Garmin Fenix 8 Review: The Ultimate Upgrade in Sports Watches – Is It Worth the Price?

It’s shortly after four in the morning, I turn on the GPS on my watch and leave the house. The first two hours I walk in the dark, the next twelve hours in the light, and when I turn off my watch after walking all day, it’s dark again.

I decided to go the longest way in my life to try Garmin Fenix ​​​​​​​​8, a new watch from the manufacturer whose sports watches are among the most popular and best-selling in the world. -world.

To be honest, I’m not a reviewer or an expert on tech news, but the opportunity to try the Fenix ​​​​8 was tempting enough for me to make an exception.

After all, I’ve traded in a few sports watches over the past ten years, and they’ve always been Garmin models. At first, the deciding factor was very little competition, after that I considered other brands, but in the end I always recognized that there was no reason to change.

I am currently using the Fenix ​​6 model, so I was interested in the possibility to compare with the latest generation.

Fenix ​​models belong to the highest range of sports watches offered by the manufacturer and aimed at a more demanding customer. Garmin introduces a new generation about every two and a half years. The sixth generation model was launched in 2019, the Fenix ​​​​7 in 2022 and now the Fenix ​​​​​​8.

The manufacturer promised several improvements, including very large changes. For example, increased battery life, better heart rate sensing, voice control or even phone calls.

After ten days of testing, I can say with confidence that the Fenix​​​​​​8 is a huge step forward and compared to “my” Fenix​​​​6, the user experience is completely up to par different. But, is this upgrade worth 25 thousand crowns, no matter how big?

Let’s arrange.

The wrist pulse has limitations

Of the improvements mentioned, I was very interested in battery life for practical reasons (I tested the amoled model with a 47mm display).

According to the manufacturer, the watch should last up to 47 hours at normal conditions and with GPS on, which would be an improvement.

At the same time, the battery should handle the tour all day with the GPS on, which I went on without any problems. That’s it