Garmin makes excellent wearable fitness tech. My favourite, in fact, as an avid exerciser who has tried most of the big-name brands.
The fenix is the brand’s flagship smartwatch, and the ninth generation has just dropped. But is it any good? And, more importantly, is it worth the considerable £850-plus price tag?
The latest Garmin fenix promises a brighter display, more storage, speedier systems and better metrics for monitoring your performance. A titanium case replaces the prior plastic, with the pro model offering a sleeker build and inreach connectivity so you can call, text and send an SOS directly from your wrist.
I got my hands on the watch last month and have been putting it through its paces ever since. Over the course of a week, I wore it through runs, hikes, rucks, strength training sessions, CrossFit workouts and more. And despite having only scratched the surface of the wealth of features on offer, I already have some thoughts.
Garmin fenix 9 pro
Why we love it
- Streamlined new design with titanium case
- Excellent and enhanced health and sports tracking
- Inreach connectivity to send texts, SOS messages and make calls from your wrist
Take note
- Expensive
- More for athletes than lifestyle-minded wearers
What is new on the Garmin fenix 9 and Garmin fenix 9 pro
Garmin sells its latest smartwatches with the promise of “new and enhanced tools to take training and exploration to the next level”.
It is available in three sizes – 43mm, 47mm and 51mm – and sports the aforementioned titanium case as well as an updated lightweight design. As someone with smaller wrists, these updates were greatly appreciated, with the 43mm fenix 9 pro proving less cumbersome than the likes of the Apple Watch ultra range.
The AMOLED display is “twice as bright” as the fenix 8 too. I can’t say I have an exact measurement here, but it was clear and easy to read in any light, and at any angle – handy during sunny runs. An upgraded 64GB of internal memory is another welcome update.
For more endurance-minded athletes than me, the new Garmin Epic feature allows you to turn multiple activities into one “cohesive story” – handy for triathletes or cyclists tackling multi-stage races.
However, as a CrossFit fan, I was more excited about the improved metrics for indoor rowing and rucking, including on-wrist follow-along workouts for the latter.
On top of this, the new stamina tracking features promise to show you how your endurance adapts over time, in line with your training and fitness improvements. However, I need longer with the watch to see this feature’s full potential.
Exclusive to the fenix 9 pro, you can use livetrack notifications without your phone so loved ones know when you’ve started an activity and can keep track of your training in real time. You can also get weather forecasts for a specific location and use inreach connectivity to send texts, make calls or access SOS support from your wrist.
And finally, certain models with solar-charging displays are touted to deliver up to 57 days of battery life. I tested the smaller, non-solar Garmin fenix 9 pro, which has up to 10 days of battery life in smartwatch mode, according to the brand. Straight out of the box, it delivered eight-plus days of charge, with plenty of activities tracked in that time. At the time of writing after more than a week of using it, I’m yet to recharge it.
What is the Garmin fenix 9 pro actually like?
It’s all well and good discussing a fitness tracker’s various mod cons, but the meat and drink of a good review should lie in its in-person performance.
The first thing I noticed after unboxing the Garmin fenix pro 9 was how svelte it felt. I’ve previously been swamped by the likes of the Apple Watch ultra 2, and even the Garmin forerunner 965. But the fenix 9 pro sat nicely on my wrist and felt so light (45g, sans strap, by my scales) I could easily forget I was wearing it. The sporty silicone strap was comfortable too, provided I didn’t set it too tight.
The setup was smooth, with the watch integrating seamlessly with my phone and the Garmin Connect app, then intuitively porting all of my old performance data from my vivoactive 6.
As you might expect, you can receive all phone notifications on your wrist, just not in the same detail as more lifestyle-minded rivals such as Apple and Google. You’re not getting a messenger-esque screen with images, for example. The same applies to communication. Through inreach connectivity, you can now send texts, SOS messages and make calls from your wrist, but it’s more for the essentials rather than an in-depth group chat catch-up.
I like this, though. Garmin has always positioned itself as sport-first, and if I’m out on an adventure, I don’t want to be bombarded with notifications throughout. The option to send an SOS is great to have in an emergency, but I wound up switching wider notifications off.
I also think the home screen isn’t as clean, clear or intuitive as the likes of Apple when you are navigating between menus. But when you start a workout, the Garmin fenix 9 pro comes into its own, with customisable on-screen metrics, maps and pretty much any other data point you might desire at your fingertips.
When I went for a run, it provided brilliant insights on my pace, gradient, cadence and more. The ability to pre-programme an interval session on the Garmin Connect app is excellent too, with the watch vibrating to tell me when to walk or run during Norwegian 4x4s. All I had to think about was running hard and keeping my breathing in check.
When I went for a hike, more metrics were on offer, including an accurate map – although I must admit, it was a familiar route and wasn’t too reliant on it.
And the post-workout graphs Garmin compiles, on everything from pace and heart rate to running power and recovery, are incredibly helpful for monitoring performance.
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The general health features proved to be top tier too. Switching from the Garmin vivoactive 6, an affable and more affordable jack of all trades in the brand’s stable, I found the sleep tracking was more accurate, with the former sometimes reporting I had only slept for three hours after a satisfying kip. This helped inform Garmin’s body battery feature, which provides handy guidance on when to push and when to pull back in your workout plans, via a score out of 100 which deteriorates throughout the day depending on your activity levels.
In short: the watch looks great and provides more health and performance data than you can shake a stick at. Fitness nerds like myself will love it. Those who exercise to live, not live to exercise, will thrive with a cheaper, less intense wearable.
Key specifications
Buy now £949.99, Argos.co.uk
Is the Garmin fenix 9 pro worth your money?
If you don’t have a smartwatch and you are a keen exerciser, the Garmin fenix 9 pro is the best you can buy, in my opinion. The tracking features on offer are brilliant, offering uniquely detailed insights into your performance across a huge range of activities.
The app can generate personalised running plans without the need for a subscription, and the health tracking features provide all the information you need to tweak your routine and improve your wellbeing. It also looks incredible with the new titanium case and bezel – doing a much better job of blending in as a normal watch than your average tracker.
But the watch is expensive. The Garmin fenix 9 starts at £859.99, while the pro version starts at £949.99, with solar versions costing more. This is why I can’t recommend it to anyone other than the most passionate of exercisers – particularly those interested in indoor rowing or rucking, who will benefit from the new features on offer.
It’s a fantastic workout tool, but other – much more affordable – watches such as Garmin’s budget forerunner 55 offer similar, albeit less comprehensive, insights for a little over 100 quid.
It is also tough to validate upgrading from the fenix 8 or fenix 8 pro. There are some great new additions, not least the new titanium case and slimline design, which looks far more natural on the wrist. But unless you can sell your old watch for a good price and find a bargain on the fenix 9, it might be worth sticking with what you have for now and waiting for the winter sales.
In summary: if you can find a way to make the Garmin fenix 9 pro work for your budget, you won’t be disappointed. But considering its high price point, this is easier said than done.
How I tested the Garmin fenix 9 pro
There is only one way to test wearable fitness tech: wear it. So that’s what I did – non-stop for a week, which I filled with every sporting activity and type of exercise I could. This included long runs, sprints and interval sessions, strength training and CrossFit workouts, running and hiking, even a spot of golf. I also used the watch’s health tracking features to keep tabs on my sleep, stress and more.
One week is not enough time to paint a comprehensive picture of a smartwatch this advanced, but I was able to get a good idea of what Garmin’s latest offering is all about. During the review, i was looking for:
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
IndyBest is a team of shopping specialists, each one has a different area of expertise. As The Independent’s senior fitness writer, mine is health and exercise, something I have lived, breathed, coached and written about for more than a decade. During my years covering this beat, I have tested many of the best (and worst) products on offer within the space, from running shoes and gym trainers to more niche items like TRX suspension trainers and blood flow restriction devices. I want to help you build a body you enjoy living in for less, and with that in mind I have developed an eye for what represents a good deal – as well as what can be chalked up as a naff purchase.
