Garmin - epix (Gen 2) Sapphire Edition

[The Garmin Epix Gen 2 is on sale at slightly above your budget.](https://www.basspro.com/p/garmin-epix-gen-2-gps-smartwatch?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions&ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=BPS%7CShopping%7CPMax%7CHunting%7CHunting%7CNAud%7CGoogle%7CNMT&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19856022628&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0erBBhDTARIsAKO8iqS3tLPdLpBQmqWoGh7iR9yHF81EXJ-3xG5we8_2vS-FHr91E8VraeoaAmgsEALw_wcB) This is an $800 watch that's on sale for a hair under $450. I got mine on sale at Cabelas and have no regrets.

I would go for either the Instinct 3 or Vivoactive 6. Both new watches are great, no issues. Vivoactive 6 is just in your budget range but isn't very 'rugged', which is the perfect desciption of the instinct 3 (which is a bit more pricey). You can go for the black and white screen of the Instinct E ($299), but the tech is a bit more dated, and if you are coming from an apple watch, im guessing you like the bright screens. Another option is the Epix 2 (refurbished) from amazon for $349 (what I would go for). This is their top of the line watch from a few years ago, but still very advanced with most of the new features. [https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1316397/pn/010-02936-00/](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1316397/pn/010-02936-00/) [https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1555457/](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1555457/) [https://a.co/d/fs1SPqL](https://a.co/d/fs1SPqL)

I just got a refurbished from Ebay for $350 with 2 years Square Trade warranty and dont regret it. i also just do walking, Picke Ball. i like the sleep tracking and battery life ( used to own an apple watch that i needed to charge daily vs 15+ days\_)

mine came in an official Garmin Refurshied box. pristine condition . (if cant do this let me know, Seller for me was BuyDig)

That’s the one I got. It is not the pro version. It does all I need.

This is my take. I used to work as engineer at "A"-company often mentioned here that make smartwatches. However, I worked on phones and tablets, not smartwatch. Apple is smartwatch. Cram as much tech into the device as possible. And good value (money spend for tech and features) delivered to consumer. But one big issue is the battery life. Garmin uses old tech. Prices for the devices are a bit outrageous for fitness watch. However, many users who just want fitness watch and don't care for smartwatch features; also don't think about price per tech. I personally buy Garmin only on discount. As for HR accuracy, I suspect the minor difference can be due to power management. It is possible Garmin try to save battery power and sensors are not fully powered. This can result in lower accuracy. Of course this is just speculation. I personally have have had major issue with HR on Epix (Gen 2). This issue tend to occur when another bluetooth device is connected. I can toggle the HR accuracy to be correct (bluetooth device off) and inaccurate (bluetooth device on). At first, I thought it was firmware bug. I have report this to Garmin. And many on Garmin forum also has similar issue. However, it is now 1.5 years and not fixed. So it seems like it is not a bug. So I suspect (but no data to support this) is how Garmin try to reduce power consumption for battery savings.

I have Garmin Epix Gen 2. The advantage of Garmin is battery life. My personal issue with Garmin is firmware bugs and issues. As for your use case: It makes no difference for cycling, because you already have Edge + HR sensor. Garmin watch data will just be ignored. Then if you want a fitness watch for other activities (such as strength training), you want to look at details on that. Garmin strength training support is very weak and difficult to use. I gave up. I don't even bother tracking various sets, reps, weights, etc. I have not used AW since AW5, so I don't know how their strength training is.

> there are almost no software bugs That's a laugh. I have a SW or Firmware bug from Feb 2023. It has been reported on Epix, Fenix, and FR series. Never fixed. And I don't expect it to be fixed. Many have reported to Garmin. Garmin's response in my case was to offer replacement (refurbished unit). Same issue on refurbished unit. So it is not isolated to HW but due to SW or Firmware. But if the unit works for you, then great. Congrats and enjoy.

Depends on your expectation. For me, the must have requirement is accurate sleep duration tracking. But depending on the user, the device, and your sleep habits, it might or might not be accurate even doing this. I had Vivoactive 4. I typically sleep around 7 hours. And devices thinks I slept on y 3-4 hours. When I wake up, the device doesn't know I woke up and continue to track sleep. Now I have Epix Gen 2. At least it gets the sleep duration relatively correct. People who have kids will have problem. Let's say you go to sleep at 10pm. Then at 1am, you wake up for 30 minutes to 1 hour. The watch will sometimes start counting sleep after 1am. And same in the morning. If you wake up at 4am for some time and then go back to sleep, it won't track the sleep after 4am. As for the sleep stages, forget it. That is completely BS. The sleep score and body battery are also completely BS. There are times I wake up refreshed and sleep score is low. And other days I didn't get a good sleep, but sleep score is high.

I had AW 3 and AW 5 stainless steel. Because I moved to Android phone, I switched to Garmin vivoactive 4 and then Epix Gen 2. This is my take. If your old watch is out of battery, and you need to buy a new one, switch and try it out. But if your old watch works and meet your needs, don't bother switching. Garmin advantage is battery life. If you find AW battery insufficient, then switching makes sense. However, Garmin disadvantage is extremely buggy hardware/firmware/software. For 1+ years, I have intermittent low HR at start of activity; still not resolved. Every few weeks, device will lock up and needs to be rebooted. In my 2 years using these devices, I was forced to hard reset device around 3 times. Hard reset means all settings are lost. Garmin doesn't have backup like AW. It takes me around 1+ hour to re-setup my device, particularly the workout data screen customization.

Second the Fenix. There’s also some good deals on last gen Epix out (which is basically Fenix with a brighter display) for OP’s budget.

1-2 gen old garmin fenix should be around that much new old stock, or see if you can find a refurb epix 2. I used an Apple Watch 4 before I got the epix 2. It’s fine for heart rate and mileage if that’s all you want. In fact any watch that has a hr monitor will be fine for basic training.

Well then, LFG! 🥳 Fenix 6 Pro in 2019 —> Epix 2022 —> Fenix 8 51mm AMOLED 2025. Each watch was better than the prior (though the F6 performs flawlessly still for my adult son) and I have zero complaints about any of them. People who get frustrated are way more likely to vent on Reddit, I’ll bet. I also think the whole new user interface starting with F8 has prompted posts, either people left behind with the old UI or people who hate change fussing about the new UI. I thought the old UI was fine and the new UI is better - boring take really. Speaking of boring, I’m not going to post a boring update like: use my Garmin every day, it performs perfectly, and I charge it once per month. But I’ll bet there are a lot of people like me out there who just don’t say much.

Wait. Are you me? I feel like I could have written this. I bounce between iPhone & Galaxy phones. Currently using the Z Fold 7. I have 2 Apple Watch Ultras (1 & 2), Galaxy Watch Ultra & 8 Classic and Garmin Epix Pro 2 Sapphire 47MM. I do short triathlon (and the respective training), obstacle course racing, hiking, F45 functional training, golf and pickleball. The Garmin is the best fitness watch, especially when training for something. The Apple Watch Ultra is the best of both worlds. It's the absolute best smartwatch available and with the usage of 3rd party apps it reaches software feature parity with Garmin. But I FAR prefer my Galaxy phones to iPhone. Even so, I'm hard pressed to think of anything the Galaxy Watch does that I would consider better than Apple Watch. As you mention, perhaps Audible, Spotify and YouTube Music? Due to Apple's restrictions and wanting you to use Apple Music? Both the Apple and Galaxy Watches are FAR superior all-around SMART watches than the Garmin. Generally though, when I am using Android, I wear the Garmin. I'll wear the 8 Classic (6 Classic prior) if I'm someplace nice or dressed up. I almost never wear the Galaxy Ultra though. If I have the Classic watch for non-fitness activities, there's nothing it does better than Garmin.

Having gone through many Edge and watch products, get the Epix or Fenix with Sapphire glass. No scratches, great visibility, long lasting battery  

Garmin. Love my Epix 2 Sapphire. The Sapphire versions have very scratch resistant glass, and the big bonus of including the TOPO maps