Garmin Fenix 3 Sapphire HRA well-made, stylish running watchPowerful GPS trackingLong battery lifeCan monitor a multitude of activitiesChunkyNot the most competent fitness trackerThe bottom lineThe Garmin Fenix 3 Sapphire is just a variant of the popular Fenix 3 - coming with a more rugged, life-proof shell with more scratch-resistant glass.It still brings all the great features of the Fenix 3, such as multi-sport support (and we really mean multi-sport this thing will log pretty much anything you want to do and give you some good metrics with it) and long battery life to the mix.Its a good few years old now, and it still hasnt dropped incredibly in price, but it's getting some strong price drops in the sales so its worth keeping an eye on.Fenix 3 Sapphire: what you need to knowThe Fenix 3 Sapphire is the premium version of the Fenix 3, ideally designed that want to fuse fashion with fitness, with the Sapphire HR adding in a wrist-based heart rate monitor to the mix.The design is large, weighty and rugged, but with the range of colors on offer youre going to get a real sense of the premium quality it brings - and for the higher price, thats to be expected.The metal-strap versions are weighty and arent as useful for fitness - youll want to swap them out for rubberised versions for a more comfortable experience - but its certainly robust.The Sapphire HR models heart rate monitor uses tech we've seen in other watches like the Forerunner 935 and we found it to be a touch hit and miss in our tests - so youll need to think about bringing a chest strap into the mix if you want true accuracy.Comparison to Fenix 3The Fenix 3 lacks the sapphire glass on top (as you might imagine) compared to the more premium version, and is a lighter and more easily-wearable wearable.The price is also cheaper, due to the lack of premium materials used (comparatively, the Fenix 3 is still very well made) but beyond that there isnt a great amount of choice.Its mostly in the colors that the differences lie: with the Fenix 3 youre only getting the gray or silver models, but with the Fenix 3 Sapphire youre treated to gray, rose-gold or titanium, with a selection of bands changing the way it looks.Should I buy itThe Fenix 3 Sapphire is a strong watch that packs in loads of great choice - but make sure you can get it for a good price.The main reason youd go for it is the aesthetics the rose gold color is really popular, and cant be found easily elsewhere in the Garmin ecosystem.
It is an older watch though, so look for some good deals before deciding over spending a bit more on a newer model - if you can find the heart rate bundle for under 300 / $400 youre onto an absolute winner.