UKC

Trail running folks - can you recommend me a replacement Garmin watch.

Currently using a reconditioned Forerunner 45S, which is a great wee watch but unfortunately the battery life isn’t great when I’m using it on GPS mode.

Ive got aspirations to do some longer days out this summer and am looking for something that will last maybe 12 hours or so.  Pretty sure the 45s spec says it will do this, but in the real world, it doesn’t quite.

Have tried a Garmin quiz which aims to help me decide but it’s suggesting watches which are way beyond my budget.

I don’t mind reconditioned/second hand at all, as long as the battery isn’t duff, would prefer a smaller sized device as I’ve got tiny wrists and have a budget of £350/400 max.  Don’t need music as I hate wearing earphones/like to hear what’s going on around me.

Have been looking at Fenix 5s and 6s.  Any thoughts?

I had a Fenix 5 for a bit but I gave it to my dad for his birthday as I just found it infuriating with the lack of battery life! 

I swapped it for a Forerunner 945 which I find much better.

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/garmin-forerunner-945-multisport-gps-watch?lang=en...

The Fenix 6Pro is great (if a little big and heavy) and should be available in your budget, however the forerunner 245 is a much nicer everyday watch with Nav features (although no maps) so you can follow a route. The power management features of the 245 could stretch it out to 24 hours.

I used to have a 245 but had issues with it, exchanged it under warranty and got the Fenix for a 24hr event I was doing. Following a route I had about 6 hours battery left as opposed to the 12 predicted, but it was fine.  I'm happy with it for its multi-sport features, but for running alone the 245 is more than adequate. 

Sportpursuit have the Fenix 6 pro solar for £360. I haven't used one, so I can't really comment, but if I were in the market for a new sports watch, I'd be very tempted.

https://www.sportpursuit.com/catalog/product/view/id/2570834

Garmin instinct solar. 

Got one, really good watch with plus 12 hrs battery life. Nothing fancy about it just does what it needs to really well. 

Can display long/lat or more useful OS coordinates . 

You could think about other manufacturers.

I always used Garmin but got fed up with battery life so have switched to Coros Pace 2.

Even on GPS battery life will cover at least two full days out. (supposed to last 30hrs in GPS mode)

Good VFM too at £180 

My Garmin 945 would last 2 days on GPS. I just did a 10 hour day out on the bike 8.5 moving and the watch used 34%

Garmin 945 is now 289 on Wiggle (I think because the 955 and even the 965 is now out). I bought it about 5 months ago. If you're thinking of long trail runs, particularly where you want to follow a GPX route, it has colour maps which are fantastic. I'm really happy with it.

I've got a 955, which is excellent (you can get 30 hours GPS out of it if you tweak some settings).  However, as I don't use the music and are too near sighted to use the mapping much, I think the 255 would have been a better and cheaper option.

I upgraded from an Instinct to get better battery life.  I was going to get an instinct 2 solar, but realistically the 955 wasn't much more and was pretty close on battery life.

Lots of people really like the Coros for battery life, but I haven't owned on, so don't know.

I had a Fenix 2 which was pretty buggy, to the point where I vowed when I replaced it, it wouldn't be another Garmin. 

Finally got a new watch last year and went for the Coros Apex Pro. Very pleased with it.

The Pace 2 gets a good review by DC Rainmaker.

Hardly fair to compare a fenix 2 with any kind of new watch, the tech has moved on since then. 

Another vote for Garmin instinct solar..Great watch.

I have a fenix 6 pro with TalkyToaster maps, quite a chunky device, with a theoretical battery life well over 24 hours gps - as long as you don't  need to keep flicking between map and other screens, using the light etc.  Not confident it would last 24 hours,  but certainly ok for 12. Fenix 6s has a smaller battery. Both of them have Sony gps chips which are notably less accurate than previous and later models. I have had to move up to a fenix 7x solar to guarantee a full 24 hours plus even at maximum accuracy.  it's big but not ridiculous on my skinny wrists and it does charge up a bit in the sunshine, saving battery. Way too expensive, mine was a black friday deal, but the fenix 8 is nearly ready so prices will drop soon. Coros sounds good if not committed to the Garmin platform - I am, I won't go near Strava...

I have fenix 6s pro with talky toaster maps. It's brilliant. The 's' is the smallest so not super chunky for littler hands and wrists.

Yup even with the 3! I still use a Fenix 3 and it’s been faultless throughout its life, is still supported by Garmin with updates, and original battery is in good condition surprisingly. Does all I need so not thinking of changing until it stops working.

I wasn't comparing the Fenix 2 with newer watches.

I bought a Garmin product that kept crashing so decided when I replaced it I would not buy Garmin again. 

tiny wrists then i'd maybe ignore the fenix since they are relatively heavy so not as stable on the wrist. one of the forerunners 255 (better still 955 - do you need maps for trail running?) would be better (or epix 2 sapphire).

I wanted colour maps and music and went for the Fenix 6X pro for circa £300 in as new condition.

I'm really happy with it.

My only criticism is how bulky it is. But I wanted the decent battery life so went for the larger unit.

You get used to it.

Lots of Garmin mentions in this thread, and rightly so. I have a Fenix 6 and it’s perfect for long days out in the hills, so another recommendation, plus if you’ve already used a garmin you’ll be used to how it work. Worth noting a few things:

Theres a 7. It has a solar charging screen (gimmick) and touch screen (annoying) with an associated large price tag. Don’t be tempted.

The 6 has a pro variant, which can display maps. This is worth it for me, if it falls within budget.

There is also a sapphire version. This has a much more robust screen - again, worth it if you can keep in budget.

The -S and -X nomenclature relate to the physical size. -S is, as the name suggests, a bit smaller, so maybe the way for small wrists. That said it’s still a big unit so maybe good to try out IRL if possible.

I've been using it for years and specifically upgraded for the battery life. I can run an ultra on full GPS for 16 hours without worrying about charge. When I ran the UTMB for 42 hours it just took a couple of 20 minute charges at aid stations to easily see me through. 

To the OP. I did just read this yesterday which is a glowing review (albeit not from a specialist reviewer) if you can squeeze to the slightly higher cost. 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/11/garmin-forerunner-265-re...

Weirdly, I also read that yesterday. It looks good.

I have the Garmin 245. As I understand it, it does most of what the 945 does but is a bit less triathlon based. So if you swim then head to the 945/955/ 965 range, but if its really only for running then 245/255/265 might be enough. Battery life with the 945 has been excellent. Will last for 2 weeks at least in non GPS mode and 24 hours with full GPS. It doesn't have proper mapping though, but for that I either use a map or OS maps on my phone. The wrist based HRM is crap though.

The touch screen comes into it's own if you ever use the maps. 

I have a Forerunner 935 and it's great, performance-wise. But as a woman with slim wrists I find it irritatingly large and bulky, to the extent it actually gives me wrist pain to wear. I'll tolerate it when I'm doing activity I want to track but I really dislike the size, it doesn't feel like a good design for women at all.

Annoyingly, part of the reason I'd bought a more expensive model was so I could use it casually as a fitness tracker/smartwatch as well. Obviously that's out the question and I ended up getting a Vivosmart to wear the rest of the time.

I use the maps a lot and really hate the touch screen option.

Fair enough, I think it's much easier to scroll the map but each to their own, luckily you can turn it off as you know, so not really an issue getting the 7 and it has a better GPS than the 6.

Just bought a new Garmin today, replacing my old 225. Just went for the 55. It’s small, has all the features I need, 20 hours battery with GPS and it is their cheapest model. I paid £150 in a physical shop, could probably find it cheaper.

I have both the Garmin 245 (mentioned in a couple of posts above) and a 935 bought second hand off a mate (mainly for the built in maps, which are great).

The 935 has all the features anyone could ever need, but the 245 has massively better battery life, better display, less bulky and is a much better everyday watch/fitness tracker.

245 should do everything the OP needs and more.

Totally agree.  I've had my instinct solar last 25 hours in tracking mode or 20 plus days as a standard watch.  very userfriendly and just does the job without any fancy stuff.

The solar version of the instinct definitely works.  When sea kayaking I have my watching on my deck in front of me and tracking.  On a five day trip it can track 8 hrs a day and have no drop in battery life.  On denali last spring it got so much solar the number of days battery life went up and up, eventually displaying the infinity symbol.

The buggers have only gone and released an Instinct 2X:

youtube.com/watch?v=kRlZ1D8lpA0& 

Solar Instinct here too. Awesome battery life and simple to the point display. The 4 sections of the display can be user set to show the info you want. 

Still expensive to replace and costs extra money to purchase. Anyway - is the GNSS really that much better? I’ve had next to no in-use issues with the 6. Maybe I’m turning into an old man but it feels like sports watch tech is maturing and gains in new models are pretty marginal.

(Not looking to swap my watch either so the discussion is somewhat academic). 

Instinct Solar is a great watch.

I'm using the Enduro (Gen 1) at the moment which would be ideal for your requirements. It can be picked up within your budget and battery life is mindboggling! Downside is the Enduro is a fairly chunky watch. 

Instinct is a much smaller watch.

Three and a quarter hours activity last night with the new 55, used 15% of the battery, so the promise of 20 hours of GPS battery life seems sound. I know that everyone is recommending larger, more expensive and feature packed watches, but based on your OP, they don’t seem to be be what you need.

Thank you all for the suggestions.  So much info I’m not sure my choice is any easier!

I will have a good read through and compare with what I can get a good deal on.  Smaller size is imperative for me though.  Some of the larger watches would be wider than my wrist - it’s not just aesthetic appeal or weight, I wouldn’t be able to keep fasten them on securely.

There's often a tendency to look at the top end of the range, without any particularly good reason. The Fenix watches are great pieces of technology, but are, I suspect, massive overkill for the vast majority of users. I have a Fenix 5 and although I was running to a reasonable standard before a toe operation put paid to much activity, I only used a fraction of the functions.

Something simple like the 55 would probably be my next preferred watch of choice, if I ever get back to the level where it might be useful.

Didn't say they weren't expensive, just that the screen is useful for maps, I don't think the 7 is that much more money than the 6 would have been new, I think the tech is better in the 7 otherwise it wouldn't be the latest model. I also think it is overkill for almost everyone, I use a tiny fraction of the capabilities it has. 

I don't agree with this. 

If you want to use the maps for example then it's not overkill. To have maps you basically have to discount all of their low and mid-range watches.

I suspect many people have an 'overkill' watch, because there was one feature they wanted that they couldn't get on the lower spec models. You don't need to use most features to justify owning the watch.

I agree, didn't mean people shouldn't get one, more that there is so much it can do and most of us will only use a fraction of it, maps are what I bought it for. 

Has anyone using the Solar Instinct experienced GPS issues? Mine often takes a long time to get GPS lock, or stalls just before the circle is complete. Even with the lock achieved it often seems to lose connection pretty easily and consequently I'm never too trusting of the pace. I live in a city but Edinburgh isn't too built up. Wondering about upgrading to a different model with better GPS capabilities.

Same with my 945, I just wanted the maps!

Yes, I’ve occasionally had similar problems with it being very slow to get a GPS lock. Try checking the EPO status. I’ve resolved it by forcing an EPO update (syncing with a PC). https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/?faq=CevbI1mlnV2SejYAaOQZ29

Yeah I've done that a few times but it's still hit and miss. Might upgrade to a Fenix at some point!