At CES Garmin, the company behind many much loved GPS and fitness tracking devices, has launched a new series of fitness watches with the fēnix 5 series.
It’s long been a problem trying to find a watch to match your style, with the features you want to have. While the rugged style of the Garmin fēnix 5 doesn’t change, with stainless steel bezel, buttons and rear case size becomes a non-issue with three different sizes on offer. The fēnix 5 measures in at 42mm, while the fēnix 5 measures 47mm but if you’re a fan of larger watches the fēnix 5X comes in a 51mm form factor.
Garmin has included the same features across the range, though the larger fēnix 5X does have a few extras. The Garmin fēnix 5 series come with all the features you could want including GPS tracking, water resistance (down to 100m), and heart rate monitoring, it even logs your steps and includes fitness tracking for a variety of different sports. You can of course get all your notifications including calls, SMS and email notifications delivered to the smartwatch.
The watches connect with a Connect IQ app that allows you to customise apps, widgets, data fields and watch faces including the option to set a favourite photo as your watch face.
The two features that differentiates the larger fēnix 5X model from the rest is the pre-loaded US TOPO maps – a set of topographic maps produced by the National Geospatial Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) – but as we’re in Australia, that’s not such a big feature. The 5X does come with Round Trip Run and Round Trip Ride – software features which let you plug in a distance you want to run or ride and the watch then plans your route.
There are slightly different battery options across the range, with the fēnix 5S able to last up to eight days in smartwatch mode and up to 13 hours in GPS mode, while the fēnix 5 is able to last up to two weeks in smartwatch mode and 24 hours in GPS mode, the larger fēnix 5X can last up to 12 days of battery life in smartwatch mode and 20 hours in GPS mode. The range also has an UltraTrac power saver mode to extend battery life.
The three watches come with removable bands allowing you to mix and match between leather, metal and silicon bands – though you’ll have to order the bands from Garmin. There’s different colour options on the silicon band depending on which model you get, with the fēnix 5S sporting a lovely turquoise while the fēnix 5 gets a slightly more brighter Yellow option, the fēnix 5X gets a very staid Black band. The metal and leather/suede bands too get a slightly different range of colours.
The Garmin fēnix 5 series are available now to order from the Garmin Australia website – though not all options appear to be priced. The fēnix 5S sells for $949.00 with a suede band, while the fēnix 5 starts at $799 and the fēnix 5X starts at $999 with Garmin advising shipping starts in Q1.
If maps doesn’t work in Australia then round trip won’t either. However, DCrainmaker states you can upload your own aka Garmin edge, which will work in Australia, including I presume openstreetmap. These models are a very welcome addition to the lineup, I see strong demand.
$949? Unless it comes with a built in treadmill, tell ’em they’re dreaming.