Why choose a Garmin wearable like the fenix® 5 GPS watch? Do you want the most reliable hardware and physical equipment of it's kind? Do you want the support of a large US company that is known to strongly support their products and offers regular improvements and firmware updates? Or perhaps you already live in the Garmin ecosystem of products and are comfortable with the Garmin Connect App? Or maybe you just want to have the best tool to monitor your performance, training and recovery. The fenix 5 GPS watch that can do so much we can barely do it justice, but here goes.

Building off the success of the fenix® 3, the 5 series steps up the capabilities and adds new metrics and tracking options. Do you know just how effective your current training plan is? fenix 5 will help you monitor your training and recovery so you can better prepare for a race or training cycle. Training Status is a new performance monitoring tool that automatically evaluates your recent exercise history and performance indicators to let you know if you’re training productively, peaking or overreaching. The new anaerobic training effect metric opens a window of insight to a critical dimension of training, telling you how your training is improving your ability to push the limits. You can even view your overall training load, which measures your exercise volume from the last 7 days and compares it to the optimal range for your fitness and recent training history. On your wrist, Elevate wrist heart rate technology lets you monitor your heart rate without wearing a chest strap. In addition to counting steps and monitoring sleep, the watch uses heart rate to provide calories burned information and quantify the intensity of your fitness activities.

For runner or triathletes fenix 5 measures crucial running metrics that you can use to analyze your performance. Biomechanical measurements such as cadence, stride length, ground contact time and balance, vertical oscillation and vertical ratio are the key to understanding your form so you can bring your best on race day. These metrics are available with the addition of a compatible heart rate strap or the compact Running Dynamics Pod, which clips right onto your waistband. Also, take advantage of feature sets to help with cycling and even swim training. In the water, fenix 5 will track your distance, pace, stroke count and more. Add power data to your training by downloading the Running Power app from the Connect IQ store onto your compatible watch. Developed by Garmin Labs, the Running Power app taps into metrics such as: pace, vertical oscillation, grade and even local wind conditions to determine the amount of power you’re applying at the ground as you run. When you know how much power you’re expending from minute to minute and mile to mile, you’re better able to pace yourself, which can help keep you from tiring out too quickly. The best news? If you already own the right Garmin devices, adding power to your run is free. All you need is a fenix 5 and one of these three available accessories: HRM-Run, HRM-Tri or the Running Dynamics Pod.

Of course Garmin has made the fenix 5 series applicable to more lifestyle activities. Beyond their running functions, fenix 5 watches also offer special feature sets to help with swim training, skiing, golfing and paddle sports, including stand-up paddle boarding and rowing. For swimmers, the device tracks your distance, pace, stroke count and more. Ski/Board mode puts speed, distance, vertical drop and an automatic run counter (with Auto Pause for the lift line) and more at your fingertips. The feature set for paddle sports includes stroke count, stroke rate and even distance per stroke. Golf mode gives you yardage to the front, back and middle of the green for any single course you’ve downloaded from Garmin Connect – and also adds enhancements such as stat tracking (fairways hit, etc.), Green View, AutoShot detection and auto measure.

Every fenix 5 model provides comprehensive navigation and tracking to guide you on and off the beaten path using GPS/GLONASS plus ABC (altimeter, barometer and compass) sensor capabilities. The built-in altimeter provides elevation data to accurately monitor ascent and descent, while the barometer can be used to predict weather changes by showing short-term trends in air pressure. The 3-axis electronic compass keeps your bearing, whether you’re moving or not. In addition, there’s an internal gyroscope to help improve position accuracy (and battery life) in UltraTrac mode.

In the high-tech world we live in connectedness is crucial. Smart notifications through fenix 5 let you receive emails, texts and alerts right on your watch, whether you're on the trail, on the golf course or simply away from your desk. Other connected features include automatic uploads to our Garmin Connect online fitness community, live tracking and social media sharing through the free Garmin Connect and Garmin Connect Mobile applications. Customization is a thing too and you can access free face downloads, purchase various types and colors of watch bands and even customize apps.

Pique your interest or overwhelm you? Of course it could be both as well. Suffice to say that the wrist HR equipped fenix® 5 GPS watch is a powerful tool, and is easily connected to apps and software that can truly change the way you train, race, and recover. You simply have to put it all to work for you.