fenix 8 Solar Sapphire Sport Watch
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Warning: California Proposition 65
Fenix 8 Solar Sapphire Sport Watch fuses GPS precision with solar-powered endurance
What Our Gearhead® Experts Are Saying:
"I’ve pushed this watch through 20-mile trail runs, alpine starts, and bikepacking weekends—it never quits. The solar charging adds real longevity, and the multi-band GPS locks on even in dense forest or canyons. It’s a powerhouse tool that’s as smart as it is tough."
From the top of 14ers to 40 meters underwater, the Garmin fenix 8 Solar Sapphire Sport Watch tracks our every pursuit. The bomber build meets U.S. military standards for thermal-, shock-, and water-resistance, meaning max grit, while the dive-rated design, leakproof buttons, and sensor guard ensure pressure, submersion, rain, and sweat don't muddle our performance metrics results. Pulling power from the sun, this watch delivers up to 653 hours of tracking in max battery GPS mode, giving us all the time for activities, while maps, round-trip routing, and SatIQ tech ensure we don't get lost when getting after it.
Details
- Top-performance multisport smartwatch with solar-charging lens
- Burly construction withstands rugged conditions and submersion
- Power Sapphire crystal face harnesses the sun and resists scratches
- Battery lasts up to 48 days in smartwatch mode with solar charging
- Built-in LED flashlight to light the way when your headlamp dies
- Built-in speaker for quick voice commands and phone calls
- Tracks activities, location, performance metrics, heart health, sleep, and more
- SatIQ tech, topo maps, turn-by-turn directions, and more to keep you on track
- Item #GRMF07U
- Housing Material
- [bezel] titanium, [case] fiber-reinforced polymer, [rear cover] metal
- Strap Material
- silicone
- Face Material
- Power Sapphire crystal
- Movement
- digital
- Pedometer
- yes
- Odometer
- yes
- Altimeter
- yes
- Barometer
- yes
- Heart Rate Monitor
- wrist-based
- Submersible
- 10ATM (submersible up to 100m)
- Technical Features
- please see size chart for complete list of technical features
- Wireless
- Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi
- Operating System
- Garmin Connect
- Date Indicator
- yes
- Weekday Indicator
- yes
- Alarms
- clock, goal alert, heart rate alerts, incident detection alert, inactivity alert, configurable lap alert, storm alert, time/distance alerts, custom
- Backlight
- yes
- Battery Type
- rechargeable
- Battery Life
- [smartwatch mode] up to 30 days (48 days with solar), [battery saver watch mode] up to 48 days (107 days with solar), [GPS only] up to 95hr (149hr with solar), [all satellite systems] up to 68hr (92hr with solar), [all satellite systems + multi-band] up to 52hr (65hr with solar), [all satellite systems + music] up to 18hr, [max battery GPS] up to 168hr (653hr with solar), [expedition GPS] up to 50 days (118 days with solar)
- Low Battery Indicator
- yes
- Includes
- fenix 8 Solar Sapphire Smart Watch, charging/data cable, documentation
- Face Size
- 47mm, 51mm
- Claimed Weight
- [51mm] 95g
- Activity
- running, swimming, cycling, mountain bike, hiking, climbing, training, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, paddling, surfing, fishing, racket sports, motor sports
- Manufacturer Warranty
- limited 1 year
Reviews
Q&A
What do you think about this product?
Overall Rating
3.5 based on 7 ratings
Review Summary
Fits True To Size
Screen reader users: the following list provides a visual scale to illustrate the product fit. Please refer to the heading above for the fit type in text.View
Selecting an option will reload the available reviews on the pageApril 28, 2025
Upgrade After a Decade with the Fenix 3
- Familiarity:
- I've put it through the wringer
After almost 10 years with my Fenix 3, I upgraded to the Garmin Fenix 8 Solar Sapphire (47mm) — I’ve used it for over a month and it’s been fantastic. It was easy to set up and pair. The touch display is bright, sharp, and easily customizable. The 47 mm face is not too big. GPS acquisition is very fast and so far impressively accurate for sailing, skiing, running and cycling. People sometimes complain about the Garmin watch faces but you can just make your own with the Garmin app. I was skeptical about wrist-based heart rate sensors, but this one has been surprisingly accurate, and it easily broadcasts to other devices (e.g, a rowing erg). The built in light seems corny until you are looking for your keys. Pairing with my cycling power meter and electronic shifting was effortless, and live Strava segments are a fun bonus. Having maps right on the watch is a huge plus for hiking, and the on-wrist weather radar has already helped me dodge a rainstorm without digging out my phone. Battery life is incredible too — even with regular activity tracking, and while it’s hard to measure exactly how much the solar panel adds, it definitely helps. If I had to nitpick. The stock band is ugly but there are hundreds of nicer, inexpensive options available with a quick internet search. GPS accuracy for open water swimming isn’t as sharp as it is for land activities, but that’s expected. Overall, the Fenix 8 Solar Sapphire feels like a massive leap forward — customizable, packed with features, and from reliable pedigree. I’m thrilled with the upgrade and hope to see this watch lasting me another decade!
Originally reviewed on Backcountry.com
April 16, 2025
Best all around watch
If you want a watch that can track any activity and has a battery last for weeks look no further. This watch does it all, with accurate GPS tracking and long battery life it is perfect for my uses. I mainly use it for running and cycling and its amazing. While this has all the bells and whistles it is definetley meant for the more serious consumer. It may be too much for the beginner with the price.
Originally reviewed on ExpertVoice.com
March 4, 2025
as a lot of people are i am a little disappointed on the battery life. i only get around 9 days in smart watch mode with almost no gps activity. but besides the battery life it is a great watch and i really like how it looks.
Originally reviewed on ExpertVoice.com
March 4, 2025
Solid construction
The battery life is great on it, using this watch for all around activities but tracking your runs are great, I love that the screen is pretty much unbreakable and that the bezel doesn’t catch too much light causing glare. Very simple to use out the box, and recommended to set it up on the app for a quicker and easier set up. Don’t think about buying it. Just buy it. Did my research and the cheapest place I found it was on here.
Originally reviewed on ExpertVoice.com
February 16, 2025
Overly complicated to do basic functions and very large
This watch has everything you could want, however the basics are really tough to access. The default setup is basically option overload. This solar watch is also a lot larger and heavier than some of their other models. It doesn’t feel like a good everyday watch and is hard to fit over sleeves of jackets (at least woman’s ones?
Originally reviewed on ExpertVoice.com
February 14, 2025
Expected way more for the price
The watch isn't inherently bad, but I expected way more of them. Overall the experience is quite unpleasant, especially when the price tag is more than latest generation Apple Watch Ultra. Good things: + Sport tracking is good + Run coaches + MIP display + Solar And now to the huge amount of dissappointments: - UX is terrible. Cant Garmin hire at least one good UX designer and give him the trust to make a good product? - Watch faces are ugly - Garmin expects you to pay for other Garmin watch watch faces even when watches had cost that much and you can edit them only in IQ app, not in the watches - Huge amount of bugs (more in 1 month, than I had in 6 years of apple watches) like: issues with music, issues with pairing the watch, voice assistant not understanding basic commands over half of the time - like set timer for 15 minutes when said loud and clear, reordering gets forgotten, GPS loading bug which Garmin didn't communicate at all - Garmin ConnectIQ store looks worse than 10 year old android app stores which were on my first android phones - Bad organization of watch and watch settings - Garmin connect bad layout + organization - Expected that I could use maps as standard navigation too, which was one of the selling points for me, but usage is an extreme headache and even when set it doesn't show the directions I definitely wouldn't buy the watches again... I expected great product for the price, but I can get similarly working product for way less money. Sport tracking is good for most sports, but that doesn't justify the price
Originally reviewed on Garmin
November 12, 2024
No Connection with my iPhone, made all the recomme
No connecting with my iPhone 15 made all recommending but no connection at all
Originally reviewed on Garmin
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