It’s here, the new Garmin Fenix 8 Pro & Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED. These two new watches add in both LTE & two-way satellite messaging connectivity, as well as brighter displays for both, including the first wearable to use a MicroLED display. But there are some catches, most notably the disappearance of a smaller-sized Fenix unit, as well as the pricing jumping up another $200, to an entry point of $1,199 for the cheapest Fenix 8 Pro LTE model.
This release is all about connectivity (and displays). There’s no additional new software features, aside from the gigantic boatload of features released as week or two ago that I outlined down below.
Note, this is not a full in-depth review. That’ll come later-ish with a bit more time on the devices and cellular testing. Both my wife and I have units we’ve started testing, with me doing my best to find what works well and doesn’t. And her training for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in 8 weeks.
With that, let’s get into it. Oh, and hang tight for a video, should be up in the next few hours!
What’s New:
Now, the first thing to remember about Garmin’s Fenix naming conventions is that the ‘Pro’ monitor doesn’t mean it’s some new level ‘above’ the existing Fenix watches. Instead, it means it’s the next iteration. That’s just the silly way Garmin works that confuses buyers everywhere, especially first-time buyers. So yes, while it’s clearly a better watch, it’s not intended to be a second tier Fenix, but rather, the next generation of Fenix.
With that, here’s how the Fenix 8 Pro LTE differs from a typical Fenix 8 unit:
– Increased display brightness to match that of Forerunner 970 & Venu X1 (roughly 2,000 nits is estimated)
– Increased speaker loudness compared to Fenix 8 (matches that of FR970 & Venu X1)
– Added LTE/Cellular Connectivity
– Added two-way Satellite connectivity (for messaging)
– Added LTE Live two-way voice calls
– Added LTE LiveTrack
– Added LTE Voice Messaging
– Added LTE Text Messaging
– Added LTE Weather
– Added LTE Location Check-Ins
– Added LTE incident detection
– Added LTE Emergency SOS
– Added Satellite Emergency SOS
– Added Satellite Text Messaging
– Added Satellite Check-in (Location)
– Only offered in 47mm & 51mm case sizes
– Increased price by $200, from $999 to $1,199/€1,199 for the base 47mm Fenix 8 Pro, and $1,299 for the 51mm edition
You’ll notice, though, there’s no 43mm option. It’s gone. Garmin says that’s “Due to hardware limitations with integrating the LTE antenna.” Which, I mean, seriously?!? You’ve skipped the one size watch where the female audience wants LTE emergency features more than any other group probably?
Garmin went on to say that it’s “Not that we don’t believe in it, and not that we’re avoiding it longer term”, but that the engineering challenge right now of keeping things smal,l including all the antennas for satellites, wasn’t possible.
Meanwhile, for the Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED, it’s got everything above, except the following:
– Uses a new 1.4″ MicroLED display with 4,500 nits of brightness (454px by 454px)
– Display has 400,000 individual LED’s on them
– Battery life is 10 days claimed in smartwatch mode (but only 4 days in always-on mode)
– GPS battery life up to 44hrs GPS-only, or 17hrs LTE LiveTrack with Multi-band (see full chart below)
– Weight is 93g including band (case is only 68g)
– Thickness is a beefcake
– Storage: 32GB
– Price is $1,999/€1,999 for the Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED unit, which is only offered in the larger 51mm case
Now, in addition to the above-noted items, it includes all the new features that the Fenix 8 got over the past few weeks (coming from the Venu X1, Forerunner 970, and other recent units), including:
Added Ability to Access Apps List by Swiping Left on the Watch Face: New to Garmin devices.
Added Calculator App: New to Garmin devices
Added Custom Focus Modes: Finally long-awaited expansion of this feature from when they launched it last summer
Added Editing for All Previous Sets in Strength: New to Garmin devices
Added Emoji Keyboard: Specifically for Android text/etc responses.
Added Evening Report Support: Launched on Forerunner 570/970
Added Expanded Morning Report Support: Launched on Forerunner 570/970
Added Garmin alerts to Notification Center: Launched on Forerunner 570/970
Added Golf Range Finder Settings Menu: Not applicable to my wheelhouse of miniature golf.
Added Japanese Kana Keyboard: New to Garmin devices
Added More QWERTY Keyboard Layouts.
Added Multisport Workout Support: Launched on Forerunner 570/970
Added Music Options to Music More Controls Page: New to Garmin devices
Added New Help Dialogs for Breathing Variations
Added Performance Glance Updates
Added Provisional Finish Point Support: Launched on Forerunner 570/970
Added Race Timer Data Field to Sail Race Activity
Added Running Economy Support: Launched on Forerunner 970
Added Running Power to the Lactate Threshold Page: Launched on Forerunner 570/970
Added Running Tolerance Support: Launched on Forerunner 970
Added Smart Wake Alarm: Launched on Vivoactive 6
Added Step Speed Loss Support: Launched on Forerunner 970
Added Support for Track/Road Display Transitions: New to Garmin devices
Added Tack Assist Data Page in Sailing Activities
Added Thai Keyboard
Added Track Run Option for Daily Suggested Workouts: New to Garmin devices
Added Triathlon Adaptive Training Plan Support: Launched on Forerunner 570/970
Added Triathlon Race Events Support: Launched on Forerunner 570/970
Beyond this, it includes all the Fenix 8 features found from a year ago, including the dive functionality, speaker/microphone, and more. What’s notable though is that as I said when the Fenix 8 launched, it was really lacking in new sports features (literally, it has none, at least if you don’t count diving). Whereas this time around, I’d argue the LTE/Satellite pieces are huge for sports/adventure, and that’s in addition to the massive list above that the Fenix 8 just got last week in production.
Now, you may notice MIP is gone. Rest in peace MIP. But, I wouldn’t say it’s gone forever. After all, Garmin still has their Enduro series of watches aimed at forever battery (including solar), which is really the logical branding destination for a MIP display longer-term.
When asked, Garmin’s program manager Jon Hosler said “We still believe in MIP displays, we just don’t have the connected versions of them this generation”.
Finally, getting to thickness, things are definitely thicker and bulkier. Building a MicroLED watch is actually similar to MIP watches in that they have to bond a touchscreen layer atop the display, whereas in AMOLED it’s all built into a single panel. As for whether or not MicroLED will replace those screens, Garmin said “We don’t think this is a replacement to AMOLED”, at least for now, and went on to say “there are tradeoffs for each”.
All of these start shipping on September 8th.
Got all that? Good, let’s get into the connectivity bits.
LTE Cellular Connectivity:
Next, Garmin has finally delivered on putting LTE in a Fenix watch. Up till now, it’s really been occasional forays by the Venu team (Vivoactive 3 Music Cellular in 2019), and then the Forerunner team (Forerunner 945 LTE in 2021), and most currently, the kids-focused Garmin Bounce watch in 2022 that my daughters love.
Finally, they’ve done it. Though it’ll ultimately be like you’d expect from other Garmin watches: Really a safety and basic messaging focused feature, rather than some full stack of cellular features like you might find on an Apple, Google, or Samsung watch. This is designed to cover the main athletic use-cases of tracking and basic messaging to fiends/family when out on a workout. For example, up till now, my wife would often do late-night runs after the kids went to bed…stealing one of their Garmin Bounce watches to use as a LTE run tracker (she hates bringing her phone). Given she already was wearing a Fenix, this now solves that.
When it comes to LTE features, Garmin offers the following features over their LTE network, via LTE-M (which requires lower power as an ecosystem, including voice calling over LTE-M):
– LTE Live two-way voice calls
– LTE LiveTrack (30-second sampling rate)
– LTE Voice Messaging
– LTE Text Messaging
– LTE Weather
– LTE & Satellite Emergency SOS
– LTE Location Check-Ins
– LTE Incident Detection & Assistance
In addition, they also offer satellite text messaging, more on that in a second. Notably, the watches are cross-region compatible due to LTE-M. Meaning, you can use your European model in the US for LTE-M (and satellite), and vice-versa.
As you can see, this is all about telling your friends/family where you are, and checking in with them. That said, the two-way voice calls is a good place to start, that isn’t really limited to being a workout feature.
To begin, getting things setup requires setting up an account within Garmin’s inReach platform. This gives you 30 days free, after which is $9.99/month for unlimited LTE stuffs, and emergency-only Satellite bits. Beyond that, there’s additional fees for satellite check-ins/texts that I’ll cover below (or, a higher priced plan).
Once that’s all setup and activated (and seriously, it takes forever and is mostly a giant hot mess of different Garmin phone apps, switching, etc…), you’ll be ready to go.
From there, you’ll see a menu option in your watch that shows the different connectivity status options, in terms of how and when it leverages both LTE & satellite. Essentially, you can leave it on Auto, force it off/on, and any number of combinations within that.
For LTE connectivity, if enabled, you’ll see the cellular signal strength at the watch face, as well as start of workout pages:
Next, looking at LTE LiveTrack, here’s an example of a run today I did with the LTE LiveTrack feature, sent to DesFit to follow along. In this case, a portion of the run goes through no-cellular ranges, though the rest is within cell service.
Meanwhile, out on the run with cellular range I could text Des, have him follow my live tracking, and dork send messages via LTE back and forth to my wife…running alongside me.
On the texting side, he was using the Garmin Messenger app on his phone, while I had just my watch with me. I could choose his name, and then send either manually typed our messages, or pre-canned messages. I also have some pre-canned messages I’ve added to it, for use across my inReach devices.
And back and forth we went:
All of this worked great and within seconds when I had connectivity, and then was slightly delayed when I didn’t (but did send shortly thereafter). I was also able to text my wife, who was running alongside me, also on pure watch LTE (no cell phone).
To be really clear – the receipient does *NOT* need to have the Garmin Messenger app loaded. If they don’t, they’ll receive a text message from a random Garmin phone number, and when they reply, Garmin will correctly route it back to your watch. You do not get assigned a dedicated phone/text number. A receipient that just wants to text, can do so without the Messenger app. However, if they want to send voice messages, they need the Garmin app.
Next I can do 2-way voice calls. In that scenario, you find the contact within the Messenger app/menus on the watch, and select to call them:
The call will then complete using the microphone/speaker on your watch, to their Messenger app. Unlike text messages, for calls, the other person needs to have the Messenger app on their phone. In this case, the voice call quality was good enough, even on 2/5 bars of LTE.
Finally, there are voice messages. This allows someone to send you short voice messages. When these come into you, they’ll actually show up initially as a transcribed message. In my case, out in the trails, it took maybe another 30-45 seconds (with poor LTE connectivity) before the full voice message was downloaded to the watch:
At which point I could simply tap it to play using the speaker on the watch (or headphones). Audio quality was so-so, like the Venu X1 and Garmin Forerunner 970. Functional, but nothing fantastic.
LTE connectivity requires a Garmin-specific plan, and costs $7.99/9.99EUR a month. That plan also covers the Garmin inReach satellite connectivity features I discuss next.
Satellite Connectivity Features:
Next up, the next piece here is Satellite features via Garmin inReach-like functionality, when out of cellular range.
In Garmin’s case, this falls into a bucket of three core satellite features:
– Satellite Messaging (basic texting)
– Satellite position/location check-ins
– Satellite Emergency SOS (via Garmin Response)
This is more extensive than what Google launched two weeks ago with the Pixel Watch 4, since that was only for satellite emergency SOS (though ironically, does use Garmin’s Response center). Further, while these new features definitely have more capability than Google, they fall short of a traditional Garmin inReach device in that they aren’t continuous tracking features, or continuous messaging features, since they require you to position your arm in a specific way to send/receive messages.
With the Fenix 8, the antenna now allows for on-demand connectivity to GEO satellites, which is different than the much larger antenna form factor of a typical inReach device. This means that unlike a typical inReach device, this will only send messages to satellite when you position your arm in a specific orientation. That’s because it needs to point to an exact satellite, whereas a typical inReach device has a huge antenna to find the correct satellites in virtually every orientation. The traditional Garmin inReach Iridium devices use LEO satellites, about 66 of them, and much closer to earth. Whereas GEO is more limited in service areas: Covering a specific area of the earth, focused on a specific area of the earth, and thus, a specific coverage area.
Therefore, the coverage maps is essentially Continental US/Canada (+ about 50 miles offshore), and the vast majority of Europe.
Garmin confirmed they’re using SkyLo as their network provider as well.
So, to show how this works. First up, is a whole slate of activation stuff that takes forever. It’s super cumbersome, but once it’s sorted…well…it’s done.
Next, when it comes to satellite features, by default, everything will run over LTE if that’s available first. You can force it to a satellite if you need to, but there’s really no point if LTE is there.
Still, if you’re outside cellular range (or, Bluetooth range to your phone), then when you go to send a text message from the watch, it’ll prompt you to go into satellite mode. This will first have you double-check the compass, which is then leveraged to point towards the right satellite location.
At which point, you’ll then get a further UI piece to refine connectivity towards that satellite. This piece seemed to take about 20-30 seconds to get a lock on the satellite.
After that’s done, it’ll send the message, which is pretty quick (5-10 seconds). It’ll also receive any inbound messages.
And then finally, confirms the message was sent:
This same process happens if you want to send a position check-in message, which sends your current location to your BFF.
Finally, there’s the Garmin SOS features, leveraging Garmin’s Response center, for emergencies. You can access that via the controls menu, which then givers you 10-seconds to cancel it, in case it accidentally does so. As with the other features, it’ll first try via LTE, then satellite.
Now, as you might expect, given Garmin’s hard-push for increasing services revenue, there is a cost for this. Garmin’s plan is $7.99/9.99EUR/month, including both LTE & satellite inReach response pieces. This is a business-clever, but consumer-unfriendly approach. After all, Apple and Google are giving the Satellite SOS pieces for free on their devices (for at least 2 years, but Apple has long-since passed that deadline without charging anyone, and Google sounds like they plan to do the same). I’m not sure why Garmin couldn’t have followed a similar model, allowing the emergency piece for free, and then charging for non-emergency pieces.
Personally, I feel like the emergency satellite SOS piece should be included in the cost of a $1,999 watch, given Google is doing so for watches that cost $449. After all, this piece of the service is leveraged very infrequently (hopefully never for you or anyone you know), yet the press/media ROI for Garmin’s marketing is massive (as both Apple and Google effectively acknowledge).
Here’s the full pricing bits, there is no annual plan option (Europe is 9.99/month for the base plan):
Note that at the moment, you can only have one inReach device associated to your account (meaning, if you already had an inReach standalone device, you literally can’t have both watch and device concurrently – it deactivates the other one). Garmin says by end of year this will be solved.
Closer Look At The MicroLED Displays:
So what the heck is MicroLED? Well, in short, it’s a brighter display, but more importantly, one that has long purported to use less battery life. More specifically, a crapton less battery life. It’s always been looked at as the display equivalent of dual-frequency GPS, in terms of ‘solving’ some of the AMOLED battery concerns. Except, that doesn’t happen here. As we see at the end of this section, the battery life is actually worse than the previous-gen Fenix 8 models.
Nonetheless, with the Fenix 8, that’s specifically coming to the model variant called “MicroLED”, and only in the 51mm variant. The Fenix 8 Pro edition still features an AMOLED display, one using Garmin’s latest gen displays seen on the Forerunner 970 & Venu X1 (thus, newer than the original Fenix 8 displays). Those displays are silly bright, but at least on those watches, Garmin is still burning far too much battery life due to lack of brightness optimizations.
In any case, for the Fenix 8/Pro MicroLED variants, Garmin states that it’s the brightest display in a smartwatch anywhere. And that seems to be true. Well, at least for a few days anyway. The display has a peak brightness of 4,500 nits, which is well in excess of any other display out there today, the brightest AMOLED ones floating around 3,000 nits, and most of Garmin’s existing ones like the Fenix 8 are assumed to be 1,000-nit displays.
Here’s a Fenix 8 (last year’s), Fenix 8 Pro (this year’s), and Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED – all using default brightness settings (2/3rds):
They noted that they really only use those peak periods for small portions of time. For example, they won’t turn it on at full 4,500 pixels on the map page, because it’d blow through the battery. Whereas it would really be more for data fields, because they only need to turn on those white pixels.
Now, what’s kinda funny about this is that despite what some MIP-loving people will say about AMOLED, the issue has never really been display brightness on sunny days. Seriously, the Epix Gen 2 display is perfectly visible on a sunny day, be it on top of a snowy mountain, the beach in summer, or anywhere else I’ve taken it.
Instead, it’s primarily been about off-angle viewing when your wrist is down (and the backlight isn’t activated). This aims to solve it, without smashing the battery. That’s sorta the goal here and is something Garmin heavily touts as being a big advantage. Here’s an example side-by-side:
(Side-by-side: Fenix 8, Fenix 8 Pro, Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED)
As you can see, that’s a huge difference! Albeit, I’d be hard-pressed to spend $2,000 on such a difference. But hey, that’s just me.
However, just as important as peak brightness is minimum brightness. Being able to get super dim at night, ideally down to 1-nit. That way you can still see the screen, but it doesn’t blind you at night. Garmin has been pretty good there on their own displays in recent years, though, I find the newer Venu X1/FR970/etc still a bit too bright (compared to say the Apple Watch Ultra 2 display). In fact, when I talk to Apple & Google, the key thing they often tout and are most proud of, is *not* the peak brightness, but the minimum brightness. Both companies have noted how hard it is to get that right. Blasting it full brightness is, by comparison, easy.
In any case, in real-world out on the trails on a sunny Mediterranean island day, it’s frankly hard to tell the difference head-on between Fenix 8 Pro display and a Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED display to the naked eye. However, the camera definitely sees the MicroLED more. Again, this is part of the challenge of how cameras look at shadows and try and balance things out.
Instead, it’s really about those on-angle viewing differences that you definitely notice it. Though that was never really a big deal to me on previous AMOLED devices. Thus, this clearly isn’t worth it to me – especially with the battery hits. Speaking of which, here are those battery hits:
As you can see, it’s pretty substantial, which, kinda seems like it defeated the entire point of MicroLED in having longer battery life.
Going Forward:
In terms of wearables, Garmin is making a massive stride forward for the industry. Sure, everyone else has had cellular connectivity for years, and now Garmin is finally joining that camp on their flagship devices. But more critically, Garmin is leading the way on satellite messaging & connectivity. Undoubtedly, we’ll see competitors expand their offerings (it’s widely expected Apple will join Google’s watch-based satellite SOS pieces next week), but I suspect we’ll see Garmin’s deeper athletic focus here drive the features faster than others.
The ability to not only have LTE live track sessions during workouts, but have backup position check-ins when out of range is huge, at least for me. Large chunks of the trail running routes directly out my front door don’t have cellular connectivity, and are rarely run/used that if something were to happen, I’d probably be there a while. Meanwhile, for my wife who mostly runs within cellular coverage, this solves the big tracking gaps for her (she hates taking her phone).
Yet, she’s pretty angry about these new sizes. This is not at all what she wants. She’s been a small-sized Fenix customer for years, and this entirely misses the boat in her opinion. Furthermore, she’d argue (correctly, I’d say) that the audience that wants LTE-onboard connectivity for safety reasons more than anyone else is probably the female audience. And these new watches won’t fit many of them.
As for pricing…yeah, that sucks. It sucks even more that Garmin is clearly aiming to deliver parity pricing to Europeans (e.g. both $1,199/EUR), despite the tariffs being US-driven. Setting that aside, there frankly isn’t much competition for what Garmin is offering, and as such, they can charge whatever they want.
In any case, I’ll be putting things through deeper testing over the coming weeks – so stay tuned for the full in-depth review!
Thanks for reading!
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Any news about expanding coverage? Still limited even in countries they sell the watch. Is Garmin working to expand or this will be it for the lifespan of this watch?
Also any reason why the LTE/satellite plans are bundled? I am in a country without LTE and would need to pay the same for satellite, but not have livetrack or any of unlimited messages.
It seems to be restricted by the satellite network provider itself, since this watch doesn’t connect to Iridium. For me that is a pass.
I meant more like Italy does not have LTE and the Fenix 8 Pro is not even on sale on website. Czechia for example has no LTE too but the model is on sale but you won’t have LTE. I just wonder does this mean Garmin is planning to expand LTE to some (like Czechia) but for example never to Italy? Or they will only ever have these countries it is releasing with? Also what would be even the point of offering in some markets where LTE does not work then but not others.
Saddle up and heeeere we goooo!
Oh man. I’ve been waiting for MicroLed for years, thinking battery-wise it will be in-between AMOLED and MIPS, and then this? My wallet is safe. MIP forever!
I was ready to burn some cash for the same reason, holding out on my Epix gen 2 to match a micro-LED screen with better battery and the benefits of the elevate 5 sensor.
Feels like I’ve been waiting for nothing. Worse battery and far thicker feels like a loss rather than a gain, even before looking at the price.
I’m glad that Garmin hasn’t given up on LTE in their sportswatches. it has been awfully quiet since the 945LTE. This line of big, heavy, adventure-style watches is not for me though. I run and do some cycling, something like a 965LTE would be perfect for me. Or maybe something like a Venu X1 LTE. Maybe in the future. Looking forward to the full review though!
“2 corrections:
“because it’d below through the battery”, I guess you mean “blow”
and:
“out in teh trails”
Two more: “Not that we don’t believe in it, and not that we’re avoiding it longer term”, but that the engineering challenge right now of keeping things smal,l including all the antennas for satellit,e wasn’t possible”
link to garmin.com
Any word on if the SOD satellite or LTE features are automatic for contacting emergency services? For example, in a fall where you are knocked out. Apple certainly advertises the heck out of this feature on the Apple Watch and it does set it apart in the industry. I can imagine the satellite feature with them will have fall detection SOS.
Amazing tech but really disappointed in the battery life from Microled, I thought that was really the whole ‘best of all worlds’ point. Do we think Garmin can optimise this further going forward with subsequent firmware updates?
Since Fenix/Epix 7 Pro it feels to me as if the Flagship models have transitioned from a valuable tool for many, to a very expensive gadget for a few.
I understand the market strategy they follow, but paired with the price it’s way too far out there (especially when I look at the model refresh cycles).
Fenix 7 series is probably my last Garmin for some time.
I feel exactly the same. The features on my EPIX pro 51mm are pretty much everything I need at the moment and although the recently features are interesting (many requires a special & expensive chest strap!); they are not worth the extra for me.
The Fenix 8 felt not fully cooked, rushed, unstable and lacked new features compared to Fenix 7/epix pro; I really have the impression that they want to offer new hardware “at all cost” to keep selling more and more units. 12-18 months are too short in my opinion.
The pressure seems les present in the Edge serie (which has less innovations also).
Edge 830: April 2019
Edge 840: April 2023
Edge 850: TBA
thanks Ray for the amazing review, as usual!!
Finally! Although I’ll probably patiently wait for a Forerunner with these capabilities…
Can you clarify if a person receiving texts from the watch needs the messenger app?
At one point you say “Unlike text messages, for calls, the other person needs to have the Messenger app on their phone” – but above that is “On the texting side, he was using the Garmin Messenger app on his phone”
As always, thanks for the great write-up, Ray!
I think having requiring the other party to have the Garmin messenger app on their phone for calls is a HUGE miss. What other LTE watch has that requirement? None to my knowledge. That’s very limiting. Am I reading that wrong?
yes that other person has to have the Messenger app also, to receive texts – that’s how the inReach does it now, and that’s how it’ll work with this new watch (I know this because my son who does back country hiking uses an inReach and for his status-type ‘texts’ to get to me, I have to have the Messenger app on my phone/watch.
Exactly the same question I have.
confused as well by this; there’s gotta be a typo in there somewhere.
Actually not a typo. Both are correct, in different scenarios.
In short, if the other person receives a text message from the watch (but doesn’t have Messenger app), it’ll simply show as from a random phone number (it’s a Garmin number). They can respond back, and it will correctly route to your watch. But they won’t see your name or such. So kinda texting blind.
Whereas, if they have the Messenger app (even without registering), then they see the name and have more details.
Ray, any noticeable improvements in scrolling widgets and navigating between screens on the pro vs the 8 or is it using the same internals? The occasional lag and stutters actually made me turn the touchscreen off.
really want to know this as well. a bit tired of expensive garmin watches that are laggy out of the box. waiting for them to do a meaningful processor upgrade that can actually keep up. not holding my breath… but let’s hear it Ray
my strong guess is they did not change the CPU…so same as in F7 and we’ll move into 2026 with C64-style map drawing performance – a bargain for 2k bucks.
No change that I see.
You’ll notice, though, there’s no 43mm option. It’s gone. Garmin says that’s “Due to hardware limitations with integrating the LTE antenna.” Which, I mean, seriously?!? You’ve skipped the one size watch where the female audience wants LTE emergency features more than any other group probably?
I love you for this!
thanks for the review. it’s a surprise that the MicroLED uses so much battery. I wonder if they eventually get around to giving more granular control of brightness this would move in the right direction. e.g., if the microLED had a 1/10 brightness setting, it might still be equal or brighter than a 1/3 or 2/3 Fenix 8 AMOLED setting and use a lot less battery.
for me, the added thickness is an issue, so I’m hoping in a few years, they can figure this out and move under 15mm for both LTE and MicroLED
I too am surprised basic SOS isn’t free…at least for a year or two.
to be fair, the Pros are titanium, right?
so, they are charging $100 for the LTE/Satellite capability.
The MicroLED pricing is bonkers. And you get a thicker watch with less battery… Quite a letdown.
Not sure why would anyone choose that version over the AMOLED versions.
To qualify themselves for MicroLED personal loans;-).
Does micro led allow for “Always On” screen? I returned my amoled Garmin because the screen can’t stay on even in workout mode. When I try to look at the watch while running, the screen was off and a pain to flick my wrist exactly right to turn it on.
strange – I have an AMOLED Garmin (Epix Gen 2, over three years old now), set with ‘Always On’ and the screen never goes off. Yes even when running.
I suspect you had the Running activity set to blank the screen…probably…
I’m saying – it’s not AMOLED that was doing what you saw – it was a setting you had set.
Thanks for the info. This must be a newer feature. I checked my email and I have a support ticket from March 2023 confirming that you can’t leave the screen on all the time due to battery drain and screen burn in. I didn’t realize it was back in spring 2023 when I got my new watch. Maybe I’ll try the amoled again with my next Garmin.
Yes, has always-on. All of Garmin’s AMOLED screens have had the always-on setting.
Me saying to my wife:
2 days ago: “F8 Pro is probably coming out soon, and I’ll buy it”
Today: “lol what a joke, guess not”
“Instead, it’s primarily been about off-angle viewing when your wrist is down (and the backlight isn’t activated). This aims to solve it, without smashing the battery. That’s sorta the goal here and is something Garmin heavily touts as being a big advantage”
If I’m understanding this correctly, does this mean that the microled display (in AOD mode):
1) …stays bright enough to be glanceable during an entire activity without a wrist turn?
2a) …stays bright enough to be glanceable during everyday use without a wrist turn?
2b) If the answer to 2a) is yes, does that mean the seconds hand/indicator never disappears from the watchface?
To me this would make microled a viable replacement for MIP watches, without some of the tradeoffs that amoled made. Only problems are the price, size and huge battery hit.
If the answer to all those question is “yes”, I would buy a future MicroLED Forerunner if it was reasonably priced and not bigger than the current FR955/FR965 models. Even better if it could be more like the size of FR255/FR265
“Now, what’s kinda funny about this is that despite what some MIP-loving people will say about AMOLED, the issue has never really been display brightness on sunny days. Seriously, the Epix Gen 2 display is perfectly visible on a sunny day, be it on top of a snowy mountain, the beach in summer, or anywhere else I’ve taken it.”
Can’t speak for anyone else, but for me it’s always been about the glanceability: being able to quickly glance at a MIP watch during a hard running workout, without a wrist turn or button press. It’s never been about how visible AMOLED is at *full* brightness, after wrist turn / button press.
Ofc having to turn your wrist to bring the AMOLED display to full brightness was said to be no big deal during the transition to AMOLED. But obviously Garmin thinks the loss of glanceability in moving from MIP to AMOLED is an issue after all, otherwise they wouldn’t now be touting MicroLED’s glanceability as a “big advantage”.
Yeah I know every tech company and business does this. Some missing feature that a minority or majority customers vocally request is said to be no big deal, up until precisely the point that a brand new model is introduced, where that feature which used to be no big deal is suddenly a huge selling point. Apple did this multiple times over the years. Steve Jobs would literally mock his userbase for wanting things, then he would turn around and hype up those exact things in the latest iPhone or iPad.
It’s kind of insulting to customers, but I guess we’re all used to it now.
They’ll use whatever they can for marketing, even if it conflicts with earlier marketing ;)
“Yet, she’s pretty angry about these new sizes. This is not at all what she wants. She’s been a small-sized Fenix customer for years, and this entirely misses the boat in her opinion.”
This how MIP users feel about losing proper always on displays with proper glanceability and battery life.
A 43mm Fenix 8 Pro MIP version without Satellite connectivity would have provided a real successor to the 945 LTE, without the bulk, poor battery life and exorbitant prices of the models they released today.
Fun fact: MIP based touchscreen watch are actually more expensive to make than AMOLED displays these days (at this quality level). Though, companies have largely convinced everyone it’s the opposite.
Oh Shucks. I am guessing that they cannot drop the touchscreen layer for a watch like the Fenix. They could have offered a 43mm AMOLED without satellite connectivity at a cheaper price?
“Fun fact: MIP based touchscreen watch are actually more expensive to make than AMOLED displays these days (at this quality level). Though, companies have largely convinced everyone it’s the opposite.”
That’s pretty interesting but not so surprising to me.
“Though, companies have largely convinced everyone it’s the opposite”
Haha ofc everything that’s newer is always better by definition and more expensive out of necessity. Garmin would never tell ppl that MIP displays are more expensive, or that there are no (important) tradeoffs when switching to AMOLED.
It’s kinda like when dumbphones switched from tactile buttons to crappy touchscreens (not nice touchscreens like we have today). The user experience was actually worse, but companies saved money by ditching expensive physical buttons. Those pennies add up when you multiply them by millions of units sold.
Even to this day it’s probably a reason (other than fashion) why some controls that used to be physical buttons are now resistive touch-sensitive spots. (Like the control buttons on computer monitors.) Ironically, physical buttons are probably seen as a premium feature (the more expensive gaming monitors have them.)
Maybe one day MIP will also be seen as a rare, but premium, feature. Hahaha jk that will never happen.
People have been complained about dull, washed out MIP displays that don’t look like the picture on the box for 10+ years already.
The only hope for MIP is for enough time to pass that it becomes retro cool, like vinyl, cassette tapes and casio watches. Except all of those things had a huge cultural impact, unlike Garmin MIP watches. No normal person ever looked at a Garmin MIP watch and said “wow that’s cool”. I have heard the opposite comment, like “it doesn’t like real” – this was around the time that Apple Watch was first launched. Imagine wearing a watch that looks so bad that people think the screen is fake.
(I’m all for AMOLED in almost any other device, including a regular smartwatch – if I wore one. But just for my running watch, I kinda prefer function over form/aesthetics. Same reason I think an ereader is better for reading than an ipad or phone)
Super excited about the post but the vernacular seems to imply that everyone knows exactly what you are talking about when it comes to LTE and Satellite, which unfortunately is not the case for me, and I am sure many others. Maybe a quick second copy and paste from previous reviews with full explanations or links to them might be a bit more helpful to convey your meaning and therefore enthusiasm. It is kind of a bummer that I bought the EPIX Pro last year because of the screen upgrades just to find out nothing on the watch will be upgraded again. That seems like a bit of an underhanded action from Garmin. So, I went from the FENIX 7 to the EPIX 2, in the last 2 years and now they are both kind of crap when compared to the 8 and 8 Pro. Really expensive crap I might add. Maybe I am finally going to have to go to the Apple…which just sort of blows but I am sort of tired of getting kicked in the junk by this company that I have been so loyal to…
Is it just in the photo or does the microLED screen have a less black looking background than the Amoled one?
I’m pretty sure Garmin could have made a 43mm microLED model if they wanted without LTE.
Do you think we’ll be seeing solar microLED models? Or is that still the only area where they’d still use MIP?
£1800 and screen is still 1.4 in a 51mm watch….
I recall getting into a Facebook debate about LTE and suggesting that it wasn’t really something that many of us desperately needed. My reasons being, a bigger device to squeeze in the antennae and the likely subscription. I also wondered what the effect on battery life would be. TBH it gives me no pleasure to be proved right. In the UK at least, most of us don’t need satellite as we’re generally within cellular reach and over the last few years, it’s become much easier to carry a phone due to a multitude of trail shorts coming to market with loads of built-in, bounce-free storage (got three pairs of the Janji version which are brilliant and cost a fraction of the premium for the LTE plus sub). I’ve gone from never taking the phone to always taking it on runs of more than an hour. On the other side, MicroLED seems be solving a problem that didn’t exist except in myth. I would totally agree that modern AMOLED displays are readable in all conditions and why on earth would you want to view your watch at a strange angle when you can simply raise your wrist? The fact that it increases the thickness (and the cost) and worsens battery life is the final nail in the coffin on this implementation at least. These look like watches mostly for folk who live in FOMO-land and simply have to have the latest iteration. Hopefully my Epix Gen2 will carry on for a while yet, until there is a real step change from Garmin.
Somewhat off-topic, but Garmin’s new Fenix 8 logo has major “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” logo vibes, right down to the same blue-to-red color styling.
monitor => moniker, probably.
Hi Ray
Are you able to compare the speaker loudness for calls between Fenix 8 and Fenix 8 Pro?
The speaker loudness in Fenix 8 is poor – barely usable outdoors. Given now the LTE is main selling point of Fenix 8 Pro – have the speaker improved?
Also – just to confirm my understanding – when you subscribe InReach – do you have new phone number assigned (that you announce to your family/friends – that need to know how to reach you when you are away from phone)?
The Fenix 8 Pro appears to use the new louder speaker found in the FR970 & Venu X1.
You do not get a specific number. It’s all handled server-side via Garmin Messenger.
Regarding the loud speaker – good news. The one in Fenix 8 sucks.
So the caller has to have Garmin Messenger app to call the persons Fernix 8 Pro watch?
I have an inReach mini 2 that I use when I go camping out of cellular network range (I have an iPhone with satellite too) and I pay for the Iridium subscription. If I were to get a F8Pro would this be included in my subscription of would I have to pay for a second one?
Ray mentioned above that you can’t have two inReach devices associated with your account, so two plans would definitely not be helpful. You’ll have to choose between using your inReach 2 or the F8P. He also mentioned Garmin plans on fixing this at some point – I imagine at that point your inReach plan credits would be shared across devices. (Garmin does currently have corporate inReach plans for guiding companies and such so that a single account can have multiple devices, so it would probably follow that model, roughly.)
I have consistently been keeping on a fēnix purchasing cadence where I wait to buy the Pro model, so I was really looking forward to today and upgrading from my fēnix 7 Pro Solar. But these additions are almost useless. I would have loved to be able to leave my inReach at home. But it sounds like if I ever actually have an emergency, I need to make sure I fall and land in a very specific shape so that my arm will be pointing exactly to the right satellite while I am immobilized.
Advertising this as having Emergency and SOS capabilities seems pretty unsafe and quite dangerous, if most of the time you need an SOS you won’t actually be able to send one out because you won’t be able to position yourself just right.
Also, it sounds like I’ll probably just be bumping down to the Enduro line after over 10 years of fēnix because of MIP.
So if I already have an inReach, and I get this watch, would I need to have two Enabled plans at a minimum just to be able to use both devices for different use cases? (Assuming they fix their glitch of not being able to add two devices on one account). Or would one enabled plan with LTE work for both devices?
My understanding is one device = one account, but I’ll confirm that’s the intent.
Do recipients of text messages need the garmin messenger app? you seem to suggest that the app is only needed for phone calls and not for text, is that right?
2. As an aside, I see more grammatical typos that are fairly unusual on your posts. Curious if you rushed this out or is someone else responsible? 😄
Honestly, I thought the same… Here and in the Polar post as well. Busy day? Coffee machine broken? 😊
Some other reviews mention that for the other person to be able to speak to you on your F8 Pro on a purely LTE phone call, they need to have the Garmin Messenger app. (Can you confirm this Ray?) So in that case, the voice calling feature is a substantially less valuable addition. Is everyone your regularly going to call going to download the garmin messenger app and create a new garmin account, Not likely.
Yes, need the Messenger app to make LTE calls.
Yes, you need the Garmin Messenger app to call someone’s Garmin watch. My understanding is you don’t need a Garmin account though.
This is the most anticlimactic release ever for me. I was really excited about the battery upside of micro-LED; now that’s been flipped on its head. So now I would have a much thicker watch with much less battery for a much higher price? That math doesn’t math. I’ve got the money but just doesn’t make sense unless the battery was better. When either battery or screen technology evolves to allow that screen with at least equivalent if not better battery life, I think we’ll see more traction. Until then, it’s not a question of price that will keep people from buying it; it’s a lack of function.
I wonder what this means for the future of the MARQ series, now the microLED model of the Fenix 8 has leapfrogged the ‘entry level’ Gen 2 Athlete in terms of price.
This is no real cellular watch. Phone calls and texting only through a proprietary Garmin app, no music/podcast streaming, no mails, nothing standard.
It is 2025 and you still can not put your own eSim in your watch. My phone provider gives me free eSims (with my phone number) for all my devices and I can use my flatrate for internet traffic and calls. No idea why I would subscribe to this costly additional Garmin plan.
Exactly Steve.
I have been waiting for this for ages and it really falls flat. I get unlimited data for a watch with my mobile/cellular plan.
They want 9.99/month – nope.
Can it share your mobile phone number for text messages, or does it have its own number? If the latter, it seems like the kind of feature that would only really get used by a spouse who knows that you just went out for a run.
No, it does not have it’s own number.
Can you call 112 (Europe) without paying a monthly fee?
In almost all cases where I run there is lte connectivity to at least one network (although not everywhere). It would be nice to have the option to call emergency services (for yourself or others) even though you don’t need a subscription on lte/satellite..
No payment = no LTE activation.
When I read somewhere that MicroLed is super energy efficient and doesn’t cause burn-in, I thought that this might be the MIPS Killer, at least for Garmin…but I also thought that ML would be around 1699. I was wrong on both accounts…ML is at this point totally overhyped and overpriced. If I get 4 days AOD out of the most expensive Fenix ever, then I guess I am out. This is now the 3 release F8, Instinct 3 and F8P is is somewhat anticlimactic.
I hope for Garmin that it pays off to innovate, but I will be on the sideline, sticking with my older models and waiting for something really cool.
Is this new Fenix LTE now banned from major Triathlon competitions? Wasn’t there a decision that you can”t have any LTE enabled watches?
And what about traveling to India, I read that if they find an inReach device on you when you come into the country and don”T declare it, you spend some time in jail.
17.5mm thickness brings back Fenix 3HR memories.
To me the Fenix line first and foremost is a rugged sportswatch, not a smartwatch. Maybe the Fenix9 lineup will feature something without LTE and satellite connectivity focusing on optimizing performance metrics… just me dreaming…
I got an Epix Pro gen 2 51 mm sapphire a few years ago, used. No reason for me to upgrade from this to any new Garmin model. Especially with their pricing nowadays. RIP Garmin. 😄 If they’ll cripple my Epix Pro with software updates or make me pay some subscription to use my Epix, I will try Suunto or Polar or something else that respects their customers.
Correction, not few years ago, last september. 😃
Hey Ray,
How about the minimum brightness ons the 8 pro, you write: “I find the newer Venu X1/FR970/etc still a bit too bright”, but don’t say anything about the new devices… Is it the same as the X1/970, better, worse?
Same-same.
I am a bit confused. Is the MicroLED version 100 Euros cheaper than the AMOLED and it has the LTE as well?
MicroLED should be 1,999EUR. Others are 1,199 and 1,299EUR. Where are you seeing otherwise?
It’s annoying that you cannot use your own LTE plan. I have one specifically for a mini phone I was carying with me when running and now I would have to cancel it…
Just to further clarify what Ray already said, the LTE for voice and text calling does not work anything like the Apple Watch or the others that use LTE. Whoever you are calling must have the Garmin Messenger app which requires them to sign up and download the app. Without that app they can not receive your calls or text messages. I don’t know about others, but most people I would be calling/texting do not have a Garmin product and will not want to go through the trouble of setting up the messenger app. Finally, one other point, unlike the Apple Watch, if you are knocked unconscious in any type of fall while biking, running, hiking, etc, this LTE feature will not call 911 or the Garmin Emergency response center. The only way they are notified is if you physically activate the SOS calling feature. Therefore, it is useless in the event you are really hurt and unable to do anything. To me, they have totally missed the key reason to have LTE and not worth upgrading.
Great intro/review, thanks! I have an Epix Gen 2 51mm for 2 years now and still love it. The main reason I have it, over he Apple, is battery life (other reasons too). I actually bought/tried the Ultra but even with the larger size, having to charge it every other day (or so) doesn’t cut it (so I returned it). And I saw no reason to upgrade to the Fenix 8 for what was mainly a speaker/mic, since I always have my phone on me anyway. And while I do appreciate the new Pro’s satellite connectivity for texting and emergencies, I’ll pass. Again, for now….while I do love the brightness and extra deep angle viewing of the MicroLED, again, the sacrifice of battery life will negate this option for me until it gets much better. Again, the Epix does the job more than well enough for now. I charge it every week or so and that’s with numerous tracking of activities each week. Note that I would love to help contribute $ to you, but money is really tight these days. I will sooner or later…but thanks for all of your reviews/efforts!
No 43mm, and the definitive death of MIPs… Pretty disappointing overall.
Anyone know if the LTE/inReach function behaves in the same way as Garmin Assist? I.e. fall detect?
I’m also disappointed at the microLED battery life. That’s dreadful, and completely contrary to expectations!
Is the processor still the same (NXP i.MX RT595)? Any extra RAM memory?
People have different use cases – I tend to carry my phone during all activities (running, road and mountain biking, hiking, etc.), so watch connectivity would be nice to have but not worth an additional monthly fee – at least not for me.
What I don’t like about the Fenix 8 Pro is the price hike, as I’m set on buying a Fenix 8 until the end of the year, and I was expecting that a new watch would lead to price reductions on the “old” generation. My Epix Gen 2 is actually fine, but as I had heart surgery earlier this year I like the idea of having the new HR sensor with EKG functionality.
I see a cheat here.
MicroLED data fields use bold charset so they seem brighter !!! (i.e. more white pixels)
Niche question, but can you text between this and a Bounce (and vice versa, obviously)?
I’m happy I didn’t buy the 970 right away, even though at this point I expect the pro version of the 970 in 2026 . Having to prepare the IM and 70.3, the doubt has always been between the latest fenix and the latest 900 series, but I confess that it seems to me that the differences are minimal.