There's a newer model of this product. It's been replaced by the Garmin Fenix 8 Series, you may want to check out that review instead.
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I bought the Epix 3 months ago and now it feels like I have an outdated watch :-(
Don’t worry, most of the new features will come to your watch with new firmware: link to dcrainmaker.com
First tip. Update the software. (I know obvious) But when I first got my epix pro it didnt’ have weather overlays. I searched high and low before realizing I needed to update.
Funny, that was the issue with the original Fenix 7 & Epix units as well…actually made an entire video on it. But good catch, forgot about it this time!
I actually remembered you saying that on those products which reminded me that I should update before doing anything else. Once I did it was fine.
Thanks, Ray! Have you had a chance to test pulse ox accuracy? None of the Elevate sensors to date, including on the non-pro epix 2, have been usable for me (showing high 80s to low 90s when a reference device shows high 90s) and was curious whether this latest sensor is better
Yeah, if I test against an EU/CE certified pulse oximeter device – it’s fine in a scenario where I compare like-for-like. Meaning, comparing sitting still at a desk/etc, it’ll be the same.
But overnight sleep measurements, are kinda all over the map (like many companies).
Ray does it pick up pulse when swimming, or do you still require a chest strap?
It can do HR underwater, albeit, like all HR underwater, it can be hit or miss on a per-person basis (especially tied to how snug it is). I find it generally tracks the trend well enough, but doesn’t pickup short bursts super well and can become confused with quick increases in stroke rate.
Great article as ever Ray. Despite being a Garmin user since the Fenix didn’t have a HR sensor I am still unsure about the metrics.
Both the Epix and pro sometimes do a strange HR jump at times. I upgraded as I thought the new sensor might fix things. It does seem to track micro changes but the big jump is strange.
Try using a chest strap and you would be able to compare.
To monitor both at the same time you would need a second Garmin watch to pair it to, as I think when you pair a HR chest strap it disables the watch HR sensor.
How is the stress level predictions on this in different scenarios?
Generally I find them align fairly well. If I’m stressed (such as behind on a review that has to go live at a certain time), it’ll show that. Likewise, I tend to see stress from sickness too.
Unfortunately Garmin seem to have an issue with their beta program, and enrolling devices into it.
I, like so many, are unable to join the beta program, due to some, unidentified issue with Garmin. The Garmin forums are inundated with people unable to enrol.
I previously owned an Epic 2, which was able to be enrolled, but by Epix Pro 51, can’t.
It’s logical to expect the Epix Pro could be enrolled at the point when the new beta build for the F7/Epix line is released. Which, hopefully, will be any day now. I’d suggest to keep checking the beta forums, which you probably are anyway. :)
When using on a bike handlebar does the watch come back to life with a tap? (I don’t care if it’s black most of the time)
I have answered my own question having gotten a epic pro Aug 3rd.
If on map screen a simple tap makes it visible.
Other screens simply require a press of the light button. Pretty easy.
If gesture mode is on, does the screen light up whenever you get a notification (ie WhatsApp)? Or does it stay off and just vibrates until you move your hand to check the screen? Asking for battery life.
Thank you!
I just got an Epix Gen 2 Pro Sapphire Edition. I’m trying to use the Garmin Connect app on my Android phone to configure the data screens.
I cannot for the life of me figure out how to configure the data screens using Garmin Connect. I go to Device Settings, don’t see Data Screens there, so I look under every sub menu, ‘Activities and Apps’, ‘Notifications and Alerts’, etc… Can’t find Data Screens anywhere. Can someone please tell me how to get to the Data Screens configuration on the Garmin Connect app?
Thx,
MB
On the iOS app, you do this:
Device Icon at the top of the main app screen (called the ‘My Day’ view) then
Activities & Apps then pick one of the activities shown, such as
Run – then select Data Screens
And configure from there. Add, delete, edit, modify, etc…
Never used the Android app but I’d assume it’s somewhat similar….?
Thanks so much Neil!
Hello I’m having hard time finding this info: is Load focus calcualated exclusively from “recorded activities” or does it take metrics also from e.g. heart rate readings / HVR from “normal watch use” during the day?
(i’m using Epix Gen2 14.23)
Thanks
Hello DC, Hello community, I switched from the Fenix6xpro to the EPIX GEN2 Pro 51mm. Maybe I`am wrong or I missed something to setup correctly….
Yesterday I started an own programmed intervall training session. By starting a training you get an addition datafield, beside the own setup ones, which shows the range of the target pace, decremental segment distance, time in segement. From the Fenix I know that the targetpace is shown in this field as segment pace to the second. But with the Epix I have here the “standard” pace with the +/-5s accuracy. For intervall sessions where I focus on pace in a segement this is not sufficient from my point of view. This “automatic” datafield is not selectable to modify. Do I made a mistakte in the setup ?
You know what would be Pro. An LTE modem from the 945 LTE.
How does the Muscle Oxy fields work on this? Is there another sensor that needs to be used with watch??
Ray, is there a way to customize what data fields are shown during interval workouts? I hate that if I’m running distance based intervals, let’s say 12x400m with 400m recovery, that it won’t show me heart rate. Os there a way to edit these data fields? If not, has garmin ever commented on why they won’t give us this ability on our $1,000+ watches?
For $1k it the Epix pro gen2 has the Worst alitimeter !! I’ve done the calibration 3 times an it’s still sucks..
Bizarre, never touch mine and it’s always dead on. Warranty issue?
Update- I haven’t done anything but outdoor gps activities, currently visiting family 5 hours from home and randomly checked the elevation….. The epix pro is within 5 feet of the actual figure!!!
I have just purchased the Epix Pro (gen2) appart from doing the software update on it is there any other key issues I should be aware of?
Ray if coming from a base Fenix 6, would you recommend the cheaper Gen 2 ($692 AUD) over the Pro ($1600 AUD)
Question for everyone….why would the Epix 2 Pro Sapphire 51m track my heart rate while running on a tread perfectly and then all of a sudden it drops and never seems to pick back up? For example I will be running for like 20 minutes and my hr is up to 150+ and then all of a sudden the Epix drops my hr to 117 and it never seems to get much higher.
It’s another example of a problem many of us are having on Garmin watches. Check the Garmin forums for accounts of what people are seeing. The only solution is a chest or arm strap.
I ordered my Garmin Epix Pro (2nd Gen) 51mm just now.
Got it for 774 USD. I hope it was a good deal.
Where ? – which website ?
Thanks Ray (and community) for all the great reviews/info!
Just got myself a Epix Pro (Gen 2) 47mm Sapphire @ €749 (incl 2nd leather strap)!
Can’t wait!
Forgive me if I’ve not seen it, but have you addressed the elephant in the Garmin living room — it’s failing optical HR sensor on watches? The Garmin forums are rife with postings describing this massive failure across many watch models. I own an Epix Gen 2 and, for the past year (I suspect since firmware update 16.22), the HR sensor has been regularly, though not always, delivering faulty results. As a result, all fitness metrics downtream of the HR sensor are worthless.
We aren’t talking about a miss of several bpm or a few seconds delay in catching up to a change in effort. We’re talking 30-40 bpm over many minutes, or even entire workouts.
The fault manifests in different ways. Sometimes, HR remains low (20-40 bpm) for ten or more minutes, then suddenly jumps to an accurate reading. Other times, it remains low the entire workout. I recently did a 40-minute, 13-km bike ride with 200+ meters altitude gain. My average HR was 85. Another, same route, it was 88. It should have been 125+.
It could also begin alright, then progressively drop. I just finished a 20-minute rowing session on my Concept 2 rower. HR was fine the first half, 130-145 bpm. Then it dropped off, ending just over 100 even though I amped up the effort in the second half to meet my distance goal.
Another failure is seeing HR suddenly jump 20 bpm. During a ride last summer, my HR jumped from 140 or so to 165 and remained there over an extended ride along a flat stretch. At age 69, it takes a serious effort to get my HR up that high.
Many people have posted similar findings. Some have had watches replaced, and they have seen the problem continue. All these postings have been ignored by Garmin. It was addressed in one magazine (link to instalki.pl) and on Reddit, but otherwise the media has been suspiciously silent about this huge miss by Garmin.
Your voice, even just raising this as an issue, would be huge. We might even get Garmin to acknowledge they have a problem. And it is a problem since faulty workout efforts translate into useless fitness metric — the reason for the watch in the first place.
Optical HR sensors are still sensitive to how people wear them. That’s the (unfortunate) reality of today.
In my reviews I heavily push the limits of optical HR sensors in every single review I do. Nobody does as many HR sensor tests in reviews as I do, calling out both good and bad.
Still, there is the reality of optical HR sensors that how you wear it is almost, if not more, important than the sensor itself. Many (most?) people still wear it too loose for optical HR sensors to be correct. And then there’s still certain activities that all companies struggle with, such as outdoor cycling, especially in cooler weather.
It’s not that media has been silent, because the opposite is true. Virtually every proper review I know of talks about these limits. But the limits will vary heavily by person/body, that’s just the reality of today.
The issue here is not the general limitations of optical heart rate sensors or how they are worn. I think most people understand that a wrist OHR sensor will not be as accurate as a chest strap, and that a wrist sensor must be worn snugly, especially during activities. The problem I refer to is a relatively new one (possibly beginning with firmware 16.22 on the Epix Gen 2) where the sensor does not pick up an increasing heart rate till many minutes into a workout, if at all. Or it shows unrealistic spikes.
I have used Garmin watches beginning with a vivoactive 3,followed by a fenix 6 Pro, and now the Epix. This problem, which appears to occur intermittently, only began quite recently. I can have identical workouts, either rowing or cycling, with average heart rate readings that differ by 30 or more bpm. Imagine a near all-out hour-long workout where the watch gives an average heart rate in the 80s.
If I were the only person to notice this, it could be dismissed as an anomaly. But many people have reported it on Garmin forums and elsewhere over the past year. Brushing it off as poor wrist placement or an artifact of all wrist sensors helps no one, including Garmin, as it’s reputation is on the line when users repeatedly report their devices are failing in a central functionality. Those of us experiencing this problem really would appreciate someone in the industry taking a good look at it and holding Garmin to account.