If you would like to purchase the Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Sapphire, you can find it here.
While many people have heard of the Garmin Fenix 7, Garmin’s very famous GPS multisport watch, and many are sure to know about the Garmin Fenix 8 in due time (it just got released), relatively few know of the Fenix 7’s capable sibling — the Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Sapphire.
The Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Sapphire is essentially a Fenix 7 in every way except that it uses an older generation GPS chipset. That is to say, it’s a rugged multisport GPS watch with the same great build quality and connectivity as the far more discussed Fenix 7. While this might seem to have limited appeal, it can be a fantastic watch for the right runner. Personally, I’ve had a Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Sapphire for many months now (in fact, I think it’s almost been one year), but I never reviewed the watch as I feel like it doesn’t quite fit into the format of my main website. That is to say, it’s not the newest model, and I don’t know if I could write a full article on the watch since it is overshadowed by newer releases.
The Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Sapphire retails for about $600, but it’s often on sale, and you can save a fair amount by buying refurbished or from third-party sellers. With these discounts and ongoing promotions, you can quite often find this watch going for around $350–$450. Now, for a premium GPS multisport watch, this is very reasonable and really it is a strong value proposition. However, at this point, Garmin has established quite a reputation for making premium but high-quality and accurate products, and this pricing fits what I expect from the company. Garmin has never sponsored me, and I’m free to speak my mind here, but I’ve had a great experience with all of the Garmin products I’ve tested, and the Fenix 6X Pro Sapphire is no exception.
Despite being an older model, you do get a few advantages of purchasing within the Garmin Fenix ecosystem that you wouldn’t get with most other watches (outside of a few brands such as Coros). The best example of this is the excellent Garmin Connect app, where you can add any Garmin watch you own and view all your training data in one place. Personally, it is this connectivity via Garmin Connect that would make me consider the Fenix 6X Pro Sapphire. It is a fantastic app, and it’s always worked flawlessly for me. At this point, I have a Fenix 7, a Forerunner 255, and a Fenix 6X Pro Sapphire, and being able to access all of these devices from one app is fantastic. Of course, this also means you can store and export data from this watch, making it great for viewing training trends over the long term.
With this in mind, I think the Fenix 6X Pro Sapphire is an excellent value product, but it will be the perfect solution for some specific runners. If you want a watch that is very capable for trail running, multisport, and navigation, this is a fantastic choice that will allow you to track long-term trends in your performance. Over my months of using the watch, it’s worked great, and I’ve found it to be very accurate with solid GPS tracking. Even better, you get the incredible battery life that Garmin’s Fenix line is known for.
So, is the Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Sapphire for everyone? No. However, if you need a capable, rugged GPS multisport watch at a great price, this is one worth checking out.