Garmin Enduro 3 Review | Trusted Reviews

Verdict

The Garmin Enduro 3 is a great sports watch that offers fantastic battery life and is a cheaper alternative to the Fenix 8. If you want the same core tracking for the price of an Apple Watch Ultra 2, it’s one to grab.

Introduction

The Garmin Enduro 3 is the watch built for endurance athletes. If you’re planning to go out for days at a time, this is the watch that prioritises battery life above all else.

That’s achieved partly by the inclusion of Garmin’s solar charging lens technology that’s changed from the previous Garmin Enduro 2 and seeks to be more efficient at harvesting that solar goodness.

Battery gains aside, what you’re getting is a Garmin Fenix 8 with fewer smartwatch features to give you that core experience for less money. It’ll still cost you a big stash of cash that could get you an Apple Watch Ultra 2 or something similar like the Suunto Vertical.

So is the Enduro 3 actually the watch you want for your more extreme pursuits? Here’s my take.

Design and screen

• Same 51mm size option as Enduro 2
• Waterproof up to 100 metres 
• New Power Sapphire lens design

Unlike Garmin’s Fenix range, the Enduro comes in just one size and an all-black colour look. Garmin sticks to a 51mm case that’s made from polymer with a titanium bezel and a very comfortable, snug fitting nylon strap with a velcro clasp. 

The case is just a touch thicker than the Enduro 2, but it’s not the kind of difference that’s really going to alter how it feels and looks to wear. There’s actually been a small drop in weight (63g from 70g) and while there’s no denying that it’s a big watch, it’s one that I’ve found comfortable to wear. People are just going to notice it on your wrist.

Garmin sticks to a five physical button array and a 1.4-inch, 280 x 280 transflective touchscreen display that may lack the vibrancy of Garmin’s AMOLED watches but is still very slick to interact with, and is a very good size to spread your real-time metrics or maps across.

That screen houses a new version of Garmin’s Power Sapphire lens, which still harnesses power from the sun to boost battery life, but is more elegantly applied and doesn’t dominate the look of the Enduro as much as previous ones. The red-ish tint is now gone and because the lens sits more on the outer portion of the display, it results in an overall clearer display and just a nicer screen to look at.

Nothing has changed on the charging setup and it’s the same story for the level of waterproofing you’ll enjoy too. It’s a 10ATM ceiling, which means it can go for a dip in up to 100 metres depth.

Software and smartwatch features

• Runs on latest Garmin software platform 
• Same smartwatch features as the Enduro 2
• Lacks mic and speaker from the Fenix 8

While the lack of an AMOLED display might not immediately sell the Enduro 3 as a smartwatch, it certainly has the abilities to function as a very competent one. It will display your notifications and let you make use of the onboard 32GB storage to store music and apps from the Connect IQ Store. You can do things like check weather forecasts in rich detail and use it to make contactless payments via Garmin Pay.

As far as adding more to that experience over the Enduro 2, there isn’t really anything of note that’s been implemented. It doesn’t get the new voice-enabled features available on the Fenix 8, such as the ability to make calls over Bluetooth, access watch features with your voice or record and geotag voice notes.

What you do get from the latest Fenix is Garmin’s new watch software platform, which sees the company rejig where certain apps, shortcuts and modes live. The main aim is to bring apps and workout tracking all inside of one screen. It’s also adjusting how you’ll get to training or workout settings before you start tracking. I’m not convinced by all of the changes and while it makes sense to bring things closer together, it’s taken some time getting used to the new system.

Fitness tracking 

• New heart rate sensor
• New strength training plans
• Enhanced mapping support 

The Enduro is about giving you all the features you need at your disposal to track outdoor adventures and races while giving you Fenix-like features, plus a huge battery life. The big changes from the Enduro 2 lie in the added mapping modes, bolstering heart rate accuracy by including Garmin’s latest in-house Elevate optical sensor and putting a greater emphasis on strength training.

It offers the same running, cycling, swimming and outdoor core tracking modes, with Garmin’s latest multiband GNSS mode offering solid GPS accuracy even when near tall buildings and deeply forested areas. In addition to that, Garmin is adding a new position enhancement mode where the watch does some additional processing of data for activities like open water swims to boost the accuracy of GPS tracking.

Arguably the best mapping and navigation support has become richer with the ability to quickly change the view of maps, being able to temporarily unlock the touchscreen to zoom and scroll through maps, and getting the new dynamic round-trip routing that automatically adjusts routes when you need to veer off your primary one.

The addition of Garmin’s latest optical sensor gives this big watch slightly improved heart rate accuracy performance during workouts like runs, rides and general training, but falters at high intensity so you’d be better pairing it up with an external heart rate sensor like the Garmin HRM-Pro Plus.

One of the most useful new additions is the introduction of strength training plans you can set up in the Garmin Connect app. These plans are designed to benefit endurance athletes like trail runners to be able to follow workouts that will benefit their favoured sports.

Garmin certainly doesn’t shortchange you with insights and training features either. Metrics like Endurance and Hill scores give you glanceable widgets to see if you’re strengthening your endurance and your ability to tackle elevation. I found race predictions to be accurate and Garmin’s training readiness offers a useful insight into how well recovered and prepared your body is to tackle a tough workout. 

The Enduro 3 delivers all that good Fenix stuff on the tracking, mapping and training front, and offers plenty of variety to make sure that this isn’t just a watch that ultrarunners and endurance athletes can make the most of.

Battery life 

• Up to 36 days in smartwatch mode
• Up to 90 days in smartwatch mode with solar
• Unlimited GPS battery life with solar

If you want a sports watch that can go the distance then the Enduro 3 is one that promises to do that. There are promised improvements from the Enduro 2, mainly when you’re putting the more efficient power sapphire lens to good use.

In smartwatch mode, battery life is now 36 days compared to 34 days on the Enduro 2. Add solar into the mix and wear the watch for three hours a day, exposed to 50,000 lux conditions, and that jumps from 46 days on yesteryear’s tech to 90 days on the Enduro 3. In certain GPS modes, optimal solar conditions can lead to unlimited battery life according to Garmin.

In my time testing, using features like the best GPS accuracy mode, receiving notifications, tracking metrics like heart rate and sleep and using other smartwatch features, I’ve managed to get the Enduro 3 to last for around 3 weeks. Even when tracking in the top GPS mode, battery drop off has been 1-2%. What’s been most noticeable is when I’ve taken the Enduro 3 away and been exposed to much higher lux conditions than a less sunny England, where the battery tops up even when you spend just an hour in optimal conditions.

Bottom line, the Enduro 3 remains a battery powerhouse and its solar skills feel more noticeable when you’re in the right conditions to put it to good use.

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