Garmin Epix Gen 2 review: The ultimate fitness watch

Garmin Epix Gen 2 evaluate: The final word health watch

MSRP $900.00

“The Garmin Epix collection 2 gives detailed, in-depth well being metrics for devoted athletes and novices alike.”

Professionals

• As much as 16 days of battery life
• Extremely exact coronary heart fee monitoring
• Detailed well being metrics
• Constructed-in altimeter and compass
• Nice social options
• In depth knowledge customization

Cons

• Excessive price ticket
• Some metrics really feel inaccurate
• No capability to reply to messages by means of the watch

There’s worth in realizing details about your well being. In case you’re attempting to get in form, realizing your present resting coronary heart fee can inform you numerous about your current degree of cardiovascular well being. Your coronary heart fee additionally tells you numerous about how efficient your exercise is for burning fats, constructing endurance, and extra. Your Pulse Ox offers an estimation of the oxygen saturation degree in your blood, whereas your Respiration offers you a median of how a lot you breathe from minute to minute.

The Garmin Epix 2nd Gen tells me all this data and extra. All I’ve to do is put on it. It’s one of many smartest fitness watches I’ve ever worn. With just a few tweaks and enhancements, it may very well be the one finest smartwatch I’ve ever used. The Garmin Epix is designed for severe athletes, however it additionally carries a severe worth level.

Extra well being data than I can shake a stick at

The primary goal of the Garmin Epix is to tell you everything about your personal health and fitness. It gives a ridiculous quantity of knowledge — the truth is, extra data than I can actually use. As an illustration, it contains monitoring details about diving and even golf — two sports activities I’ve by no means participated in.

All the data is obtainable on the Garmin Epix itself (known as “Glances”), however you’ll be able to see a extra detailed breakdown in your cellphone by means of the app. The “My Day Card” exhibits you data like what I detailed earlier than, however you’ll be able to add or take away knowledge that you simply aren’t focused on seeing. All the choices embrace:

• Coaching Standing: The Coaching Standing metric makes use of your VO2 Max estimate, your warmth and altitude efficiency acclimation, and your coaching load to gauge how your coaching is progressing.
• Coronary heart Fee: This measures your resting coronary heart fee all through the day, in addition to the very best fee you reached.
• Physique Battery: The Physique Battery takes a number of components like your stress degree, how effectively you slept the night time earlier than, and your train all through the day and determines how a lot “cost” you’ve got left.
• Stress: The Garmin Epix makes use of coronary heart fee variability to gauge an estimate of your stress ranges all through the day.
• Depth Minutes: The Depth Minutes metric measures how a lot time you spent in average to intense train.
• Steps: This one is self-explanatory — it’s a pedometer.
• Flooring: This measures what number of flights of stairs you’ve climbed.
• Energy: You may join the Garmin Epix to MyFitnessPal to trace energy out and in.
• Sleep: The Sleep measurement breaks down how a lot time you spent in every section of sleep, in addition to how a lot time you spent asleep in whole.
• Sleep Rating: The Sleep Rating takes the Sleep measurement and offers you a grade out of 100, together with recommendations on the right way to enhance your sleep.
• Pulse Ox: The Pulse Ox setting measures the oxygen degree in your blood.
• Respiration: The Respiration measurement tracks your common breaths per minute all through the day.
• Weight: That is self-explanatory. You may manually add your weight, or it could actually hook up with sure exterior units and be recorded mechanically.
• Hydration: Your Hydrate measurement is the quantity of water you’ve had all through the day. You will have so as to add this manually.

All of that data is starting to make this evaluate really feel extra like a information, however it’s mandatory to clarify a few of the quibbles I’ve with the system. The guts fee tracker is spot-on; I measured it towards a number of different trackers I’ve and located it to be inside one beat each time.

The Physique Battery is an attention-grabbing function. You aren’t going to drop when your rating is low (and in reality, I don’t suppose it could actually hit zero — mine solely went to 5 on the lowest.) You’ll positively really feel drained with a decrease physique battery rating, although.

Many of the metrics are correct, or no less than inside motive. I’ve used the Garmin Epix for a bit over two weeks now and have had few complaints. The one two that stand out are the Stress and Sleep measurements.

The Stress measurement doesn’t really feel correct within the slightest. It’s primarily based in your coronary heart fee, so whereas exercising or exerting your self, your stress degree is perhaps excessive. The watch advised me I used to be underneath excessive quantities of stress when resting on the sofa one night time watching TV. Contemplating I used to be half-asleep on the time, I’ve to respectfully disagree.

The Sleep measurement is correct, however not an ideal reflection of your precise vitality ranges. Decrease quantities of sleep ought to translate to decrease vitality ranges, however there have been a number of nights the place it confirmed lower than 5 hours of sleep the place I wakened and felt nice. I seen that the sleep measurement stops in case you are awake for too lengthy at any given time, so it would register much less sleep than I really had.

Extra detailed data for people who need it

All the above metrics can be found at a look, however the Garmin Epix gives extra detailed well being data for people who need it. For instance, it gives customers with a Health Age estimate that compares your precise age to your physique’s degree of health.

I’m 32, however it says my health age is 30. By rising the quantity of train I get every week, the watch says I may cut back that to the health degree of a 26-year-old.

You may measure your Lactate Threshold and HRV Stress ranges by means of using the Epix, paired with a Garmin chest coronary heart fee monitor. This isn’t included with the Epix and requires a separate buy. Garmin gives a number of coronary heart fee screens, a few of that are designed for use by swimmers whereas others are for cyclists and runners.

Once more, this isn’t important for regular day-to-day operation of the Epix — however severe athletes will admire the function.

A loopy variety of coaching choices

A number of customization, however not a number of selection

There’s lots you are able to do together with your Garmin Epix from an aesthetic perspective. The face could be custom-made by downloading a secondary app known as ConnectIQ from the App Store or the Google Play Store.

ConnectIQ allows you to browse dozens of various faces for Garmin smartwatches. As a result of it’s the catch-all app, not each face is suitable with each watch — however I not often encountered any that wouldn’t work with the Epix. The largest drawback is that many of those faces are custom-made and can ask you to make a donation by means of PayPal; in case you don’t, the face will always change and pester you for cash.

There are a number of fully free choices, although. I settled on one which exhibits an enormous quantity of knowledge, together with the present climate, dawn and sundown instances, coronary heart fee, stair rely, step rely, and extra. The one situation I’ve encountered with it thus far is that the temperature typically isn’t correct.

ConnectIQ additionally allows you to create {custom} watch faces by means of its Face It tab. In case you’re the kind that prefers to make one thing fully your personal, it’s price trying out. I didn’t have a lot luck, however then once more, my inventive skills cease at Paint By Quantity books.

There are a number of faces to select from, however I discovered lots of them to be so related that they made little distinction. The Garmin Epix is a coaching software, in any case — even its bodily design is sporty. It gained’t pair effectively with a blazer and cufflinks, so don’t fear about discovering a proper dinner-worthy watch face.

The ConnectIQ app isn’t only for discovering watch faces, although. You may join varied music apps straight to your Epix and obtain music to hearken to offline. You may join Bluetooth headphones to your Epix and hearken to music with out taking your cellphone with you.

There are additionally different coaching apps out there by means of ConnectIQ, however not all are created equally. Many are community-made, and these apps could be hit and miss. Pay shut consideration to the ranking rating for every app. Some, just like the Hydration Monitoring app from Garmin, solely scored 1.5 stars out of 5, whereas the Wikiloc Trails app had a 4 out of 5 from effectively over 1,000 customers.

The Epix has some epic options

The Epix isn’t the primary Garmin smartwatch I’ve examined, however it’s by far the perfect. It has a few options I haven’t seen earlier than; for instance, it has a built-in altimeter and compass. It’s not a function I anticipated to make use of a lot, however I’ve discovered myself pulling up the compass on a couple of event.

The built-in stopwatch can also be tremendously helpful, though I’ll admit I’ve used it for cooking greater than coaching. The Epix is simple to navigate and has grow to be a lot part of my every day put on that I really feel unusual when it isn’t on my wrist.

The Garmin Epix can stand up to 16 days of battery life in smartwatch mode, however I discovered it nearer to 5 to 6 with the always-on display screen. Charging takes just a few hours. I discover I not often go with out carrying the Epix now. It’s waterproof, so you’ll be able to bathe with it (though I nonetheless can’t carry myself to bathe with a smartwatch after years of conserving water removed from electronics.)

You may hyperlink your Garmin account to Fb, Google, and your cellphone’s contacts to search out different Garmin customers you recognize. You may share knowledge and compete towards them so as to add a extra social side to your coaching — one thing that’s significantly good to have in a time when many individuals are nonetheless avoiding the health club.

If none of your mates use Garmin, you’ll be able to seek for public teams to affix. Some are location-based, however others are generalized teams that anybody can participate in. I discovered a number of for tennis and baseball. There are even teams for final frisbee.

Our take

The Garmin Epix combines the perfect options of different Garmin fashions into the last word health watch. It’s onerous to compete towards, however there are just a few choices in case you’re prepared to sacrifice options. The Garmin Venu 2 is a more-affordable $400 however lacks most of the superior instruments the Epix has.

The Apple Watch Series 7 has a number of health options however is extra smartwatch than health tracker. In order for you to have the ability to reply messages or make calls by means of your smartwatch, you’ll want one thing just like the Sequence 7 — the Epix doesn’t have that performance.

How lengthy will it final?

The Garmin Epix is constructed like a tank. It’s snug, however positively has a little bit of weight to it. The display screen is scratch-resistant and able to withstanding a beating, and it’s waterproof as much as 10 meters. I count on it to final for years to come back, but when one thing occurs, Garmin gives a one-year restricted guarantee.

Do you have to purchase it?

Sure — in case you’re a severe athlete in want of an excellent health watch able to offering a slew of knowledge. In case you’re simply beginning out in your health journey, take into account a extra inexpensive various. The $900 worth level is steep for a health tracker that doesn’t have full smartwatch options.

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