Garmin Fēnix 8 AMOLED Review

The Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED. All photos: iRunFar/Craig Randall

The Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED ($1,000 to $1,200 depending on features, $1,100 as tested in 51-millimeter stainless steel version) is much more than a simple GPS running watch; it is in a similar class as challengers like the Coros Vertix 2S and Suunto Vertical. These are watches with typically 30 or more different sport and activity options, made of rugged titanium or sapphire materials with a big emphasis on mapping and navigation. Yet the only watch in this category to date to offer an AMOLED option is the Garmin fēnix 8.

The year 2024 was the year of AMOLED for the major brands and legacy watch series in the GPS running and outdoor categories. All of the major players — Coros, Suunto, and Garmin — unveiled new watches boasting the beautiful and high-definition AMOLED displays, formerly reserved for the popular Garmin Epix.

In the Garmin fēnix 8, Garmin has added an AMOLED version to one of its most popular and powerful devices. Have a look back to our Garmin fēnix 7 review to compare this new edition with the prior in the fēnix line.

AMOLED requires a lot of battery power compared to its Memory in Pixel (MIP) counterparts, so while the trend in GPS running watches is to offer longer and longer life — mostly with MIP displays — Garmin, and to a lesser extent Coros and Suunto, with the Coros Pace Pro and Suunto Race and Suunto Race S, are finding ways to offer best in class mapping, optical heart rate and oxygen sensors, and high performance GPS recording without sacrificing much battery longevity while still delivering the AMOLED display enhancements.

What I’ve long appreciated about the Garmin fēnix series though is its ability to replace my phone. It syncs to streaming service Spotify, comes fully loaded with labeled maps, and has the best, most intuitive user interface of any watch I’ve tested.

The Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED stays competitive with the Coros Vertix 2S and Suunto Vertical in battery life, but it comes at a rather large cost increase. The Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED is about $300 more than its category competitors, with roughly the same battery life, but a better display and singularly offered features.

Read on to find out if the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED is worth the extra cost when you’re considering a purchase of a very well-rounded outdoor sports watch that can be used for ultrarunning. We also recommend you check out our best GPS running watch guide, where we rated this watch among the other top watches.

Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED Display

The Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED in use.

The Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED screen is extra bright, and paired with an anti-glare coating, it’s easier to read, even when the sun is directly overhead. This is crucial when you’re out in the mountains or deep in a canyon and don’t want to be fiddling with your watch to see the data. That brightness level is adaptive too, so it adjusts depending on your environment, whether you’re in the shade or directly beneath the sun.

The screen is sharp, clear, and readable in almost any condition. The higher resolution makes text and icons pop, so you’re not left squinting at small details when you need them most. One of the challenges with any watch in bright sunlight is glare and this has been a particular knock against AMOLED displays historically.

For high output sport watches for ultrarunners, AMOLED displays used to be a tricky proposition. Sure, it looks beautiful and makes your old watch look like a relic, but it comes at a huge cost to battery life. Or it used to.

AMOLED tech produces richer, more vibrant colors and deeper blacks — the kind of contrast you don’t get with a traditional MIP screen. If you’ve used the Garmin fēnix series in the past, or watches from the other major brands in the GPS running watch category, you’ll immediately notice the difference.

This adjustment out of the box can be somewhat annoying though. In general, you want to maximize battery life, which means utilizing internal battery saving features, like dialing back the screen brightness and limiting power-hungry features when you need to stretch that last bit of juice, but it’s the adaptive brightness that can sometimes hinder your experience.

Think about when doing intervals, track reps, or really any workout scenario when you want to check your pace or some other data quickly. There can be serious lag between turning your wrist upward and the screen becoming fully illuminated. This can be abated by turning on the always-on display option for your specific activity, so that you won’t have to tap the screen or raise to wake the device every time you want to check your time, pace, or altitude. But, especially on long runs, this will be a major battery hog.

The screen alone may warrant runners purchasing the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED over the still-exceptional Garmin fēnix 7, but the fēnix 8 AMOLED as well as the Garmin fēnix 8 Solar ($1,100 to 1,200) also get some impressive new features. I’ve always appreciated how close the fēnix line comes to killing off my smartphone dependence while running, offering wonderful features like offline Spotify streaming and the best mapping of any sports watch, making it easier to just leave your phone behind entirely — at least on daylight runs in public places, where you don’t feel like you need a phone for safety.

Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED Size, Weight, Look, and Feel

A side view of the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED.

The previous two versions in the fēnix line were not slight devices, but the 51-millimeter Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED by comparison seems even more gargantuan. Fortunately, the watch is also offered in 43- and 47-millimeter cases, but I tested the 51-millimeter version. This does seem better suited to my frame at 6 feet, 4 inches in height, but even I struggle to find it perfectly comfortable for all-day wear. The weight of my stainless-steel test unit is 102 grams.

Garmin has never had the panache of Suunto from a design and user interface perspective, but, especially with an AMOLED version, Garmin’s look and feel is much improved, veering away from the Android/open source comparisons of old to a slightly more stylish and sophisticated color palette across the customizable displays and menus.

Maybe my biggest gripe about the watch’s feel is the button sensitivity. The watch maintains a top and bottom right button layout, and a top, bottom, and middle button on the left. The problem is that they can be very mushy. They simply require too much specificity for my liking and compared to other watches in similar settings. With gloves over your hands, it can be extra difficult to start and stop an activity or navigate using the buttons. On the other hand, the touchscreen functionality when not wearing gloves is very solid.

Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED Voice Commands and Notes

In a nod to Siri and Alexa, the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED gets voice command capabilities, allowing you to start a run, a nap, a timer, and many other options by holding the start/stop button on the top right and speaking into the device. The voice recognition app opens in a similar way to Siri by listening then enabling your command. Some of the key voice commands are:

• Start or stop an activity;
• Pause your run;
• Adjust settings like screen brightness, do not disturb mode, or music playback without having to navigate through menus — I really like this particularly when using my Spotify playlists, so you don’t have to click through the cumbersome screens; and
• Activate specific features, like the flashlight or stopwatch.

A back view of the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED.

The fēnix 8 AMOLED also integrates with your phone’s voice assistant, such as Siri for iOS or Google Assistant for Android. This means you can use your watch to send text messages or make calls, get weather updates, and set reminders or timers.

While it’s not quite a fully immersive voice assistant like you get with a smart speaker in your home, it adds just enough functionality to make activities smoother, especially when you need a quick adjustment or update without pulling out your phone or fiddling with the watch’s buttons and menus.

Since voice commands still require touching a button on the device, it isn’t as seamless as perhaps if it was always on and hands-free. But voice commands and recognition technology bring the fēnix 8 AMOLED ever closer to its smartwatch counterparts from Apple and Google, and since I usually wear the device full time, I actually take more advantage of voice commands during daily life for features like the flashlight or for nap timers and alarms.

Voice notes are another very cool feature that syncs and saves with your GPS location. On adventure runs or while navigating new routes this is a worthwhile feature for leaving yourself reminders about landmarks, obstacles, or variations to route-finding. It is much more seamless than pulling out your phone and recording the details there.

There is the handy new ability to utilize the built-in speaker and mic to let you make and take phone calls from your wrist when your watch is paired to your phone. Along these lines, some credit card companies will allow you to register your card and allow you to use Garmin Pay for contactless payments at vendors — another phone-killing perk!

Garmin Fēnix 8 AMOLED GPS Accuracy and Battery Life

One of the stand out features on the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED that carries over but is improved over the fēnix 7 is SatIQ, Garmin’s intelligent satellite reception system. SatIQ is a GPS feature that adjusts how your watch interacts with satellites in real time. Instead of using a constant, full-strength GPS signal which drains battery, SatIQ dynamically adjusts to the conditions around you.

SatIQ runs in the background to give the most accurate position tracking when it counts, and conserving battery when you don’t need high precision. For example, if you’re out on a wide-open trail or a relatively flat section of a race, SatIQ might switch to using just GPS. On the other hand, if you’re in an area with dense tree cover, a valley, or rocky terrain, SatIQ will switch to pulling in signals from global navigation satellite systems GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo to improve accuracy. By constantly monitoring the environment, SatIQ automatically switches to the best satellite configuration for your surroundings.

The result? You get more out of your watch, especially on those long days when you need every ounce of battery life to finish a race or training run. But you should still adjust your GPS-sampling rate (i.e. switch between performance modes) when you know you need to get the most battery performance possible, and you’ll also want to turn off a lot of other battery draining features such as sensors or music playback when full battery life is needed for track recording and navigation.

Real world battery performance stats for the 51-millimeter version of the watch I tested, even with the AMOLED display, routinely gives me around 65 to 68 hours. This data came through disabling SatIQ and with all satellite systems enabled and utilizing the AMOLED battery saving features. On the other end of the spectrum, in Expedition GPS mode, the fēnix 8 AMOLED should give about 31 full days of power. AMOLED is not available in Solar versions of the fēnix 8, so in a direct comparison to previous fēnix models with solar, battery performance may actually be a little worse with the new fēnix 8 AMOLED.

Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED Overall Impressions

Some people will find that the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED is a consolidation of the best features from the Garmin Epix — the display — and the existing Garmin fēnix 7 — its incredible mapping, battery, health, and sensors technology. This might be so, although continuing to build on the foundation of the SatIQ intelligent satellite reception system to contain and maintain battery life in conjunction with AMOLED is an exciting development, proprietary to Garmin.

The real choice for many will hinge on how important display quality is for you. I have to admit that it’s somewhat hard to go back to other displays after spending a lot of time with watches that have AMOLED displays.

There is a huge cost for this technology right now though, so if it is just a display discussion, you could opt for more affordable AMOLED sports watches like the Coros Pace Pro or Suunto Race S. You will sacrifice a lot from a features standpoint by turning to these other devices, and perhaps most importantly, if you value a watch that can put some distance between you and your phone while offering a lot of the same features, the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED is a very worthy investment.

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Call for Comments

• Have you tried the Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED? What were your thoughts?
• How does this version compare to prior versions in the Garmin fēnix line?