Garmin fenix 7 Sapphire Solar, adventure smartwatch, with Solar Charging Capabilities, rugged outdoor watch with GPS, touchscreen, wellness features, mineral blue DLC titanium whitestone band

Absolutely zero regrets with the F7x. Wanted to get a few activities completed and waited until I had to charge it before posting this review. Once I saw the Fenix 7x Sapphire was announced, immediately purchased on the same day. Waited only 2 days before selling the 6x Sapphire on an online auction site because the new one checked all the boxes and fit my wrist better.Started my Garmin wearable relationship with the Forerunner 405CX. That was touch enabled and challenging to use with sweat or rain. Stopped using it because it was clunky looking, very slow gps lock, and the battery life was abysmal. Went to the Fenix 3 HR in March 2016 which served me well. Then in September 2019, purchased on of the first 6x Sapphire which totally improved my life and fitness. So much that I shared my positive experience with friends and family that 5 of them purchased Fenix watches. One of them was an Apple Watch users tired of their battery always needing to be charged.Favorite new features: The biggest selling point for me of the F7x was the improved battery life. The F7x does not disappoint with battery… until I saw the Instinct 2 Solar specs. I pulled it out of the box on 1/26 at 80% charge and only charged it on 2/10 when it reached 20%. With it fully charged and all sensors on, it said 20-day battery life. Simply amazing. My F6x on a full charge said it would last 10 days but it worked out to be only 5. The big dip came when Sleep Score was introduced but it could have been the battery was on its way out. However, was bummed seeing with the Instinct 2 Solar, it is effectively unlimited battery using three hours of charging. More on the Instinct 2 below in “Asks” and “Shortcomings.” During my testing with the solar of the F7x, left it outside for an hour hoping it would be a 1 hour : 1% ratio of battery but that was not the case. Understood within Garmin documentation it says for the F7x not to rely on solar as primary charging.The other favorite feature is within Indoor Cycle, it can be set that the activity automatically broadcasts heart rate to my Peloton. Before it took quite a few clicks. I checked the F6x once it received the v20 update that included HIIT, but it still did not get the ability to set an activity to broadcast HR. To me, that should just be a software change.The other reason I purchased the F7x was for stamina score. It works well and I believe what it says. Tested it on a 5-mile treadmill stint that started at 79% and ended at Actual 7% / Potential 17%. Went out to dinner, had two beers, and then did a 4-mile treadmill run about 3 hours later. Wondered what it would read and it started at Actual 40% / Potential 40% and by the time I was done it was 0/0%. I was exhausted good to see that it measured the same.I have also noticed Sleep Score is calculated quicker. With the F6x, it would be a while since I have gotten out of bed that the score was calculated. With the F7x, if I awake but hanging out in bed, it knows the difference and calculates Sleep Score once I am awake.Tested the new heart rate sensor against my LifeFitness 9700 treadmill, Precor AMT 100, and a random LifeFitness commercial treadmill at the gym. All of them showed the same heart rate as the F7x. I have not tried my HRM-Pro with it yet.The GPS lock on the F7x is amazing. If I hit “Walk” inside the house and start the activity inside the house, it will pick up near instantly once I open the front door. Before with the F6x, it would take a few steps to lock out in the open.Out of the box, my F7x was on the 7.20 firmware. Earlier this week while sitting at my desk, I received a vibrate alert and the message onscreen said it was upgrading to new 7.24 firmware. It took only a few seconds and it rebooted the watch. This is a great improvement over the old models. With the F6x, it seemed to wait for charging cycles.Asks: Garmin must have read my F6x review on Amazon in 2019 because two of the issues I pointed out have been addressed. The 7x Sapphire is now offered in three colors including my requested black bezel. The second was the band that ships with the F7x is the exact replacement that is available without the notches. Combined with improved geometry of the F7x, the band fit exactly the same on the 7th hole with six holes showing. My ask of Garmin this time around is to have a power profile named “Instinct 2 Solar Smartwatch” that effectively turns the F7x into an Instinct 2 Solar with 28-day battery life / unlimited with solar even to the point of turning off color screen.Shortcomings of the F7x: Price is the first with it costing considerably more than the F6x. Part of that is it includes touchscreen and a feature I did not want or like on the 405CX. If I wanted touchscreen, would have just purchased an Apple Watch. Turned off touchscreen after pressing the face and seeing it turned on the watch light. The second price aspect is comparing the Instinct 2 versus the F7x since they are very similar other than looks. Do I regret buying the F7x at launch only to see the Instinct 2 Solar came out two weeks later at half price? No. It actually is going to make me use the features that the F7x has and the Instinct 2 Solar doesn’t. The only gap is battery / solar and I mentioned that in the above asks which could be addressed in a power profile.Odd things: My F7x is from the first batch. Sometimes the buttons are a bit squishy and it feels like there are sharp edges where the band attaches. Haven’t cut myself but on the F6x, that area is beveled and not sharp.

Garmin Fenix 7 is a great watch for specific purposes. It does cost more; I got last year’s model to save some money. But I tend to run into things, and I am hard on watches so need something that holds up. This holds up well.My last watch was the Fenix 3x HR and it was replaced after many years due to battery life and new features, still worked great. I changed from x to standard size. I’m bigger than average and both work but less bulk. Just missed the flashlight part but doubt would ever use it.The tracking during road or trail running is far better, even in hilly/forests. I really like that the watch face is easy to see in bright sunlight, or in dim light/dark with the button light. Having physical buttons is good, can use gloves. Battery life is great, just charge it every few days.I like the morning update, see my sleep score, training readiness, Heart variable rate. Hard to get good sleep scores – but something to work towards. Training readiness is mostly accurate but can be off sometimes. The trainer is interesting, I like the intervals it sets and progressive runs. I sometimes use the recommended runs but mostly do my own thing. I have it set to ½ marathon training right now.The heart rate tracking is good, just must keep the watch tight on the wrist. Hard to keep it in zone 2 easy runs, I seem to always go above even though feels easy enough. Steps are always less than my Fitbit, even when wearing both on same arm at same time. Not sure which is more accurate, prob Garmin. I only use the Fenix 7 now, Fitbit died. Love the different watch faces you can choose and run tracking faces.

Regarding MTB, I've been using an Edge 530 and been debating to upgrade to an Edge 840 or 1040. Map quality, visibility and navigation is important to me so I was leaning towards and Edge 1040 but have delt with cracked screen issues (my fault). Recently, I settled on the Fenix 7X Solar when I saw the Amazon Prime deal.Cons: The Edge is better as a dedicated tool for MTB. The Fenix screen is not as bright as I would prefer for daily use, and I don't seem to see a setting to increase the screen brightness. Also, it's not nearly as well integrated with Android ecosystem as a Pixel watch (which I previously had), but the battery is 10x better. On the Pixel, notifications are more intuitive, speech to text is actually a thing and works well, Google pay works seamlessly with my setup via Google wallet. The Pixel watch just works better with Google Pixel phones, which is not a surprise. Notifications on the Fenix work with Android, but if you're looking for the best integration similar to a Pixel watch and that's important to you, I would hold off.Pros: As an active person (for me: MTB, eMTB, weight lifting workout, occasional swimming and hiking), this has been the best smart watch to track all the metrics and analytics that help me be better at all these things. This is by far better than Google Fitbit subscription and is FREE. This is my 1st Garmin watch and it just blows my mind of all the things they have thought of to support athletes. I'm still learning to use many of the features and haven't touched the numerous other activities it supports, but for what I use it for, MTB and weight lifting, I am very happy with it. Battery life is phenomenal, Connect App works great and I can create navigation courses just the same as the Edge 530. This is a remarkable tool for athletes, to track and maintain your health and recovery.If the right deal comes along I will still get the Edge 1040 for MTB'ing just because I would like the bigger screen for navigating rural areas. But as a daily, the Fenix 7X is a very special training tool and works very good as a bike computer. If primarily for MTB or weight lifting, I highly recommend it.