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Yesterday, Garmin finally announced the new Phoenix 7 series with the new AMOLED-based Garmin Epix 2.
I noticed a lot of mixed reactions online. Some thought it was a great upgrade and worth upgrading from a recent device like the Fenix 6, but many others were disappointed and thought it was just an incremental upgrade.
One issue worth considering is that as the product line matures, each release becomes more iterative rather than a massive generational upgrade. That’s one of the reasons why I’ve found most phone releases over the past few years to be boring, it’s just that every year gets better cameras and chipsets.
So, with the Fenix lineup being pretty old now (first launched a decade ago), new launches are less exciting. They already have an amazing product and now it’s just perfecting it.
Upgrading from a Fenix 6 Pro was a tough one for me. I’d love to use Epix, but I’m going to have surgery soon, so it doesn’t make sense to spend near big bucks when I can’t get it right.
Garmin Fenix 7 vs Fenix 6 Pro – Reasons to Upgrade
This list is not exhaustive, but mostly the points that convinced me to upgrade (or not).
- Touchscreen – this is probably one of the biggest selling points. It may not be very useful when exercising, but it is useful for everyday smartwatch use and navigation.
- New Elevate Gen 4 Sensor – Improved heart rate accuracy is always a good thing.
- Significantly improved solar area (though I wouldn’t say it’s worth bothering with if you already have solar)
- Better battery – I hate replacing my watch, so this is a pretty big upgrade, about 25% before you even think about charging.
- Airoha/Mediatek’s new GPS chip offers multi-constellation on all models and dual-frequency GPS on Sapphire models. Preliminary reviews indicate that the accuracy is very good. Personally, it’s not really a selling point.
- CIQ store on the watch – some apps are available for direct download.I don’t care that much about this
- Live settings sync with all watch settings on the Connect mobile app. This is probably one of the main features I want from the Fenix 7 series.
- New stamina metric – this should help with pacing yourself, especially during long races. I’m not sure how accurate this will be, but it sounds impressive.
- Visual Race Predictor – This shows the completion time trend of your target distance, which can be handy.
- Forward – Information about upcoming points of interest. This is of limited use to me, but is handy for long enduro events, letting you know about aid stations etc.
Overall, there are a lot of changes, but nothing I desperately need compared to the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro. I love setting up sync, but I wouldn’t pay more than £600 for it.
While the Garmin Epix 2 is a bit different, I think the AMOLED display is a big change worth considering. As much as I hate charging the watch, you still get about 6 days of battery life with the always-on display, it’s not like you’d be charging it every day like an Apple Watch or WearOS.
Garmin Fenix 7 vs Fenix 5 (plus) – a reason to upgrade
This one is easier to justify and worth considering if you have a Fenix 5 or even a Fenix 5 Plus.
You have all the upgrades listed above, plus:
- Larger display – this is a bit of an improvement, especially for data fields
- Boosting the heart rate sensor jumps two generations, so the performance difference should be huge.
- Take the map as standard – the map is region specific depending on your model – I don’t actually use it much but I use it for running when I travel because I can easily draw routes and it’s in This works well.
- Garmin Pay – I’ve only used it once and it’s a great idea, but I always have my phone in my pocket.
- Music – another type of music that I think I’ll use but don’t. I don’t like going for a run without my phone because I’m afraid of getting hurt, so I always listen to music on my phone.
- All models come with WiFi – handy when the Connect app syncs slowly.I charge my watch and it syncs automatically over WiFi
- Many new health and fitness metrics, such as body battery, training load, race time predictor, and new features in Fenix 7 versus Fenix 6.
- Better battery life, Fenix 6 has better batter than Fenix 5
I wouldn’t say the Fenix 7 is a must-have for any Fenix 5 owner. Don’t spend what you don’t have, the Fenix 5 is still a great multisport watch.
However, if you are considering an upgrade, I think you will be very satisfied.
I would still buy Epix though.
Last updated on Jan 19, 2022 / Affiliate Links / Image from Amazon Product Advertising API
