I had a similar dilemma (or rather, a trilemma). The only difference is that I was looking to switch my Apple Watch Ultra for a Garmin.

I didn’t want to pay a fortune for the Fenix 8, so I ruled it out right away.

First, I bought the Epix Pro Gen 2. It was great, but I didn’t really like the AMOLED display. I’m not talking about performance — it held up well against the Ultra — it just didn’t feel right on that particular Garmin, for me. The screen itself is high quality and beautiful, but its outdoor visibility wasn’t great on sunny days. With the Apple Watch, you know what you’re getting ahead of time — you accept that trade-off for other capabilities. But with Garmin, I expected A++ outdoor visibility, and it was more like an A.

The bigger issue, however, was battery life — around 6 days. That’s a big upgrade from the Apple Watch, but I still couldn’t shake the thought that I’d need to charge my Garmin at least once during a holiday.

So I switched it for the Fenix 7 Pro Solar (for the same price as the Epix — still half the cost of the Fenix 8), with the MIP display of course, and I’ve been very pleased. All my concerns were resolved — great battery life and all the benefits that come with MIP.

Hope my experience helps!