| Price | $599 | $499 | $229 | $449 | $499 | $279 ($329 for metal bezels) |
| Product Announcement Date | Jan 4th, 2017 | Mar 29th, 2017 | April 6th, 2017 | Jan 6th, 2014 | Jan 4th, 2017 | August 10th, 2017 |
| Actual Availability/Shipping Date | March 2017 | Mar 29th, 2017 | June 2017 | May 2014 | Mar 31st, 2017 | August 30th, 2017 |
| GPS Recording Functionality | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Data Transfer | USB/Bluetooth Smart/WiFi (Sapphire only) | USB/Bluetooth Smart/WiFi | USB, Bluetooth Smart | USB, BLUETOOTH SMART | USB & Bluetooth Smart | USB & Bluetooth Smart |
| Waterproofing | Yes - 100m | Yes - 50m | Yes - 30m | Yes - 30m | Yes - 100m | Yes - 50 meters |
| Battery Life (GPS) | Up to 24hrs in GPS-on, up to 75hrs in UltraTrac GPS | Up to 24hrs in GPS-on, up to 50hrs in UltraTrac GPS | 8hrs regular, Up to 30hrs GPS | Up to 50 hours | Up to 50 hours | Up to 30 hours |
| Recording Interval | 1S or Smart | 1S or Smart | 1-second/variable | 1s | Variable | Variable |
| Alerts | Vibrate/Sound/Visual | Vibrate/Sound/Visual | Visual/Vibrate | Vibrate/Sound/Visual | Sound/Visual/Vibrate | Visual/Vibrate |
| Ability to download custom apps to unit/device | YEs | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Music | Garmin Fenix 5 (5/5S/5X) | Garmin Forerunner 935 | Polar M430 | Polar V800 | Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR | Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR | | Can control phone music | Yes | YEs | No | No | No | No |
| Has offline music storage and playback | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Streaming Services | No | No | | No | | |
Payments | Garmin Fenix 5 (5/5S/5X) | Garmin Forerunner 935 | Polar M430 | Polar V800 | Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR | Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR | | Contactless-NFC Payments | No | No | | No | | |
Connectivity | Garmin Fenix 5 (5/5S/5X) | Garmin Forerunner 935 | Polar M430 | Polar V800 | Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR | Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR | | Bluetooth Smart to Phone Uploading | Yes | YEs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Phone Notifications to unit (i.e. texts/calls/etc...) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Live Tracking (streaming location to website) | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Group tracking | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Emergency/SOS Message Notification (from watch to contacts) | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Built-in cellular chip (no phone required) | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Cycling | Garmin Fenix 5 (5/5S/5X) | Garmin Forerunner 935 | Polar M430 | Polar V800 | Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR | Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR | | Designed for cycling | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Power Meter Capable | Yes | YEs | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Power Meter Configuration/Calibration Options | Yes | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Power Meter TSS/NP/IF | Yes | YEs | N/A | NP | No | No |
| Speed/Cadence Sensor Capable | Yes | YEs | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Strava segments live on device | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Crash detection | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Running | Garmin Fenix 5 (5/5S/5X) | Garmin Forerunner 935 | Polar M430 | Polar V800 | Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR | Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR | | Designed for running | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Footpod Capable (For treadmills) | Yes | YEs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Running Dynamics (vertical oscillation, ground contact time, etc...) | WITH RD POD, HRM-TRI OR HRM-RUN (NOT VIA OPTICAL HR) | WITH RD POD, HRM-TRI OR HRM-RUN (NOT VIA OPTICAL HR) | No | No | No | No |
| Running Power | With extra sensor | WITH RD POD, HRM-TRI OR HRM-RUN (or 3rd party Stryd/RunScribe) | | With extra sensor | | |
| VO2Max Estimation | YEs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Race Predictor | Yes | Yes | Can estimate finish time during race | Yes, via Race Pace | No | No |
| Recovery Advisor | Yes | YEs | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Run/Walk Mode | Yes | Yes | No | Yes, via timers | No | No |
Swimming | Garmin Fenix 5 (5/5S/5X) | Garmin Forerunner 935 | Polar M430 | Polar V800 | Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR | Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR | | Designed for swimming | Yes | YEs | Sorta | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Openwater swimming mode | YEs | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lap/Indoor Distance Tracking | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Record HR underwater | WITH HRM-TRI/HRM-SWIM (Not with optical HR) | WITH HRM-TRI/HRM-SWIM (Not with optical HR) | Yes | With Certain Polar Straps | Yes | Yes |
| Openwater Metrics (Stroke/etc.) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Indoor Metrics (Stroke/etc.) | YEs | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Indoor Drill Mode | Yes | Yes | N/A | No | No | No |
| Indoor auto-pause feature | No (it'll show rest time afterwards though) | No (it'll show rest time afterwards though) | N/A | Yes | No | No |
| Change pool size | YEs | YEs | N/A | Yes | Yes | YEs |
| Indoor Min/Max Pool Lengths | 14M/15Y TO 150Y/M | 14M/15Y TO 150Y/M | N/A | 20M/Y to 250 m/y | 15m/y to 1,200m/y | 15m/y to 1,200m/y |
| Ability to customize data fields | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Captures per length data - indoors | Yes | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Indoor Alerts | Yes | Yes | N/A | N/A | No | No |
Triathlon | Garmin Fenix 5 (5/5S/5X) | Garmin Forerunner 935 | Polar M430 | Polar V800 | Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR | Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR | | Designed for triathlon | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multisport mode | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Workouts | Garmin Fenix 5 (5/5S/5X) | Garmin Forerunner 935 | Polar M430 | Polar V800 | Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR | Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR | | Create/Follow custom workouts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| On-unit interval Feature | YEs | YEs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Training Calendar Functionality | Yes | Yes | YEs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Functions | Garmin Fenix 5 (5/5S/5X) | Garmin Forerunner 935 | Polar M430 | Polar V800 | Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR | Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR | | Auto Start/Stop | Yes | YEs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Virtual Partner Feature | YEs | YEs | Via Race Estimator | Yes | No | No |
| Virtual Racer Feature | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Records PR's - Personal Records (diff than history) | Yes | YEs | Yes | No | No | No |
| Tidal Tables (Tide Information) | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Weather Display (live data) | Yes | Yes | No | No | no | No |
Navigate | Garmin Fenix 5 (5/5S/5X) | Garmin Forerunner 935 | Polar M430 | Polar V800 | Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR | Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR | | Follow GPS Track (Courses/Waypoints) | YEs | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Markers/Waypoint Direction | Yes | YEs | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Offline Maps | Yes (5X Only) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Back to start | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Impromptu Round Trip Route Creation | Yes (5X Only) | No | No | No | No | No |
| Download courses/routes from phone to unit | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Sensors | Garmin Fenix 5 (5/5S/5X) | Garmin Forerunner 935 | Polar M430 | Polar V800 | Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR | Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR | | Altimeter Type | Barometric | Barometric | GPS | Barometric | GPS | GPS |
| Compass Type | Magnetic | Magnetic | GPS | Magnetic | Magnetic | N/A |
| Optical Heart Rate Sensor internally | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| SpO2 (aka Pulse Oximetry) | No | No | | | | |
| Heart Rate Strap Compatible | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ANT+ Heart Rate Strap Capable | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| ANT+ Speed/Cadence Capable | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| ANT+ Footpod Capable | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| ANT+ Power Meter Capable | Yes | Yes | No | No | no | No |
| ANT+ Lighting Control | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| ANT+ Bike Radar Integration | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| ANT+ Trainer Control (FE-C) | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| ANT+ Remote Control | No (can control VIRB though) | No (can control VIRB though) | No | no (but can control GoPro) | No | No |
| ANT+ eBike Compatibility | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| ANT+ Gear Shifting (i.e. SRAM ETAP) | Yes | YEs | No | No | No | No |
| Shimano Di2 Shifting | Yes | YEs | No | No | No | No |
| Bluetooth Smart HR Strap Capable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth Smart Speed/Cadence Capable | Yes | YEs | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth Smart Footpod Capable | Yes | YEs | Yes | Yes | Yes (+ Stryd Running Power Meter) | Yes (+ Stryd Running Power Meter) |
| Bluetooth Smart Power Meter Capable | YEs | YEs | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Temp Recording (internal sensor) | Yes | YEs | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Temp Recording (external sensor) | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Software | Garmin Fenix 5 (5/5S/5X) | Garmin Forerunner 935 | Polar M430 | Polar V800 | Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR | Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR | | Desktop Application | Garmin Express | Garmin Express | Polar FlowSync (PC/Mac) | Polar Flowsync - Windows/Mac | PC/Mac | PC/Mac |
| Web Application | Garmin Connect | Garmin Connect | Polar Flow (Web) | Polar Flow | Suunto Movescount | Suunto Movescount |
| Phone App | iOS/Android/Windows Phone | iOS/Android/Windows Phone | iOS/Android | iOS/Android | iOS/Android | iOS/Android |
| Ability to Export Settings | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Purchase | Garmin Fenix 5 (5/5S/5X) | Garmin Forerunner 935 | Polar M430 | Polar V800 | Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR | Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR | | Amazon | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| Backcountry.com | Link | | | | | |
| Competitive Cyclist | Link | | | | | |
DCRainmaker | Garmin Fenix 5 (5/5S/5X) | Garmin Forerunner 935 | Polar M430 | Polar V800 | Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR | Suunto Spartan Trainer Wrist HR | | Review Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |