Garmin Enduro™ 3 – Solar Sapphire GPS Smartwatch

In the pursuit of coolness and extreme battery life, Garmin seems to have forgotten the watch’s primary purpose: to be an information device. All built-in watch faces, menus, and text information are on a black background without a way to change it. My old Fenix 6X had most of those are on a white background, which is easier for the eye to read. Ironically, with the new Garmin watch, I find myself turning on the watch’s light more often at home to compensate for the difference, which in turn reduces the battery life faster.

Last year, I returned Epix 2 because I couldn’t set the watch face with a white background, and at night, without glasses, I could not see the time.

Somehow, Garmin lost it. Why do I need a dazzling watch with excellent battery life when I cannot read it?

I’m considering returning the Enduro 3 watch even though I love everything else about it.

I haven’t charged this watch yet in 15 days and I have more than 100,000 steps in it is a masterpiece with a very long battery life. I have 3 Garmin watches vivoactive 1 and vivoactive 4, solar power is the way to go the vivoactive 4 has 7 to 9 days of life before it needs to charge enduro has 36 days and solar charging too!!

Extremely happy with my Enduro 3 and have zero regrets coming from a January 2022 Fenix 7x Sapphire Solar. I had some reservations switching from Fenix to Enduro but was mostly focused on battery life, solar, and cost. Could not justify the price increase for a speaker and microphone I would never use. Read through this entire review as this is based on real world everyday experience. This includes two new features not highlighted in any professional review so far.

Favorite new feature of Enduro 3: Charging speed and this is something no professional review has covered so far. The reason why I was so interested in longer battery life is because my Fenix 7x Sapphire Solar took very long to charge from 20% or so to 100%. That was regardless of a 5-watt or 20-watt charger with USB-A to USB-C adapter. After wearing it for a few, charged the Enduro 3 from 74% to 100% in approximately 20 minutes using the native USB-C cable with a 20-watt charger. If you are on the fence between Enduro 3 and Fenix 8 Solar just for battery life, charging speed negates that. It does not appear solely based on the cable but the actual subsystem similar to how some EVs can charge at 150kW and others at 250kW.

Second favorite new feature not professionally covered: Buddy charging! With the switch to USB-C, I can now charge my Enduro 3 using my iPhone 15 Pro on iOS 18. Charging this way is very fast taking it from 51 to 53% in less than three minutes.

Pros:

Screen: With the change of the solar mechanism, the MIP is extremely clear. I never realized how unclear the Fenix 7x Sapphire Solar was until the Enduro 3.

Solar: It is much more sensitive than the Fenix 7x Sapphire Solar and actually works. Left it out in the sun for a total of 151k lux and it went from 50 to 51% over three hours but showing the same 12 days. It never overheated even though the casing became warm to the touch. It actually faintly charges indoors and even during dinner at a restaurant under overhead heating elements.

Shortcomings: Would not consider these cons. Just areas of improvement or clarification.

Battery: Believe it or not, the Enduro 3 does disappoint with battery. What is not published is if pulse ox is turned on to continuous, the battery is reduced to 25 days. This is not a deal breaker for me but was hoping for more. The Enduro 3 is more efficient and has a larger battery so the 27% increase aka 6 day added from the Fenix 7x Sapphire Solar is still an improvement.

Band: Not a fan of the mesh band and swapped it to my Garmin silicon band. It weighs more but I prefer consistency to the point of using the same strap hole with five holes showing.

Watch faces: This is an area of improvement for the latest generation Enduro 3 and Fenix 8. All I wanted is an exact copy of my old stripped-down watch face. The closest I have gotten is what is pictured with the Enduro 3 on the right and the Fenix 7x Sapphire Solar on the left. What is currently configured is doable but would prefer to get rid of the lines. Not sure why there is a green accent color on the outside either and would have preferred a complete black case to wear with suits.

New interface: It took me longer to get setup to the way I had my prior Fenix. Especially turning off all the nagging smartwatch alerts. The new interface is ok but not sure what was wrong with the old one.

Observations: Garmin must have read my Fenix 7x Sapphire Solar review because the Enduro 3 buttons are very crisp.

Asks of Garmin: It would be great if there was something similar to iOS that shows what is consuming the most battery of the watch including during activities. Charge history with charging time and solar energy recapture. Battery health would also be a welcome addition. Could even imagine Garmin doing a Garmin Badge with points for capturing x amount of solar in a month during activities.

Coming from a fenix 7x pro sapphire solar, this watch beats it in EVERY metric. Loving it so far. Buttons are super heavy press which I love! Very strong yet light weight watch!