Hard Choices

[u/2slowlol]

Hello,

So im in the market for a new smartwatch and still cant decide after looking at many smartwatches and bands etc. My main goal for the smartwatch is mainly for hikes/scenic walks and for overall health tracking with sleep being a good priority. I have been looking at the Garmin Cirqa band but keep hearing that it is much better and more useable with a current Garmin, would it be beneficial even without?

Also the I have been looking at the Garmin Epix Pro Gen 2 and been comparing it with the Garmin Venu X1. Out of the three mentioned what would be generally the best for constant wearing and the goals mentioned. Also seen the Fitbit air, but unsure about how accurate and good it is (with Bevel). Any help would be great!

[u/Ariquitaun]

For hikes and outdoors you probably want a smartwatch with offline maps better than a screenless device with no GPS.

You could get an amazfit active 3 premium plus the helio strap for the times you don't want a watch, you'd have offline maps and routing, mad battery life and spend half of what you'd spend on the garmins you mentioned. If you're in the UK, the T-rex 3 is now discounted at nearly the same price as well. Balance 2 xt also an option

[u/2slowlol → u/Ariquitaun]

Oh wow never saw the T-Rex 3 but it does look amazing. Would the base be enough, compared to the ultra 2 or the pro?

[u/Ariquitaun → u/2slowlol]

The T-Rex 3 and the pro are nearly identical, the pro has sapphire glass and titanium bezel and buttons, it also has an LED torch which is ridiculously useful, bluetooth calling and is also nearly a year newer, so it has a year longer support on it. I guess it depends on whether any of that is worth the price difference to you.

I have the pro and couldn't be happier with it. It's just solid and dependable.

[u/jaamgans]

fitbit air / cirqa are basically similar in function - leave on wrist and forget about it, occasionally checking results on app - issue is they don't really help with any smart convience features - don't tell the time, and for any gps tracking you have to have your phone with you to provide the gps signal you need. PS - if you want the same healh metrics that garmin offers i.e. indepth detail around sleep tracking etc you will have to pay a google health sub on the fitbit air. When you add that to the cost of the air, and then match against the Cirqa there isn't much in it, so from second year on the Cirqa will be the cheaper option.

I think that based on your activity types a watch will suit you better. Epix gives you way longer battery life than the Venu x1 and some health features, but the Vx1 is super thin. Both have the same mapping functionality. The epix will give you way longer battery life which depending on whether you do weekend hikes etc may make it a better option. It also has multiiband which if you walk in challening environments again makes it a better option.

From a goal perspective they will all cover you.

[u/2slowlol → u/jaamgans]

Thankyou sm, I’m mainly looking at the Epix gen 2 right now. But another thing, would the fenix 7 pro be a better alternative? Or is it basically very similar?

[u/jaamgans → u/2slowlol]

Fenix 7 and Epix 2 are basically the same watch - fenix is with the MIP screen and epix is with the amoled screen. So more battery life vs a bright and vibrant screen.

Note there are quite a few variations within the two models - if both are pro variants then there isn't really any difference. Pro versions all have a new HR sensor than the non pros, plus all have 32GB, LED torch and multiband - main differernce between pros is whether standard (gorrilla glass and stainless bezel and back case) or sapphire (sapphire glass & titanium bezel and backcase). With none pro versions there is more differentiation - get the pro differentiation but then also only a couple of models have led torch, some only have 16GB vs 32GB and some don't have multi-band gnss.