Garmin Epix 2 Pro
Excitement for 2023 as we have an updated Garmin Epix 2 PRO inbound.
I’ve included the leaked specs further below but more details are coming in as I write. Other than the inevitable price, size, weight and battery subtleties, the essential differences to the Epix 2 are twofold. Firstly there are (more) premium material options and secondly, the watch will be available in Garmin’s usual 3 sizes rather than just the one size we had before.
Remember that the base level Epix 2 did not have multi-constellation and dual-band GNSS/GPS reception, just the former. All 3 of the new Epix 2 Pro models will get the full monty of GNSS awesomeness.
Also remember that the recent Forerunner 965 featured a 454x454px display size in the medium-sized case. I’m not sure of the correctness of the leaked specs but it would be reasonable to hope that Epix 2 Pro crams a larger physical display into each of the 3 ‘standard’ case sizes and that will be a big deal for the biggest-sized Epix 2 Pro.
There will inevitably also be a brand new headline feature plus a degree of catch-up that will update the Epix 2 with any existing features that are missing, such as those on the Forerunner 965 and Edge 540. ie Training Load Ratio feature, Chronic Training Load, built-in Running Dynamics without a sensor, full Physio TrueUp 2.0 and Unified Training Status, and perhaps ClimbPro Free-Ride.
ECG is a vague possibility but I wouldn’t hold your breath. QI is reasonably likely and the specs below show a dock option which might be linked to QI. A flashlight might also appear on the larger model.
Price Details
The existing base price for Epix 2 is €900, rising to €1100 for the titanium/sapphire version.
| Size | RRP | |
| Garmin Epix Pro Gen 2 | 51 mm | € 1,150.00 |
| Garmin Epix Pro Gen 2 | 47 mm | € 1,050.00 |
| Garmin Epix Pro Gen 2 | 42 mm | € 950.00 |
Release Date
The release timeframe is unknown but I would expect mid-May or Mid-June.
Take Out
The information and imagery leaked so far are from online retailers and are not 100% trustworthy.
Do NOT expect Epix 2 Pro to be the next generation beyond Fenix 7. At its heart, it’s still the Fenix 7 AMOLED version…now in all sizes
Garmin Epix 2 Pro – Technical Specifications
These may be unreliable.
- Device Type: Smart Watch; sport
- Display diagonal (inches): 1.3 (smaller than 965)
- Control: touch; button
- Cover glass type: sapphire
- Dial shape: round
- Display Type: AMOLED
- Display resolution: 454 × 454 (same as 965)
- Internal memory: 32 GB
- Operating system: custom OS
- Compatible operating systems: Android; iOS
- Functions and activity monitoring: body battery; alarm clock; time; regeneration time; music player; interval training; pedometer; breath measurement; blood oxygenation measurement; SPEEDCHECK???; heart rate measurement; distance measurement; stress monitor; estimate of VO2 max; drinking regime; Menstrual tracking
- Notifications from phone: e-mail; call; SMS; social networks
- Phone control: YES
- Suitable for activities: running; cycling; fitness; golf; yoga; camp; skiing; multisport; outdoors; swimming; triathlon; hiking
- NFC: YES
- Contactless payments: YES
- Wi-Fi: YES
- GPS: YES
- Bluetooth: yes
- Sensors: accelerometer; gyroscope; compass; pedometer; ambient light sensor; heart rate sensor; calories burned; temperature sensor; altimeter
- SIM options: no
- Support for direct calls from the watch: NO
- Normal battery life (hours): 384
- Maximum battery life (days): 21
- Charging option – connector: dock
- Resistance: waterproof to 100 m (10 ATM)
- Purpose: women; men’s; sports; unisex
- Size: Suitable for wrists with circumference: Silicone strap: 125-208mm
- Strap material: silicone
- Strap colour: grey/white
- Case material: titanium; hardened polymer
- Case colour: white
- Replaceable bracelet: YES
Product dimensions:
- Weight (kg): 0.070
- Height (cm): 4.70
- Width (cm): 4.70
- Depth (cm): 1.45
Smart watch 1.3″ AMOLED 454 x 454, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, pedometer, ambient light sensor, heart rate sensor, calories, temperature sensor, altimeter, body battery, alarm clock, time, recovery time, music player, interval training, pedometer, breath measurement, SpO2 blood oxygenation measurement, speed measurement, heart rate measurement, distance measurement, stress monitor, VO2 max measurement, drinking regimen, menstrual cycle monitoring, sleep activity, inactivity alert, calorie burn calculation, NFC, Bluetooth, Wi -Fi, battery life up to 384 hours, waterproof to 100 m (10 ATM)
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No mention of Flashlight/Torch 🙁
Hopefully that’s because the Spec’s listed appear to be for the Standard sized 47mm with a 1.3″ Screen, and the 2X 51mm with 1.4″ screen has details of a Flashlight. Fingers crossed!
If the X version comes without the flashlight, I will give it a pass and wait for the Epix 3!
They could increase display sizes…
454×454 implies 1.4” screen, it’s an FR965 spec. Hence, claimed 1.3” sounds wrong. I’m also not sure why have 51mm size if FR965 can be much smaller and yet have 1.4” screen? Will it have 1.5” screen? ????
More importantly, wasn’t Epix supposed to be a Fenix with AMOLED screen? What’s the point of breaking it out into a separate line unless Garmin thinks MIPS Fenixes are dead and people would either get AMOLED or go elsewhere.
Where exactly? To Suunto Vertical? It’s not AMOLED either.
And I’m not sure hiking prices is gonna work for Garmin for long. $1100+ for a watch that would lose a large chunk of its battery capacity and become obsolete within 2-3 years is a tough ask. That’s a premium modern smartphone territory. And I’m old enough to remember people scoffing at $500 when smartphones were introduced. For obscene prices and materials, Garmin already has MARQ.
i think you’re right on the price hikes. I’ll be giving this one a miss for sure. unless something amazing also materialises on the features front
you’re probably right on the sizes too. I’m just republishing what a few stores are showing.
the point of this is to introduce and market test new hardware ie the two new sizes and maybe the qi/ecg as well.
perhaps my ‘market test’ phrase is being generous. “as an excuse to product differentiate and hike prices” would be less generous.
Given a huge success of Epix 2, they just want to capitalize on that and release different sizes as soon as possible. And Fenix 8 (hopefully with its MIP screen as AMOLED is for Epix) probably wouldn’t bring enough new things to the table so will have to wait.
Om the strength of screen alone? For a cool $1000? I don’t think so.
If they include EKG and wireless charging on top of a larger 1.5″ AMOLED screen along with a flashlight, I suppose they can substantiate this as a more premium modern version of Fenix.
I understand Garmin wanting to see if they can stride and milk the difference between sub-$1000 Fenix line and now effectively $2000+ MARQ. Kind of get into a sweet spot of where MARQ Athlete used to be. But I’m not sure people would follow!
I know I won’t. Not unless Garmin takes a page from AWU playbook and also throws in diving bits at the very least. They may not have realized it, but AWU set a very hard price limit on what a big modern adventure watch should cost, and it’s certainly not $1200. Not without AWU everyday smarts, connectivity, and diving features. I totally agree with the prevailing sentiment of this blog: as soon as Apple builds or buys its way into real athletic proficiency and mapping, it will be game over for most of the Garmin wearable product line.
Time to beef up their offering in $250-$600 segment and reserve $1000 for some insane engineering that would be appreciated in niche markets. Everyone else can just buy MARQ.
Nobody cares it’s a 1000€. The epix 2 saphire was a 1000€ and those puppy’s sold like crazy. You can get a garmin in every price point and this is premium, people want the best of the best, just like their iPhones. The epix pro 51 mm will be a huge succes because everybody wanted a bigger size.
What makes it “pro” other than being in 3 sizes? Is there going to be a functional difference between the Epix Gen 2 sapphire and the Epix Pro Gen 2 47mm?
Maybe it is a display size bump to match the f965 at the 47mm size? That might imply 1.3” with the 42mm and 1.5” with the 51mm.
Increased display sizes would justify the release. The 1.4” display introduced with the fenix 6X was a huge deal and instantly beloved of everyone I know over 40 who now have presbyopia. 1.5” amoled is even better for that same cohort — especially for the maps.
A display size bump is a big deal.
All of these rumours are from one Facebook post lol
Do you have a link?
Rest assured it’s not just the Facebook post.
@Flo has some more info here: https://www.fitness-tracker-test.info/en/garmin-epix-pro-gen-2/
what facebook post !
try this for starters, then just google it: https://the5krunner.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/delapr.png
“game over for garmin re apple watch ultra”
Ruinous of their death ate being exaggerated lol. For a start, android phone owners…..
Android phone owners have Google Pixel watch and the likes to consider. The current scene maybe clunky, but things are moving along. All it takes is either for Google to get their act together with legacy of Fitbit, Samsung decide to break into niche athletic markets with their wares, or Finnish guys put out another offering along the lines of Suunto 7, but this time around with proper sports sensor support and battery life. Given most WearOS watches are well south of $500, it’s an even more awful market to compete in. Certainly, not the place where you can charge $1200 per watch.
That’s the trouble with Garmin: their competitors long term are not Suunto and COROS. It’s Apple and Google.
How will a Google Pixel watch get me through a 7 day hike?
Perhaps the normies who run 5k and quit might be able to make do with a AWU or Pixel watch, but there are a significant number of us who actually need onboard maps, routing and some very long battery life.
I will buy the 51 mm pro modell on the day it’s released. I have the Epix gen2 today but miss the larger screen from my earlier Fenix 6X.
@Nik K. MSRP for a fenix 7X sapphire solar is $1000. And enduro 2 is $1100 ($100 for maybe $1 of BOM cost for the larger battery capacity.) An epix gen 2 sapphire is $1000.
The low-end SKU of the fenix 7 is $700. (It is missing the multiband GPS for historical reason but I’m not sure that hurts its sales).
The forerunner 965 is $600. It runs virtually identical software as the fenix 7X and enduro 2.
The forerunner 255 is $400 and the 264 is $450.
The difference is really materials and display. Where is the room for more pricing segmentation?
The Apple Watch Ultra looks like an adventure watch but it doesn’t do the same things. It has nothing like the same range and built-in sports features and cannot be operated properly with buttons. The Action Button itself is not that well integrated and many people disable to prevent accidental presses. The key Apple features that Garmin does not have (and probably will not have anytime soon) is cellular calling, Apple Music, and tight integration with Apple platform.
The problem for Garmin that I think you are alluding to is that probably few people actually need/use the real adventure and sports capabilities in a Garmin very much. I am definitely not ultramarathon fit at the moment, but Garmin Connect says I’m in the top 1% of hours and mileage training seemingly no matter how much I slack off.
That tells me sports watches are a bit aspirational for many people, like gym memberships.
I was an AW owner for 2 years (until the battery died) between owning Garmin Fenix watches “all my life” and during that time I was missing most of the features of a Garmin Fenix. Mostly the recovery metrics and the load metrics. Because I really use that to shape my weekly training.
Negative things that I have noticed with the AW include:
– You can’t just have a longer run without a full charge before.
– While the sensors are outstanding the calculations done are abysmal depending on what you do. Normal running is fine. Even some speed work. But once you get into the terrain of intense HIIT or sports with a lot of fast switches between short but high to extreme load followed by relaxation the metrics start to be off so much that training data is unusable for me most of the time. Take for example calories. Here the AW would be off by 2-4x what the Garmin shows on such high intensity training. I know that at least for me the Garmin metrics is the more correct one because I try to eat all my calories every day. And my weight is pretty constant with the Garmin while with the AW I would gain weight fast. And not from muscle.
– Except for one app that can show you your “training readiness” a the AW you have to figure this stuff out for yourself on the AW by interpreting metrics. In these two years I have spent a lot of time and even money to find an app that can tell me about my recovery and training load details at least somewhat similar to a Garmin and failed.
Not saying the AW is a gimmick. I recommend it to casual fitness people you just want to get moving or measure their overall progress on runs. But I wouldn’t recommend it to people serious about sports. It all of course depends on what you want. Best overall smartwatch with decent fitness features: Get an AW or AW Ultra. Best sports watch around with best metrics catered to people serious about sports: Get a Fenix/Epix/Enduro. If you need worlds best smartwatch features AND fitness features, then you are screwed though 😉
Apple creates a better ecosystem for 3rd parties to provide the niche stuff
eg Athlytic does the recovery/readiness piece
(red) torch would be a must for me. I am using it on my F7X on a daily … or rather nightly basis to navigate through my house while everyone’s sleeping or just to have some light when my run got too long again and I didn’t bring my vest and I end up running home in the dark. Been a Fenix user forever but I would like to get away from the LCD screens now. Almost 30d of battery is awesome but that poses the problem that I usually forget about charging completely and then have a struggle to even notice that my battery will be dead soon. Lol, 1st world problems for sure. Having my eye on the Epix 2 since it came out. But the display was just a tad too small for my liking. Hoping the E2Pro does it for me. ECG would be a nice add-on. But not holding my breath. And since Afib is a huge problem on one side of the family and I would like to get some detection in my Garmin, too. Same goes for a SIM option. I hate to bring my phone on really long runs through the woods or secluded off-grid terrain just to be able to have a backup in case something happens and I need help. Have enough sh*t on me already like water and nutrition. Could do without my phone.
It has been quiet for a while now, nothing new with regards to the Epix pro?
I want that torch on the 47mm epix ????. Plus a 1.4 inch screen. Throw some ecg on there and I will upgrade from my epix 2. The upgrade from de Fenix 5 to the Fenix 5+ was also a big one I remember. Lots of extras for only a plus upgrade
Latest rumors indicate that it isn’t Epix but a golf watch that is on its way, I really hope this is wrong ☹️
https://www.advnture.com/news/garmin-golf-watches-on-the-way
fresh photos.
https://m.winfuture.de/news/136185
cheers!!! was already writing up some insights from those images.
Quite a bit can be inferred from their photos and from the info I’ve already covered on this site a few weeks ago. More ‘meat’ here: https://the5krunner.com/2023/05/12/new-garmin-fenix-7-pro-new-elevate-new-features-new-epix/