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The Fenix 5X claims 20 hours of battery life, and I tested it under optimal conditions and managed to get 23 hours. That's tough to achieve in the real world, as you have to avoid using the map display, backlight, or changing the display too often. With the map display in constant use, I was still able to achieve the rated 20 hours, which is pretty good. This makes the Fenix 5X a great candidate for shorter races (50 miles/100k). But if you hope to be still moving during the [[Second Dawn]], then there are probably better options. You can charge the Fenix 5X on the run, but the position of the charging cable means you can't wear the watch while you're doing so (unlike the [[Garmin Fenix 3]].) See [[Best Running Watch#Watches for Ultrarunning| Watches for Ultrarunning]] for more details.
=Physical Characteristics=
The Fenix 5X is a big watch, and it's larger than I'm comfortable with as a 24 hour/day activity tracker. However, on the run it fells okay even on my diminutive wrists. The watch straps rotate where they connect to the watch body, unlike the Polar V800 where they extend from the watch body and therefore don't conform as well. The materials are excellent quality, and while it doesn't have the simplistic elegance of the [[Suunto Spartan Ultra]] it's still very nice. The exposed bolt heads make the Fenix 5 look rugged and sporty, though it's a bit fussy visually. The only thing that feels a little cheap and tacky is the watch strap itself on the cheapest version. It's nothing like the silky smooth and soft watch material that Suunto use. The display is reasonable, but when you compare it to the [[Suunto Spartan Ultra]] it seems a little small and low resolution. Given that the Fenix 5X is larger than the Fenix 5, I would've expected a larger display, but that's not the case. I suspect that the Fenix 5X is larger to allow for more memory for the maps, or perhaps more battery, though this is purely speculation.{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"|- valign="top"|[[File:Fenix 5X Tiny Wrists.jpg|none|thumb|x300px|The Fenix 5X is rather large on my small wrists. ]]|[[File:F3-F5X-Epix.jpg|none|thumb|x300px|Left to right, [[Garmin Fenix 3]], Fenix 5X, [[Garmin Epix]], all having some of the best [[Stryd]] support.]]|- valign="top"|[[File:V800-F5X-SSU-920XT-Above.jpg|none|thumb|x300px|Left to right, [[Garmin 920XT]], [[Suunto Spartan Ultra]], Fenix 5X, [[Polar V800]], seen from above.]]|[[File:V800-F5X-SSU-920XT.jpg|none|thumb|x300px| Left to right, [[Polar V800]], Fenix 5X, [[Suunto Spartan Ultra]], [[Garmin 920XT]], all rather large watches.]]|- valign="top"|[[File:Fenix 5X F3 SSU Dark.jpg|none|thumb|x300px| Left to right, [[Suunto Spartan Ultra]], [[Garmin Fenix 3]], Fenix 5X.]]|[[File:Fenix 5X F3 SSU Side.jpg|none|thumb|x300px| Left to right, Fenix 5X, [[Garmin Fenix 3]], [[Suunto Spartan Ultra]].]]|}=User Interface=The Fenix 5X has the same user interface as many other higher end Garmin running watches. There is no touchscreen, but there are five real buttons that make the user interface fairly intuitive. Most navigation is done using the enter, up, down, and back buttons, with the common metaphor of moving in space between screens. The chart below is my representation of the Fenix 5X menu system. This only shows a tiny part of the overall menus, but hopefully it's enough to give you a sense of the way things fit together. In addition to the general up/down/left/right movement, there are various times when you need to do a long press a button to reach a menu. [[File:Fenix 5X Menus.png|center|thumb|500px|A sample of the Fenix 5X menu system (click for a larger version.)]]I generally find this a clean and easy to use interface, though I know some folks prefer the [[Garmin 310XT| 310XT]]/[[Garmin 910XT| 910XT]]/[[Garmin 920XT| 920XT]] style of interface that have buttons on the front surface rather than the sides.[[:File:Fenix 5X and 920XT Buttons.jpg|center|thumb|300px|]]Generally, I much prefer having real buttons to a touchscreen, as they are far easier to use with running. The only exception is when using a map display, where the ability to use multi-touch gestures such as pinching to zoom make things a whole lot easier. {| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"|- valign="top"|[[File:Fenix 5X Map UI (1).jpg|none|thumb|200px|This is the map display.]]|[[File:Fenix 5X Map UI (2).jpg|none|thumb|200px|A long press on the up button brings up this menu.]]|[[File:Fenix 5X Map UI (3).jpg|none|thumb|200px|The pan/zoom first uses the up/down to zoom.]]|- valign="top"|[[File:Fenix 5X Map UI (4).jpg|none|thumb|200px|Hit enter and you move to the pan up/down.]]|[[File:Fenix 5X Map UI (5).jpg|none|thumb|200px|Enter again to pan left right. ]]|[[File:Fenix 5X Map UI (6).jpg|none|thumb|200px|Enter again moves back to zoom, or back goes to the map display.]]|}One nice thing with the Fenix 5X (and a number of other Garmin watches) is that it will display some useful tips when you first start using it.[[File:Fenix 5X Tips.jpg|center|thumb|300px]]one pet peeve I have with the Fenix 5X user interface is the inconsistent use of visual clues. If you look at the image below, there is a small arrow at the bottom indicating you can go down for more data, but this is not applied consistently. Likewise, there is not a consistent hint to indicate there is more data if you hit enter.[[File:Fenix 5X Menu Hints.jpg|center|thumb|300px]]=Charging and Syncing the Fenix 5X=You can either sync the Fenix 5X using a USB cable to a computer, over Bluetooth to the smart phone app, or over WiFi. You have to use the USB cable for firmware upgrades and obviously, you have to use the cable for charging. The Fenix 5X connector is nicely designed, and is arguably how the USB connector should have been designed in the first place. Like Thunderbolt and USB-C, the Fenix 5X connector can be plugged in in either direction, so you don't waste your time repeatedly trying to work out which way round it goes. It's also very positive and stays in place nicely. The biggest downside, is that the position of the connector means you can't wear the watch while it's charging, unlike the [[Garmin Fenix 3]]. {| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"|- valign="top"|[[File:Fenix 5X Charging.jpg|none|thumb|300px|]]|[[File:Fenix 5X Connector.jpg|none|thumb|300px|]]|}=Configuration=Most of the configuration of the Fenix 5X is done directly in the watch, but there are aspects that have to be done via either the website, the smart phone app, or the PC (Garmin Express.) The main thing that you can't do on the watch itself is configure Connect IQ apps, watch faces, and data fields. The configuration on the watch is fairly intuitive, but the sheer number of configuration options can be a little bewildering, and if you have to do a factory reset, you have to apply all configuration changes again from scratch. While that's a bit of a pain, it's rarely a problem in practice, and more than made up for bite the ability to configure the data shown during a workout without needing an Internet connection. Even better, you can configure the data shown during the workout actually during the workout itself. I find that surprisingly useful; just today it turned a little warm, and I was able to reconfigure my display to show the current temperature. One minor annoyance is that you can't add the Run app twice so that you can have two different configurations. For instance, I might want to have my watch configured with pace alerts and specific set of data screens for my long runs, but no alerts and different data for a short second run of the day. My work around is to use another app like "trail run" for the different configuration.
=GPS Accuracy=
I've tested the [[GPS Accuracy]] of the Fenix 5X with its initial release firmware, and it's possible that its accuracy will improve as the firmware matures. (I tested using the 4.20 version of the GPS firmware, which is included in the 2.40 version of the overall firmware, and I'm in the process of testing the 4.) So far30 GPS firmware. Based on my testing, the Fenix 5X certainly has 20 plenty of room for improvement. At best, the GPS accuracy could be described as mediocre, and I think it's bad enough that it could significantly mess up your training. If you look at the middle, curved section, you can see that the Fenix 5X is doing particularly badly here. This is a challenging section, and reveals any weakness in a GPS watch. The right most segment with the right-angle turn is a section of the most watches do reasonably well on, but the Fenix 5X is struggling here as well. The tracks don't look too bad, you can see that the Fenix 5X is not able to calculate the distance correctly. The Fenix 5X doesn't get too badly confused going under the bridge, actually looks a little better in that area than the two Suunto watches shown for comparison. The blue lap markers are rather widely spread, again giving more evidence of poor GPS accuracy. It's possible that other versions of the Fenix 5 might have different GPS accuracy. It's possible that the plastic 935 might do a little better, but without testing it's impossible to know. (I buy all my test gear through retail channels. This allows me to be brutally honest in my reviews, as I don't need to keep the manufacturer happy in order to continue getting free samples or early access. The downside is that I'm more limited in the array of watches I can test. Therefore, it's unlikely that I will test other versions of the Fenix 5 at this point.)
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As with all the watches I test, I first left the Fenix 5X in its "ready to go" mode with a clear view of the sky for over 30 minutes. This is to ensure that the chipset has ample time to download the almanac from the satellites, which should only take about 12 minutes. I also give the Fenix 5X at least five minutes after it has got a satellite lock before starting my run. This is to give it the best possible chance of having good accuracy. (Like most modern GPS watches, the Fenix 5X will download information on the satellite orbits when it's synced, but this predicted information is not as good as the live for data transmitted by the satellites themselves.)[[File:Fenix 5X Soaking.jpg|center|thumb|300px|Soaking the Fenix 5X.]]The tests are with GLONAS off as I've consistently found in prior testing that GLONAS reduces accuracy. I also use smart recording rather than 1-second (this only changes recording frequency, not the frequency of GPS polling.) Remember that to the overall firmware version number doesn't influence GPS accuracy. You have to look at the GPS firmware number.[[File:Fenix 5X Firmware.jpg|center|thumb|300px|Here's where the version number of the GPS firmware is located.]]
=Optical Heart Rate Monitoring=
I've not found any Optical Heart Rate Monitoring (OHRM) implementation that's good enough to be useful, and the Fenix 5X is no exception. I believe that you're better off having no heart rate data than bad heart rate data. While a chest strap based heart rate monitor can have accuracy issues, these are generally dramatic and obvious, whereas OHRM can be quite misleading. (The issues with a chest strap heart rate monitor are also usually fairly easy to remediate, either with some electrode gel or a new battery.) The accuracy of [[Optical Heart Rate Monitoring]] (OHRM) will depend on a number of factors:
|[[File:OHRM-Fenix 5X-Overnight-Distribution.png|none|thumb|300px|]]
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The Fenix 5X uses three green LEDs surrounding the light sensor, and there's no light shield as there was on the [[Garmin 225]], an approach that seems to have been abandoned.
[[File:Fenix 5X OHRM Lights.jpg|center|thumb|300px|]]
Using an optical HRM in cold weather is awkward. You need to have the watch in contact with your skin, so you can't wear it over the top of your and clothing. On the other hand, if you wear it under your warm clothing you can't see the display. My solution is to use an arm warmer with a hole cut out so that I can see the display. This works fairly well, and has the added advantage of blocking some of the light that can interfere with the optical sensor.
[[File:Fenix 5X Cold OHRM.jpg|center|thumb|300px|]]
=Comparison Table=
{{:Best Running Watch-table}}