Garmin Fenix 6S solar experience?

[tiny73]

Morning all, has anyone got one of these? How do you find the solar charging? Is it worth the upgrade over the non-solar? Is it worth an upgrade over a 735XT for fitness, running, cycling, hiking and snowboarding? Do the maps make it worthwhile?

Any real world experiences and views appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Tim

[raydin]

Whilst I don't have the 735xt I do have the Forerunner 245. Yes it was the baby one at the time.

I do know several people that have the 6 and other derivatives with the solar charging. And in all their experiences they would say that it doesn't add anything for them in real world use. The solar charger is just a topper upper and not something that can be compared to a true solar powered watch.

Keep in mind that you do lose some screen space with the solar ring.

Ultimately if you are happy with the price premium then go for it and enjoy. I will probably upgrade mine to a fenix at some point as I do enjoy using the watch as intended.

[monogroover]

I don't have a Fenix, but I do have both solar and non-solar versions of the Garmin Instinct - the solar charging is actually not that useful when the watch is used regularly for tracking activities. It will slow down the rate at which the battery runs down on a sunny day.

If you turn bluetooth off and just wear it as a wristwatch, perhaps on a holiday then it will keep the battery topped up, but the watch will go for weeks between charges in this mode anyway.

I suspect that the solar Fenix 6S offers a similar experience but hopefully someone who owns one will be along to confirm.

[Toddy]

I have the Fenix 6x pro and can't imagine when I would need solar charging. The battery lasts for ages even when using GPS regularly.

[Kingstepper]

I too have non-solar 6X Pro. As others have said, battery life is good and and solar pretty pointless unless you're in bright sunlight all day (even then doubt adds much) and there are disadvantages - screen display area, less tough glass (if remembering correctly).

Map obviously very small and is slow to update. Never use it but might be useful in an emergency, GPS works well though.

[wileeeeeey]

I have a Fenix 6. No solar, battery life is fantastic anyway. Superfluous unless you're a true Bear Grylls.

[tiny73]

Thanks all, interestingly the price differential on Jura is only about £25 extra for the solar (higher elsewhere of course). Don’t get me wrong, I’m not heading into the hills for days on end but wondered if it was a meaningful way of topping up or more of a gimmick/dire emergency keep the lights on functionality?

[monogroover]

If it's much like an Instinct as I suspect, it's not really an effective way for topping up if you use it regularly for activities. At a guess it would take about a week of long, sunny days to replenish the energy used in a 60 mile bike ride, for example.

Having said that - for another £25 I probably would, just for the sake of having it.

[neebsta]

I have the 5X Plus. I read a lot of reviews prior to buying it, a solar model was what I wanted initially. As others have said the general feedback I read was that the solar models don’t add much and aren’t that effective.

[ej86]

I also have the non-solar 6s. I considered solar but there didn’t seem to be many pros against the cons. If I only use it when I’m exercising and keep it turned off the rest of the time it barely ever needs charging.

[Rob777]

I have the Fenix 6 Pro Solar so the mid-range model and upgraded from a non-solar Fenix 5… I’ve not seen any measureable benefit to be honest and I’ve used it on some long-runs.
If I bought another Garmin, I’d opt for a non-solar model with sapphire crystal. The solar models don’t have sapphire crystals - something to do with how the capacitor charges but I think sapphire is the more tangible benefit.