My 5 year old Venu's screen has passed the point of being readable, so it's new watch time. I use it for MTB, road bike, commuting, running, SUP and surf mostly. Wear it 24/7. I've got an Edge for my bike bit I'm using it it's and less.
A touchscreen would be nice as it's what I'm used to, but the new Venu is ££££
Instinct 3 seemed to tick all the boxes and it's currently under £300, all set for that and then I noticed that the Epix 2 Pro is hovering around £350 with some work discount. Brings mapping and the better HR sensor into the equation, which would seem like a no brainer for that bit more, but I'm very aware I'd be buying something which is basically EoL.
Or is there another model that I've overlooked? Don't want to spend more than £350ish and I want decent battery life.
I've watched countless videos but hasn't really helped!
I've had an Epix Pro Gen2 for just over 2 years now, it's been great. No issues, love the sapphire display, means any scratches have eventually rubbed away, I get about 27d battery life from a full charge.
My only complaint is HRV tracking and the Garmin algorithms themselves, if HRV is off it effs loads of other metrics up, I've been in a calorie deficit since March and lost over 5 stone and my HRV is settled around 20-22ms when it actually takes an accurate reading overnight which it usually doesn't as I, like many other humans, actually move around in bed, so for HR it's great. SP02 great, HRV not so great. According to Garmin I've either got some seriously wild underlying health condition going on or I'm just dying in general, doesn't take into account the fact I've lost weight and dieting all the time which stresses the central nervous system. So as a result my training load is always overreaching, my sleep is always "poor", my training readiness never "high" and my body battery never gets above 55.
Another thing that winds me up is the V02 max measurement, before shedding the weight my 5k pb was 44 minutes, my current pb is 28.02 minutes, yet my v02 max has stayed around 36/37 because I don't do any baseline long runs I get 2 runs in a week always at or near max effort and it doesn't like that, because I'm not an athlete so don't train like an athlete and unless you do thats another metric that's nye on useless.
I've had to ignore most of and listen to my body and crack on, but for tracking exercise, the gps, the watch it's self absolutely great.
I’ve got an Epix
The display is great and map navigation in your wrist is nice to have but hardly essential
It goes in for a warranty repair this weekend for a stuck button. I miss having a watch and easy access to heart rate during exercise. But to be honest I’m enjoying the holiday from hrv, sleep scores and general Garmin non sense. Oh and it can’t count lengths in the pool
Does it HAVE to be a Garmin?
I looked at Garmin's watch prices when my Forerunner 945 died and thought f++k that and bought a one month old, s/h Amazafit of Facebook Marketplace for peanuts and have been very happy (granted, I don't run or do multiple other sports, though the watch can do more than enough sports for me).
It's waterproof, got GPs, mapping (not great, though 😀), HRM, on board music, touch screen, and built in speaker/mic that allows me to take phone calls without touching my phone.
I know Garmin has the reputation but their pricing was high years ago but has gone insane the last couple of model releases...the Amazafit opened my eyes to what else is available without that premium
Following Vlad's does it have to be Garmin Q, Polar have the Grit X2 for 330 in the Black Friday sale. Probs fits your multisport needs
'Another thing that winds me up is the V02 max measurement, before shedding the weight my 5k pb was 44 minutes, my current pb is 28.02 minutes, yet my v02 max has stayed around 36/37 because I don't do any baseline long runs I get 2 runs in a week always at or near max effort and it doesn't like that, because I'm not an athlete so don't train like an athlete and unless you do thats another metric that's nye on useless.'
You're not doing anything to improve your VO2 max so it won't do much. It's not a useless measurement, but it's not a measurement that is particularly relevant to what you're training. It is apparently much misunderstood tho'