I recently bought a 47mm Fenix 8 and I love it. I’ve switched from an Apple Watch Ultra 2. I used to wear a Whoop 5.0 with the Apple Watch, and now I’m wearing it with the Fenix. It’s just that I now think the Whoop is unnecessary. I can still get a refund from Amazon. Should I return it? Does anyone wear both?
My main job is welding what can I do so I can stil wear it and use it for tracking but won’t break it ?
Hello I need some guidance. I bought a garmin fenix 8 pro overseas (military) and the other night I was washing my hands but I took off my watch and it fell on the floor the screen fell out and I called garmin customer support. They said they will send a brand new one but it will cost 285$ does this sound right? If I requested could I get a smaller size watch?
As an athlete who workout in groups, I got tired of calling the minute to the late joiners , so I built Synchrono, a Completely free data field on ConnectIQ that keeps on shared lap clock across nearby watches.
How it works : everyone adds the data field to their activity screen and sets the same Group ID (1–15). When anyone in the group presses lap, every watch nearby picks it up and counts from the same lap start. It's fully peer-to-peer over ANT — no phone, no internet, no "host" watch.
I originally built it for paddling, but it works for any native activity on your watch. (It's a data field not an app)
I've only been able to test on a handful of watches (mostly Fenix 6) It builds for 149 models, but if you hit anything weird on yours :layout glitches, sync issues, whatever, please tell me the model and what happened. Bug reports are genuinely welcome.
It's a passion project and I'd love to hear your ideas for other features.
Store link : https://apps.garmin.com/en-CA/apps/7eb0ce8d-4b85-4b0b-8bab-e779a2f8f5e9
Over the last week or so my Fenix 8 solar has been randomly turning off while I was just wearing it. (No activities being active) at first I thought it was maybe an over heating issue as when it would turn off it would be a bit warm, but I’d simply press the light/power button and it would turn back on for a while n eventually repeat the process.
As of today, it’s been turning off after just having it on my wrist n warming to my skin temp, and won’t turn on at all. When I put it down on the counter n let it sit, it will turn on by itself, seemingly once it gets quite cold. I did a full reset on the watch, erased data n everything- thinking it was a software glitch, but it’s still doing it. The watch itself is still basically brand new, I’ve had it less than a year, about 10 months. although I’ve worn it non stop n only take it off to charge.
Side note: this happens no matter the battery %, most recent occurrence I had 88% of charge
Anyone have any ideas on how to fix or should I call Garmin to see if they can repair it?
Update: I had just put the watch on before writing this post, it turned off once I had hit post. Had it on for about 5 minutes lol
Thank you!
Modello GMT latest update allows to go wild with colour and hands combinations… 👌🏼
A 42mm 7s compared with the fenix 8 47mm and fenix e. Why does the fenix E suit my wrist better, would the silver bezel on the 8 look better.
With all these AI agents around it feels like more people are back in the terminal, so I wanted my Epix Pro to kind of match that. It shows the time and stats like command output — a prompt line up top (user@fenix), the big clock, then rows like BAT / STEP / HR / TEMP and a blinking cursor.
Depending on the watch size it shows a few rows of data (more on the bigger screens), each customisable out of 23 options, and the font is monospaced so it actually looks like a real terminal. Dark + light themes and always-on too.
Works on a bunch of Garmin watches, so really keen on feedback from Fenix / Epix people — functionality, bugs, whatever. I hear it all and ship changes quickly.
Video from the epix pro - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zW8VfQ_4IE
* https://apps.garmin.com/apps/20a573ce-188c-4d4b-808a-3344465b5940
* https://apps.garmin.com/apps/c4baf988-c8a1-43a7-a7ac-99edf2a3cb88
Its been over a year with the Fenix 8, and the watch clearly has raised me a lot of concerns over the mid/long term using it.
With 3 months of usage, the watch speaker had become constantly — and I mean 24/7 — sounding like there’s water in it, and the volume even though at the max, is significantly lower than it was and really noisy because of water.
I’ve sent to the support and they replaced it, since after their analysis indeed was malfunctioning.
9 months later and I’m sending it to support for the same reason.
My concern? I dont really care about hearing music in it. But if there is water 24/7 in it — and the water eject function dont solve it, nor letting it dry — what about sea water/ sea salt? I’m sure the watch wont di€ from that within a year, but maybe in 14, 20 months.
I’m not playing with my luck, and there’s constant malfunction, hence my right on calling warranty.
Any thoughts from other Fenix 8 users on that?
TBH I just wish Garmin had never added this to the fenix series.
I [33F] am needing some help, y’all! This is what my body batter looks like for the last month and as you can see it is chronically low.
For added info….I do have anxiety, have tried different therapy, I’ve never been a smoker, and I completely quit drinking alcohol 7+ months ago, hoping that would help. Unfortunately it didn’t, which is why we’re here now!
Also, I wear my watch every single day (In case anyone wondered since some days don’t have both dots).
I am always tired and haven’t had any extremely physical days. At this point it’s hard to get out of bed.
I just can’t stand always being drained and unable to show up for my friends and family the way I’d like.
Thanks in advance for any and all insight/ideas.
Just got my Fenix 8 Pro (MicroLED) 2 days ago. I’ve noticed the stats don’t seem right. I put the watch on just a few minutes ago, and it already shows 189 steps and 772 calories. Is this normal, or is something wrong with my settings/watch?
I am a very active guy. My main sports are indoor and outdoor climbing year round, volleyball, and skiing and boarding in the winter. Skiing so often that i do atleast 1 or 2 trips a year to the rockies in the west. Next summer will be doing climbing trips there too.. Occasionally mountain bike if im not climbing. I am planning to get into triathlon. I started running recently and will get into swimming too.
I have an s25 ultra if we should consider watch's integration with the phone.
Is fenix 8 most ideal for me? Or does a different watch better suit me?
Update question: bulkiness of the fenix, is that a hindrance to climbing? Any climbers with a fenix here? And add to that, getting my forearms pumped will feel tight, and flexing of the forearm muscles in different ways probably won't get accurate sensor readings too i guess. What does the fenix look like considering this?
Had a little crash this morning on my roadbike and damaged my pretty Fenix 8 Amoled. Some nasty scratches in the screen. Does anyone knows a way to somehow repair the scratches or maybe fill them with something so they are less visible?
Hey guys, I had a 970, which is now stuck in a Garmin warranty check. I am thinking of selling it when they send it back to me and then buying a F8.
I just saw that the F8 and F8 Pro prices went down, mainly the F8 by €100 and the F8 Pro by more than €150. I think this happened because the F9 release is very close.
The main question is to those who own the F8 Pro: how is its size, and what kind of activities do you use it for? I compared them in the store and saw that one is bigger (thicker), but the weight difference is barely noticeable. I know that the only difference for me (since I don't need LTE) is the screen brightness. I like it because it looks like the 970.
I don't run; I swim and do a bit of gym.
What do you think about my situation? Share your thoughts, please. Should I go for the F8, F8 pro or use the 970 and then buy the Fenix 9 (if it costs no more than €1k)?
With the heatwaves comes some decent battery charge if nothing else, my solar meter has been stuck between 230% and 250% all day.
Been on Apple Watch for years, finally made the jump to the Fēnix 8 today. Hoping I made the right call!
This one's been a long time coming, and most of what's in it came directly from your suggestions and feature requests. I've attached a few shots of how it now looks on both MIP and AMOLED devices.
5.0 Highlights:
• Two new hand styles (Portal Hybrid and Helix Heritage)
• A new data colour selector: complications can now have their own colour, independent of your accent colour
• Minimal AOD Mode for AMOLED: strips everything back to just the date
• Week number support, smarter moon phase and tides calculations, new complications (Wheelchair Pushes, Sleep Score), and a long list of MIP/Solar refinements
Full change-log:
• hands mechanism refactored to support two new hand styles: Portal Hybrid and Helix Heritage
• fixed skeleton hands colour on Instinct 3 + transparency option has been removed on this platform only, as it isn't supported
• new: Minimal AOD Mode toggle: hides every inner metric except the date in AOD mode: AMOLED exclusive feature, ideal for those who value maximum efficiency
• new: data colour selector: configure complication colours independently from your accent colour, available both in the native on-device UI on newer watches and in the Customise menu across all other devices
• added "Wheelchair Pushes" complication (supported devices only)
• added "Sleep Score" complication (supported devices only)
• week number added as an option for the date complication, displayed alongside the date
• fix for rare cases where the week number would display incorrectly
• improved moon phase calculation accuracy
• improved tides calculation accuracy
• more options for 12/6 o'clock hour mark visualisation choose what progress matters most to you
• long-tap the bottom or top hour mark to open its respective data field directly
• customize menu performance and copy improvements
• fixed a rare out-of-memory error in the Customise menu
• further MIP visualisation improvements: the watch face should now feel right at home on MIP/Solar devices
If you already own this watch gace, update yours now for free: grab it from Connect IQ. Modello GMT is paid and actively maintained. A free trial is available. I am a developer of this watch face – AMA.
This has genuinely been a labour of love, and updates like this is why we keep going.
Thanks for being part of it!!!
Hey r/GarminFenix !
If you play pickleball, you know the pain it takes to remember the score, who is serving, whether it's Server 1 or 2, and which side of the court you’re supposed to be standing on.
Just so that I can focus on enjoying the game as a newbie, I built Pickleball Go - a dedicated pickleball scoring and activity tracking app for Garmin watches.
It’s FREE to try out currently.
Some nice features I’ve built:
You can find it by searching Pickleball Go in the Garmin Connect IQ Store or alternatively here: https://apps.garmin.com/apps/3664a87d-6d4e-4d39-9257-efb877f2db3f
If you hit any bugs, have questions, or want to request a feature, please feel free to DM!
I pulled validation studies on how accurate each device's VO2 max estimate is across multiple wearable brands and any claims the brands make on their accuracy into a comparison chart. It's broken down into how each device measures VO2 max, what the company claims, and what independent studies actually found. Sources linked as well for each row if you want to check these out further. Hope you find this helpful if you're tracking it!
If the tables are difficult for mobile readers I'll also include a mobile first page with the data in the comments if you need it.
| Device | how it estimates | company accuracy claim | Independent validation | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garmin (watch) | Exercise via heart rate vs pace on a run | 95% accuracy and errors under 3.5 ml/kg/min | Best validated of any wearable. MAPE 7% (fenix 6) and 6.7% (Forerunner 245) but underestimate highly trained runners by 4-5 ml/kg/min | Carrier et al. 2025 & Engel et al. 2025 |
| Apple Watch | Exercise via outdoor walk/run/hike | None published | Two studies, both show it underestimates MAPE 13.3% and 15.8% | Lambe et al. 2025 & Caserman et al. 2024 |
| Polar | Via resting Fitness Test (HR + HRV) or a run test | Marketed as a validated non exercise estimate | Resting test overestimates (+2.2 ml/kg/min) and a CPET study found MAPE 13.7% | Neudorfer et al. 2025 & Molina-García et al. 2022 |
| Fitbit / Google | Via resting HR & profile, refined by GPS runs | None public | Consistent as a score but overestimates the absolute number (52.5 vs 49.9 in lab) | Freeberg et al. 2019 |
| Samsung Galaxy Watch | Exercise via outdoor run | 82% correlation vs clinical equipment (company funded, Univ. of Michigan) | A study only validated its heart rate during a max test not VO2 max | Inoue et al. 2026 (HR only) |
| Whoop | Proprietary, passive & GPS run model | Internal MAE 3.7 ml/kg/min, MAPE 8.0%, r 0.90 vs a metabolic cart (n=248) | None independent | WHOOP (vendor) |
| Oura Ring | Initial reading via profile data more accurate via guided inapp 6 minute walk test | No accuracy figure published (vendor states it is less accurate than a lab test) | None independent | Oura (vendor) |
| Coros | Exercise via heart rate vs pace (unpublished method) | No figure published (vendor claims "very close to lab") | None independent | Coros(vendor) |
| Suunto | Exercise: same Firstbeat engine Garmin uses | Inherits Firstbeat (95%) | No Suunto specific study but rides on the same validation as Garmin | via Firstbeat |
If I missed any studies please feel free to let me know!