I am doing my first ultra in a few months and planning a summer of trail running in preparation. The course is not marked beyond the blazes, the event goes all night and every year plenty of people get lost (generally temporarily). So, a lot of folks get a GPS watch with directional abilities - a big upgrade from the Garmin 235 I run with most of the time.
As best I can tell there are a few options that’ll show you your course as a line on a blank background and beep at you as you go wrong. If you’r in for $500 though, looming at the top of the pile for another $150 is the Garmin Fenix 5X which displays full maps and looks infinitely better at keeping you on course.
Does anyone have one and if so what are your thoughts? Too bloated with features for a pure running watch or manageable? Too big if you’re wrists resemble those of a 9 year old girl or ok? Battery life? (I expect to be on course for 18-22 hours).
Apologies for the running-centric question but
There are no great trail / ultra forums
It’s a $650 gadget I don’t really need and this is a tri forum…
I am doing my first ultra in a few months and planning a summer of trail running in preparation. The course is not marked beyond the blazes, the event goes all night and every year plenty of people get lost (generally temporarily). So, a lot of folks get a GPS watch with directional abilities - a big upgrade from the Garmin 235 I run with most of the time.
As best I can tell there are a few options that’ll show you your course as a line on a blank background and beep at you as you go wrong. If you’r in for $500 though, looming at the top of the pile for another $150 is the Garmin Fenix 5X which displays full maps and looks infinitely better at keeping you on course.
Does anyone have one and if so what are your thoughts? Too bloated with features for a pure running watch or manageable? Too big if you’re wrists resemble those of a 9 year old girl or ok? Battery life? (I expect to be on course for 18-22 hours).
Apologies for the running-centric question but
There are no great trail / ultra forums
It’s a $650 gadget I don’t really need and this is a tri forum…
I’ve got the 5, so the middle sized one. I’ve got normal wrists and it’s big, but OK for races and swimming. The 5X though felt and looked huge on my wrist. Probably OK for running, but I wouldn’t want to swim with it. The 5X has more features like mapping (which might be useful for u) than the 5. The battery life is insane. I did a 70.3 and it still had 70% battery left. It is a multisport watch, so perhaps overkill for a running watch? They do look good though, it looks like a normal everyday watch compared to the 920XT which screamed triathlete! You don’t want that!
I personally only own the 5 without “X”, but very happy with that as a Triathlon watch. I have a friend who used the 5X also for shorter trailruns including mapping, and he was very impressed and loved it. I think it would do the job you want it for very very nicely. Only downsides I can think of is the size and weight (would try it on somewhere, its really massive), and the price (considering you wont use 80% of its features).
I have the Fenix 5 and really like it. The only reason to get the 5x would be the increased battery life. I do think the size is a little big for running (unless you have large wrists). I’m not a fan of mapping on watches- I think it never lives up to promises/ actual usability. The basic mapping/trackback on the 5 for route finding is useful.
I am doing my first ultra in a few months and planning a summer of trail running in preparation. The course is not marked beyond the blazes, the event goes all night and every year plenty of people get lost (generally temporarily). So, a lot of folks get a GPS watch with directional abilities - a big upgrade from the Garmin 235 I run with most of the time.
As best I can tell there are a few options that’ll show you your course as a line on a blank background and beep at you as you go wrong. If you’r in for $500 though, looming at the top of the pile for another $150 is the Garmin Fenix 5X which displays full maps and looks infinitely better at keeping you on course.
Does anyone have one and if so what are your thoughts? Too bloated with features for a pure running watch or manageable? Too big if you’re wrists resemble those of a 9 year old girl or ok? Battery life? (I expect to be on course for 18-22 hours).
Apologies for the running-centric question but
There are no great trail / ultra forums
It’s a $650 gadget I don’t really need and this is a tri forum…
I think for 95% of people the Fenix 5 is plenty. I didn’t’ see much use for the 5X until…like you…I started running trails and training for an Ultra. My trail running is mostly on the same course that I have now memorized, but after being “out” a few times where I didn’t know where I was going I can definitely see the 5X being very useful. In fact, I’m considering it for myself as I’ve increased the amount of trail running I"m doing and have a desire to branch out to new courses.
I can’t speak to the size on the wrist and whether it’s too big as that’s mostly a matter of preference. I own a Fenix 3 and the 5X is nearly identical. It’s a larger watch, but it’s not massive (to me) and I have small wrists (I make up for it with a big body though). When I use my Fenix 3 with the quick-release kit, it’s really out there, but I would say otherwise it’s not abnormal compared to some of the watches I see guys wearing (not GPS watches).
I haven’t actually used any of the Fenix 5 models but I do have a brand new Fenix 5 (not X) Sapphire Performer Bundle for sale if you happen to be interested. Only $550 shipped for a gadget you don’t really need…
I’ve had a 5X since they dropped and it’s been pretty good. I have tiny wrists so it looks a little silly and It’s heavy but you get used to it quickly. I mostly ride these days but occasionally run with it. The mapping feature is nice and battery life is great. I’m still not sold on optical hr functionality as I’ve had some issues but i see hr as a secondary metric anyways.
I have had the 5x for over a year. I race 5k’s to IM distances. The battery life will last a full week being on all the time and 20 hours a week of swim-bike-run.
The 5x is the large size, but they also make the 5s for small wrists.
The Fenix 5 is just the best all around GPS watch out there right now as far as I am concerned. It started off as a hiking device anyways and morphed into a competitor for the multisport crowd.
The maps are great (I don’t use them too often, but great detail). The biggest highlight is the availability of future upgrades and apps. When Garmin intro’s a new watch to a group, the oldest gets booted and loses support over time. The F5 will be around for a while and will be targeted for the IQ apps 3rd party developers create to go with it.
I have the 5X and had it now for a long time and still love it. I am 6’2" and 185 pounds and on me it does not look gargantuan - at least in my view. I swim and run with it and it feels neither cumbersome nor too heavy. It looks great when dressed up too and I would buy it again in a heartbeat. That being said, I really almost never use the mapping feature, and if that is not important to you, the standard 5 will likely be plenty good. The Saphire Crystal glass is important and was a big selling feature to me.
I often get comments about it by non athletes who like the look of it.