Garmin Fenix 5 Plus UI Detailed Walk-through 

DC Rainmaker I have a google play music subscription.. Does this play and or save playlists from Google play WITHOUT HAVING TO BRING PHONE? Can't find any info on that.. Defeats purpose if I have to have a tethered phone.. Thanks

@@flow2tech doesn't matter much now. 🤷‍♂️😂 Friggin' Google.

Tom Smith Same with new smartphones, faster CPU.

You ca definitely turn off PulseOx. I don't think there is a specific setting for monochrome screen though, it seemed to 'just happen' to me below a certain battery threshold. Note that PulseOx is generally seen as highly useful in the high altitude mountain climbing realm, hence the push there.

Definitely. Check out my full in-depth review for some details on that and FDA certification plans. I may plunk down the cash for the higher end medical grade device, but it's about $600...and want to be sure it's actually worth it for more than just one unit.

Interesting regarding the "certification plans". Would this include other ways to use the sensor on the 5X Plus? I have the watch, but find that measurement pretty useless at sea level.

Certification (if done) would be focused specifically on a Garmin created 'App' (thus falling within the 'Software Medical Device' realm as per the FDA), that did PulseOx as you see it today natively (but pulled out into an app). End-user difference is likely negligible, since technically a widget is already an app. But in Garmin's vision, other companies could certify whatever apps they want to with the FDA, using that baseline sensor (or not certify, and just leverage it).

i am a medical practitioner (paramedic) and i can assure this 5X Plus readings r dependable. Using dedicated SpO2 machine and Vital signs machine to do comparison. because of this i am wearing one now.

IIRC, they've applied for an 510 K. A 510 K application states that one's device is equivalent to other devices (in the same class and for the same purpose) already cleared by the FDA. FDA clearance is very different from FDA certification/approval. Clearance, for example, doesn't empower the FDA authority to compel testing or studies. FDA clearance of the Fenix 5X Plus' pulse ox sensor would mean it'\ is equivalent to other class II pulse oximeters. That'd be a great marketing/selling point, but it would take a lawyer to know if they could legally market the watch as a medical device. It only takes a little imagination to convince yourself the pulse ox feature 100% necessary. The cynic in me say says those would benefit from continual pulse ox measurement aren't Garmin's target audience. I'm committing to being more imaginative and less cynical. No one likes a cynic. :)

Yup, Garmin Connect can be setup to sync to all sorts of sites (i.e. Strava, Training Peaks, etc...). Also, you can simply share a link on Garmin Connect so others can view the activity there. In my review linked above I link to a few such activities (search on the page for 'Garmin Connect' and you'll find one).

Stephen Cahalan looks like the Skullcandy Method Wireless ones that I have. Using them over a year, have been consistently good and comfortable for my ears.

I agree, for sure run moooooore fast than my fenix 3 hr, I don't know if it's faster also than fenix 5

I'd be curious to know if it has the same lag the Fenix 3 has when moving to and from a custom watchface. That thing where it thinks about it for 1 or 2 seconds. I've seen it on a friend's Fenix 5, too.

sorry what ? I don't get that question. The battery indicator is more accurate ??

It has a backlight option and brightness of the backlight is also customisable including things like auto-backlight when you twist your wrist to look at the device. Generally the visibility is clear in bright sunlight even with no backlight turned on. You also can customise things like watch faces and other settings via the app to be able to better read what you need when you need it. I can only speak for someone who wears glasses that i find the device clear enough even when I'm not wearing mine.You will get good data for most of those activities but as the device uses an optical heart rate sensor I would recommend buying an external heart rate strap and connecting this via BLE or ANT to the device. Activities involving a lot of wrist flexion can produce errors in heart rate readings using the built in optical sensor on its own. So lifting weights would be a particularly good example where this is needed. Hope it helps :)

Battery life is slightly longer due to larger case size. but this depends on use and setup you prefer.

Nope but you can turn it off in the watch or app. Also if you continue to ignore the move reminders the bars fill up to the max... At which point there are no additional reminders to move again until you clear this. Currently there's no option to customise this but it's on my wish list.

Sunny Curwen those are Skullcandy Method Wireless headphones

Next week, once I have final firmware!

Run outdoors twice

...and music...not planning on upgrading my 5 Sapphire yet.

Are you talking about Active Calories burned or passive? The watch has algorithms built in to take into account the calories you burn naturally just from being awake etc.

I agree John. It's hard to know for sure without trying it out in person but based on this review, I feel it's inconvenient to use the buttoms for somethings. It's almost hard to remember which button does what.

Jorge Ochoa It’s too many buttons to press for me. It’s nice to have a touch screen for certain things. I’d love it if Garmin made an Android Wear Watch, but that will probably never happen.

At this current time it's the only Fenix Garmin to feature PulseOx. But it has already been also released on their Vivosmart 4 so it is possible with other releases as well as addition upgrades to the Fenix series that we will see it? At least that's my theory based on what we have seen with payments and music etc for Garmin.

They specifically made some changes around Bluetooth headphone connectivity (signal) on the Fenix 5 Plus series. I haven't seen any dropouts, versus the handful I saw on the FR645.

DC Rainmaker thanks that’s good to know.

Very strong

I believe that's a requirement to get a GPS fix before it will show it, because it wants to ensure it has valid altitude data.

OK. I will try that. It let me use the Pulse Oximeter yesterday, and I wanted to see what happens when I went to sleep. I woke up and it said the watch was updated to 3.10 and I can no longer find the Pulse Oximeteter. This was all indoors though. I'll get the watch set on GPS and see what happens. I know the altitude is probably off by a couple hundred feet right now.

OK, I let the watch adjust the altimeter, but the altitude is the same. But now I had the option to add the Pulse Oximeter Widget. Thanks for the tip!

I've tested for sleep apnea a few times and ended up with a CPAP. I don't use it anymore though. Anyways, if you use a CPAP and use some software it tells you a lot of details than you can't even imagine. I've used this watch to see what happens when I sleep. It isn't quite detailed enough. It gives some details down to a minute resolution. But, you might only stop breathing for 5 - 10 seconds. A good CPAP machine will show you this. To officially have sleep apnea you need several "events" happen per hour. From last night I could see many events going on. I had several rapid changes of REM to light sleep going on over several minutes. On some nights I don't see that. What I learned from my CPAP is my body would enter REM and I would quickly stop breathing. I think my body becomes too relaxed in REM and I begin the having my obstructive breathing event. So, I know if I go to sleep and I had lots of long dreams I know I probably slept very well. Another thing of this watch, is yes, you can measure you blood O2 levels. I know from when I was in a sleep lab my O2 levels would go low, and the people in the lab explained that to me. You have to set your watch to always check your levels first. During sleep I sometimes see my O2 levels down to about 80%, and one time it was near 70% on this watch. if I remember right when I was in the sleep lab it went down to 71%. After fitting me with a CPAP in the sleep lab they checked my O2 levels and I think it was about 92%. This showed that a CPAP did work for me. If you look at the details of the sleep and )2 levels from the watch I think you can get a good idea if you have sleep apnea. You might have to ask someone familiar with looking at the charts and notice your events and low O2 levels. Something else I learned is if my body is about 215 pounds or less I have no sleep apnea. if I get heavier I get bad sleep apnea. I am currently way over weight. I've adapted to sleep on my side or stomach, or usually in-between that and I think I sleep pretty good. Sleeping on your back is very bad if you have sleep apnea. That is when your tongue will relax too much and choke you. Then your body has low oxygen and this forces you to wake up. You might sleep all night and not realize you woke up many times during the night. But once you stop breathing you will come out of your REM or deep sleep. This might show up on the body movement also.

Richard's World Traveler thank you for replying. If it wasn't because of you, I wouldn't know about the interval 0f 1 minutes O2 reading as I assumed it has the key feature of continuous data log just like what HR sensors did in FE5X did. I love to sleep on my back but I really hate to have obstructive airways. Looks like CPAP machine is my next significant sleep analysis and sleep wellness.

@@RichardsWorld never know that the Pulse OX can be that useful! thanks

It's under activity settings. You can set up preferences/settings for each specific activity you do. Either navigate to the activity you want and then go settings and tap GPS or you can go from Main settings and navigate through to activity and app settings and then the specific activity you want to modify.

Swim, bike, and run. And eating lots of pizza and once cream. Nom!

Hmm, any chance to choose a specific country? That's what I did in my case with 3rd party maps. Else, i suspect that each map set is probably over the half-way marker (there's a ton of space on the unit, but if you have both a US and Euro complete mapset, that might be too much).

DC Rainmaker Thank you sir I will give that a go and see what happens appreciate the feedback brother! Great video also keep up the great work and detailed videos

You know screen brightness is adjustable and there's also back lighting?

More questions: I got my device connected to my Galaxy 6. But I cannot seem to get it connected to my IPad 2. Is there a way to do that?

@phillip perkins I love this watch. I just think that the manual could be better written.

Not really. You might get a lot of it if you combine many different apps, but you'd still lack things like optical HR, PulseOx, battery life...and of course, wearability.

Thank you so much...I usually run with a Tom Tom multi sport and an iPod Nano....I was hoping to be able to run with GPS and Music in one...would you recommend the vivoactive 3 music or the 645 music?...I wish I owned a smart phone...but haven't caved yet.

By the way your videos are very informative and I enjoy the content.

Any luck with your issue?

@@jamescairney. Unfortunately, no. I never was able to figure it out. The watch itself has been awesome but I've not been able to use the VO2 max & Training Status. I really didn't dig too much deeper at trying to get those to work however. If you have any ideas, please let me know.

Yes.

In what context?

phillip perkins when you are driving. I drive a truck, steps and exercise are counted because of the frequent bouncing. Sometimes after just a couple hours of driving my watch has counted hundreds of steps.

Yup - exactly!

@@Dcrainmaker So the 5 and the Instinct are basically the same, except the Instinct looking more rugged and not having a color screen? Thank you very much, love your videos!

@@n3ssaya972 It depends on how your using the watch. The Fenix series (including the 5) has *FAR* deeper functionality, especially in terms of sport features. For example it supports cycling power meters and many more sensor types. It has full Connect IQ app support for watch faces, data fields, and apps (Instinct has none), and significantly deeper sport profiles. But...don't get too distracted there. It's easy to look at those features and say 'that sounds great!', but if the Instinct does everything you need - then go forth!

@@Dcrainmaker I don't cycle or run lol I need it for every day use, hiking and search and rescue. Having topo maps would be great for SAR, but then I have to pay up for the 5 plus.

@@n3ssaya972 Indeed. There's always the Fenix 5X - though if that's too big a watch, then that's tough. Based on your response timing, I assume you're in Europe. I'd encourage you to poke around a bit on the different Amazon EU sites - they seem to have the Fenix 5 Plus series on sale quite often, for usually pretty good deals. Good luck!

Nathalie Calvano hey....might make it easier to understand if it was more obvious which buttons you are pressing! You’ve got your fingers beside each button and it’s hard to see when you are pressing them (or not)

Built in optical but it supports BLE and ANT externals.

You can set the date three different ways: 1) Just walk outside and start the GPS (pretend to start an activity), once GPS is acquired, the date/time will instantly set. 2) Go into settings > System > Time > Set Time (Manual) > Set the time 3) Pair to your smartphone, the time will automatically set.

Thanks a lot for your reply!, syncing with the GPS did the trick, and now I have the correct date. Thanks!.

So without asking me what every abbreviation stands for here is the basic overview: GPS is basically accessing the American Navigation Satellite System GLONASS boiled down is accessing the Russian Navigation Satellite System GALILEO is accessing the European Satellite Navigation System. Both GPS and GLONASS are currently classified as having Global Satellite Coverage with Galileo and other systems due to reach this classification by latest of 2020. When fully operational Galileo is expected to be the most accurate system. However - in some respects this can be a moot point to my mind because it generally depends on where you are using the device and how many others are accessing it at the same time. Even though Galileo is technically the best according to some right now... the most accurate signal is always going to be when you have a satellite(s) directly overhead.... So if you were based in Russia for example - Using GLONASS could hypothetically get you as good if not better results than GPS + GALILEO. There's a lot more variables to factor in to that argument but I hope that helps.

James Greenwood im from the philippines, what gps would you recommend among the 3?

@@foxhound143 - Galileo sits in a higher orbit and soon should be the most accurate so I would try that first. However the beauty of a Garmin watch that can use Galileo is that it can also use Glonass or just GPS so you can test it out and find the best setting for you.

thank you so much, i really appreciate your time on replying to my inquiry.@@jamesgreenwood4412

@@foxhound143 Sure thing!

I wouldn't imagine we'd see a new variant for another 14-18 months.

Having the 5, the 5 plus isn't a big enough upgrade for the money they're asking. I'll be waiting for the 6 even if it is 1 to 2 years away. However for people with a Fenix 3 HR or lower, I'm sure it's easier to justify the upgrade....

The unit seen in the video is two months old...I generally treat watches like crap, mostly on purpose.

8strings sounds interesting, I will wait for these features too

useless (edited even) comment. Move along, trolling comments with useless sarcasm was cool in 2008

Touch screen is difficult during an activity

I'm using Vivosport with touchscreen, even during activity it's super easy ;)

I agree with the touchscreen being difficult. I'm waiting for my fenix 5 plus after the vivoactive HR basically does not work in the pool with the touch screen. I've lost a couple of activities and had an activity cut short when the touch screen did not work for me. Hopefully the fenix 5 will be a worthwhile upgrade in other areas to justify the cost...

@@serhiymalokhatko What kind of activities do you do that allow for touchscreen 😲. After I finish my warmup and I start hitting the weights the sweat alone makes a touchscreen useless for me, not to mention the screen turning off no matter what settings you fiddle with. This Garmin is a dream come true for people that hit the outdoors and the gym hard 😁😁

@@achillesofvolos4134 do both. Lock the touch screen via a setting or during any activity by default,

Is it off during wrist flexion activity or generally? How are you wearing it and where? Do you clean the bottom of the device and remove sweat before putting it back on? Also what GPS settings were you using? Just GPS on it's own and where were you using it?