Garmin Fenix 3 is the next generation of highest quality sports watches. It hit the market in the first quarter of 2015. I waited for mine nutil mid-April and since then I use it regularly during various activities – mainly street and trail running, biking, swimming and indoor activities (gym).
It’s been a while since my first training with its use (17.4.2015) and I managed to test a substantial part of its functions repeatedly. I decided that I am ready to write a review based on active use, rather than synthetic technical description that could be found throughout internet immediately after the premiere.
FIRST IMPRESSION
A standard in case of high-end products is attention to detail in even such mundane thing as packaging. The unboxing of the purchased product itself is supposed to be an experience that strengthens a sense of well-spent money.
In stylish packaging we find The Fenix 3 watch, manual, charger with two plugs to various sockets, cable for charging and data transfer and a strap with heart rate monitor HRM-Run (you can also buy a version without heart rate monitor).
The watch is quite large, but categorically more neat than its predecessor (Fenix 2), and first to resemble an ordinary watch for everyday use. Rubber strap adapts very well to the wrist, it does not stand out, and wears comfortably.
Despite its size, the watch is fairly light. Metal watchcase makes the watch very resistant. All this gives a feeling of sustained performance. After a few months of wearing, day and night, the watch is in perfect condition. My Fenix doesn’t have a sapphire glass, although such version can be purchased for a few hundred PLN more. I solved this issue with the protective film dedicated for Motorola 360. At this moment it is hard to get a film dedicated to this model, but forum members from Garmin suggested to me that motorla 360 has exactly the same screen size. I confirm – it fits perfectly.
Data transfer cable was my nightmare in Garmin FR210, which I used before. Inconvenient clip demanded several corrections for all of the pins to fit where needed.
In Fenix 3, the cable clip consists of a base with four arms, which we stick to the watch, and the contacts always touch perfectly. „Docking” of the watch is quick and firm.
GPS
The watch allows the use of GPS and GLONASS. I don’t see the difference in using only GPS and both sources, therefore I stick to only GPS enabled (longer battery life), and this option is enough. Whether you seek out a signal in the center of town or in the forest, it takes just a few seconds. My previous watch had its ups and downs. In the crowd before the start of the race often I had to turn GPS on like 10 minutes before the start, and I experienced one that it „cought” literally before the starting signal. Moreover, in the tunnel or shop on the route I almost always lost the GPS signal.
Here, everything happens almost instantly, and loosing GPS signal went into oblivion.
The GPS accuracy in the city is ideal, forests and wilderness don’t mind it as well. It rarely „straightens” the track and the total distance of the race is very well mapped. I compared Fenix to my earlier FR210 and other watches during street races. The differences are minimal – for example, with the last trail mountain run the differences between Fenix and three other watches amounted to approx. 200m over a distance of over 50 km.
HEART RATE MONITOR
If you buy a watch with heart rate monitor in box, you get a version designed specifically for runners. The belt has four electrodes (two on the front and two on the sides). This version offers runners a couple of very useful data for analysis, such as cadence (the number of steps/minute), vertical oscillation (vertical motion of your torso for each step), average ground contact time and the estimated maximal oxygen uptake (VO2MAX). All the data allow a runner to improve their running technique and reduce energy losses, eg. too powerful „bouncing”
Since September 2015 Poland there are also available Heart Rate Monitors for swimming and triathlon, which record heart rate while swimming (HRM Run doesn’t monitor your heart rate under water) and forwards them to watch after exiting the water.
SPORT
In order to start training, you can choose from a dozen different ready-made activities (running, cycling, swimming, hiking, climbing, etc.) or you can create your own fully editable one. And you can do it in the watch itself. This is according to me a big advantage compared to the competition, where you have to connect the watch to a computer to change any settings.
When choosing a particular activity, we have a whole bunch of parameters covering distance, time, pace, speed, heart rate, run dynamics, rhythm, temperature, altitude, compass, navigation, etc. (eg. burned calories, sunrise/sunset , atmospheric pressure, etc.).
Regardless of what sport we practise, Fenix 3 will adapt perfectly to our needs. For example, while running it will show us covered distance, pace and time, assess the dynamics of our training and how much calories we burnt. It will even estimate how much time we need to recover after training. This feature is especially interesting and I appreciate it a lot. During the first several workouts the watch learns about our possibilities, but very quickly the indications are beginning to be really helpful. I approached this function with a fair ammount of doubt, but I must admit that Fenix’s suggestions reflect my regenerative needs very well and maintaining the specified recovery time makes my trainings very effective.
Fenix 3 is, of course, waterproof (10 atm). Although it does not show your heart rate while swimming, it can read our swimming style, number of covered pools and count the number of hand movements while swimming.
The watch is equally fantastic during triathlons and the „multisport” activity allows you to save each stage in the correct order, as well as transitions between stages (the transition zone T1 and T2). It was tested in battle, during this year’s triathlon at the Group Azoty Triathlon Radłów and Elemental Triathlon Strawczyn.
BATTERY
Battery life, according to manual, ranges from 16 to 50 hours during sports activities (depending on the GPS/GLONASS settings and frequency of reading our location) and up to 6 weeks during the operation as SmartWatch – with the GPS turned off.
The battery lasts very long indeed. So far, the longest of my activities consisted of more than 7 hours of trail mountain run (Chudy Wawrzyniec) with all the features switched on. The battery in these circumstances lost approx. 40% of power, which allows to assume that the watch should withstand 16 hours.
SMARTWATCH
Apart from being a sports watch, Garmin Fenix 3 also acts as smart watch. Is it really a necessary feature ? It is a matter of the individual preferences. For me this is an interesting add-on.
Widgets allow you to customize the watch to your needs. If you want, yuo can at any time access the temperature, altimeter, compass and barometer indicators.
The sleep monitoring function allows to analyze the quality and phases of sleep, and the activity tracker screen will count your steps and after an hour of sitting remind to move in order to maintain good health.
Applications and widgets database is growing constantly and more and more new and interesting apps appear, both from Garmin and individual users.
APPLICATIONS
Garmin Express serves quick syncing and software update, and online all the data is available in Garmin Connect. Here, you can analyze and compare your workouts, create charts, training and courses that you can upload to the device or share with other users.
SUMMARY
Garmin Fenix 3 is a versatile device that combines the functions of a professional sports watch with funky Smart Watch. In my opinion it works extremely well in both roles. In everyday use it gives you a quick access to calendar, incoming e-mail notifications and a variety of widgets.
What is much more important, it doesn’t lose any of his functionality of a professional measuring device. The watch is legible, fully functional and comfortable to wear and use. It proved itself many times during my trainings and various competitions. Frequent software updates provide more and more new opportunities and improve already existing functions.
As every sports watch, the Garmin Fenix 3 is only a measuring device. It won’t run for us or make us a professional athlete only by the fact that we wear it. Nevertheless, the benefits of Fenix will be appreciated by anyone, from beginners to very experienced ultra runner.
