SUMMARY
This is an amazing smartwatch with a focus on sports, and it has very good and durable construction. It has all kinds of activities, with very accurate measurements and a battery that you forget to charge.
DETAILED
I have had the watch since July 2022, so after about 7 months of use, I believe I can give an opinion. I have never had a smartwatch before. I do heavy workouts with a focus on bodybuilding and several cardio sessions outdoors, on a treadmill, and rowing. So far, based on my workouts, I stayed with a reliable Casio G-Shock watch, which was tough and had the features I wanted for timing my workouts. Overall, I didn't want another gadget that would be constantly on me, overwhelming me with notifications, needing to be charged almost every day like a phone, and having to be careful not to break it. Therefore, even though I am a user of the Apple ecosystem with almost all devices due to my profession, I stubbornly refused to buy the Apple Watch for the above reasons.
In the summer of 2022, encouraged by my trainer to track my daily steps, I got the idea to try a fitness smartwatch to decide once and for all if this product category would meet my needs or if it would be just another gadget. So, I decided to get this Garmin watch. I went for what seemed to be the best Garmin, because I wanted to see what this category could really offer, without having to compromise.
Since the watch arrived, I only take it off to charge it. So, about 10-15 times in this whole period that I have had it, which says a lot about its battery life. It has excellent build quality, looks and feels sturdy, but at the same time, it is much lighter than it appears. It has countless activities, very good GPS, and integrates well with many apps.
Let's start with the screen, which, compared to the screen of another smartwatch with an OLED display or a high-end mobile phone, falls short in terms of colors and resolution. Nevertheless, I consider it more than sufficient for what a fitness smartwatch should do correctly. Let's not forget that this screen technology allows for tremendous battery life. In this generation, they also added a touch screen. To be honest, sometimes it is useful, but most of the time I have it disabled and I use the buttons, which I find more convenient. Once you learn the movements, they become mechanical and you don't need to look at the screen. Also, I should mention that when the touch screen is enabled, it has issues in water. For example, in the sea or in the bathtub, things get pressed on their own. The same happens in the bathroom at home. There, the touch screen needs to be disabled. Fortunately, they have added a shortcut to the buttons to easily toggle it on and off.
I also find the flashlight they have included to be excellent. I use it sometimes when I do cardio sessions at night outdoors, but it is also very useful in everyday life. We all know that we more or less use the flash of our mobile phones as a flashlight. Here, things are even more convenient because you have it permanently on your wrist and it opens instantly with a shortcut of buttons.
I want to emphasize the sturdiness aspect as well. This was another reason why I didn't want to get an Apple Watch. I have friends who broke them easily. Here, we are talking about the exact opposite. Since, as I said, I never take it off, it has really taken strong hits on iron and stones mainly during manual work and it has not suffered anything. From all the hard use I give it, it has some very small scratches on the frame. However, it takes a lot of attention to notice them.
In terms of measurements, it is very good and as accurate as possible. With the GPS, I was amazed. It synchronizes immediately and has very high accuracy. In terms of heart rate, it only starts to lose a little at very high rates. 160+. It makes a decent effort even at high rates but it cannot compare there with a Polar H10 chest strap, which I also have. If you have a strap that supports ANT+ like the Polar I mentioned, you can connect them and while you are engaged in an activity, you can see the heart rates from the Polar instead of the built-in sensor. I also really like the integration it has with the Concept2 rowing machine and the Solar F85 treadmill. Overall, it has a very good application on iOS with many statistics which I actually found useful and helped me improve my workouts, habits, and sleep. It is literally a health coach on your wrist that sees where you are lacking and helps you improve.
Garmin Pay. Another feature that works flawlessly. Since I almost always have my phone with me wherever I go, I always pay with Apple Pay. However, there have been times when I have forgotten my phone and Garmin Pay saved me. I have added Alpha and Piraeus cards without any problem. National Bank has not yet released support for Garmin Pay.
The last thing I want to mention is the appearance. Its appearance is such that it does not make you think it is a sports watch, nor purely a technological product. This means that it can easily be worn in all occasions, especially when combined with the appropriate straps.
In conclusion, I have no opinion on the smart features with notifications from the phone, etc. The first thing I did when I got it was to completely turn them off because, as I said, I did not want another device bombarding me with notifications. Therefore, it would be good to refer to other reviews if you are interested in this aspect.
