I recently went back to my old vivoactive 3 music on a foreign holiday because I couldn’t be doing with charging my Apple Watch every day.

I forgot how good it was as a general watch, and the extra data has helped me a bit being a bit less of a chubster generally.

But compared to my bike Garmin, it’s a bit long in the tooth and missing some of the useful training features so I’m looking to upgrade. I really want a fenix 7 solar but I’m too poor, so I’m down to a choice of a 6 pro or maybe stretching to the forerunner 955 if it’s worth the extra.

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>Training consists of – kayaking for marathon and sprint races, running for fitness and park runs, mountain biking, road riding and general cycling.

I’ll be getting rid of my edge 530 too and mounting my watch on the bike so I’m getting consistent data across all settings</span>

so what is the consensus, is the 955 worth £150 extra? Or will the 6 pro do the job?

I’d be keeping the 530 and buying something like a Forerunner 245. They will work brilliantly together (Physio Tune Up). You’ll get all your 24 hour stuff, plus ease of use when cycling.
I’m not sure what the higher end watches really offer over the mid-range models.

I think the Polar watches would be worth a look: https://singletrackworld.com/tech/2022/07/polar-grit-x-watch-review/

Great battery life and a lot of nerd opportunity with the data. And cheaper than Garmin for the functionality you get, I think.

The 6 Pro has got 95% of the features of the 7 Pro but can be found for ~£250 if you shop around and bide your time for a week or two.

Battery life of 14 days and I’ve used mine for running and riding all over the world with side-loaded maps. They’re still updating the firmware on the 6 (eg just added HRV status) and I think the only thing you don’t get over the 7 is the stamina and race readiness features.

So I switched from a Vivoactive 3 to a Forerunner 955
Cost was steep but I am so glad I did. At the time I too wanted a Fenix 7 but after having now seen a 7 in the flesh I think I made the right choice – the reduced weight and size of the 955 makes it feel like a nice always on watch.
Plus, so much data. I genuinely don’t know what stretching further for the 7 would have got me other than a moderately more robust casing.

I’d be keeping the 530 and buying something like a Forerunner 245. They will work brilliantly together (Physio Tune Up). You’ll get all your 24 hour stuff, plus ease of use when cycling.

Still on special, too – £100 off the 245 right now

Considered an Instinct Solar? Because you mentioned the holiday…. I took mine to the Balaerics recently. I went out with 79% battery and came back with 82% (about 21 days worth) after wearing it for 10 days including 4hrs of GPS use for MTB. Admittedly the Fenix will look nicer as a daily.

Will also True Up with the 530.

I believe the ForeRunner 955 is the same as the Fenix but using lighter (plastic) materials and isn’t as chunky – battery life may not be as long – but it is the same watch (or at least My 935 appeared to be the same as the Fenix 5 other than plastic lighter body and not as chunky (but battery life seemed to be very similar).

I think someone had posted up a link to some Fenix 6 Pro offers of about £320 – still not cheap, but it is a lot of watch and features for that price. I’m struggling to work out any real reason for me to change my 6 Pro for a 7 as there doesn’t seem to be enough ‘extras’ on the 7 that makes me think the 6 is outdated now. (extras being more data measurements that I may understand or use)

Just gone from a fr935 to a fr255. The 955 was my other option. The 255 and 955 had updated features I wanted, do pulse ox, and also have the updated GPS chipset. Iirc the 955 has a ‘better’ screen which is also touch sensitive but I CBA with that for another 200 quid.

The 255 is 300 quid and doesn’t have the bulk of the fenix series. I’m happy with it.

Take a look at dcrainmaker for more info on these watches than you’ll ever need.

Have you considered Suunto?

I bought one for mountain racing and multi-day hikes. That was about 5 years ago and mines going strong. It’s bombproof.

New versions are excellent and there’s an outlet store on the site too.

I recently bought a s/h Fenix 6 from a pal of a pal for £100, not a mark on it, who’d bought himself a 7.

It works great and I use the App for any analysis etc.

Very impressed with battery life, will easily go for a week including 3-4 decent length rides.

I’d keep the 530, and add something else to it. I’ve got a 6 Pro and a 530 – data’s pretty consistent between them.

Agree with keeping the 530. I have a 945 and a 530 and the two work really well together.

When riding it’s much, much better to have a larger screen on the bars, mostly for navigation but also for just displying al the data fields.

The optical HR sensor on the Forerunner works well for me so I never use a HR strap – when riding I broadcast the HR signal to the 530 and let it record everythign (as other saud, you get the Physio True-up working between the devices to share data afterwards).

Forerunner 945 and Fenix 6 are bascially the same s/w and sensors – and I think it’s the same between 955 and Fenix 7. Honestly the updates to the next generation are not interesting enough for me to want to upgrade. Most of the shiny new stuff is based on HRV and needs you to wear the watch whilst sleeping (yuk).

Choosing between Forerunner and Fenix is just going to be based on the look you want, and the small weight difference. For everyday use, the Forerunner doesn’t look as good, the more rugged Fenix looks a bit more watch-y.

If you wnt to get updates for longer and like the forerunner look/weight more than the fenix, then as someone else said the 255 is a good option – it’s more a replacement for the 735.

I have a forerunner 245 and wouldn’t buy it again, on the basis that it massively struggles to pick up a GPS signal, meaning sometimes I get incorrect mileage stated for a run or ride.

I regret not looking at Polar…

I’d look at a Fenix 6…seems Amazon have a good offer on right now. I sadly lost my Fenix 6 Pro and bought a Fenix 7 sapphire Solar (for a couple of super-niche features) as a replacement on Klarna finance. The 7 really isn’t worth the extra IMHO.

The 255 looks fantastic VFM too, but since the Fenix 6 Is available for about the same price, it’s a no-brainer.

I’ve just ordered an instinct solar from Amazon having used a Vivoactive 3 for a few weeks, no touchscreen but seems to do a lot of the things a Fenix 6 would with fewer bells and whistles and pretty good battery life for relatively a cheap price…

Similar boat here, dropped and killed the screen on my trusty Vivoactive 3 and looking at the options. Was fairly happy with the vivoactive but elevation gained could be quite in accurate.

Torn between an updated vivoactive (4?) the Venue 2 which looks the same but with a nicer screen or spend a bit more on the Fenix 6 pro as the battery and basic mapping would be useful.

I’ve ordered a Fenix 6 pro off Amazon for £315 to try on, if I don’t like it I can send it back. I interesting points on the 255, but I think the music variant is £350 so think I’d rather go for the Fenix, unless it’s too clunky and massive.

I hardly use any features of the 530, so it seems extravagant to have them both, only the training and recovery feedback, which I’m mission my other training.  Will see how I get on and report back.

It’s got to be Garmin though, I’ve tried branching out a couple of times, the Apple Watch lasted longest, other went back under the returns period. I just like how they work. My favourite thing is how the HR and Power zones work to a decimal place, why don’t any other watches do that?! Knowing where I am in the HR zone is really useful, it’s a big difference from 4.1 to 4.9.

Forerunner 945 was awesome for over 2 years, then they launched the Epix 2, which has an incredible AMOLED screen, and the new training status feature that’s on the 955 & Fenix 7.

I’ve just ordered an instinct solar from Amazon having used a Vivoactive 3 for a few weeks, no touchscreen but seems to do a lot of the things a Fenix 6 would with fewer bells and whistles and pretty good battery life for relatively a cheap price…

It records a hell of a lot of data, I have mine connected to my HR, power cranks & smart turbo. I’ve charged it with a lead twice since I bought it last November. I only use mine when riding or training, but I find it excellent. If you don’t want all the data outside of exercise it had an auto / manual setup into power saving (time & date only) which trebles the battery life and/or sends it in an upward direction if its sunny.

I hardly use any features of the 530, so it seems extravagant to have them both, only the training and recovery feedback, which I’m mission my other training. Will see how I get on and report back.

You’re not wrong, though I prefer the larger screen on the 530 for biking, especially if using it for navigation. I have a Fenix 6 Pro Solar and use that to transmit HR to the Edge.

It’d be worth trying them together before selling the Edge. Weigh up the remaining advantages and then decide if it’s worth selling it given their reduced second hand value at the moment.

Sod it, order the Fenix 6 Pro from Amazon for £315. I couldn’t find a replacement Vivoactive for much less tbf.

I use my 530 on the bike, and an Instinct 2 Solar for everything else. I previously had a Fenix 5 which I tried on the bike, but the screen size was too small to use comfortably. (It also didn’t have maps, although that’s not something I use that often on the bike).

Fenix 6 Pro has arrived, initial impressions are very good. A bit of retraining required after years of touch screen watches, Fenix 7 would definitely be preferable for me, but not £300 worth.

looks pretty good too IMHO. 95% sure I’ll be keeping it, just need to dig out the my handlebar watch mount to see if it’s going to replace or compliment 530. Definitely won’t be using the 530 on the mtb anymore though.

Thanks for the feedback, not being a touch screen will take a bit of getting used to but also used to get annoyed when forgetting to lock my old watch and it’d get ‘touched’ by wet clothing/the rain/kids playing etc.

Yeah, and also I can’t accidentally hit find my phone when trying to activate dnd in the middle of the night 🤦🏼‍♂️

Does the touchscreen not kill the battery quicker? I don’t seem to get on with my phone touchscreen with gloves on so I’m assuming it would be similar with a watch touchscreen…

Battery life wasn’t too bad on the vivovactive, charged it once a week maybe more depending on usage – though it did deteriorate over time. Seemed to be mostly down to the watch face (some killed battery) and how much you used GPS.

Battery life on the Fenix 7 with touchscreen is better than the 6 pro, especially if you can afford the solar version. I’m really impressed with the 6, there’s not a lot more on the 7 from what I’ve read, mainly hardware improvements by the looks of things.

Maybe I’ll get a 7 when the 8 comes out (or 9!)

Battery life on the Fenix 7 with touchscreen is better than the 6 pro, especially if you can afford the solar version. I’m really impressed with the 6, there’s not a lot more on the 7 from what I’ve read, mainly hardware improvements by the looks of things.

Maybe I’ll get a 7 when the 8 comes out (or 9!)

Having bought a 7 Sapphire Solar after losing my 6 Pro, I would advise sticking with the 6.
The Solar doesn’t add much juice in the real world (I’ve been exposed to constant sun since buying it) and you lose ‘widgets’ and have ‘glances’ instead, which I dislike. Yes there are a couple of apps, but apparently they’ll come to the 6 eventually.

Spend the savings on a night with coke and cheap hooker. Winner.

and you lose ‘widgets’ and have ‘glances’ instead, which I dislike.

That’s the ‘widget glances’ setting which I’m fairly sure you can turn off?

Does the 7 have Incident Detection for MTBing enabled? It has been disabled by Garmin on the 6…

That’s the ‘widget glances’ setting which I’m fairly sure you can turn off?

Not that I can determine. No mention of widgets in any settings that I can find….or in the manual…

Does the 7 have Incident Detection for MTBing enabled? It has been disabled by Garmin on the 6…

Dunno, but I got a false Incident Detection when stopping quickly on my gravel bike a couple of days ago….

I’ve given up on incident detection, it goes off every time I stop on my edge, which nearly got me run over by a van trying to turn it off. Oh the irony.

Another incident detection refusenik here too. My edge/venu both threaten to call the missus when I venture off-road or stop quickly! 🤣