Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2) Review: Better Than Apple Leave a comment

There’s a unhappy reality each open air individual should face, which is that finally, you need to transfer on out of your #vanlife and get an actual job. Even sponsored athletes get creaky or tear a rotator cuff finally. You must pay in your youngsters’ ski classes by some means.

Are you, like me, equally satisfied that you’re simply as excessive as you ever had been, and likewise in a position to afford a $1,000 sports activities watch? Then, my buddy, Garmin’s newest Epix Pro (Gen 2) is for you. It’s the perfect multi-sport look ahead to an individual who has numerous totally different out of doors hobbies and a little bit of disposable earnings. This 12 months, it has higher battery life and a wider measurement vary to accommodate smaller wrists. In contrast to the similarly-priced new Fenix 7 Pro ($900), it nonetheless has a lovely OLED display you need to use to view many maps.

These maps—Garmin’s attractive, detailed, and easy-to-use proprietary offline maps!—and the higher battery life are the 2 explanation why I’d nonetheless suggest a Garmin over the Apple Watch Ultra (particularly in case you don’t have an iPhone). I discovered final 12 months’s Epix to be a bit bit annoying, however this 12 months’s mannequin is considered one of my favourite sports activities watches I’ve examined.

Variations on a Theme

Like most of Garmin’s sports activities watches, the Epix Professional is available in a number of iterations—a 42-mm, 47-mm, and 51-mm case measurement, plus the usual and sapphire lens crystal version. I attempted the Epix Professional Sapphire within the 47-mm case measurement with the silicone band, which inserts my 150-mm wrist. I did get the white band surprisingly soiled, which I by no means seen on the black watches.

The bezel is titanium, which I used to be stunned to notice as a result of I did bang it up whereas mountain climbing and there are seen scratches. The sapphire crystal, nonetheless, has held up and continues to be unmarked—one thing to remember if considered one of your hobbies can also be scraping your arms in and round rock cracks filled with spiders. You may as well flip off the touchscreen within the settings. I’ve a Fenix 7 Professional available right here and may report that the Epix’s AMOLED display is noticeably brighter and simpler to see, each inside and outside.

Garmin claims the battery life can final 16 days in smartwatch mode; with a number of tracked actions per day, like strolling, operating, climbing, and ebiking, I extra generally get round 14 days. That’s completely positive! In contrast to the newest Vivomove Trend, nonetheless, you continue to have to make use of Garmin’s proprietary plug-in charger. It additionally would not have a photo voltaic charging version, just like the Fenix.

As all the time, the quantity and breadth of Garmin’s options is intensive, and a little overwhelming. The latest ones on the Epix embrace a one-button LED flashlight on the prime of the case. You possibly can choose the depth and whether or not you need it to be white or pink. Its positioning makes it a way more handy and succesful little gentle than those on different screened watches. I really like not having to twist my arm round or scramble for my cellphone or headlight whereas rummaging round a darkish tent.