The Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED. All pictures: iRunFar/Craig Randall
The Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED ($1,000 to $1,200 relying on options, $1,100 as examined in 51-millimeter stainless-steel model) is rather more than a easy GPS operating watch; it’s in an identical class as challengers just like the Coros Vertix 2S and Suunto Vertical. These are watches with usually 30 or extra completely different sport and exercise choices, made from rugged titanium or sapphire supplies with an enormous emphasis on mapping and navigation. But the one watch on this class so far to supply an AMOLED possibility is the Garmin fēnix 8.
The 12 months 2024 was the 12 months of AMOLED for the foremost manufacturers and legacy watch collection within the GPS operating and outside classes. The entire main gamers — Coros, Suunto, and Garmin — unveiled new watches boasting the attractive and high-definition AMOLED shows, previously reserved for the favored Garmin Epix.
Within the Garmin fēnix 8, Garmin has added an AMOLED model to one in every of its hottest and highly effective gadgets. Take a look again to our Garmin fēnix 7 evaluation to match this new version with the prior within the fēnix line.
AMOLED requires a number of battery energy in comparison with its Reminiscence in Pixel (MIP) counterparts, so whereas the development in GPS operating watches is to supply longer and longer life — principally with MIP shows — Garmin, and to a lesser extent Coros and Suunto, with the Coros Tempo Professional and Suunto Race and Suunto Race S, are discovering methods to supply greatest at school mapping, optical coronary heart fee and oxygen sensors, and excessive efficiency GPS recording with out sacrificing a lot battery longevity whereas nonetheless delivering the AMOLED show enhancements.
What I’ve lengthy appreciated concerning the Garmin fēnix collection although is its means to switch my telephone. It syncs to streaming service Spotify, comes totally loaded with labeled maps, and has one of the best, most intuitive consumer interface of any watch I’ve examined.
The Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED stays aggressive with the Coros Vertix 2S and Suunto Vertical in battery life, however it comes at a somewhat giant price enhance. The Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED is about $300 greater than its class rivals, with roughly the identical battery life, however a greater show and singularly provided options.
Learn on to search out out if the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED is value the additional price once you’re contemplating a purchase order of a really well-rounded outside sports activities watch that can be utilized for ultrarunning. We additionally advocate you take a look at our greatest GPS operating watch information, the place we rated this watch among the many different prime watches.
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Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED Show
The Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED in use.
The Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED display is further vibrant, and paired with an anti-glare coating, it’s simpler to learn, even when the solar is immediately overhead. That is essential once you’re out within the mountains or deep in a canyon and don’t wish to be fiddling along with your watch to see the info. That brightness degree is adaptive too, so it adjusts relying in your setting, whether or not you’re within the shade or immediately beneath the solar.
The display is sharp, clear, and readable in nearly any situation. The upper decision makes textual content and icons pop, so that you’re not left squinting at small particulars once you want them most. One of many challenges with any watch in vibrant daylight is glare and this has been a specific knock in opposition to AMOLED shows traditionally.
For top output sport watches for ultrarunners, AMOLED shows was a difficult proposition. Certain, it appears stunning and makes your outdated watch seem like a relic, however it comes at an enormous price to battery life. Or it used to.
AMOLED tech produces richer, extra vibrant colours and deeper blacks — the sort of distinction you don’t get with a standard MIP display. For those who’ve used the Garmin fēnix collection up to now, or watches from the opposite main manufacturers within the GPS operating watch class, you’ll instantly discover the distinction.
This adjustment out of the field will be considerably annoying although. Normally, you wish to maximize battery life, which implies using inside battery saving options, like dialing again the display brightness and limiting power-hungry options when you might want to stretch that final little bit of juice, however it’s the adaptive brightness that may typically hinder your expertise.
Take into consideration when doing intervals, observe reps, or actually any exercise state of affairs once you wish to verify your tempo or another knowledge rapidly. There will be severe lag between turning your wrist upward and the display turning into totally illuminated. This may be abated by turning on the always-on show possibility in your particular exercise, so that you simply received’t need to faucet the display or increase to wake the gadget each time you wish to verify your time, tempo, or altitude. However, particularly on lengthy runs, this can be a significant battery hog.
The display alone could warrant runners buying the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED over the still-exceptional Garmin fēnix 7, however the fēnix 8 AMOLED in addition to the Garmin fēnix 8 Photo voltaic ($1,100 to 1,200) additionally get some spectacular new options. I’ve all the time appreciated how shut the fēnix line involves killing off my smartphone dependence whereas operating, providing great options like offline Spotify streaming and one of the best mapping of any sports activities watch, making it simpler to simply depart your telephone behind completely — no less than on daylight runs in public locations, the place you don’t really feel such as you want a telephone for security.
Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED Measurement, Weight, Look, and Really feel
A facet view of the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED.
The earlier two variations within the fēnix line weren’t slight gadgets, however the 51-millimeter Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED by comparability appears much more gargantuan. Thankfully, the watch can be provided in 43- and 47-millimeter circumstances, however I examined the 51-millimeter model. This does appear higher suited to my body at 6 toes, 4 inches in top, however even I wrestle to search out it completely snug for all-day put on. The burden of my stainless-steel check unit is 102 grams.
Garmin has by no means had the panache of Suunto from a design and consumer interface perspective, however, particularly with an AMOLED model, Garmin’s feel and look is far improved, veering away from the Android/open supply comparisons of outdated to a barely extra fashionable and complex colour palette throughout the customizable shows and menus.
Possibly my largest gripe concerning the watch’s really feel is the button sensitivity. The watch maintains a prime and backside proper button structure, and a prime, backside, and center button on the left. The issue is that they are often very mushy. They merely require an excessive amount of specificity for my liking and in comparison with different watches in related settings. With gloves over your fingers, it may be further tough to start out and cease an exercise or navigate utilizing the buttons. However, the touchscreen performance when not sporting gloves may be very strong.
Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED Voice Instructions and Notes
In a nod to Siri and Alexa, the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED will get voice command capabilities, permitting you to start out a run, a nap, a timer, and lots of different choices by holding the beginning/cease button on the highest proper and talking into the gadget. The voice recognition app opens in an identical strategy to Siri by listening then enabling your command. A number of the key voice instructions are:
- Begin or cease an exercise;
- Pause your run;
- Modify settings like display brightness, don’t disturb mode, or music playback with out having to navigate by way of menus — I actually like this notably when utilizing my Spotify playlists, so that you don’t need to click on by way of the cumbersome screens; and
- Activate particular options, just like the flashlight or stopwatch.
A again view of the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED.
The fēnix 8 AMOLED additionally integrates along with your telephone’s voice assistant, comparable to Siri for iOS or Google Assistant for Android. This implies you need to use your watch to ship textual content messages or make calls, get climate updates, and set reminders or timers.
Whereas it’s not fairly a totally immersive voice assistant such as you get with a sensible speaker in your house, it provides simply sufficient performance to make actions smoother, particularly once you want a fast adjustment or replace with out pulling out your telephone or twiddling with the watch’s buttons and menus.
Since voice instructions nonetheless require touching a button on the gadget, it isn’t as seamless as maybe if it was all the time on and hands-free. However voice instructions and recognition know-how carry the fēnix 8 AMOLED ever nearer to its smartwatch counterparts from Apple and Google, and since I often put on the gadget full time, I really take extra benefit of voice instructions throughout each day life for options just like the flashlight or for nap timers and alarms.
Voice notes are one other very cool function that syncs and saves along with your GPS location. On journey runs or whereas navigating new routes this can be a worthwhile function for leaving your self reminders about landmarks, obstacles, or variations to route-finding. It’s rather more seamless than pulling out your telephone and recording the small print there.
There’s the helpful new means to make the most of the built-in speaker and mic to allow you to make and take telephone calls out of your wrist when your watch is paired to your telephone. Alongside these traces, some bank card firms will mean you can register your card and mean you can use Garmin Pay for contactless funds at distributors — one other phone-killing perk!
Garmin Fēnix 8 AMOLED GPS Accuracy and Battery Life
One of many stand out options on the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED that carries over however is improved over the fēnix 7 is SatIQ, Garmin’s clever satellite tv for pc reception system. SatIQ is a GPS function that adjusts how your watch interacts with satellites in actual time. As a substitute of utilizing a continuing, full-strength GPS sign which drains battery, SatIQ dynamically adjusts to the situations round you.
SatIQ runs within the background to present essentially the most correct place monitoring when it counts, and conserving battery once you don’t want excessive precision. For instance, for those who’re out on a wide-open path or a comparatively flat part of a race, SatIQ may change to utilizing simply GPS. However, for those who’re in an space with dense tree cowl, a valley, or rocky terrain, SatIQ will change to pulling in alerts from world navigation satellite tv for pc programs GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo to enhance accuracy. By continually monitoring the setting, SatIQ routinely switches to one of the best satellite tv for pc configuration in your environment.
The end result? You get extra out of your watch, particularly on these lengthy days once you want each ounce of battery life to complete a race or coaching run. However you must nonetheless alter your GPS-sampling fee (i.e. change between efficiency modes) when you understand you might want to get essentially the most battery efficiency doable, and also you’ll additionally wish to flip off a number of different battery draining options comparable to sensors or music playback when full battery life is required for observe recording and navigation.
Actual world battery efficiency stats for the 51-millimeter model of the watch I examined, even with the AMOLED show, routinely offers me round 65 to 68 hours. This knowledge got here by way of disabling SatIQ and with all satellite tv for pc programs enabled and using the AMOLED battery saving options. On the opposite finish of the spectrum, in Expedition GPS mode, the fēnix 8 AMOLED ought to give about 31 full days of energy. AMOLED isn’t obtainable in Photo voltaic variations of the fēnix 8, so in a direct comparability to earlier fēnix fashions with photo voltaic, battery efficiency may very well be a bit of worse with the brand new fēnix 8 AMOLED.
Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED General Impressions
Some individuals will discover that the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED is a consolidation of one of the best options from the Garmin Epix — the show — and the present Garmin fēnix 7 — its unbelievable mapping, battery, well being, and sensors know-how. This may be so, though persevering with to construct on the muse of the SatIQ clever satellite tv for pc reception system to include and preserve battery life along side AMOLED is an thrilling improvement, proprietary to Garmin.
The actual alternative for a lot of will hinge on how necessary show high quality is for you. I’ve to confess that it’s considerably arduous to return to different shows after spending a number of time with watches which have AMOLED shows.
There’s a big price for this know-how proper now although, so whether it is only a show dialogue, you may go for extra inexpensive AMOLED sports activities watches just like the Coros Tempo Professional or Suunto Race S. You’ll sacrifice so much from a options standpoint by turning to those different gadgets, and maybe most significantly, for those who worth a watch that may put far between you and your telephone whereas providing a number of the identical options, the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED is a really worthy funding.
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Name for Feedback
- Have you ever tried the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED? What had been your ideas?
- How does this model evaluate to prior variations within the Garmin fēnix line?
