Just a quick heads up that I’ve just published on YouTube a super-detailed hour-long complete user guide for the new Garmin Fenix 8 series (covering both AMOLED and Solar versions). And honestly, anyone with an Enduro 3 can basically use it as well; just skip the dive & speaker/mic sections.
As usual, I iterate through each of the features on the watch, starting with basics and hardware foundational features, and then slowly ratchet up the complexity into sports modes, training status, navigation/mapping, diving, plus, of course, music, flashlight, and much more. All with boatloads of little pro tips/tricks along the way. Thus, whether you’re a first-time Garmin watch user, or upgrading from an older model that lacks the newest features released in the past year – this guide provides all the information you need to know.
Best of all, you can skip right to the video section you’re looking for using the YouTube chapters in the video itself, or the quick links below:
0:00 Quick Intro
0:31 Models Explained – AMOLED vs SOLAR
3:54 The Hardware Basics
5:30 Watch Faces & Widgets
7:49 New Settings Menu
10:09 Sleep Tracking, Morning Report, JetLag Advisor
13:21 HRV Status (Heart Rate Variability)
15:10 New Notification Center & Focus Modes
17:39 Display Options, Text Size, RedShift
20:21: Voice/Speaker/Mic/Calling Features
26:00 Sports Modes/Menus/Features
34:40 GPS Options & Heart Rate Broadcasting
36:46 Training Readiness & Training Status
42:00 Endurance Score & Hill Score
43:23 Mapping & Navigation
49:23 Solar Edition Sun Stuff
50:43 Flashlight Features
51:44 Diving/Scuba Features
56:37 Music/Spotify Features
Enjoy, and thanks for watching!
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Hi Ray,
It seems literally nobody can get their hands on a Fenix 8 Solar as of yet, there don’t seem to be any reviews of the Solar on Youtube or anywhere else.
I ordered a 51mm from the Garmin UK website on release day it the Garmin site said 1-3 days, it now says 3-5 weeks and my order is still sat at ‘ordered’
I’ve seen others who had also believed they would be recieving their Solar in a matter of days subsenquently get an email saying it would now be end of Sept.
It seems like there is no stock of MIP Solars anywhere, which seems odd for a Product launch especially with the UK (and possibly others) website indicating they had stock.
Do you have any insights?
Thanks.
Yeah, Garmin says the Solar variants are a bit behind in terms of production volumes.
In short, there’s very very very few of them around. Even DesFit and I are sharing one (whereas we have plenty of AMOLED units).
If I were to make a quick video on the Solar one, what questions would you have? Less formal-review style, more AMA style.
But it’s the same with fenix 8 AMOLD 51 mm (orange) in Germany. Tuesday 1-3 days – I ordered it, Thursday 3-5 weeks, today 1-3 days till delivery. My order is still at “ordered”. I think, they have pretty much to do ;-)
Manfred
Any tips how to choose amoled/MIP. Scren colors, brightness, resolutions, sizes. Battery life is simple I quess. Not sure how “feels” the 0,1 inch screen size different? Also font resizing differences if they are. I’m like 60% conviced to MIB but….
Thanks for the quick repsonse Ray.
I had been considering the switch back to MIP after having the Amoled Epix Pro and the Tactix Amoled. Knowing the F8 was imminent i thought i’d wait to see what MIP versions were released, and if they had improved since the F7 Pro, which was already an improvement on the F7. It seems this is the case with the removal of the full screen solar.
I guess my questions would be around clarity and UI, most of the questions were answered in your Enduro 3 video. I was hoping to get my hands on a Fenix 8 Solar to compare to my Tactix Amoled and see if it was impoved enough to make me switch.
I’m in the UK so not so much bright conditions, so i wanted to check how legible the screen is in cloudy conditions, or indoors.
Thanks.
You know – nevermid. Just tell me which one I should buy :)
I noticed in a YouTube video at least 1 year ago that there is a difference between the Fenix 7 and the Epix, when comparing watches of the same size (say 51mm).
Because there are more pixels, the AMOLED map has more features on a same location and zoom level than the MIP screen.
Considering the uodate map software, do you think this is still the case?
It does say on the website delivery 1-3 days after processing of 3-5 weeks.
US version has an EKG. European doesn’t. This for me is enough to find a way to buy it in the US.
I’ve ordered many Garmin new release products, and had the same phenomenon you described – looked available in 1-3 days, and changed to 3-5 weeks.
Actually delivery varied a lot, based on popularity (and I live close to where they ship from – usually 1-2 days for normal products), with about 50% being in 1-2 weeks, and 50% further delaying past 6-8 weeks.
Hi Ray,
The main question I have about the solar variant is: Now that they’ve ditched the screen overlay layer of the solar, what’s stopping Garmin from finally making a solar amoled model? That feature alone would’ve been enough to make me switch from Epix 51mm to Fenix 8 51mm. Do you think it might be offered on a pro model mid-cycle?
Second question, does the 51mm solar model offer anything above what the 43 and 47mm models offer (as it typically has in the past, with 5X maps, 5X Plus PulseOX, 6X Solar, 7X flashlight), or is the feature parity identical other than the case and battery size?
As I understand it, what’s stopping them with solar (so far) on OLED is that the OLED uses too much power for the solar to really help. The consumption rates from the screen are too much higher than the production rate of the solar panel. Instead, they get runtime extension out of increased battery size.
If they’re going to eventually solve this, it seems like they’ll need an even larger solar panel. I’ve seen speculation of panel designs integrating LED emitters on top of a dark solar panel. Think tiny emitters on a grid with gaps between them and all that empty space could absorb sunlight. But I have no idea if this can work in a real product.
“As I understand it, what’s stopping them with solar (so far) on OLED is that the OLED uses too much power for the solar to really help. The consumption rates from the screen are too much higher than the production rate of the solar panel. Instead, they get runtime extension out of increased battery size.”
I keep hearing that, but I just don’t agree.
If the Fenix 8 51mm gets 52 hours of battery in multiband GPS mode regardless of MIP or AMOLED (in gesture mode). The Solar adds another 13 hours to the MIP, so it seems logical it would also add 13 hours to the AMOLED.
Even in smartwatch mode, solar can add roughly 50% more battery life to the MIP watch (30 days becomes 48 days), so it seems logical it should add 50% to the AMOLED model too (13 days becomes 19 days)
Solar AMOLED doesn’t make sense for Garmin because the screen consumes too much power, so the benefit of solar is not significant enough. Users will have to charge the watch almost as often whether the AMOLED watch is equipped with solar or not.
You can’t compare hours to hours unless you know the battery sizes. You need to know milliwatt-hours consumed versus milliwatt-hours produced in an actual usage scenario.
If the OLED watch is getting the same life due to larger battery, it will have higher draw. The solar production will have less utility because it won’t replenish the same percentage of a larger battery.
exists way that your EKG will be works…setup IP on USA,then all change to english lang and acttivate ekg,then change ip to your country,change lang your country and thats it…..
very easy way
enjoy
The versions are identical. But you need to be physically located in the US (or spoof the GPS location) in order to activate the EKG function the first time.
So does not matter where you buy it.
Questions as a Fenix 7x Sapphire Solar owner are around my impression owning it since January 2022 is the solar is a gimmick. Especially living in the Northeast.
Does the Fenix 8 51mm Solar charge in the sun or just maintain battery when being used during activities? I see in the manual it says “The solar charging capability of the watch allows you to charge your watch while you use it” but does that mean if the battery is at 30% and you leave it out by the pool it will increase to 35 or 40%? Or does that mean during activities it will not consume battery as much?
Hi,
Garmin told me, that the 51mm models will be released in Austria / Germany on 20th of September.
BR, Michi
> US version has an EKG. European doesn’t. This for me is enough to find a way to buy it in the US.
If the new watches are anything like the old watches, the ECG app is geo-locked based on your actual location (per GPS), not based on firmware or hardware. So buying a watch in the US wouldn’t help unless you actually install the ECG app in the US.
If you search for the right terms, you might be able to find steps to get around the geo lock.
Note that using the ECG app requires permanent 2FA to be added to your Garmin Connect account, which has been known to interfere with certain third-party services.
Hey Ray,
I’m trying to choose between Solar 51mm and Amoled 47mm. My main issue is with battery life and screen size. Amoled is smaller but it has better resolution therefore it should be capable of showing more data/details even though it is smaller. Is that correct? I’d expect that at same zoom level of map amoled will fit more details. Would you say that loss of 0.1″ is a noticeable when comparing amoled vs solar?
In context of battery life – should i simply expect to charge 47amoled twice as often as solar?
How does both screens compare in every day use? In amoled on phone i don’t like the fact that in bright sun light it’s very hard to see anything is it similar with amoled on Fenix 8? Also it’s important how screen looks in different angles, on my F7X on sunny day i can perfectly see contents of display while riding with aerobars and watch pointing on the side.
Which screen performs better in different odd angles?
How does gesture backlight works on both? I noticed on my f7x that for example during writting on keyboard, simple twist of arm doesn’t work for backlight but contents of screen are clearly visible.
I’m a bit afraid to move from 7x to to amoled, 51Solar seems natural upgrade but from the other hand i find 47mm sexy simply in context of shape, design and the fact it’s not so huge.
47 mm amoled display has 8 data fields per screen and 51 mm amoled display has 10 or 12 data fields per screen (vs epix pro 51 mm has 8 data fields), ist that really right?
Ok, just checked on units in front of me.
43mm AMOLED: Max 8 fields per page
47mm AMOLED: Max 8 fields per page
51mm AMOLED: Max 8 fields per page
I could have sworn it had more (hence my question in the video). Maybe I was thinking of Suunto Race.
Thank you very much for the Infos;
Hello Ray,
I’ve played the game of Connect IQ watch faces and let’s just say I prefer the ones that come with the watch. Is there a demo of the different types of built-in watch faces? Are they different for the Amoled and MIP watches, how about the Enduro?
Can you set a button to activate the phone assistant or this “gesture” is reserved only for the on-device/offline assistant?
Thank you!
Hi Ray, can the MIP and AMOLED fenix 8 watches used up to four iq connect data fields available instead of two on the epix and fenix 7?
Second question what is the weblink to see the apps available for the new fenix watches as fenix8 doesn’t work. Example for the epix gen 2 link link to apps.garmin.com
> can the MIP and AMOLED fenix 8 watches used up to four iq connect data fields available instead of two on the epix and fenix 7?
Yes. (Garmin and Fenix 8 owners confirmed this on the Garmin forums.)
> Second question what is the weblink to see the apps available for the new fenix watches as fenix8 doesn’t work.
fēnix 8 AMOLED (43mm): link to apps.garmin.com
fēnix 8 AMOLED (47mm/51mm): link to apps.garmin.com
fēnix 8 Solar (47mm): link to apps.garmin.com
fēnix 8 Solar (51mm): link to apps.garmin.com
fēnix E: link to apps.garmin.com
Enduro 3: link to apps.garmin.com
Can you post pictures with the Fenix 6s vs Fenix 8 (47mm Solar) vs Fenix 8 (43mm AMOLED) vs Enduro 3 side by side and above each other please. I am using a Fenix 6s and my wrist is about 6cm wide, thinking maybe i can get the 47mm MIP (Fenix 3 was too large for me). Thank you!
Will the new models be added to Product comparison calculator?
I would also appreciate gallery with side by side comparison of different sizes of new and previous Fenix/Epix/Tactix model front and side view. E.g. does new Fenix 8 feel thinner than 7 or is the difference just on paper?
Long time Garmin Fenix user through the generations, but sadly due to the crazy price, as well as nothing substantially new in the way of hardware or features, im sadly considering jumping ship for my next purchase (personally, im rarely going to dive, same as most people and the mic + speaker seem pretty subpar? Although doing what I do, I could make use of the voice control with no button press). I know 4 others just in the last few days at my club who have also said the same. I think if Garmin announce £200+ off some of their line, then that could be a different story. The one unique thing I will miss is the flashlight, as you say, is in use multiple times a day, so I may have to tape a torch to my next purchase :(
Ray
Could you please ask Garmin when they will correct the bug in Sun Rise Sun Set times (to get the correct times you have to advance the date by 2 days ie 30 August to 1st September).
The bug has been there for years (Instinct, Epix, Fenix) but strangely the Moon times are correct!
Reported so many times without success.
Thanks
Very thorough as always.
I think my issue with Garmin nowadays is that they’re leaving the sports watch realm and have moved on to smartwatches (other than some niche like the Enduro/Instinct). The Apple/Samsung crowd they’re trying to attract is obviously already used to the Amoled gesture weirdness and to them three or four days without charging sounds like heaven.
I, however, just want them to keep making a few old-fashioned, traditional sports watches :-)
Oh well. Guess they’ll think it’s adapt or die and people like me are too few to really count. Maybe they’re right.
Where don’t you find that old-fashioned traditional sports watch? What part are you missing?
The Gesture is there at least since Fenix 3 times, if not earlier. I used it over years for the backlight and are accustomed to it being part of the Garmin crowd.
To me, the moment you put a light-emitting Amoled display in there it’s no longer a sports watch.
A MIP watch is always there discreetly. The Amoled is this “look at me” computer thing on your wrist. You either like it or not, I don’t.
Also, people can tell themselves “a week of battery life is great!” all they want but they would have nearly three times as much on the same watch with a MIP display. That’s a lot of battery burning and wearing out just to show the time. To me that’s crazy.
> The Gesture is there at least since Fenix 3 times, if not earlier. I used it over years for the backlight and are accustomed to it being part of the Garmin crowd.
The difference is that the gesture is basically mandatory for AMOLED and optional for MIP. Nobody is complaining about the presence of the gesture, they’re complaining that with AMOLED, they have to use the gesture in situations where it wouldn’t be necessary for MIP.
In daylight, MIP doesn’t need the backlight, and at night, the backlight can be forced to be always on (no timeout) during activities.
In contrast, AMOLED dims after a timeout, and the timeout can’t be disabled. This is a problem bc AMOLED needs to be at full brightness to be readable outdoors. That’s why DCR doesn’t recommend AMOLED if you want to mount your watch on bike handlebars, bc you obviously can’t use the gesture in that situation, and it may be impractical to press a button.
So when I run a hard workout (for example) with MIP, I can glance at my watch and instantly see stats, without a deliberate glance and without waiting for the display to wake up.
If Garmin would copy Polar’s behavior where the AMOLED display stays at full brightness for the entire activity (at the cost of battery life), then that would go a long way to bridging the functionality gap with MIP (for my purposes).
> So when I run a hard workout (for example) with MIP, I can glance at my watch and instantly see stats, without a deliberate glance and without waiting for the display to wake up.
Sorry meant to say without a deliberate *gesture*. I’ll also point that a few ppl have complained abt Garmin’s gesture detection not being sensitive enough.
If there were only a Clever training discount code lol
Great review.
I wonder if the adjustable font size will come to Epix 2?
Personally I really don’t see the point in upgrading. The new voice and mic features seem to be quite rudimentary and all in all the price increase is too high for very few improvements.
Please come with a Garmin Fenix/Epix ready for eSim and without a required Garmin subscription.
Enduro 3 is the saving grace here.
Some people CANNOT have microphones on their watches. (defence/armed forces.. sensitive areas), well they could but then they need to remove and lock them away.. which is a real pain if you have to do it all day every day.
Good to see MIPs options maintained (even if their production is a little behind the curve at the moment)
Garmin will probably release Tactix version based on F8 soon without mic+speaker.
Not just mic, but offices where any smartwatch with any sort of antenna or USB capability is not allowed.. But you get used to it, and just have 8hrs of null data per day!
Thanks for the very in depth walk through!
I was wondering, you spoke about the watchscreen being on all the time in AOD mode, except when in sleepmode; then the screen is off.
Is this the default for AOD? as in, are the battery estimates Garmin and you show takeing this “off in sleepmode” into account?
Hi Ray, thanks for great review! Any info if new UI will be implemented on F7 or Epix?
Hi Ray,
I still remember the Bug you discovered when hiking around Mont Blanc.
If you use resume later, does it calculate body battery etc or is this still „halted“ while a activity is in the memory awaiting to be resumed.
It calculates that stuff when the activity is finished.
More scratches :)
As per what Ray said on Reddit: he uses his watches, do not baby them. These scratches happened when he fell while hiking.
Hi Ray,
Has Garmin implemented ClimbPro with no courses on F8 or Enduro 3 like on the Edge’s ?
Tks
Fenix 7 has had this for a long time now.
Hi,
As far I know you’ve got be following a course that contains altitude in order to ClimbPro to work on Fenix line.
On the Edge’s you don’t need it. It is just a matter of having a compatible map.
Regards
I think it’s official ClimbPro: Free climbing
and according to the “ClimbPro” directions it’s not available : (
link to support.garmin.com
Hi Ray,
Just a quick question on the Crash detection. In the video you turned it off for the run. My question is: Is the crash detection for the mountainbike profil available again. I sold my Epix because Garmin turned it off due to to many false alerts.
Thank you.
Hi Ray!
I am looking forward to buying a Fenix 8 Solar but there is one thing I can’t find in your review. Does it have NFC card payment ?
Hi Ray,
It would be awesome some video about the solar variant.
Even if I live here in Lille (not too many sunscreen to consume) I wonder how it compares with the previous 7pro solar, regarding clarity and contrast AND if there is a real impact for the battery life.
Thanks!
I feel like a need a guide to Garmin watches in general. Not the products, the branding. There’s way too many sub brands. Enduro, Epix, Fenix, Forerunner, etc.
I know my forerunner 945 is going to die soon and I can’t decide what would be a good substitute.
Here’s my 2 cents (this is very rough – feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.)
– Fenix = jack of all trades, fairly big and heavy. Target market seems to be trail runners, hikers, triathletes, and runners who want a watch that looks good with a suit
– Tactix = tactical Fenix
– Quatix = Fenix for sailors
– Descent = Fenix for divers
– MARQ = Fenix for millionaires
– Epix gen 2 / Epix Pro gen 2 = “AMOLED Fenix 7 / 7 Pro” in all but name (Epix is going away, as it’s basically been renamed to Fenix 8 AMOLED)
– Enduro = Fenix with big battery (as a matter of fact, as far as Connect IQ is concerned, Enduro 2 is basically the same device as Fenix 7X, although ofc they’re not identical)
– Instinct = budget fenix with black-and-white low-resolution screen (lower than even MIP watches)
– Forerunner = plastic, lightweight Fenix (no flashlight). The watch for “serious” runners, cyclists and triathletes. (And nerdy hobby joggers like me)
– Vivoactive / Venu = lifestyle watches
(unlike the other watches, these watches have fewer than 5 buttons, and it’s not possible to effectively use the watch with only buttons – the touchscreen is necessary for basic things like scrolling). Good for very basic smartwatch functionality (just like basically every other Garmin), gym workouts, basic running and basic cycling (no power meter support). Worth noting that the Venu line was the first to get a mic and speaker with voice assistant support. Comes in a square version for Apple Watch fans. Now that Vivoactive 5 (the latest model) has AMOLED and lacks a barometric altimeter, Vivoactive is basically a budget Venu.
If you don’t want AMOLED, your only choices newer than your 945 are basically:
– Forerunner 955. 955 is basically the same as 965, except the former is MIP and the latter is AMOLED
– Forerunner 255. 255 has MIP (265 has AMOLED). 255 also lacks touchscreen and training readiness, which are present in 265
– Enduro 2/3
– Instinct 2 (this screen is worse than MIP tho, as it’s lower resolution and is only black and white.)
– Fenix 7
– Fenix 8 Solar
– Vivoactive 4 (this is 5 years old tho, and hardly a replacement for a 945)
It looks like the Forerunner 255 and 955 have been quietly moved to the previous model pages on the Garmin website and can only be brought up through a search. As a 955 owner, I wonder how long we will see continued feature updates and bug fixes.
Wow thank you. :)
Makes a lot of sense. I feel like we’re way beyond maturity with these watches.
I’m not seeing any features that make me want to upgrade before my watch dies (although I don’t want it to die in the middle of an ironman 😬). Is it just me?
Any idea if and when ECG finally will be available in Europe? I think it’s kind of weird to release the new flag ship model and cripple the functionality based on region. And yes I know there are hacks to make it work outside the designated regions but I want this to be officially supported and not being forced to apply some shady, wild goose hack on a device that costs 0ver 1 K.
Has Youtube music app gone from all models, or just not available for the Fenix 8?
I’ve got no idea why it’s not availble on the Fenix 8 yet. I’ll poke Garmin. They own/develop that app, not YouTube. But perhaps YouTube needs to approve it or something (very common for the music providers, due to aspects around protection of the music and validating that).
any chance of you doing a review of the new Amazfit T Rex 3 seem like a good alternative to the Fenix 8 at 1/3 the price.
I might take a look at it. I looked at the Cheetah last summer (link to dcrainmaker.com) but also actually looked at the T-Rex back then too, just never finished a post on it, though functionally very similar.
It’s tough, it’s one of those watches that on paper checks a lot of boxes, and then you start using it and realize there’s a lot of weird gaps. Amazfit’s known for never fixing those software gaps, but just releasing new hardware instead.
Unfortunately, adding to the conundrum, is it’s one of those devices that people say they want a review of, but honestly don’t ever read/watch the reviews (thus, views are silly low). So I spend a huge amount of time on a big multisport watch, but then nobody watches/reads it. Maybe I’ll do what I did for the Cheetah watch and have it be another ‘Quick Review’ style post. Not sure.
Have you realized all the software bugs during your testing people are complaining about at the “garmin forum”?
Do you know something from garmin if there will be a soon fix fir these issues?
(Copying my response from your identical comment on the FIT File post)
Looking at the forum, it’s kinda a bit of a grab bag of random things. Some are personal preference things, some are UI bugs (like font sizing stuff), and some are legit issues that some people see (and others don’t).
Sifting through a few pages of legit issues, I haven’t seen some of the ones people noted (e.g. naps showing hundreds of hours), or such. I have seen ones like the surface interval resetting when you jump in the water (e.g a cannonball). But that’s more of a design aspect than a bug per see.
Either way, in terms of daily usage, I haven’t run into any bugs that are either showstoppers, or honestly even come to mind. Obviously, that’s different than general annoyances I have with the new UI design as outlined in my review.
Ray, it’s not quite as you write. There are errors and these are functions, applications that work well on previous generations. The very fact that Garmin has failed with the Garmin Coach widget in the new system overlay (it simply does not synchronize or there is a problem with the font (it is too large and too thin, does not scale properly to the data fields), where it is clearly visible on the map overlay with the data ring or in strength training (previous generations have a smaller and thicker font, and if a phrase or word does not fit, abbreviations are used, in the new watches there is none of that). In addition, many data fields and other functions that people used have been removed (e.g. ETA to destination, no muscle oxygenation fields, in some activities you cannot select some data fields, because Garmin knows better what is needed for each person). In order not to be unfounded, I made screenshots of two watch models next to each other, Epix Gen 2 and Fenix 8, and sent them to the Admin. Some things, such as the lack of turn (bend) prompts or disappearing during an activity, cannot be easily proven, because you would have to record the watch with a camera during activity with audio in a quiet environment (it’s impossible). But don’t tell me that there are no problems or that there are few, because there are at least dozens of them. I don’t know, maybe you got a test sample that works miraculously or don’t use most of the functions that have problems, but claiming that there are no problems and all users have collective hallucinations is a bit out of place. The lack of backup or the Focus mode that ignores the power profile settings (this is how I also documented it in screenshots) is the downfall of Garmin’s programmers and reprehensible behavior of such a large and experienced manufacturer. It’s a bit like trampling on the customer, loyal Fenix users. Behavior that should be publicized and condemned.
Hello Ray, brilliant as always. Thank you. Do you have any information or assumption if there will come a 51mm model with a 1,5″ screen?
Hey DC, I was wondering the Fenix 8 allows for the Shazam app to function on it. Thank you :) Jody