Garmin Fenix 7 Professional assessment

The Garmin Fenix 7 Professional is the newest instalment of Garmin’s multisports watch that is firmly aimed toward out of doors lovers.

Just like the Fenix 7, the Professional nonetheless is available in three fashions and gives the entire similar options to make it match for adventuring. That features Garmin’s nice multi-band mode, rafts of out of doors exercise profiles and battery life that may go for weeks.

For the 7 Professional, Garmin is now including extra coaching metrics, mapping options and {hardware} enhancements that can assist you keep seen on solo night-time path runs and inform you how onerous you are coaching in a extra correct style.

So is the Fenix 7 Professional one other out of doors watch nice, and is it well worth the improve on the unique Fenix 7? This is my take.

Design and show

• Is available in photo voltaic and sapphire photo voltaic variations
• Improved show
• LED flashlight on all Fenix 7 Professional sizes

The Garmin Fenix 7 Professional does not shift too distant from the look of the 7, which is not essentially dangerous or stunning. It is a watch that appears constructed for rugged use and now Garmin has added in some new options to make it extra helpful outside.

The primary is taking the LED flashlight it included on the Fenix 7X and bringing it to the Fenix 7S Professional and the 7 Professional. Just like the 7X’s flashlight, there’s white and pink LED modes with the choice to set the sunshine to numerous modes like setting it to pulse. It is a vibrant sufficient gentle to show helpful and you may set it as much as keep on once you’re monitoring exercise.

Garmin says it is also added an improved show to the entire Fenix 7 fashions. Our 47mm 7 Professional packed a 1.3-inch, 260 x 260 decision display screen, matching the dimensions and backbone on the non-Professional 7. You’re getting a display screen that is a contact clearer and brighter but it surely’s not an enormous display screen improve. It is nonetheless a touchscreen, which fortunately is not laggy and gives a pleasant different to utilizing the bodily buttons to navigate menus.

Garmin gives the Professional in photo voltaic and sapphire photo voltaic choices, which does imply you get its PowerGlass lens to reap vitality from the solar to spice up battery life. You are still getting a reasonably customary silicone strap that is straightforward to take away and waterproof ranking that makes it secure to be submerged in water as much as 100 metres depth.

Well being and health

• New Hill and Endurance scores
• Added mapping options and modes
• New coronary heart price sensor constructed for train

All the pieces you possibly can observe or monitor on the Fenix 7 you are able to do on the 7 Professional. So Garmin has sought to enhance issues in some key areas together with delivering extra correct information, providing extra coaching insights and bolstering the Fenix’s already nice mapping abilities.

For those who like your whitewater rafting or motocross, Garmin now has a profile for you. It is also sought to enhance the accuracy of its coronary heart price monitoring by including a brand new sensor on the again of the watch that, together with new algorithms, needs to dish out the sort of HR information you possibly can depend on.

In our checks, the Fenix 7 Professional’s sensor carried out surprisingly effectively, the place greater Garmin watches up to now have struggled in additional excessive depth train use. The Fenix 7 Professional wasn’t resistant to the odd uncommon spike or coronary heart price drop towards a extra dependable coronary heart price monitor chest strap, however basically the information was good. It is nonetheless not chest strap degree of accuracy, but it surely carried out effectively basically.

One of many largest causes to personal a Garmin is the power to view maps, and its strategy is best than what you may discover from different sports activities watches proper now by way of modes, degree of element and simply proving helpful when that you must discover your method round.

You will have to get the Sapphire version of the Professional to get these pre-loaded topographical maps, which now assist a break up display screen mode. This lets you view metrics and maps on one display screen and reduction shading to reinforce the element you may see on these maps on the opposite. Garmin has additionally added the power to see climate, like precipitation and temperature throughout maps, although this isn’t simply accessible once you’re in monitoring mode.

For those who did not really feel like Fenix already provided sufficient methods to gauge how effectively your coaching goes, it is now added two new coaching metrics within the type of Hill Rating and Endurance Rating. Hill Rating needs to present you a greater thought of how effectively you possibly can sort out hills, paying shut consideration to your extra elevated exercise over weeks and months, to inform you whether or not you are going to be able to sort out a really elevated race or route.

Endurance rating needs to simplify your understanding of whether or not you are increase the best quantity of coaching to sort out extra endurance-style actions. It is producing scores out of your earlier exercise historical past and VO2 Max readings and, like Hill Rating, is basically about providing you with a clearer sense of whether or not you are placing in the correct amount of coaching and monitoring time to place your physique to extra bodily demanding use. Ought to these scores be seen because the definitive say in your preparation? No, however the data and metrics it is fuelled by ought to supply some helpful steering on whether or not you are effectively ready.

If you add within the stuff you already get from the unique Fenix 7, like the good multi-band mode for bettering out of doors monitoring accuracy, an already ample set of coaching insights and instruments and nice mapping modes, the Professional is a formidable look ahead to out of doors monitoring.

Smartwatch options

• New consumer interface
• Similar smartwatch options as 955
• Slick and responsive OS

Like different Garmin watches, the 7 Professional is sports activities watch first and smartwatch second, but it surely gives sufficient options for people who wish to make use of it once they’re not tackling trails.

Garmin hasn’t added something drastically new right here, so that is nonetheless a watch that you need to use to view notifications out of your Android cellphone or iPhone, ship textual content responses to some notifications (for Android solely), change watch faces, view calendar and inventory updates and also you do nonetheless have a built-in music participant that helps offline playlist storage with Spotify and Deezer.

The smartwatch expertise on a Garmin is about pretty much as good because it will get on any sports activities watch. The notification assist works effectively, you have bought good music options and the consumer interface on the watch is strong on the entire.

There are parts which are not good. Garmin Pay is not tremendous slick, nor does it assist an enormous assortment of banks, the Garmin Join IQ Retailer is not wherever close to as polished as Apple or Google’s watch storefronts, however on the entire it is the very best sports activities watch and smartwatch mash-up you may discover proper now.

Battery life

• 22 days in smartwatch mode
• Can final for as much as 70 days in expedition mode
• Energy supervisor mode included

One thing you are not going to have to fret about on the Professional is battery life. You are going to get lots of it right here and whether or not you are out mountaineering for just a few days otherwise you’re utilizing it as your day-to-day working watch and smartwatch, you are getting loads.

In monitoring mode, the 47mm model I examined can go wherever from 40-70 days in Garmin’s Expedition mode, which samples GPS information at a much less common price. For those who go for probably the most correct multi-band mode, that drops to 23-26 hours. That high finish of the vary relies on benefiting from the Professional’s photo voltaic charging powers, which does require spending lots of time outside to push issues additional.

For those who’re extra involved in monitoring and utilizing the onboard smartwatch options, Garmin says you ought to be lined for as much as 22 days. The numbers aren’t that totally different from the unique 47mm Fenix 7, however what I might say is that that is nonetheless a Garmin watch that may final per week and longer relying on the quantity of exercise you observe and the way precisely you select to trace it. Garmin says this can be a watch constructed for the outside and it may well actually final a very good time away from the charger.

To push issues additional Garmin nonetheless consists of its nice energy supervisor modes, letting you may have higher management over what’s working and being tracked and be sure you’re not utilizing battery-sapping options that you do not care about.

Verdict

The Garmin Fenix 7 Professional is one other nice look ahead to people who love the outside and out of the brand new options Garmin has added to the Professional over the usual 7, it’s doubtless going to be the flashlight that would be the huge pull for going Professional over the unique.

Which may make the additional outlay over the unique onerous to justify, however for people who need the newest and biggest Garmin tech and options, there isn’t any doubt that the Fenix 7 Professional gives it.