Seattle Forrest

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2022/08/...th-review.html

IcySwan1 

That looks amazing. But it seems Garmin might be blurring the product lines. It looks like the FR 945/Fenix 7/ Epix/Enduro now pretty much do the same things. They are smarter than me, but having a model for runners or hikers or tri folks seemed like a good reason for carrying different watches. Now the crossover seems overwhelming.

Thanks for posting the link.

Mike

Polaris OBark

That looks perfect! What are home equity line of credit interest rates currently?

Seattle Forrest

I would have bought this instead of my 7X if it had been available at the time. An extra $100 for double the flashlight brightness and 20% more battery to drive it. Not a big enough deal to sell mine. I console myself with the knowledge that:

• Enduro is uggo
• It's slightly taller to catch on your shirt sleeve
• DCR says it feels laggy at times, probably Garmin down clocked the CPU to save power 😡

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Seattle Forrest

Those yellow hour marks.

Polaris OBark

Oh, that is part of the watch. I was going to say you could probably customize the display to suit you.

My Garmin watch is giving me a rash.

unterhausen

Yeah, those yellow dots gotta go. I wonder how long before they come out with different colorways.

I only wear my garmin watch now when I want it to record a ride or swim. I got tired of the contact dermatitis (rash). I used to put tape on the back of my watches, but I have a problem with the garmin watch band for some reason, not just the main body of the watch.

Seattle Forrest

This is basically like a Fenix 7 with a bigger battery. Doesn't have the beautiful Epix screen. It's really a hyper specialized niche thing for ultra marathoners and etc.

Seattle Forrest

I have a small box of watch bands. Most are cheap ones from Amazon. Silicone ones, metal, nylon, I even have one with wood links. Kind of nice to change the look.

Maybe a different band, especially a cloth one, will treat your skin better. They're not very expensive, you can get them on Amazon

njkayaker

They are extending the product lines to capture different markets.

The Epix has a great screen but not great battery life.
The Enduro has great battery life but (apparently) might be a bit slow.
The Fenix satisfies the people in the middle: those who want better battery life (than the Epix) and want better performance (than the Enduro).

The FT 945 is cheaper than the Fenix (and might be lighter too).

Keep in mind that none of these are cheap. People who spend real money will tend to be less tolerant of a "one size fits all" item.

IcySwan1 

njkayaker nailed it, I think: "Keep in mind that none of these are cheap. People who spend real money will tend to be less tolerant of a "one size fits all" item." Garmin, unlike me, clearly has its pulse on a broader segment of users than bikers. If each niche can support its own watch, then more power to Garmin.

Mike

Seattle Forrest

FYI
955 Solar and 255 are the current FR models. FR is short for Forerunner. Because it's a running watch.

Fenix and Enduro are hiking (multisport) watches. Forerunner has a plastic case to reduce weight, Fenix has a diamond like coating on its bezel and a sapphire lens for durability. Feature set is basically identical between 955 & Fenix 7.

FR 945 is Fenix 6 generation and approaching feature complete, it isn't getting most of the new stuff. 945 LTE is being considered current generation and is getting the new features.

A lot of people think Garmin has "too many" SKUs. Of course only Garmin knows how the numbers break down.