Garmin Vivoactive 4s Gps Smart Watch - Gunmetal Black Band

[Edward]

Themost important thing to know is that all these units share the same software features across the board. They all have music, the same optical heart rate sensor, the same GPS chipset manufacturer, the same contactless payment support, the same WiFi/Bluetooth/ANT+, and all the same sport profiles and related features. Same. Same. Same.

For me the Garmin Fenix 7x is my go to. The extra battery life is such a great feature to have. I do long distance hiking where the extra gps time is a huge a deal. The AMOLED display is nice but the MIP display is also nice considering it reflects sunlight.

Please include include Right to Repair battery/parts availability in your battery replacement post. Battery replacement is relatively easy on Garmin watches, at least compared to an iPhone. So it seems odd that Apple is genuine replacement iPhone batteries to users fir them to install and Garmin is not.

Most jewelry ships offer free battery replacement on high end watches. Garmin needs to do a better job supporting long-term battery replacement, especially since these watches are so expensive and aging batteries can dramatically shorten their useful life. They should sell replacement batteries and support cost-effective right-to-repair for those interested.

Fantastic presentation of technology and I love all your reviews. I do not know if you can provide companies with feedback and understand why many would want you to buy new rather than keep the old operational (I guess there is always an element to ensure you eventually but new). Could there be any mobile chargers or other options of battery replacement?

The ideal situation for me would have been a Fenix 7 with a bit more reflectivity compared to the old MIP screens. I wonder if there is any brightness difference between Fenix 7 and 6 ? I read that the Enduro screen is brighter than the Fenix 6x, can anyone confirm ? Maybe Garmin did improve on this ?

I have been using a Fenix 6X Sapphire for several months. Just purchased a Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar from Garmin. Initial impressions are that the brightness and color saturation are significantly better on the 6X. The screen on the 7X model is considerably dimmer and harder to read in indirect sunlight. So far, I am a little disappointed with the 7X and some of its limitations (screen brightness, resolution, color saturation, limitations in watch faces, inconsistent touch screen performance).

Thanks, I read this on other forums too. At first sight I would say that the touchscreen layer reduces the brightness, but on my touch-enabled Vivoactive 4 the brightness seems to be the same as the non-touch Fenix 6 so it normally cannot be this.

I just have a big doubt and I think you wrote the answer between the lines but I would like your direct comment on the subject. Between the Fenix 7X Solar Power Glass and the Fenix 7X Solar Power Sapphire which screen is best seen and without reflections? It is important to know this because, in my case, a clearly visible display without annoying reflections counts more, even giving up the multi gps and 32gb memory.

Yes you can split Europe into three segments: West, Central and East. If you connect your Fenix 7 or Epix 2 to a Mac or PC, using Garmin Express, you have the choice to download Europe by segments (e.g. only West or a combination of West and Central).

This is the same reason I use my Karoo2 instead of my Edge 1030- way easier to read without glasses. Important since I sweat a lot and my glasses get completely coated with sweat. So, I keep them in my pocket and only get them out when I really need them.

I have had the 5x sapphire and now have the 6x pro and think this series is the best adventure/ multisport watches on the planet and would have no reason to think that these latest devices would be any different. I would prefer the Epix purely for the new brighter screen. I use mine for weight training, rowing, but mostly cycling as a backup unit to my edge or karoo. Great review as always and there will always be reasons to nit pick but at the end of the day nothing out there compares.. The Apple Watch is a toy compared to Garmin units

Specifically, Garmin will now allow Venu 2 series (and EPIX) to skip the per-pixel burn detector, as long as less than 10% of the pixels are on. Garmin noted that the Venu 2 has different hardware than the Venu 1, which makes this possible without concern of burn-on on those displays.

The pins of the 7x are (user) removable. Seems that the Epix pins are not (user) removable? A lot of people tried in already on Epix without success. Have you already tried it/ informations about that? Or perhaps can you ask Garmin for clarification? Thanks

So after reading a post on reddit on someone successfully removing the pin, I decided to order the $10 tool from Amazon, and after following the instructions (prying on the pin section, then holding down the bar to keep the pressure on the pin and preventing it from going back into the watch hole), I was able to pop out the two pins and use the bands that I have gathered from over the last couple of years for my Fenix 6 Pro.

well you would do UTMB etc. once a year :) or once a two year :) but Epix Screen is on your hand everyday ;) so i guess its better to have everyday nice thing and charge or dont use always on screen during UTMB :) so still EPIX is winning :)

Also, on an ultra like UTMB you are almost guaranteed to make at least a 20-30 minute pit stop at your drop bag or crew station. These watches charge rather quickly, so the boost you can get in that time will likely be sufficient to finish the race.

As an owner of a Garmin Forerunner 645, I have given up on seeing an updated version due to changes within the Garmin lineup especially with adding more features to lower end models. The possibility I most excited to see is an updated Garmin Forerunner 245 with even more advanced features added and the addition or option of an AMOLED screen.

Hi!

For us, older with reading glasses (that is obviously left home when out jogging) is epic2 a better option than Fenix 7x? The Fenix display is slightly larger but epic has a better display and higher resolution.

I have now a really old Fenix 3 and have some problems seeing some smaller parts on data fields. What should I go with?

Me too. Even if they just improved the color depth to 10-bit (256 colors) it would be enough to make a huge difference. For one thing, it would make birdseye imagery a lot more useful. More pixels would be great too, but I long more for better color depth.

About the difference in detail for the map, his is usually encoded in a TYP file. So my guess is that if you take some of the TYP files (the map theme files) from the Epic file system and put them in say a Fenix 6 or 7, you would get the same display. Is this something you could find time to try?

Thanks

Thanks a lot for your efforts and review. And thanks for being honest about the multiband aspect. Since V800 I have not found anything similar by far and my new Polar Grit X Pro (that I am returning) shows poor accuracy, for the price it has. I am glad to see Garmin has realised the Sony antenna is not a good choice and move in other direction. I am crossing fingers and see if I can get a good sucessor in the future (and also elegant). Have a good one !

Your youtube comparison of Epix 2 and Fenix 7 made me reconsider my original plan to go for 7x (upgrade from 5 plus) in favor of Epix 2. Especially your comments on how more redable the display of Epix 2 is even outdoors.

One of my many use cases for Epix 2 would be to attach it to bike handlebars while riding a bike.

My question is, how does the Always On During Activity settings behave in such a configuration (watches not on the wrist, but on somthing, which is still shaking a bit). Will the display really stay on, or will I have to tap on the display/press the button every time I want to check datascreens?

As a bonus, depending on the charging time / frequency, the device is not off my wrist as often or as long. Always my gripe with Apple Watch (daily charging, forgetting it, missing, missing a couple of hours of data.. I know, I know, first world problems.)

Thank you for the comprehensive comparison!

I am wondering whether there are any differences in the activity profiles (eg. the Forerunner does not support mountaineering) supported by the Fenix 7 compared to the Epix 2. Likewise, do both models provide daily training suggestions for running, cycling, and indoor cycling? Thank you!

The touch screen works very well and I appreciate the fact that it can be turned off in activity mode. My last experience with a touch screen watch was the Forerunner 405 (hard to believe that was over 12 years ago) and I detested the touch screen on that watch.

Just one small thing that puzzels me. On Garmins websites it clearly states that the F7 with Sapphire and Solar have a DLC coating on the bezel. Epix on the other hand has no information on that in the name of the watch it only says so in the specifications Sapphire Edition: carbon gray DLC titanium or pure titanium. Do you know for sure if the black Epix Sapphire Solar really has a DLC coating on the bezel?

I do have a question about the AOD. If AOD was on, would the battery drain be the same if you had one of those busy watch faces with a million fields compared to a watch face with just minute and hour hands?

Said a different way, the Epix is a really deep watch for sports/navigation, that has some general smarts if it aligns to your platforms (e.g. Spotify for music, and your bank is supported). Whereas inversely, the Suunto 7 is a deeper smartwatch, that has some sports/navigation basics.

My 7X sapphire arrived yesterday to replace my 5X. The screen is much better and my main reason to get the 7X vs Epix was battery life-my 5X was down to less than a week of usable time if I used GPS at all and I hope the solar help is helpful overall. Loving the upgrades in features so far.

I wonder how much validity and practical value remain in measures like stamina and body battery that are derived from several model-based estimations. Each of these has own estimation errors that further accumulate in the derived measures.

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