Garmin Fenix 3, Sapphire, White Rose/Gold

garmin fenix 3 sapphire white rosegold

Garmin Fenix 3, Sapphire, White Rose/Gold

BOLD, FASHIONABLE DESIGN - Fashion-forward timepiece design and uncompromising construction quality, including rose gold-tone stainless steel bezel and high-strength, scratch resistant domed sapphire lens.
EXO ANTENNA - Omni-directional steel EXO antenna, when paired with GLONASS, provides an even faster fix and more accurate position than GPS alone.
GARMIN CHROMA DISPLAY - 1.2-inch sunlight-visible, high-resolution color Chroma optically-bonded display
WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY - Utilize 1 or more Wi-Fi hot spots to automatically sync your data with Garmin Connect application and to update your software (when in range).
BATTERY LIFE - Rechargeable battery; up to 20 hours in GPS mode, 50 hours in UltraTrac mode, 6 weeks in watch mode (depends on settings) and 3 weeks in smart watch mode.

Buy Now : Garmin Fenix 3, Sapphire, White Rose/Gold

Brand : Garmin
Category : Electronics,GPS, Finders & Accessories,Sports & Handheld GPS,Handheld GPS Units
Rating : 4.5
Review Count : 324
ChildASIN : B00RY1Z0OE,B0161RJ81C

Garmin Fenix 3, Sapphire, White Rose/Gold

Fantastic price! Was going to get the Forerunner 630 but saw the Sapphire bundle with HRM-Run on sale for $499 so got it instead. I was afraid this was going to be an overseas version but it was a North American version so was happy. I\'ve used it for 1 week mostly for running and activity tracking. Here are my first impressions:Pros: Price point...I don\'t think its worth $650 for someone who primarily is a runner, I think the 630 or even the 235 would have been a better buy for me. But at $500 its a steal for the extra features! HRM works great and is very comfortable. Easy to use, garmin connect app for iPhone makes it easy to view stats. Aesthetically pleasing (except for size). So much customization! I haven\'t done much, just setting up the running features since thats my primary activity. This is my first GPS watch and its nice not to have to pull my phone out to look at my stats. I also like to look a my running dynamics after running to see if there are thing I can adjust the next time I run. Notifications work great (once u figure out how to set them up), can even answer the phone from the watch!Meh: Display looks great in the proper light. If the backlight is needed the colors are washed out. Not a big deal since the data displayed doesn\'t need to pop like a picture. It reminds me of the Sony Clie T615c I used to have back in the day. Awesome with natural lighting, washed out with backlight.Still evaluating: GPS accuracy. Comparing this to my iPhone running runkeeper for the last 4 runs it has matched up perfectly. I live in the suburbs of DC so theres not a lot of tall buildings or mountains. I\'ve run around town and on the W&OD trails which is what I normally do. Haven\'t been hiking yet, which from what I hear may give it problems so I\'ll update later. Doesn\'t always play nice with third party software. Syncing with my fitness pal is hit or miss. The garmin connect app on the iPhone allows you to view information and set some customization. Some require the use of Garmin Express which is a software on the computer. Some things have to be done on the watch itself. I hope that there will be an update that will allow everything to be done on the app and just sync to the phone. Battery life. I\'ve been charging it every 2 to 3 days. I had a full charge Saturday morning, notifications turned on, weather widget, digital face, bluetooth, calendar, glonass, Data Recording set to Every Second and activity tracking all turned on. Did a 7 mile run saturday, and a 13 mile run Sunday. I\'m down to 35% Sunday night. Most people say they can go 7-10 days without charging. I may have a defective unit and will continue to evaluate and play around with the settings. Still better than draining the battery on my iPhone in GPS mode, but would like it to last longer**update 12/30** Changed to 5 stars. Battery life is great if you turn off Wifi Auto Upload. When turned on the battery was discharging about 1% per hour in non gps activity mode (just activity tracking, notification etc). I turned it off and now its discharging about 1% per 5-6 hours in non gps activity mode!! Really you don\'t even need wifi auto upload on if you have a smart phone. Since it is paired by bluetooth it will sync to your phone instead of wifi to Garmin connect. Plus will save a lot of battery!!**update 1/6/15** Losing a few stars. Might be a defective battery. Back to discharging 1-2% battery per hour in watch mode no GPS. 1 hr run with GPS drains the battery 9%. No were close to the 20hr GPS time. Emailed Garmin to request an service and they said that\'s normal. I understand that the max battery life listed only under perfect conditions, but this is about 1/2 of what is reported. Will try out for another week. If garmin wont service it, I\'ll probably send it back**UPDATE 02/2/16** Finally got Garmin to replace the device. Battery life on the new watch is like night and day. I have had it for 5 days, done 5 activities (2 with GPS & HRM, 3 with just HRM), have BT on, activity tracker on, and notifications on. My battery is now at 68%. The watch gets 5 stars, poor quality control docks it a point.Cons: Its big. First thing I did was swap out the metal band for the rubber ones. That cuts the weight in half, but it\'s still almost twice the weight of the Forerunner 630. I have small wrist so it sticks out like a sore thumb. I don\'t mind the diameter, but the thickness is a pain to deal with. It\'s supposed to be an everyday watch but it won\'t go under the sleeve of a button down shirt. For me thats not a big problem since I wear a lab coat at work and don\'t need to worry about it being covered. But if I\'m wearing a suit I couldn\'t wear it.
First, it is helpful to understand what this watch is, and what it isn\'t. The Fenix 3 is a multi sport exercise watch, it not a 24 hour activity tracker. Now, it does have the activity tracking feature, it will count your steps and the Garmin Connect App will process that information, but that feature seems like it was added as an after thought. The Fenix 3 is for exercise. As such, you would be stupid to buy the Fenix 3 without the HR monitor chest strap. You have to get it, it doesn\'t just track heart rate, but in run mode, will track run cadence, ground contact time, and vertical oscillation which is super informative.Multi-Sport Tracking: I am triathlete, so I use the watch to track running, cycling and swimming, but it can track much more than that. It comes pre-loaded with the following activities, XC Skiing, Ski/Snow Board, Climb, Trail Run, Run, Indoor Run, Bike, Indoor Bike, Pool Swim, Open Water Swim, Triathlon, and Hike. The activities is how you tell the watch which features you will be using (e.g. GPS, Glonass, step counting, etc.). This is my first watch that tracks swimming (somewhat automatically). I appreciate the engineering challenges with tracking pool swims, the watch can auto detect the basic swim strokes, which is nice. However, you do have to fiddle with the watch as you go. You have to press the lap button to tell the watch you are resting, and if you do drills that don\'t involve a standard swim stroke, you have to tell the watch you are doing a drill, then press a button when your done, then confirm the distance you drilled, then press lap again to get back to regular swim mode. Once you get used it, not a big deal, and the trade off is good data. Lastly, you can create custom activities (like strength training, or if you want a simply timer)Like many high end garmin watches, the display screens can be customized. It takes a little bit of thought and trial and error to get what you want, but you can access all sorts of data on the run. You can have up to 7 different screens.It also has features for creating workouts like interval workouts, and you can put the watch in race mode.Other Features and Device Pairing. For the Fenix to auto-sync data, you need to pair the Fenix with a device (i-OS or Android). Right now, I have it sync to the Garmin Connect app, it can probably sync to others (via bluetooth), but I haven\'t tested it. One thing it won\'t do is wirelessly sync to Training Peaks. However, you can plug it in directly with the USB charger and pull files and import them into whatever software you use to record your exercise (the Fenix saves activities as .FIT files). When paired with a mobile device, the watch can give you notifications (incoming emails, calls, text\'s, etc.). Like with activity tracking, that feature seems like an after thought, and frankly, I find it annoying and have disabled the notifications feature. But, if you care, the watch will give you notifications from your device. However, the watch has a weather feature which is nice. All in all, they packed a lot of stuff into this watch, but at its core, this watch is for exercise.Batter Life: Battery life seems within manufacturer specifications. My first bike ride with the watch was 2+ hours and I used about 12% of the battery. In GPS mode, 10 hour battery life is realistic. Charging is lightening fast. So far, I don\'t think I have ran the battery down to less than 75% capacity, so it charges in a matter of minutes.SIze: The watch is big. I am 6\'2\" with a medium build, and the watch face takes up my entire wrist (see the attached picture. If you are petite, this watch may overpower you with its size. Also, the watch is 5/8\" thick. Granted, it looks like a watch (as opposed to the Garmin 920XT), but it is substantial. I am not really a \"watch wearer\" so I don\'t wear the watch all day (but if I valued the activity tracking feature, which I don\'t, maybe I would, but I think you get more bang for your buck out of a Jawbone Up3, or Basis Peak if you are looking for 24 hour tracking).Thoughts: This is about as close to the perfect exercise watch as you can get. Hands down, this is the one watch to rule them all. Especially if your leanings are toward trail running, back country activities, or multi sports like triathlons, there is nothing better. Now, there are other watches that are adequate, but none include all the functionality, customization, and future expandability (you can customize screens, pair with other sensors, e.g. power meters, cadence sensors). In addition, app developers can create apps for the watch (although right now, the pickings are slim). Garmin really nailed it with this watch so long as you understand what this watch does and does not do, what it is for, and what it is not for. This watch is not for the single sport, or recreational exerciser; the watch would be overkill and there are cheaper, fully adequate, alternatives. If you are a pro, elite, age grouper, or competitive athlete that participates in multiple sports (or regularly cross trains) and you want to take your training to the next level and get good data, the Fenix 3 is for you.So far, I have had no issues with the watch. I am so glad I bought it.