OVERVIEW: Garmin Fēnix 3 Hiking, Running & Triathlon Watch

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Garmin is a brand that you hear about every time you try to chat about a sports watch or cycling computer with the sports freaks you know. “Well, what are you doing,” they told me. "Buy a Garmin and don't worry." And that's how it turned out. I had TIMEX, which were outdated and poorly compatible with the world around; I had a wonderful Adidas micoach smart run, but only for running; I had my adored Polar V800, whose charging port simply rotted from sweat. So I decided not to show off and bought Garmin Fēnix 3 on Amazon from an Israeli merchant. I took out his whole brain to him that I needed the watch urgently, and therefore I got it in my hands long before the official delivery. No dealership or dealers were involved, and what you read will be an adoring review with whipping elements (like in a grayscale movie, approximately). There is a reason to adore and smack watches, because they are a phenomenon in the world of sports gadgets. Without a doubt.

Introduction

The main dilemma when ordering the Fēnix 3 was that Apple announced its Apple Watch with a heart rate monitor and other sports features. But it quickly became clear that the "apple" watch is such a cool glamorous screen for notifications (which I almost never use), and there is no real GPS there either. Apple Watch needs a charged phone to work, and in my current climate it is simply dangerous to carry a phone for a run: it will drown in sweat. And swimming with the Apple Watch will not work out especially, since the phone cannot swim.

Moreover, I wanted to have a watch in order to practice triathlon in them - swimming, cycling and jogging, and to wear it every day. I do not get tired of repeating that a person can have 2-3 telephones, but cannot have several hours. Competition and war for our wrists has been going on for a long time, even if you don't think it is. And Garmin today is the best solution for active people who take care of their brains and do not live for the sake of reacting to the extravagance of the Internet, calling to you through the phone yesterday, and today even after hours.

Today for me Garmin Fēnix 3 is:

• watches and partly smart watches;
• sports tracker;
• step meter;
• sleep tracker.

Package

The watch packaging is convenient and easy to open. No blisters or complicated packaging solutions. You take out your watch, leave the junk in the form of cables, adapters and chargers at the bottom of the box, and you're ready to swim, drive or run.

By the way, it is worth mentioning the choice that I had. Fēnix watches come in several variations: Red Edition, Silver Edition and Sapphire. Mine are the first, and they sold them to me with pictures with red numbers and a strap of the same color. In fact, this is a snag, about that below. The Silver Edition is the same as mine, but with a darker case and a black strap. Sapphire, on the other hand, is a cool extreme theme with an iron strap and sapphire crystal. Garmin assures that this glass is less scratched. Mine was not scratched either, although I'm not the most accurate user. So overpay + $ 100 just for the menacing look if you want.

Use as a watch and smartwatch (Connect IQ)

All the cool Fēnix 3 screen pictures you see are either renders or were taken in the sun or in the studio. The watch screen is not that bad, but not cool. It performs all the tasks, shows everything as it should, and you don't think about the visible pixels. Yes, and you do not think about them on the interval and in the hills, but at +42 ° C.:) The screen is faded in the room, its backlight shows everything, but does not amaze the imagination. And in the sun, the screen is exactly what you need for classes, but no more. In short, if you want a picture, then take your Apple Watch and carry your phone with you.

The last picture in the gallery demonstrates that you simply won't see what is shown in red numbers unless you turn on the backlight. By the way, it will not turn on with a wave of your hand, like the Apple Watch or Pebble - press the button.

If we go back to talking about glass, then it is durable and hardly gets dirty. If you don't remember about it, then it just works well. So, you will not remember about it from the moment you remove the tape from it.

As many people know, Garmin Fēnix 3 is also a smartwatch. Their mind is not only that they display notifications from the phone. I have an iPhone 6 Plus, and all the notifications that come to the phone are displayed on the watch screen. Round screens are not the best place for this, but sometimes they can be useful. My watch only receives notifications from the work chat in Telegram and travel programs - Booking.com, Airbnb, UBER and a couple of "tickets". The rest of the settings does not appear on the phone, which means it does not get on the watch either. The watch understands both Russian and English. Notifications can be read (even long text messages) or ignored. Pictures and emoji are not visible on the screen. You cannot answer from the clock - you have to get the phone.

A pleasant discovery for me was the notifications from the Google Maps application when navigating. Navigation directives simply fell on the watch, and it was convenient for me, the moped driver, to react to them.

Oh yes, the watch has an excellent vibro that wakes you up in the morning, gives you cut-offs in training and fulfills notifications. It is because of the lack of vibration that I did not buy a Suunto. A sports watch must not be vibrated. It is possible without Wi-Fi, it is possible without a color screen and a touchscreen, but it is impossible without vibro!

Connectivity: Wi-Fi, BLE and ANT +

If we talk about connectivity, then the watch works with the phone via BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), with external sensors only via ANT +, and training data can be uploaded directly to the Internet to the Garmin Connect service via Wi-Fi.

All notifications, synchronization with the phone, sending different data from the phone to the watch are done via BLE. It's amazing that the watch does not know how to work with external sensors via BLE, as the Polar V800 can and loves to do. All my bike sensors (speed and cadence) are waiting for sale in Kiev only because Garmin does not want to, and Polar cannot because of death. Owners of old watches benefit from this: ANT + is standard there, and old sensors will work.

The heart rate sensor that came with Fēnix also works over ANT +. By the way, it is just excellent: it does not rub, it is not bulky, it counts the time of touching the ground, cadence when running and vertical oscillations when running. This is very useful data for working on your running technique.

Wi-Fi is really in the clock. It is configured in advance through a program on a desktop PC, and this knowledge is transmitted to the clock. You cannot simply connect to the network from the clock without preliminary preparation. This feature works like magic: while you are taking a shower, changing clothes, your workouts are already on the Garmin Connect service and further in order. They also go to Strava automatically. I don't like Endomondo and Runkeeper.

The watch has one more piece - Connect IQ. This is a platform from Garmin that resembles the App Store or Google Play. Through it, you can install the following things in the clock:

• watch dials;
• data fields for different sports;
• widgets;
• applications.

All content on Connect IQ is of very low quality. There are 3-4 noteworthy flagship third-party developments in each category that are shown in all pictures. The rest is some kind of rubbish.

For example, this is what a program for tracking sunrises and sunsets looks like. Convenient for ultra-runners and mountain hikers. It came in handy for me on the bike so as not to get into the night during long races.

Widgets - altimeter, compass, weather, watch faces and more - are better than the standard ones.

And the watch can also control the music on your phone if you carry it with you. Inconvenient, but possible.:)

Swimming

The watch can do everything you need to swim. If you are swimming in a pool, then simply set the length of the pool and paddle. The built-in accelerometer understands the type of stroke and the number of pools worked. There is only one strange limitation: the pool cannot be shorter than 17 meters. The watch simply won't allow you to enter a shorter length.

If you are swimming in open water, then prepare to add distance due to the constant loss of GPS signal. By the way, this watch is the most accurate in open water I have ever had. According to my feelings, the error is always a plus and amounts to 5-10%.

The watch knows how to measure the pulse while swimming. The only problem is that the heart rate sensor must be put on under the wetsuit, otherwise it just ends up on the belt after a couple of minutes in open water or after the first push from the side in the pool.

Running and cycling

When it comes to running, the watch is perfect. In everything! It is convenient to schedule intervals, use ready-made plans. They represent the workout progress well. You can display any data you want. The clock beeps and vibrates when needed. They quickly (no more than 15 seconds) find GPS in a new territory, and in an old one - instantly! All data thanks to BLE and Wi-Fi are constantly synchronized, and you do not have any surprises in the form of lack of data. You can set beats by kilometers, time, elevation. Send yourself to your killed programmed messages from the past: "Dude, if it's buggy, then eat the gel" or "Now there will be a mountain, take more water." I'll show you pictures instead of a hundred words.

This is what the result of one running workout looks like on the watch:

These are the views you get in training: dark and light of your choice, from one data field to five!

Garmin Connect Mobile App and Web Service

After 33 days of use, the iOS app completely changed its appearance, and Garmin Connect on the web began to perfectly schedule intervals.

This is what the main elements of the Garmin iOS app look like. Android has a slight one month backlog of implementation.

The main home screens of the Garmin Connect web app are shown below. I've seen its implementation earlier, and I can see how the new elements replace the old ones. But the interface still has elements a la Windows 95. Hopefully, they will correct it soon. For example, in the same Polar, everything looks much more modern and understandable.

Sleep, steps and nutrition

The watch works, as I said earlier, with a pedometer and a sleep tracker. The pedometer works like hundreds of other bracelets - it just measures steps. The only strange thing is that if you run a lot, then many steps will be counted to you, but if you ride a lot, you can get a shortage of meager 12,000 steps by the evening. If you are a couch vegetable, then a pedometer will come in handy. If you are a normal sports-minded person, then you will easily get your steps.

Sleep is recorded automatically: the watch knows when you are asleep and when you wake up. You can see all sleep data on the panel on the site and you can edit them. Inaccuracies do occur.

Tracking calories in the negative direction is clear: move and spend. Garmin offers to add food in the MyFitnessPal service. The service has a huge database and a convenient application. A wise decision. Again, if you are a vegetable, then bring in all the food. If you exercise 1-3 hours a day, then don't waste time.

By the way, just like the Polar V800, Fēnix 3 has a simple recovery time hint mode. To do this, you need to train with a heart rate sensor. Otherwise, they will not give advice. It looks like this:

Battery and discharge oddities

The first thing that I was asked on the Internet: "Slava, how long does the battery hold?" The answer is - to the fig! But there are nuances. I did not take measurements, but in the standard GPS mode, for three hours of cycling, the watch sits down somewhere by 14-17% with a connected sensor and a BLE phone. If you wear it for a day without training, then 3-4%. The manufacturer promises 72 hours of work hours with GPS, if you enable the mode of infrequent removal of GPS location. This is normal for ultra-runners and mountain hikers. For interval training and cycling, it is best to leave the standard mode.

And now about the strange. The watch has an unhealthy and sometimes vicious attachment to the phone. For example, if you go to bed and the phone is on another floor of the house or in the back room of the apartment, then you risk waking up without a charge. Both the phone and the Fēnix 3 watch will be drained on a stormy night with each other. So I got a new skill - putting the phone next to me.

Output

If I were buying a running watch today, I would not buy it: mobile applications, Apple Watch and other solutions are in many ways more flexible and convenient than watches with buttons. If you are killed in the trash on the run, then you yourself already know the answer. If you're just running for Instagram photos, then don't waste your money. If you are passionate about a very active lifestyle that includes mountains, cycling and, God forbid, triathlon, then you need a watch for the reasons described above. From real candidates to buy from you:

1. Garmin Fēnix 3.
2. Garmin Forerunner 920XT.
3. Suunto Ambit series.
4. Polar V800.

I do not see any more candidates for a purchase. About the first watch, I told you what I knew: they are good, but they look unrepresentative. If you can walk into the office with fleece and mud on mountain boots, then these are the right fit for you.

If you are a triathlon freak and think that a man weighing under 60 kilograms is OK for the sake of efficiency and that you have almost a pager on your hand, then your choice is No. 2.

Suunto No. 3 is a great watch with a chic ecosystem, but no vibro. Take them for a promotion or if you have an offer for a price and your budget is tight.

Clock No. 4 is my favorites. They look good, they are well built, the controls are as laconic as possible, and they have everything you need. But until the charging port is fixed, spending money on them is simply unwise.