Garmin Epix (Gen 2) vs Fitbit Inspire 3
🗓️ Release Year
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): 2022
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: 2022
🏃 Activity
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Garmin Epix (Gen 2) is a high-performance multisport GPS smartwatch designed for serious athletes and outdoor enthusiasts, featuring a stunning AMOLED display. It offers comprehensive activity tracking, including steps, distance, calories burned, and active minutes with personalized daily goals. Its extensive activity profiles and advanced performance metrics are tailored for a wide range of sports and adventures, providing detailed insights into every workout.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: The Fitbit Inspire 3 delivers essential activity tracking, accurately logging steps, distance, and calories burned. Its Active Zone Minutes feature is particularly valuable, guiding users to optimize workout intensity by monitoring time spent in personalized heart rate zones. Real-time progress updates and configurable movement reminders actively support the user in achieving daily activity targets, promoting consistent engagement with fitness goals.
❤️ Health Monitoring
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): This device provides continuous heart rate monitoring, advanced physiological metrics including VO2 max estimation, performance condition, and training status. It also tracks respiration rate, Pulse Ox for blood oxygen saturation, and offers detailed sleep analysis, delivering critical health and recovery data essential for optimizing training and overall well-being.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: Beyond basic heart rate monitoring via PurePulse technology, the Inspire 3 offers crucial health insights. Continuous 24/7 heart rate tracking provides valuable data on resting heart rate trends. Integrated SpO2 monitoring allows for tracking blood oxygen levels, a key indicator for overall wellness and potential sleep disturbances. The inclusion of guided breathing exercises provides practical tools for stress management, enhancing the device's holistic health focus.
🔋 Battery Life
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) offers up to 16 days of battery life in smartwatch mode and up to 42 hours with continuous GPS tracking. While the vibrant AMOLED display impacts battery life compared to MIP displays, it still provides sufficient duration for multi-day activities and extensive training.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: A standout feature is the exceptional battery life, offering up to 10 days on a single charge. This longevity minimizes downtime for charging, ensuring continuous tracking of activity and sleep, which is a significant advantage for users prioritizing uninterrupted data collection.
😴 Sleep Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): Advanced sleep monitoring on the Epix (Gen 2) tracks detailed sleep stages and utilizes the Pulse Ox sensor to monitor blood oxygen levels during sleep. This provides valuable data for assessing recovery quality and informing training decisions, especially important for athletes managing demanding training loads.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: Advanced sleep stage tracking (light, deep, and REM) coupled with a comprehensive Sleep Score provides detailed insights into sleep architecture and quality. Personalized sleep recommendations empower users to identify areas for improvement. The Smart Wake function, utilizing subtle vibrations, aims to rouse users during an optimal sleep stage for a more refreshed start.
📍 GPS Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): Equipped with advanced built-in GPS capabilities, the Epix (Gen 2) provides highly accurate outdoor activity tracking and navigation without requiring a paired smartphone. It supports multiple satellite systems and offers detailed preloaded mapping features, essential for exploring remote areas and navigating complex routes.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: While lacking integrated GPS, the Inspire 3 leverages connected GPS through a paired smartphone. This allows for accurate real-time pace and distance tracking during outdoor activities like running, walking, and cycling, providing essential data for these workouts when your phone is with you.
🏋️ Workout Modes
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) supports an extensive range of multisport and individual workout modes, including running, biking, swimming, hiking, trail running, skiing, strength training, and more. Its customizable profiles and extensive real-time data screens provide comprehensive metrics for performance analysis across diverse activities.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: Supporting a diverse range of activities, the Inspire 3 includes dedicated modes for running, cycling, swimming, yoga, HIIT, and strength training. These modes provide real-time statistics, such as heart rate, calorie expenditure, and active minutes, enabling users to monitor performance and optimize training efficiency.
💫 Exercise Recognition
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The device includes automatic exercise detection for common activities like walking and running through its Move IQ feature, ensuring seamless recording of basic movements within the overall activity log, even during varied training days.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: The implementation of SmartTrack technology provides seamless automatic detection and recording of common exercises, including walking, running, cycling, and elliptical training. This functionality ensures comprehensive activity logging, even when manual workout initiation is overlooked.
🍎 Compatibility
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones, connecting via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for seamless data synchronization and smart notifications.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: Ensuring broad accessibility, the Inspire 3 is compatible with both Android and iOS platforms, utilizing Bluetooth for synchronization. Google Fast Pair is supported for streamlined setup on Android devices, simplifying the initial connection process.
📲 App Support
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): Synchronization with the comprehensive Garmin Connect app is central to the Epix (Gen 2) experience, providing in-depth analysis of all tracked data, performance metrics, training insights, and recovery recommendations. The app allows for creating and syncing detailed training plans, courses, and customizing device settings.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: The Fitbit app serves as a robust central hub for comprehensive data analysis, offering detailed visualizations of activity, sleep patterns, and key health metrics. Seamless integration with popular third-party platforms such as Google Fit, Apple Health, MyFitnessPal, and Strava facilitates a unified fitness ecosystem.
💡 Smart Features
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): Beyond its primary focus on sports and outdoor performance, the Epix (Gen 2) includes practical smart functionalities such as on-wrist notifications, Garmin Pay for contactless payments, and on-device music storage with support for streaming services, offering convenience during training and daily use.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: Core smart functionalities include on-wrist notifications for calls, texts, and various applications, enhancing connectivity without requiring constant phone access. Essential utilities like Do Not Disturb mode, silent alarms, and customizable watch faces contribute to personalization and user convenience.
💦 Water Resistance
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): With a robust water resistance rating of 100 meters (10 ATM), the Epix (Gen 2) is engineered to withstand swimming, showering, and various water activities, making it suitable for serious water sports and providing durability in wet environments.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: With a water resistance rating of 5 ATM (up to 50 meters), the Inspire 3 is engineered to withstand swimming, showering, and general water exposure. It effectively tracks swim duration and estimated calorie burn during water-based activities.
⌚ Display Quality
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) features a stunning AMOLED display with high resolution, offering vibrant colors, deep blacks, and exceptional brightness. This touchscreen display provides excellent readability in various lighting conditions, including direct sunlight, enhancing the visual experience for mapping and data review.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: The bright, full-color AMOLED touchscreen offers excellent visibility, even in challenging lighting conditions, and supports an always-on display mode for at-a-glance information access. Customizable clock faces allow users to tailor the visual interface to their preference.
👌 Ease of Use
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The device offers a dual interface with reliable buttons and a responsive touchscreen, providing flexible and easy navigation through menus, data screens, and mapping features during both activities and daily use. The user interface is designed for intuitive operation and quick access to critical information.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: Featuring an intuitive touchscreen interface, the Inspire 3 is designed for straightforward navigation. The lightweight form factor combined with the user-centric Fitbit app ensures a frictionless experience for tracking and interpreting health and fitness data.
✨ Design and Comfort
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) features a premium and durable design with a high-quality titanium bezel and stainless steel or DLC coating, built to withstand extreme conditions while maintaining a comfortable fit for all-day wear and extended outdoor use. The design balances robust construction with aesthetic appeal.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: The design prioritizes comfort and a modern aesthetic. Its slim and lightweight profile, coupled with a soft silicone band, is optimized for continuous wear. The availability of interchangeable bands in various materials allows for personalization to suit individual style and comfort preferences.
🩸 SpO2 Monitoring
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): An integrated Pulse Ox sensor allows for on-demand spot checks and continuous monitoring of blood oxygen saturation levels, particularly valuable for acclimatization at altitude, monitoring sleep quality, and assessing overall physiological status during demanding activities.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: The integrated SpO2 sensor provides valuable data on blood oxygen saturation levels during sleep, offering insights that can be indicative of respiratory function and overall well-being during rest.
💖 ECG Functionality
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): It is important to note that the Garmin Epix (Gen 2) does not support ECG (Electrocardiogram) functionality.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: It is important to note that the Inspire 3 does not support ECG (Electrocardiogram) monitoring, a feature present in some higher-end models.
🧘 Stress Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The Epix (Gen 2) tracks stress levels throughout the day based on heart rate variability and offers guided breathing exercises to help users manage stress and promote mental well-being alongside physical training and recovery.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: Stress levels are monitored through the analysis of heart rate variability (HRV). The device provides access to guided breathing exercises, offering practical tools to help users manage stress and promote mindfulness.
🩹 Recovery Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): The device provides advanced recovery insights, including a daily readiness score, recovery time advisor, training status, and training load focus, offering detailed guidance to help athletes understand their recovery needs and optimize their training schedule to prevent overtraining and improve performance.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: The Daily Readiness Score provides a data-driven assessment of the body's recovery status, leveraging insights from sleep quality, recent activity levels, and heart rate variability to guide decisions on training intensity or necessary rest.
💳 Subscription
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): A significant benefit of the Garmin platform is that all features and data tracked by the Epix (Gen 2) are accessible through the free Garmin Connect app, requiring no additional subscription fees for core functionality or advanced training analysis, providing comprehensive value for a premium device.
2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: Core functionalities are accessible without a subscription. However, access to advanced features, including in-depth sleep analytics, personalized health insights, and a wider array of guided workouts, necessitates a Fitbit Premium subscription ($9.99/month or $79.99/year).
🏷️️ Price
1️⃣ Garmin Epix (Gen 2): $999.99
Check Garmin Epix (Gen 2) Price *2️⃣ Fitbit Inspire 3: $99.95
Check Fitbit Inspire 3 Price ** If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you