A touchscreen GPS navigator that works in the wilderness and that you can wear on your wrist? That’s a neat idea, but not one that Garmin’s been able to realize with this new Epix. Allow me to explain.
Looking for a powerful fitness tracker? Let’s go ahead and spoil this review by saying that the Garmin Fenix 3 has all deep fitness tracking capabilities as the Epix, in a slimmer, more affordable, nicer looking package. Corey also put together a great, in-depth review of those capabilities. In this review of the Epix, I’m going to focus on what it attempts to do over that Fenix 3; namely its mapping and navigation functions.
“Epix is the first-of-its-kind, high-resolution, color, touchscreen GPS/GLONASS mapping watch with worldwide, shaded relief basemap and 1-year BirdsEye Satellite Imagery subscription. Some models also feature preloaded TOPO 100K maps. Eight GB of built-in memory supports additional mapping, including BirdsEye Satellite Imagery and regional TOPO U.S. 24K maps. The revolutionary, stainless steel EXO antenna combined with GPS and GLONASS reception mean better signal strength and quicker position fixes.”
“The epix touchscreen display gives you fingertip pan/swipe access to vivid, detailed maps, including the built-in worldwide shaded relief basemaps. And with 8 GB internal memory and extensive mapping support, you’ll have plenty of room to add (and interact with) compatible maps, including TOPO 24K, BirdsEye Satellite Imagery, City Navigator® and BlueChart® g2 maps.”
We wouldn’t typically quote a manufacturer’s press release, but bear with me this time, I’m doing it for a reason.
In addition to those functions, the Epix has all the same fitness tracking functions as the Fenix 3. So consider it a Fenix 3 that’s considerably larger, square-shaped and comes with a color touchscreen that’s there so you can use its navigation functions.
Who’s It For?
Honestly, the only people who need fitness tracking this powerful and in-depth are people who take athletics very, very seriously. Do you care about your cadence and heart rate while mountain biking? Do you want to record your interval times while running? Do you need to determine your V02 Max? Do you want to compare your lap times against those of others?
Garmin’s smart watches can do all that and much more, making them the most powerful fitness tracking gadgets on the market. But, that power is matched by the clunkiness of the user interface. Seriously, even with the 28-page owner’s manual, you should expect to have the technical ability of an engineer, software developer or systems admin in order to operate this thing.
You’ll also have to committed enough to wear or use sensors that you buy separately to track things like heart rate and pedaling cadence. The upside of that is that they deliver much more accurate (or, actually accurate) data than the heart rate sensors built into other smartwatches, but the downside is obviously that it’s another gadget to buy, keep fresh batteries in, to avoid losing and to setup and use.
GARMIN EPIX navigation and mapping functions are targeted at people who do those activities in the wilderness, outside of cell-range, where Google Maps and such on your phone cease to function.
So, the Epix is a powerful, in-depth fitness tracker for committed athletes who are serious about tracking and sharing their performance, who also happen to be at least amateur techs on the side and who spend a lot of time out in the boonies. Sounds like a big audience to me.
As an aside on my use and therefore testing methodologies, I’m a half-assed amateur athlete that does everything from mountain biking, to hiking, to archery, to spearfishing to motorcycle racing. I like to keep fit and I like to track my progress, but I more typically do so with a spreadsheet in Google Docs on my phone. So, the Epix’s fitness tracking functions are a bit lost on me. I am, however, someone who gets to call spending time in the outdoors “work,” so I was mostly excited for the navigation and mapping abilities. I figured they could offer a longer battery life and more convenient use than simply using Backcountry Navigator on my Samsung Galaxy S6 Active could provide.
Design
I guess the silver bezel is made from metal and serves as a GPS antenna, at least according to Garmin’s marketing material. Feels like plastic to me.
At least the buttons are knurled aluminum, the rest of the watch is a giant, 2-inch square brick of black plastic surrounding a surprisingly tiny 1.4-inch color screen that only has a 205 x 148px resolution. Compare that to the 38mm Apple Watch’s 272 x 340px and you can begin to understand how low-res Garmin’s is in comparison. It feels more like the LCD display on an old triathlon watch than it does something modern.
There’s a variety of custom designed watch faces you can download from Garmin’s proprietary Connect IQ app store, most of which appear to be riffs on Star Trek TNG bridge designs.
