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Tempted by a GPS / HR watch and have been looking at the Garmin Fenix 5 which appears to be available for about £385 … looks great tbh but as I am a bit of a map-nerd I'm also attracted to the Fenix 5X which has the additional mapping embedded but it is more expensive at £495 (at Wiggle vs £600 RRP).
Wasn't really planning on spending quite that much but am in that dilemma of 'in for a penny in for a pound' - do I spend more to avoid the post purchase remorse of not having the additional spec and enhanced mapping?
Does anyone have any experience of either the 5 or 5X that can share their experience?
Or should I be looking at anything else in the £350-£450 (or £500 at a push) range? A Suunto perhaps?
** normal mode of operation at the mo is based on a Wahoo Tickr paired to my iphone
I’ve got a 5x and it’s an amazing bit of kit, way more watch than I can do justice, but hey.
if I’m honest, I’ve still not got to grips fully with it yet, you get about 3 pages of instructions only, so still trying to set it all up.
The mapping seems spotty Dog, but I’ve yet to upload a gpx to follow, so we’ll see how that goes.
But for the £440 I paid?
More than happy..
The Fenix 5 Plus is probably better than the Fenix 5X, and now £480 at Blacks.
Thanks both - where was it £440?
Craig, I'm still seeing £500 at Blacks for the 5X?
No, the Fenix 5 Plus - it is £600, then enter the code for 20% discount.
Aah…..that 5 Plus spec looks the mutts! Thanks for that.
Gutted. Blacks 20% off Black Friday code now appears to exclude Garmins inc that Fenix 5 Plus
#sadface
Bad luck.
Looked at the forerunner 935? I've had one since Jan. It's a 5 without the extra metal. Very pleased with it. Check dcrainmaker for run downs on all of them
That's a lot of ££. What are you wanting it for? An eTrex 20 gives full OS mapping, though doesn't do bluetooth/ANT and is a bit of a brick (half brick).
If you're looking for data logging and connectivity (but not necessarily OS mapping) the Lezyne XL at £170 is worth a look. Just have an old phone with OS maps downloaded for if/when you get lost and need OS?
Just bought an Instinct - I think I'm happy - hard to say, it's bloody complicated !!
That Instinct looks nice and also gets some great reviews
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Blacks were doing the 5s plus for £480
loads of deals around on the 5. Seen it as low as £280ish
Have a look on ebay or ultra running FB buy/sell groups, you might be able to pick 5+ in budget.
in my experience garmin watches are robust and personally i'd have no worries about 2nd hand ?
I'm actually expecting a Vivoactive 3 music to arrive today ...£195 off the bay, £250 every where else for the colour i want (it's going to be a everyday watch, so colour has far more importance than it normally would)
Spotify now available on the 5+ now btw.... and being rolled out soon to the VA3 music (hopefully)
Good luck
The Instinct in black on the Blacks site still works with the 20% off code ...very tempted, do prefer in the tundra colour though which is not even on most of the main sites 😐
Also 20% off for the Instinct at Go Outdoors, plus it is bundled with the temperature sensor.
I got the instinct flame red and an selling my Fenix 3. It's great- loads of neat features and improvements. I got 25% of thru my life insurance (vitality) so got a blue strap- it kind of looks Gulf Racing colours, or just fun and colourful which ever way!
“That’s a lot of ££. What are you wanting it for?” Could be said for most of the stuff that we buy in the bike world, no?
As it happens I’ve received a modest long service award payment from work so thought I’d invest in a new watch - there’s nothing wrong with my old watch (a variety of G-Shock ownership for ~30yrs. Currently a G-1400) but given the amount of outdoor activity we do I’m keen to try the latest spec Garmins particularly with my small windfall of free money!
I got my 5X from here:
£490 now, but with another 10% off..
I’ve got 5+ and it’s really quite excellent (for my needs anyway)
I run as much as I cycle & it’s perfect, especially now with the new Spotify link so I can download music & play through my Bluetooth headphones.
No need to carry a phone.
battery life is between 5-7 days depending on how much I use the sport tracking.
Heart rate measurement is as good as identical as chest band too (did a back to back check with my edge 810)
Oh ... my vivoactive3 has just arrived at my desk.
Just what I wanted a sports watch that's much more "everyday"
Perfect perfect condition as well.
Happy Days
Hey nuke, try First Class Watches (Google them). They have Garmin Instincts in Tundra in stock and can do price match plus 5%. I was quoted £213 inc postage.
The 935 is the same spec as the 5x apart from the metal, it is plastic, but has WiFi built-in. So if material isn't relevant it is better than the 5 as it is cheaper and better specced and better than the 5x as it is cheaper.
I've got my eye on the Instinct, it dropped to just below £200 over the weekend. Hoping to see a good deal on Friday.
Great for Tracking and route navigating, but don't rely on it off road. I've been using Garmins now for over 10 years. I have an old 705 and a newer 200 (200 was used for commuting).
I use Open MTB maps on the 705 as it has the usual bridleways and tracks on it, and topo lines, but navigating isn't that easy as you can't see the screen as you are smashing along, and the bike is bouncing everywhere - much easier on a road bike. Also with being 'late 40's' and short sighted, I can't see the screen as well these days as my sight is needed for long distance, anything up close, I really need bi-focals.
You'll need to rely on the navigation 'beeps'.
I tend to use mine for logging data, and the map if I can be bothered to stop - I usually have a paper map with me, and I know one lad who always has a full 'weatherproof' OS map in his backpack.
Good bits of kit, but don't think they replace a paper map. PS I don't go anywhere without the Garmin - just great for pressing go, and forgetting about it until you stop. Far more accurate than a phone, and they don't eat batteries.
I'm not so sure how 'suitable' some of the newer 'touch screen' Garmin's are for MTB though - mud, grit, screen ?
I liked the look of the 5 Plus on Blacks at 480 but it’s not Sapphire glass. My current Fenix 3 is and I’ve bashed/crashed the hell out of it. I’m too clumsy to have mineral glass.
Hoping there might be a 5 with Sapphire at good money somewhere over this weekend. I really don’t care about the music and while the maps would be good, with my old eyes, not sure I’d be able to read them easily...
A bit of a thread resurrection - was reminded of it reading the Instinct posts. I did a lot of research and decided I wanted
a) Maps
b) the 47mm size as the 51mm does look and feel bigger than 4mm should! My 3 is a 47mm and that's as big as I want to go.
c) Sapphire glass
This left me with only a 5 Plus Sapphire. They are silly money for this type of watch when you consider you get most of it on the Instinct. It even made me look at an Apple Watch and think 'hmm that represents reasonable value for money' 😉
Decided against non UK sites (cheaper, but US maps and not great reviews), ended up buying from First Choice Watching with 15% discount. It's at home. I'm not, but I'll get back tomorrow. Be interesting to see if it feels an upgrade from my 3. I chose not to have the wrist HR (as the 3 was bulky with that) so be good to dispense with the chest strap - not that I used it much.
Will sell the 3. They don't go for much but I already have a drawer full of unused watches!
Interesting to hear your comparison vs the 3, Alex.
My new 5+ arrived on Tuesday (thanks for the recommendation CraigW & Marge). The local Cotswolds Outdoor price matched the Blacks/Millets pricing so a decent price (ahem).
Super-happy with it thus far. Quality feel. Massively capable, spec wise. I’m still in discovery mode tbh
first proper ride with it tomorrow so that could be interesting.
Let me know how you get on! I might even go out in the grim to test mine tonight. Probably go for a run instead tho. I’l do some side by side comparison. When I looked at a 5 Plus, the screen is noticeably sharper. I didn’t think I’d be able to read the maps, but they do seem very sharp on that small screen.
My three has been fantastic for the 2 1/2 years I’ve had it. I’m hoping the 5 plus is going to be the same but better if that makes sense.
Went riding in the grim. This is what I found
- screen is far easier to read than the (bigger) Fenix 3. Sharper, better colour definition
- Maps actually might be useful. Off to the Mynd this weekend so willl load up the route and see if I can follow it
- Wrist based HRM seems okay. Was under-reading at the start but then got its act together
- Syncing is super quick. Way better than the old Fenix 3
- New MTB setting when tracking means Endomondo actually records the ride as MTB. It’s a small thing but it used to really pee me off having to change it from ‘cycling’
- Less bulky than my 3 (even with the wrist based HRM), feels super comfy.
I even loaded some the spotify app and sync’d a playlist to listen through bluetooth headphones. What a time to be alive 😉
So it’s definitely an upgrade. And I’m happy to wear it as an everyday watch (as I did with my 3). Is it worth the cash. Probably not, but it is very very nice!
"Wrist based HRM seems okay. Was under-reading at the start but then got its act together"
Yes I've noticed this with my instinct
Does the 5+ only run some US mapping format? I looked into them a while ago and couldn't get OS maps on them was my recollection.
@mike - it was fine before the ride, seemed to get my HR where I’d expect it for sitting at my desk. But on the first climb I was going at it pretty hard and it read 145. I know on that climb I get to 175 if I’m putting the effort in. Half way up the next climb it just jumped from 20bpm for no apparent reason and then read what I expected from there (based on my old Fenix 3 with HRM strap). We’ll see how it goes Saturday on a long ride
@dashed - 5+ comes with UK/Europe DEM and Topo not OS. I haven’t had the chance to see what the detail/accuracy is like but it looks pretty good on my local trails. Again on a long ride this weekend I’ll get a better idea and report back
Uploading a route is a PITA tho as the Garmin Web software is rubbish. I ended up uploading a route into ridewithgps and then loading an app on the watch called routecouse. This is clever as it lists the routes you’ve uploaded to the web version of route course (called dynamic watch for some reason) via wifi so no need to use a cable. Had a quick play this morning and the turn by turn/data screens look good. See how we get on.
@Alex that's exactly what I'm experiencing with the Instinct. I know it's not purely a function of a Wrist HRM as I was using a Mio Link wrist HRM with my 3 which was very accurate.
Maybe a software fix in order??
Maybe. I’ll post on the Garmin forum if I get a minute.
Has anyone worked out how to set the temperature reading from F to C ?
i thought for a moment I was getting weather forecasts for Australia!
#Edit. Aha, spotted in the watch itself settings, units. Champion.
Just to finish on this. Long ride today - out for 5 1/2 hours. At the end of which I still had 71% battery which is about 20% more than my Fenix 3 would be left with. The mapping is surprisingly readable and the pan/zoom on the buttons is better than a touch screen on a muddy ride.
It’s defintely easier to read and it’s a bit ‘snappier’ than the 3. The HR worked perfectly this time.
Finally it’s easier to wear as an all day watch. I’d always take my Fenix 3 off when typing as it was a bit cumbersome. The 5 is just a bit smaller and thinner so a bit less bulky.
It’s still too much money for what it is, but I expect I’ll keep it as at least as long as the 3.
Tend to agree Alex.
I was slightly anxious about the five buttons but actually there is a natural logic to their use.
Epic capability really. Super impressed and have still only used on a couple of short rides and runs.
I've had mine a good few weeks now, just done a 2h nite ride.
It's superb, really is. For the money it's an absolute steal.
Band needs to be pretty tight to avoid poor HR data. I need to work out how to switch off the barometer whilst surfing; it seems to think I've climbed Everest every session!!
Bit of thread resurrection. I’m now on my second 5+. The first suffered a gradual then catastrophic battery degradation. Not actually when using GPS but mostly afterwards. There are a lot of threads not the Garmin forums about this. Seemed to be the v6.00 upgrade which did it.
Garmin did a super job on RMA. Received Friday, new one out to me the following Tuesday. Battery life on this one was better but still seemed a bit off Garmin’s marketing. I followed some forum advice and let it run out completely and then left it on charge for ages so it’d calibrate itself a bit better.
Now it uses 5%-6% per day. HR seems to be very close to HRM strap. Do like the little touches like having option to use a gesture to read a notification. My favourite widget is Dark-Sky. Brilliant weather app based on YR data/website.
Sold my 3. Won’t miss it!
Hope all okay now then Alex, with the replacement?
I'm on the v6.0.0 too but have not had any issues at all - just commented the other day how many days you get between charges.
Nah second one is borked as well. Get 2-3 days, less with any activities logged. Wondering if to get it refunded and buy something else. I’m pretty cheesed off with the whole thing.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s somehow worse when I know a few people that have no issues. I’ve had two watches and the same issue on both!
Wow, that’s not good. I am charging mine probably on every 5th or 6th day when the battery charge drops to ~20%.
Seems you have hit a bad batch.
A buddy of mine has had issues with his 5+ battery life; he's chopped it in for an Instinct.
My orange one is so good it's made all my other watches redundant!
@grtkad - I’d like one of those! I bought mine from a place near where I do some work so I’m toying with dropping it in next week and just giving up on it. I’m not sure I want to give Garmin any more money but the Instinct does look good.
Quite like a couple of the Suunto’s as well. Going to see if I can find a proper shop to have a look at them.
🙁 that’s not good. My 5S (orginail series) has been ace over the last 8 months. If I don’t use the GPS battery lasts a couple of weeks. Get about 10 hours out of the GPS (bearing in mind it’s the smaller model).