The strongest fitness watch for Activity lovers is Garmin EPIX

Especially those who exercise outdoors!

Garmin (Garmin) has released a luxury smartwatch "Garmin EPIX" that explodes fitness and GPS functions.Brent Rose reporter, Gizmodo, is reviewing.If you are planning to be a skiing, bicycle and golf, please read it!

In the last ten years since I have reviewed wearable devices, Garmin's Fenix series has been climbing the best as an activity tracker for various types of exercise.Fenix has been a little more or far away from other activity trackers every year, so I was convinced that when I saw the announcement of Fenix 7, I would be my favorite.But what I really liked was Garmin Epix (Epix), not Fenix 7.

EPIX is almost the same as Fenix 7, but has a beautiful AMOLED screen, and the battery life is sacrificed.Other than that, EPIX and Fenix 7 are virtually the same.I tried both Epix and Fenix 7 (both in Sapphire Edition), so I will describe the subtle differences later, but remember that Epix and Fenix 7 are almost the same.

By the way, Garmin was making an EPIX smoaw in 2015, but that wasn't good.That's why it's a bit mysterious to reuse the name of Epix, not the name of "Fenix 7 AMOLED Edition".I think it's good to call it "Epix Gen 2", but I don't think so many people remember the existence of the first EPIX, so in this article, the EPIX that came out this year is called "EPIX".To go.

Garmin Epix

What is this?: Garmin's new flagship smart watch.

Price: $ 900 (Japan in Japan: 121,000 yen), sapphire edition is $ 1,000 (¥ 132,000).

Favorite place: Beautiful displays that make it easier to use maps and navigation in touch, heart rate sensor and GPS with higher accuracy, ski map displayed to route names, more modest design than before.

I don't like it: The AMOLED display will bear the battery, the Garmin Connect app can be various but not intuitive, it is difficult to understand how to add music, exercise and routes.

Health tracking machine

What is Garmin's FENIX series?I think there are some people, but Fenix is basically a "tracking" type GPS sports watch.60 kinds of sports can be tracked by default, and it supports outdoor swimming, snowboarding and pickle balls.Even if you don't have the competition you always do, it's likely that you can download a third -party app for it in the Garmin Connect store.The Garmin Connect store has a full version of the smartphone, but a newly limited edition has been built on the watch side.

Fenix is good at Fitbit's 24 -hour health monitoring.Heart rate, steps, rising floors, stress levels, Body Battery (indicator of recovery as well as WHOOP), sleep, and blood oxygen concentration can be measured at all times.For running and cycling, an indicator of "real -time stamina" has been newly added, displaying the energy remaining in the user's body (and I think) and updates it at any time.By using this, at least cardiopulmonary functions can prevent excessive work (or over -skipping) (joint fatigue may be different).

All indicators in heartbeat are tracked with Garmin's ELEVATE 4 sensor group.ELEVATE 4 appeared in Venu 2 last year, but this time it is stored in glass instead of plastic, so it is highly durable, and it should be able to maintain accuracy even if you use it.Fenix 7 has four infrared sensors (formerly two), two LED light green and one red.The red light is for blood oxygen concentration measurement, and I sometimes measure it manually, but it is possible to turn it on while sleeping (for those who are worried about sleep apnea syndrome).You can always turn it on 24 hours, but the battery is worse.At the same time as the chest strap Wahoo, I put it on, but overall the heart rate monitor was very accurate, there was no problem even if I exercised intensely, and the blood oxygen concentration was consistent with the one that was attached to the medical finger.rice field.

GPS evolves further

Both EPIX and Fenix can access multiple satellite navigation systems (GPS, Glonass, Galileo), but Epix Sapphire Edition is one of the first watches that supports multi -band GNSS (global navigation Satellite System).

What is a multi -band? Such a location information satellite usually has a multiple frequency broadcast, but ordinary devices only pick up one frequency.However, as the name implies, multi -bands are picked up multiple frequencies from each satellite, so they are more accurate (at least theoretically).As long as I used it, there was no big difference from ordinary GNSS, but during that time I did not climb stuck mountain or run in the buildings.And the multi -band GNSS is a new system, so it should be better in the future.However, I think the time required to connect to the satellite is faster in the sports watch I have tried so far.It is not unusual for ordinary smartwo and fitness trackers to take about a minute to find a satellite after launching the running app, but EPIX (and Fenix 7) it was almost less than 10 seconds.

Beautiful display for classic design

Epix is exciting in terms of comfort in the real world.1.The 3 -inch AMOLED display is bright, vivid, and easy to see in the dazzling sun.EPIX is always easier to see than Fenix 7, but especially during the sun set.Fenix 7 is a classic translucent MIPS display (this is also 1).3 inches), with a backlight that can be turned on manually, it has a much better visibility than other translucent -type watches, but it looks dark and tasty when arranged with EPIX.EPIX can display 65,000 colors, but Fenix 7 can only display 64 colors (1/1,000).The pixel density of the EPIX display is 326ppi, but Fenix 7 is 200 ppi.This difference is obvious when you look at the map, and EPIX has a high pixel density, so you can see a thinner line, so you can check the route without zooming so much.

Both EPIX and Fenix 7 are touch screen, so the operation of the offline topographic map (free of charge) in the default has become much easier than before.When using Garmin Pay (NFC payment system), it is easy to put a passcode, and it is easy to change the settings.At the same time, there are five physical buttons of the FENIX series standard, which is very grateful.You don't have to think about this to touch the screen even when wearing a water or thick gloves (by default, you will be disabled at the start of exercise, but you can easily change it).Even if you can't touch, just press the button.The start / stop button has a guard, so you can prevent it from pushing inadvertently in Garmin's watch.It seems to be a small thing, but this is important.

Both EPIX and Fenix 7 can display notifications from smartphones, and with Android, you can reply to text messages.Some reply content is preset, and you can customize it for yourself.Apple (Apple) does not allow the third party to access the message, so the iPhone cannot reply from the watch, so it is not as good for iPhone users.

Both EPIX and Fenix 7 have Wi-Fi, Garmin Pay, and music playback function.If you have an MP3 file, you can transfer it, but it also supports Amazon Music and Spotify playlists (paid only).I almost always listen to music while running, so it's very nice to be able to run without a smartphone by connecting the earphones with a watch.If you are thirsty during exercise, you can stop by a non -contact settlement such as a convenience store and buy what you like at the Sumawo.The regular version of EPIX and Fenix 7 has a storage of 16GB, but the sapphire edition has a 32GB (plus, a slightly higher scratch resistance screen, a titanium bezel, and a multi -band GNSS).EPIX and Fenix 7 have no microphone, so the voice command cannot be used, and unfortunately there is no LTE version.There are some models with LTE versions of other Garmin watches.

The decisive factor is the battery life

So far, I've been talking about other versions of Garmin, but there are many options for the Fenix 7 series.In the easy -to -understand cousin, there are three sizes (7s, 42mm, 7, 51mm 7x, 7, 51mm), and there are standards, solar and sapphire solar versions (no standard) (translation: At the time of article translation, JapanThen there is no solar version of the non -sapphire).EPIX has a standard and sapphire, and the size is the same as Fenix 7.The solar version of Fenix 7 is advantageous in terms of battery life.The solar parts on the screen are larger and more efficient than Fenix 6, so if you stay outdoors on a fairly bright day, you should feel the difference.

If you choose Fenix 7 instead of EPIX, this is the only reason.In other words, it is a battery life.Nevertheless, EPIX should have 6 days in mode (at least the time is always displayed except when sleeping), and it is not particularly bad compared to Apple Watch, which has less than two days.However, it may be inferior to the 18th of Fenix 7 and the 28th of 7X.In the case of the solar version, Fenix 7 can be extended to 22nd and 7x to 37th.However, this number is in the standard smart watch mode (constantly health tracking, notification, etc.), and does not consider exercise using a more loaded GPS.If you set the EPIX in gesture mode, that is, the screen is turned off until you tilt your wrist, the battery life will grow on the 16th, which will be a considerable time for the AMOLED display clock.The gesture mode was not good in Venu 2, but EPIX worked almost perfectly, and the screen became bright just by tilting a little.

In the normal GPS mode, EPIX was able to track 30 hours, but it was shorter than 57 hours of Fenix 7 and 89 hours (this length without solar!).In gesture mode, EPIX's holding time extends to 42 hours.In Max Battery GPS mode, EPIX can track 75 hours, but it also feels shorter than Fenix 7 136 hours (289 hours using solar charging) and 213 hours (578 hours) of Fenix 7x.increase.

There are too many options and modes for batteries, and even if you want to compare, the ring is often different, but what you need to think about is what you use.I myself do not want to use EPIX for a super long distance race.But, for example, I tracked snowboarding for two days with EPIX, and used it as a smartwatch before and after that, but still had a lot of batteries.There was no particular inconvenience in gesture mode, and once every two weeks, I charged it for about an hour.However, if you want to go to a very long -distance treks for a few weeks without a mobile battery, you should set it to Fenix 7.Also, Fenix 7x has an external LED flashlight.Nevertheless, for me, the beautiful EPIX screen is worth choosing even if the number of charging increases.

The only drawback: software

However, EPIX is not perfect, and many of the problems are in software.Garmin's UI has evolved a lot, but there are still many elements that are not intuitive at all.There was no good tutorial in how to put music into EPIX, so I had to look for it on Google.The same way to put exercises such as HIIT or muscle training in the watch (both exercises are in EPIX).Epix says to add it in the Garmin Connect app, but it doesn't open that part of the app directly, nor do it tell you where the app is set.The Garmin Connect app also had a strange connection, so I struggled to keep the connection between smartphones and EPIX.In addition, in order to import the route (a road with information that you want to follow when hiking or cycling) into EPIX, you have to overcome many difficult hurdles.

Also, I encountered a strange case where smartphones (Google Pixel 6 Pro) and EPIX suddenly connect and disconnect.Even in such a case, the data is synchronized for the time being, but it cannot be changed from the Garmin Connect app to Epix.In addition, EPIX vibrates every time you connect and disconnect with your smartphone.The problem started this morning from 6 o'clock, and I woke up and was already sick.This is like a new bug, and I have heard Garmin's opinion, but there is no answer at this time.

Is it worth buying?

Aside from the problems, EPIX is much more satisfying than any sports watch used so far.On the snowboard, I was able to zoom in with EPIX and check the name of the route I was sliding, and told me where I was with my friends.At the time of hiking, I used the trackback function, and I was able to easily return at the beginning of the trail, looking at clear and colorful maps.In the surfing, the number of waves on board was counted.Even at dusk run, the data looked as clear as during the day.The Body Battery function (measuring the recovery status) is more accurate than Whoop Score in my WHOOP (although WHOOP is a device that can only do), and sleep tracking is better.With a modest design, it does not get caught on the sleeves of the clothing and can be matched.

That said, EPIX is not cheap.The standard costs $ 900 and the sapphire edition costs $ 1,000.FENIX 7 and 7s have a standard of $ 700 (Japan's domestic price: 93,500 yen), Solor Division (about 92,000 yen, no Japanese version) and $ 900 for 7x Solar (about 104,000 yen)., No Japanese version), SAPPHIRE SOLAR 7 and 7s are $ 900 (Japan: 121,000 yen), and SAPPHIRE SOLAR 7X is $ 1,000 (¥ 137,500).It's a pretty painful price.

There is also a size problem.7s may be better for people with thin wrists.Fenix 7 and EPIX are larger than 7s, but it's too huge and not as much as 7x that catches any sleeves or straps.Everyone is a very good sport watch, and if you buy any of them, you'll be able to choose one of them, EPIX (preferably sapphire edition).If such a beautiful screen is on such a versatile watch, I think it will be the best watch I've used so far.