Wearable fitness devices have exploded in popularity in the last few years. What initially started as basic stop watches with a heart rate monitor, that were the size of a typewriter, are now sleek devices that can do sophisticated data analytics, providing you with tons of valuable information. As a person who takes their fitness seriously, keep reading to learn why you should be using the Garmin Fenix 3 HR.
The Garmin series of sports watches and outdoor computers has been growing in capability and popularity over the last few years. I’ve owned several of their devices including: a Fortrex 401, and one of their ancient running watches. They have all met my expectations. Needless to say, I was very excited when my Garmin Fenix 3 HR arrived.
First Impressions
It’s a large watch, with a very clean and clear watch face. Gamin has made a concerted effort to make the screen very durable, and now the watch crystal is made of synthetic sapphire, which is one of the toughest materials known to man, and incredibly scratch resistant.
The band is fairly wide, but very comfortable. Initially when I was looking at the specs online, I was worried that the band and the optical heart rate sensors would be uncomfortable. Nothing could be further from the truth. This watch is easily the most comfortable I’ve owned including numerous G-Shocks, Seikos, etc.
Most importantly, the screen is day light readable in all lighting conditions. It is very bright when backlit, and otherwise it is easily viewable due to the dark contrast of the LCD display.
The battery life on this is also outstanding. I’ve found the watch to go about a week between charges, with charging taking about 30 min – 1hr. It will drain faster if you are using it’s gps features more often.
The watch is also waterproof to 100m and can be used to swim in; however, you will not be able to use the watch’s HR sensor, and will have to use a wearable heart rate monitor if you need that type of data.
Check this video out for some more great info.
Capabilities
It’s not an overstatement to say that this watch has the same capabilities that an exercise science lab had just a few years ago, and you don’t even have to go into crushing debt or get wedgies to use it. I generally like to think of the capabilities in two ways: features you use all the time, and those you choose to use. The best of those all day features is your heart rate monitoring and calorie burn estimation.
Calories
The watch has a very sophisticated algorithm which is based on your steps, heart rate, and other parameters to calculate your daily energy usage in calories. I’ve found mine to be very accurate, often within 200 or less calories than what I would have estimated.
Resting Heart Rate
This is a key metric that allows you to determine the long term effects of your training. If you are relatively untrained, you want it to gradually lower. If you are well trained then you generally want it to stay consistent, as any significant changes can indicate sickness or overtraining.
Sleep Analysis
The watch also analyzes your sleep which is a great indicator of your overall recovery. Initially, it assumes that laying down at bed time means you are asleep, and as a result it will be a little high in it’s estimates. After a while it will learn when you actually start to sleep, and will give you very good estimates.
VO2 Max Estimation
The watch also has the ability to estimate your VO2 max, which is a key indicator for your bodies’ ability to use oxygen. The higher it goes, the bigger engine you have, without resorting to anaerobic power. This feature requires a fair amount of data to get a decent measure, so don’t be surprised if it is a little off initially.
App Integration
The watch is really half the story. The Garmin connect app is the rest. It is the brains behind much of the analysis. It allows you to see very detailed metrics for your workouts including things like: pacing, cadence, heart rate per interval, training effect etc.
Literally I don’t think think there is a metric for exercising that you cannot learn from the app. You can even overlay info onto other fields such as seeing your heart rate overlaid on altitude gained, or any number of other graphs
This watch also integrates with my second favorite app, My Fitness Pal. If you are tracking your food in this app it will automatically import your calories and show you a graph tracking your progress. It will also work by throwing your calorie burn from any exercise you do into My Fitness Pal so you can see it there as well. Overall this is a great feature that allows you track metrics that directly effect your body composition goals.
Random Features
While we’ve already covered a lot of the big ticket items on the watch there are a few other features that I really like. When you pair it with your phone, you can see notifications on your watch, and you can select which to see. For example I don’t really want every email showing up, but I do like it to vibrate when I receive a call. This is great for me because I generally leave my phone on vibrate and I don’t always hear it going off. You can also set alarms and other features to vibrate, or sound an alarm, or both.
On a more aesthetic note, you can also download new watch faces from the Garmin app store. The one you see in the photos is my favorite, but there are hundreds of others, from simple faces that look like an analog watch, to stuff that looks like a “Minority Report” screen. Oh man, here comes the red ball!
Areas for Improvement
The watch does a great job at many things, but it still needs some work in a few areas. The heart rate sensor generally does not get a good reading during lifting and will read abnormally low. During some wods, I know my heart rate is around 170, but the watch shows 110 bpm. This is likely due to flexing of the wrist, causing the sensor to lose contact with the skin, but it would be nice if you could get an accurate heart rate during your WOD without using a separate chest strap.
The only other issue I’ve noticed is one of the button shortcuts. For example you have to hold the start button for several seconds, then scroll through a few menus to get your stop watch. This is a function I and others use all the time, and it should probably have a more streamlined method to pull it up quickly.
Final Thoughts
This watch is great for folks that like to work out and take their training seriously. If you are an occasional jogger, and hit the gym from time to time this isn’t the product for you. At the time of this writing the cheapest price for the watch is on amazon.com for $559. If you are serious about your training and want a device that can give you very accurate metrics, consider using this affiliate link so you can get the lowest price and support the site as well. Let us know how you like it.
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