Garmin’s new Fenix 5 is the watch that can tell you where you parked your car
The Fenix 5 is probably the first GPS sports watch Garmin has released that doesn’t announce its owner’s ‘I do a triathlon before breakfast’ lifestyle. This design exits the realm of being mutually exclusive with activewear and is low-key in size (47mm) and design to the point where you don’t have to be the kind of person who lives on protein in order to wear it all day.
You might also want to wear it all day, given that it will track everything but your internet history. Seriously, we mean everything: swimming, golfing, climbing, hiking, rowing, stand-up paddle boarding, running (road, trail or indoor), cycling and mountain biking are all on the list.
Tracking you with one of the most accurate GPS systems we’ve ever seen in wristwear, you can get up to 24 hours of GPS tracking on the battery, while the watch lasts an incredible two weeks on standby mode.
That’s even more impressive when you see its daily list of standard functionality, with weather, altitude, smartphone notifications (see when your Uber is arriving) and sleep, calorie and step tracking. You can also control your phone’s music from your watch, useful for running, and that’s integrated with third-party streaming apps as well.
The 2.8cm colour display is operated via five buttons, easier during sport than a touchscreen. If you’re a serious sportsman, the level of fitness data you can mine is insanely in depth, and while it might be overkill for amateurs, software updates considered, you won’t be wanting for anything with the Fenix 5.
Our favourite 5 things from the Fenix 5:
1. You can customise the hell out of it, from personalised exercises and reports to different straps, colours
and screen configurations.
2. An accurate heart rate monitor means you don’t need accessories and can use the watch as is for everything.
3. The metrics are as helpful to lunatic athletes as much as newbies, whether you’re looking at Grade Adjusted Pace and VO2 Max or your expected finish time on a half marathon based on training runs.
4. The Fenix 5S comes in a smaller 42mm watch face that takes any GI Joe out of the equation and works with a suit.
5. You can drop a pin to see where you parked your car.
R10 499 at www.garmin.co.za