Garmin Fenix 5s Review
I’m going to come out and say it, I LOVE my Garmin Fenix 5s! It is NOT a cheap watch, and I would never have paid full price for it. Luckily I was able to get 40% off, which made the price a little more tolerable.
Did I need a new watch? Nope. However, I really wanted one that would like nice with my work clothing (we still dress up for work) and still be tough enough to handle anything I threw at it in the gym and out in the real world. I did briefly look at the Apple Watch, however, I decided I wanted a fitness watch, with some extra perks, not a fancy watch with some fitness perks. I already had two Garmin watches, so I knew I liked them and already knew how to use the app. The beautiful Fenix 5s was the one I set my eyes on.
Garmin also has the vivoactive , Forerunner 45 , and the new Venu watch, which are all a little more stylish than older versions. All of those watches look nice and have decent specs (not all of these were available when I purchased my watch). I had the vivoactive HR at the time I was looking, but ultimately decided that I preferred the non-touch screen face of the Fenix 5s over the touch screen of the vivoactive (you can lock the screen of the vivoactive which helps eliminate some of the unintentional watch usage).
I love that the watch looks great while working out and in my day to day life at work. It can be dressed up, but can also withstand the rugged outdoors, or sweaty workouts! Garmin has done a really great job of making more feminine and lifestyle type watches in recent years.
One of the things that doesn’t always work that well is the wrist HRM (heart rate monitor). I used to wear my chest strap monitor, but then I realized I don’t really care that much on a day to day basis, so I mostly just use the built in wrist one. However, with certain activities, it really lags behind. I was walking on the treadmill at 3.8 mph and 10% incline and it still said my heart rate was 109, which was totally off because I was huffing and puffing. Overall though, it tends to work pretty well.
The GPS works well for me too. I haven’t used it out in the middle of nowhere, but for where I’ve been, it’s been great. I find it easy to switch between activities, and I can actually even change the default activities that are on my watch, so I only have to chose between activities I actually use. However, if you’re traveling and know you’ll be doing an activity you don’t normally do, you can add it back on with Garmin connect. I’ve added golf courses to my watch, and even added the BikeMS route the last two years. It had turn by turn directions, how cool is that?!
Garmin Coach is another cool function this, and many, watches have. You can check out my full review of Garmin Coach HERE.
Do you need a fitness watch/tracker? Heck NO! Not everyone can or wants to spend money on something like this. I wouldn’t recommend it if it’s not something you would actually use, or if you hate wearing a watch in general. Unless you have a ton of extra money just lying around…then buy two, and send one to me 😉
Overall I really love my watch. In today’s world of new new new, it’s hard to keep something for too long without wanting to upgrade to the latest and greatest. I know I won’t NEED to upgrade anytime soon, it’s just making sure I don’t WANT to 🙂