Review: Garmin Fēnix 3 - Tourism clock running and triathlon
Sport And Fitness / / December 19, 2019
Introduction
The main dilemma with Fēnix 3 order was that Apple announced its Apple Watch with pulse meter and other sports features done. But it quickly became clear that the "apple" watch - it's such a cool glamor to the small screen notifications (which I almost never use), and the present GPS is not there. To work need Apple Watch charged the phone, and in the current climate of my phone to carry out jogging just dangerous to be drowned in sweat. And swim with the Apple Watch will not work otherwise, as the phone does not know how to swim.
Moreover, the clock, I would also have to be engaged in these kinds of triathlon - swimming, cycling and running, and to wear on a daily basis. I do not get tired of repeating that a person may have 2-3 telephone, but may not be for several hours. Competition and the war for our wrist goes a long time, even if you do not think so. And Garmin today - the best solution for active people who cherish your brain and do not live for the sake of to respond to the madness of the Internet, I call on you through the phone yesterday, and today more and through clock.
Today for me Garmin Fēnix 3 - is:
- clocks and watches partially smart;
- sports tracker;
- Meter steps;
- Sleep Tracker.
Packaging
Packing the watch comfortable and easy to open. No blisters and complex packaging solutions. Pulls out the clock, leaving junk in the form of cables, adapters and reel stands at the bottom of the box and you're ready to swim, ride or run.
Incidentally, it should be said about the choice that I had. Fēnix watches come in several variations: Red Edition, Silver Edition and Sapphire. My - the first, and sold me their pictures with red tsiferkami and strap are the same color. In fact, this snag, about it below. Silver Edition - is the same as mine, but with a dark body and black strap. But Sapphire - this cool extreme theme with iron strap and sapphire crystal. The assurances of Garmin, the glass is less scratched. My not scratched too, though I'm not the most accurate user. So overpay $ 100 + just for menacing look, if you want.
Use as clock hours and smart (Connect IQ)
All the cool pictures Fēnix 3 screen, you see - it is a render, or they were made in the sun or in the studio. Screen the clock is not that bad, but not steep. It performs all the tasks, shows everything as it should, and you do not think of the visible pixels. And not think about them at you in gorochku intervalochke yes, yes to +42 ° C. :) The screen faded in the room, it lights all show, but not amazing. A sun screen - exactly what you need to practice, but no more. In short, if you want a picture, then take the Apple Watch and drags the phone with you.
Last picture gallery shows that you just do not see what is shown in red figures, if not turn the backlight. By the way, it will not turn on a wave of his hand, as at Apple Watch or Pebble, - press the button.
If we go back to talking about the glass, it is robust and almost dirty. If you do not remember about it, it simply works well. So, you do not think about it from the moment that he remove the film.
As many of you know, Garmin Fēnix 3 is also a smart watch. Mind them not only in the fact that they display a notification phone. My iPhone 6 Plus is, and all of the notification, which comes to the phone, the on-screen clock. Round screen is not the best place for this, but sometimes they are useful. On my watch fall only notification desktop chat Telegram and programs for travel - Booking.com, Airbnb, UBER and couples "of tickets." The rest of the settings does not appear in the phone, and therefore does not fall on the clock. Watch and understand Russian, and English. Notification can be read (even long text messages), and can be ignored. Not visible on-screen images and emodzhi. You can not reply to the hours - it is necessary to take the phone.
Pleasant discovery for me was the notification from the Google Maps application for navigation. On the watch simply dumped navigation directives, and I, the driver of a moped, it was convenient for them to respond.
Oh, and hours have excellent vibration that wakes you in the morning, it gives a cut-off in training and fulfills the notification. It is because of the lack of vibration, I have not bought Suunto. It is impossible to watch in sports was not vibrating. It is no Wi-Fi, you can without a color screen and the touch screen, but it is impossible without vibration!
Konnektiviti: Wi-Fi, BLE and ANT +
If we talk about konnektiviti, the clock works with your phone by BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), with external sensors only by ANT +, and the workout data can fold directly to the Internet on Garmin Connect service for Wi-Fi.
All notification, synchronization with your phone, sending various data from your phone for hours occur at BLE. It is surprising that the watch is not able to work with external sensors for BLE, as it is able and likes to do Polar V800. All my velodatchiki (speed and cadence) are waiting for sales in Kiev because Garmin does not want and that the Polar can mean death. Owners of old clock is at hand: there ANT + standard, and old sensors will work.
Cardiosensor, who was walking with Fēnix complete, is also working on the ANT +. By the way, it is excellent: not rubbing, not bulky, believes touch time with the ground, and running cadence when vertical vibrations when running. This is very useful data to work on their equipment running.
Wi-Fi is really there to watch. It is configured in advance through the program from the desktop, and this knowledge is transferred to the clock. Simply connect to the network, you can not watch without preparation. This feature works like magic: while you take a shower, change clothes, have your workout at Garmin Connect service to continue in order. I have a gun, they get more and Strava. Endomondo Runkeeper and I do not like.
Hours have another thing - Connect IQ. It is such a platform from Garmin, which resembles the App Store or Google Play. Through it, you can set the clock in such things:
- dials;
- data fields for different sports;
- widgets;
- application.
All content in Connect IQ is very low quality. There are 3-4 noteworthy flagship third-party development in each category that show all the pictures. The rest - some trash.
For example, here's what a program to track sunrise and sunset. Convenient for ultramarafontsev and mountain tourists. On my Wehle handy, so as not to fall into the night during the long runs.
Widgets - altimeter, compass, weather, dials, and much more - a better standard.
And still watch able to manage music on your phone, if you carry it with you. Uncomfortable, but it is possible. :)
Swimming
Hours are able to everything needed for swimming. If you swim in the pool, easy to expose a length of the pool and rowing. Built-in accelerometer understands the type of stroke and the number of waste pools. There is only one strange limitation: swimming pool may not be shorter than 17 meters. Hours simply will not allow to introduce a shorter length.
If you swim in open water, then get ready for the addition of the distance of the permanent loss of the GPS signal. By the way, the most accurate clocks in the open water of all that I had. My feeling is that the error is always a plus and is 5-10%.
Able to measure the pulse of the clock during the voyage. The only problem is that Cardiosensor should be worn under the suit, otherwise it just turns on the belt a couple of minutes in open water, or after the first push from the side by the pool.
Running and biking
If we talk about running, then there are ideal clocks. Everything! Conveniently planned intervals, use ready-made plans. They reflect well the course of the workout. You can print any data you like. Hours twang and vibrate when it is necessary. They quickly (no more than 15 seconds) are finding GPS in the new territory, and the old - instantly! All data through BLE and Wi-Fi sync continuously, and you have no surprises in the form of lack of data. You can set the beat for kilometers, time, elevation. Send yourself killed programmed messages from the past: "Dude, if buggy, then eat the gel," or "Who will be the mountain, take plenty of water." I show pictures instead of a hundred words.
Here is the result of a treadmill exercise on the clock:
These are the kinds of representations you get in training: dark and light of your choice, from one data field to five!
Mobile application and web service Garmin Connect
33 days use of iOS-app completely changed its appearance, and Garmin Connect on the Web has become the ideal schedule intervals.
Here is the basic elements of Garmin apps on iOS. In Android, there is a slight lag of one month of implementation.
Below are the main operational display Garmin Connect Web-based applications. I saw before its implementation, and it is noticeable how the new element replaces the old. But the interface still has elements a la Windows 95. Hopefully soon recovered. For example, in the same Polar everything looks much more modern and easier to understand.
Sleep, steps and meals
The clock is, as I said earlier, a pedometer and sleep tracker. Pedometer works like hundreds of other bracelets - simply measure steps. The only strange is that if you run a lot, you will be counted a lot of steps, but if you do a lot of Kata led, you can get the evening shortage meager 12,000 steps. If you are a vegetable Divan, the pedometer is useful to you. If you are concerned about the normal sports people, their steps will reach easily.
Sleep is fixed automatically: Clock know when you sleep and when to wake up. All sleep data you see on the panel at the site, and you can edit them. Inaccuracies occur.
Tracking calories in the negative direction is clear: move and spend. Garmin offers a meal to make when MyFitnessPal. The service has a huge database and user-friendly application. A wise decision. Again, if you're a vegetable, then make all the food. If you do 1-3 hours a day, then do not waste time.
By the way, as in the Polar V800, in Fēnix 3 is a simple tips mode of recovery time. For this purpose it is necessary to train with Cardiosensor. Otherwise, do not give advice. It looks like this:
The battery discharge and oddities
The first thing I was asked on the Internet: "Glory, as the battery holds?". The answer is - up to a fig! But there are nuances. I did not do measurements, but in normal mode, the GPS-three hours Cycling Training clock sit somewhere in the 14-17% of the connected sensor and the phone at BLE. If you wear a day without exercise, then 3-4%. The manufacturer promises 72 hours of work hours with GPS, if you turn on the occasional removal of the GPS-location. It is normal for ultramarafontsev and walking in the mountains. For interval training, and cycling is best left to the standard mode.
And now for the country. The watch is unhealthy and sometimes perverse attachment to the phone. For example, if you go to sleep, the phone will be on a different floor of the house or in the back room of the apartment, you risk wake up without charge. And the phone and watch will be depleted Fēnix 3 violent with each other during the night. So I got a new skill - place the phone near her.
Output
If I were buying today, watch for running, they would not have bought them: mobile applications, Apple Watch and other solutions much more flexible and more convenient hours with buttons. If you kill the trash on the run, then you know the answer already. If you just run for fotochek in Instagram, then do not waste your money. If you are passionate about a very active lifestyle that includes mountain biking and, God forbid, triathlon, here you need a clock for the above reasons. Of the real candidates for the purchase of you:
- Garmin Fēnix 3.
- Garmin Forerunner 920XT.
- Suunto, a series of Ambit.
- Polar V800.
More I can not see up close and candidates for purchase. About the first watch I told you, I knew that they were good, but look unrepresentative. If you can get to the office in the fleece and with dirt on his mountain boots, they fit your needs.
If you are a freak of triathlon and you think that a man weighing under 60 kilograms OK for the sake of efficiency, and that the hand you almost pager, your choice - № 2.
Suunto, number 3 - beautiful watch with a smart ecosystem, but there is no vibration. Take them for action or if you have a proposal for a budget price and tightly restricted.
Hours number 4 - my favorites. They look good, they are very well built, management of the most concise, and they have everything that you need. But it is not correct charging port, to spend money on them simply unwise.