I've had Fenix watches for nearly 9 years, starting with the Fenix 3 (May 2015 - Nov 2018), and now a Fenix 5 Plus (Nov 2018 - Oct 2023). Both had steel bezels, and both were quite beaten up after about 2 years. One thing I noticed, however, was that my sliver-bezel Fenix 3 looked worse than my black-bezel Fenix 5 Plus. Garmin's coating to change the colour of their bezels seems to make the finish ever so slightly more durable. There was a noticeable difference in the screens: the gorilla glass screen on the Fenix 3 was fairly scratched after 2 years, so I opted for the sapphire screen option when I got my Fenix 5 Plus. The sapphire screen is still flawless after 5 years of heavy use, and I will not go back to a watch that doesn't have a sapphire screen, even if that means the bezel is titanium.

@ThisIsJulianC

7 ай бұрын

Most people seem to share your experience of the sapphire glass, I did a comparison at the point of purchase of my 7X (probably rushed and not ideal conditions) and opted for non-sapphire to get the best brightness which so far has been right for me.

Thanks for this review, I was looking for a comparison like this. Thanks to you, I buy a watch exactly like yours, instead of a sapphire one with titanium.

@ThisIsJulianC

4 күн бұрын

Good choice 👍

I have the Epix Gen 2, Sapphire in black titanium. The specs list the bezel as being Carbon Grey, DLC. My 6mth old watch shows zero sign of wear on the screen or bezel and I suspect the DLC really helps here. My Fenix 6 also had the coating and showed no wear at 18mths. Incidentally the Epix 2 Sapphire is currently AUD $600 cheaper than the standard Epix 2! Love Garmin and their totally nonsensical sales pricing.

@ThisIsJulianC

7 ай бұрын

They also have a scarily complex product range with a lot of overlap between models, thats either a sign of poor product management or a very clever product strategy I haven't figured out yet

@cejay67

7 ай бұрын

@@ThisIsJulianC it’s what initially put me off them. Could not understand and coming from an Apple Watch was totally confused at first.

But any Titanium bezel is brought back to new in a matter of seconds with a simple polishing. It is actually amazing how great it can look after just a minute of gently polishing it hand free. They are kit sold on ebay for that. Three little sponges with a different grit for each. One minute of polishing every year is no big deal and the bezel looks like new; My two cents.

@ThisIsJulianC

7 ай бұрын

Correct - the video was intended to be a comparison of how these two watches are holding up, I was expecting them both to look scruffier than they are. I was as equally surprised that the Fenix looked so good as I was that the Epix (bezel) didn't. I am sure it can be cleaned up I will let Mrs C know thanks for the tip. PS - nice to see the NMA content on your channel - respect for the work you have created with them. My first gig was during Ghost of Cain... lost count of how many gigs in between then and the last time I saw them live Amsterdam 1999, so its been a while but they are still regulars on my playlist

@nemosandman

7 ай бұрын

@@ThisIsJulianC Thank you for the nice words. 🙂 New album available soon. They are touring for it in 2024. Also their symphonic last opus is honey for the ears. :-)

@nemosandman

7 ай бұрын

@@ThisIsJulianC And protect the glass with your thumb while polishing the bezel. Better safe than sorry even with sapphire. ;-)

@JasonRaneses

7 ай бұрын

Garmin’s titanium watches with a DLC coating cannot be polished. That’s most of their titanium lineup when it comes down to it.

@nemosandman

7 ай бұрын

@@JasonRaneses That was not my point. And Diamond Like Coated titanium bezel get aged beautifully. So there is no need to polish it unless you want to create some kind of vintage patina.

I have 7S SS grey version. I was very surprised how durable is watch itself comparing to my previous Vivoactive 3. Very good watch. I hope that next 8th version would be same.

@ThisIsJulianC

7 ай бұрын

Fenix 8.... let's see!

Two additional points since publishing this video: (1) Garmin have issued an article on how to fix scratches and wear on their titanium watch bands and bezels. You can find it here: support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=N5DXQxOycO7K9pCfg75RjA If the titanium is DLC coated they advise not to attempt to repair the surface. (2) I realized after filming this video that I am mispronouncing 'Fenix' all over again. I thought I had fixed that a long time ago... feel free to have a laugh at my expense

Love the video, thanks! I would love to hear what you think about the differences in the displays? I have an Apple Watch and I don't like the display. I would rather one like the Fenix where it doesn't emit light all the time just to see the time.

@ThisIsJulianC

7 ай бұрын

Thanks. I like the MIP display on the Fenix. I don’t need amoled to see my fitness data, time and weather, if I want to see what’s on my phone… I look at my phone. The Fenix display looks more purposeful so there is a style to it, but it does polarize opinions. Some see it as old fashioned LCD, I am happy with Fenix right now.

Not only does the bezel on the Fenix look beautiful, you also got a great strap for it. Cool orange and blue combination. What strap is that? 😊

@ThisIsJulianC

7 ай бұрын

It’s by ANCOOL they are on Amazon

This makes sense with the new Apple iPhone 15 Pro and my experience with the Titanium PowerBook G4. One caveat: I presume the Epix Pro Gen 2 is not a 42mm Sapphire Edition in Soft Gold as I understand its bezel is Stainless Steel. It’s the only Epix Pro Gen 2 I’m considering at the moment.

@ThisIsJulianC

7 ай бұрын

Look for the terms DLC and/or Titanium in the watch specs (DLC = Diamond Like Coated). Unless specified on the watch or watch band product page as DLC, the titanium is considered uncoated. The 42mm Pro Sapphire Soft Gold looks to be stainless since there is no reference to Titanium or DLC.

@nonrevguy

7 ай бұрын

@@ThisIsJulianCThanks. I’m confirming that the Epix Pro in your video is NOT a 42mm Sapphire Soft Gold model with a stainless steel bezel.

@ThisIsJulianC

7 ай бұрын

OK got it - correct it’s not gold and it’s titanium

Do u think the epix gen 2 is still worth it to buy now? Since it’s on big sale at moment, 40% off..is the heart accuracy good enough on epix gen 2 comparing to the epix pro ?and comparing epix gen 2 to venu 3 and forerunner 965 which one do u think is better ? Since they are about the same price…

@ThisIsJulianC

7 ай бұрын

I'll separate these out a little. Epix Gen 2 is still an awesome watch. It does not have the flashlight of the Pro, only comes in one size and the 51mm Pro has a much better battery life. If the size of the Gen 2 is what you want and you don't care about the flashlight then the Epix Gen 2 is a great buy. I would not look for the Epix Pro because of the HR sensor. It adds the EKG feature but in terms of usage etc I do not see a significant enough benefit to buy the Pro over the Gen 2. I would buy the Epix Pro now for the larger size 51mm, the extended battery and the flashlight. IMO the new benefits of the HR sensor are much more marketing oriented. Venu, Epix and Forerunner are all similarly capable watches but with very different styles. It comes down to which you like the look of and which fits the use case you have. I chose the Feni because it has all the feature I want and the styling is to my taste. I could have got the Forerunner and got all the same features but in a different looking watch. So which one you want is more down to how you think it looks on your wrist, and to some extent the price point. If they are the same price and the choice was just those three I would get the Forerunner 965. Hope this helps

@brucelin5842

6 ай бұрын

Thank for replay , but the reason you choose 965 is because of? @@ThisIsJulianC

@ThisIsJulianC

6 ай бұрын

If I had to choose between those three at the same price point I prefer the 965 for display and overall style/ appearance. The watch I have is the Fenix 7X but that wasn’t in your list of three. Hope this helps

I was confused with the pricing on the net the fenix 7x it’s pricing is depending you shop it’s going 600 to 700 used or new but AWU 1 going 400 to 600 used/refurbished for new a bit more few bucks more 🤔 What’s going on 😂 I even checked my enduro 2 still high no way awu cheaper Finally my tactix 7 pro 🙄😅 still high wtf. Yeah AWU cheaper 😮I’m still shocked & surprised Does it matter not really but damn 1 year to 2 years the price’s are ridiculous. I guess you buy one to last a long long long time ☝️👍

@ThisIsJulianC

7 ай бұрын

Fenix used prices hold up very well compared to Apple Watches. People generally just see an Apple Watch as something they replace more frequently than other watches. Apple's marketing is pretty awesome in creating this behavior, hats off to them, but I'll keep my Fenix 7X a few more years yet :-) Doesn't seem to apply to Garmin's Forerunner watches, they tend to lose value faster than Fenix & Tactix.

My titanium watches seems to be OK (except the 965) I guess, it's probably due to the coating.

@ThisIsJulianC

7 ай бұрын

People generally report that the Forerunner 965 titanium bezel holds up well so far. It was only launched 7 months ago however, so all 965 watches are still relatively new

@WariWahab

7 ай бұрын

@@ThisIsJulianC the first week or so I got the 965, there's a light scratch at the 11:00 position on the bezel. Anyway, it adds character to the watch 😅

Mine got a watermarks on the screen after 1.5 years. Can you give me some tip on how to prevent it? Your screen looks brand new. And also, how do you clean your watch after your activity?

@ThisIsJulianC

6 ай бұрын

What do you mean by a watermark, something under the screen? I am happy with how the screen looks, all my other Garmin watches in the past have looked much more scuffed by this time, they have usually been Forerunners. I wear it 24/7 but I do remove it if I am painting/decorating or doing any wrenching work on a car/truck but other than that it is on me all the time. I run my watch front and back quickly under the faucet after each activity and then dry with a towel. That gets any sweat salt off of the watch and prevents any risk of build up.

@just_teen9848

6 ай бұрын

@@ThisIsJulianC it’s like a water stain outside the glass I think. Have no idea where I get it. My forerunner 945 had the same problem.