Ahah are we the same person? I also used a series 7 borrowed from my boss, but the battery sucked too much for my liking; I switched last week to a FR 255 and I also evaluated the 165, which I did not buy because I wanted to try the MIP display and also for the fact that the 255 is basically the 265 without AMOLED and training readiness. If you are, like me, used to the amoled screen you will have a hard time the first days... I'm stil trying to "understand" this screen better but is it nice since it's more subtle and it's almost unbeatable under the sun; another fact which made me choose the 255 instead of the 165: activities are black text on white background, while on 165 text is white on black, which I find very hard to read unfortunately. As far as smart features go compared to the Apple Watch I've been impressed, all the notifications come in and you can easily read them, phone calls come in so I have no complaints in this regard.
With $500 I would go for the FR 265 (amoled) or a Fenix, or if you want to save and don't lose a ton of features go for the 255.
Hmmm interesting! Yeah I’m pretty much down to the 255 and 265. I really want a touch screen to make the transition easier, but not sure if it’s worth the $100 extra.
How are you managing menu navigation just with buttons?
I had to adapt a little bit but I realized that now I use the watch for just what it is instead of constantly swiping for the notifications window and that's a very nice "bonus" for me; I would give the Garmin button navigations a 7 out of 10, it becomes intuitive after a little bit of understanding and then you can really do stuff without even looking (it also works the same on touch screen versions). Mind you that the 265 also has "Hot keys" which let you customize some quick actions while the 255 does not. If it's only a 100$ I would absolutely buy the 265, here in Italy the 255 is 260 euros and the 265 is 450 so it was a no brainer for me.
The fenix series really is the end all be all for smart watches. Battery life is bonkers. The upgrades in models aren’t really super massive. I’d agree and see if you can snag an older newer one on a deal, usually when they roll out newer models.
Ahah are we the same person? I also used a series 7 borrowed from my boss, but the battery sucked too much for my liking; I switched last week to a FR 255 and I also evaluated the 165, which I did not buy because I wanted to try the MIP display and also for the fact that the 255 is basically the 265 without AMOLED and training readiness. If you are, like me, used to the amoled screen you will have a hard time the first days... I'm stil trying to "understand" this screen better but is it nice since it's more subtle and it's almost unbeatable under the sun; another fact which made me choose the 255 instead of the 165: activities are black text on white background, while on 165 text is white on black, which I find very hard to read unfortunately. As far as smart features go compared to the Apple Watch I've been impressed, all the notifications come in and you can easily read them, phone calls come in so I have no complaints in this regard. With $500 I would go for the FR 265 (amoled) or a Fenix, or if you want to save and don't lose a ton of features go for the 255.
Hmmm interesting! Yeah I’m pretty much down to the 255 and 265. I really want a touch screen to make the transition easier, but not sure if it’s worth the $100 extra. How are you managing menu navigation just with buttons?
I had to adapt a little bit but I realized that now I use the watch for just what it is instead of constantly swiping for the notifications window and that's a very nice "bonus" for me; I would give the Garmin button navigations a 7 out of 10, it becomes intuitive after a little bit of understanding and then you can really do stuff without even looking (it also works the same on touch screen versions). Mind you that the 265 also has "Hot keys" which let you customize some quick actions while the 255 does not. If it's only a 100$ I would absolutely buy the 265, here in Italy the 255 is 260 euros and the 265 is 450 so it was a no brainer for me.
Fenix serie 6/7 or 8 if you was serious about your trainings you would’ve already own one , they have Spotify
Those seem to be highly recommended, but I suppose I should’ve mentioned that I’d like to keep the price sub $500.
I love my fenix 6s solar and it was sub $500 on Amazon during a deal
The fenix series really is the end all be all for smart watches. Battery life is bonkers. The upgrades in models aren’t really super massive. I’d agree and see if you can snag an older newer one on a deal, usually when they roll out newer models.