Garmin Fenix 2 Performance Bundle (Includes Heart Rate Monitor)

This is my first fitness watch, which I got because I do alot of running and some hiking. I’ll review it from the perspective of someone who's never had one before.The first thing you’ll want to do after charging the battery and setting it up, is to hook it to your computer and download the firmware update. This update will allow it to automatically upload your workout statistics after you’re done, wirelessly over Bluetooth, to the Garmin Connect app on your phone.Next you’ll want to link your Garmin Connect account to whatever other fitness apps you use— in my case it’s MyFitnessPal. This allows Garmin Connect to send your workout to MyFitnessPal, and for MyFitnessPal to send your food calorie intake to Garmin Connect.It’s alot to set up at first, but in doing so, after your run is over, simply hitting Stop, and then Save, will automatically save, upload, and sync everything by itself. No further effort on your part is needed. And quite frankly, I like that.Go ahead and get the chest strap heart monitor with this. It’s overpriced for what it is, but is still worth it. It gives you a far more accurate calorie burn count, which is why you’re considering one of these to begin with.One of the concerns of mine before I got it, was, I run on a hilly and rugged path, so I often have to stop to walk. Will I have to constantly change from Run to Walk? Will I have to always hit Stop and Start? The answer is no: just let it keep going. It'll tell you “Recovery Level: Good”, so it’s already programmed to compensate for that. Just set it to Run, hit Start, and let it ride out from there until you’re completely done.The heart monitor knows whether you’re running hard or not, so your calorie burn tally can vary day to day, even on the same distance.The compass is good, screen light works well enough, and the light/dark contrast is actually adjustable too.I have mine set up so that it’s always Bluetooth paired with my phone (less trouble to bother with) except when paired with my heart monitor. I’m not playing with my phone while running. Because of that, I do need to charge it every night.I considered the Fenix 3, but Amazon Prime had this for a killer price. Glad I got it.

I have had this watch for several months now and feel comfortable writing a review. This watch was purchased primarily for hiking so that I wouldn't have to always pack the handheld gps. I am a big data geek so I always love my gadgets and this one is right up at the top. After having this for a while I also decided to try trail running and this combined with some awesome trail running shoes (Salomon Speedcross) made me really enjoy trail running. I was able to pair this with my heart rate monitor and see on the map based on elevation and grade how my heart rate responded. I also use it for regular outside runs and then on the treadmill. The more you use the watch outside the better it gets and calibrating to your stride and cadence and can track your indoor runs without a footpod. There is usually a variance but you can go into garmin connect and edit this.I also messed around with this while cycling but I have a garmin edge so I don't really use the watch for this purpose. I think it would work well for cycling but I would personally buy a mount to mount to the handlebars.The storm alert feature is pretty cool and so far works well as long as you aren't changing elevation too quickly, which can set off a storm alert.I also recently purchased a garmin virb ultra 30 action camera and the watch can control it and you can also use the metrics off the watch to do g-metrix overlays with the video. This has turned out to be really fun.So far I have never had an issue with the battery life but I haven't used it on any backpacking trips, just long day hikes. I have some power packs that I think could be used to easily charge it on longer trips so I don't really se this being an issue.

UPDATE: 01 SEP 2016- As of now, my watch had been on the shelf for a few months, so naturally the battery drained & died. After repeated attempts, the battery will no longer change at all. Two years of use, maybe a few dozen + times, dead in the water - from disuse? Contacting Garmin...but may be out $$$$. Will update Star Rating after. At this point, about 3 stars, possibly 2 based on their customer service level. More to follow...I don't write reviews often, but there was so much information and updates surrounding this watch, I decided with the recent updates I should throw my two cents in, since everyone else's helped me decide myself.I bought this just a few weeks ago after reading the online reviews of the previous FENIX, comparison with the TACTIX and D2 Flight Versions and the DCrainmaker reviews - (the best overall comparisons for every major Alt / Baro / Compass (ABC) / GPS watches - even within the same brand (GARMIN), however just a bit outdated now as they were based on the Beta model, now much improved with software updates).I have not extensively tested the issues others have reported regarding the loss of tracking, inaccurate GPS tracks, the battery dying or timer / distance reseting after 2-3 hours. Those are serious issues for the dedicated distance athlete - I will test mine during normal use with the features running over the next couple of days to see if I have the same problems.***12 MAY 2014 Update***: Ran the GPS all day, to include various times of indoor / lost signal and without the HRM on. I pressed random lap times and navigated through a few menus, leaving it going until the battery died (under 2% - the watch shut off automatically) at 11 hours and 40 minutes. I would expect the HRM use in conjunction with to decrease that a bit more and there was many times I was indoors, however the watch should have been searching for satellites still using extensive battery life. I estimated 12-15 hours (NORMAL GPS Mode, Hiking Activity) but it did fall a bit short. Not bad, with still an option for "Ultra Trac" GPS mode to significantly increase the battery life.I am going to run the GPS with the HRM and then again another day with it in Ultra Trac GPS mode...more updates to follow.***14 May 2014*** Update: HRM running and GPS going with moderate indoor & outdoor use. I did have the HRM drop at only about 25 minutes, but held solid until about 08 hrs & 40 mins when it dropped again. Both times I had to press & hold the light button down to shut off & restart the watch to reconnect, as even going through settings, sensors & HR, it only showed " searching" until the reboot. It does maintain the total elapsed time once you press start and resume the activity again, though. Just an odd, annoying glitch that seems to happen randomly. Battery life is still running well, with both HRM & GPS (when outside, about half the total time today) I'm at 9 hours and still at 38%, but spent much less time outside today, as compared to my previous update & battery life. The next week I will run the GPS ultra-trac to see how close to the 50 hour mark I can get to!PROs:- Great design; I picked this based on the incredible variety of options this watch has. No other even comes close, with glide ratio (jump master), ski settings, swim strokes, even a heart rate monitor (extra $$) that can measure vertical bounce / oscillations / VO2 Max setting (based on run / HR)- Solid look and case, black with three band options! One rubber strap, one cordura-style material "velcro" strap attached by solid thick screws into the watch (tool included) and even a third to hang from a rucksack / hiking pack instead of from a wrist!!- Waterproof with swim options including stroke, distance, laps, etc - or depth for low level diving / snorkeling- Built in Temp...accuracy is always affected by wearing it, naturally. Prior glitches with recording the data and connecting to a temp sensor (extra $$) before i read about. I haven't tested to see if that was fixed as it's not a concern for me personally.- Compass, independent from the GPS with calibration options. I had always carried a compass on a watch prior for navigating around cities when traveling on a map...actually an important option for me, works great.- Sunrise / Sunset and Moon Rise / Set data with image of phase (not % of light, but pic of the current phase - by date)- Red Backlight, solid face only viewable within 30-90 degrees (straight-on) or so; nice minor tactical option from the TACTIX- Once the menus are set up, you can view and do everything you'd want for running, HR (with sensor), pace, elevation, calories, etc - ***They finally added (last updated software - April 2014 to 2.6 / 2.90 GPS) that included a 4-field page for displaying data during an activity...essential for me for Time, Dist, Pace and HR on one page!***- Different Options for GPS battery power...Ultra-Trac, claiming up to 50 hours sipping GPS signals (every 60 secs instead of instant updates) is a great feature. I haven't verified the battery at full usage - some claim as little as 5-6 hours, but I have an "old" Triathalon TIMEX with GPS and HRM that will do 12 hours...surely this should last 12-15, but I will test this again in the next couple of days and provide an update.- Basic watch features with a lock-button option and a hidden off / "reset" feature with button presses for those rare times it won't recognize the external sensors or locks-up. Glad they thought of it, even though they need to be fixed ultimately. Small computer!- Even the contrast, screen brightness, auto-light, duration and time screen options can be adjusted (time, Day, Date, Battery life, Zulu time, Sunrise - on the same screen*)- Bluetooth connectivity: with an iPhone, you can sync and receive text messages from your phone directly to your watch AND set for during activity, always or off. The trick is you can't use an external sensor if you are using the BT feature enabled - the watch will tell you if you try it.CONS:- Really thick; I'm used to wearing large watches, so it doesn't bother me at all but to some it may. Seriously, like 1/2" thick.- Odd cross over features not present on the TACTIX / FENIX 2 / D2: The FENIX 2 has almost EVERYTHING the TACTIX version (same basic watch, along with the D2) and WAY more. *The only differences they left out is the more ruggedized case (all black, no red button), the GREEN backlight (instead of the FENIX red), the convex lens for more tactical viewing straight on and the Tide chart / shoreline data. I would have preferred the green & convex lens personally and hoped you could update / software or chose, but you can't with the FENIX 2. Garmin added the Jumpmaster to the FENIX 2 for parachuting / glide distance calculations from the TACTIX, but didn't include the Tide / Shore data?? Odd. The TACTIX was a "military" tailored version that unfortunately fell way short of a better design in the F2, but Garmin just didn't improve it and instead made the F2. My only heartache with Garmin as it seems like they targeted a market and then fell short, but only after selling an incomplete product and now likely setting up to dump it. The D2 is very similar watch, different button features and software but essentially the same shell - for Pilots. It would be great to have all the features in one, but with the tech / size / battery it would be difficult, so I'd like to see extra $$ option for swapping software around based on the desire of the end user. I fly as well, so I do understand there really is too much data to shove into one system for this many features though. One day perhaps.- ***Not intuitive: Setting up can be a beast. Some features like Run are a press Start and go, but the data pages for setting up what you want to see, editing, moving items in the menu, turning on Bluetooth, notifications, etc take a lot of tinkering and you can get buried into the sub-menu options and forget where you were. At least there is a "back" button and press-and-hold menu button if all else fails. Online videos and just getting familiar with the "settings" and "data pages" just takes time; a lot of time but highly customizable in the end.- This is geared for the Iphone / APPs, NOT ANDROID Phones right now...I caved and got the iPhone so no issues with the Bluetooth / Connectivity issues. I haven't tested the wireless app synch yet, but it does directly USB into my PC (not Mac) anyway.- **Bluetooth and Antennea (ANT) functions as mentioned DO NOT WORK CONCURRENTLY. It's one or the other - hardware design that cannot be fixed with this model. It tells you if you try, but doesn't give you a simple click to change or turn-off, just to "ok" it. You then must go through the menu and manually turn-off the BT if you want your ANT (e.g.: HRM) while running. Probably the F3 one day will do this hopefully. YES - I want to get my text messages and HR while running at the same time!!! It's 2014! Ha!- All sensors are extra $$$...the kits to save a few bucks have been back-ordered since before the F2 was even available it seems. I paid the extra money for the HR Monitor.- Minor, but I wanted the date, day, Zulu AND battery life to show on the main time page...it gives every option - even sunrise - EXCEPT that one with Zulu and the Battery life together! Can't please everyone, I know. Flight Guy...everything is in Zulu, ha.In Summary: Beware the glitches and know that you will have to update the software as they are pushed out from Garmin. Sign up for email notifications on Garmin Connect and then you can keep up. There are a few major reports of dead systems and errors in GPS / Timing. It doesn't seem to be wide-spread, but test immediately if purchased so you can ensure it works on a marathon, 50k or 100k run prior to the event so you can still return it. I will be testing my battery from 100% with the GPS running as much as possible the next two days (lots of indoor time though - we'll see how it works) to see the actual useable life, as if it does have the massive timing errors or dies in 6 hours rest assured I will be returning mine. Finally, I cannot recommend to buy the TACTIX as it is $50 more and has considerably less features than the F2 now anyway.