Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am compelled to downgrade this rating to reflect the fatal flaw of this watch: its hopelessly inaccurate GPS chip. This watch would be terrific were it not for this (see my review below). As of this writing we are on revision 4.20 of the firmware, but try as they might, Garmin cannot seem to fix the GPS accuracy issue. A quick look at the Garmin forums will confirm the problems. It is not merely that the watch deviates a bit from the actual trail, nor is it the case that the Fenix 3 suffers from the inaccuracy inherent in all GPS devices, instead it is subject to frequent and significant errors in measuring distance (off by, literally, a mile or more in a typical day of hiking) and in tracking one's route. The speculation on the Garmin forum has to do with the company using an inferior brand of GPS chip. I do not know enough to speculate on the cause, but I can confirm from detailed experience that the GPS is inaccurate and unreliable, especially in areas with tree cover (see some photos below for examples, and no, we did not randomly run up and down the slopes off the trails). Garmin has, in my opinion, a terrific package and set of features that would make this watch the hands-down best-of-breed were it not for this issue. But without an accurate GPS, what exactly are you buying here? An overpriced and over-sized fitness tracker. I'm sure this update will attract plenty of "unhelpful" votes from the fan-boys out there, but before you plunk down a bunch of money you need to know that the GPS on this watch just does not work correctly. (Seriously, go the the Garmin forum before you buy.) I love the device and I hope they address the issue in the Fenix 4. It appears after numerous software revisions that the Fenix 3 is a lost cause. * * * ORIGINAL REVIEW (before getting more detailed experience with GPS) Before you read further, in my world a triathlon consists of mow-the-lawn/walk-the-dogs/wash-the-truck. If you are looking for a review about how well the Fenix 3 paces your open-water swim, or measures your max VO2, vertical oscillation and ground contact time, this review is not for you (I am not even sure what all those mean but Garmin says the Watch can do them). Ok, now that the spandex/12% body fat/Olympians are no longer reading, is there any reason us ordinary folks should consider this watch? Surprisingly, the answer is definitely yes! I bought the Sapphire Edition with great hesitancy but decided to give it a try since I needed a new watch after my POJ Basis Watch literally fell apart after a year (a pox on the house of Intel). I considered the Apple Watch, but the daily charging requirement and the lack waterproofing or onboard GPS (plus the fact that the Apple is a whopping $500 more expensive for the Sapphire with the comparable metal band) made it a nonstarter. I wanted a GPS unit for our annual back-country hiking / camping trips and was looking for a watch that had the following basic characteristics: (1) waterproof (2) sturdy (3) integration with the iphone for notifications etc. (4) fitness tracker (5) battery that lasts at least a few weeks (6) looks nice enough to wear every day. The Garmin has all of these characteristics and also has all the additional features one could want in an uber fitness watch. It also is a best-in-class GPS / hiking watch with altimeter, barometer, compass, built-in GPS receiver that does not rely on your phone. (A very helpful feature for everything from off-road to finding your way back to the car in a crowded parking lot.) No, it does not have optical heart rate monitoring but the optical heart sensors are (I know this from experience) extremely unreliable especially when you need it most like when you are actually exercising. The Fenix 3 connects to a wide range of peripherals from Garmin's VIRB action camera to proper heart monitors running sensors, temperature sensors etc. It does not store music (though it controls the iphone music fine) so if that is important to you this is not a good answer. The available apps are surprisingly useful but the selection is limited. You basically get all the notifications on the watch that are popping up on your phone (which is, again, surprisingly useful) but you won’t be using this to respond to social media posts, etc. What’s not to like? Here are a few things: (1) It is big. Measure your wrist across the top. If it is 2 1/2” or larger it will fit fine. Under 2 1/4" and the watch will hang awkwardly over the sides like the old style GPS watches (e.g. Suunto Ambit) that are really not every day wearable. (2) Garmin does not have it integrated with Basecamp mobile and you cannot upload maps. This is ridiculous and intended to push hikers into the (imo) vastly inferior Epix. (3) The Garmin app store is weak. The watch does a ton of stuff out of the box and there are loads of watch faces to download, but the app store selection will never come close to matching the android or ios watches. Then again, they are nowhere close to matching the Fenix 3 as a rugged, stand-alone smart sport watch. One comment on the Sapphire versus standard edition: The Sapphire is an extra $100 and for that you get the stainless steel metal link band as well as the standard black rubber watch band plus the tools to swap the bands. You also, of course, get an upgraded sapphire crystal. If you like the band upgrade, this is a great deal. If you decide later to add the stainless link watchband to the regular Fenix 3 you will spend more just for the band and you will not get the benefits of the more scratch-resistant crystal (and some other minor cosmetic improvements). Yes, the metal band is heavy but it is easily swappable with the lighter weight rubber one when weight matters (e.g. on your camping trips or marathon – in case you decide to become one of those exercise guys who stopped reading after the first paragraph). Overall I like this watch far more than I thought I would. It does everything I was seeking in a smart sport watch and a great deal more than I will ever use. For my money, this is a far better solution than the apple/android options and is the only GPS watch available with the form factor and functionality to be both an everyday watch and a full-featured back-country companion.