Dylan Andersen compares the Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar's display against the Fenix 6 Pro, Venu, and Apple Watch Series 7. The sapphire crystal causes subtle glare and a slight blue tint, but remains readable at 80% brightness. The Fenix 7's solar charging ring is noticeably larger and more efficient than the Fenix 6's.
Alright, so here is the Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar. Have the box right here, you can kind of take a look. Just got this in on Wednesday so a lot of people are getting this. I kind of wanted to give my thoughts on it. So this watch is getting quite a bit of hate actually. I wouldn't even say hate. I would just say a lot of people are really questioning it because of the Epix 2. And some people are also saying that these Sapphire models are less readable than the Sapphire models of the Fenix 6 and other watches that Garmin has put out. You know, I don't know if I necessarily agree. I think it's quite readable. So this is actually at 80% brightness for that backlight. Just so you're aware. I think the watch is pretty dang readable. So right now the backlight is off obviously, but this is a direct look at it and you're kind of seeing it. Quite readable to my eyes. I wanted to compare it to a couple other watches. So here's a venue you can kind of take a look here. So this AMOLED screen, it didn't use this too much and there was some burn in problems with this watch early on. And you know, I think it's interesting that a lot of people are talking about the EPYCs and you know the original venue did have screen burn in but someone has seemingly heard from Garmin that they've updated their AMOLED screens. I don't know. So that's the venue. I do have my Fenix 6. This is just a Pro Solar. So same size here, Same case size, 1.3 inch screen, let it power on here. One of the big differences you can see and a lot of people have talked about this is the solar ring is quite a bit bigger but I've kind of noticed even on my own that the solar at least coming out of or coming into the watch rather is much better received. So that's pretty cool. I'll let this power up here. I also have an Apple watch which I will turn on so you can kind of see that. I don't really like the Apple watch that much. I think Garmin, you know, just having the body battery and the stress and that kind of stuff for everyday stuff is a lot better. So let's see here. So this is going to be, if we can focus here, this is going to be. Oh it's not. There we go. So this is the again, Fenix 6 Pro, no Sapphire, pretty readable. You can kind of see the screen here is you know, very readable. I have a light source to my right, so you're just kind of reflecting off the display. No backlight on, obviously, no touchscreen. I think what a lot of people are seeing on this new watch is, you know, the touchscreen is definitely that kind of logic panel or whatever is in there. You can kind of see more glare number one. And that's mainly from the Sapphire. And we knew this on the Fenix 6 Sapphire, that the, the glare is definitely there. But turning on the backlight, I think a lot of people are forgetting, like, the backlight's nice. You do see a little bit of blue tint there. Some people are saying they don't see it, they see black. I mean, depends on what your camera is. I'm using a Fujifilm x T3 right now, so it's gonna get some pretty accurate colors. And you see here, I do have quite a bit of blue. So let me actually turn these both on. The color temperature is like really, really similar. I mean, yeah, they're both. I don't think one's more black than the other. And I think if you make that claim, you're seeing something that I don't see. Here's the Apple Watch. Let me turn on the display here. One sec. So, I mean, just readability wise, yeah, the Sapphire is going to be a little bit, obviously, you know, harder to see because of the Sapphire. And then you got to keep in mind too, that there is the touch screen in there. So you've got some more solar stuff going on. You've got the touch screen there kind of have a reflection from one of the lights in there, that green dot there. So you can kind of see. I mean, things are going to be a little bit different on this watch. But again, turning on the backlight, it's a beautiful watch. I'm super, super happy with it. Not regretting getting the Epix because I do enjoy this. Again, Fenix 6 Pro Solar right there. Yeah, like I said, I don't know. I mean, can we sit here and say one's more blue, one's less readable? I don't think you can make that case. So, yeah, quick little comparison there. See my Apple Watch, There it is. So Apple Watch is going. And it's funny, even you look at the Apple Watch under a lens like this. I'm using the 18 millimeter from Fuji. I mean, they both give a cool color temperature. So let's get that focused here. They both give this really cool color temperature. So I don't know, I don't think you can call this blue. And if you think so, then maybe I'm the idiot. But, yeah, super happy with this watch. Also, one thing I wanted to mention, not a lot of people are talking about is this new band here. It's pretty plasticky. I like it actually quite a bit. It's the official Garmin band. It's kind of plasticky and it has this kind of new design. So this is from Notocity, who did a really good job kind of ripping off the Garmin bands. This is like a light blue and yeah, you can kind of see there. And this is really rubbery. Really rubbery. And then the OEM band that comes with this watch I feel like is very rubbery too. So. Love this watch. A lot lighter because of the titanium casing versus the Fenix 6 Pro there. So, yeah, thanks for checking it out. Hopefully this helped. Take care.
