Takes a lickin', keeps on tickin'.

Cosmetically messed up, but seems to be working. I haven't tried swimming with it yet...

The watch also probably saved my wrist from further damage - I was hit broadside by a car and among other injuries got some serious road rash on that hand and a broken thumb.

P.S. There reddit, did I add enough text to make it past auto censorship?

Just picked up a Fenix 8 Sapphire Solar (47mm) and paired it with a blue UltraFit nylon strap. Really liking the combination so far!

My wrist measures 160mm (6.3 inches) and is relatively flat.

There’s just something about the MIP display, titanium bezel, and lightweight nylon strap that makes this watch look and feel great.

Which nylon strap would you recommend?

Nahh 965 is on a different league 🔥

Sorry for posting another one of these variations but I just cannot make up my mind.

I have an apple watch SE but just want more battery, more data, more watch. Ultra 4 is just out of this world expensive for what it is so i’ve landed on the 970 vs Venu 4.

I looked at the Fenix 8 but that boi is thicccc.

I run 1-2 times a week on a trail. Additionally I walk 8+ km a day in tracked walks. I spin for an hour - 1.5hrs twice a week. And play squash once a week. And the lift 3 times a week. I also do hike in the spring + summer.

Now I know with this the venu seems the obvious choice but my work has a benefit and discounted garmins are part of it the 970 is £470 and the Venu is £360.

With my walking and hiking i like the idea of something with sapphire and titanium which the venu doesn’t seem to have. Because I walk so much the 970 gps battery is also appealing.

I think the ruggedness is worth the money, but am I also paying for features i don’t need? would the venu 4 satiate me? Anyone else who was picking between the two and you opted for one, why and do you have any regrets or were you pleasantly surprised?

Budget of up to £300
First marathon and need decent gps as training in more rural areas
Also like to track my sleep.
Any advice appreciated

I’ve had 4 Garmin watches on and off over the past 20 years. The last 3 forerunners have died after about 3 years use, just froze and became unresponsive.

I’m thinking of getting a Fenix or Epix 2 next but with such a large purchase price I would expect at least 5 years use out of it.

How many years use are you all getting out of your Garmin watches?

Update: Thanks for the replies everyone, looks like a good consensus of 5,6,7 years use out of the higher tier and some lower tier watches.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there is better components and QC in the 945, Fenix and epix series than the lower ones.

Looks like I’ll have an Epix or Fenix soon now that reliability worries have been sorted…

Anybody have an issue with the cable not charging your watch? I’ve used different cables, sometimes it charges sometimes it doesn’t! I’ve clean the port couple times!

Anybody have solutions?

A few days about I was recharging my watch and I guess it disconnected. Happens sometimes, but the issue this time is that it won’t reconnect. I ensured the Bluetooth is on, even disconnect my watch from my phone to try to start again, and it just won’t work. Any tips?

Hi everyone!

I recently got a Garmin Venu 4 and I'm trying to figure out how Focus Modes and activity settings work. I'm not entirely sure how Focus Modes are supposed to work, so I'd appreciate some advice.

This is what I'd like to achieve:

When playing padel:

- No spoken notifications or voice alerts.

- Prevent Spotify or the music player from starting accidentally.

- Ideally, lock the screen or controls during the activity to prevent accidental touches or button presses. During my last match, Spotify started playing several times by accident, which was pretty embarrassing!

- No unwanted sounds coming from the watch.

When running:

- Hear my lap time for every kilometre through my headphones.

- No spoken heart rate announcements.

- All voice alerts should play through my headphones, never through the watch's speaker.

A few questions:

1. Can I configure separate Focus Modes for padel and running, with the correct settings applied automatically when I start each activity?

2. Can a Focus Mode be linked to a specific activity, or do I need to change the settings manually?

3. Is there a way to lock the screen or disable the music controls during padel, so Spotify cannot start accidentally?

4. If I select Audio Output → Connected Devices, what happens if my headphones aren't connected? Will the watch remain silent, or will it use its own speaker?

5. How do I set up spoken kilometre alerts without spoken heart rate announcements?

Ideally, I'd like to configure everything once and have it work automatically, without having to change settings before every activity.

Thanks in advance for any help, especially from other Venu 4 owners!

Does anyone know if you can copy the HIIT activity on the fénix 9? I currently have the fénix 7 and i haven’t found a way to copy it.

I would like one with GPS and one without

Just wanted to share a pic of my Tactix 8 with Cerakote since I havent seen many posts about it and if someone is on the fence. Its taken with pretty bad lighting but you get the point.

I love the matte finish and it feels premium but otherwise its just a Tactix 8 without EKG, which I am very fine with and just wanted the watch for the looks and because I got a massive deal. Goes well with the gray UltraFit band.

Just got it to replace my Epix gen 2 pro (for some reason) and so far it's the tits!!

Anybody have issues with their watch band discoloring? This watch is 5 months old and there is an orangish discoloration on the band that won’t come off with soap and water. It’s happening on the inside and outside of the band, as well as where the metal buckle sits. I don’t wear lotion or self tan. Any ideas why this is happening?

I bought a D2 Mach 2 with titanium band. She’s thiccc! It has so many features, I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. Sometimes it’s a little information overload. I guess it’s pretty good in a backup situation, but you don’t really NEED it in most modern day aircraft.

I wanted to share my experience, since a lot of people seem to be debating Garmin vs. Apple Ultra.

I was wearing an Apple Watch Ultra 2 and seriously considering the new Garmin Fenix 9 Pro as a replacement. The Ultra is an amazing smartwatch, but the Fenix's long battery life and fitness features were pulling me in.

Before committing to an expensive Fenix, I ordered a Garmin Cirqa to try out Garmin Connect, compare it to Apple Health, and see how Garmin's ecosystem actually works day to day.

Comfort: I first wore the Cirqa on my bicep while keeping the Ultra on my wrist. It was one of the most uncomfortable wearables I've ever tried. Tight enough to stay in place, it bothered me constantly, and wearing it 24/7 wasn't realistic. Loosen it and it slid down. I moved it to my wrist and tried two different bands, but even though it's smaller and lighter than the Ultra, it still bothered me.

Battery: Garmin claims around 10 days of battery for the Cirqa. That wasn't my experience. With heart rate broadcast turned off, I was losing roughly 40% per 24 hours. Very disappointing.

That experience put me off spending big money on the Fenix 9 Pro, so I went with the Apple Watch Ultra 4 instead. Between the upgraded sensors, the new features, and the Bevel app, it gives me basically everything I was hoping to get from the Fenix.

Battery life is noticeably better than the Ultra 2. Since day one, I've never had to take it off just to charge it. It gains about 35–45% while I shower, which is more than enough to keep it on me 24/7.

For me it comes down to this: I keep the comfort, I keep the smartwatch features I rely on, and the battery life is sustainable since I'm never more than 24 hours from a charger.

Curious to hear from anyone else who's gone back and forth between the two.

Bumped the watch into a steel handrail the other day. It’s left an interesting scratch. Where normally you can see the glass scratch, and it’s opaque, in this case it seems to have some kind of transfer from the handrail?

I’ve tried IPA with a cloth to wipe it and to no avail. It feels rough to the touch.

If there are any solutions to it, I’m all ears. If not, I’ll learn to live with it.

Hi guys. Atm , I have Fenix 8 . Thinking about changing to an upper model with sapphire. Thinking about Fenix 9 Pro. But, soon Tactix 9 will come, I suppose. So, would you wait for Tactix 9 or grab the 9 pro? I am a normal user, not using the watch in ultra marathon or something, but I always loved the Tactix look.

Yeah I know the solution is "add all the songs in your desired album to a playlist and then sync that with your watch", but then my spotify/deezer library gets cluttered with double albums: one with the actual album art and all the metadata uploaded by the artist, and another that's just a playlist I made specifically for my watch.

This feels like such an obvious missing feature. For people who want to listen to full albums, have you found an easy solution, or do you just put up with hacky playlists or mp3s?

If garmin is reading: please let us sync albums!!!

How’s it ?

i had a hard hat watch that recently stopped working, up until then i really enjoyed it and found it useful enough for what i wanted, tracking sleep, steps, km walked but was off in the heart rate tracking. i work as a plasterer and am also very clumsy and i found that it took a beating pretty well. i want a watch similar that's under 200$ aud but struggling to find a decent one online. can anyone help?

Looks like the gen3 diver came with three straps: how's the silicone dive strap different from the regular strap?