Should you buy the Garmin Fenix 7?

The Garmin Fenix 7 is an excellent sports activities watch, with only one pervasive drawback. It prices rather a lot. Greater than the Apple Watch Sequence 8, and really greater than the Apple Watch Extremely in case you purchase the model with a Sapphire display screen and titanium physique.

It’s top-of-the-line health trackers, however is it truly price shopping for for most folk?

There may be some excellent news. Garmin Fenix watches, and the perfect Garmin watches (opens in new tab) typically, do are likely to get vital price-drops in gross sales. They’re frequently the celebs of Prime Day and Black Friday offers round-ups, at the least for these of us who care about this space of tech.

There’s a sound argument to be made {that a} Fenix 7 is health tracker overkill for lots of people. Nevertheless, that’s much less of a problem in case you discover it under its authentic worth. We’re going to check out precisely what constitutes a Fenix 7 “deal” in 2022 and past, and what this watch affords over a number of the cheaper Garmins, and different rivals.

Must you purchase the Garmin Fenix 7?

The type of one who ought to take into account a Garmin Fenix 7 is a severe runner, anybody who has a stacked exercise routine that must be balanced fastidiously, or a hiker who needs to navigate utilizing a watch somewhat than their cellphone or a paper map.

The Fenix 7 is one in all Garmin’s dearer watches. It has a luxury-level worth, significantly in its higher-end variants, however that is nonetheless virtually totally a watch of options and practicality.

For instance, the pricier variations add photo voltaic charging, a more durable Sapphire display screen, lighter Titanium casing and enhance the casing measurement for longer battery life. Not one of the additional expense has to do with bragging rights or type.

It’s one cause we like this watch a lot. It’s full of stuff and virtually none of it’s fluff.

Garmin Fenix 7 Solar Sapphire

(Picture credit score: Andrew Williams)

Garmin Fenix 7 options

A number of key options set the Fenix 7 aside from lower-end fashions within the Garmin line-up. First, the back and front of the casing are steel somewhat than plastic/polymer. These are both stainless-steel or titanium relying on the mannequin you choose.

You get 16GB or 32GB of storage. This can be utilized for music or, the true draw, to carry continents’ price of map information. Most cheaper Garmin watches solely allow you to navigate by GPS coordinates, or a “breadcrumb path” of the route you’ve already taken. Right here you’ll be able to see full map topography, and generate routes on the fly. Highly effective stuff.

This watch additionally has Garmin’s extra hardcore stats, like Coaching Load, recommended restoration instances and Coaching Standing. These are super-useful in case your exercise routine is pretty intense, the type which will threat overtraining.

In the event you don’t care in regards to the high-end shell supplies, you may get comparable options for much less cash within the Forerunner 955 (opens in new tab). And in case you received’t use the downloadable maps function, try the Forerunner 255 (opens in new tab).

Whereas we love the thought of being a “Fenix 7 grade” athlete, while you truly need to open your pockets the extra modest Forerunner 255 begins to make numerous sense. We additionally discover these much less initially impressive-looking plastic watches extra comfy than the Fenix 7. They’re rather a lot lighter.

All these watches share just a few options that make them extra interesting than, say, an Apple Watch Sequence 7 (opens in new tab) for a lot of of us.

They use memory-in-pixel transflective screens that get clearer in vivid daylight. That is the polar reverse of the OLED screens of the Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, which need to ramp up their depth to compete with daylight. It’s why Apple made the Watch Extremely to achieve 2000 nits of brightness, round 9 instances brighter than some laptop computer screens.

That naturally makes use of numerous battery, however the Fenix 7 doesn’t want to make use of further battery energy outside except you might be additionally monitoring your actions with GPS.

A Fenix 7 lasts between 11 days and 37 days of basic use, not the at some point you get from an Apple Watch Sequence 7. It makes carrying this factor a blissful breeze, hardly ever demanding a cost — and there’s no stamina tax simply from monitoring an hour-long run outside.

That is additionally the first cause to get a Fenix 7 over a Garmin Epix 2 (opens in new tab), which can also be a superb health tracker. That watch’s OLED display screen lets it final round six days in its “at all times on” mode. The Fenix 7’s display screen shows the watch face all day by default.

Garmin Fenix 7 Solar Sapphire

(Picture credit score: Andrew Williams)

Garmin Fenix 7 worth

Right here’s the thorny half, and the hopeful half. Probably the most inexpensive Fenix 7 prices $699/£599, as per the launch worth.

This will get you the 42mm Fenix 7S or the 47mm Fenix 7. The 2 watches are very comparable, the Fenix 7S merely made to swimsuit smaller wrists.

You’ll pay $799 for the Photo voltaic Fenix 7/7S, which has a photo voltaic charging component in and across the show. And $899 for Sapphire Photo voltaic fashions. These have more durable show glass and, simply as vital, Titanium casing plates. Titanium reduces the watch’s weight, making it extra comfy to put on all day lengthy.

Typical on-line reductions may see you save as much as 10% off the unique worth. Nevertheless, we could possibly enter the golden period of Fenix 7 reductions.

We simply need to look again to the Fenix 6 to grasp why. Again in 2020, just a little beneath a 12 months after the Fenix 6 collection launched, we noticed reductions of as much as 33% off the collection. And in 2021 we noticed reductions of as much as 49% throughout huge sale occasions like Prime Day and Black Friday.

These have been for various fashions, as you are likely to get the next proportion low cost off the dearer watches.

Nevertheless, if we have been to hope for the same discount off the Garmin Fenix 7 throughout this 12 months’s sale occasions, it could imply a normal collection Fenix 7 for round $468/£401.

In the event you see the Fenix 7 collection watches something near that worth, you already know you’ve discovered a scorching deal.

Garmin Fenix 7 launch date

The Garmin Fenix 7 household was introduced in January 2022. And in contrast to another areas of tech, and different wearable collection, this one doesn’t get up to date yearly.

Garmin’s Fenix 6 arrived roughly 29 months earlier, in 2019. The Fenix 5 got here round 31 months earlier than that, in 2017. By this sample, we’re solely due the Fenix 8 in August 2024.

This must be reassuring. Whereas the Fenix 7 has been out for a short time now, it’s a good distance from being outdated. And we count on it to nonetheless really feel completely good to make use of years after the Fenix 8 arrives.

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