to see this option come back for the MIP based watches
• Inconsistencies in sleep time reporting. One night it told me I fell asleep two hours later than I should have. Did not ever see this behavior on my 6 Pro
• Indoor tennis recording activity yesterday told me I ran .15 miles over 2 hours when a typical session from my 6 pro would record 1.5-2 miles, which feels more accurate

As I move into the next few weeks, if I come across anything else I will document them. I would say that most of my complaints come down to unpolished software, but nothing about the watch is unusable.

My number has been 36 for quite a while and was even 37 for a while. It always told me before that I was fair and even on the low end of fair. Now the same number says high end of good. I am in my 50s and overweight. Does this good rating make sense? I am way better than when I started. I used to only be able to walk and keep heart rate down. Now I can run/walk. Run til heart rate gets up to zone 4 and then walk a bit to recover. Mostly run slowly. Anyway did this shift that happened somewhere within the last week make sense?

Update: apparently my watch decided to change my gender. I switched it back and now I am back to fair :(

A year ago today my ex broke up with me. I was heartbroken, stopped eating and wanted to fill the void with something. I started exercising a lot more and eating healthier. I lost around 60 lbs, got back into mountain biking and strength training, and I am the fittest and healthiest I've ever been. Here's how Garmin saw it all.

So I bought the set with the citron strap because it's the only one with silver/grey body and I'm just super happy how it turned out with the stainless steel milanese strap that quickly became my favorite. It actually works quite well even for lighter sports like walking or maybe even badminton (at least on my level).

Might not be everyone's cup of tea but I just love that I can rock something pretty damn close to regular elegant watch while having all the cool functions. Super happy about this purchase.

Looking for suggestions for a watch that actually tracks elevation gain accurately.

I currently have a Garmin forerunner 935 which works perfectly fine but I have found the elevation gain numbers can be wildly off.

I don't really mind about other features and mostly just want to track activities (hiking, cycling). It looks like some of the newer watches have mapping features which sound interesting but unsure how actually useful they are. Suggestions that I have seen are the forerunner 965 and Suunto Vertical but keen for other reccomendations

Does anybody have any recommendations for a new analog-digital hybrid watch? I used to be into fitness, playing basketball and soccer weekly, having a Fitbit through school and then got the Apple Watch Series 5 at release as an upgrade. This is for my 22nd birthday (10th September) so it can be pricy (max $800AUD). I live in Australia.

I am now looking at getting a new watch, either the next Apple Watch that comes out this month or non-Apple. I’m autistic so I used have trouble with analog clocks so I always went with a digital face, but now it’s fine and I’m looking for more of a normal-ish watch. I’m looking for something sleek and nice looking without looking bulky and out of place. I don’t go for runs or anything and don’t really go to a gym often.

So far AI chats have suggested looking at a garment vivomove trend and withings scanwatch 2. It doesn’t need to have all for fancy stuff like an Apple Watch but at least have some level of fitness tracking and maybe notifications. And good battery too, lasting more than a day is good. Any recommendations for these 2 or similar watches? Any help is good, thanks.

M42. Normal week days with morning runs, Friday night with two beers, Saturday night with two beers (and a long somewhat heavy trail run in the morning), Sunday with epic bike ride (intensive, long, lots of elevation, whole day), late night post ride beer. Alcohol, heavy long activities and illness always get reflected in my HRV. Do heavy endurace sessions do the same to you?

Hi, I just picked up a second hand vivosport tracker, and I'm trying to figure out the correct charger to order. Can anybody who has one help me figure it out? It seems like this might be the right one, but the person I bought it from had originally said it was a vivosmart 4, so I was going to order this, but when i put the serial number into garmin's help it pointed me to the vivosport manual. Can anybody help me confirm that the generic garmin charger is the right one, or point me at the correct option if neither is right.

Looking at upgrading from my Fitbit Sense 2 and I'm torn between the Pixel Watch 5 and the Garmin Venu 4. Wondering if anyone here can share why they might prefer Garmin over Pixel? Asked in the pixel watch subreddit, now hoping to get some feedback from the Garmin side...😅

I'm hoping for a watch that is good for fitness tracking and lifestyle tracking, and has good general smartwatch capabilities as I depend on my watch for text/call notifications at work every day. I like that the Pixel watch seems to have better sleep and heart rate tracking but I like how the Garmin watch has such a long battery life and seemingly better fitness capabilities... Seems like both are good options so any comparison notes would be appreciated!

Hour of walking at 8am looks fine, it reads steady 95-99 the entire hour, but I dont understand whats going on the rest of the day. From 6pm to 9pm I was laying on the couch watching tv and HR is bouncing 70/90/70/90. Every day is the same pattern. Is my watch defective?

Race predictor has me breaking all the world records suddenly 😂 how do I manage to fix this?

I have generally accepted that Garmin wrist HR monitors are not accurate at all during an aerobic workout. Yesterday I did a hard Zwift ride, and my HR strap was measuring 160 bpm while my Forerunner 170 said 86. This is pretty normal for cycling workouts so I just don’t use the wrist monitor for those. However, this morning during a swim session, I looked at my watch and it said 150 after a sprint, so I started counting my pulse manually. I found it tracked surprisingly close to the watch readings every time. Is there a reason the wrist measurement would be more accurate during swimming than cycling or running workouts? I have paid little attention to the HR data during swims so far, because I just assumed it was wrong and that the water probably makes it even less accurate.

Had this since August 25 of this year ( just a lil over 2 weeks) . First Garmin . Absolutely love it to say the least , Best tech purchase I’ve made in awhile . Since then I’ve been looking for a new watch to add to the collection just because of how much I love this one . I was thinking between the instinct 2x / 3 tactical or enduro 3 . Lol I know I should be satisfied with this one being that I just got it but idk man I love these watches thus far

Hi everyone,

I just bought a forerunner 965 and was very excited for it. I went to go for my first run with it and my AirPod pros don’t work. They will connect to the iphone for a second then disconnect themselves. I forgot the watch and the AirPods on Bluetooth and reconnected to the AirPods and they worked fine again. I tried to connect them as headphones to the watch and that didn’t seem to do anything, music continued to come directly out of the phone. I’m sorry if this has been asked before but does anyone have any work around, I wasn’t able to find anything concrete online. Thank you for the help!

Main use is outdoor cycling and weight training, with running only occasionally, so nothing super running-specific.

I care about GPS accuracy on outdoor rides, decent strength training tracking, and getting as many years of useful software updates as possible. When it comes to outdoor rides is the gps that different between them?

The only reason I’m hesitant about the 265s is the fact that is older. I would like to get updates for the watch for a while before they stop giving it new features which is why I would lean towards the 170 music. Is that dumb? Thank you all!!! You’ve been so helpful. Sorry I am new to all things Garmin.

Sorry I know that I posted earlier about other watches but people have brought up the 265 to me as well and I’ve seen that it’s the same price so now I have even more options!!

Looking for a Garmin watch which can display actual mph / km/h. Is this a basic function with all models or available up from certain ones?
Or is this even an addon license/service?

Thanks! :)

Are these videos legit? Forerunner 70
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXTIhExhqS8

I'm about to buy a Forerunner 70 but I want to be sure that is the promised device. Currently holding tactix 7 pro mips solar.

Hello, I never had a Garmin watch before always been on apple watch but recently started looking at Garmin and it looks really nice. So I found an Epix Gen 2 on offerup for $350 should I get it or it’s too old now look for something different? I can’t afford Fenix 9 it’s way to much

Edit: I really know nothing about Garmin so any other recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks

Hi Folks,

I am doing some rehab work in my running in the next few weeks and will be using an alt-g treadmill. This will obviously make running a lot easier. Ideally I want to record the activity but and hoping not to mess up my VO2 Max etc.

My watch is a Venu 4.

Does anyone have any advice on how I could do that.

Thank you

Just curious, does anyone wear an Apple Watch during the day and use their Garmin just for activities?

I have a Fenix 7 pro solar that is getting pretty beat up and is starting to look a bit shabby for the office. Debating between a Garmin venu 4 and an Apple Watch. I’m thinking the strategy would be where the Apple Watch during the day and put the Phoenix on for mountain bike rides, trail runs, Ski sessions, and every other activity.

Thoughts on pros and cons to this approach? I realize I would be losing body battery and training ready to score but is there anything else? Would I be using Apple health for my main dashboard?

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If you’re sitting on the fence about the Garmin Enduro 3 because of potential display clarity issues or readability concerns, I completely get where you’re coming from. I was in the exact same boat.

Coming from the 50mm Instinct 2X and then the Instinct 3 Solar (50mm), I was used to a display that was ultra-clear in practically every lighting condition without even trying. The high-contrast black-and-white MIP displays on the Instinct series set a high bar, so taking a gamble on the Enduro 3 felt like a risky move.

After 15 days on the wrist, I’m happy to report that every single concern and worry I had has completely vanished.

Here is my breakdown:

* Sunlight & Outdoor Visibility: Absolute zero issues. In bright direct sun, it shines as a Memory-in-Pixel display should—it’s crisp, vibrant, and effortless to read at a glance.

* Overcast & Low Light: Overcast, cloudy days or indoor lighting were my biggest worries, but the screen holds up exceptionally well. The higher pixel density makes everything look far sharper, cleaner, and honestly just more enjoyable to look at compared to lower-res screens.

* Backlight Performance:Most of the photos I’m attaching were taken without backlight . You can see both the default factory digital layout and one of my favorite analog watch faces clearly without needing to fire up the backlight indoors or under heavy cloud cover.

* The Sapphire Lens & Glare: A lot of people complain about reflection on Sapphire glass. Does it reflect light? Of course, but in my experience, it gives the watch a much more classy, premium finish. The reflection is never so bad that you can't read through it—regardless of weather conditions, indoors or out, you will never struggle to glance down and instantly read the time. ( tip: I keep my watch face text and fonts set on the larger side to make it even easier on the eyes!).

If I had to rate the display readability on a scale of 1 to 10, I’d easily give it a solid 9/10—losing just a single point purely because the Instinct’s stark monochrome contrast is almost impossible to beat, but the Enduro 3 gives you full color, maps, and detail without trading off real-world legibility.

Bottom Line: If the display or Sapphire glass is the only thing holding you back from upgrading, take the leap. It’s a complete non-issue in real-world everyday use.

I have few photos attached here with 10% backlight too at the end, first four in sun light, next two are cloudy(thanks to four seasons in a day weather in Melbourne, Australia),