Garmin’s Fenix 7 series gets a touchscreen display, a flashlight, and 5 weeks of battery life

At CES 2022, Garmin revealed the Venu 2 Plus and Vivomove Sport. This surprised some of us who were expecting some coverage on the Fenix series. It turns out that they were just waiting a little longer to reveal it. Garmin just announced their Fenix 7 lineup as well as Epix, an updated active smartwatch with an OLED always-on display.

Garmin Fenix 7

The updated Fenix lineup comes in the 42mm Fenix 7S, the 47mm Fenix 7, and the 51mm Fenix 7X. There will also be Solar and Sapphire Solar editions of the models which change the materials from a polymer to titanium.

These watches will support solar charging for all sizes and have 54% more solar surface area compared to the previous Fenix 6X Pro. How does this affect the battery life? In GPS mode, Garmin claims the 7X can reach up to a total of 213 hours on battery alone or 578 hours with solar charging. For the smaller sizes, the Fenix 7 gets up to 136 hours with the battery or 289 with solar, and the 7S gets up to 90 hours with the battery or 162 hours with additional solar charging. With GPS off in smartwatch mode, Garmin says the Fenix 7X can reach up to five weeks of battery life.

One long-overdue addition to the Fenix 7 is the touchscreen display. In fact, it’s quite controversial. Other Garmin watches like the Venu and Vivomove already have touchscreen displays, but the adventure-focused rugged Fenix line has never had them before. In a Reddit post about the Fenix 6, many users expressed that the Fenix does not need a touchscreen interface.

To the non-believers, I say just try it out! Garmin did not get rid of any button controls so you can use the watch the exact same way as before. Additionally, they implemented button guards on some of the buttons to make them easier to use. The touchscreen will just be an added tool to aid in the menu navigation.

The last main addition to the Fenix is the LED flashlight, which is only present on the 7X. It’s not just the screen turning white; it’s an actual flashlight on the top of the watch that can shine pretty bright. The flashlight is meant to be used as a safety feature for running in the dark, but it can also alert drivers with your presence and direction by alternating between white and red with each arm swing.

Garmin Epix (Gen 2)

Garmin Epix was introduced seven years ago but is finally being awoken from its slumber. It’s quite similar to the Fenix 7, but instead of an LED flashlight and solar charging, you get an always-on OLED display. The design makes me think that it could be a cross between the Fenix and the Venu 2.

The Fenix 7 isn’t the only lineup with impressive battery life. Garmin claims that the Epix can get you up to 16 days of battery life on a single charge. With the always-on display enabled you’d get six days of battery life. As an owner of an Apple Watch who has to charge his watch every night, I can truly say that Garmin is killing it in the battery department and I am quite jealous.

Software-wise, both the Fenix and the Epix provide features like heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, stress monitoring, and more. They even added new things like Real-Time Stamina which tells you how your stamina would vary with different intensity levels.

Pricing and availability

Both the models are currently available on the Garmin website and will ship within one to three business days if you live in the US. For Malaysia, we will have to wait until it launches in the local market.

Here’s a full list of the prices for both the Garmin Fenix and Garmin Epix.

• Garmin Fenix 7S – USD 699 (~RM 2,933)
• Garmin Fenix 7S Solar – USD 799 (~RM 3,352)
• Garmin Fenix 7S Sapphire Solar – USD 899 (~RM 3,772)
• Garmin Fenix 7 – USD 699 (~RM 2,933)
• Garmin Fenix 7 Solar – USD 799 (~RM 3,352)
• Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar – USD 899 (~RM 3,772)
• Garmin Fenix 7X Solar – USD 899 (~RM 3,772)
• Garmin Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar – USD 999 (~RM 4,191)
• Garmin Epix (Gen 2) – USD 999.99 (~RM 4,196)

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