Garmin 010-01733-00 NA Fenix 5X Sapphire Slate (Open Box)

2/14/22 UPDATE. I hate to do this, but I have to update my review based on a watch that only lasted two years. While working, I've loved my Garmin Fenix and have recommended it to many. In fact, just last week I showed it off to a group of students in a Quality Control course I'm teaching. The discussion was about analog versus digital. I pointed out the exceptional quality control of the hardware but emphasized that digital technology would limit the useful life of the product. Fenix is a high-priced piece of technology that will never become an heirloom. Well, Fenix must have heard me because one week later it died. Life cycle: 2 years. Reading service reports from other users around the Internet, it seems that the battery no longer charges, but I'm not qualified to do that diagnostic. The watch is just dead. Garmin customer service is nice enough, but they are charging $200 to fix or replace the watch. I have watches that I've had for 50 years that still work like new. I even have a watch from my grandmother that is nearly 100 years old that is still ticking. None of these watches came close to the premium price of a Fenix watch. Replacing this with the latest version would be close to $1,000. Not going to happen. I've been a decades-long Garmin fan, but this pops a hole in my loyalty. Rather than spend $200 to have it fixed, I think I'll apply that $200 on something I know will last longer. As much as I hate to say it, that "something" is likely an Apple Watch. Bottom line, for as long as it lasts, this is an exceptional piece of equipment in every way. But, don't count on it lasting for more than a couple of years. PRIOR REVIEW I’ve had my eye on this watch for two years, but could never justify the price; until an Amazon Black Friday deal made this the best value ever. Thank you, Amazon. Yes, I see Garmin has the Fenix 6 replacing the Fenix 5, but I can’t see any justification for the $500 price difference from what I paid for the 5. Besides, the 5 is amazing. One week into it, and I’m blown away by the quality and features. At this point, most limitations can be blamed on new user errors and learning curves. So far, I’ve used it to track walks, hikes, strength, and sleep. For walks and hikes, exceptional; especially like the integration of Garmin's core competency: GPS. The strength tracking app seems limited, inaccurate, and cumbersome. Would like a feature that allows me to program workouts on a computer, then download them to the watch. As it is, I program exercises one character and button at a time. Even then, it either gets the numbers of reps wrong or doesn’t count any at all. Hopefully, user error. But I’ve exhausted the manual and support boards, so am concluding that the strength module is the main limitation of the watch. Another feature I would appreciate is a good app for TRX workouts. The steps tracking seems to have a bit of AI in it, resulting in a daily “damn watch” curse each night. I started with a reasonable 7,500 steps per day goal. But, each time I exceed the step goal, Garmin ups my goal. Exceeding each progressive goal each day, the watch now has me at a goal of 15,000 for tomorrow. Damn watch; when is that going to end? One of these days, I’m gonna run out of steps. Of course, being a bit facetious there; I appreciate that the watch is smart enough to keep pushing me, and hope to be able to find the steps necessary to meet each new goal. The sleep tracking is also good. An improvement over my last smartwatch. A possible limitation is that I’m a horrible sleeper, and the watch doesn’t seem to be able to figure me out. I can usually sleep for a few hours before a 2 or 3 a.m wake-up has me up for a couple of hours. Sometimes I’m able to get a second round of sleep in. For example, asleep by 11, wake at 2, lie awake for 30 minutes trying to fall back asleep, give up and read a book for a couple of hours, fall back asleep at 4 or 5, wake up at 8 a.m. The watch only records the second sleep segment. On the one night that I mostly slept through thanks to a sleeping pill, the watch provided a full record. This record also provided a good lesson: while the sleeping pill helped me remain unconscious, I only had light sleep; no deep sleep or REM sleep. Unconsciousness does not equal sleep. Another big bonus is that Garmin seems to have conquered a limitation that kept me from buying an iWatch: fully charged in less than an hour, and stays charged for days. After my first four days, it still had 35% battery life. Compare that to the daily, and sometimes twice daily, charge for competitive offerings. A big downer about the charge is that it requires a proprietary cable, which deserves a “those bastards” demerit. I’m a Garmin fan with four other Garmin devices, which all use standard USB cables. The only justifiable reason for forcing me to buy proprietary cables that can’t be used for any other device, including those made by the same company, is “because that’s what Apple does.” Another benefit of the Fenix 5 over the iWatch: the macho factor. The iWatch is dainty; my little sister loves hers and it goes great with yoga pants. In comparison, the Fenix 5 looks and acts as tough as a military-grade tactical watch. Hurrah, and all that. Bonus, it fully and seamlessly integrates with my iPhone. I’ll check in occasionally to report on my thoughts as I use it more. Meanwhile, putting aside some issues, the combination of tough quality, super performance, seamless integration, and the current price make this an excellent value worthy of a 5 ranking.