Since I can’t stop myself to look at the gadgets, I could only resist the desire to have the Fenix 6 for several months .. then I bite the bullet and purchased the Fenix 6X Pro Sapphire. I had my experiences with Fenix 3, Fenix 5, Fenix 5X Plus and now I’m with the 6X Sapphire – why 6X Sapphire, when Garmin released so many versions? Why not Solar? In my view, the 6X had enough autonomy, not to require supplemental support from sun – for me the solution is a nice gimmick for now, but you need to trade the tougher sapphire for the extra hours of sun powered watch life, which I didn’t want to do.
This is not a full featured review of Fenix 6X, there are plenty available since this is not a new product anymore, but a collection of some thoughts and impressions.
Fenix 6X is a complete product, having all the features you may think of for a watch, supported by the First Beat algorithms. Large battery with very good autonomy – power adjustment policies – nothing to complain about. Not even the usual GPS tracks – those are not great, but not bad either.
Connectivity for all kind of sensors, reasonable smartwatch capability (it’s not Apple Watch) and whatever you were used to have in your 945 (like me before) combined with the toughness of the Fenix line.
So, what stands out is:
- toughness (looks tough, the DLC coated bezel is great, sapphire glass doesn’t need any protection in my experience in the recent years – unlike the Gorilla glass from Forerunner)
- long battery life (regardless if it’s about GPS or just regular watch operation): currently I have 5 days (with 3:35 hours of GPS active) done and the estimation for battery life is another 16 days -> by many standards that’s more than enough to forget where you have put your charger
- heavy (this is not the titanium version) – 93g -> it’s lighter than 5X Plus, but not by much; I got used to it because of it’s large footprint and I don’t feel the watch as being heavy, maybe just when you run (I recommend a arm or chest strap for accurate HR readings, don’t rely on WHR during running at least).
- exhaustive feature set – I don’t have something to complain .. maybe just that Garmin doesn’t support native power and using power based structured running is complicated (even with recent Stryd app changes)
If there are any shortcomings, those come as a package with Garmin Connect, because the platform is designed as a data warehouse and not very actionable data – you can find a lot, but you need some proper analysis do use it.
Liviu Nastasa 