I get warm, stretch legs and arms. Now start the activity on the clock.Sunset in nine minutes.The clock suddenly switches on the flashlight in stroboscope mode while I stand confused.
»But why? … Uh!«The clock wants to draw attention to me with increasing darkness.
That was just one of many moments that let me write the following lines with enthusiasm. Yes, the price of the watch is one of the "blast", announced in the teaser, in a negative sense.
But Garmin offers a lot for this price. In my opinion, the attention to detail and the scope of functions reflect the performance of the watch very well and a recommendation rarely glued more easily over my lips. Which smartwatch should all of this output at a cheaper price?
Transparency note:Garmin provided me with the Fenix 8 solar for the test free of charge. The manufacturer had no influence on the article content and did not get any access to the test. There was no obligation to report a test report
Quick navigation
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- Garmin Fenix 8 solar: a computer on the wrist
- Garmin Fenix 8 solar: navigation? No problem!
- How does the display of the Fenix 8 Solar do?
- Sport: The Garmin Fenix 8 Solar cuts out excellently
- Is the Garmin Fenix 8 solar suitable for sleeping tracking?
- A battery life is King!
- Garmin Pay statt Google Pay
- App Store and adaptability
- Garmin Fenix 8 Solar: No subscription necessary
- How long does the smartwatch updates get?
- Notes on data protection
- Should you buy the Garmin Fenix 8 solar?
Garmin Fenix 8 solar: a computer on the wrist
The smartwatch is available in the solar variant in two sizes:
- 47 Millimeter
- 51 Millimeter
Thanks to the silicone bracelet, the model with 47 millimeters hugs my wrist very well, with 4 millimeters more being too much.
For narrower wrists, the manufacturer at least offers the AMOLED model with 43 millimeters.
The design of the Garmin Fenix 8 Solar screams for »Outdoor«. There is no model with 43 millimeters. Unfortunately.
With a proud height of 13.8 millimeters, the watch looks like a computer on the arm, in short: the smart watch makes a powerful impression. However, the form factor brings with it a number of advantages.
For example, there is a flashlight under the hood, which has blown up my absolute favorite function of a smartwatch due to its high luminosity.
Other conventional smartwatches illuminate their display and create a kind of "flashlight". Compared to the Fenix 8 solar, these approaches seem exaggerated as a gimmick.
In addition, the smartwatch offers a stroboscope effect for the LEDs to draw attention to me, as mentioned at the beginning, for example with increasing darkness. The flashlight of the Garmin clock can also shine both white and red.
Red light affects the night vision less as a white light. So you can keep an eye on the environment even after the light has been switched off. All of this can be selected directly via the clock.
Garmin Fenix 8 Apple Watch Ultra 2The flashlight strikes that of the Apple Watch Ultra 2. But the Apple smartwatch also helps in very dark environments. If I press the upper left button twice, the clock brings light into the dark. Unfortunately, the manufacturer does not provide any information about the exact details of the luminosity.
There are also a number of smart functions. News from WhatsApp and Co. can be conveniently answered via the clock's keyboard or pre -made short answers to contacts.
Thanks to the speaker and microphone, making calls is also no problem. To do this, you have to have your smartphone nearby. There is no LTE version of Garmin. Too bad!
Helpful: With the help of the microphone, I can easily record language notes for myself on the way and play later - if I don't have a cell phone or notepad on hand for an important thoughts.
To show all menus clearly breaks the frame. Be sure to be able to make (almost) all settings over the clock.
In all functions, however, the control has the famous horse foot, at least with me.
- There are five pushers on the number. So far I have used smartwatches almost exclusively via the touchscreen.
- The Fenix 8 Solar also offers a touchscreen control, but it turns out to be inaccurate, which is why I finally switched to the buttons. When I scroll through the display, a menu item opens unintentionally.
- In the meantime, my fingers have been calibrated on the control, but still eat every now and then.
Despite the control that is unusual for me, the device gives me the pleasant feeling of being able to make all settings without any problems over the clock, which shows, for example, when navigation.
Garmin Fenix 8 solar: navigation? No problem!
The manufacturer equips the smartwatch with the latest GPS technology, which makes it particularly interesting for hiking friends like me. The multi-band GPS enables a precise position determination, which you can usually rely on.
In addition to rudimentary route navigation, the watch offers a variety of exciting options:
- Explore the environment: This function shows Points of Interest (POIS) in the surrounding area, such as restaurants, petrol stations or sights. It is particularly helpful if you want to orientate yourself in an unknown area - for example on vacation.
- Create route: Allows a new route to be planned directly on the clock. You can choose points on the map to create an individual route.
- Roundtrip-Routing: This function automatically calculates a circular route on the basis of the desired distance and direction. Up to three route options are created that lead back to the starting point without using the same way twice.
- Turn and go. With this function, a direct line can be created to a visible, distant object. This is useful for navigation to landmarks that can be seen in the distance.
- Coordinates: Allows you to enter certain geographical coordinates, to which a route is then calculated. This function is particularly useful to precisely determine a goal.
- Back to the start: This function leads on the shortest way back to the starting point of the activity. This is particularly helpful if you have changed the route in the meantime and want to return to the starting point.
- Favorite: You can also access favorites or recently started activities directly from the clock.
In a few steps, the Garmin clock creates a hiking route. Without a smartphone or laptop.
My heart was conquered by the Roundrip routing function in the storm,. The "sometimes by unknown realms" hiking without additional apps worked so easily and reliably that such a feature must be on my packing list for the next hiking vacation.
So far I have not yet been able to find any (cheap) alternative to Garmin, which brings such a function with it. That means: on this point the smartwatch is unrivaled for me.
How does the display of the Fenix 8 Solar do?
A so-called MIP display (memory-in-pixel) is used for the solar variant, an amoled display for the other variant.
MIP is an energy-saving display technology that offers a satisfactory image quality with very low power consumption thanks to a memory integrated in each pixel.
As the name »Solar« already reveals, the smartwatch converts sunlight into energy and easily loads the battery, which has a considerable term anyway (more on that later).
So a big advantage if you are outdoors often and for a long time. The MIP screen shines in direct sunlight and offers better readability in very bright environments.
When running or hiking, this advantage ensures that I pick an inner flower, which also reveals a few thorns.
In the dark environment, almost every other display beats the solar variant in terms of brightness. In addition, the colors don't look as bright as with conventional AMOLED displays.
For this, the display of the solar variant remains permanently switched on without noticeably wrapped on the battery. The backlight in a very dark environment can be temporarily switched on by pressing a button. But you shouldn't expect miracles.
In short: The choice between solar and amoled model depends above all on your preferences. If you are mostly outdoors, the Garmin Fenix 8 Solar offers the better overall package.
Sport: The Garmin Fenix 8 Solar cuts out excellently
The Garmin clock is primarily an outdoor sports clock that wants to be taken away. In addition to the extensive card functions, Garmin plays his cards skillfully in the fitness area.
My three favorites are stored on the clock itself, which I can start with a few button. After training, the Connect app prepares the festival of data and diagrams, which puts some competitors in the shade.
The information ranges from heart rate, speed, meter of altitude, step frequency to training effect and overall distance. I always enjoy evaluating the data after training.
How exactly are the data?At least with the heart rate, Garmin plays in the league of the chest straps. Depending on the sport, he even succeeded in a spot landing, which is remarkable.
When running, the watch shows (almost) continuously solid values in the end result, but fights with larger rashes in the diagrams compared to the chest strap in a measurement (out of a total of seven).
The following table provides information about running, strength training and indoor cycling. Each of these sports was carried out at least twice for test purposes.
Measurements of the heart rate
Run
Measurement 1
| Device | HF cut | HF Max |
|---|---|---|
| Fenix 8 | 157 | 183 |
| Polar H10 | 156 | 181 |
Measurement 2:
| Device | HF cut | HF Max |
|---|---|---|
| Fenix 8 | 143 | 179 |
| Polar H10 | 143 | 178 |
Strength training
| Device | HF cut | HF Max |
|---|---|---|
| Fenix 8 | 118 | 146 |
| Polar H10 | 118 | 146 |
Indoor Cycling
| Device | HF cut | HF Max |
|---|---|---|
| Fenix 8 | 116 | 159 |
| Polar H10 | 114 | 157 |
Why a chest strap as a reference?
A chest strap for measuring the heart rate is considered a gold standard and offers decisive advantages over other methods such as optical pulse measurement on the wrist.
Breast belts measure the electrical signals of the heart directly, which potentially leads to much more precise heart rate measurements. External factors such as skin color, hair growth or fit of the device also influence the measurement with a chest strap less.
Apart from the rudimentary sports and functions, the manufacturer offers the usual range of functions.
- Garmin Coach: Creates a plan tailored to the personal goal, such as distance or speed goals, improvement in general fitness, constraint or training for a (half) marathon.
- EKG: Garmin now offers an EKG function for measuring the electrical activity of the heart.
- Heart rate variability (HFV): If you wear the watch over several weeks while sleeping on your wrist, the Smarwatch determines your HFV status. This value gives short and scarce information about your current physical well -being.
- Challenges: Offer a motivating way to set sporty goals and measure yourself against others. Challenges can take a day, a week, a month or even a year. For completed challenges, so -called Badges (successes) are obtained, which are permanently saved in the profile.
- For music and podcasts:If you only come into the house with a music function, there is an all-clear. Garmin now supports all well -known providers such as Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music and Deezer.
Is the Garmin Fenix 8 solar suitable for sleeping tracking?
Like all other health gadgets, the Garmin Fenix 8 Solar does not replace a sleep laboratory, but provides useful insights into long -term trends. Compared to the Apple Watch Ultra 2 andIf the smartwatch measures almost identical values in the sleeping length.
The results are mixed in comparison in the sleep phases. The clock has the biggest deviations in light and deep sleep.
However, this test is primarily intended to show whether a health gadget has significant deviations in tracking compared to other devices. So the truth is probably somewhere in between.
Measurements of sleep tracking
Measurement 1 (in hours)
| Device | In total | Light | Deep | REM | Awake |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fenix 8 | 06:43 | 03:53 | 01:52 | 00:58 | 00:01 |
| Apple Watch | 06:49 | 04:45 | 00:43 | 01:21 | 00:23 |
| Helio Ring | 07:13 | 04:32 | 01:11 | 01:30 | 0:00 |
Measurement 2 (in hours)
| Device | In total | Light | Deep | REM | Awake |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fenix 8 | 07:40 | 04:51 | 01:20 | 01:29 | 00:00 |
| Apple Watch | 07:42 | 05:16 | 00:46 | 01:40 | 00:04 |
| Helio Ring | 07:38 | 06:09 | 00:49 | 00:40 | 00:00 |
In the test, all three devices indicate identical values for monitoring the sleeping length, so that the watch is definitely an option. Another device would be more suitable for the exact examination of the sleep phases.
Tracking the sleep pays to the Ergenis of the Sleep Score, with which you follow the trends of the past few weeks. In addition, Garmin gives recommendations for the potential improvements in sleep.
In addition to the heart rate, the clock also measures heart rate variability during the night.
The heart rate variability (HRV) describes the fluctuations in time intervalsBetween consecutive heartbeats and is an indicator of the adaptability of the autonomous nervous system of physical and psychological requirements.
A high HRV indicates good health and flexibility, while low HRV can indicate stress, overload or health problems.
These values, along with the activities, influence the body battery so -called by Garminthat is supposed to reflect the performance for the day. I mentioned this in previous tests:
- In my eyes, such a value is a beautiful bonus and often (but not always!) A gross guideline that reflects the perceived performance.
- So far, this value has not brought me new knowledge. At none of the gadgets tested so far.
- The body feeling of a potentially high or low performance does not necessarily have to reflect a smartwatch.
However, the data is often provided with useful information for training. For example, the app motivates me to make more efforts than usual.
As with theI appreciate the Morning Report on the clock. When I wake up, I get all vital data together on the smartwatch and can prepare for the day. Appointments and the weather are also shown to me.
A battery life is King!
The Garmin Fenix 8 Solar reached a very good term in the test with almost 13 1/2 days. Depending on the user profile, longer or shorter terms are potentially possible. Longer card navigations with GPS, for example, draw significantly more on the battery, while short sporting activities and sleep tracking influence the term less.
With the first battery charge, I carried out the following activities and made settings:
- Eight sporting activities (running, strength training, indoor cycling)
- A larger hike of almost three hours with activated GPS (about 8 percentage points went flutes).
- I wore the clock on my wrist 14 nights.
- The display was firmly set to 50 percent brightness.
- The notifications were also active.
- Outside, the watch was worn with little sunlight in winter weather.
The latter in particular is likely to have a greater effect thanks to the solar bladder lens in late spring and summer, especially in T-shirt weather. After all, I was able to make one percentage point on a two-hour hike with sunshine and without an active GPS signal.
I cannot (yet) check whether the manufacturer of almost 33 percent more term is correct. But the Garmin clock proves an impressive term anyway, regardless of the sun's rays.
Garmin Pay statt Google Pay
A ko criterion results for everyone who has replaced their EC card with a smartwatch. The selection of the supported banks for paying with the clock is very limited and limited to MasterCard and Visa.
You have the opportunity to link a digital debit card with your bank via Vimpay. You can find details on the correspondingSupport page. I still have no experience with this app and therefore recommend studying the terms of use and data protection provisions closely.
In the test, the facility was done in just a few steps with a compatible debit card and I was able to use the watch without any problems. For the future I would like a connection to PayPal, similar to Google Pay.
App Store and adaptability
A big disadvantage in addition to the payment option over the clock can be seen in the area of the apps. Garmin relies on its own operating system and accordingly the App Store leaves something to be desired compared to Wear OS and Watchos.
Nevertheless, as already mentioned in the text, the watch brings many smart functions that make an additional app obsolete. Before changing from an Apple Watch, a Wear OS Uhr or another smartwatch, I recommend checking whether an app or function is also available at Garmin.
On the other hand, the generous adaptability of the dials is encouraging. The metrics can be arranged on the so -called complications as desired and the colors are also interchangeable.
In the additional app Connect IQ, further designs (for a fee) can also be downloaded or created with the "Face IT" function.
Garmin Fenix 8 Solar: No subscription necessary
In the age of subscriptions, gadgets for health and sport with paid premium subscriptions are not uncommon. Fortunately, Garmin does not use monthly fees for all the functions mentioned and unlocks the abundance of functions ex works.
For special services, the manufacturer still offers optionalSubscriptionson that could be interesting for a very great target group.
How long does the smartwatch updates get?
Garmin does not make any promises on how long the respective smartwatch will be supplied with (functional) updates. However, the past shows that the Fenix series in particular is supplied with new versions for several years.
Notes on data protection
If you create an account with Garmin Connect and allow the synchronization of the data between the smartwatch and app, the personal data ends up on the Garmin servers.
Smartwatches can also be used without data transmission. However, some functions are then not available or only available to a limited extent.
The manufacturer himself states not to sell the personal data to third parties.
Where are your data saved? Garmin himself states that personal data is stored on servers in the USA, Great Britain and/or Australia. Unfortunately, the guidelines are not clear where the data for people with residence in Europe is stored.
So assume that your data will leave the continent if in doubt.
- Further information on the data protection regulations is available on theWebsite of the manufacturer.
- The data management for viewing, exporting and deleting is on theAccount page.
Worth knowing about the test
So I tested
Heart rate: I wear all tested wearables in sports together with the Polar H10 breast belt in order to obtain the most precise reference value as possible. In addition to running (outdoor), I also carried the smartwatch during strength training and indoor cycling.
Each exercise was carried out at least twice in the test. When running, the smartwatch showed a larger deviation that was taken into account in the table.
Schlaftracking: Each wearable is worn together with at least two other devices during sleep, which usually offer reliable sleep measurement and, in the best case, are clinically validated (such as the Apple Watch).
Unfortunately, a sleep laboratory cannot be used as a reference. However, I can determine whether a wearable in tracking in the sleeping length and the sleep phases deviates from the reference patterns and thus recognized a trend.
Steps: A total route of 1000 meters was measured with two special pedometers. This route is covered with every wearable and the deviation of the wearable is checked by the actual steps. Since some smartwatches now have a minimal deviation from the actual steps, this is only mentioned in large deviations.
Specifications
| Category | specification |
|---|---|
| Display size | 1.3 inches |
| Display resolution | 260 x 260 Pixel |
| Displaytechnologie | Transflektives MIP mit Power Sapphire Solar-Ladelinse |
| Housing size | 47 x 47 x 15,2 Millimeter |
| Weight | 57 grams (only housing) |
| Storage space | 32 GB |
| Account time (smartwatch mode) | Up to 28 days with a solar load |
| Accounting time (GPS mode) | Up to 67 hours |
| Account time (Ultratrac mode) | Up to 283 hours with a solar load |
| Waterproofness | 10 ATM (up to 100 meters) |
| Sensors | GPS, Glonass, Galileo, Beiidou, Qzss, Satiq, Höhometer, barometer, compass, pulse oximeter, heart rate sensor |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth, ANT+, WLAN |
| Special features | Integrated LED flashlight with different modes Loudspeaker and microphone |
| compatibility | Android und iOS (Connect-App) |
| Housing material | Fiber-reinforced polymer with a titanium bezel |
| Bracelet | 22 Millimeter |
| Preis | 1100 euros (RRP) |
Prices and availability
The Garmin Fenix 8 Solar is already available at a price of 1,100 euros (RRP).
Should you buy the Garmin Fenix 8 solar?
The Garmin Fenix 8 Solar is worth it for you if you ...
... have more hiking shoes than outdoor shoes on the shelf.
... in your free time are mostly outside.
... is looking for an almost uncompromising smartwatch for sports and outdoor.
... put a long battery life at the top of the Spec list.
... thanks to the flashlight, never want to push the little toe in the dark again.
Possible alternatives to the Garmin Fenix 8 Solar
The Garmin Fenix 7 is significantly cheaper for some dealersAnd also offers most of the above functions. However, a less bright display and a lower battery life must be expected.
With the Garmin Enduro 3, the manufacturer sendsan endurance-oriented smartwatch with MIP display. For 200 euros less, you do without smart functions such as voice control or call options (only received calls). If you are looking for a watch to dive, you should keep your fingers from the Enduro 3. In contrast to the Fenix 8, the keys are not waterproof.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is ideal for iPhone users. Their biggest advantage is the LTE functionality, with which you can safely leave the smartphone at home. It is also a smartwatch with many apps and functions. However, the greatest disadvantages are the comparatively low battery life of two to three days and the limited route navigation. The backtrack function cannot keep up with that of Garmin.
The Garmin Fenix 8 Solar convinces as an outdoor and sports smartwatch despite its proud price. For this, the manufacturer leaves nothing to be desired with the watch and attracts with an extremely lavish overall package that reveals only a few disadvantages.
If LTE functionalities, a large selection of apps and paying are extremely important via Google Pay, you should look for alternatives away from Garmin. If the price falls in the next few weeks and months, the clock should be less than 1,000 euros more attractive.
