Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Review - Uncovering Features, Performance, and More

Bandletic Verdict

The Garmin Fenix 7 Pro is a high-performance, multifunctional smartwatch designed for outdoor sports and extreme activities, with outstanding battery life. Equipped with precise GPS navigation, solar charging, and comprehensive health monitoring, it provides excellent exercise data analysis and training support. While its price may be high, it is undoubtedly a valuable investment for professionals who require a tool that can be used around the clock for extended periods.

Pros:

• Multifunctional Sports Watch: Supports various sports modes including running, hiking, and cycling, providing precise data and health monitoring.
• Excellent Battery Life: Solar charging and long-lasting battery life make it perfect for prolonged outdoor activities.
• Precise GPS Positioning: Supports multiple satellite systems for stable, accurate navigation, especially in complex terrains.
• Advanced Health Monitoring: Includes heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring, ideal for high-intensity workouts and high-altitude environments.

Cons:

• Expensive: As a high-end sports watch, the Fenix 7 Pro's price may be steep, especially for users on a budget.
• Large Size: The watch is quite large, which may not suit users with smaller wrists, making it feel bulky when worn.

With the rise of extreme sports and outdoor adventures, the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro has become the go-to choice for many outdoor enthusiasts. As one of the top 10 best sports watch companies in the world, Garmin challenges the dominance of the Apple Watch in the smartwatch arena with innovative technology and exceptional design. The Fenix 7 Pro continues the classic design, offering upgrades in GPS, heart rate monitoring, weather forecasting, and more, making it perfect for extreme sports lovers. You can also check Garmin vs Apple watch and Fitbit vs. Apple Watch.

Garmin is widely used in activities like running, hiking, and swimming. This article primarily discusses the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro, including its specifications, features, smartwatch capabilities, and battery life, designed for outdoor exploration and extended sports use, providing exceptional performance and experience.

Garmin Fenix 7 Pro - A Quick Review in One Minute

The Garmin Fenix 7 Pro is a high-performance smartwatch designed for extreme sports and outdoor activities. With its durable design, advanced features, and exceptional battery life, it has become an ideal choice for outdoor enthusiasts and professional athletes. Equipped with solar charging, up to 73 hours of GPS battery life, multi-band, multi-satellite positioning, and precise heart rate and health monitoring, it supports various sports modes.

Compared to the Fenix 7, the Fenix 7 Pro offers improvements in GPS accuracy, health data analysis, and battery life, especially the Sapphire Solar edition, which features a titanium alloy case and sapphire glass, ideal for all-weather, high-intensity use. Overall, the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro combines professional performance and practicality, making it an excellent choice for users seeking a high-quality outdoor experience.

Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Review - Specification

Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Review - Price and Models

Released on May 31, 2023, the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro series includes three models: Fenix 7S Pro (42mm), Fenix 7 Pro (47mm), and Fenix 7X Pro (51mm). The main differences between these models lie in screen size and battery life, but all support solar charging. Unlike the Fenix 7 series, the Fenix 7 Pro series does not include a standard version; each watch comes with either solar charging or titanium solar glass options.

The price starts at $799 / £749 and can reach up to $999 / £929 for the titanium sapphire solar glass version. Below is the price list for the different models:

Each watch has nearly identical features, with the primary differences being size and battery life. The Fenix 7X Pro (51mm) offers longer battery life, ideal for extended outdoor activities or explorers. The Fenix 7 Pro (47mm) suits most users, while the Fenix 7S Pro (42mm) is more suitable for users with smaller wrists, providing a more comfortable fit.

Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Review - Design and Display

• New Generation MIP Reflective Display
• Added LED flashlight
• Solar charging capability
• Diverse band options (Bandletic)
• Sapphire lens with lightweight design

The Fenix 7 Pro series performs excellently in design and display, especially for outdoor and extreme sports use. It features a new-generation MIP reflective display that offers higher contrast and reflectivity, making it clear even in direct sunlight while preserving battery life. Compared to the Epix Pro's AMOLED screen, the MIP screen performs excellently in both indoor and outdoor visibility and touch response. While it may not be as vibrant as AMOLED, it offers better battery-saving advantages. Additionally, the Fenix 7 Pro supports solar charging with an edge solar panel for extended battery life.

In terms of appearance, the Fenix 7 Pro has a titanium alloy bezel, fiber-reinforced polymer case, and sapphire lens, providing a balance of sturdiness and lightness. The watch weighs only 79 grams, is waterproof up to 100 meters, and is perfect for swimming and water sports. The 22mm QuickFit band design makes it easy to swap straps, adapting to different sports needs.

Bandletic is a third-party brand that specializes in providing outdoor sports bands including Garmin Fenix Watch bands. They offer a variety of colors, materials, and styles, including Apple Watch bands, Garmin Watch bands, Fitbit, and Samsung Watch straps, giving sports enthusiasts more personalized options.

All models come with an LED flashlight with multiple white and red light settings, suitable for outdoor emergencies or signaling. The overall design maintains a rugged appearance while integrating modern functionality, particularly suitable for extreme sports and adventure activities.

Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Review - Features

• Added endurance and mountain scoring
• Over 100 sport modes
• Multi-satellite positioning system (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo)
• Precise optical heart rate sensor
• New weather overlay feature on maps

The Garmin Fenix 7 Pro series offers over 100 sport modes, covering running, cycling, swimming, hiking, skiing, and 12 other categories, catering to diverse sports needs. The new endurance score and climbing score features help users assess endurance and climbing training performance, especially suitable for long-duration training and high-intensity sports. Furthermore, the Fenix 7 Pro supports GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and other satellite systems to ensure accurate positioning and navigation in complex environments such as cities, forests, and mountains.

In terms of health monitoring, the Fenix 7 Pro includes a precise optical heart rate sensor to monitor heart rate changes in real-time, assisting users in adjusting training intensity. The blood oxygen monitoring feature is especially useful for high-altitude activities, helping prevent altitude sickness. Additionally, the stress monitoring and Body Battery functions allow real-time evaluation of energy levels, preventing overtraining and helping users balance exercise and rest.

The Fenix 7 Pro also features an advanced LED flashlight supporting multiple modes, including continuous white and red light, emergency flashing, and more, ensuring safety in low-light or nighttime conditions. Moreover, the Fenix 7 Pro’s map features have been enhanced, with pre-installed terrain maps, road, and trail maps, allowing users to directly view weather and map information on the watch, improving the navigation experience. With these professional sports and health monitoring features, the Fenix 7 Pro becomes an all-around outdoor sports watch, ideal for extreme sports, long-term training, and use in complex environments.

Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Review - Smartwatch Capabilities

The Garmin Fenix 7 Pro enhances its smartwatch capabilities, supporting pairing with phones to receive emails, messages, and notifications, significantly reducing the need for users to take out their phones. However, compared to the Apple Watch Ultra, the Fenix 7 Pro remains more focused on being a sports watch. It lacks a voice assistant and cannot make calls or reply to messages directly from the watch. Nevertheless, it offers great convenience for runners, with built-in music functionality supporting local playback and third-party music apps like QQ Music for song downloads, allowing users to enjoy music with just the watch and headphones, without needing their phone.

Additionally, the Fenix 7 Pro supports NFC functionality, allowing users to add transportation cards in Garmin Connect, making it convenient to take buses or subways with a simple wrist gesture. For domestic users, the dual-code payment function supporting WeChat and Alipay is particularly useful, enabling easy payments during running or daily use, further enhancing the smartwatch’s convenience.

Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Review - Battery Life

The Garmin Fenix 7 Pro excels in battery life. According to the latest tests, the watch lasts about 26 hours in multi-frequency, multi-constellation mode with continuous wear, up to 73 hours in GPS mode, and can last up to 22 days in smart mode for daily use — about three weeks on a single charge. Additionally, the Fenix 7 Pro comes with solar charging functionality, providing extra power through a solar panel at the edge of the watch face. Especially in sunny conditions, users can charge the watch while exercising, further extending its use time.

Under real testing conditions, the Fenix 7 Pro’s battery consumption is about 4%-4.5% per hour. With multi-frequency, multi-constellation positioning, the default power mode, and moderate auto backlight brightness, the watch can last between 22.2 and 25 hours. Official claims state that with solar charging, the battery life can reach 23 hours, extending up to 26 hours in good sunlight conditions. By increasing the solar panel surface area by 54% and reducing power consumption, the Fenix 7 Pro provides longer-lasting battery support for extended outdoor activities.

Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Review - Recommendation

Recommended for:

• Outdoor Sports Enthusiasts: The Fenix 7 Pro is perfect for users who enjoy extreme sports like mountaineering, trail running, and cycling. It offers accurate GPS tracking, various sport modes, and strong support for outdoor activities, meeting the needs of all kinds of outdoor adventurers.
• Users Needing Health Monitoring: For users engaging in high-altitude sports or those focused on health data, the Fenix 7 Pro provides comprehensive health monitoring features that accurately track physiological data during exercise.
• Users for Long Outdoor Activities or Travel: The Fenix 7 Pro’s long battery life and solar charging function make it particularly suitable for long-term wear, especially during long trips or outdoor activities, where frequent charging isn’t needed and it supports all-day use.

Not recommended for:

• Users with a Limited Budget: The Fenix 7 Pro is relatively expensive, so if the primary use is for daily activities or non-high-intensity sports, it might not be the best choice. Budget-conscious users could opt for other models offering better cost-performance ratios.
• Users with Smaller Wrists: The Fenix 7 Pro has a larger watch case, which might be uncomfortable for users with smaller wrists. People with smaller wrists may find this watch too bulky.
• Users Who Already Own a High-End Garmin Watch: If you already own a high-end Garmin watch from the Fenix or Forerunner series, the new features in the Fenix 7 Pro (like the flashlight and heart rate sensor) may not be as attractive since these features are also present in other models.
• Users Preferring a Lightweight Design: While the Fenix 7 Pro is lighter than some other outdoor watches, it is still not suitable for those seeking a slim, lightweight wear experience. If you prefer a more compact sports watch, the Fenix 7 Pro might not be the best fit.

Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Review - Conclusion

The Garmin Fenix 7 Pro is an outstanding outdoor sports watch, excelling in outdoor performance, powerful battery life, precise navigation, and a wide range of sports modes, making it a top contender in the high-end sports watch category. It integrates sports, health monitoring, and smart features, especially suited for users who engage in extreme sports and outdoor adventures. Although it has a higher price tag and a larger watch size, which may not suit some casual users or those with smaller wrists, for sports enthusiasts seeking the best outdoor experience, the Fenix 7 Pro is undoubtedly a worthwhile investment.

Whether it’s for precise GPS tracking, extended battery life, or solar charging capabilities, the Fenix 7 Pro showcases its powerful practicality. If you frequently engage in outdoor sports or are looking for a multifunctional smartwatch, it can meet your needs excellently. Overall, the Fenix 7 Pro is one of the most powerful and comprehensive outdoor sports watches on the market, a great option for users with high demands in sports and health monitoring.