It’s no secret that Garmin’s watch lineup is extensive, which leaves it a bit convoluted at times. The company’s latest release, the Garmin Fenix 8, aimed to consolidate things slightly, merging the Fenix and Epix under one product name. While this, in theory, simplifies things, the number of options to choose from remains the same. Before the Fenix 8, the main deciding factor between the Epix and Fenix lineup was a colorful AMOLED display or long battery life. That choice remains, just within the Fenix 8 name alone.

The most significant change with the Fenix 8 is the addition of an onboard microphone and speaker, which brings Garmin’s latest wearable into the realm of the Apple Watch Ultra 2. That addition lets you take and make calls from your wrist and access voice assistants, something only Garmin’s Venu could do before. Garmin revamped the solar panels on the Solar model to increase clarity and improve solar charging capabilities. Garmin also increased the durability of its latest wearable and carried over dive features from its dedicated dive watch, the Descent MK3.

Beyond those hardware additions, though, the Fenix 8 remains essentially the same as the previous model. A handful of software updates aim to make using the watch easier, especially for new Garmin users. There are also a handful of new map and navigation features, but that’s really about it. I’ve been using the 47mm Fenix 8 AMOLED for a few weeks now, and while there certainly are differences from past models, this watch just doesn’t have me as excited as previous Garmin releases.

Price, availability, and specs

The Garmin fenix 8 is available in 15 different models and colors, so there are plenty of options to choose from. Depending on the particular model you choose, pricing ranges from $799 to $1,299. At the low level is the Fenix E (which is not technically the Fenix 8, but worth mentioning), which lacks a flashlight, microphone, and speaker but offers a vibrant AMOLED display. It’s only available in a single 47mm case size and either stainless steel and black or slate gray and black.

Next is the Fenix 8 Solar, which keeps the spirit of the original Fenix lineup. It uses the traditional transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) display with Garmin’s Power Sapphire solar charging technology for longer battery life. Garmin ditched the smallest size for the solar version with the Fenix 8, likely because a solar panel just isn’t worth it at that size. Instead, it’s only available in 47mm and 51mm case sizes. It comes in two colors (for both case sizes), including the Carbon Gray DLC Titanium with Black/Pebble Gray Silicone Band or the Titanium with Amp Yellow/Graphite Silicone Band. The Solar version includes the new mic and speaker, along with a flashlight.

Finally, there’s the Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED, which essentially merges the Epix line into the Fenix. The AMOLED version is available in 43mm, 47mm, or 51mm case sizes with three color options for each size. The colors for the two larger sizes are the same (Titanium with Spark Orange/Graphite Silicone Band, Carbon Gray DLC Titanium with Black/Pebble Gray Silicone Band, and Slate Gray with Black Silicone Band), while the 43mm comes in a Soft Gold with Fog Gray/Dark Sandstone Silicone Band (just like the Epix Pro Gen 2 Sapphire) and Silver with Whitestone Silicone Band, along with the Carbon Gray model. You can also opt for an AMOLED model with or without a sapphire crystal lens, depending on your budget and how durable of a watch you need. Lastly, all models of the AMOLED version include a mic, speaker, and flashlight.

• Garmin fēnix 8 Solar

  Brand

  Garmin

  Heart Rate Monitor

  Yes

  Color Screen

  Yes

  Notification Support

  Yes

  Battery Life

  Up to 21 days (28 days with solar) for 47mm model

  Onboard GPS

  Yes

  Lens Material

  Power Sapphire

  Case Material

  Titanium bezel with fiber-reinforced polymer with metal rear cover with

  Calendar

  Yes

  Weather

  Yes

  Case size

  43mm, 47mm, or 51mm

  Display

  Sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP)

  Connectivity

  Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi

  Health sensors

  Heart rate monitor, thermometer, pulse ox monitor, barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer, ambient light sensor

  Dimensions

  47 x 47 x 15.2 mm (47mm model)

  Weight

  80 g (47 mm model)

  Audio

  Yes

  Mobile payments

  Yes

  GPS

  GPS, GLONASS, QZSS, Galileo, BeiDou

• Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED

  Brand

  Garmin

  Heart Rate Monitor

  Yes

  Color Screen

  Yes

  Notification Support

  Yes

  Battery Life

  Up to 16 days (7 days always-on) for 47mm model

  Onboard GPS

  Yes

  Lens Material

  Corning Gorilla Glass or sapphire crystal

  Case Material

  fiber-reinforced polymer with metal rear cover

  Calendar

  Yes

  Weather

  Yes

  Case size

  43mm, 47mm, or 51mm

  Display

  AMOLED

  Connectivity

  Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi

  Health sensors

  Heart rate monitor, thermometer, pulse ox monitor, barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer, ambient light sensor

  Dimensions

  47 x 47 x 13.8 mm (47mm model)

  Weight

  Stainless steel: 80 g, Titanium: 73 g (47mm model)

  Audio

  Yes

  Mobile payments

  Yes

  GPS

  GPS, GLONASS, QZSS, Galileo, BeiDou

• Garmin fēnix E

  Brand

  Garmin

  Heart Rate Monitor

  Yes

  Color Screen

  Yes

  Notification Support

  Yes

  Battery Life

  Up to 16 days (6 days always-on)

  Onboard GPS

  Yes

  Lens Material

  Corning Gorilla Glass

  Case Material

  fiber-reinforced polymer with metal rear cover

  Calendar

  Yes

  Weather

  Yes

  Case size

  47mm

  Display

  AMOLED

  Connectivity

  Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi

  Health sensors

  Heart rate monitor, thermometer, pulse ox monitor, barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer, ambient light sensor

  Dimensions

  47 x 47 x 14.5 mm

  Weight

  76 g

  Audio

  None

  Mobile payments

  Yes

  GPS

  GPS, GLONASS, QZSS, Galileo, BeiDou

What I liked about the Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED

Vibrant display, plenty of customization, and well-rounded features

The first thing that catches you when turning on the Garmin Fenix 8 for the first time is the bright, vibrant display. It is beautiful. It’s easy to read in bright sun, and auto dims enough, so it’s not blinding me at night, either. I can even see pictures fairly well when someone texts them to me, which is nice. Also, though a minor feature, one of the first prompts on the watch (which you can also change later) is to adjust the text size, which is the first on a Garmin watch. Setting the text to a size that’s comfortable for me is surprisingly awesome, and I enjoy it far more than I anticipated I would.

In terms of sensors, nothing has changed in the Fenix 8 compared to the Fenix 7 Pro. It uses the same optical heart rate sensor and the same GPS components and multi-band design, resulting in highly accurate data in a wide range of circumstances. The heart rate measurements from the Fenix 8 consistently matched my chest straps (from Wahoo and Garmin) and my arm-based strap from Coros. There were some barely off numbers during portions of gravel bike rides, but that’s to be expected due to vibrations and the position of my wrist while on a bike.

Garmin leads the way in GPS accuracy and that remains true with the Fenix 8. I didn’t get out for any swims during my testing period, but the data was excellent for walks, hikes, and bike rides. The GPS tracks accurately reflected my path, even when I purposefully weaved around a little. I didn’t tackle anything in a city with tall buildings but have been in thick tree cover with zero issues.

The Fenix 8’s battery life is impressive, even on the AMOLED version, which lacks solar charging. Garmin promises 16 days (without the always-on display) in smartwatch mode, and that’s exactly what I was able to get, even with a few activities mixed in. Having the always-on display will bring that life down to seven promised days. That puts the Apple Watch Ultra 2 (a promised 36 hours with normal use) and Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (roughly two days in my testing) to shame, which the Fenix 8 now competes more directly with, thanks to the addition of the mic and speaker.

I wore the watch on a trip to Berlin and forgot to bring a charger along. At the beginning of my 10-day trip, the watch was roughly 25%, making me quite nervous. I didn’t have time for much activity on the trip, but I did track a walk and an indoor bike ride and wore it daily. I didn’t turn the watch on in battery saver mode, but I turned it fully off at night (so I wasn’t tracking my sleep). It somehow lasted up to my very last day, dying during the 17-hour journey home.

As it usually does with new watches, Garmin added a handful of new fitness and mapping features. My favorite of the bunch are the new strength training plans, accessed via Garmin Connect. Most fitness watches focus specifically on running and leave out strength training, which is the most important thing you can do to prevent injuries and stave off aging. It’s huge that Garmin has included specific strength training plans this go around, especially with three different selectable goals.

The biggest change on the Fenix 8 is the addition of a mic and speaker, giving it a more robust list of smartwatch abilities. You can play music through the speaker, but, as you’d likely expect from a watch, the sound is pretty terrible, so it’s not a replacement for headphones. Plus, please don’t skip the headphones around other people.

The Genix 8 offers two different voice assistant options. One is an entirely offline, watch-based assistant that allows you to control various aspects of your watch without a phone connection. For example, you can ask it to set a time, start an activity, or play a certain playlist. I found it responsive, though you have to get the phrasing right, or the watch won’t do anything. It doesn’t control anything on your phone, either, since it’s an offline tool that doesn’t require a connected phone.

When you do have your phone on you, you can use the Phone Assistant, which pulls up Siri, Google, or Samsung voice assistant on your phone. It automatically chooses the right one without any specific setup. You can use this just like you would on your phone, though it will pull everything up on your phone, not the watch. Verbal results are through the watch, though. I found the results to be just as responsive as when I talk to Google, though I did have to purposefully speak into the mic on the watch to get it to hear me.

What I didn’t like about the Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED

Laggy performance and speaker issues

I expected to be excited about this watch, but the Fenix 8 didn’t spark the same excitement I typically get with new Garmin watches. It just fell a bit flat, to be honest. My biggest issue was shockingly laggy performance, something I haven’t experienced on a Garmin watch yet. Scrolling through watch faces to pick one had me sitting and waiting or pressing a button again, thinking it didn’t register the first time, only to make it enter a menu I didn’t want.

Luckily, not all menus or portions of the watch are like that. Scrolling through graphs of my health and training stats is the familiar smooth performance of my other Garmin watches. Using the maps and weather radar involves roughly the same lag as other watches as well. But there were enough situations with significant lag that it was quite frustrating.

Another frustrating aspect is that the Phone Assistant volume is controlled through the phone, not the watch, which took me far too long to figure out. At first, when I asked Google things via my watch, the volume was so quiet that I had to hold my wrist right next to my ear to hear. I tried to adjust the volume from the watch settings, but it was still very quiet even when both the Voice and System volume settings were at 100%.

It took asking Google a random thing and then increasing the volume via my phone’s volume rocker to finally make it audible. But if I’m using the voice assistant on my watch and it’s playing the results on my watch, I probably don’t have access to my phone to adjust the volume right then. It is an odd mix of controls at this point, but hopefully, Garmin can work out the kinks.

Luckily, you can adjust call volume right on the watch when taking calls on your wrist. But, unfortunately, even the max volume is very quiet. I was in my office with essentially no background noise, and it was somewhat tough to hear. The person on the other end said the sound was a bit crackly for them, which isn’t usually the case when I call via my phone. I also had to hold my wrist at about chest height for him to hear me well enough. While this would certainly work for taking calls in a pinch when you don’t have another option, overall, it’s not a great experience. That said, I’m not a fan of any smartwatch call functionality.

Should you buy the Garmin Fenix 8?

While the upgrades of the Fenix 8 are great on paper, those new features simply aren’t necessary or wanted by all. I didn’t use the mic or speaker on the watch except for review purposes, and I doubt I will use them after wrapping up this review. I know some, however, love the smartwatch functionality of taking calls from their wrist and having access to voice assistants and will gladly pay the higher price for that ability. Likewise, the added dive features are great for those who casually dive and don’t want to spend $1,200 on the Descent MK3 dive computer.

There’s no denying that the Fenix 8 is a superb outdoor smartwatch. A smartwatch that offers 16 days of battery life along with an impressive display, highly accurate data, and an extensive list of fitness features is certainly impressive. It makes the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Samsung Galaxy Watch look a bit silly.

However, this upgrade doesn’t offer much for those who don’t care about having a microphone and speaker and don’t dive. The adjusted UI makes certain things better, but it isn’t worth spending the extra $100-$300, depending on the model. Sticking with the Epix Gen 2 or Fenix 7 Pro is the better move for most people.