Garmin Fenix 7: The Latest and Best Multisport Smartwatch

Osama February 22, 2022

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration at all, if we declare Garmin as the king of multisport or outdoor smartwatches, because of its diversity in features. Garmin watches have all the features you’d want or need on your wrist if you’re an athlete, and that is not a figure of speech at all.

Unlike Apple or Samsung which only launch a couple of models every year and don’t have a different line of watches for different users, Garmin covers it pretty well. They have introduced watches for runners (Forerunner), daily life use (Venu), women-oriented (Lily), music (Vivo), tactical watches (Instinct), and so many other watches.

Now coming to this Fenix series which is dedicated to serious athletes who want to keep an eye on their workouts, exercises, several sport modes with detailed monitoring and training. Garmin has recently launched several watches in this series, including Garmin Fenix 7/7s, Sapphire, and some solar models as well.

So, if you want to know more about this latest release, new features, price range, etc., stay on this page, because we have reviewed Garmin Fenix 7 in detail for you. Let’s get started.

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Garmin Fenix 7 Review – Release date, Models, and Price range

Garmin launched Fenix 7 on 18^th Jan 2022 along with 7 other models which include the basic Fenix 7S, Fenix 7/7S/7X solar variants, and Fenix 7X/7/7S Sapphire solar models.

The price for basic models in this series; Fenix 7/7S is around $699 at the moment, Solar models 7/7S cost around $799, while Fenix 7X solar costs $899. The Sapphire model costs more than just the solar and non-solar variants and comes around $899 if you go for Fenix 7/7S Sapphire solar, and this goes up to $999 if you choose Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar.

The model in this review is 47mm, standard edition of Fenix 7.

Garmin Fenix 7 vs Fenix 6

By the looks of it, Fenix 7 doesn’t seem to be much different from its predecessor, that said, it does come up with some improved features, but before we jump straight into it, let’s take a quick look at the comparison chart between both watches.

Comparison of features between Garmin Fenix 7 vs Fenix 6

Neck to neck comparison:

Now as you can see there are few differences between these watches. First off, the Fenix is somewhat sleeker than Fenix 6, and the finishing of both these watches looks different if you look at them closely. Fenix 7 comes in a 1.3-inch MIP display, with a resolution of 260 x 260 pixels, which ensures clarity, makes it easily readable under every condition.

The bezel is made up of stainless steel, while it has the Corning Gorilla Glass DX for making it more durable under extreme weather conditions. The fiber-reinforced polymer has been used for the casing, while the strap is made up of silicone and comes in 22mm, which is perfect for average-sized wrists.

Secondly, the main headline here would be the touchscreen, which wasn’t there in the case of Fenix 6. However, an AMOLED display is still missing, which Garmin has introduced in Epix Gen 2 smartwatch, alongside this latest Fenix series.

Garmin has launched the Sapphire Solar model this year, which means you don’t have to choose between solar and Sapphire glass, as you can have them in one watch, which wasn’t the case in Fenix 6 series.

There’s also the addition of stamina tracking, HIIT workouts, Flashlight in the 7X model, and increased battery life. Fenix 7 can last up to 18 days in smartwatch mode, while the Fenix 6 can go on for 14 days. Battery life in Solar variants has been improved considerably and it would be harvesting 200% more efficiently as compared to the ones in Fenix 6 series, which seems too good to be true.

Garmin Fenix 7 Review – Health monitoring features

There’s not much of a change regarding the health monitoring features, except two things. Fenix 7 comes with ELEVATE GEN 4 optical HR sensor, through which you can get an accurate heart rate reading, along with HRV (heart rate variability), and measuring it under the water as well.

There’s also an addition of a sleep manager setting for the user to see what the watch does while they’re asleep. You can always get all the details about light, deep, and REM zones during the night, and see how well you’re sleeping.

Fenix 7 does have the Pulse OX sensor for keeping track of oxygen intake, respiration tracking for your breathing while sleeping or working out, while the hydration tracking will be reminding you about the fluid intake.

Apart from these, the watch can keep track of your body energy using different variables (Sleep/heart rate) to tell if you’re ready for a workout or you should rest for a while. You can now also take a snapshot of your health parameters, which wasn’t there in the previous models.

Garmin Fenix 7 Review – Workout/Exercise/Sport modes

Garmin has 2 major changes in this regard by including the HIIT workouts through which you’d be able to track AMRAP, Tabata, EMOM, and other workouts. Secondly, they have come up with a real-time stamina tracker for runners.

As the name suggests the stamina tracker would be measuring your body battery in a way that would be telling you how much juice you have left inside you for running. This will be done taking different factors affecting one’s stamina and depending upon your speed, distance, and the time you’re in the running session.

If you’re training for a marathon, or just want to keep yourself in shape, it’s easy to just have a glance at your watch, and see if it’s the time for acceleration or not.

Along with this, Garmin has made some changes regarding the worldwide TOPO maps, which can be downloaded from Wi-Fi, and has also included pre-loaded maps for golfing and skiing.

Apart from this, the rest of the features are there just like Fenix 6, which includes built-in sport modes, MTB dynamics, PacePro, Visual Race Predictor, ClimbPro, Recovery time, Performance Dynamics, etc. are there for athletes and outdoor persons.

Garmin Fenix 7 Review – Smart features

Garmin is yet to come up with a watch that will be able to take hand-free calls while running or workout. That said, after pairing it up with your smartphone, it will be receiving all the notifications of social apps, calls, messages, emails, and much more.

Unlike the previous Fenix 6 model, Fenix 7 comes with Wi-Fi, Music, and Garmin Pay features, which were only there in the pro models. You can make listening to music, pay from your watch, and download apps, widgets, and watch faces from its Connect IQ Store.

There’s also an addition of a built-in flashlight with adjustable brightness and a red-light option, which also lights up the display helping to see it under direct sunlight or using it in completely dark places. However, it’s only available in 7X models, so that’s a bummer.

Garmin Fenix 7 Review – Battery life

Fenix 7 comes with a considerably improved battery life as compared to previous models, lasting for 18 days in smartwatch mode, which was 14 days in the case of Fenix 6. If your usage requires GPS to be used often, then the watch can go on for 57 hours in that too, which is good, since the GPS is one of those features which drains the battery the most.

Since we’re reviewing the non-solar variant, if you’re interested in going for Solar or Sapphire solar models, then the battery life exceeds comprehensively giving 18-22 days as well.

Fenix 7 solar models are 200% more efficient than the ones of Fenix 6 because the solar surface is increased by 54%. Your watch would be good to go for a fair share part of the month without getting it charged, given it gets good sun exposure, and you’re using GPS mode all the time.

Garmin Fenix 7 Review – Is it worth it?

To put things in perspective, if you’re a serious athlete who wants to go skiing, golfing, climbing, outdoor tracking, and wants to get precise pin-point monitoring of your sessions, along with TOPO maps, complete navigations systems, TracBack features, then the Fenix 7 has to be the best multisport outdoor smartwatch for you.

With an improved battery life, which comes in handy when you’re out there in the wilderness, it would again be a good fit. Along with this, if you want more efficient battery life then the solar variants would be a good choice, where you can go for Sapphire models to get the durability and long battery life in one watch.

However, if you’re already using Fenix 6 or pro models of that series, and just want to upgrade for the sake of it, then it would be a tough call since there are no major changes in terms of features, design, or interface that would make you go for it.

And those people who are looking for a casual running, or outdoor watch should go for Garmin’s Forerunner, Venu, or Vivo models, if their usage doesn’t require such premium features, because it would be a shame not to enjoy all these high-end features of Fenix 7, that too, being not so inexpensive.