Garmin 010-01733-00 Fenix 5X Sapphire – Slate Gray with Black Band

7 reviews for Garmin 010-01733-00 Fenix 5X Sapphire – Slate Gray with Black Band

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Trailman – October 24, 2023

   I bought the Fenix because I was dissatisfied with what I had – a low-end smart watch (Zenwatch II) and an older GPS watch for my activities (Forerunner 310XT). I wanted a device that would replace both, serve as both a reliable daily timepiece and a GPS watch for my runs, bike rides, and open water swims. The Fenix 5 turned out to do that and much more. Here are my biggest likes and not-likes (there aren’t really any dislikes).

   On the plus side:
   – Instantaneous GPS fix with no wait (older Garmin devices could take a few minutes and if not allowed sufficient time for the GPS fix would produce very inaccurate GPS data for the first few miles)
   – Quick charging, e.g. while I am in the shower and getting ready in the morning, means that I can wear it almost 24×7. This means I am not missing any steps and can use it for sleep tracking every night.
   – I don’t have to travel with 2 devices, chargers, and cables.
   – I don’t have to bring any charger on shorter business trips. If I make sure that I give it a full charge on Sunday night, I still have 30% or more of charge left when I return on Thursday.
   – While the visibility is not stellar and inferior to the Forerunner, and some screens and watch faces can be difficult to read for the 50+ generation, I do not need reading glasses for the basic functions and I can operate all its features equally well in complete darkness and in bright sunlight.
   – Tracking alpine skiing activities worked surprisingly and unexpectedly well. Just turn it on and forget. It detects runs.
   – The watch was easy to pair with all my legacy accessories (mainly speed/cadence sensors on 3 bikes, and chest HRM straps)
   – I don’t need scientific HR data. When I compare the HR data between the watch and the chest strap on similar activities, the accuracy of the built-in optical HR monitor is similar enough that I don’t fret when I forget the chest strap.
   – The voice announcements via the phone speaker are configurable and useful, e.g. for lap times.
   – Notifications from the phone, mainly for texts, emails, and incoming calls make it less likely to miss something important and are the main reason why I liked wearing the Zenwatch. The Fenix does this equally well.

   On the “could be improved” side:
   – The lack of voice operation is a small inconvenience. I appreciated the ability to make calls or send short texts with the Zenwatch while driving or riding a motorcycle or bicycle. It would be great if this could be added in future models to make it truly perfect (but I realize that this poses technical challenges and might require a compromise with waterproofness).
   – I did get an external temp sensor that is attached to a running shoe. The built-in temp sensor does not provide useful temperature data because it displays a mix of ambient and body temperatures. Garmin says its real purpose is for calibration of the altitude sensor. Then I don’t understand why they bothered with exposing the data to the user.
   – The altimeter requires frequent manual calibration, especially after air travel. It does not recover on its own and will happily display negative altitudes for a while after landing. When I am on a plane, it seems to cut off at about 5,000 feet, which is odd. I have not taken it to higher elevations on the ground yet, so I don’t know what it does during workouts on Mt. Everest.
   – I prefer the metal band even while running, but the clip makes it a bit difficult to use the Garmin handlebar mount on a bicycle.
   – Sizing of the metal watch band was more difficult than expected, even with all the right tools. The pins were very difficult to remove, did not have a defined click when pushing them out, and required substantial force that almost destroyed my watch band link pin remover.

   I took it into the pool with no issues but have not had a chance to track a swim workout yet. I hope it will produce better GPS data than the 310 when worn on the wrist in the water. I used to put the Forerunner under my swim cap to get meaningful GPS tracking in open water. With the Fenix, I fear that it might slip out from under the cap due to its size and weight.

   I wore it on the wrist on a mountain bike ride with good results.

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Derek Curtis – October 30, 2023

   I love this watch – though my review is based on only three days of use and I’ve sadly had to return it. The seller I purchased from (OE USA) sent me the version with EU topo maps and not the US topo maps as advertised in the description. I called them and they said the EU version was sent by mistake. I have returned it to them, they received it today, and they are sending me the US version of the watch. They were very helpful fixing the situation. There is no marking on the box to indicate that you have an EU version – you won’t know until you go in and check the watch settings and see which TOPO maps were loaded. Make sure to check the map version right away just in case there is a limited return window on the product.

   I have been a Microsoft Band user since the first generation and I loved all of the data the band collected as well as the integration with my phone (yeah, I’m in the minority as a Windows Phone user). I love the look and feel of the watch, but I miss seeing all of the data on the inside of my wrist while I am running instead of having to turn my arm over and look at the top of my wrist. I was concerned that the heart rate data wouldn’t be as good if I wore it on the inside of my wrist so I wore it on the outside. When I get the replacement I will experiment with it on the inside of my wrist and update my review. I also really like that it doesn’t have a touchscreen. I live in Georgia and after a run on a humid day, the condensation on the glass of my Microsoft Band made it VERY difficult to navigate any of the functions, and I usually didn’t have a dry spot on my sweat-soaked shirt to wipe it off so I would struggle with it for a few minutes. With the buttons on the Fenix 5x, I can easily start/stop a workout with no issues in the humidity.

   I was very pleased with how customizable the screens are on the Fenix 5x watch as well as the data that is pushed to Garmin Connect. During the three runs I took while I had it, I also used the Endomondo app on my phone just to compare distances and they were fairly similar, though the watch always showed less mileage than the Endomondo app on my phone showed. The difference was negligible to me so it wasn’t a big deal.

   I was able to get everything (mostly) working with my Windows Phone. The only functionality that was really lacking was the ability to switch songs from the watch – the only thing I could do was start and stop the music. If you are having issues getting things working with your Windows Phone (I’m using a Lumia 950XL) I highly recommend downloading Garmin Express to your PC/Mac and syncing once through the computer. I think some firmware updates were installed to the watch when I used Garmin Express that then got everything working as expected with my phone (with the exception of the music widget) on both the watch and the phone. I did (briefly) also pair my watch with Garmin Connect on my iPhone 7 and my Surface Book and it worked fine with both of those devices, too.

   I really wanted to test out the mapping functionality, but if you get the watch that is not preloaded with the TOPO maps for your region, you only get some pretty high-level maps. I couldn’t even see any of the streets near me on the maps – it was just the major state and interstate highways in the Atlanta area. I considered just keeping the watch and buying the US TOPO maps from the Garmin store separately, but the cost of the maps was too prohibitive, and they should have come with the watch anyway because that is what I was paying for when I bought the watch.

   I also like the haptic feedback for notifications and alarms. Having a vibrating alarm allows me to wake up in the early mornings without waking up my spouse.

   I used the metronome feature on two of my runs and my feelings are mixed. The first time, it really helped me pick up the pace and I ran a faster time compared to the previous day. The second run with the metronome I completely ignored it because I was running a really tough course and there was no way I could keep up. I think this is a feature that I’ll use based on the course and what I’m trying to accomplish. You can set the tempo, how you want it to alert you (tone, vibration, or both), and how frequently it should alert you (every beat, once every 4 beats, etc.).

   I can’t wait for the exchange to be processed so I can start using it again.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Luis Alberto Nicolás Ramírez – November 17, 2023

   Ha servido de maravilla a pesar de ser re acondicionado todo funciona perfectamente

4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Cliente de Amazon – November 27, 2023

   Shipped and arrived on time. The watch is awesome and looks completely brand new. Excellent for a refurbished watch.

5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Rogério – November 30, 2023

   Pasé a este modelo después de muchos años de usar un Fenix3, y he de decir que las funcionalidades han mejorado mucho, la integración con mi Samsung ha sido muy fluída, es mi reloj de diario y estoy muy contento con mi compra.

6. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Kathrine Adams – December 8, 2023

   I’m always concerned buying refurbished, but the watch was good as new.
   Been using it for a couple of weeks now, an upgrade from a forerunner 35, and definitely glad I made the purchase

7. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Rogério – December 21, 2023

   Garmin Fênix é pelo menos pra mim o melhor relógio que já tive, esse é o meu segundo e o custo benefício do produto é incrível!
   Recomendo!