I purchased this Garmin fenix 5 Plus Sapphire watch on March 6th and have been wearing every day since. Over the years I have worn fitness watches from Polar, Timex Ironman, and the Whoop fitness band (which I thought was fantastic, but I couldn't stand the $30 monthly access fee). I have to say this this thing is the absolute BEST as it so functional for me. You can prioritize your sports and fitness activities so that you don't have to fumble with all of the settings to get to the ones you want.

For the past two years i have been using a Garmin eTrex on my mountain bike with an ANT+ connection to an chest strap HR monitor and bluetooth to Garmin Connect & Strava integration. Being able to ditch the chest strap with the Fenix has been a total delight. There seems to be a bit of delay in my HR during workouts, but the Fenix catches up within a few seconds and its recording everything with decent accuracy. I have been running both the Fenix and eTrex simultaneously on MTB rides to evaluate the GPS accuracy, integration with Garmin Connect, and it's really good with no perceptible difference between the two.

I feel like i have put this watch through its paces and it is so impressive on so many levels. Battery life is great particularly when you compare it to an Apple Watch (meh). I think I have been charging the Fenix once every 9 or 10 days and use the GPS for 4-6 hours a week during MTB rides and rowing. the other thing the Fenix does really well is integrate with Garmin Reach, so if you are interested in connecting your personal EPIRB to the Fenix, no problem. Get messages while you are out in your kayak, snowshoeing in the backcountry, or hiking at night. The Sapphire crystal face is holding up great with no scratches or issues.

This thing is great and you won't be disappointed. Lastly, all of this COVID-19 quarantining has me spending way too much time in my home office and the "Get up and Move" reminders, steps, stair flights, etc. really let's you know when it's time to get off your fat a** and move around:) I'm such a fan and looking forward to see how this Garmin holds up over the long term.

I used to like this thing. I've had it for 9 months. The device itself is great, but the Garmin software"”both Garmin Express for desktop and Garmin Connect for iOS"”are horrible.

1. GE just can't find the device anymore. Period. Hardwired, Bluetooth, doesn't matter. It is now May 3, and I just learned that it hasn't been uploading anything since March 10, about 8:04 pm. (No, I don't look at it every day or every week. I use the device to track weeks at a time, and long term trends.) I just went to plug it in to update and, pfffft. Nothing for the last 7 weeks, and it can't even find my device today.

2. Updates. No. I do not need to update the Scandinavian, Hungarian, Laotian, Thai and Finnish language capabilities. Nor do I need to update the maps for the South Pacific Islands, Andorra, the Australian Outback or the topo maps of Mt. Fuji. Yet these are the things it wants to update on those rare occasions when the device is recognized by the software. Today, when it didn't recognize the device, Garmin Express did seem to recall the last date it had updated software, and wanted to spend 4 hours updating maps of places I've never been to, and languages I don't speak. Fortunately I was "saved" from that by the fact that GE couldn't find the device it wanted to update. Phew. Thank heavens for dubious favors.

These people need a good class action to wake them up.

UPDATE: 10/8/19. The most recent firmware release seems to have solved a lot of the connection issues. Garmin Connect on my iPhone now finds the device pretty fast, and updates promptly. It is also significantly more reliable when I connect directly to Garmin Express on the desktop with the cable. One strange thing though, is that when connecting to the iPhone, it frequently wants me to input the 6-digit code that the watch generates in order to pair with my phone. I haven't sorted out why that is yet, but maybe it needs to do that after the phone powers up.

I added a star, but won't give it 5 until it communicates with more fitness apps and devices that are not presently supported. I have a Withings scale, for example, and the only way Garmin gets that data is through a multi app syncing process that adds layers of complexity to what could be a simple sync. I think it goes from Withings to Apple Health to Garmin through a back door that I can no longer find. Same with the Peloton Bike app, but that may be a Peloton problem as I see that the Peloton apps don't play well with most other apps.

I've had the Instinct for about a year, and I love it, but I wanted something with a little more tech so I opted for the Fenix. I originally ordered the 5 plus, and thought it was too big so I exchanged it for the 5s. The S was too small, so I swapped them once again and decided that the 5 plus was a fine size. I'm military, so a slightly larger watch is okay. Between the instinct and the Fenix, the Fenix is a far more accurate heart rate, step, and sleep tracker. It's much more customizable, and the heft of it at least gives me the impression it can take a bit more of a beating. I still use my instinct for fitness purely because of how light it is, but I bet after wearing the Fenix for a while one might get used to the weight. I would recommend it to anyone who's looking for a tougher daily wear watch, or is generally active in their free time.

UPDATE #2:
Garmin support has really stepped up to the plate so I'm changing my overall rating of the watch. They've helped me resolve the connectivity and the gesture issues (resetting to default and start over with connecting watch). I'm back to really liking the watch!

UPDATE:
The "gesture" still doesn't work properly, and now that I've been able to wear the watch more often I've noticed that the connection to my iPhone (via their app) is frequently disconnected (even though I'm not "that" far away from the bluetooth connection), but more importantly, it doesn't reconnect automatically when I get back in "range". So, for example... I leave my watch on my desk, I go get a coffee and return to my desk. My watch doesn't reconnect unless I manually complete the reconnection. Where this sort of "matters" is that I like to get my email/text notifications on my watch... which can't happen unless I'm connected.

I emailed Garmin support on October 17. No response so I sent another email 2 weeks later. I just received my first email response now, and their only suggestion was to update my software (without even asking what software version I was running). I told them that the watch has been updated regularly since I took it out of the box (and that I've set it to update automatically). So... add "terrible support" to the list of issues I'm having with this rather expensive watch.

[Here's my first review]
First, I think this is a very nice watch. It seems loaded with features, looks great, and seems to be solidly built.

Be forewarned though... the "gesture" feature (getting the dark watch face to illuminate when you move your arm upwards so that you can see the watch face) is VERY poor... finicky... unpredictable. Apparently it's not "just me", as there's a lot of talk online about "gesture" not working right. I've emailed Garmin support (twice) and never received a response.

The fact that I can't get "gesture" to work properly definitely affected the number of stars I can give it in my personal review.

I have owned Garmin devices for a long time. I purchased one of the early model running watches that had a screen that looked like a small TV. It was one of the first models out but it had GPS and it was a great training tool but not a watch you would want to wear as a watch. I later purchased the Garmin 610 with touch screen. I thought this was the best running watch every. It could do everything. Still not a watch I would wear as a watch and battery life was not that great but wow the things it could do for training. I then bought the Garmin Fenix 3. I hit the jackpot a watch with everything and one I could wear all the time. The features on it were fantastic. This was it Garmin could not improve on this watch. Then came the Garmin Fenix 5 plus. It had the wrist heart rate so no more chest strap. It also incorporated music you could download to the watch and then pair with Bluetooth headphones. All the features of the Fenix 3 plus more. I keep saying I don't how Garmin can top the other watches I have had from them but they just keep doing it. If you are looking for a multi-sport watch that looks good to wear for all occasions don't hesitate this is a great watch.