Garmin is one of the most respected names in the fitness tracking space, and that’s a reputation that the company has earned through years of creating some of thebest smartwatchesout there for tracking your progress and achieving your goals. There’s no shortage of options when it comes to thebest Garmin smartwatches, but picking the right one for your personal goals can sometimes be as simple as which one you happen to like the most.
Fitness trackers come in all shapes and sizes, and that’s also the case for Garmin’s current lineup. Recently, the company released the Epix Pro (Gen 2), which takes the best parts of the previous generation model and sprinkles in some key improvements to make it appeal to even more people. As a long-time fitness tracker and smartwatch user, I instantly fell in love with the Epix Pro, and it’s been my favorite Garmin model to date. I can’t foresee it coming off of my wrist anytime soon.
Garmin Epix Pro (2nd Gen)
The Garmin Epix Pro is a fantastic smartwatch for active users. It offers exercise and advanced sleep tracking for all phases of activity.
Design and fit
Garmin’s smartwatch and fitness tracker lineup is quite diverse in terms of looks at this point. The Epix Pro (Gen 2) is one of the company’s more industrial and rugged-looking watches, but not in a bad way. This time around, Garmin has released three different sizes in the Epix Pro lineup, including 42mm, 47mm, and 51mm. Aside from the difference in sizing, they have the same overall design language, with the only differences being the display size and how long the battery will last before you need to charge it again.
I’ve been testing the 51mm Sapphire Edition, the biggest version available, and it comes with a Sapphire display to make it scratch-resistant and even more durable. Even for being such a large watch, I don’t find it to be very heavy, with it weighing in at 88 grams with the default bands on it. All sizes of the Epix Pro come with Garmin’s QuickFit bands, which means you can easily swap them out for another QuickFit band in seconds. In addition, since Garmin uses standard lug sizes on its watches, you can buy just about any watch band in the same size and use it with your Garmin, making it easier and more fun to customize.
Features and compatibility
If you’ve ever used a Garmin before, you’ll feel right at home with the Epix Pro. In terms of software and overall features, many of them are similar to what you’d expect to find on other models, but a few things were added this year that helped set it apart. This year, Garmin added a new built-in LED flashlight to the Epix and Fenix lineup. It can be set to different brightness, and there’s also a strobe mode to help provide awareness that you’re around for when you are training in the early mornings or late nights. The new Red Shift Mode can automatically change your display from a beautiful color display to one with shades of red, which helps when you’re in dark conditions, and it’s supposed to help reduce sleep cycle disturbance. You can configure this to turn on automatically or control it manually with ease through the menus.
For the software, Garmin has included several new preloaded activities to help make tracking them easier, like soccer, basketball, tennis, horseback riding, and more. And for those who can’t get enough data, Garmin offers a hill and endurance scores to help you continue pushing your training even further. These are likely things that most people won’t use regularly, but if you happen to be training for a long endurance event or run races with hilly courses, they can be super useful.
The Epix Pro has 32GB of internal storage, which you can use to hold music from streaming providers like Amazon Music, Deezer, and Spotify, so you can listen to your favorite tunes without having to lug your phone around on those long runs. It also has Garmin Pay, LiveTrack, Body Battery, sleep tracking, and so much more.
Garmin watches work on iOS and Android, though the features are slightly different. When you use it with an Android device, you can use the free Garmin Connect app to define a few preset responses to use in replies to your text messages, whereas Apple does not allow this at all.
Battery life and charging
Unlike some of the other great smartwatches on the market, Garmin doesn’t have to track battery life in hours, but instead days. Since there are three different case sizes available for the Epix Pro, which are 42mm, 47mm, and 51mm, the battery life varies a bit depending on your interest. I’ve been testing the 51mm Sapphire Edition, which has an estimated battery life of up to 11 days with the always-on display enabled or 31 days in regular smartwatch mode with the always-on display turned off. I’ve been testing this unit for a few weeks and only had to recharge it once. I got about 10 days of always-on usage, and when I turned it on, I was about 18 days in when I hit the 50% mark.
In both cases, the battery life in the real world matched pretty closely to what Garmin states it should be. Of course, your mileage may vary depending on how many notifications you are getting, how many activities you track with GPS, how long they last, and how much you are messing with the watch.
The Epix Pro does not have a solar option, so the only way to get extra battery life is by plugging it in and charging it up. Garmin now includes a USB-C version of its proprietary charger. Unfortunately, you’re able to’t charge this using just any USB-C cable, but since it doesn’t need to be charged very often, that’s not something that bothers me. A simple 20-minute charge can get you up to 20% battery life, which is plenty to get you through a few more days. I’ve found myself charging it every few days while I shower to ensure that there’s always enough juice to track my next activity without worrying about it.
Fitness tracking
Regarding fitness tracking, Garmin is one of the most trusted companies in the space. Over the years, I’ve owned several of thebest fitness trackersfrom companies like Fitbit, Withings, Apple, Oura, and more. My experiences with each has varied, but I have found that all the Garmin models I’ve tested, including the Epix Pro, have been extremely reliable, and that’s important to me. When I lace up my shoes and get out to run 3 miles, I want to know that my watch accurately tracks my miles and the times. Lately, I’ve been getting into running and have been pushing myself to improve my times and up my distances. I need accurate data that’s instantly available to help me reach these goals, and I know that day after day, I can rely on my Garmin to give me just that. I tend to run the same route a few times a week, and the mileage distance is accurate to within a step or two of the same landmark every single time.
Beyond running, the Garmin Epix Pro can track a ton of other workouts and sports, like tennis, kayaking, paddleboarding, mountain biking, and so much more. A recent software update has brought the watch a new selection of Garmin workouts. Some workouts are preloaded onto the watch for activities like running, strength, cardio, yoga, and Pilates. You can easily use the free Garmin Connect mobile app to build new workouts for you, allowing you to move effortlessly through them without having your phone or tablet around.
In terms of sensors, the Epix Pro (Gen 2) has a whole slew of them, including GPS, GLONASS, barometer, compass, thermometer, mult-frequency positioning, and an all-new heart rate sensor. It also has Bluetooth, ANT+, and Wi-Fi support to connect it with other accessories, like external heart rate monitors, if you prefer.
Should you buy it?
After testing several different Garmin models over the past few years, the Epix Pro (Gen 2) is one of my favorites. Between the build quality, great display, the band selection, fitness tracking, and battery life, there’s a lot to like about this. Coming in three different sizes means that there’s likely one to fit just about any wrist size, whether you want something big and bulky or a bit smaller on your wrist. The Epix Pro and Fenix 7 Pro are very similar in many ways. While you don’t get Fenix’s solar charging capabilities, the display makes it worth it. If you’re really worried about the battery impact of the always-on display, you can turn that off and more than double the expected battery life.
If you’re looking for an accurate fitness tracker that looks great and is built to last, you’re going to want to keep the Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2) in mind. It’s definitely a little expensive, but for what you are getting, it’s easy to find the value. The Epix Pro will last you for years to come, so it’s a great investment to make.
