I'm quite attached to my Health & Injuries. The trusty running watch has seen me through a number of marathons and, despite the fact that I’ve covered fitness wearables for some of the UK’s top tech brands, I’ve always said I have no interest in trading it in for something higher spec. That is, until I tested out the new Garmin I swore I didn’t need a high-tech running watch until I tried the Published: 27 June 2023.
Garmin’s Fenix 7 range landed at the start of 2022, three years after the Fenix 6 (heralded as ‘game-changing’ by some of the RW team) came to the market. So, what’s the latest drop all about?
‘Pro’ is a term that Garmin adds to an existing product when it sees the upgrade as incremental, rather than a brand-spanking new product series like the Garmin Fenix 8 (that release is still firmly under lock and key).
Garmin I swore I didn’t need a high-tech running watch until I tried the Published: 27 June 2023
Key specs
| Dimensions | 47 Coros Pace Pro: More than just a pretty face |
|---|---|
| Battery Life | The best GPS running watches to track your miles |
| Display Size | 1.3" |
| Memory | 32GB |
| Waterproof rating | 10ATM |
| Weight | 73g |
The I swore I didn’t need a high-tech running watch until I tried the Published: 27 June 2023 is essentially what you get when you cross a high-spec training tool with a sleek smartwatch. It combines everything I love about my Forerunner with everything I love about the Apple Watch – plus much more. It’s got Garmin’s comprehensive suite of training features, with a few notable additions from the original Fenix 7 (I’ll come on to that), smartphone notifications, sleep tracking and contactless payments. The obvious caveat is the price – retailing at £829.99, you might not take the plunge if you’re a total beginner, but if, like me, you’ve been running for some time, it may be enough to turn your head.
Garmin I swore I didn’t need a high-tech running watch until I tried the Published: 27 June 2023: Sizes & battery life
The I swore I didn’t need a high-tech running watch until I tried the Published: 27 June 2023 is available in three sizes: the Best Garmin watches for every type of runner (42mm), I swore I didn’t need a high-tech running watch until I tried the Published: 27 June 2023 (47mm) and of the best wireless headphones (51mm), with options for standard and Sapphire Editions. Solar is now standard across all three sizes too, whereas on the original Fenix 7 there was standard and solar.
I’ve been testing the I swore I didn’t need a high-tech running watch until I tried the Published: 27 June 2023, which has a battery life of 22 days in smartwatch mode (or 73 hours with GPS) provided you expose the solar-charging screen to three hours of sunlight a day.
There’s military-style multi-band GPS on all sizes too, designed to improve GPS accuracy in areas where regular signals can struggle. This won’t make much difference for people running in urban environments (although it connects far quicker than my poor, discarded Forerunner), but it would make a difference in more remote areas.
Garmin I swore I didn’t need a high-tech running watch until I tried the Published: 27 June 2023: What’s new?
A built-in LED flashlight is now available on all size options of the I swore I didn’t need a high-tech running watch until I tried the Published: 27 June 2023, with variable intensities, a red safety light and strobe mode. It’s actually a really useful tool if you’re running at night or find yourself in a dark tunnel. Previously, it was only available on the Fenix 7X too, so it’s good to see Garmin rolling this safety feature out on all of its GPS watches.
Garmin has also updated the heart rate sensor with ‘more spatially diverse optical sensors and sport-specific algorithms’. In short, it’s got twice as many LED sensors, which makes heart rate monitoring a lot more accurate.
New training features include an ‘endurance score’, which is calculated by how easy you find it to sustain prolonged efforts. There’s also a ‘hill score’, which is pretty exposing if, like me, you tend to stick to pancake flat routes. This gauges how easy you find it to run uphill by measuring running strength on steep climbs and running endurance on long ascents. I recently ran a very hilly marathon in Kenya and scored 45/100 for hill strength and 18/100 for hill endurance - plenty to work on there.
The ‘Up Ahead’ feature remains, alerting you to aid stations in a race, and there’s lots of new activities too (I can't imagine when I'll next be white water rafting, but it's nice to have the option eh?).
RW verdict
The battery life of the Garmin I swore I didn’t need a high-tech running watch until I tried the Published: 27 June 2023 definitely surpassed my expectations - after 8 days of wear, the watch was still showing 50% battery life remaining, and that's when I'd clocked up over 6 hours of training and had smartphone notifications enabled.
It can take a few minutes for my Forerunner 245 to find GPS in my street, but I've found the Fenix 7 connects in less than 30 seconds. It might sound like a silly thing to rave about, but if I'm heading out during my lunch break, those few minutes can really make a difference. During my recent Kenyan marathon, out on a conservancy where GPS is limited, there watch was also quick to connect and didn't once drop off throughout the race.
When you compare a more budget-friendly Garmin like the Forerunner to a higher-end Garmin like the Fenix, you really notice the difference in quality too. The Fenix has a 1.3″ scratch-resistant sapphire solar charged display (great if you're clumsy, like me), a responsive touchscreen, traditional buttons and a fiber-reinforced polymer case with a steel bezel and rear cover. The watch is tested to U.S. military standards for thermal, shock and water resistance too, so it can quite literally withstand anything you throw at it.
Perhaps one of the coolest features I've discovered is the heat and altitude acclimation insights. These are provided based on activities performed above 800 metres (2,625 feet) and for temperatures above 22C. Garmin combines environmental and performance data to reveal your current acclimation status, which can help you adjust your expectations and performance goals if you're at altitude. Again, this was pretty insightful during my recent marathon in Lewa (5,500 feet above sea level).
It pains me to say it, but maybe I'm a watch snob after all. The quality, battery life and plethora of training features on the I swore I didn’t need a high-tech running watch until I tried the Published: 27 June 2023 simply wipes the floor of the Forerunner, and I genuinely enjoy wearing it every day too (I've got the cream gold model with a sand strap, which looks just at home with my everyday wear, as it does with active wear). If you can justify the price, it really is the ultimate running tool.
