I’ve have never had this much fun reviewing a product as i did reviewing the Garmin Fenix 5. Every time I look at it I'm just blown away at how good looking, well built, and how capable it is. Im going to tell you right now, The Garmin Fenix 5 is a beast of a fitness tracker first, and a smart watch second. This sport watch is made for people how are fitness addicts who constantly bike, Run, or go on hikes. this is made for people who have been hardcore athletes for years now. It’s completely over kill for me, but i just love it so much. 

And at a starting price of $599.99 this watch aint cheap. and if you were to spring for the garmin fenix 5x with the more durable sapphire glass that will cost you $699.99. And don't forget, garmin also sells extra bands made from silicon, suede, and stainless steel with prices ranging from $49.99 all the way to $149.99. what I'm trying to say here is, if you’re looking into getting this watch i just don't want you to get sticker shock. I’ll have links in the description below, and i’ll try to keep it updated the best i can so you can get the best deals. 

So what should you expect when you drop $600 on a sport watch… well for starters the packaging is pretty nice. when you lift the lid youre going to see the garmin fenix 5 front and center in all its stainless steel glory. Inside the box you're also going to find its charging cable, warranty information, and an instruction manual that i highly suggest you study cause there will be a pop quiz. and theres no wall wart, so you'll have to use your own. 

So i picked up what i believe will be the garmin fenix 5 that most people will get. Its the slate gray with black silicon wrist band version. The overall diameter of the watch is 47mm with a 1.2 inch diameter screen. Personally I think this watch is the perfect size for most men’s wrists. It’s a little thick, and about 4mm thicker than the apple watch series 2, but given everything the garmin fenix 5 can do, its manageable. You’ve got five buttons on this watch which are used to navigate through the different menus and built in features. and every time you click either button theres some really good tactile feed back thats lets you know you've pressed said button.

And no, this screen is not a touch screen. The actual screen itself looks its best in direct sunlight. theres also a back light so you can the screen in the dark as well. on the back of the watch you're going to find a heart rate sensor thats very low profile to the case but does a great job of consistently and accurately detecting your heart rate. the base garmin fenix 5 also comes with silicon wrist bands that are very comfortable and perfect for working out in. They also feature a quick release mechanism which is great if you want to swap out your band. but like i said, they can get a little pricey. Over all, I'm a very big fan of the design of the watch. its very well built, looks great from almost every angle, and its very unapologetic. Unlike fitness trackers that try to blend in or other sport watches that just look bad, the Garmin Fenix 5 manages to be a very capable sports watch with very classy looks. Its made to be out there with you on your hike, in the mud, or in the water, but will still be right at home with you in the board room. 

OK, so lets talk about whats under the hood. The garmin fenix 5 will connect to your phone via your standard bluetooth and will send all of its collected data to Garmin’s Connect app. More on the app later. You can also pair a chest mounted heart rate monitor to the Fenix five. side note, if you want wifi in your sports watch, you'll need to get the garmin fenix 5 sapphire edition. also, another side note, the heart rate sensor will not work while you're swimming. The Garmin Fenix five also has few other built in sensors other than just the heart rate sensor on the back. The fenix five also has a Barometric altimeter, Compass, Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Thermometer and will connect to GPS and or GLONASS which is Russia’s version of GPS. Thanks Google! The Garmin Fenix Five also has a rechargeable battery that should last you 2 weeks. But with normal use, the heart rate sensor on 24x7, and you using its gps to track your runs or rides real world battery life is around a week. which is still a great battery life none the less. sometimes i even forget you have to charge the thing. But if you're doing a big race or an actual triathlon, then the watch should last you for around 18 hours with every thing turned on consistently. And before i forget, the watch is water proof down to 10 atmospheres which is like 5 more than i’ll ever need. I’m not a big fan of fish. 

The Garmin Fenix 5 does everything you'd expect your average fitness tracker to do. it'll track your sleep if you can manage to actually sleep with it on. It tracks your steps, calories burned, distance traveled, floors climbed, intensity minutes, and heart rate. But these reasons alone aren'twhy you're interested in the Garmin Fenix 5. You’ve got some sports that need tracking. its good for Running both indoors and outdoors, cycling, swimming either in pools or open water, trail running, hiking, climbing, mountain biking, golf, skiing, snowboarding, and the list just goes on. But I think the top 3 sports the garmin fenix 5 will be used for are outdoor running, outdoor cycling or mountain biking, and hiking slash trail running. and maybe golf, I've only played golf like 3 times. 

When actually using the Fenix 5 while running it'll track your distance, route, pace, speed, cadence, heart rate, and timing info. It'll also display a good chunk of that information for you directly on the watch face. the GPS tracking and distance data are also pretty spot on as well. The tracking is so precise that it even knows on which side of the street I'm on instead of just guesstimating like other sports watches I've used. and all of the data the garmin fenix 5 collects is sent over to garmin connect app on your phone. And I've said it before, Garmin’s connect app is a decent very in depth fitness tracking app that shows you a lot of data other popular fitness tracking apps like fitbit don't show you. But i personally think there is room for improvement when it comes to the UI. but with that aside gamin’s connect app does a great job of breaking down your performance and displaying your stats in a very easy to read manner.

The garmin fenix 5 also has some smart watch capabilities. For starters, yes the watch face is customizable and you can down load some more from Garmin’s connect app. You also get phone notifications, hourly and daily weather forecasts, and music controls. nothing on the level of what you'd expect from an apple watch but of course not, cause this is a sports watch first. But there are a few short comings i want to point out on the fenix five. for starters theres no native storage for music. If you could take this watch out with some wireless ear phones, listen to some music while you run and leave your phone behind then the fenix 5 would be complete. Also, theres not stress tracker like on the vivosmart 3, its not a must have, but i assumed it would be there. Theres also no repping counting functionality like the vivosmart 3, but again its not a must have feature. And finally, at that $599.99 starting price point I think garmin should have included the sapphire lens by default. 

So lets wrap things up. we’re just scratching the surface when it comes to the garmin fenix 5 and what it can do. and look out for videos in the future that'll go more in depth. But the fenix 5 is a bad ass sports watch that i feel marathon runners, cyclists, and mountain sports enthusiasts are going to just love. its unapologetic rugged design looks great and will take a beating. Its great at what it does. But like i said, not having native storage for your music does seem like a short coming. But if you do decide to pick it up you wont be disappointed. I know I'm not.