GARMIN HAVE MADE GPS watches before, but I always found them clumsy to wear and the battery life has never been very good. This has changed with the Fenix, which is comfortable to wear all day and has good battery life. It’s similar to the Suunto Ambit with much the same functionality. Like the Ambit it’s waterproof and tough with scratch-resistant glass. There are masses of features and data can be recorded and stored. The Fenix is comfortable to wear and small enough to be an everyday watch. The buttons are quite large and easy to use. One feature I like that the Ambit lacks is an on/off switch, useful if you’re not going to use the Fenix for a while.
The basic interface is easy to use and the menus are too, after a little practice. The main features that can be quickly cycled through in either direction are time, temperature, barometer, altimeter and compass. The GPS isn’t in this series of features but still only requires two button presses to access. The button is a big red one too so unlikely to be pressed in mistake for one of the others. The GPS picks up satellites quickly and can record tracks and waypoints as well as giving a grid reference.
The Fenix is a good instrument that works well. However it is more expensive than the Ambit and I prefer the interface of the latter, though there’s not much in it.
