Our reviews are 100% organic. We do not accept payment for reviews or bundle with advertising budgets. In most cases, the brand is providing the product to our reviewers free of charge. As Garmin likes to do, the company launched multiple new premium GPS products concurrently at the end of August 2024. The models that seemingly gained the most attention are long-awaited updates to the Fenix series, available in either AMOLED or MIP display options. However, it was the update to the relatively newer and less popular Enduro series that captured our attention. This is partially because its predecessor has been our longstanding favorite, but mainly because the Enduro 3 offers virtually all the features and identical software operation of the Fenix 8, at a $900 price point that is $100-$300 lower than the Fenix 8 lineup depending on which model you compare. Even better, the Enduro 3, isn’t just cheaper than the Fenix 8, it’s also cheaper than the original Enduro 2. In other words, Garmin added a number of significant improvements to this watch and dropped the price point by $200. (Insert slow clap here.)
After about eight weeks of testing, we’re confident in saying the Enduro 3 is the superior model for ultrarunners over the Fenix 8 options unless you happen to meet one of the following criteria:
- Prefer smaller casing models: 43mm or 47mm instead of the standard 51mm
- A die-hard advocate for AMOLED screens
- An avid diver looking for a trail/underwater hybrid device
- Want somewhat primitive voice and speaker features on your watch instead of using a phone assistant
Aside from those, it’s honestly not much of a contest: the Enduro 3 meets all the demands of high-performance and high-volume trail users with the same feature sets and a greater battery life. And have we mentioned that it’s cheaper?
New Feature Highlights
Whereas the feature gap from the original Enduro to the Enduro 2 was massive, the upgrades from version 2 to version 3 are fewer in comparison, but still noteworthy in a number of key areas:
- Single strap option: not a major deal, but worth mentioning
- Redesigned solar panel layout and increased battery life, up to 320 hours with solar operation
- Updated user interface and display options, identical to the Fenix 8 models
- New navigation features including dynamic round-trip routing
- Added ECG-capable Elevate Gen5 optical HR sensor
Dynamic round trip routing
Strap Options (or lack thereof)
We may as well get a small complaint out of the way. The Enduro 2 came with both a silicone and Ultrafit elastic nylon strap, and you could choose the one you liked best. The Enduro 3 only comes with the Ultrafit strap, and the silicone strap must be purchased separately. Popular consensus seems to be that the elastic strap is more comfortable in addition to being slightly lighter, which is perhaps what drove this decision. However, if you frequently do water sports, the silicone strap is definitely advantageous in that it can be locked down more securely, and it dries much quicker. We prefer the silicone strap in all conditions, but we recognize this is a minority opinion.
Battery Life & Solar Function
Here’s where we get to the meat of the upgrades to the Enduro 3. The previous model used two types of solar cells: a 4mm rim around the inside edge of the display that collects 100% solar exposure, and a thin, transparent layer below the glass that collects approximately 10% of the sun’s rays. On the Enduro 3, solar cells are reconfigured around the outside edge of the display, and the transparent layer is removed. Enhanced harvesting capacity of these cells results in an array that is 120% more powerful than the Enduro 2, and it also has increased display clarity.
The improved solar technology is critical in enhanced GPS life of the Enduro 3 compared to the Enduro 2. Consider that for the “all satellite systems” setting, the Enduro 2 claimed 78 hours of non-solar GPS capacity, and 96 hours using solar—an increase of about 20%. With the Enduro 3, you have an almost-negligible increase in non-solar GPS capacity to 80 hours, but with solar function, the life span is now 144 hours—a remarkable increase of 80% above non-solar capacity.
As we’ve discussed in previous GPS reviews, having a massive battery capacity isn’t merely for multi-day adventurers. If you are utilizing multiple features at once, such as navigation and routing, HR monitoring, music playback and Bluetooth connection with your phone on your watch during the course of an ultra event, you want to be confident that you have enough juice in the watch to cover the full distance. We felt supremely confident in that manner with the Enduro 2, and the updated Enduro 3 only improves upon that assertion.
User Interface
The most noticeable change to the Enduro 3 is a modified user interface that is new to the Fenix 8 models and Enduro 3 and won’t be applied retroactively to previous editions of either watch. For basic operation, the settings menu is compressed and re-organized to be more intuitive, with more commonly used options higher in the scroll than less commonly used ones. When selecting a workout activity, the layout is also revamped, with “activities” blocked at the top of the screen, but right below that are several ancillary functions like clock, map, messenger and music. This is similar to the operation of true smartwatches from Apple and Google, and represents Garmin moving in that direction somewhat from a user interface standpoint.
The activity list at the top is customizable, allowing you to select up to three favorites that will always appear in the top banner section, as well as selecting which activities appear when scrolling below the banner and in what order. Even if a sport isn’t selected on your primary scroll, you can access it at any time for those infrequent occasions when you do something out of the ordinary. After you select the activity you want, the upper portion of the screen looks the same as usual, but settings for the activity appear on the lower portion of the screen instead of requiring a press-and-hold on previous versions. This is how you choose options like doing a stored course or selecting your lane number in a track workout. Additionally, if the touch screen is activated, you can swipe right and left to access data pages and music controls. For routine operations like this, the new user interface doesn’t take long to get accustomed to and hasn’t been problematic in any way during our use.
Thinner, crisper activity font
Additionally, the display of the Enduro 3 is noticeably different than the Enduro 2. The font of the activity screen numbers is slightly thinner but crisper, allowing improved clarity when you have multiple points of data on a single screen. Although the Enduro 3 comes with a slew of new watch faces, it lacks the “classic” stripped-down background with large clock numbers option that has historically been available on Fenix, Enduro and Forerunner models. The most minimal screen option on the new device has hashmarks around the perimeter and a less prominent number font on the watch. Conversely, one cool addition we appreciate with the overall interface is the option to increase the text font size for those of us with worsening eyesight, but this doesn’t carry over to the main clock on the home screen.
Navigation Updates
Navigation features on the Enduro 3 have also been reconfigured, with few entirely new features added, so this is where the updates take a little more time getting used to. Instead of scrolling through all of the regular customized activity screens plus the additional screens that appear while navigating (such as map guidance, course profile, Climb Pro, distance to end, upcoming waypoints) during a course, the data screens and navigation screens are separated into distinct “lanes.” When using touchscreen mode, you swipe left from your normal activity data screens to the navigation control panel where you can access all the navigation-specific screens. We found this took a lot of trial and error to move between lanes smoothly, particularly if you’re not using button functions instead of touchscreen. And if you happened to like all of the data and nav screens being combined into a single scroll, you’ll probably have a similarly clunky experience when first using the new interface, which requires more button pushes and correct sequencing to work smoothly.
Updated navigation center
Aside from the revamped interface, the Enduro 3 introduces a number of new navigation features that have been interesting to experiment with. These will most likely trickle down to previous models with future software updates, but for the time being they are only on the Enduro 3 and Fenix 8 models:
- Touch unlock option on the map page to quickly toggle between touchscreen operation and button-only operation.
- Dynamic round-trip routing that recalculates your course back to the start in the middle of a run if you want to stay within a specific target mileage range. This has the potential to be super useful, especially if you are in an unfamiliar trail system and don’t want to overshoot the mileage you had planned. However, it’s not able to offer options between “shortest route back” and “easiest route back,” so it can potentially take you up and over a climb or through a no-longer-maintained trail you’d rather avoid just to make the mileage work.
- Map layer options available during activity. This can be used in the scenario above to look at popularity routing along with the shortest direct route to see if there’s a more commonly used route you might prefer, even if it’s slightly longer.
- Target distance reminder that reminds you when to turn around on out-and-back courses.
- Compass view options to select “north up” view or “direction of travel” view, like car GPS systems do.
ECG Capacity
Garmin’s top of the line Elevate Gen5 Optical HR allows somewhat basic ECG functionality that is decent, but not nearly as comprehensive as ECG-specific devices such as Kardia Mobile. Essentially, the Enduro 3 can determine whether you have normal sinus rhythm or atrial fibrillation, and that’s it. Any other types of cardiac arrhythmias or irregularities aren’t detectable, and the watch makes a point of repeatedly telling you that it does not detect heart attacks. ECGs are done on-demand, rather than the watch detecting an abnormality on its own and alerting you, and the process takes 30 seconds to get a reading, which is then loaded into your Garmin Connect app and can be shared with physician offices or anyone else. You can also log symptoms you were feeling that are tagged to the specific ECG reading you took, which can be helpful info for medical providers. So, while this feature definitely is not fully developed in its ability to be lifesaving, it’s a solid base for what will continue to be a rapidly developing technology with expanded capability in years ahead.
Summary
When we reviewed the Garmin Enduro 2, we found it to be a premier option for high-demand outdoor endurance activities, thanks to its massive battery life and comprehensive feature profile. Both of those qualities have noticeably improved with the Enduro 3, so of course we will say the Enduro 3 is an outstanding all-purpose watch, and in our opinion, the best GPS watch on the market for ultrarunners aside from the caveats mentioned in the overview.
However, even with the price cut, it probably doesn’t warrant replacing a Enduro 2 or Fenix 7X watch for runners who have been satisfied with those devices. Rather, it’s advisable to consider GPS purchases as you do cell phones: it’s hard to justify buying every new device that is released, but if the timing of a new release cycle aligns nicely with your need to replace a model that is several cycles old, it’s definitely worth the investment. From our testing, the Enduro 3 offers the best combination of enormous functionality and reasonable pricing in comparison to similarly positioned models, including the Fenix 8 devices, and should continue to be near the top of this category for many years ahead.
The Garmin Enduro 3 is now available at www.garmin.com.