I waited for the Fenix 8 to launch to buy an Epix 2. I Payed 400€ for it brand new on a local shop sale. Its 3x cheaper than the Fenix 8 and for me buying the 8 doent make sense at that price
I've already seen a few deals with the Epix Pro g2 for almost half the price of the F8. It seems like a nobrainer if you want to stay in the Garmin ecosystem.
@@robhunt8378 What's even worse is that buyers allow themselves to be milked like this. The only option is to vote with your wallet, don't let yourself be scammed like this people.
I'm coming from an old Forerunner 945 for tracking and a Galaxy Watch5 Pro for daily use. This will be a big upgrade for me. I want one watch for everything and Garmin watches just haven't been good enough at basic smart watch features but it looks like it's finally there. I know the older models are cheaper now, but I don't mind paying the premium for longer support and new features. Going to wait until Dec/Jan. before buying though. Hopefully Garmin will have sorted out the bugs in the software by then.
Thanks for the video! Pretty much the same experience I have had. Numerous restarts throughout the day, laggy software, unable to add locations for weather and headphones not connecting curious to know which headphones did you pair with it how was the Bluetooth connection?
Thanks for watching! I have a pair of Shokz OpenRun headphones that are the only ones I've paired with them. The connection is quick and stays strong during runs
@@DaveDoesFitness appreciate your feedback. AirPod Pro two’s are very unstable and disconnect/turn off all of the time. I’ve tried beats fit pro and they seem to be a bit better but not the best. Ended up returning the watch and will wait until they hopefully get things ironed out.
That's interesting. They've gotten better, but still present in OLED in my opinion. I wonder if the fact the resolution is about twice as high causes that? Thanks for watching! 💪🏃
That's a great review from a real Garmin user. Great job, Dave ! 🤙 In my opinion Fenix 8 it's a very modern device and even if there are some similarities with the older versions, it's definitely a remarkable upgrade.
@@DaveDoesFitnessThis is most likely contributing to it. The new OS has become more complicated and Garmin seems to have rushed it to market. Adding to that, the processor on the Fenix 8 has not been upgraded from the Fenix 7 or Epix Pro in the last gen.
great video - new subscriber - I Would imagine these watches are not really going to be upgraded on a yearly basis by anyone. See so many videos and comments saying an upgrade from last years model isn't worth it. HAHA of course its not. And if your watch is only a few years old - you are not the intended market. I think that apple have a lot to do with that mentality. Upgrade the phone every year, but you dont upgrade your TV every year - or your sound system every year - why expect to upgrade a watch thats designed to last many many (many) years.
Thanks for subscribing! I definitely agree with you that the marketing of technology products has a far greater effect on people than the actual benefit they get from the upgrade. There's a reason Apple is the most valuable company in the world and its not because they release phones with small changes each year, its because they convince people that they need them 😂
Thanks for the video, I was thinking about to switch to F8, but I am not sure. I have F7 solar and I have problems to read the time in darker conditions; I think amoled can help here a little. We expect tax changes in my country so it is also considerable to switch now, because the price will go higher as it is now, but still thinking what could be better wait on 8pro, or switch.
Was thinking about upgrading from my instinct to the fenix 8. I really enjoy the battery life of the instinct and the fenix 8 looks like it would hold up well. Also the diving features are awesome as I do a lot of diving
Hi, great video I just want to know some more feature regarding receiving calls. Normally i wear wireless bluetooth, so if i answer the incoming call from the watch, so the voice of the other person will come from the watch, mobile or my connected wireless bluetooth? If, by answering the call from the watch, the voice of other person comes from the watch, so does the watch has the option to switch the voice of other person to my connected bluetooth from the watch itself..? Or do i need to pull out my phone from my pocket to do so..? Please make a detail video of it Thanks....
The biggest issue I have had with the F8 is when I created a manual course in Garmin Connect and uploaded it to the watch. The 9-mile route I created tuned out to be 75 miles shorter AND the created route and the F8 GPS mileage during the run were competing with each other. That said, it's a very cool watch.
@@BilloBob1231 I created a 9-mile road route in Garmin Connect and loaded it to the F8. It turned out to be 8.25 when I ran it. Confirmed on both my Apple watch as well as the F8. Thx
Even though the pricing is pretty wild for this watch, if it had LTE I would justify it a lot easier. I've wanted LTE on a new training focused watch for a while and was really hoping the 8 would be it
Did not notice delay problem, conversation quality is good but only if you’re a silent environment as the speaker is INSANELY limited in terms of the volume that comes out of the watch even when pushed to full
@DaveDoesFitness for my use, the Ultra is great. I use it for weight training, walks and cycling. I get 2.5 days of battery with said activities. I'm very happy with it, honestly.
I own a forerunner 965 and a regular Fenix 7. I love both of them. I bought this Felix 8 a few weeks ago, received it a couple days ago and returned it yesterday. I agree with your summary. I really can’t explain why I had not figured the following from watching different reviews, before buying it. But, once I had this beautiful watch in hand, I felt like the only thing I gained was the option to answer phone calls (which I probably will not use often), a flashlight (super cool!), and voice command (again, probably won’t use too often). I really don’t see those three things being worth the $1200 for me right now. But, if someone does not own a Garmin yet and they have the cash to spend, and they decide to go with this one, then I have confidence that it will be a really nice watch as soon as all of the issues are settled. Last, I completely agree that offering different colors of the sensor guard would be awesome. Thank you for making your videos!
Bought mine on launch day. Been waiting for 2 years since I saw the Fenix 7. I regularly climb in the Himalayas & the 8 is a superb tool for tracking fitness levels, sleep tracking, recovery, HRV, SP02, & VO2 Max. The strength training buttons take a while to learn how to initiate sets & edit reps + kg features, but they are there. No need for sweaty fingers on the touch screen.
After giving my fenix 7x to my son and upgrading to the 8 51mm amoled. I'm happy, I love the watch. I love the new buttons, I think the amoled screen is way better and battery is not an issue. I've tonked this watch on treks and runs over the last 3 weeks and think it is fantastic. I'm a bit surprised how much it cost over what I paid for the 7x but my son wanted mine and he couldn't afford a new one so I obliged. To be honest, I'm glad I did.
Fenix8 is my first Garmin watch. Lucky to have one,it exceeded my expectations and needs. It's so fun to use and user friendly for a newbie like me. Thanks for the review man,keep it up!
Epix 2 Pro holds (almost) the same features as the Fenix 8. Forerunner 965 is (almost) identical in terms of the software, screen, battery and maps experience as the Epix 2 Pro. The price of the Forerunner 965 is 2 times cheaper than the Epix Pro 2 and 3 times cheaper than the Fenix 8....! Let that sink in :)
Was looking to upgrade my Fenix 5/Instinct combo and I saw the Chase the Summit review of F8 vs Amazfit T-rex 3. Bought the Amazfit which is 90% (or better) Fenix 8 at $300. Best decision ever 😊
So far so good! I would expect over time that it gets some scuffs and scratches, but that's pretty much the job of the bezel to help protect the screen so I don't mind a few battle scars 💪
Typical Garmin! Astronomical price for a mediocre device. Still baffling people buy these gimmicky watches! Let’s start with build quality, plastic body sandwiches between metallic bezel and glass back.lol. Cheap band, a OS that operates like something developed in the year 2000, laggy maps which is its only selling point besides a little more battery run time, not a true smart watch, only will be supported for about 2 yrs for firm wire updates like the rest, health tracking subpar to even a fitbit. The list goes on all for a low low price of 1100K 🤣. Yeah okay
Some users say that there are freezing and rebooting problems with AMOLED screens. But MIB screen users say that they do not have these problems. Could this be true? Are you experiencing such a problem?
Many bug issues.. Biggest issue is the deaming of screen brightness in low light conditions (in the night or in a dark room) i have set my brightness to maximum but in the night the watch is UNUSABLE!!!! The lag is another joke in my 1300€ super-expensive 51 amoled watch
unbelievable that GARMIN would even think to ship a 1300 EURO!!!!!! product that doesnt work!!!!!!! Moreover they discontinue products after 2 years, where are the updates to the FENIX 7?????? this is considered a MAJOR FAIL -- time to switch to a competitor Enough is Enough
Thank you for your videos . Instead of speeding it on fenix 8 . As an Apple user that wanted a more hybrid smart watch I thought this would be it. But for the price and multiple reviews talking about it being laggy and buggy. It made me supplement my watches with an Apple Watch Ultra 2 . I have a fenix 7 pro I can use for all my work outs .
Cant decide between F8 and Epix Pro as a 1st watch. I like F8 display 1,4 for better maps and cycling but Epix is 300€ cheaper and still good watch. I wont dive or use mic and speaker
I regret buying mine. I want to return it. Lag is an absolute disgrace given what I paid...even after the updates....slightly better but no where near where it needs to be. My brother has the new samsung ultra watch. So much smoother albeit only a 3 day battery life...but right now I could live with that.
I have 5x and I'm looking forward to buy one of these, especially because diving options, as Im certified SSI diver. The only question I have is Isn't it better to await for the PRO version, hoping it will have upgraded CPU?
I will never buy a Garmin Fenix with touch sceen , amoled screen, microphone and other scuba gimmicks :)) I will hold to my Fenix 6X Pro Solar Titanium, for now and for me this is the perfect watch ! PS: I would not buy the Fenix 8 even if it was 200 dolars not 1200 :))
Dave love ur vids but could you plz speed up a little😅 Shorter pauses and faster speech. It would shorten the videos and attract more people 👍🏼 Intro could be 50% shorter also. Anyways great job and keep it up man👍🏼
What concerns me the most is that Garmin support has been responding to a reported problem with the watch for over two weeks. It's proof that support for 7 is dying. It's generally a problem where we have to move to 8 or Enduro 3.
Great review. I’m weighing up upgrading my 5X. The bugs put me off a bit, so maybe I’ll wait a month or two like you suggested and see if they fix them.
Great video, I’ll be keeping my 47mm F7 pro sapphire till the F8 pro comes out then I might think about getting it might* still not 100% on it just yet
have had multiple fenixes, the higher price and more bugs pushed me to using apple watch for as my daily and relegate old fenix only for more rugged activities i think it's very important to vote with your wallet, if they figure out cellular/magnetic charging on 42mm for 1k i'll be back, until then..adios
I’ve got the 7x pro sapphire solar and got it for $800 with the new 8 release. I’m supremely happy with it and I’ve considered also getting the 8 too because as the saying goes….two is one and one is none but i think I’ll wait awhile. If I do get one it would be the 47 Amoled.
Thanks, what a great video! I'm thinking about to upgrade from FR965 to F8. I see the F8 as upgraded FR965 :-) I mean, the same screen with better protection. The FR965 is missing body temp and ECG measurements. I need both though and I'm currently using the Oura ring and a dedicated blood pressure meter for those ones. The Oura ring is already showing a weak battery issue so time to upgrade soon. In the Oura ring you can have warning of the higher body temp after sleeping and there is no such functionality in the F8 but do you see the temp rise/baseline data for the body temp?
Just bought the f8 sapphire 47mm coming from the epix pro gen2 and I regret it. Haptics feedbacks are off because slow, I can’t get to the new feel of the buttons, bugs or lags are frequent. I saw my epix as the ultra dependable tool it earned the status to be, and I underestimated the button feel importance on this. but this f8 haptic delay is making my brain wonder after every action if the watch actually performed the required action for not just long enough to be annoying. Hope they fix it.
@@Bobjawaka everybody his own needs 😀 sure i whish i had it all but i do not mind charging it each 7 to 10 days (43mm) we are used to do this with laptop / phones .. so to me Perfs are more important (regarding amoled my old 45y eyes see the screen info better during Activities). Addition : My big concern right now is Navigation : slow and quite unusable (missing alerts, re-routing auto, moving into the Map etc...)
@@davidsogeti Sure 😉..I am 56 years old and it is true that Amoled is more visible in the forest and in the water. But I do not like a neon light that turns on and off constantly when you move your arm on a daily basis. Maybe the ideal would be to have MIP on a daily basis and an Amoled display in activities 🙂.
