It was a year ago that Garmin launched the Fenix 5 range, and for the first time included a smaller watch in its ranks, the Fenix 5S. For 2018, Garmin is giving that trio of sports watches a refresh, with the Garmin Fenix 5S Plus still providing an option for people who find the 5S Plus and 5X Plus too hulking. Because let's be honest, they are. The Fenix 5S PLUS will function PERFECTLY WELL as a 24×7 watch. It’s smart enough to wear to work; yet one aesthetic downside is the screen resolution. The resolution is not great and the colours are a bit dull. If you are going to be sitting next to people wearing Apple Watches and WearOS watches then their screens WILL, for sure, look superior to yours. Your Fenix watch WILL PROBABLY BE MORE COMPETENT under the hood…it just won’t look so good. So will you really wear it 24×7 because of that? If you won’t and if you just want a sports watch for your sports then you could consider an entirely different route with a ‘fancy’ watch AND a separate sports watch. Finally, there are some specific aspects of outdoors activities that are supported via Garmin’s CIQ apps and these are: Area calculation; hunt/fish calendar; and sun/moon info. CIQ apps will also give you MUCH more than that. Golfing Features Most external chest straps provide HRV data. This is needed for Firstbeat LACTATE measurement and other clever stuff. You can even store HRV data in the FIT file and then do some very, very clever & complex things afterwards. Not many of you will want to…

You can also create custom workouts in the Garmin Connect app and sync them to the watch, or create simple interval workouts from the Fenix 5 Plus itself. I use Garmin’s workouts feature a couple of times a week with whichever of its watches I’m testing and I’ve yet to find another app from another sports watch brand that makes it as easy as Garmin Connect does. Fixed an issue where the device could intermittently stop recording distance during a swim activity.

Race an activity – ie a previous effort by you or a friend. This brings in the knowledge that the previous effort may have been slower up hills ie a varied pace is followed.

Fixed an issue where Strength activity summary information was displaying dashes on the Last Sport widget. So, let’s face it that means the vast majority of those of you who are reading this will have to manually/selectively copy files to the Fenix 5S Plus using Garmin Express. #OhDear I will add the details, as I understand them, further below. However the basic thrust is that they are the same devices with PAY, MUSIC and GALILEO added on. ie Features that were available on other Garmin devices have finally found their way to the top-end device. In 2017, Garmin released the best multisport watch on the market, the Fenix 5, which replaces the popular Fenix 3. And no, there is no Fenix 4, apparently because it sounds like something less than ideal in Chinese… In the summer of 2018, the update, the Fenix 5 Plus, followed, which at first hand looks a lot like the Fenix 5. But there are some differences, and they are the ones we want to take a closer look at in the following. Fixed an issue where Total Ascent and Descent could be intermittently too low for certain activities.The Fenix 5S and the Fenix 5S Plus watches are physically the smallest and are best suited for narrow wrists. The diameter of the watches: 42 mm. UltraTrac mode (mentioned above) – records stuff less frequently. This is different to SMART recording which records only changed data ie maintaining full data quality (in theory) Fixed an issue where one couldn't edit Wifi networks, if the device had not paired and synced with a Garmin connect account. So what you would normally do is get the passcode entered while you are queuing and then get the following ‘ready to pay’ screen. You have about 60 seconds to use it and that’s normally enough. Plenty of time with Pret a Manger’s speedy service (no I don’t get a free sandwich for mentioning them 😉 )

Rather uniquely Garmin now allows you to follow complex structured SWIM workouts. That’s a relatively recent addition – 2016 IIRC. Old image, same pool. You can do a lactate threshold test on your Garmin Fenix 5 which can help you work out your fitness levels and how hard you can push in your training or race. You'll need to pair an ANT+ or Bluetooth HR strap and also have a VO2 Max score logged, which essentially means you should have run before. Start a run and then press the up/menu and choose My Stats > Lactate Threshold. You'll then be guided through a test to get your lactate threshold score. Point-to-point navigation – does what it says. The Around Me mode enables navigation to nearby, pre-loaded POIs and waypoints. Garmin XERO can use laser sighting to create waypoints as-you-go. Garmin’s ELEVATE sensor *IS* one of the better ones. Valencell/Suunto and Polar are also as good and debatably even slightly better in some circumstances. (Edit: Polar Vantage new oHR sensor looks AWESOME and may well be the best….we shall see)

GNSS capability encompassing GPS, GLONASS and GALILEO satellite constellations. More satellites increase the chance of accuracy being obtained but using more than the one GNSS system will increase battery usage. GPS can be used to determine your 2D position and your elevation with 3D positioning. The addition of maps is moving the Fenix forwards in broadly 2 ways: a more complete routing experience; and openness to smarter, location-based CIQ apps. A More Complete Routing Experience

The Garmin Fenix 5S PLUS is a PROPER sports watch, it’s even one of the very few PROPER triathlon watches. If you are an ‘International’ Age Grouptriathlete then I would recommend it to you. If you RUN with MUSIC, I would recommend it to you over the Forerunner 645 MUSIC or VIVOACTIVE 3 MUSIC. Indeed it’s probably even better than Garmin’s ‘best’ running watch ie better than the Forerunner 645 Music. Why You Would NOT Buy The Fenix 5S Plus Once it’s done copying, you should now see that file sitting in the Garmin folder. The names will be similar, but it’s the one ending in ‘Supp’ (like ‘supplementary’):The Fenix 5X and the Fenix 5X Plus watches are the largest and are best suited for large wrists. The diameter of the watches: 51 mm. This is the same size as the Fenix 3, by the way. I see the picture, my point was far more subtle perhaps: Don’t complain about things without offering solutions. GPS is the American satellite system, GLONASS is the Russian satellite system, and GALILEO is the European satellite system. The whole Fenix 5 Plus collection now has access to the GALILEO satellites. By activating the GALILEO satellite system, you will now experience much more accurate navigation and measurements. These components give the Fenix 5S Plus its base level of ability upon which the software leverages the functionality you see and use. I’ve softened the wording of the techiness to explain what the various bits do in plain English.