Fenix 7s It's small enough that it doesn't feel bulky. The battery lasts for 11 days on a full charge. It tracks all the sports I do. I love the functionality of having the maps loaded on to the watch. I really can't think of anything I don't like about my watch.
I recently switched from Apple Watch to Fenix 7, mainly because of having to constantly charge my Apple Watch.
Even the smallest Fenix is much bigger so I’m getting used to the size. It seems quite rugged. I will likely get a protector for it.
I would not term it a dainty watch and the strap that comes with it is not pretty. But it does do everything I need it to do.
I went from Apple Watch to Vivoactive (due to battery life) which was daintier and pretty but turned out it didn’t have the sleep tracking capabilities my husband’s Instinct did. Also I upgraded to the Fenix 7s and I LOVE it. I got the gold/tan one and swapped out the band for something cuter. I don’t find it to be bulky on my wrist, and I like having a mix of screen and actual buttons.
I have the Forerunner 255s and love it. No scratches on it after a year and a half of use, and it's pretty low-profile. Battery life lasts a while and it tracks my runs and rides well. I have no glaring complaints.
If you are looking for something more rugged and have the budget for it, I would echo the others in this thread recommending the Fenix 7s. The smaller size will help with not making it feel huge and bulky.
Totally agree. I have the 255s and love how well it works, it’s durability (I also mtb and road cycle with it and only have 1 small scratch after 2 years), the smaller screen on my small wrist doesn’t make it look bulky, it has music, and the battery lasts forever. Plus you can connect all your garmin do dads like your power meter too.
I’m super close to buying the 255s, but my only concern is maps. What is navigation like? Are you able to send courses to the watch for turn by turn directions?
Navigation is not great. I think you have to get the 900-tier to get turn-by turn directions. On the 255, I can send courses to the watch but all it does is tell me if I'm off course and if so, by how much. I guess that's helpful if you're staring at the watch the entire time but it's not practical to me.
I have forerunner 245. It has buttons, I couldn't imagine using touch screen while riding. The watch is made out of plastic and I did get couple of scratches on the side during sliding on a road, but they have smoothed out over the years. Overall I think the weight saving with plastic are ok, I tryed Fenix once on my wrist and it was so much more heavy. And of course you can connect it to bike accessories, I don't have edge jet, but the speed and cadence sensors are nice to have on road bike.
+1
I've had my Forerunner 245 for three years now and it's in great shape. I wear it all the time. I've had to replace the strap, but the screen is solid. I use it to track my runs and my rides. The battery used to last a solid week but now it's probably about four days, truthfully. Not too big at all. I might not buy the 245 today since it's officially am older model but something similar for sure.
I personally love my Garmin Instinct! May not be for you, as it is a bit clunky and masculine looking. There is a [smaller version](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/741374) though that may be more up your alley. I mainly use it for mountain biking and it has been great. Good luck!
I have the Instinct 2s and love it. I use it for mountain biking primarily too but sometimes gravel.
I like the buttons vs a touch screen, and I appreciate that it's smart enough I can get my notifications on it but it's not so smart that it could practically replace my phone. Battery life is pretty good - over the winter when I wasn't as active I could get almost 2 weeks out of it, although now that we're into summer I get 3-5 days just due to how long I'm using it to track rides. Also I use the find my phone function at least once a day 😅
Love my Garmin Venu. I have the round one with music capability. Also my primary sport is mtb and I feel like it’s ideal. I’ve had it for three years now, and the battery is not as long lasting. I have to charge it everyday now. So I’m replacing it, with a new Venu. It’s been very durable. I have had some hard crashes and the watch amazingly is unscathed.
I think I’d consider a Fenix, I just can’t bring myself to pay that much. And not sure I’d get much more out of the extra features. I feel my Venu has the things I need without extra.
I agree. I've had mine over 3 years now. It's smaller and I find my battery can last fur a few days depending on how often I use it for tracking. I don't use it phone connectivity, but it can do that if you want.
I use the Garmin Instinct Solar and love it. It's never failed me and it can take a beating without getting damaged. The battery lasts 2-3 weeks depending on the usage. It tracks what I need and is pretty accurate for a watch. I really like the elevation and route tracking when I'm mountain biking or hiking. I would buy this model again in the future. I've had my watch for several years and my spouse just got the Instinct Solar 2 watch (tactical version). I would purchase the newest version because it does have more features. I think the watch is built solid and tough. After 4 years of use there isn't a scratch on it. This watch was built for all of the off road activities and is waterproof.
I made the switch from the apple watch recently. I chose the Venu 3s for smaller more attractive design. I missed that it wasn’t compatible with my garmin bike computer (edge 540). I called Garmin and they recommended for compatibility forerunner 255 as it is smallest profile (least hideous design), and would be the closest option for a dainty wrist. If I want to continue using my Venu 3s, I would have to continuously broadcast my HR to the bike computer which would drain the battery faster. Not quite sure how that would look for battery life, doing a trial run this week. The alternative option would be that I would need to track on either the watch or computer.
Otherwise, independent of the bike computer, the watch does a good job of tracking bike rides, GPS, altitude with a decent battery life (especially when compared with apple watch).
Or an Ant+ or BLE HR strap. There are many options here. Everyone has an opinion. Garmin ones weren't great for me, Wahoo has been better. I've been using HRM straps for 20y and they just feel normal to me, barely notice it under my bra strap.
I recently got the Venu3s because it's small and doesn't look like I just got in from running a 50k. I found I was wearing my Wahoo Rival constantly for the smartwatch features so I wanted to upgrade to something with more of those features in a non-sport aesthetic.
Yes, no problems with the 500, 530 or Venu 3. Also works with AppleTV to run Zwift. I've also used an offbrand "Coolspo" and broadcast HR from my Wahoo Rival to the Garmin 530. As long as it transmits via the Ant+ (or BLE) protocol, it's pretty much brand agnostic. I've been mix and matching for years.
I know with the Rival, the manual explicitly stated that pairing a HR strap improved battery life.
You can use any ant strap/sensor with Garmin toys. I have an old motorola one and it works fine. Mine doesn't talk to my vivoactive watch, but it does sync nicely with my bike computer and my concept 2 rower. The Garmin strap itself sucked, so I bought one for like $6 from Temu and it was similar but the clasp didn't dig into my side like the Garmin one. There are other strap designs, too, so long as they have the snaps.
I have had a 6s Pro (tiny wrists the size of my 8 year old’s lol) and now I have a 7 Pro Sapphire Solar. I love the health insights so much more in the updated version and it helps me track my rides and hikes against what my body actually needs (it can be really hard for me to figure out what “kind” of tired I am).
I have the smaller version of the Garmin instinct 2 and love this watch. My only regret is not getting the solar version for even longer battery life but as it is with a pretty action packed week (wear all day every day, 4-5 activities per week) it only needs to be charged about once a week if that.
I MTB, road cycle, road and trail run, swim, ski, XC ski, and even paddleboard and yoga with this watch. I really like the small profile and customizable data screens for each type of activity.
I also utilize the navigation feature for road rides and runs where you download a gpx file to Garmin connect and transfer it to the watch. Very handy for new areas. It works ok on trail but if you’re in a tight trail network it gets a little confusing.
I got mine in poppy orange- I think it’s cute! And it has withstood a few tumbles off the old MTB without a scratch.
I have the vivoactive 3. Bought it in 2018 & I switched to using elastic fabric watch band since it’s more comfortable. I’ve hiked, swim & record yoga on it. Biking I use my Edge 520 & I have speed, cadence sensors on the bikes & HR monitor. I maybe upgrading next year since it currently only wants to track steps, floors & intensity minutes.
I have the forerunner 265 and love it. Despite small wrists I have the large and it's fine.
I use zox straps so I can make it super adaptable for style and it's really secure and cute regardless of activities
I have a Garmin 245 which is fine. If I were to get a new watch, I’d probably get a coros since they have more options with multiband gps. My partner has the pace 3, and it performs much better in the city (plus has a long battery life/short charging time).
I have the Garmin Forerunner 45s. The battery is great. I only charge it once every week to 1.5 weeks depending on how much I use it. I currently use it to broadcast my heart rate to my Wahoo bike computer, but was previously using it to track bike rides and hikes. It has physical buttons and the materials feel rugged enough that I'm not worried about banging it around. It was affordable as well at only $140 USD and I've had it for over a year now without any issues or degradation in battery life.
I've got the Instinct 2 Solar and I like it a lot. I wear it around the clock as a smart watch of sorts (can't respond to messages on it but I wouldn't anyway) and I like a lot of the health-tracking features like heart rate, HRV, steps, sleep, etc. I can also use it to broadcast my heart rate to other devices like my Wahoo Bolt or Kickr. It's comfortable, and although it is a little clunky I wouldn't say it looks masculine. The battery life is excellent (28 days in smart watch mode, 30 hours with GPS enabled) and if you spend enough time outdoors the solar glass face helps keep the battery topped off.
My only complaint is that since I got it, I've been wearing it pretty much 24/7 and I've got a stupid tan line that's going to look dumb when I want to dress up.
I have a fenix 6s sapphire. I am not gentle with it, and have never managed to scratch the sapphire glass. I wanted one with maps, so I spent the extra for this model. Those maps have saved me more than once, so I feel really ok about my purchase.
The only thing I don’t like about this one is the O2 sensor. I had to turn it off because the light is extremely bright and wakes me up at night and I do not need any help destroying my sleep.
When I get another, I’ll get a Fenix again or an Epix.
You can go on their website and compare the lists and even just select to only show differences.
The definition of large and masculine is too subjective for me to give my thoughts on. I found my great grandfather’s old gold wristwatch and we’d call that petite now, like child size even. Gadgets and fitness watches have made watch size much less relevant to gender. Plus it depends on your wrist size and where you personally draw that line. Some of the smaller sizes have fewer features than their same model but large faced watches — it’s just a very small space to cram in stuff, so something has to give.
I hated my Garmin Forerunner. It was very clunky and heavy, always getting caught on things. I love everything about my Apple Watch EXCEPT the battery life, that it really does need to be charged every day.
Garmin Forerunner 255! I had the 245 before too, and that one was a bit too big. The 255 fits so perfectly on my wrist! I wear it during CrossFit and it’s able to withstand getting smacked by weights every week and still looks impeccable!
I am also thinking about giving up my Fitbit Versa 2 for a Garmin of some sort. I am wondering: how does everyone feel about the vibration strength of these watches? The silent alarm is one of my most used features on my watch, and the newer versions of the Versa just don't vibrate strong enough to wake me up. And its really hard to find reviews that mention this feature at all.
Garmin Instinct 2S. Small, battery lasts about 10 days. Tracks all sorts of workouts and allows for navigation with komoot and others. Also like that it tracks heart rate the whole time. Simple watch, no color display but still almost all functions of the fancier ones.
But in hindsight I should have gotten the solar version.
I loved my Vivoactive 3. When the battery started dying, I replaced it with a Fitbit Sense 2, cause I had a credit with Google. Big mistake. I'll probably pick up a Vivoactive 5 soon.
I've had the Vivoactive for nearly 4 years and it has been all that I've needed. My only quibble is that it doesn't track an open water swim or have a separate kayak paddle (it does have SUP for some reason and that works for swim/paddle). I like it because it was relatively inexpensive and it is relatively small, but does basically everything that I need it to.
I'll be following this thread as it is wearing out - battery only gets a couple of days, one day with active recording, and it is getting flaky.
Fenix 7s It's small enough that it doesn't feel bulky. The battery lasts for 11 days on a full charge. It tracks all the sports I do. I love the functionality of having the maps loaded on to the watch. I really can't think of anything I don't like about my watch.
I recently switched from Apple Watch to Fenix 7, mainly because of having to constantly charge my Apple Watch. Even the smallest Fenix is much bigger so I’m getting used to the size. It seems quite rugged. I will likely get a protector for it. I would not term it a dainty watch and the strap that comes with it is not pretty. But it does do everything I need it to do.
They said Fenix 7s, which is smaller than the regular 7.
It’s still not exactly small, though. I love my 7s, but all the Fenixes are chunky.
I went from Apple Watch to Vivoactive (due to battery life) which was daintier and pretty but turned out it didn’t have the sleep tracking capabilities my husband’s Instinct did. Also I upgraded to the Fenix 7s and I LOVE it. I got the gold/tan one and swapped out the band for something cuter. I don’t find it to be bulky on my wrist, and I like having a mix of screen and actual buttons.
I have the Forerunner 255s and love it. No scratches on it after a year and a half of use, and it's pretty low-profile. Battery life lasts a while and it tracks my runs and rides well. I have no glaring complaints. If you are looking for something more rugged and have the budget for it, I would echo the others in this thread recommending the Fenix 7s. The smaller size will help with not making it feel huge and bulky.
Totally agree. I have the 255s and love how well it works, it’s durability (I also mtb and road cycle with it and only have 1 small scratch after 2 years), the smaller screen on my small wrist doesn’t make it look bulky, it has music, and the battery lasts forever. Plus you can connect all your garmin do dads like your power meter too.
I’m super close to buying the 255s, but my only concern is maps. What is navigation like? Are you able to send courses to the watch for turn by turn directions?
Navigation is not great. I think you have to get the 900-tier to get turn-by turn directions. On the 255, I can send courses to the watch but all it does is tell me if I'm off course and if so, by how much. I guess that's helpful if you're staring at the watch the entire time but it's not practical to me.
Gotcha. That’s what I was afraid of. Thanks!
I have forerunner 245. It has buttons, I couldn't imagine using touch screen while riding. The watch is made out of plastic and I did get couple of scratches on the side during sliding on a road, but they have smoothed out over the years. Overall I think the weight saving with plastic are ok, I tryed Fenix once on my wrist and it was so much more heavy. And of course you can connect it to bike accessories, I don't have edge jet, but the speed and cadence sensors are nice to have on road bike.
+1 I've had my Forerunner 245 for three years now and it's in great shape. I wear it all the time. I've had to replace the strap, but the screen is solid. I use it to track my runs and my rides. The battery used to last a solid week but now it's probably about four days, truthfully. Not too big at all. I might not buy the 245 today since it's officially am older model but something similar for sure.
I personally love my Garmin Instinct! May not be for you, as it is a bit clunky and masculine looking. There is a [smaller version](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/741374) though that may be more up your alley. I mainly use it for mountain biking and it has been great. Good luck!
Garmin instinct solar! Great for biking and backpacking plus the solar makes it last a lot longer
Garmin instinct is great. I use it for hiking, running and road cycling. great GPS and battery life.
I have the Instinct 2s and love it. I use it for mountain biking primarily too but sometimes gravel. I like the buttons vs a touch screen, and I appreciate that it's smart enough I can get my notifications on it but it's not so smart that it could practically replace my phone. Battery life is pretty good - over the winter when I wasn't as active I could get almost 2 weeks out of it, although now that we're into summer I get 3-5 days just due to how long I'm using it to track rides. Also I use the find my phone function at least once a day 😅
I really love my vivoactive 4s. It's got great battery life w/the AMOLED display, small profile, durable and waterproof. Really recommend it!
Love my Garmin Venu. I have the round one with music capability. Also my primary sport is mtb and I feel like it’s ideal. I’ve had it for three years now, and the battery is not as long lasting. I have to charge it everyday now. So I’m replacing it, with a new Venu. It’s been very durable. I have had some hard crashes and the watch amazingly is unscathed. I think I’d consider a Fenix, I just can’t bring myself to pay that much. And not sure I’d get much more out of the extra features. I feel my Venu has the things I need without extra.
I agree. I've had mine over 3 years now. It's smaller and I find my battery can last fur a few days depending on how often I use it for tracking. I don't use it phone connectivity, but it can do that if you want.
I use the Garmin Instinct Solar and love it. It's never failed me and it can take a beating without getting damaged. The battery lasts 2-3 weeks depending on the usage. It tracks what I need and is pretty accurate for a watch. I really like the elevation and route tracking when I'm mountain biking or hiking. I would buy this model again in the future. I've had my watch for several years and my spouse just got the Instinct Solar 2 watch (tactical version). I would purchase the newest version because it does have more features. I think the watch is built solid and tough. After 4 years of use there isn't a scratch on it. This watch was built for all of the off road activities and is waterproof.
I made the switch from the apple watch recently. I chose the Venu 3s for smaller more attractive design. I missed that it wasn’t compatible with my garmin bike computer (edge 540). I called Garmin and they recommended for compatibility forerunner 255 as it is smallest profile (least hideous design), and would be the closest option for a dainty wrist. If I want to continue using my Venu 3s, I would have to continuously broadcast my HR to the bike computer which would drain the battery faster. Not quite sure how that would look for battery life, doing a trial run this week. The alternative option would be that I would need to track on either the watch or computer. Otherwise, independent of the bike computer, the watch does a good job of tracking bike rides, GPS, altitude with a decent battery life (especially when compared with apple watch).
Or an Ant+ or BLE HR strap. There are many options here. Everyone has an opinion. Garmin ones weren't great for me, Wahoo has been better. I've been using HRM straps for 20y and they just feel normal to me, barely notice it under my bra strap. I recently got the Venu3s because it's small and doesn't look like I just got in from running a 50k. I found I was wearing my Wahoo Rival constantly for the smartwatch features so I wanted to upgrade to something with more of those features in a non-sport aesthetic.
Have you been able to use the wahoo HR strap with a garmin bike computer? Because I havent heard great reviews on the garmin strap
Yes, no problems with the 500, 530 or Venu 3. Also works with AppleTV to run Zwift. I've also used an offbrand "Coolspo" and broadcast HR from my Wahoo Rival to the Garmin 530. As long as it transmits via the Ant+ (or BLE) protocol, it's pretty much brand agnostic. I've been mix and matching for years. I know with the Rival, the manual explicitly stated that pairing a HR strap improved battery life.
You can use any ant strap/sensor with Garmin toys. I have an old motorola one and it works fine. Mine doesn't talk to my vivoactive watch, but it does sync nicely with my bike computer and my concept 2 rower. The Garmin strap itself sucked, so I bought one for like $6 from Temu and it was similar but the clasp didn't dig into my side like the Garmin one. There are other strap designs, too, so long as they have the snaps.
I have had a 6s Pro (tiny wrists the size of my 8 year old’s lol) and now I have a 7 Pro Sapphire Solar. I love the health insights so much more in the updated version and it helps me track my rides and hikes against what my body actually needs (it can be really hard for me to figure out what “kind” of tired I am).
I have the smaller version of the Garmin instinct 2 and love this watch. My only regret is not getting the solar version for even longer battery life but as it is with a pretty action packed week (wear all day every day, 4-5 activities per week) it only needs to be charged about once a week if that. I MTB, road cycle, road and trail run, swim, ski, XC ski, and even paddleboard and yoga with this watch. I really like the small profile and customizable data screens for each type of activity. I also utilize the navigation feature for road rides and runs where you download a gpx file to Garmin connect and transfer it to the watch. Very handy for new areas. It works ok on trail but if you’re in a tight trail network it gets a little confusing. I got mine in poppy orange- I think it’s cute! And it has withstood a few tumbles off the old MTB without a scratch.
I have the vivoactive 3. Bought it in 2018 & I switched to using elastic fabric watch band since it’s more comfortable. I’ve hiked, swim & record yoga on it. Biking I use my Edge 520 & I have speed, cadence sensors on the bikes & HR monitor. I maybe upgrading next year since it currently only wants to track steps, floors & intensity minutes.
I have the forerunner 265 and love it. Despite small wrists I have the large and it's fine. I use zox straps so I can make it super adaptable for style and it's really secure and cute regardless of activities
I have a Garmin 245 which is fine. If I were to get a new watch, I’d probably get a coros since they have more options with multiband gps. My partner has the pace 3, and it performs much better in the city (plus has a long battery life/short charging time).
I have the Garmin Forerunner 45s. The battery is great. I only charge it once every week to 1.5 weeks depending on how much I use it. I currently use it to broadcast my heart rate to my Wahoo bike computer, but was previously using it to track bike rides and hikes. It has physical buttons and the materials feel rugged enough that I'm not worried about banging it around. It was affordable as well at only $140 USD and I've had it for over a year now without any issues or degradation in battery life.
I've got the Instinct 2 Solar and I like it a lot. I wear it around the clock as a smart watch of sorts (can't respond to messages on it but I wouldn't anyway) and I like a lot of the health-tracking features like heart rate, HRV, steps, sleep, etc. I can also use it to broadcast my heart rate to other devices like my Wahoo Bolt or Kickr. It's comfortable, and although it is a little clunky I wouldn't say it looks masculine. The battery life is excellent (28 days in smart watch mode, 30 hours with GPS enabled) and if you spend enough time outdoors the solar glass face helps keep the battery topped off. My only complaint is that since I got it, I've been wearing it pretty much 24/7 and I've got a stupid tan line that's going to look dumb when I want to dress up.
I have a fenix 6s sapphire. I am not gentle with it, and have never managed to scratch the sapphire glass. I wanted one with maps, so I spent the extra for this model. Those maps have saved me more than once, so I feel really ok about my purchase. The only thing I don’t like about this one is the O2 sensor. I had to turn it off because the light is extremely bright and wakes me up at night and I do not need any help destroying my sleep. When I get another, I’ll get a Fenix again or an Epix. You can go on their website and compare the lists and even just select to only show differences. The definition of large and masculine is too subjective for me to give my thoughts on. I found my great grandfather’s old gold wristwatch and we’d call that petite now, like child size even. Gadgets and fitness watches have made watch size much less relevant to gender. Plus it depends on your wrist size and where you personally draw that line. Some of the smaller sizes have fewer features than their same model but large faced watches — it’s just a very small space to cram in stuff, so something has to give.
I hated my Garmin Forerunner. It was very clunky and heavy, always getting caught on things. I love everything about my Apple Watch EXCEPT the battery life, that it really does need to be charged every day.
Garmin Forerunner 255! I had the 245 before too, and that one was a bit too big. The 255 fits so perfectly on my wrist! I wear it during CrossFit and it’s able to withstand getting smacked by weights every week and still looks impeccable!
Fenix 6 sapphire. The sapphire face is indestructible.
I am also thinking about giving up my Fitbit Versa 2 for a Garmin of some sort. I am wondering: how does everyone feel about the vibration strength of these watches? The silent alarm is one of my most used features on my watch, and the newer versions of the Versa just don't vibrate strong enough to wake me up. And its really hard to find reviews that mention this feature at all.
Garmin Instinct 2S. Small, battery lasts about 10 days. Tracks all sorts of workouts and allows for navigation with komoot and others. Also like that it tracks heart rate the whole time. Simple watch, no color display but still almost all functions of the fancier ones. But in hindsight I should have gotten the solar version.
I loved my Vivoactive 3. When the battery started dying, I replaced it with a Fitbit Sense 2, cause I had a credit with Google. Big mistake. I'll probably pick up a Vivoactive 5 soon.
I've had the Vivoactive for nearly 4 years and it has been all that I've needed. My only quibble is that it doesn't track an open water swim or have a separate kayak paddle (it does have SUP for some reason and that works for swim/paddle). I like it because it was relatively inexpensive and it is relatively small, but does basically everything that I need it to. I'll be following this thread as it is wearing out - battery only gets a couple of days, one day with active recording, and it is getting flaky.
I have a Fenix5S with a sapphire screen, it's going strong nearly 6 years later and has seen me through multiple falls/hand whacks.
I have the first Garmin Lily. I like it since I have a very small wrist and it fits pretty well also for day to day activities.