Admitting that I’m hoping my 210 kicks the bucket sometime this season (it’s lasted 14 months…so it’ll be soon I bet) just so I can rationalize picking up a Fenix 2. Curious to see how the experiences have been thus far. Have read DC Rainmakers review and it seems to be somewhat of a toss up between this and the 910 right now but I really like the looks of the Fenix 2 as a full time watch, hence my interest in it.
Admitting that I’m hoping my 210 kicks the bucket sometime this season (it’s lasted 14 months…so it’ll be soon I bet) just so I can rationalize picking up a Fenix 2. Curious to see how the experiences have been thus far. Have read DC Rainmakers review and it seems to be somewhat of a toss up between this and the 910 right now but I really like the looks of the Fenix 2 as a full time watch, hence my interest in it.
I’m only running right now, and we just got a HUGE dump of snow. I got it on Wed afternoon (AFTER my lunch run), so 1 treadmill run on Thurs, a 18k outside yesterday. I’m not dcrainmaker so here’s some rambles:
I love the watch itself. Big, but can wear it all day. After 2 days (in watch mode) battery still 100%. Watch let’s you customize almost everything. On my first treadmill run, with just the chest strap, it figured I ran 9K - I actually ran 8.1 but I thought that was pretty impressive. It also told me my estimated VO2 max was 55 which is right about where I tested last year. Battery was still deep in the 90s after 90 min run with HR on 1 sec updating. HR strap and Sat lock are within 10 seconds. Pacing adjustment seems faster than any of my older watches (Ie, I speed up, the instant pace shows it right away). I also really like the cadence feature which you can review on Garmin Connect and see how it changes for different paces. Ground contact and vertical oscillation are neat but as mentioned before, not sure how to use the data. Manual says 16 hrs bat life on full 1 sec polling so even if it hits 14 I will keep the unit. I’m not planning another IM until 2015 anyway and 12 hrs better be good enough by then.
It’s different than the Forerunners but everything makes sense. I barely had to check the manual for anything. The button placement is good, unlike the POS 410 which I still hate using.
Sucks:
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Garmin Express isn’t as smooth as the 310+Ant agent. When you connect it, it asks “Garmin or Mass storage mode” - pick garmin and the software says “Device unsupported, download map center”. Pick garmin it takes a minute before it starts to sync/download. I always bitched about the wireless syncing with my 310 (it would sync when I was coming into the garage to pick up more water/gel) - but with the Fenix you have to remove it and clip it into the bracket.
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I have a Galaxy S4 phone which is paired to both cars, and my car scanners - but I cannot pair it to this watch. Before the firmware update, my phone couldn’t see it at all. After 2.4 update, put the watch in “find me” mode, search with the phone, click the “found device” which prompts for a random passcode (556677 or something changes each time) and then fails to pair. I’m in IT and have paired 100s of devices.
Sorry haven’t done any bike testing - bike has an inch of dust on it (ultra in 7 weeks or so). I will try and take it to the pool sometime this week if the snow keeps up.
Clever Trainings initial order has already shipped. I was told the second order was to be received yesterday - and units would begin shipping first of next week.
good stuff. thank you for sharing!
How did elevation data look on your outdoor run? I’m hoping elevation will be much closer to a 810/510 than a 910.
How did elevation data look on your outdoor run? I’m hoping elevation will be much closer to a 810/510 than a 910.
Not sure what you mean, but it seems accurate. The red line is a turn around and it mirrors pretty good.
If you have seen some 910 elevation data you’ll see what I mean (multiple devices on the same course can look completely different). Your n=1 already looks much much better thanks.
i’ve only used it for 2 runs and a 2100 swim, but seems like a lot of good data. it will take some time to get used to all of the customization possible, but i like it much more than the 910 which it replaced. plus, the battery life is much better, as well.
Love mine. It needs a qr… Only complaint si far
Well, did a 3:10 run 34km outside in the snow and the battery is down to 77% on 1 second polling with the HR strap.
So 12-13 hrs is looking like the upper end (on 1 sec polling) assuming the gauge is linear. Since I have to plug it in to sync, I’m unlikely to actually run it down to 0 - guess we’ll see how DC does.
And this is annoying:
Dropped HR connection for the last 25-30 mins - no reason, still running same pace same sweat factor.
Any updates? thanks in advance!
I don’t have a Fenix 2 but I do have a Tactix. Got it as a birthday present from my GF. Haven’t used it much since I have a 200 and 510.
Anyone know what the differences are between the MTB and Cycling modes are? It also can’t pick up my cadence sensor.
I took the original rubber strap off and using it with a NATO strap.
I posted this on the Garmin forum. Watch is good for training, but not really race ready. Glad I still have my 310 for NOLA 70.3 next week.
Fenix 2 Problems
I’ve only had the watch a week, but here are the problems I’ve encountered so far:
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The watch will not pair with Ant+ sensors in multisport mode after the swim. You have to pair with the power meter, speed, cadence and HR strap manually at the beginning of the bike/run.
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Distance for multisport activities was divided by 100 when uploading to Garmin Connect (0.25 miles instead of 25 miles). This messes up all of the lap data.
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Reviewing multisport data on the watch after the race is almost impossible. There is no summary for each of the legs of the race. You literally have to scroll through every “lap” of the bike leg to get to the run. If you auto lap every mile, then you have to scroll through 56 laps in order to see your run data. Summaries of each leg (like on the 310xt and 910xt) would be very helpful.
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Cadence numbers on running is double what it is when using a foot pod (the fenix is counting every step, while the footpod is counting one foot) so if I’m used to seeing a running cadence of 95 on my 310xt, I now am seeing 190. Not a big deal, but still would be nice to have the number divided by 2.
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Today I went to spin class, then went for a run immediately afterwards. After saving the spin class file, I tried to start a new activity and the watch would not let me. It kept asking whether I wanted to resume my indoor biking activity. I had to delete the spin class file before it would let me begin a run.
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The watch would not pair with the HR strap once I started the run activity after spin class. I had to turn the watch off and back on again for it to pair. Pairing with the HR strap took a long time. Usually it pairs very quickly.
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I cannot upload to Garmin Connect Mobile. The watch just says “syncing” for a very long time (15-20 minutes) before I finally give up and just upload using the clip.
I really hope these bugs can be fixed. I like the Fenix2, but I’m glad I kept my 310xt so I can use it until the glitches are taken care of.
Seriously? It is ridiculous Garmin gets away with releasing such crap… I have a 910XT and it seems every firmware release intended to fix some bug introduces another one… I will have no problem ditching my Garmin if another company would make a good multisport watch to replace it.
Sorry haven’t done any bike testing - bike has an inch of dust on it (ultra in 7 weeks or so). I will try and take it to the pool sometime this week if the snow keeps up.
That’s a bright idea! I’ve heard of folks washing their bikes in the shower, but I’ve never wanted to hassle with cleaning my shower afterward. If the pool people don’t object I should do that.
So yah, I’ve been using it for running only, and a few annoyances.
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At some point, they messed with the firmware so the pace update is SOOOO SLLOOOOOWW. Like if I speed up from a 6min/km to 3:30min/km pace, the pace display only speeds up by :05 every second, so by the time it shows 3:45 I’m done the interval. The actual data is fine and shows proper pace right away - just the screen display is fooked. I don’t remember it being like that out of the box so probably a firmware update screwup.
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On my 1/2 marathon race this morning, GPS went nuts at about 6km - showed me doing 2-3min/km, was autolapping 1km every 300-400m. It said I was at 12km when the marker was closer to 9. I stopped and started a new activity, still screwed - so I hard reset the watch (try holding the light button for 30 seconds in the middle of a race) and then started a new activity at the 10km marker. Was fine after that.
Here’s the map - the pathway red line is the course. No I didn’t jump off the bridge and go swimming. There are no buildings/trees around where it went nuts, and I’ve run this route for years with 305, 310, 405 etc never lost signal.
Early adopter pains I guess.
I agree. I also own the 910 and still waiting for them to fix courses on it. With the issues the fenix I will think twice before buying another Garmin ever again. What it comes down to is trust in the brand name and now Garmin has lost my trust. If I read a spec on a Samsung device I feel confident that the functions they state are supported will work. Now when I read the list of functions the Garmin supports, I interpret that as, “we’ll do the best we can, we may try to resolve it with a few SW updates, but if we cant fix it, well you will just have to live with it”. Thats how I feel with the 910xt, they simply quit trying to fix a device I shelled out 450$ for while at the same time I have the FR305 which is an older device where the same functions work well.
I will have no problem ditching my Garmin if another company would make a good multisport watch to replace it.
Like this?