Lee's Watch Thread for MM'ers of Impeccable Taste

[Apoc]

Impulse bought a new smartwatch... and by impulse I mean I lusted after it for a few months and then said "fuck it, I'm getting it." As many of you know, I'd been rocking a fitbit for quite awhile because I loved the notifications while working, in a movie, etc. I stopped wearing it in favor of the Nighthawk, but have been looking to replace it with something that is more activity based and has better smartwatch features. The new Garmin fenix 5 plus was getting a bunch of good reviews, so I pulled the trigger. I've had it about 1.5 weeks - here are my thoughts.

Things I like:
> Smart notifications again... yay!
> Custom faces throw a bunch of cool stats I can live without in my face (see below)
> Sapphire glass and water resistance means I don't have to worry about actually using it.
> It replaces taking my Garmin biking unit with me on hikes, while traveling, to track route etc.
> Four days of battery life with moderate usage, including 100% backlight and not powering down at night
> NFC payment on my wrist is a pretty neat feature that I could easily get used to.
> The display is seriously kickass when outside - it was clearly designed for this.
> The display is always on - I often struggled to get my fit bit to interpret my wrist flick gesture to show the time
> It holds ~500 songs, so I can save phone battery life when riding the bus, etc.
> Native topo and street maps means I'm also bailing on a large, handheld Garmin unit when hiking or traveling.

Things I do not like:
> Smart notifications mirror android's lock screen settings. This means if I don't want people to read my texts while my phone is locked, I also cannot see content on the watch. I can see the who, but not the what. This isn't a deal breaker but annoying.
> The bluetooth got stuck after using my Bose QC35 II during a bus commute and wouldn't reconnect to my phone. It took me 30 minutes to figure out unpairing my headphones fixed the issue.
> The menus are mostly intuitive, but some settings are in odd sub-menus making them hard to find.
> There are apps, widgets, and activities - all in different menus - remembering where what you want is can be confusing.
> The display is muted indoors, especially when using the backlight.
> The price is commensurate with all the features, but is it worth it? Probably not for someone like me, but I could see it for someone who isn't a lazy fat ass (e.g. Mikey).
> Garmin uses a proprietary USB cable that costs $25 if you want a spare/replacement. Fuck you Garmin. 

Things I'm indifferent about:
> It's 47 mm. 42 mm used to be too big for me, but then Lee corrupted me. This wears smaller than 47 mm, but I'm on the Nighthawk today and can definitely tell the difference.
> No touchscreen. Button navigation is actually pretty intuitive and becomes muscle memory after some practice. Bonus is buttons work with gloves.



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