Garmin Epix (Gen 2) Review: A premium multi-functional sports watch with comprehensive tracking, excellent display

The Garmin Epix (Gen 2) smartwatch, which made its way to India in February this year, is not your ordinary fitness watch. It is a complete high-end sports watch. Garmin is a fairly popular brand with professional athletes.

The Garmin Epix (Gen 2) starts at Rs 89,990 in India, pricier than the Apple Watch. Unlike the regular fitness-tracking smartwatch, this high-end sports watch is meant for professional athletes, fitness junkies and adventure seekers.

Design and Build

The design may not be the primary USP of the Garmin Epix (Gen 2) smartwatch but the company has done an excellent job giving the watch an eye-catching design.

The Epix (Gen 2) is available in Slate Steel and Sapphire–Black Titanium finishes. The Titanium model, which your writer reviewed, features a sapphire crystal lens and a titanium bezel, making it highly resistant to scratches. It also comes with a standard black silicone strap that matches the finish. The body is made of fibre-reinforced polymer with titanium covering the front and back.

The Epix (Gen 2) has a diameter of 47mm, is 14.5mm thick and weighs 76 grams. I felt the watch was quite bulky but not heavy and I am not sure how it will look on a  slender wrist.

The silicone strap is easily interchangeable with other Garmin silicone, leather, and steel straps as well as Garmin’s smaller QuickFit bands. However, the proprietary mechanism to change the straps is only compatible with Garmin straps, which can be quite expensive.

While the Garmin Epix (Gen 2) smartwatch does look good, it is built for durability. The watch has a 10ATM water rating, making it resistant to water, up to 100 meters.

The Epix (Gen 2) also comes with military-grade resistance against shock and temperature. The Epix (Gen 2) features three buttons on the left and two buttons on the right, each of which has a small bump on either side to prevent accidental presses. However, it is no surprise that the Garmin Epix 2 sports watch is built for durability. The surprising new addition is a new OLED display.

Display

The Epix 2 sports a large 1.3-inch AMOLED touchscreen with a 454 x 454 pixels resolution. The OLED panel on the watch is proficient in both indoor and outdoor scenarios. It supports an "always-on" display function and was easily visible under direct sunlight.

One would think the move to switch to OLED would have been a poor choice considering the watch is primarily meant for outdoor use but that isn’t the case. The touchscreen is extremely smooth and easy to use, even with gloves on while cycling.

The watch picks up touches quite accurately and just looks better than the traditional Garmin MIP displays. The screen was colour rich and had much higher contrast ratios, making it a delight to use. The OLED panel coupled with the "always-on" feature does take a toll on the battery, but the feature can be turned off. Even the slightest movement illuminates the display, which will also take a toll on battery life. That being said, the move to switch to OLED was definitely the right one.

Health and Fitness Tracking

The Garmin Epix (Gen 2) is a high-end sport watch with a ton of fitness, activity and health tracking features.

Let’s start with the health features—VO2 Max, menstrual, pregnancy, and hydration tracking. The watch also comes with Garmin's "Sleep Score" monitoring technology to help improve your daily sleep patterns.

You also get the traditional 24x7 heart rate, respiration, and blood oxygen monitoring. There’s also a Health Snapshot feature that shows overall energy levels across metrics including heart rate, heart rate variability, Pulse Ox, respiration and stress.

Add to it, Garmin's highly acclaimed Body Battery system that tracks energy levels throughout the day and shows you how well you’ve recharged over the night. It also provides guidance that is tailored to your training and fitness level.

The watch also provides workout suggestions that are particularly helpful and allow you to properly manage your workout sessions. Since this is a sport watch, the Epix 2 has detailed activity tracking more than any smartwatch I’ve used.

There are a bunch of pre-loaded activities including trail running, swimming, running, biking, hiking, rowing, skiing, golfing, surfing, indoor climbing and more.

You can also head into the app to create manual activities with a ton of options to choose from. I’ve never seen a watch with such in-depth activities. One of my primary activities while using the watch was cycling, in which case the watch provided a detailed report of my rides, even more so than the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic (Review).

The Sapphire edition of the Garmin Epix 2 is one of the few watches to support multi-band GNSS on top of the multiple global navigation satellite systems including Galileo satellite systems, GSP, and GLONASS. Garmin has said that the multi-band GNSS system will improve over time and while we didn’t get a chance to test it during hikes, in theory, is aimed at providing the most accurate location information.

The Garmin Epix 2 also features various training sessions for athletes to enhance their workout, including PacePro for runners, Courses for cyclists, Workouts, Training Plans, and more. The Epix Watch 2 offers accurate GPS tracking and provides in-depth insights into your step counts.

One major absentee here is an electrocardiogram or ECG app, which is available on both the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch. While the Garmin Epix (Gen 2) does lack a few features, it is more than just your average smartwatch, it is a comprehensive fitness solution for adventure junkies and professional athletes alike.

Companion App

Garmin Connect is the most comprehensive companion health and fitness app I’ve used. The app gives you access to all your health and fitness data, allowing you to keep track of all your activities daily. The app shows you detailed information about your health and activities, presented in a manner that is easy to consume.

You can also use the app to manually create specific activities, download new training routines, access coaching sessions, plan your routes, and much more. The app can also be used to track calories, hydration, your menstrual cycle, and more using Garmin Index smart scale.

The app can also be used to download watch faces or customise watch faces using photos from your Gallery. You can also add gear like shoes and cycles to the app to track their lifespan during a particular activity.

The app also has safety and social features, the former can be used to track your location and the latter allows users to connect with friends and share their fitness data with them.

Garmin Connect can also be used to control notifications, download and store music (via the internal 16GB or 32GB of storage), download apps, and much more.

While the Garmin Epix (Gen 2) doesn’t have a massive library of apps like the App Store and Play Store on Apple and Android smartwatches, it does have a ton of essential apps that can be accessed through the Connect IQ Store. These include various maps, workouts, and weather apps.

There’s also access to popular music apps like Spotify and Amazon Music. While the Garmin Epix (Gen 2) smartwatch doesn’t have an in-built microphone, Android users can select multiple pre-set responses to respond to calls and messages directly through the watch. There are aspects of the app that can be confusing and there’s a fairly large learning curve before mastering all aspects of the app but

Battery Life

Speaking of power consumption, it might be comforting to learn that the watch has a large battery that Garmin claims can deliver up to 16 days of usage on a single charge. Considering the number of features on the Epix 2 sports watch, the 16-day figure was quite impressive.

Garmin also claims that the watch can last for up to six days with the "always-on" display turned on. I waited 12 days before charging the watch and it is safe to say that the ‘six-day’ figure is fairly accurate.

However, it is worth noting that Garmin says ‘up to’ as the watch does tend to drain the battery faster during workouts. Three hours of cycling drained the watch’s battery by 10 percent, even so, battery life is still pretty impressive.

You can head over to the Garmin Epix 2 specification page to see the breakdown of battery usage. Apart from battery life, Garmin’s Epix Gen 2 sports watch also tends to charge pretty quickly. However, there’s no doubt that the Epix 2 has excellent battery life, far more than the Apple Watch or Galaxy Watch.

Verdict

The Garmin Epix (Gen 2) is more than just a smartwatch, it is a high-end sports watch for competitive athletes, fitness enthusiasts and adventure seekers. The watch offers some of the most comprehensive and accurate activity and health tracking we’ve seen. And then there’s the vibrant display, excellent battery life, durable construction, and eye-catching design.

Thanks to the intuitive app, the Epix Gen 2 offers most of the utility of a smartwatch, while also doubling as a professional fitness companion.

I found that the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic did have a few more features in general but the Epix Gen 2 is a comprehensive training solution and is far more proficient at tracking activities and navigation with a far superior battery life.

So should you buy the Garmin Epix (Gen 2) fitness watch? That solely depends on your daily routine. There’s no doubt that the Epix 2 carries a hefty price tag and is not for everyone. But if you are looking for a professional fitness solution and you take athleticism seriously, the Garmin Epix (Gen 2) is worth considering. The levels of tracking on this watch were more detailed and accurate than any other smartwatch, fitness band, or fitness watch I’ve ever used.