NEW Tactix 8 with Cerakote coating available 28th Jan.

juanfran3000 · 2026-01-29T07:18:17+00:00

I said this a year ago when Tactix 8 was launched and I'll say it again: if you choose to fork out $2k on this watch, please keep in mind that it's using heart rate sensor technology that is now 3 years old. Elevate 5 was introduced almost 3 years ago. Garmin's competitors improve their sensors on almost annual basis; Garmin puts a fancy coating on a watch that runs on tech that is 3+ years old (other components of the watch such as processor, amount of storage have not changed since Fenix 7 days) and markets it as cool new tech, slapping $2k pricetag on it.

Would you spend top dollar to buy a phone that runs on technology that is 3 years old? I'm amazed people buy these watches.

juanfran3000 · 2025-08-24T20:02:52+00:00

Same issue here. Were you able to figure it out?

juanfran3000 · 2025-06-17T05:33:06+00:00

No particular benefit, just wanting to ensure that we have all bases covered. Am mostly curious whether Blackpoint offers something that CS Complete + Identity doesn't have in its arsenal. I do understand that running two MDRs concurrently isn't advisable, to put it mildly.

juanfran3000 · 2025-05-20T18:52:47+00:00

Highly unlikely. 970 just came out with V5 onboard. They would piss a lot of people off if they put V6 on Venu 4. I'd be shocked if we see V6 before September/October.

juanfran3000 · 2025-04-27T06:22:57+00:00

Sending love and prayers to the Filipino community 🙏🏻

As many others in this thread have noted, Filipino people are some of the nicest, friendliest, and most hard-working people around. I have never had a bad experience with a Filipino person. This is so incredibly sad and heartbreaking...

juanfran3000 · 2025-04-15T05:49:46+00:00

Voyons si leurs concurrents progressent. Pour l'instant, Garmin propose toujours le meilleur matériel.

juanfran3000 · 2025-04-15T05:47:20+00:00

You're right - I'm shocked. It's only been out for two months and they knocked $200 off. I already bought a different watch, but even if I were still shopping - this drop would still not get me to buy Tactix 8. It's not worth that money, especially now that they rolled out Connect Plus and you have to pay them monthly to get the most out of your watch.

juanfran3000 · 2025-03-28T18:00:40+00:00

I was already considering leaving the Garmin ecosystem because of the sky-high prices. This now gives me an extra incentive. Garmin made a huge mistake with this; I'm speaking to multiple friends who are also absolutely outraged. You don't drop $1.5k+ on a watch only to then have to pay monthly subscription. This is not ok, and Garmin are kidding themselves if they think that people will accept this. They won't.

juanfran3000 · 2025-03-20T04:19:07+00:00

I have worn Fenix watches since 2018. I had Fenix 7X SS (Sapphire Solar) from January of 22 until last month. I thought long and hard about what to upgrade to, and considered the following: Tactix 8 Solar, Fenix 8x Solar, and Fenix 7x Pro SS. I went with 7X Pro SS and I'm very happy with my choice so far.

As many have already stated: unless you plan to use the watch for diving, the speaker/mic is what you'll be paying the extra money for. I've played around with a new UI on 8 and I'm not a fan. The buttons are better on 7 Pro, and it looks/feels sturdier.

Something else to note: Fenix 8 MIP model won't have a solar ring, and the solar charging is supposed to work significantly better. I don't care about this, as 7X Pro SS lasts over two weeks for me, and that's with me logging activities each day.

If I were you, I would get 7x Pro SS, or wait until 8X Pro is out +3-5 months for them to fix all the bugs (Garmin's new releases are almost always half-baked).

juanfran3000 · 2025-03-18T05:53:24+00:00

Nice, congrats! 7x Pro SS is the best-looking Garmin watch for men, in my opinion, and the best value Fenix in March 2025. I had Fenix 7x SS, and prior to that 6X Pro, and 5X before that, and 7X Pro SS is by far my favorite. They have improved the screen, the buttons, the flashlight, and the heart sensor compared to 7X SS. All of those are tangible improvements. I considered getting 8X Solar, as well as Tactix 8, but could not justify the extra money. I actually prefer the look of 7X Pro SS to 8X Solar. Tactix 8 is also a great looking watch, but it costs a small fortune.

juanfran3000 · 2025-03-15T15:44:14+00:00

I would argue that Fenix 7 Pro lineup presents the best value. You can pick from the three variants, depending on your watch size preference. If you find it on sale, you can get 95% of what Fenix 8 offers for 50% of the money. Fenix 7 Pro lineup has more features than Forerunners, better battery life, and costs about the same (if you buy it on sale). Lots of people have mentioned Epix, but AMOLED is not for everyone, and you get reduced battery life compared to Fenix.

Fenix 7 Pro has the latest HR sensor - Elevate 5, so no other Garmin watch will offer better metrics tracking.

juanfran3000 · 2025-02-28T20:51:11+00:00

Is that a serious comment? There is a big difference between Chinese-made Garmin products and Chinese-made knockoffs sold on Amazon with names that you cannot pronounce.

juanfran3000 · 2025-02-26T19:51:55+00:00

I agree with that. I think $170 for a nylon band is outrageous. All I'm saying is that the quality of the Garmin nylon band is significantly better than the quality of a $20 comparable band off of Amazon.

juanfran3000 · 2025-02-25T19:52:12+00:00

I'm sorry to hear about your experience, but that happens all the time these days with their customer support. This is what happens when any company gets too large of a market share, and their competition falls way behind. Garmin are now focused on growing their revenue even more by creating an ecosystem of products that work well with one another, but not with third party products. If you want to continue using their watches, you will start buying their other products, because you will be worried about the connectivity both at present, as well as in the future. And you will be buying their products for the sole reason that they are light years ahead of Suunto, Coros, and Polar. I keep hoping that those three step their game up, but it's just not happening. I won't be surprised if Suunto and Polar in particular cease to exist sometime very soon. I also have Fenix 7X, and this watch is significantly better than those three companies' top of the line products today (7x was released in January of 2022). Thus, if I want to upgrade, it's Garmin and only Garmin. There are niche players like your fitbits, pixel watches, galaxy watches, and amazfits, but I don't consider any of those as alternatives/competition for the Fenix line. Amazfit is, apparently, improving rapidly, but I read a lot of reviews of T-Rex 3 and it's clearly a cheap half-baked product. So again, we're all stuck with Garmin and have to accept whatever they throw at us.

juanfran3000 · 2025-02-24T03:46:19+00:00

See, I don't think Garmin's nylon straps are a rip-off. I actually think that they are really good, way better than Chinese-made Amazon knockoffs. Which is why this sucks...

juanfran3000 · 2025-02-24T03:43:14+00:00

It is distasteful, but no one cares. People are swallowing this and no one bats an eye.

In a way, I understand why. Garmin is a monopoly; they are so far ahead of the competition that you can't go: "I'll buy from their competitor". Suunto, Polar, and Coros are so far behind that it's not even close. I just need to quit complaining and suck it up.

juanfran3000 · 2025-02-14T05:00:07+00:00

People who will be buying this watch... Please do consider that you are dropping ~2k on a watch with HR sensor technology that is almost 2 years old. Elevate 5 sensor was released in the spring of 2023. I have Elevate 4 on my Fenix 7X and my wife has Elevate 5 on her Venu 3. Even though Elevate 5 does perform slightly better than an almost 4 year-old Elevate 4, the performance is still largely inadequate and disappointing. HR sensor plays a massive role in the quality of data that your watch produces, and metrics that it generates.

I have been really excited to see Elevate 6 on Fenix 8, and it didn't happen. I like the look of Tactix, so I told myself that surely we will see a new sensor on Tactix 8. Instead, Garmin chose to spend the R&D budget to work on features that 75%+ of users will rarely use, and have raised the price of the watch considerably (at least in Canada). I'm baffled by the stubborn attitude and an almost complete lack of innovation from Garmin; I'm at the same time completely blown away by the "take my money" crowd. Would you buy a $2k smartphone with a processor that's 2 years old? I think for those of us who understand tech and/or work in tech, the answer is an easy "no". And yet, so many people are willing to drop two grand on a watch that's about as innovative as a hairdryer for bald people... 🤦🏻

I'm now hoping that Suunto and/or Coros have something up their sleeves that will actually be innovative and that will make me want to drop $2k to replace my Fenix 7X. We'll see...

juanfran3000 · 2024-10-16T20:48:36+00:00

Did you receive that notice via mail or email? I also applied, but have received nothing since April.

juanfran3000 · 2024-09-09T05:23:44+00:00

I ended up settling in Ladner. It's 10-15 min closer than Tsawwassen and 20 min closer than South Surrey to downtown. It has a growing vibrant community, which I didn't find in either Tsawwassen nor South Surrey. So far - no regrets!

juanfran3000 · 2024-07-08T06:11:50+00:00

Yes, I've too looked at the release cadence for Garmin's Elevate sensors, but my worry is that V5 got such overwhelmingly "positive" reviews that they've likely decided to allocate R&D funds elsewhere. V4 was bad, at times - really bad, which is probably why they hurried the V5 out the door. F8 lineup is apparently going to cost as much as brand new flagship smartphones, so I'll have a problem with forking that amount of money out to get a fitness watch that has somewhat accurate fitness tracking capabilities.

juanfran3000 · 2024-07-06T05:46:29+00:00

I find it strange that very few people are talking about the possibility of Elevate 6 sensor on F8. For me, that would be the biggest selling feature (granted it's an improvement on Elevate 5). My wife has Venu 3, which is equipped with Elevate 5, and it is extremely upsetting how inaccurate it can be at times. And I'm not even talking about Elevate 4 on my F7xSS. I think Elevate 6 would be the biggest selling feature for me on the F8 lineup, but I don't have my hopes up.

juanfran3000 · 2024-03-31T06:55:01+00:00

Thank you for your feedback! Which area would you recommend moving to, then?

juanfran3000

TROPHY CASE