Just finished a support call with Garmin. I purchased the new Fenix 8 AMOLED for me and my wife. We noticed something about the display last night. Even if you have it set to full brightness, if you walk into a dark room the display dims substantially. Thought it might be a software bug but was told by Garmin engineering that the AMOLED display has a built-in sensor that automatically controls the brightness (kind of like auto-brightness on other displays). The problem is that it can't be turned off nor fixed with a software update. This would create a big problem for anyone using the watch outside at night or in dark environments. This is an absolute deal-breaker for me as I want to be able to control my display brightness in every situation, and I should for $1200.00. Hope this helps others that are trying to decide whether to purchase a Fenix 8 AMOLED version. Thanks for the great videos!
This was also in the Epix watches. Ist doesn’t affect readability outside at night because it only dims if it is dark enough. If it gets brighter, it will ramp up the backlight accordingly.
I have the Epix Pro 51mm and the brightness stays the same whether in the dark or light. The support person I spoke to said new on Fenix 8 AMOLED. Regardless, it is a deal breaker for me. Just wanted to make sure others know before they spend that much $$$$.
@@mjktechgeek genuinely curious why this is an issue? Dim AMOLED in a dark room is still more than readable. I would have the opposite problem, it would be super irritating if the screen stayed super bright in a dark room or at night. (I also have an epix pro and the screen adjusts brightness automatically fwiw)
These DC Rainmaker high level and detailed reviews, written and video, constitute a real public service. I veered from the Fenix/Tactix path last year and purchased the Epix Pro 51mm, which has been wonderful. While the stunning display is addictive, and the Epix consistently gets 11 days of always-on runtime, with GPS activities, I’m really intrigued by the redesigned Enduro. It is exactly what I hoped Garmin would introduce: a lean Fenix Solar with incredible battery life. The price is the same as the previous model, when you account for the inclusion of one band instead of two, and, I think, represents a true bargain, relatively speaking. I ordered mine from Garmin and, despite the 4-7 day estimated wait, Garmin actually shipped it within a few hours. Good times 😊
Yup, I agree, I think they really nailed the Enduro 3 here. They took away some material things that most Enduro 3 owners don't care about (fancy materials) that drive up price without delivering most people any real-world value.
Totally agree. Hours away from receiving my E3 in exchange for 7Xss, upgrade because of better HRM and EKG functionality as well as more battery. I’ll wait for a more mature voice control and better audio system until the F10 comes out.
I turned on gesture mode backlight on Fenix 7 pro and I'm super happy now. Has barely affected battery life and I can see in all conditions with no problem. I really have no desire for a Fenix 8 now. The biggest draw for me is the modern look with the nice, thin bezel, other than that it has the same HR sensor and GPS chipset.
Thanks for this amazing review @Dcrainmaker! How does the MIP/Solar Fenix 8 display look under water? We noticed on land, the MIP/Solar Fenix 8 angle range of visibility is surely not as wide as the AMOLED (ie if you move left or right of the Solar watch face, you won't see the display any longer), but are curious how the Fenix 8 MIP/Solar display looks while swimming/diving?
I was a big fan of MIP screens, like my previous three Garmin Fenix watches. Yesterday I bought the new Fenix 8 Amoled, since I was impatient and I could not wait a month for the solar edition. I was not sure about this purchase, but really I don't regret it, the screen is great in most scenarios, except under the direct sun. The graphics and animations makes the watch looks 10 years newer than my previous Fenix 7 Pro.
yeah that's whats killing me too. Waiting on the 51mm Fenix 8 solar to ship out. bought it when it got released but the wait is killing me. Glad you're liking the AMOLED fenix. Display does look super crisp compared to MIP. debated heavily myself but MIP has always been my go to since i don't like charging too much and i always want to see the watch's time. With the always on display this seems to significantly decrease the battery life.
@@kk4649k I have this watch 3 days, and I lost only 15% (5% per day) with always ON display but gesture OFF, as the brightness is adjustable according to light conditions. During these 3 days, I did 2 runs , 1 hour each with multiband gps and all satellites active. I made the settings for screen like this, so the watch to be closer to my previous Fenix 7x pro solar in terms of screen. The battery until now is better than I expected. Maybe this happens because I don't wear the watch during the sleep or inside the home, so the screen is closed completely. The MIP is always ON, even if you don't wear the watch, so it still consume a small energy. With my usage I believe that I will get the same autonomy as my previous watch. P.S. - It's the 51mm version.
MIP user here. The 47mm amoled lasts 37 hrs in GPS Mode. Okay, cool. But what if you use the map in parallel? What is your experience with the dark mode navigation. A map facing north should increase the battery live too. If I could hike with this watch >20 hrs without charging - I’m in…
So good thankyou I've been waiting for this upload. As just purchased my first smart watch and was a little lost . Going to watch this a few times I think. Appreciate your work
I just caved for a Fenix 8 47mm after using a Forerunner 955 pretty much since its release. There were just a few options on the Fenix series I wanted to try out and am loving it so far! Not gonna lie, the flashlight alone is a huge selling point for me
I'm still currently using my Fenix 3. I want to upgrade to the Fenix 8 amoled/solar or the Enduro 3. The thing is I like to do water sports. I don't want to worry about pressing the button and water gets into the watch. The Fenix 8 would be my choice then.
Garmin's a bit behind on solar unit production so units are hyper-limited, and in my case, mine got caught up in DHL international hell for a week or so. But finally untangled, you can see it here in this video. Ultimately, I don't know if I'd have a reason to do a standalone MIP variant. I'll probably aim to do some battery life checking, but otherwise it's identical. Further, since I did an Enduro review, that's the exact same new UI as found on the Fenix 8 Solar.
@@Dcrainmaker Hi Ray, I'm interested too specially about battery life / solar if there's any difference between F7 Sapphire Solar and F8 Solar; also if the new solar panel is more efficient than F7 SS panel. Thanks
Jupp, im interested too, particularly in a 1on1 comparison between the 7(X) Pro and the 8 Solar (51mm). I would really love to learn more about the display clarity, visibility in sunlight & indoors and of course your opinion on those two in comparison to each other.
@@Dcrainmakerdo you think Garmin is plotting to remove MIP entirely from the Fenix line in upcoming iterations? It seems like they didn’t want reviewers to have the solar variant so it pushes more buyers to AMOLED. I know a lot of people including myself will consider other brands if this becomes the case. Just asking for your opinion.
Here from my first forerunner 210, love reading and watching your very detailed guides and review! But you’re minimising the voice assistant features.. having a connected home I will go “open garage door” when returning from my rides leaving phone and key in the backpack. Having the capability to easily answer phone calls from the watch even when I’m in my precious 59 minutes EMTB escape.. that’s a massive downside 😂
Thanks! It would be useful if at some point you could do a tutorial on managing with more than one Garmin watch. I don't wear them all the time and have different ones at different locations and I am finding it frustrating.
I LOVED the Epix 2, but something about the back of the watch would cause a red itchy circle on my skin. It seemed to be something about the sensor plastic surface, based on the location of the skin irritation. I tried everything: using a rubber cover for the charging port, washing the back of the watch daily and after runs/workouts, swapping wrists every few days, but I finally had enough of dealing with the issue. I really miss the better fitness functionality, but no issues with skin sensitivity on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 I replaced it with. Would love to have the Fenix 8, but not sure I want to risk having to deal with this again. I realize this is something that was my own skin’s reaction to the material (others clearly don’t have this problem), but it was a disappointment given how much I liked the watch.
Thanks for uyour videos Ray! Do you know when all devices will get coach marathon training? Will the advanced work outs migrate to fenix 7 Will dynamic routing migrate as well.
Thank you for this extensive beginners guide. The bezel of the fenix 8 amoled is titanium, right? It’s already scratched.. 😅 Not so robust after all I would say.
I'm curious, since you test many watches for extended periods and engage in various workouts, how do you track and organize all your workout data? Do you use a specific app or have another method for compiling everything? Great review! 👌😍
Im late to the Garmin party. I have done a lot of research, and im still on the fence which garmin to buy (looked at all ranges)..in the end i went for fenix 8 solar 47. This is my firet ever garmin watch. I dont dive! But there you go. I'll keep this watch for years to come, esp for the price. I could have brought a nice entry luxury watch for the price !
Broadcast HR has also been key for me on the bike rides where I don't want to wear a chest strap but still want to have my Edge computer for navigation.
Something that would be cool is if that speaker guard was removable and when you buy a new band the same guard color would come with it and you could switch them. I feel some band colors won’t look good with the orange guard
As a person with a small wrist, I hate this move. I don‘t need diving or a bad voice assistant for 1100€. I want a Long battery life and passive always on dispay …. I wish the enduro came in smaller sizes. I hope my 7S lasts for a couple more years until there are better and more reasonably prices options on the market,
Excellent coverage. When on a mountain ridge without phone signal, if you have an incident will this watch send a message and location information to your Partner?
Great review! What's your take on that beazle? It seems that it takes up a lot of scratches in quite a short time?? I know you put your watches through a lot of tough adventures but this thing is not older than months and it looks like there's already quite some damage...
Thanks for the good review. I really like the design of the Fenix 8 and the new solar panel. Is it worth upgrading from the Solar 7 Pro to the Fenix Solar 8 if I don't need the microphone and I don't diver? Will I get any extra perks on the 8?
Great video, hard to keep up, which is why I’m so glad we have professional reviews like these! QQ: Is Garmin coming out with Forerunner 975? The 965 went on sale this past Labor Day, but based on your 965 review, I decided to wait for 975? I have the 945 currently. Would love your thoughts on this; thanks again
Phenomenal overview as always - but can you make up my mind - Amoled or Mips - I'm currently using a Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar, my 5th Fenix... I've always LOVED the battery life, but I'm not gonna lie my resistance to Amoled is fading 😔
Very helpful video. Thanks! You say that there are a bunch of watch faces installed on the watch but I read in a forum that only a few watch faces are installed and the analog watch faces are not there anymore. Can you clarify?
Hi Ray, great review, thank you! I'm still undecided on the amoled screen. For the past 8 years I've always used garmin watches with MIP screens. Living in Greece, the Solar option makes sense as well, especially for sailing (btw, I'm waiting for Quatix 8 which I assume will come with both screen options). The amoled looks really good but the gesture thing to wake it up feels annoying. Also, from my experience with garmin watches, after a couple of years, the gesture option starts underperforming..
One thing I was hoping to see more on was the dynamic round trip routing they added since it’s not on older models. Any idea if that will get back ported or how exactly that works? Thank you for your videos!!
You can set the buttons as hotkeys to open different applications example set one of the buttons to open Google Assistant then you don't have to scroll
If this watch had LTE, it would be the most insane, James Bond type watch out in the world. I can't wait until Garmin adds LTE to the Fenix. Hoping they do. I would buy it in an instant.
I'm still rocking the OG fenix 920xt from 2014 and it may be time to finally upgrade. Will use the 920 as a backup and keep mounted to my tribars. Just wished they have a Sapphire Solar Fenix 8 47mm available, like the 7x Pro. Is the 8 worth the upgrade from a 7x pro? Any indication if they'll release an 8x Pro? (edit, they do make the 47mm and 51mm in Sapphire+Solar config. They just don't break it out as a separate model like with nomenclature.) Good work DCRM!
If you have your headphones connected to the paired phone (not the watch) do you still get all the audio prompts / turn notifications for courses from activities like on the fenix 7 ? Thanks.
Again, awesome video Ray!!!! I have found with the Enduro 3…there is NO way to shut off the chimes when starting/stopping activities. I have emailed and chatted with Garmin to no avail. It drives me nuts!!!
Great breakdown, Ray! Capacitive buttons but still no wireless charging or LTE :~( I'm going to try to skip this version and stick with the Epix V2. The next version should improve on the speaker/mic and hopefully add in aforementioned features.
Is the F8 solar still under embargo? except for the brief few seconds you show it there's almost nothing to be found anywhere. I'm interested in seing its watchfaces
