Pros & Cons of Garmin’s Fenix 8 Pro Watch with inReach – Long Term Review

Tim’s spent about six months doing all kinds of adventures with Garmin’s flagship adventure watch. Now the Fenix 9 has launched (meaning you could snag the 8 Pro for a discount) he’s shared everything he likes, and doesn’t like, about the watch.

Tech reviews are always a bit tricky. The amount of features in modern GPS watches, phones, and cameras is mind boggling, and it’s a sure bet that most people only scratch the surface.

For instance, the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro can load 43,000 different golf course maps, advise me how to minimise jet lag, and track up to 50 stocks. I will not be reviewing those features here.

But I’ve had it on my wrist for half a year, through off track hikes, a 100km ultramarathon, and remote gravel rides and races. It’s tracked serious training and helped with difficult navigation. 

It’s $1949 at the moment for the larger, 51mm Pro model, which can independently send an SOS via satellite (though not in Australia) and connect to cellular LTE networks without a phone – so I’m here to tell you the biggest pros and cons that might sway your decision.

The Fenix (or fēnix) has long been Garmin’s top tier offering, combining features from all of its other watches

Why should I do this review?

I’ve been using GPS watches for about a decade, so I’ve tracked the rapid progress in the space. I’ve reviewed the Suunto 9 Baro, Coros Vertix 2, and Apple Watch Ultra 3 and owned a Garmin Fenix 6S Pro and Garmin Forerunner 965.

Four of those five watches are the toughest offering that was available at the time. I’ve always leant toward watches with properly scratch resistant screens, waterproofing, and impact resistance. The one time I veered from this was with the Forerunner 965 – they’d added colour mapping, surely I could keep it safe?

Then I went over the handlebars of my mountain bike and cracked the screen on a rock. Nothing major, but I don’t take it into the water anymore. Back to the burly Fenix series for me.

I also cracked my phone camera on this photoshoot with @eandrewsphoto – bombproof for me thanks!

Pros & Cons of the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro

Pro – The Torch

Bet ya didn’t expect that! I’ve long been sceptical of a torch on a watch but it’s genuinely so useful. Unlike the Apple Watch, which just brightens the whole screen, this LED faces out from the wrist, making it easy to point. You can change the brightness and choose a red mode to save your eyes and power.

Sure, I’ll always have my phone torch and probably a head lamp, but having a bright, easy to access torch right on my wrist is really handy in the tent and day to day.

Pro – LTE Messaging On My Wrist

There’s something very futuristic about being able to communicate directly from a freakin’ watch! With the inReach subscription active I can leave my phone in the car or at home for runs, knowing I can send or receive messages from people on the Garmin Messenger app. I can also keep LiveTrack going without the phone, helping friends and family see where I am.

However the LTE connection is data based and doesn’t give you a traditional phone number, so if you’re out of phone reception, you’re out of luck. While LTE is provided by most towers, it’s just as affected by mountain, valleys, and distance from the nearest tower.

You can type messages on your phone or on the small watch screen if necessary. There are also pre-set messages

Con – inReach Requires Its Own Subscription and only does LTE in Australia

To use the LTE cellular network and satellite features you’ll need an inReach subscription that starts at $13.50 a month. This is a bit more than the $10 or so you’ll need for an Apple Watch, but it doesn’t require you to have a Telstra plan to tack it onto.

I already had a subscription and was able to move it to the watch and back to my Garmin Messenger, but it’s a bit of a process that’s not encouraged. I don’t want two subscriptions and would love to see an easier way to assign it to whichever device you’re taking with you.

Most importantly though, at present satellite coverage is ‘limited or not available in Australia’. As you can see in the photos, I was ‘Outside coverage’ and couldn’t use ‘inReach’ in the same way as I do on my Garmin inReach Messenger. As far as I understand it, even an SOS in an emergency won’t work with just the watch in Aus, the satellites are simply not there.

Garmin’s inReach watch models use Skylo geostationary satellites, a different system to Apple’s Globalstar Low Earth Orbit system, which uses moving satellites. Those moving satellites provide coverage in Australia. Check out this page (scroll down) to see maps of Europe and the US that show the extent of satellite coverage so far.

This was pretty disappointing and I thought the Australian product page was a bit misleading. If you want to play the long game the hardware is there on your wrist once Garmin decides Australia is economically viable, but with our huge area and small population, there’s a risk that doesn’t happen.

Pro – Insanely Long Battery Life

I go over a week between charges! That’s including daily activity tracking with GPS, sleep tracking, Bluetooth phone notifications, an always on display, use as an alarm, aforementioned torch use, and just generally not thinking about saving power.

I love being able to go on multiday hikes where I track my movements and use maps all day without worrying about bringing a charger. It tackled 15+ hours running UTA100 without having to drop GPS accuracy or change any settings at all.

I never have to sacrifice GPS accuracy to save battery, even on really long runs

Con – Size and Weight

The 51mm model seen here is the largest and it’s pretty big on my wrist. At 90g you’re always aware it’s there and on long runs or rides it can dig in a little (I don’t have particularly big wrists).

The Pro model with inReach comes in a smaller, lighter, 47mm model, but it isn’t offered in the 43mm size many women prefer (the Fenix 9 Pro does).

The Pro is 1mm thicker, which is a big difference if you don’t need inReach tech

You’ll sacrifice battery life by going smaller too so you’ll have to weigh up your priorities. The just-launchd Fenix 9 Pro has an all titanium case that will make the watch lighter if you can’t compromise.

The Pro now offers a choice on whether to include inReach connectivity too. Given this doesn’t work with satellites in Australia at present, you can save $400 and get the Fenix 9 Pro for less than the current RRP of the Fenix 8 Pro which has inReach as standard.

Pros – Big, Beautiful Screen

The AMOLED touchscreen is just so bright and crisp. You never have trouble seeing it, even in direct sunlight, and can view the time from almost side on. When I’m riding my bike I can still read my heart rate with my wrist turned away from me.

The full colour topographic maps are particularly good. On the 51mm screen I can easily show friends the route, or even use it for navigation decisions based on contour lines when off–track. For the first time ever I’m not having to resort to pulling out my phone for a larger map screen.

Yum, you even get contour shading

Cons – Ugly Stock Watch Faces and UI

Every watch face option feels like it was designed by the same guys who put claw marks on Ford Ranger Raptors. They’re angular and aggressive, with heaps of information.

This is strange because Garmin has a watch face builder available and third party watch faces (many which you have to buy), but their stock options all have a very similar military vibe to them that give me the ick a little bit.

I’d love to see some more simple ones that make the most of the beautiful screen. Likewise, the whole watch UI is looking a little tired with its bright primary colours. I think an update to make it more modern and sophisticated would help. Pretty, like the Apple Watch Ultra, but still functional, unlike the Apple Watch Ultra.

Pros – Basically Indestructible

My Fenix 8 Pro looks brand new. That’s despite hitting it on sandstone cliffs, bike cranks, trees, and the door into my home office (daily). I’ve covered it with sweat, sunscreen, and sticky running gels and it’s bounced back every time.

I particularly like the burly 26mm strap with two loops. Having lost a Fenix 6S Pro in a river after its singular loop keeper broke, this redundancy is probably more important than you think.

Pros – Night Mode and the Alarm

Early on I set up the watch with a 10pm to 6am sleep schedule (which helps the sleep tracking) and enabled night mode. This means that the screen dims to red during that time and doesn’t blind me when I check the time at 2am. It even extends to the torch which is a really nice touch.

I’ve been using the wrist-based vibration only alarm and it does a good job of waking me up without waking up my wife – it also means the first thing I do every day isn’t touching my phone, which I love.

Just including this to flex to be honest

Cons – LTE Didn’t Keep Me Off The Phone As Much As Hoped

When I initially picked up the Fenix 8 Pro I had a vision of challenging myself to leave my phone at home frequently. I’d be able to get calls and texts via LTE but not scroll Instagram, right?

I found this harder to execute in practice. There’s no dedicated SIM, so if you call someone it comes from an unknown number. Your contacts need to have the Garmin Messenger App to call or message you too. The watch would always defer to my phone’s reception if it was nearby.

This is different to other LTE devices. On the Fenix 8 Pro it’s more of a safety feature, it requires a lot of setup for anything approximating how you use your phone.

Pros – Flawless Activity Tracking

I haven’t had a single issue with GPS tracking in six months. Every map is detailed and appears quickly on Strava. Considering I’m often in the Blue Mountains and deep canyons, I’m pretty impressed by how reliable the data is.

This also extends to wrist-based heart rate which hasn’t had any weird spikes or cadence lock where it tracks my footfalls over my heartbeat. Garmin are experts at this and there’s a wealth of data like Training Status, Suggested Workout, Sleep Score, and custom activity profiles that track data differently whether you’re surfing or rucking.

I have found the Fenix 8 Pro very reliable, which is a huge box tick for challenging adventures

Cons – That Damn Charging Port

We’re still doing this? In 2026?! Garmin’s awkward proprietary 4 pin charging port isn’t anyone’s favourite. It’s just a little fiddly and also not common like USB-C. 

I’d love to see a magnetic wireless attachment like the excellent one on the Apple Watch Ultra 3 – but from the looks of the Fenix 9 Pro Garmin haven’t moved to change it just yet.

Nothing on the horizon as far as I’ve heard. If it ain’t (that) broke, don’t fix it?

Final Thoughts on the Garmin Fenix Pro 8

I’m often struck by how insane this technology is. 15 years ago I had a black and white LCD screen on a GPS watch that would lose satellites, show me on top of a mountain, then in the valley, before running out of battery.

The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro is (or was, thanks to 9 Pro launch and my tardy review) the cutting edge of GPS watch tech. Its battery lasts for ages, it’s reassuringly tough, and it absolutely nails activity tracking across an industry-leading spectrum of sports.

It might also suggest you delete yourself with a workout like this during a taper

The inReach tech adds weight and cost that’s definitely justifiable in Europe and the US, but in Australia it’s a lot to add for an expensive LTE package. I’d be buying the Fenix 9 Pro and leaving off the inReach for now.

Honestly, I’ll still pack a PLB or satellite messenger, and probably will for quite some time once the tech is switched on in Aus, but I’m expecting that to change as the tech becomes more common.

Got a question about something I haven’t covered? Put it in the comments!