The Garmin epix Pro (Gen 2) is a premium smartwatch designed for athletes, adventurers, and fitness enthusiasts who demand the best performance, durability, and functionality. With a stunning AMOLED display, advanced health and fitness tracking features, and rugged build quality, the Garmin epix Pro stands out as one of the top choices for those who lead an active lifestyle. In this review, we’ll delve into the design, features, performance, battery life, and overall value of the Garmin epix Pro to help you determine if it’s the proper smartwatch for your needs.
In this Garmin epix Pro (Gen 2) Review, we’ll take a look at:
Design and Build Quality
The Garmin epix Pro combines a robust and stylish design with top-tier materials, making it visually appealing and ready to withstand the most demanding environments.
- Premium Build: The epix Pro features a durable titanium or stainless steel bezel, sapphire crystal lens, and a fiber-reinforced polymer case, ensuring that it can handle the rigors of outdoor adventures and daily wear. Combining these materials enhances durability and gives the watch a premium feel.
- AMOLED Display: The standout feature of the Garmin epix Pro is its 1.3-inch AMOLED display, which offers vibrant colors, deep blacks, and excellent visibility even in direct sunlight. The always-on display mode lets you quickly check the time and stats without waking the screen.
- Customizable Design: The epix Pro is available in multiple case sizes (42mm, 47mm, and 51mm) and comes with various band options, allowing you to customize the look to suit your style and needs.
Features and Performance
The Garmin epix Pro has features to enhance your fitness, health, and outdoor activities. Whether you’re training for a marathon, hiking in the mountains, or tracking your daily activity, this smartwatch covers you.
- Advanced Health Monitoring: The epix Pro includes a comprehensive suite of health tracking features, such as wrist-based heart rate monitoring, Pulse Ox (blood oxygen saturation), Body Battery™ energy monitoring, and advanced sleep tracking. These features provide valuable insights into your overall health and well-being.
- Multi-Sport Tracking: This smartwatch supports various sports and activities, including running, cycling, swimming, skiing, and more. It also offers dedicated modes for activities like triathlons and HIIT workouts, making it a versatile tool for any athlete.
- Built-in GPS and Multi-GNSS Support: The epix Pro includes built-in GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo, ensuring accurate tracking of your outdoor activities. Whether running in the city or hiking in remote areas, you can rely on the watch to provide precise location data.
- TopoActive Maps and Ski Maps: The watch comes preloaded with TopoActive maps for detailed terrain data and ski maps for over 2,000 resorts worldwide. This makes the epix Pro an excellent companion for outdoor adventurers who need detailed mapping and navigation tools.
- Garmin Coach: The epix Pro supports Garmin Coach, which offers personalized training plans and guidance for 5K, 10K, and half-marathon races. This feature adapts to your fitness level and goals, providing tailored coaching to help you achieve your best performance.
Smart Features
Beyond fitness and outdoor tracking, the Garmin epix Pro also excels in providing intelligent features that keep you connected and make daily life more convenient.
- Intelligent Notifications: The watch delivers smart notifications directly to your wrist, including calls, texts, emails, and app alerts, ensuring you stay connected even when you move.
- Music Storage and Streaming: The epix Pro allows you to store up to 2,000 songs directly on the watch or stream music from popular services like Spotify, Amazon Music, and Deezer (subscription required). You can enjoy your favorite playlists during workouts without carrying your phone.
- Garmin Pay: With Garmin Pay, you can make contactless payments directly from your watch, making it easy to pay for items on the go without needing your wallet.
- Safety and Tracking: The watch includes features like incident detection and LiveTrack, allowing loved ones to follow your real-time location during activities. This provides peace of mind, especially during long runs or remote adventures.
Battery Life
The Garmin epix Pro offers impressive battery life, ensuring it can keep up with even the most demanding users.
- Long Battery Life: In smartwatch mode, the epix Pro offers up to 16 days of battery life, depending on usage. With the always-on display mode enabled, you can still expect up to 6 days of battery life. The watch can last up to 42 hours in GPS mode, making it suitable for long runs, hikes, or multi-day adventures.
- Power Manager: The watch features a power manager mode that allows you to customize battery usage by adjusting settings and disabling certain features. This helps extend battery life when you need it most.
Ease of Use and Interface
The Garmin epix Pro is designed to be user-friendly, with an intuitive interface allowing you to access and customize its many features easily.
- Responsive Touchscreen: The AMOLED display is touch-sensitive, providing a smooth, responsive interface that makes navigation easy. The watch also includes physical buttons for those who prefer traditional controls, especially during activities.
- Garmin Connect App: The epix Pro syncs with the Garmin Connect app, where you can view detailed stats, track your progress, and customize watch settings. The app is available on iOS and Android, offering a seamless experience across platforms.
Price and Availability
As a premium smartwatch, the Garmin epix Pro is priced at the higher end of the market, but it offers exceptional value for its advanced features and durability.
- Price: The Garmin epix Pro typically retails for around $899 to $999, depending on the model and customization options. While it’s an investment, the watch’s comprehensive features and robust build justify the price for serious athletes and adventurers.
- Availability: The epix Pro is widely available through major electronics retailers, online marketplaces, and directly from Garmin’s official website.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Vibrant AMOLED Display: The display offers excellent visibility and sharpness, making it easy to read in any lighting condition.
- Comprehensive Health and Fitness Tracking: With advanced metrics, multi-sport support, and detailed mapping, the epix Pro is a top choice for athletes and adventurers.
- Long Battery Life: The watch provides impressive battery life, even with the always-on display mode enabled.
- Intelligent Features: Garmin Pay, music storage, and smart notifications make your daily life convenient.
- Durable Build: The robust construction and premium materials ensure the watch can withstand harsh environments and intensive use.
Cons:
- Premium Price: The Garmin epix Pro is priced higher than many other smartwatches, which may be a barrier for some users.
- Size and Weight: The larger size and weight of the watch, especially in the 51mm model, may not be comfortable for all users.
- Limited App Ecosystem: While Garmin’s ecosystem is robust for fitness and outdoor activities, it lacks various third-party apps on other platforms like Apple Watch.
Conclusion
The Garmin epix Pro (Gen 2) is a powerful and versatile smartwatch that excels in fitness tracking, outdoor navigation, and intelligent features. Its vibrant AMOLED display, comprehensive health metrics, and rugged build make it an ideal choice for athletes, outdoor enthusiasts, and anyone who demands the best from their smartwatch. While it comes with a premium price tag, its value in terms of performance, durability, and advanced features makes it a worthy investment for those who take their fitness and adventures seriously. If you’re in the market for a top-of-the-line smartwatch that can do it all, the Garmin epix Pro is worth considering.
Garmin epix Pro (Gen 2) FAQ
How does the Garmin epix Pro (Gen 2) perform regarding battery life, especially with continuous GPS use?
The Garmin epix Pro (Gen 2) offers impressive battery life despite its high-resolution AMOLED display and extensive features. In smartwatch mode, it can last up to 16 days on a single charge, depending on usage. Continuous GPS tracking gives a battery life of up to 42 hours, which is excellent for long hikes, endurance events, or multi-day adventures. The smartwatch also supports rapid charging, allowing you to recharge the battery quickly.
Is the Garmin epix Pro (Gen 2) suitable for casual users and serious athletes?
The Garmin epix Pro (Gen 2) has advanced features for severe athletes and outdoor enthusiasts, such as VO2 max, advanced GPS capabilities, and personalized workout suggestions. While casual users can certainly use it, its extensive feature set might be overkill for those who do not require detailed fitness metrics or advanced navigation tools. Casual users interested in basic fitness tracking and everyday innovative features might find other Garmin models more suited to their needs.
What are the key differences between the Garmin epix Pro (Gen 2) and other Garmin smartwatches like the Fenix series?
The Garmin epix Pro (Gen 2) and the Fenix series share many similarities, such as advanced fitness tracking, GPS capabilities, and rugged design. However, the critical difference lies in the display— the epix Pro features a vibrant AMOLED display, offering better color reproduction and contrast than the Fenix series’ transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) display. The epix Pro focuses more on delivering a premium visual experience, while the Fenix series is known for its longer battery life in extreme conditions. Depending on your priorities—display quality or battery endurance—one might suit you better.