Garmin fēnix® 8 – 51 mm, Solar, Sapphire, Premium Multi-Sport GPS Smartwatch, Long-Lasting Battery Life, Dive-Rated, Built-in LED Flashlight, Carbon Gray DLC Titanium with Pebble Gray Band

I’ve been a loyal Apple Watch user, having owned many models since the first Apple Watch. I’ve always liked the health and wellness features of the watch, as well as its interoperability with other Apple devices in my home ecosystem. Over time, I grew tired of constantly having to charge the watch on a daily basis - even the Apple Watch Ultra pretty much required daily charging even though they say you can go two days between charges. I also wanted something with a more robust build quality. I was gifted the Garmin Fenix 5 Sapphire a few years ago, and I loved the long battery life, solid build quality and health and wellness features of the watch, but I hated the MIP display, which looked faded in both indoor and outdoor light. I sold it on eBay, but the Garmin health and wellness features and the onboard maps stuck in my mind as being very useful. Enter the Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED. This watch is the ultimate tool watch! It’s built like a tank, the screen is larger than the Apple Watch Ultra, and the AMOLED display is beautiful. It has a very handy flashlight that I use almost daily when sleepily navigating to my attic at 5 am to work out without waking up the rest of the family. It also has a Strobe light for those dark, early morning runs. Garmin’s built-in health and wellness features are vastly superior to the Apple Watch. If you are a health metrics junkie like I am, this is the watch for you. The watch has onboard HRV and sleep tracking that I have found to be more precise than the Oura Ring 4, which I returned after getting the Fenix 8. Garmin features such as Training Readiness, HRV Status, Sleep Score, Body Battery, Recovery, and Training Status are all meaningful metrics that I rely upon daily, and the watch has even more health metrics and features, including Endurance Score, Hill Score, Stress, Heart Rate, ECG to detect irregular heart rhythms, Pulse Oximetry, and more. All of this can be viewed on the watch or viewed in expanded form in the free Garmin Connect smartphone app, which is the storehouse for all of your cumulative health and fitness data. You will also receive a weekly Fitness Report and Wellness report from Garmin Connect, which will alert you to any trends in your health data. Fantastic! In addition, the watch has loads of other useful features, including Garmin’s awesome built-in Maps; an excellent Golf app with distance to pin and ‘plays like’ distances factoring in slope, wind, and elevation; a Meditation app; Compass; Altimeter; Barometer; Weather app, etc. The Fenix 8 also has an onboard microphone for you to take phone calls while within range of your phone and dictate simple commands like setting timers, which I use often. There is also an onboard Phone Assistant app that allows you to connect to your smartphone’s assistant (e.g., Siri on youriPhone). Oh, and the battery life on the Fenix 8 is fantastic! I keep the watch charged between 20 to 80 percent to preserve battery health, and I get about 7 days per charge, working out about 1 hour per day with a heart rate monitor chest strap and with always-on display disabled and overnight pulse ox readings enabled. I charge to 100 percent before vacation to avoid bringing the charging cable with me. The only issue I noticed with the Fenix 8 out of the box was that the buttons felt a little mushy and were sometimes unresponsive to presses. This is due to a change Garmin made in the Fenix hardware in order to make the watch dive capable. I almost returned the watch thinking something was wrong with it, but the button issue is easily and fully resolved using the below Button Calibration procedure from Garmin: 1. On a Windows computer, open a plain text editor like Notepad in Windows. Create a New file. Leave it empty, but save the file as KEY_CALIBRATION.BIN. For file type, designate as All files or *.* 2. Plug your watch into a Windows PC or a Mac that has the ability to read MTP devices (a third-party program may be needed for your Mac to see the watch as a drive). 3. Locate the drive for your watch on the computer, and open the drive. 4. Place the KEY_CALIBRATION.BIN file in the Internal Storage of your watch. It should not be placed in a subfolder. 5. Disconnect your watch from the computer. 6. A button calibration screen will appear on the watch with five red checks on the screen next to each button. Press each button fully a couple of times. A green check will appear as each button is calibrated. After calibration is completed, all of the buttons should work just fine. With the Fenix 8, Garmin has brought more smartwatch functionality to its already awesome Fenix platform. I am really enjoying the Fenix 8, and I hope to have the watch for a long time. I sold my Apple Watch Ultra on eBay and have comfortably moved on to something much, much better. I can’t recommend the Fenix 8 highly enough. I’ll update this review if I run into any other issues.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fantastic Upgrade — Perfect Mix of Athlete + Everyday Watch I’m absolutely loving this Garmin Fenix 8 (51mm AMOLED). The screen is gorgeous—bright, sharp, and way easier to read than my Epix Gen 2 was. Battery life is amazing too. Even with the always-on AMOLED, workouts, notifications, and daily use, it just keeps going. The watch itself looks manly, beefy, athletic, and modern without being over the top. I’m really happy I chose the natural titanium, and the little splash of orange on the sensor cover looks great. I used to wear an Apple Watch Ultra and the color scheme is similar, but this feels much more like a true adventure/training watch rather than a tiny phone on my wrist. That’s actually the biggest shift for me: I realized I don’t want the best “smartwatch” on my wrist. I just want enough smart features to see notifications and decide if I need to pull out my phone. The Fenix 8 nails that balance. The flashlight is one of my favorite features—it’s incredibly useful and always right there. I end up using it more than I expected, whether running in the dark or grabbing something around the house. As for workouts, I’ve started programming them ahead of time, and it’s made training so much smoother. Garmin gives me great stats and a clearer picture of my fitness. This has quickly become my favorite part of using the watch. I grabbed this one because of the $250 discount, and I’m glad I didn’t go for the Pro version—I don’t need LTE or satellite since my phone already covers that. This model still has Siri support, Garmin voice command, and actual speakers, which made me happy I didn’t go with a lower model like the Fenix 8e. The new interface is nice. It takes a few more clicks to start a workout, but I like how I can stage things better before I begin. The included band honestly surprised me—it’s stretchy and comfortable, super easy to tighten for workouts or loosen as my wrist changes during the day. And despite the larger size, I haven’t found it too heavy at all. Going with titanium was definitely the right call. Overall, this is the perfect blend of rugged, modern, and functional. Exactly what I wanted. Highly recommended. For a couple of years I have been switching between Apple Watch Ultra and Garmin watches, I have landed here with only $200 more than the Ultra and a much better fitness watch, which is what I currently value more than a better smart watch. I found myself not using the apps much on the Apple Watch and I like the all inclusive fitness tracking of the Garmin.

This is the best watch I’ve ever owned. This thing puts an Apple Watch to shame. It’s very easy to use, has more features than you would ever need, and is very customizable. You can download new apps for it, new watch faces and change what data is displayed, and more. One of the coolest features on it is the flashlight. I didn’t think much of it when I ordered it, but I find myself using it all the time—mostly when I’m crawling out of bed super early before my wife gets up and this helps me navigate the room without stubbing toes. The light is quickly adjustable in brightness and turns on with just two clicks of the upper left button. The battery life is great and the 47mm fits my wrist really well, without looking obnoxious. I absolutely love this watch!

Wonderful, watch and fitness tracker. Hands-down, the best fitness watch on the market. Very durable excellent battery life. 43mm will give you about seven days of true runtime. Definitely on the pricey side, but will last you and hold up excellent. A little bulky but fits great and is comfortable to sleep in. Their system is straightforward and once you figure it out, it is easy to use.

My husband ordered the Garmin Fenix, and he absolutely loves it! The first thing that stood out was the durability — the sapphire face is tough and scratch-resistant, which gives him peace of mind wearing it every day. The build feels solid and high quality, exactly what you’d expect from Garmin. The features are incredible. He uses the GPS often and says it’s very accurate, and the variety of health tracking options (heart rate, sleep, activity, etc.) make it a great all-around tool for fitness and daily life. The battery life is also impressive, lasting much longer than his previous smartwatch. Overall, this watch is worth every penny. Between the rugged durability, advanced features, and sleek design, it’s been one of his favorite purchases. If you’re considering investing in a smartwatch that can handle it all, this is the one to get!

The fēnix® 8 (51 mm, AMOLED, Sapphire) is an incredible all-around smartwatch. It delivers outstanding performance not only for running and movement-based activities, but also for sleep tracking and strength training. The strength-training features are especially impressive — the watch automatically detects most exercises and logs them accurately, and you can easily adjust weights or correct any misidentified movements afterward in Garmin Connect. The 51 mm size is on the larger side, so it may feel big on a smaller wrist, and it’s noticeably larger than an Apple Watch Ultra. That said, the screen clarity and build quality more than justify the real estate. It’s definitely a premium-priced device, but if you’re considering an upgrade, this is absolutely worth it — especially if you can catch it on sale.

I had been an Apple Watch user for years and was honestly hesitant to make the switch, but after a month with my Garmin Fenix 8 (43mm), I can confidently say it has far exceeded my expectations. The size is perfect for my smaller wrist, and it feels lightweight and comfortable even during long workouts. The upgrade in functionality is remarkable—it truly feels like a whole new level of performance. I train daily, rotating between strength training, running, and cycling, and this watch makes tracking each activity seamless and highly accurate. The design is both sleek and durable, the display is crisp and easy to read even in bright sunlight, and the GPS connects almost instantly. What impressed me most, though, is the battery life - it easily lasts over a week, which is a complete game-changer compared to nightly charging. Practical, reliable, and packed with features, this watch genuinely supports an active lifestyle. For me, it’s not just a smartwatch it’s a true training partner. Worth every cent.

I do triathlons and have an older Garmin Forerunner 955. It’s been a great watch but I’ve been shopping for a new one for quite some time. Once I saw the new AMOLED screens I knew I had to upgrade. I waited for the 970 to release but after all the bad reviews I went with the Fenix 8. My brother (also a triathlete) went with the Forerunner 965 the same week I went with the Fenix 8. Good: It a pretty watch. Tons of extras features, maps and the AMOLED screen is gorgeous. I love and use the flashlight quite a bit actually. Everyone jokes about it but it’s GREAT! It does have more options as far as connecting to your phone for calling and being a “smart phone”. It’s seems very durable and heavy duty vs the Forerunner. The functionality and types of workouts available are more robust than the forerunner. I’ve been using the fishing mode and other fitness tracker modes I didn’t have on the forerunner. Bad: It is more bulky than the Forerunner but it does feel like it’ll take a beating vs my forerunner 955 that got scratched and a cracked screen. You do have to get used to the extra weight. The Fenix doesn’t seem to have the same battery life as the Forerunner series either. Battery dies in about 5-6 days if you workout 2-3 hours a day. My biggest pet peeve with it so far is the watch face setting. With my forerunner a quick flick of the wrist would wake it up but I have to almost shake the Fenix to get the screen to light up. If you leave the face to always on the battery will only last 2-3 days tops. Cost: The price is also a little steep. I’m not sure it’s worth double the price of a Forerunner if your main function is to use as a workout watch. If it’s a daily wear then I think you can justify it. After seeing my brothers Forerunner 965, I have a little bit of buyers remorse. It has the nice AMOLED screen, all the fitness functions and is half the price. If I had to do it again I think I could sacrifice having a flashlight and have just gone with 965. Overall it’s the nicest without watch I’ve had in 20 years but not sure I’d buy it next time. I think I’d go back to forerunner for lighter, more compact design, lower cost and still have the AMOLED screen.