The Fenix 5 ‘plus’ series have been known about in the trade for some time now, since late 2017. There are now many and varied sources of leaks so I will summarise the info here and add some thoughts.
Why the plus series?
The cynic would say that it was either for Garmin to make more money or to silently fix a hardware issue in the 5/5s.
I’m not sure that is a totally fair criticism to make on Garmin as we are perhaps seeing a new generic strategy emerge whereby plus models will be released mid-cycle to showcase emerging technologies and features. The Garmin product cycle seems to be about 2 years.
With the Edge 520 we have recently seen the announcement of the Edge 520 plus essentially this added navigation and CIQ 3 support. To keep the 520 with the same number and add a ‘plus’ suffix seems like a genuine move. As we shall shortly see, the new features for the Fenix 5 plus could QUITE EASILY justify the title of Fenix 6.
What’s Different?
I will add the details, as I understand them, further below. However the basic thrust is that they are the same devices with PAY, MUSIC and GALILEO added on. ie Features that were available on other Garmin devices have finally found their way to the top-end device.
No-one is saying, but the hardware fixes to resolve connectivity issues have almost certainly been incorporated.
Proof?
You’re a cynical lot 😉 Here is an image of the Fenix 5S plus on a display stand. The images are not mine and will click through to the source if the source remains online (link to: reddit.com). I. There are 2 other images linked to here (link to: the5krunner.com)
Which models are affected?
It looks like there is NOT a new Forerunner 935 plus. Although note that you can pair a 935 to BLE headphones…you might ask “Why would that be?”
However there is a new version of each of the regular Fenix 5 line ie the Fenix 5S plus, the Fenix 5X plus and the Fenix 5 plus. I’ve only seen very little info about the 5X plus and that could possibly not happen.
Garmin Fenix 5 Plus
- Includes color TOPO maps featuring Trendline popularity routing
- Rugged design of stainless steel or diamond-like carbon (DLC) titanium bezel, buttons and rear case
- Music support with storage of up to 500 songs on your watch, and connect with Bluetooth® headphones (sold separately) for phone-free listening. As of 9/June/2018 this will be offline storage of your own music library and/or content from Deezer/iHeartRadio.
- Garmin Pay contactless payment solution with the same limitations on the availability of supported banks.
- Built-in navigation sensors include three-axis compass, gyroscope and barometric altimeter as well as multiple satellite system with GPS, GLONASS and Galileo
- Battery performance: up to 10 days in smartwatch mode and 8 hours in GPS mode with music
- Case size 47 mm
Take-out: Sweet. But will Galileo be dual-band and will it bring big improvements?
Garmin Fenix 5S Plus
- Smaller-sized multisport GPS smartwatch
- Same color TOPO maps featuring Trendline popularity routing
- Large 1.2” sunlight readable display. At 240 for 240 pixels this seems to now be the same as the other Fenix 5plus models. Stainless steel bezel, buttons and rear case
- Music support with storage of up to 500 songs on your watch, and connect with Bluetooth® headphones (sold separately) for phone-free listening. As of 9/June/2018 this will be offline storage of your own music library and/or content from Deezer/iHeartRadio.
- Garmin Pay contactless payment solution with the same limitations on the availability of supported banks.
- Built-in navigation sensors include three-axis compass, gyroscope and barometric altimeter as well as multiple satellite system with GPS, GLONASS and Galileo
- Battery performance: up to 7 days in smartwatch mode and 4 hours in GPS mode with music
- Case size 42mm
Garmin Fenix 5X plus
Full details not yet known for the larger 5X model. I will update this with info from comments, below
- Will have a blood oxygen sensor (pulse oximeter) NOT LIKE MOXY with MO2. Oximeter only on the 5X
- Case size 51 mm
Plus Series Pricing & Availability
– Garmin Fenix 5s plus euro 699
– Fenix 5s plus sapphire 799
– Fenix 5s plus sapphire rose gold 849
– Garmin Fenix 5 plus price euro 699 model silver and black
– Fenix 5 plus sapphire black black euro 799
– Fenix 5 plus Sapphire titanium with orange silicone strap (ring and bottom are in titanium) euro 849
– Garmin Fenix 5x plus sapphire euro 849** (the only one to have the oxygen saturation calculation).
Some sources say June 2018 announcement and availability almost immediately afterwards. That would be my bet but it could be in the fall/autumn for retail availability.
Garmin Fenix 6
If you want to wait until 2019 you might get a Fenix 6…
Garmin Fenix 6 – view on the future – opinion, including Forerunner 945
Take-Out
This is very much the ‘nuclear’ option. Someone may have asked “What shall we put in it to hide the hardware fixes?” and the unimaginative but totally welcomed response was “Everything…do we have a spare kitchen sink?”
Assuming :
- It all works well on release;
- Galileo improves the recorded track and instant running pace;
- More music services are brought on board;
- More banks are brough t on board; and
- The CPU is sufficiently powerful to properly handle routable navigation and all the demands that come with it
Then all is good in Garminland.
Would I buy one? …. YEP! Although I’d try to offload you current Fenix 5 now while you can for a good price on ebay.
Sources: many sources, just Google “Fenix 5s plus” and “fenix 5x plus”. Some cached ones and an Italian one will appear eg https://www.gioielleriaangelini.com/blog/news/garmin-fenix-5-plus-il-nuovo-orologio-di-garmin-disponibile-da-fine-giugno-ad-un-prezzo-di-poco-superiore-al-precedente-modello. via @matt , @p h, and others who do not wish to be mentioned.
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