There’s a unhappy fact each open air individual should face, which is that finally, you need to transfer on out of your #vanlife and get an actual job. Even sponsored athletes get creaky or tear a rotator cuff finally. It’s a must to pay to your youngsters’ ski classes in some way.
Are you, like me, equally satisfied that you’re simply as excessive as you ever had been, and likewise in a position to afford a $1,000 sports activities watch? Then, my buddy, Garmin’s newest Epix Pro (Gen 2) is for you. It’s one of the best multi-sport look ahead to an individual who has a number of completely different out of doors hobbies and a little bit of disposable earnings. This 12 months, it has higher battery life and a wider measurement vary to accommodate smaller wrists. In contrast to the similarly-priced new Fenix 7 Pro ($900), it nonetheless has a stupendous OLED display you need to use to view many maps.
These maps—Garmin’s attractive, detailed, and easy-to-use proprietary offline maps!—and the higher battery life are the 2 explanation why I’d nonetheless suggest a Garmin over the Apple Watch Ultra (particularly if you happen to don’t have an iPhone). I discovered final 12 months’s Epix to be a little bit bit annoying, however this 12 months’s mannequin is one in all my favourite sports activities watches I’ve examined.
Variations on a Theme
Like most of Garmin’s sports activities watches, the Epix Professional is available in a number of iterations—a 42-mm, 47-mm, and 51-mm case measurement, plus the usual and sapphire lens crystal version. I attempted the Epix Professional Sapphire within the 47-mm case measurement with the silicone band, which inserts my 150-mm wrist. I did get the white band surprisingly soiled, which I by no means seen on the black watches.
The bezel is titanium, which I used to be shocked to notice as a result of I did bang it up whereas mountain climbing and there are seen scratches. The sapphire crystal, nonetheless, has held up and remains to be unmarked—one thing to remember if one in all your hobbies can be scraping your palms in and round rock cracks stuffed with spiders. You too can flip off the touchscreen within the settings. I’ve a Fenix 7 Professional available right here and may report that the Epix’s AMOLED display is noticeably brighter and simpler to see, each inside and outside.
Garmin claims the battery life can final 16 days in smartwatch mode; with a number of tracked actions per day, like strolling, operating, climbing, and ebiking, I extra generally get round 14 days. That’s completely positive! In contrast to the newest Vivomove Trend, nonetheless, you continue to have to make use of Garmin’s proprietary plug-in charger. It additionally does not have a photo voltaic charging version, just like the Fenix.
{Photograph}: Garmin
As at all times, the quantity and breadth of Garmin’s options is intensive, and a little overwhelming. The most recent ones on the Epix embrace a one-button LED flashlight on the high of the case. You may choose the depth and whether or not you need it to be white or crimson. Its positioning makes it a way more handy and succesful little gentle than those on different screened watches. I like not having to twist my arm round or scramble for my telephone or headlight whereas rummaging round a darkish tent.
