(Updated June 2025)
Few objects telegraph “prepared for anything” like a Leica Q3, a Range Rover SV, and now, Garmin’s fēnix 8. All three exceed 90 per cent of their owners’ needs yet still feel entirely rational to buy. Strap on the fēnix and it hints you might charter a floatplane and summit Stromboli before espresso, even if your weekend ends with brunch at Chiltern Firehouse.
At £1,039 the watch is about as subtle as a sledgehammer in a salad bar. A Cornwall getaway would cost the same, but Cornwall won’t read your lactate threshold or guide you out of a whiteout using military-grade GPS. The fēnix 8 will and it won’t flinch.
So, the Garmin fēnix 8, for me, is a beast not content with counting steps but demanding you conquer a mountain before breakfast.
It glows like a champagne-lit runway, titanium shoulders buffed to a muted gleam and, inevitably, a price tag that begins at £949 and climbs, like an Alpine ascent, past the thousand-pound mark.
There are smartwatches. There are adventure watches. And then there’s the Garmin fēnix 8, what I call a wrist-mounted slab of arrogance that seems genuinely convinced you’re about to solo Kilimanjaro before your morning espresso.
It’s about as subtle as a sledgehammer in a salad bar. As expensive as a long weekend in Cornwall. But Cornwall won’t tell you your lactate threshold or guide you out of a whiteout using military-grade GPS. The fēnix 8 will. And it won’t even flinch.
Design & materials
Case: Fibre-reinforced polymer with bead-blasted titanium bezel (51 mm tested)
Crystal: Sapphire (Gorilla Glass on entry model)
Buttons: Leak-proof pushers rated to 40 m — Patek-grade feel, dive-computer spec
Dial: 1.4-in AMOLED; maps glow like Dom Pérignon under gallery lights
Despite the scale, tapered lugs let it slide beneath a Loro Piana cuff. A dual-LED torch hides in the case flank: white for dim trailheads, red for midnight cellar raids.
Looks like a watch, works like an armoured vehicle
The AMOLED version favours brightness over solar trickery; the screen is vivid enough to signal a passing aircraft. Inductive buttons function in monsoon conditions, while a red strobe can sync to running cadence, turning a canal-path jog into a Special Forces night op.
Garmin’s aviation-grade GPS heritage shows: brilliant, absurd, occasionally unforgiving. (The stock silicone strap left a rash; a nylon swap solved it, though you’d expect better at this price.)
There are inductive buttons (posh speak for “works in a monsoon”), and a built-in torch you’ll mock, until your dog bolts into a hedgerow outside Waitrose at 11pm. Garmin, best known for its aviation-grade GPS and marine navigation tools, brings that same overkill ethos to the wrist. It’s brilliant. It’s absurd.
Battery Life: Basically immortal
Charging isn’t part of the routine. It’s more of a quarterly event.
Smartwatch mode: Up to 48 days with solar
All-systems GPS: 82 hours
Expedition mode: 139 days
Unless you’re walking across Australia, uphill, backwards, without sunscreen, this thing will outlast your interest in fitness.
The screenshots don’t just track data, they flag my blind spots. Monday June 2nd is a good example: two bike commutes (roughly 20 km in total), a short lunchtime walk, and a solid stretch of sleep pushed my Body Battery up by +68.
Rather than triggering the anxiety some critics warn about, those macros give me a nudge in the right direction. I can see, in black and white, when late-night work starts shaving hours off recovery, so I’m now blocking cycling in the diary, protecting seven hours of sleep, and treating exercise as a standing appointment, not a “nice-to-have.” It’s a simple loop: better choices in, better numbers out, and a day that feels measurably more balanced.
User experience
Expect rigour, not elegance. Setup still involves three Garmin apps and a menu system worthy of a pilot licence, but the reward is frighteningly granular data and more sport profiles than the Olympic Games. Soon you’ll track anaerobic load while climbing Westfield’s escalators to Pret.
Features: More than any human actually needs
This isn’t a smartwatch. It’s a digital survivalist fantasy.
- Offline voice commands (“Start run,” “Resume hike”) work without your phone
- Make and take calls on your wrist (when paired)
- NextFork navigation tells you exactly when to turn on a trail
- Preloaded TopoActive maps, ski resorts, and golf courses
- ECG, Pulse Ox, respiration, HRV, stress, sleep tracking, and something called Body Battery, which assigns you an energy score—perfect for confirming how tired you already feel
- Emergency messaging via Garmin’s Messenger app—if the other person has it too. They won’t. But it’s comforting to pretend.
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If you’re used to Apple Watch? Prepare for whiplash. The fēnix 8 doesn’t do elegant. It does thorough.
There are three Garmin apps, a multi-level menu system, and a setup experience that feels like applying for a firearms licence in a foreign country. But once you’ve survived the admin? You’re rewarded with terrifyingly granular data and more sport profiles than the Olympic Games.
Before long, you’ll be tracking anaerobic load while climbing Westfield's stairs to Pret.
Who Is this for?
This is for:
- Endurance athletes
- CrossFit dads with topographic tattoos
- The type of person who says "I don’t believe in rest days" and means it
Not for:
- People who “just want to know the time”
- Anyone who says “I’m not really into data”
- Casual walkers with low tolerance for firmware updates
The Garmin fēnix 8 isn’t a lifestyle device. It’s a technological dare. It doesn’t fit in. It doesn’t care if you like it. It just works, ruthlessly, silently, and without asking permission.
Is it absurd? Yes. Is it overbuilt? Definitely. Do I love it? Yes, although not as much as a weekend away in Cornwall's June sunshine.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to outpace a storm in the Highlands. On foot.
Verdict
The Garmin fēnix 8 (51 mm, AMOLED) offers expedition-grade resilience with day-to-day utility. For dedicated multi-sport users—or anyone who values long battery life and data fidelity—it is the strongest all-round GPS watch currently available, albeit at a premium price. Occasional exercisers will find cheaper, lighter options elsewhere, but professionals and committed amateurs should consider this the benchmark.
Rating: 4.5 / 5
