00:04Regular viewers of the TechRadar YouTube channel know I'm a big fan of running watches and I love
00:10my Garmin's. I've been using them for years. I wrote the best Garmin watches guide on techradar.com
00:15and they're my brand of choice for everyday training and running marathons alike. I've got
00:20my hands on a Garmin Fenix 8 Pro AMOLED, the upgrade and successor to Garmin's Fenix 8,
00:26and I can tell you it's a marvel in every way. This video will serve a couple of different functions.
00:32First, treat this as my review of the base Garmin Fenix 8, which I've used a lot since it launched
00:38in 2024. I'll also take you through the upgraded Garmin Fenix 8 Pro, explaining all the differences
00:44between the base Fenix 8 and its Pro and cheaper Fenix E versions. So, without further ado, let's
00:52get into it. And, of course, you can find the links to all the watches mentioned below, as usual.
01:00The Garmin Fenix 8 range are all chunky beasts with a similar five-button design,
01:05used for navigation and easy operation so you're not relying on the touchscreen while wearing gloves.
01:10It sits very proudly on the wrist, with a little difference between the different unit designs.
01:15The bog-standard 47mm Garmin Fenix 8 is 13.8mm thick. The Fenix 8 Pro AMOLED is 16mm thick,
01:23presumably to account for the extra satellite antenna architecture, while the ultra-bright
01:28Fenix 8 Pro micro-LED model is nearly 18mm thick. The standard Fenix 8 comes in 43, 47 and 51mm
01:37screen
01:37sizes, while the Pro loses the smallest size. There's a plethora of screen options too.
01:42So, Fenix 8 comes in bright AMOLED and duller memory and pixel options. This one looks more
01:48like an old-school digital watch. The benefit of MIP screens is that they're more battery-efficient
01:52and can be combined with Garmin's solar-charging power glass technology to really lengthen the
01:58battery life. I love the look of the MIP screens, even though it's kind of on its way out of
02:03use.
02:03For me, it helps distinguish Garmin's adventure watches from your usual smartwatch.
02:07In addition to the more expensive Pro, there's also a cheaper Garmin Fenix E. This only uses
02:13the AMOLED display, with no MIP solar charging option and an older, less accurate heart rate
02:18sensor. There's a third type of screen belonging to the Fenix 8 Pro, micro-LED. The micro-LED screen
02:25technology mentioned briefly earlier is the brightest, highest-definition screen on a Garmin watch ever,
02:31with up to 4,500 nits of brightness beyond even the Apple Watch Ultra 3. All Fenix 8s come in
02:38a variety
02:39of different colours. You'll most often see them in black, like this one, looking a little like the
02:43watch version of an all-terrain vehicle, but you'll often see them with more natural metallic frames
02:47or more garish bands, like a yellow colour.
02:53Garmin's widget or glance-based operating system is fast and intuitive to use. It's easy to navigate
02:59through the watch's options and add new apps, such as Spotify, for offline music playback without a
03:05phone. You can add glances through your phone's Wi-Fi connection from Garmin's huge list, making it easy
03:10to customise at home before you step out the door. A voice assistant also allows you to use simple
03:15commands, just like this. Set a 30-minute timer, turning your super expensive Garmin watch into a
03:21glorified kitchen timer. Elsewhere on features, the Garmin Fenix 8 is packed with top-notch health
03:27and fitness stuff. Dynamic routing offers a small, quality-of-life improvement to GPS-tracked running,
03:33walking, or cycling workouts, as you now have the option to enable back-to-start before you even head
03:39out the door. Simply set a distance goal for your run, then enable back-to-start, and the Fenix 8
03:44will
03:44generate an out-and-back route once you've hit around 40% of your distance goal. This allows you
03:49to follow the map on your watch as you come back. Very handy. All Garmin's usual wellness stuff are on
03:56these watches too, such as body battery and training readiness scores to monitor recovery,
04:00sleep scores and nap detection, endurance and hill scores for serious runners, training plans for
04:06cyclists, runners, and strength training alike. You've got smartwatch-style abilities to take calls
04:11and notifications, along with simple on-watch replies. An LED torch with white and red modes
04:16allow you to signal for help in the wild, find your way in the dark, or pretend to be Buzz
04:21Lightyear
04:22when nobody's looking.
04:24I asked a real-life scuba diver to test the Fenix 8's new dive mode for me, and he said
04:29that
04:30it's a watch that all divers should consider thanks to its ability to help you plan your dive. From the
04:34best
04:35oxygen tank blend, to details such as max depth, time to surface, current gas, PO2, which means partial
04:42pressure of oxygen, ascent rate, and lots more. It would have become his primary dive computer,
04:47but he described it as a great backup option. Just the Fenix 8 and Fenix 8 Pro are rated for
04:52scuba diving.
04:53This feature doesn't appear on the Fenix E. The last feature I really want to highlight,
04:58and I could go all day because there's so many, is the Fenix 8 Pro's exclusive new in-reach messaging
05:03feature. The watch supports LTE, which means you can add it to your phone's data plan,
05:09just like an Apple Watch. Using Garmin's in-reach functionality, you can send messages over
05:14satellite networks, getting reception where most smart devices are off-grid. It's a real adventuring
05:20powerhouse. I won't labour the point here. These watches are good, and they just work. Aside from a few
05:30niggles with auto-generated maps on the Garmin Connect app, taking me through some awkward routes
05:35before I manually tweaked them. I tested the Fenix 8 when it first launched against an Apple Watch Ultra 2,
05:41and it recorded a very similar performance and distance while on a 5k run, and I found the
05:46difference in heart rate readings to be minimal, allowing for variations in algorithms and a different
05:51wrist. The Fenix watches all use Garmin's Elevate V5 sensor, which is the company's current best
05:57heart rate sensor. The Fenix 8's display was bright enough for me to see clearly, and after a full
06:03charge, I almost drained it completely after 13 days of regular GPS workouts. This is a combination
06:09of running, strength training, and stand-up paddleboarding. And yes, there's a specialist GPS-based
06:14profile for that, which even counts the strokes you make as you glide across the water. The solar models
06:18last even longer thanks to their lower power screen, and if you spend more than three hours outside
06:23in conditions of 50,000 lux or more, their battery life is practically indefinite. I did also test
06:30dynamic routing during a running workout, deliberately going off-piste, to borrow a skiing
06:34term, to check out its capabilities, and it performed just fine. I departed from the route I created
06:39with Garmin Connect, and it successfully rerouted me by the closest available detour within about two
06:45minutes. I also popped in my distance requirements and enabled the out-and-back routing on the 5k run,
06:50and it again successfully kicked in just after the 40% mark. Otherwise, the Fenix 8 tracked my sleep
06:56with good accuracy, successfully logging periods when I woke up during the night, and delivering a
07:02training readiness score during the day, which tracked well with my previous few days' energy levels from an
07:07anecdotal perspective. The torch was nice and bright, as is the lovely screen, and I haven't even scratched
07:12the surface in terms of all the features available to me during a training walk. The Fenix 8 Pro,
07:17which I'm wearing right now, is even brighter, and this isn't even the micro LED model. I've seen
07:23no drop in quality in any of the metrics previously mentioned when transitioning from the regular 8 to
07:28the 8 Pro. The Garmin Fenix 8 family has a whole bunch of features which make it perfect for runners.
07:39I'm just in the middle of my quick lunchtime 6k, but if I wanted to go a bit further, I've
07:44got all the map
07:45functionalities, along with back to start, dynamic routing, all that kind of thing, and structured
07:51workout plans if I wanted to do an event such as another marathon. It's great for walkers, cyclists,
07:56trail athletes, but for runners like me, it works incredibly well. All done, back at home, and want to
08:04show you a few of the training analysis tools from the Garmin Fenix 8 range. Next up is my training
08:09readiness score, which has gone down to 67, a moderate level, after my last short run. This is a great
08:15indication of whether I should be stepping up my training or taking my foot off the gas a little bit.
08:20Last thing I'm going to show you is more specialist scores like the endurance score. This score is an
08:26indication of how long you can last in a race, or how well you can last in a race, alongside
08:31other
08:31specialist scores such as the hill score, which indicates how good you are at running up hills
08:36effectively. This indicates I've trained, so as you can see I've been fairly inconsistent, so I was
08:42reaching up up until the last two weeks, in which case my training took a big downturn. However, let's
08:46see if we can get that back on track.
08:51You all know what I'm going to say. This is Garmin's best watch. I wouldn't recommend buying
08:56the Fenix E if you can get an older Garmin Fenix 7 or Epix Pro for a much cheaper price,
09:02as these older
09:03models are often on sale. However, the base Fenix 8 is fantastic, and you're unlikely to regret the
09:09purchase. Serious outdoors people could benefit from the 8 Pro, but it's far too much watch for me,
09:15and if you're not spending days in the wilderness and connecting your watch to satellites, you're
09:19unlikely to get much more bang for your buck than you would if you pick up the regular model.
09:24Have you picked up a Fenix 8 yet? And if so, which model? Drop a comment below,
09:29let us know, and we'll see you next time on techradar.com.
Comments