Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Solar

I had had the Fenix 3 HR for 5 years and my wife had the Fenix 5s. After 3 years the strap broke and I bought a replacement. Since then my skin has been irritated and I couldn’t stand wearing it for more than a few hours. I thought it was because the strap was a different brand and of inferior quality. I was delighted with the Fénix 3 HR, my only criticisms were the exaggerated thickness, the HR sensor that is useless because it is not accurate, the strap that did not last more than a couple of years, and the fact that it is not compatible with common heart rate measurement straps such as those from strava because it has another bluetooth and so I have to buy their straps. But overall, a good watch for running, swimming, and many other things, robust and reliable. 5 years later, I gave my Fenix 3 to my nephew, and bought the 7, very excited to make the leap to 4 more generations. My big initial disappointment is that the strap still irritates me even though it is the original Garmin strap.
Searching through the forums over there I realise that this is not an isolated case, others have the same thing happening to them. I’ve tried my wife’s Fenix 5, and it doesn’t happen to me with this model. Hers feels more like plastic and mine feels like latex.
Otherwise, I’m still not convinced with the Fenix 7, as I can’t stand wearing it for more than a couple of hours at a time, and I don’t use all the sleep monitoring features. Apparently it requires protective glass, but Garmin doesn’t include it or offer it, which forces us to look around, and the ones I’ve tried don’t work. Still not compatible with my heart rate strap.
The watch is too “smart”, it tells me too many things and the text is too small. It seems to me that they want to get closer to Apple watches, but that’s not what I’m looking for. I just want something reliable and robust for running, swimming, cycling, a few other sports and maybe some sleep monitoring and navigation options would be cool. I prefer ruggedness, reliability and battery life over everything else, like the touchscreen.
Maybe it’s just a matter of getting used to it. I’ve only had it for a month… if I change my mind I’ll update the review.
Mind you, my wife’s Garmin Fenix 5 watch just finished working, after 4 years and 10 months…. I fear that Garmins are becoming less and less reliable as they modernise.

First of all it is an impressive watch. After 10 days of use I couldn’t be happier. The best thing:
the battery life
unbeatable as a sports watch
-Impressive number of applications and functionalities.
Maps integrated into the watch itself
On the downside:
you can’t talk directly on the phone with the watch, only accept or reject calls.
the fact that it is solar is a small, very small, battery booster, you hardly notice that it charges anything in the sun, although the instructions clearly state that solar charging is not a substitute for traditional charging.
Garmin pay is less widespread than Apple Pay or Samsung Pay, important to check if your bank is included.
Europe’s maps take up almost all of the memory. The solution is to install from the eight only the maps of Western Europe.
In conclusion, if you want a sports watch, do not hesitate, but otherwise there are better and cheaper options.

Great watch, came from a garmin fenix 3 and this is much more accurate, complete and lightweight. Great option to replace it. By the way I have read in different reviews that the map does not download, to me the same thing happened until I discovered that going through the tactile way of the watch (maps) takes you to the download point and you have to press the top right button (start). Once synchronised with your wi fi and pressed start it downloads but stays in the download queue, to remove it from the download queue you have to put it to charge in a socket, not in the computer and it will start to download the map chosen by you from the different options it gives you, in the case of Spain you have to choose the European one (even if the battery is already full you have to put it back to charge, otherwise it does not start to download the map, as the watch is intelligent and reads that it will be short of battery to complete the process and that is why it does not start).

So far I had only had smarthwatch type watches, Amazfit or OnePlus Watch, but this plays in another league, it is a great watch, you can plan workouts, the GPS has a huge accuracy, it is very configurable, you can install apps and does not spend anywhere near as much battery as one with Android Wear. Sincerely very happy.
The battery lasts quite long, although not as long as they say, but it depends on how much you use it, if you train every day for 2-3 hours, you have enough for 6 days. And charging with a good charger takes about 1 hour.