Garmin is essentially a pioneer of the fitness tracker world. It has such a wide variety of models available on the market, making it hard for you to pick one. That is especially if you’re stuck in one line.
Still, they are where they are for a reason, and that is that every model has what makes it shine; each watch is unique. As a result, we’ve decided to fully break down the Garmin Fenix 5 vs. 6 comparison right here for you in order to make things much more manageable.
Comparison Table
| Model | Garmin Fenix 5 | Garmin Fenix 6 |
| Pulse Oximeter | No | Yes |
| Battery Life | 24 hrs | 36 hrs |
| Resolution | 240x240px | 260x260px |
| Display Build | Corning Gorilla Glass | Chemically Strengthened Glass |
| ATM Rating | 10 | 10 |
| Pace Pro | No | Yes |
Garmin Fenix 5 vs. 6: Full Comparison
Resistance
First of all, one needs to talk about how durable the watch will be when faced with the wear and tear brought on by different elements such as sunlight, water, dust, sand, and exposure to bodily fluids such as sweat.
Anyway, you needn’t worry about either of the watches as both of them are entirely sweat-resistant, water-resistant, and dustproof. As a matter of fact, they both have an ATM rating of 10.
Resolution and Display
Whenever you go for a certain fitness tracker, you can’t forget about the quality of the display in front of you. What good will that information be if you can’t read it properly and access it whenever you want.
For the Garmin Fenix 5, we’ve got a resolution of 240x240px, which isn’t at all bad as it’s distributed over a 1.2-inch transflective display that is completely visible in the sunlight.
On the other hand, when we jump to the Garmin Fenix 6, you’ll find that Garmin has updated its game by providing the 260x260px resolution distributed over a 1.3-inch transflective display.
It’s completely visible under that sun; hence, the winner here is the Garmin Fenix 6.
Glass
If you’ve ever owned any kind of watch, you’ll know that you probably bang it against something at least once or twice a day.
Whether it’s a smartwatch, a fitness tracker, a normal watch, or a mix between all of that, there’s just no getting around that, and that’s where the high-quality scratch-resistant glass comes into play.
As a result, since the Garmin Fenix 6 enjoys the benefit of Corning Gorilla Glass, which is highly resistant to trauma and all kinds of different scratches and hits, as its base, it wins this point hands down.
Also, the point is that the Corning Gorilla Glass is incredibly thin and lightweight; hence, it doesn’t come at the price of a heavy weighing watch that will bother its user consistently.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Garmin Fenix 5 comes with regular chemically strengthened glass, so there’s nothing to write home about here. It’s not bad, but it’s certainly not the best.
Blood Oxygenation
It would be incredibly useful if your fitness tracker can measure blood oxygenation, which immediately puts it in a different category. The reason behind that is that such a vital could easily be the difference between life and death, and it’s not something that you can catch on by yourself easily.
Consequently, the Garmin Fenix 6 also wins this point as it has been fitted with the Pulse Ox Sensor with Acclimation in order to keep track of its user’s oxygen levels. Unfortunately, the previous model, the Garmin Fenix 5, doesn’t enjoy this feature.
Battery Life
The battery life of these two fitness trackers is around two weeks for going on adventures, hiking, swimming, camping, fishing, and all that good stuff. Still, you want to know how well it’ll do when you’re using it to power all of your options.
When you turn on the GPS and all the other features and leave them on, you’ll get around 24 hours with the Garmin Fenix 5. Then you’ll have to put it in charge, which means that if a trip is going to take more than one day, you’ve got to bring a power bank with you.
As for the Garmin Fenix 6, it’ll give you 36 hours of running full speed. The thing is, there’s more that Garmin has thought about regarding the importance of battery life when upgrading the Garmin Fenix 5.
Hence, they’ve added a ton of battery-saving options. These features allow you to tackle the performance of each feature to fit your own specific needs and wants.
For instance, if you’re now focused on using your GPS, it’ll focus on regulating the energy drainage there while cutting back from other options so that they don’t use up as much energy and so on.
At the end of the day, you’ll find that with the maximum battery saving setting, you’ll have up to 48 days of usage, which is pretty incredible as that is more than one month!
Price
Another essential point that we need to discuss is the price as the difference between them is not small at all. As a matter of fact, the difference can be up to $200.
Consequently, if you’re in the market for something that is on the simpler side, you want to have basic features, nothing over-the-top, then go for the Garmin Fenix 5.
It’ll bring you incredible bang for your buck. Still, if you want the whole experience, such as camping outside, and you’ve got the budget for it, then the Garmin Fenix 6 is such a fantastic model.
Features
When you’re finished with the basic features of any fitness tracker, you start to look at the extra additions that make you feel a little bit luxurious when using your new fitness tracker.
The Garmin Fenix 6 indeed doesn’t disappoint. It comes with a bunch of features that make life much easier.
Firstly, it has the BodyBattery technology, which brings information from all of your vitals and your sleep cycle together in order to create a profile regarding your health and how your routine should be.
In other words, it tells you when you should rest and when you should get up and get some movement in. It’s really lovely as everybody needs a reminder every now and then.
Additionally, if you’re a runner or a hiker, you’ll benefit significantly from the PacePro feature, which allows you to create your own tracks, see your goals, all the obstacles that you’re going to face in front of you, and just create a vision of your next adventure.
Another option that is incredibly helpful for people who don’t want to carry a lot of stuff when they go out is the GarminPay, which allows you to pay using your watch instead of carrying cash or cards or whatever.
Last but certainly not least, the Garmin Fenix 6 can store up to 2000 songs on its memory, which is incredible. You might not even need your smartphone with you when you have this fitness tracker.
Unfortunately, though, the Garmin Fenix 5 doesn’t enjoy these features, as it’s more of a basic fitness tracker.
Hence, the winner is the Garmin Fenix 6.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, the Garmin Fenix 5 vs 6 comparison isn’t just a comparison between two models of fitness trackers; it simply states the differences between the standard fitness tracker that will do the job just fine and the more luxurious fitness trackers that have all of the delicious toppings.