I don’t understand why Garmin had to skip something as basic as barometric altimeter from Vivoactive 5. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator usually is the first step people take entering fitness world.
I've found that the smaller Garmins are more accurate because they're lighter and stay stationary on the wrist better. When running, my Fenix 7 47mm bounces around everywhere, while my Forerunner 55 is so small and light it doesn't move. The data is always more accurate on the smaller watch.
For what I do which is running cross country, the forerunner 45 does everything I need it to, the 55 is probably a better deal today but the 45 was on sale when I got it
Pretty good video and I'm not trying to be rude but I feel like you skipped over a lot of the main things separating the EPIX from the Vivoactive, like the maps, battery life, all the running dynamics and activity profiles. I will say though that I've never worn either watch (and my Fenix 5+ doesn't have a whole lot even compared to the Vivo) and maybe most of the things that I see in spec sheets and individual reviews aren't that prominent in real life wear. It may also be that you only talked about the prominent things you use often instead of the "Hey look at this cool thing" type features.
I switched from fit bit to Epix pro 2 sapphire specifically because it had a flashlight which has come in more handy then i could have ever dreamt. I also really like the aesthetic. I got the mid sized one and it looks and feels amazing, like a proper adult watch. And yah when friends and family ask about my watch there is something that just feels good to say you are wearing a $1k watch, reminds me of how hard I worked to get to where I am, I may not be rich but I am also not dirt poor anymore.
Last week Walmart and Amazon had a crazy sale for the Epix Pro 2 42mm, for $300. Not sure if it was a price mistake or what, but so happy I grabbed one,
I could be mistaken but I thought the Walmart and Amazon sale was for the standard or pro standard edition for that price. Not Pro|sapphire. Could be wrong tho 🤷
@@Aesthetic_Al Pro Standard (silver white) was $350 and Sapphire (Black) was $300, both in 42mm. Not sure about the other sizes. One of the best deals I've gotten ever.
Great video. I appreciate your honesty about most people’s needs, including yours. I actually had purchased the Epix Gen 2 Pro (47mm) and test drove it for about 2 months until I realized that I wasn’t scaling mountains or backpacking in the wilderness for days on end. I eventually returned to my Apple Watch Ultra because I’m both a father with a family and a on-call nurse who finds more value in the cellular availability to take and send messages when I’m on the go and my phone isn’t near me. Plus I hate long runs with a phone, as I believe you have also stated 😂 To each their own. Find what works for you. For me the Ultra and App Store have sufficed in filling in the gaps.
I ended up doing the exact same thing lol. 47mm as well! Ultimately I felt that my garmin was useless when not working out. It became just a really expensive digital watch. The ultra filled in those gaps for me although I preferred the workout interface on the garmin.
Love Garmin and my 7x pro. The new elevate 5 has been fantastic for me. I wear nylon straps and it stays in place perfectly. The cheaper Garmins are awesome tho! Love the channel!
I'm thinking of getting the Fenix 7S. I'm starting to run again but I also travel a lot for business. I want a watch that looks premium for business but also has all the fitness features. The 7S with the solar charging, just looks good.
Great video. I like the fact that you touched on the opinion that most people, if wallet allows, choose the biggest toy they can get. I do wish that Garmin didn't have so many watches which can make a person (me) consider something else because there are just too many. I'm a casual user, never had a smart watch before so its been difficult to make a decision. I'm in KY and stores (BB) around here just don't have these watches on display. You have to order one to see what it looks like, the weight, etc. so frustrating. I was going to get the VivoMove until I saw many reviews that mentioned you can't see the watch face when outside (glare) and sometimes not inside Boo. Now I'm thinking about the Vivoactive 5 that has pretty good reviews across the board. Garmin does have cheaper models than the Vivoactive 5 too. Thanks again for a simple, straight forward review.
Any fitness watch is a good one. As long as you are tracking Steps, Resting HR, and pace, then you have something good. I used my Vivoactive 3 from 2017 up until 2024, and I just gave it away to a friend who is still using it. Just get whatever you can afford, you won't be dissapointed.
I got the 51mm Epix Pro titanium… Love it, and because of it i started training. Could it be better… yes, easily, but still it’s better and more accurate than AWU or other high end sport watches. And the battery life on the 51mm is insane. 11days AOD, and over 20 days easily with raise to wake… including training and constant HR and SpO2
While I dont regret buying the Epix2 Pro Sapphire, propably would have been just fine with Forerunner some version or something else much cheaper. Flashlight is handy, but for 300-500 bit expensive if you just for that get it for. I've also noticed some of the cheaper Garmin watches have nice looking UI too. Looking few videos, it does not seem to be same UI for every watch. Epix Pro 2 does not have best or most modern looking Garmin UI for my eye. Otherwise I'm pretty happy with Epix2 Pro. Its really good watch. But if you are planning to buy watch, its correct that just look them at shop and compare If you need only running aid and sleep tracking/HRV, you propably get them cheaper more better looking watch. Epix Pro 2 is bit of tank. Its really good when running in snow or any enviroment, but not necessarily most elegent or cost effective solution for everyone from Garmin
Ok so i have a Tactix and a newer Fenix 7x pro SS, its same as epix without the amoled screen. The reality is there is a huge difference between the Epix/Fenix and the vivoactive 5, however you have to do certain sports or activities for it to be apparent what the difference is. Just going to the gym and in network around a city without multiday long activity day use Garmin Vivo 5 is excellent and if your buying a fenix or epix for that you have more money than sense. Try going to the Arctic Circle or high altitude mountaineering and the Fenix come's into its own, or even long distance trails with the battery and expedition mode. Having a barometer for one is a big plus to be able to see pressure changes and it track so i can tell if a storm is coming in. The other big difference is battery but also the elevate 5 sensor on the back, re ECG if you want that but also more accurate heart rate tracking (that said i always use a HR strap for performance endurance. Sat tracking is way better when near cliffs and confined areas with blocked overheards. The only thing lacking from the Fenix/epix range, is to have a Emergency beacon, instead of having to still carry separate sat communications. There is also the mapping, a huge difference between the two. Also the flashlight, its so useful, the number of times been on a ledge and just needed a light whilst roped on and not wanting to disturb climbing partner faffing for headtorches during sleep to find something. As for the vivo its a great watch at an amazing price point, but there is a quantum leap between the 2 in terms of what the watch can actually do, but to label it as shocking results is pure clickbait, you never used the Fenix/Epix for its intended use.
Good video..but you only touched on gym workouts and run workouts. I would bet there are some major differences in connectivity to run and bike power meters and recording swim workouts. Did you get a chance to look into these at all? I would be curious to know as I don't have the available resources to do the testing myself. The recording of other workouts might be some of the biggest differences
Many thanks! I honestly wore both for a full month and the rep counter is more accurate more times on the VivoActive 5. But the Epix pro did just get a massive update so I’m still testing if that changes the rep counter
Got a vivoactive 3, love it for gym, cycling and working. But battery is getting a little too old after 4 years. But damn why cant garmin make wireless charging or usb-c cable
51mm epix is so damn good looking! plus the mapping features is great. Still wear my Apple Watch Ultra more though as its more useful for normal day to day life.
I feel like you didn’t mention a lot of the epix features including maps, navigation, expedition, and specific running and cycling data and connectivity to other garmin devices. And all the extra activity modes it has
To make it a fair comparison, I took a poll. Majority picked to use a Cheapest 2023 AMOLED Watch. There will always be older generations cheaper or heck I could've use the Garmin Vivo fit kids I think its $69 😆. But yeah this wasn't the MarQ but I mentioned in the video its like Garmin's 3rd most epix $1,099 I think.... good points tho love all the feedback I can get
@@Aesthetic_Al Thanks for being receptive to feedback. The Marq would admittedly be not amongst the normal range of their products. I view them as a luxury range, separate from the "regular range".
Nice video, I have a Garmin 55 which it has a V3 sensor, it would be nice to have a comparison video where I can see how better the V4 and V5 sensors are (V5 is on the Epix Pro)
I think its Garmin answer to try and attack the magpies (those that like shiny things is more important than anything else). Agree i wouldnt thank you for an epix! Fenix 7x pro SS , enduro or tactix all the way.
Nice review. The prices of smartwatches have gone out of bounds with reality. Paying $500+ for a watch only makes sense if you have money to burn. There are much less expensive options that accomplish the bulk of what pricey watches do. I only stick to garmin because of it's PC integration and their app. But I stay 2-3 years behind the latest greatest watches to track my activities.
This is smart. If I had known this before I bought my fenix 7 pro, I would’ve bought a Fenix 6 pro. Apple Watch every day and Fenix for hiking. It would’ve saved me $300! My main uses are battery life and maps, so all the new software features mean nothing to me.
Thank you for the video. I have a fenix 7x but what sold me on it was the stamina feature and the look of the watch. A feature I thought was cool was the flash light and I do use this for night running. It works for me because I told myself I have a tough watch now I need to kill the battery but I also had the vivoactive 4 and it was almost as good but not for mu use as sweat made it unusable for running when I wanted to use the touch screen.
cant imagine wearing such a gigantic watch.. It's so MASIVE and HUGE :D May be ok for mountaineers and some specific tasks users, but sleeping, wearing it in gym and wearing everyday in general- no thanks. Would need to buy oversized jumper just to accommodate that watch
I used abc watches since 2012 and still have few of them alive. Being with military background i barrely used those functions. If you are not pro athlete, just general gym goer or jogger it useless.
Was hoping you would go into the others like Forrerunner, Fenix, etc. and let us known who and why they’re catered to a specific audience. Other than that awesome vid. I’m running the 265 on my left wrist and ultra on right. Hard to let the Apple one go 😂 Also, will you be diving into the other Garmin accessories ie. Scale, bpm, bike equipment etc?? Do you prefer 3rd party bands or Garmin? Lots of questions 😂 don’t have to answer now or maybe another video. Lastly what’s a good way to find or add a schedule for workouts? Instead of me saying let’s add this one and this one is there one that add a month (like the nick bare one) to the watch?? And do you think they’ll add a workout feature similar to the 5k - marathon plans?!? That would be awesome
All Epix, Fenix and instinct models have altimeter. Unfortunately, the Vivoactive 5 does not which is a shame and not a good choice for serious hikers.
I think that the Fenix line is to heavy on the wrist while running and sleeping. The robust structure makes the vibration feature worse so that i dont wake up. Also it is pretty cold to wear while running in whinter time. The sapphire Crystal also shines in the sun and can make it difficult to read the screen. The watch band on the fenix may last longer, but it is not nearly as comfortable as on the vivoactive and forerunner line. I think you really pay a lot for the titanium, sapphhire, watch strap and maps. Maps are not very helpfull anyway because, most people use better maps when hiking etc. The design on vivoactive and venu also looks more clean. The robust design i think also prevents you cathing gps signals fast as soon as i got a cheaper and not so strong watch, it cathes the signals emediately. I dont know the reason? The fenix is also too large to sleep with and always feels like having a brik on your wrist. When wanting to use the backlight as a flashlight it is actually also better on the cheaper models. The screen on the new Venu models is crazy good looking, but they tend to use a lot of battery. My new go to watch is either the forerunner 255 music, or the Vivoactive 4 or 5. The 255 Forerunner and the Vivoactive 5 also has the new heart rate sensors and if you want that on a Fenix, you will have to buy the latest Fenix 7. I think people buy them because they are more expensive, but definitely not because of their needs.
Epix Pro 51mm!! its honestly to big for my wrist but I got a sweet deal on it. None of my videos are sponsored so I have to save up and buy them myself.
there are cheaper ones especially now with the new Garmin 165. I took a community poll before making this video and most votes were to compare the "cheapest AMOLED watch". hope this clarifies any confusion.
Bro, I've handled both watches and no matter your wrist size, they are still too big. Garmin's watches overall are massive. Its the reason I wear an Instinct 2 solar and no the solar 2x. Maybe if you have Eddie Hall or Brian Shaw arms, the flagship models would look normal.
Here I come with my 25 euro chinese Colmi m42, well I used to own Garmin Fenix 1st version but 1k for smartwatch today, well it is not very smart, even 300$ is too much.
