Garmin is a company that takes into account all areas of fitness, both indoor and outdoor. Running and jogging at high altitudes, or engaging in rugged outdoor fitness activities, requires a smartwatch that can keep up with increased performance and altitudes. The Garmin Fenix 5 Plus is a smartwatch that seeks to provide all of those needed accessories. Are the added features in the Fenix 5 Plus worth the investment?
The Garmin Fenix 5 Plus is a great watch in terms of GPS capabilities and advanced performance tracking features. This model is equipped with special features that respond to fitness activity in areas of high altitude, which is useful for users who regularly engage in outdoor sports.
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This sports and fitness watch scores high marks in all the important key points for rating a fitness watch. This article will explore everything that needs to be known about this product, including its pros and cons as well as if the watch is worth buying for your fitness needs. Read on to find out more.
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Pros the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus:
- Long-lasting battery performance. The main feature of the Fenix 5 Plus is definitely the power of the battery. This model is designed for intense and prolonged outdoor sports activities, which means you can train for longer periods of time. You can now enjoy a wide array of outdoor activities without having to worry about quickly finding a charging station to keep your watch running.
- Increased performance tracking capabilities. Many watches that are fashioned for runners and joggers promise technology that can monitor your heart rate, yet this can be an inconvenience in most models. With the Fenix 5 Plus, the smart technology keeps in sync with your heart rate through your wrist, which displays on the screen for easy monitoring.
- Improved GPS, Glonass, and Galileo. One of the many things to appreciate about a treadmill is the convenience of your distance stats on a monitor right in front of you. With the Fenix 5 Plus, you can now have all of these great GPS features like pace, distance ran, and customizable intervals that light up with frequency during your run. Gone are the inconveniences of having to keep a mental note of your distance running.
- New and improved adaptive training plans. For some of Garmin’s most select watch models, adaptive training plans through a Garmin coach of your choice are available to help guide you through your run. The Fenix 5 Plus is one of the watches that includes this convenient coaching, which works well to help you reach your goals on those days when running or any fitness regime seems like a chore.
- Advanced tactical features. One of the other standout features of the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus is the new editions to the tactical performance tracking features. You can now sync your watch with enhancements such as night visions, which syncs to a pair of compatible goggles. The Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) is also convenient for advanced tracking of longitude and latitude coordinates.
- Great for triathletes. The Garmin Fenix 5 Plus is designed with users in mind who want the knowledge that their smartwatch will be able to keep up with a wide range of performance statistics across a triathlon if need be. Through updated and improved features to measure cadence, ground contact time, stride lengths, and all of the capabilities that sync with accurate heart rate readings and performance statistics.
- Comes with preloaded activity profiles. The Fenix 5 Plus is designed to appeal to a wide range of fitness activities. Innovative and detailed activity profiles for swimming, running, bicycling, and triathlons, are all part of the profile selections that you can pick from with this model. This model also includes a range of recommendations if you wish to have some ideas to change up your fitness routine.
- V02 Max indicator. When you are training hard, you sometimes have technology that can give accurate readings that account for variables outside of your control. Wind, altitude, and outside heat and cold temperature variations can all collide to give a slightly skewed performance reading but the V02 Max indicator in the Fenix 5 Plus lists accurate variabilities with this in mind and gives you an accurate reading.
- Innovative performance condition technology. The Fenix 5 Plus also analyzes heart rate, heart performance conditioning, and heart rate variability based on a wide range of different performance types to give real-time assessments of how you are faring during your workout and how long you can continue before you reach various thresholds.
Cons of the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus:
- Information overload. It is hard to call any of the state-of-the-art new features that come with the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus a con. With this said, sometimes the number of notifications for all the features can be overwhelming. Even if you choose to limit the notifications coming in, the data from the features will still sync consistently to provide notifications. This can become annoying if you have many features running at once.
- The GPS features can be confusing. While this model does feature some great addition to GPS and navigation, the design is flawed. There are far too many instances where multiple buttons need to be pressed to navigate properly. If you need to zoom in on a location to see the terrain, you will have to navigate a slew of buttons. Manual entry can be convenient for smartwatches, but this is an instance that would be great for a touchscreen.
- Doesn’t work well with other apps. One of the convenient abilities that come with some smartwatches is the ability to customize the watch with other apps that track running or jogging in ways that you enjoy. With the Fenix 5 Plus, you have to use its features exclusively.
- Expensive. The Fenix 5 Plus is not moderately expensive like some other models, it is downright expensive. This is to be expected with the addition of many new features, however, the price is substantial for this model.
Key Features
The Garmin Fenix 5 Plus features many new updates to the previous models that featured advancements in battery technology. For one, the watch itself is completely altered in size and dynamics to fit the needs of the increased technology that comes with the advanced battery capabilities. This watch is designed for rugged outdoor use, and will certainly not disappoint in that kind of environment.
The watch is well-calibrated to handle the influx of new features. The lens combines the best of new GPS features with powerful battery-saving performance. But perhaps the biggest standout of the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus is the inclusion of advanced performance tracking features. Many of these, such as MGRS, is perfect for outdoor enthusiasts who take adventures into rugged mountains or tough terrain.
Additionally, the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus has more pushable buttons, which eliminates the need to go through an app to change settings. You can now interchange settings and customizations through a simple push of a button.
With just five convenient button settings, you are able to navigate the menu and customize the watch with a few simple pushes to your desired settings. There are no complex patterns to figure out with this model, you will likely have the routine down pat after one running session.
The Garmin Fenix 5 Plus is brimming with many additional features, and the improvements upon the design scheme of the watch are also great. With new additions to measure training effect, recovery time, and race predicting for triathlons, the Fenix 5 Plus marks an exciting start to a new series.
Should You Get The Fenix 5 Plus?
The Garmin Fenix 5 Plus is definitely for users who want as many advanced features as possible. This model certainly provides that, but the major selling point is the inclusion of new features with one of the best battery performances of any Garmin watch.
The Garmin Fenix 5 Plus is all about improving upon past exclusions in this popular Garmin line. With this in mind, this makes this model a great investment as this will likely turn out to be the only Garmin model that you will ever need. If you are an outdoor enthusiast, this is the model that stands above all the others.
The Downsides
Not many users of this watch would be quick to point to downsides but the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus does have a few. The substantial price is likely going to be the big sticking point to many potential buyers. This can be easily overcome once you consider some of the useful and innovative technologies that you get with this model.
Some users report difficulty in properly calibrating the new and improved GPS and navigation protocols. Additionally, the need to spend hours outside to unlock all the benefits of solar technology can also be a burden. Finally, it could be said that some of the features with this model may actually be a bit too much; notifications go off constantly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the difference between the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus and the Garmin Instinct Tactical?
The main difference is mostly related to the price. Fenix 5 Plus features new and improved battery-charging technology for advanced battery charging capabilities. This increases the price a bit, yet the features are mostly the same between the two models.
Q: Is the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus Waterproof?
Yes, the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus is waterproof. The rating is approved by military performance ranking standards and can withstand depths of up to 100 meters.
Q: Does the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus have a pulse ox?
Yes, the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus has a pulse oximeter that is measured through the wrist. This feature measures the saturation of oxygen in the blood, which can then provide performance suggestions to correlate to muscle activity.
Q: Does the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus monitor sleep?
Yes, the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus uses technology to monitor your movements during the sleep cycle. You can set your sleep hours in the Garmin Connect App, where you can also view your nightly results as well.
Q: How long does the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus battery last?
With a full charge, the Garmin Fenix 5 Plus battery can last up to 14 days. Be advised that this timeframe can reduce a bit if you consistently use the advanced GPS features that come with the model.
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