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Garmin Enduro vs Fenix 6 Review
If you’re looking for one of the best GPS watches available, the Garmin Enduro and Fenix 6 watches have some impressive features. Of course, Garmin has set the standard for GPS for the last two decades.
You’ll find that both watches have amazing data-crunching, sports-tracking, health-monitoring, and GPS-integrated features for which Garmin is known.
The solar-chargeable Garmin Enduro has an outstanding battery life that can last for months rather than days or weeks. However, to achieve this amazing longevity, it does sacrifice the maps and music-downloading ability you’ll find in the Fenix 6.
Before we jump into the Garmin Enduro vs Fenix 6 review, we wanted to share the process we went through to make it happen. This isn’t a sponsored post; we have purchased both watches to check out their features and take our own pictures. In the question of whether you’d prefer the Garmin Enduro vs Fenix 6, it’s going to come down to looking at specs to decide which features are most important.
Garmin Enduro and Fenix 6
Garmin is well-known for its high-quality GPS products, including watches, automotive GPS units, and hand-held devices for outdoor adventures, sports, driving, aviation, and marine purposes.
Runners recognize Garmin-brand smartwatches as a strong competitor that is heads and shoulders above developers like Fitbit and Apple.
Both the Garmin Enduro and Fenix 6 possess a wide range of sensors, monitors, and information outputs for a range of sporting activities, including great options for runners.
Many people choose Garmin because of its safety tracking features. Both the Enduro and Fenix 6 provide real-time, live location views to share with friends and family. Moreover, certain activities come with incident detection, and this is one of the reasons why some users prize Garmin’s emergency alert feature.
Naturally, there are significant differences between the Enduro and Fenix 6. Anyone who routinely does a lot of out-of-cell-tower-range running, values preloaded music, or wants a cheaper model may prefer the Fenix 6. However, ultrarunners or people who prize battery longevity will probably prefer Enduro.
Garmin Enduro
You’ll prefer the Enduro if you want a solar-powered battery that can last months. Of course, there are sacrifices to make to get this type of mind-boggling battery life, so you’ll have to decide if they’re worth it.
Enduro comes in two styles that only vary in whether the bezel is stainless steel or titanium.
Pros
- A solar charged battery that lasts up to three months
- DLC-coated titanium bezel option
- Nylon sports band
- Lightweight
- Ultrarunning profile
Cons
- Doesn’t include maps
- Doesn’t have music storage or wifi
- A solar-charged battery that lasts up to three months
- DLC-coated titanium bezel option
- Nylon sports band
- Lightweight
Garmin Fenix 6
Fenix 6 comes in a wider variety of sizes and types compared to the Enduro. While it doesn’t have nearly as much battery life, it does come with preloaded maps and allows music downloads.
In terms of variants, the Fenix 6 comes in an S version for smaller wrists and an X model for larger wrists. There are also Pro, Pro Solar, and Sapphire versions. These are more expensive and range in size from 42-57 mm.
The Sapphire model features a sapphire scratch-resistant lens and is a lot heavier. Meanwhile, the Fenix 6 Pro Solar compares well to the Enduro because of its solar-charging abilities. Unfortunately, solar charging only adds a few hours or a couple of days to the battery life.
Pros
- Includes maps
- Different models to choose from
- Lower cost than Enduro
- This watch is highly practical and allows you to adjust many settings to configure it to your liking
- Comes with a silicone watch band
Cons
- Has a significantly shorter battery life than the Enduro
- Heavier than other Garmin models
Garmin Enduro vs Fenix 6
While the Garmin Enduro and Fenix 6 have many similarities, the differences will either make one stand out or make it hard to choose between the two.
Design and Specs
Both the Enduro and Fenix 6 look very similar at first glance. Despite this, there are some differences.
Size
Enduro is only 4mm larger than the Fenix 6. However, Enduro’s steel version weighs 72 grams, and the titanium version weighs only 52 grams. In comparison, the Fenix 6 weighs in at a whopping 80 grams.
Bezel
The basic models of both watches have a stainless steel bezel and a color display. A version of the Enduro and Fenix 6 Pro Solar comes with a diamond-like carbon titanium bezel which can take quite a beating if you’re hard on your watches.
Strap
Straps options for both watches include silicone, leather, fabric, and metal. Only the Enduro has a nylon sport loop option.
Lens
Enduro has a Power Glass solar lens, which is also the lens that comes with the Fenix 6 Pro Solar. However, the basic Fenix 6 has a Corning Gorilla Glass DX instead, which makes it highly resistant to breaking. If you’re in the market for a virtually indestructible lens, you should consider the sapphire lens of the Fenix 6 Sapphire.
If you want a strong bezel, you’ll want the Enduro or Fenix 6 Pro Solar. If you prefer sport loop straps, then the Enduro is the only one that has that. However, the Fenix 6 benefits from its break-resistant glass (or break-proof glass with Sapphire).
Battery Life
Enduro has a significantly better battery life than the Fenix 6 by weeks or days, depending on the usage mode. You’ll need to charge your Enduro far less and could even take it on an outdoor adventure for a couple of months without any worries about charging.
In regular smartwatch mode, the Enduro can last about seven to nine weeks (50-65 days), though this is hinged on the number of optimal solar charging hours it gets. However, the Fenix 6 battery will only last two weeks before needing a recharge.
Once you turn on the GPS, the number of hours the battery can last will drop to two and three days (70-80 hours) for the Enduro or 1.5 days (36 hours) for the Fenix 6. If you turn on max battery GPS mode, then you can expect about eight to 12 days (200 hours) of battery power for the Enduro and three days (72 hours) for the Fenix 6.
Alternatively, should you want to conserve battery significantly, you can switch over to expedition GPS activity mode to get 2.5-3 months (65-95 days) of battery power with the Enduro or about a month (28 days) for the Fenix 6. Expedition mode turns off the sensors and screens and records a track point every 15-90 minutes (depending on your settings).
GPS
Garmin is known for its excellent GPS-mapping abilities, but it also has access to the GLONASS and Galileo satellite and navigation systems to work wherever you go in the world.
Both the Enduro and Fenix 6 offer GPS coordinates; have GPS time syncing; can use GPS to measure speed, distance, and pace; and can provide expedition GPS activity data.
Mapping
Unfortunately, the Enduro doesn’t include maps, which may be a deal-breaker for people who trail run or outdoor adventure in remote areas.
Instead, it comes with breadcrumb navigation (similar to the 745), which is less reliable because it breaks down your route into step-by-step turning directions. Sometimes these turns announce a bend in the road rather than a real turn.
Sacrificing maps to use breadcrumbs does save significantly on battery power. While the Fenix 6 can use breadcrumbs, too, it also has onboard routable topographical maps, trail maps, golf course maps, and ski maps.
If you rely on maps, especially in remote locations where you’re out of cell tower range, the Fenix 6 is going to be your only choice between the two.
Sensors and Monitors
Both the Enduro and Fenix 6 have the same sensors and monitors to provide you with the best navigational and body-monitoring experience. These include:
- Heart rate measurements (including a daily resting heart rate average and abnormal heart rate alerts)
- Barometer to measure air pressure
- Compass (both GPS and 3-axis electronic) for directions
- Gyroscope to help count reps and laps and improve distance and direction calculations without GPS
- Accelerometer to measure distance and speed without GPS
- Thermometer to measure body temperature
- Pulse OX blood-oxygen saturation monitor
- Advanced sleep monitoring
- Body Battery™ Energy monitoring to track your overall daily energy level
- All-day stress monitors with relaxation reminders and relaxation breathing timers
- Other monitors, including fitness age, hydration, and women’s health in the app and Garmin Connect™
Of course, all these sensors and monitors use battery life, but both the Enduro and Fenix 6 allow sensor management to conserve energy.
Activity Tracking
The two watches track steps and distance (with daily goals and movement urges), burned calories, floors climbed, minutes of intense exercise, and select exercise repetition numbers.
Gym, Fitness, and Sports Activities
These watches use MoveIQ™ to detect which type of exercise you’re doing. They are able to create gym activity profiles and can access several pre-made workouts. What’s more, you can check out your training status to see how effective and beneficial your hard work has been.
Enduro and the Fenix 6 have features specific to certain sports, including running, golf, outdoor recreation, cycling, and swimming.
Running-Specific Features
Specific to runners, both watches can create information profiles based on running, treadmill running, indoor track running, trail running, and virtual running. However, only Enduro can make profiles specific to ultrarunning.
Some options require a compatible accessory or a preloaded course, but running information outputs for both watches include:
- GPS-based time, pace, and distance
- Vertical oscillation and stride length ratio to measure how much bounce you have and how much it costs you
- Ground contact time and balance to compare how much time your foot is on the ground vs. in flight and how symmetrical your steps are
- Stride length
- Steps per minute
- Lactate threshold to analyze pace and heart rate to estimate your muscle fatigue point
- Pacepro™ Pacing Strategies to help you figure out how to approach your run to achieve your target time
- VO2 Max to test oxygen levels for both running and trail running
- Trail Run Autoclimb to detect elevation changes
Memory
Each watch has 64 MB of memory. If you’re considering the Fenix 6 Pro Solar, it’s worth noting that it has half the memory space.
Music
You can control your smartphone music with both the Enduro and Fenix 6. However, only the Fenix 6 can connect to wifi to download music directly to the watch.
Ease of Use
When it comes to features, both the Enduro and Fenix 6 have a lot. The watches have five buttons on their faces to access watch options. Their bezels include labels to contextualize what each button does. Moreover, the menus themselves are easy to use. If you’re having difficulty finding what you want, there are plenty of video interface walkthroughs online.
Both watches sync with Android or Apple phone apps to provide easily-accessible data that is not available on the phone.
Stand-Out Features
In determining which is the best watch between Garmin Fenix 6 vs Enduro, you will want to look at features that one has that the other doesn’t.
- Maps: Only Fenix 6 has preloaded maps
- Wifi: Only Fenix 6 can connect to wifi
- Music: You can only download music to Fenix 6
- Corning Gorilla Glass DX lens: Only Fenix 6 features a break-resistant lens
- Solar charging: Enduro benefits from solar charging capabilities
- Extreme battery life: Enduro can go for weeks or months without electrical charging
- DLC-coated titanium bezel: Only Enduro features an extremely rugged titanium bezel
- Nylon band with hook and loop: Only Enduro comes with a nylon band with hook and loop closure.
- Ultrarunning profile: Only Enduro has an ultra running profile for extreme endurance running
Conclusion
If you’re an ultra runner, want an extreme battery life with solar charging, or run routes for which you don’t need a map, the Enduro is going to be your clear choice. However, if you spend a lot of time running in new places where you need a map, enjoy music on your watch, want a more durable lens, or want a cheaper watch, you’ll want to choose the Fenix 6.
How do you decide between the Garmin Enduro vs Fenix 6?
- Use the Garmin Enduro if:
- You’re an ultrarunner
- You want extreme battery life
- You want a lightweight watch
- You want a watch with a nylon sport loop band
- You want a rugged titanium bezel
- Use the Fenix 6 if:
- You need maps on your watch
- You want wifi connectivity for preloaded music
- You want less expensive watch
- You need a break-resistant watch lens
See our deals on the Garmin Fenix 6 vs Enduro watch if you feel like one of these is right for you.
Robby McClung
This article was written by the editorial staff of the Canaan Valley Running Company and Robby McClung. Robby is the founder of the Canaan Valley Running Company. You can read more in the about section of the website on Robby and the Canaan Valley Running Company.
