Garmin Enduro 2 test: When it comes to sports watches and navigation, you can hardly ignore Garmin. There are various watches for different areas of application. What has long been common among triathletes and racing cyclists is also increasingly finding friends among gravity bikers and e-MTB riders. Our tester Christoph took a closer look at the Enduro 2.
It has become completely normal to track your sports activities even as an amateur athlete. To implement this, there is a large selection of devices. For tracking different activities, a wristwatch is the all-rounder. There are also a wealth of manufacturers here with a very extensive portfolio. The top dog for such measuring devices and watches is definitely Garmin. Garmin has provided us with their new top model Enduro 2. We were loaned the watch for the test. Since I already have one Fenix 6 I was very interested in how big the difference is to this top model.
Setup and operation
Setting up the Enduro 2 is incredibly easy. It starts on the watch itself; in order to pair it with the smartphone, the Garmin Connect app must be installed on the mobile phone. There are so many settings to explore in the app that you should take more than just a few minutes. For operation, you can use the 1,4-inch touchscreen (280 x 280 pixels), but alternatively you can also use five menu buttons - three on the left, two on the right.
You can also program three buttons (“Start/Stop” at the top right, “Back/Lap” at the bottom right and “Down” at the bottom left) as hotkeys, i.e. assign desired functions to them by long pressing them. There are also four additional hotkey functions by pressing two buttons at the same time. Use the top left button (“Light”) to activate the display backlighting or a quick start menu with a long press. Pressing it twice (quickly) also starts an LED flashlight integrated into the housing. The button located in the middle left allows you to call up the clock settings by long pressing it.
Simply pressing the button at the top right allows you to select from numerous usable sports profiles, of which your favorite workouts can be saved as favorites. The bottom right button serves as a “back” button, while the bottom left and center left buttons can be used as an “up” and “down” button. From the home screen, using these two buttons will take you to a clear widget overview that you can customize according to your personal preferences. Does everything sound complicated? Is not it! You get used to the operation very quickly.
Garmin Connect app
You then have extensive data available in the Garmin Connect app. Both from the activities as well as from everyday vital signs. The data collected leaves nothing to be desired. The Garmin app can also be paired with other fitness apps, with the recorded data being automatically exchanged. Both exporting and importing data is possible. For example, I paired Strava and Zwift and the data exchange always worked perfectly.
Garmin also provides flow and grit data for mountain bike rides. This is intended to show how smoothly a trail was ridden and how difficult the trail was. But I have to say here that the values did not always correspond entirely to reality. I did the direct comparison test on the Geißkopf, with a descent on the Flow Country and a descent on the Enduro 2 and there was no significant difference in the data. But this is really the only small point of criticism.
Scope of delivery and first fitting
I really like the elastic nylon strap with Velcro fastener. It can be opened and closed quickly, sits comfortably on the wrist, is infinitely adjustable and does not become uncomfortable even when worn for long periods of time. The housing of the Enduro 2 is made of titanium and fiber-reinforced plastic and the display is protected from any damage with sapphire glass.
Striking: Despite its size and weight of an impressive 69 grams, the watch never feels annoying or too bulky on the wrist. For those who are not fans of nylon bracelets, the Enduro 2 comes with a classic silicone bracelet.
Garmin Enduro 2 as a training partner
It's no coincidence that Garmin advertises the Enduro 2 on its homepage as an “ultra-performance smartwatch”. It was developed less for the needs of amateur athletes and more for everyone who puts sport at the center of their lives. Marathon runners, for example, as well as trail and ultra runners. And it's clear: Anyone who buys the Garmin Enduro 2 will not be disappointed with the smart everyday companion on their wrist. And this also applies in water, because the watch is particularly waterproof (10 ATM).
I mainly used the watch for activities on the bike, in all different disciplines. I kept the tracking running both on long enduro tours, when I was on the gravel bike and also in the bike park.
Before each workout, you have the option, among other things, to choose from different energy modes. An advantage if your upcoming training is likely to take longer and your battery level is no longer particularly high.
You can also set intervals to optimize your performance directly on your wrist or compete against your own recorded activities to get closer to your own best performance. The accuracy of the heart rate measurement is, how could it be otherwise, at a premium level. Reading the most important (individually adjustable) vital signs during training is perfectly possible. Display of the pulse zones at the top of the display included.
Outdoor smartwatch with pre-installed maps
The pre-installed topographical maps including trail and even ski maps are a real added value. It shows you directly on your wrist where you are, signals the distance to the next fork in the road depending on the sport mode selected, making it possible to always find the right path on your current excursion. And that without a data connection.
If you wish, you can also have the route back to the starting point shown on the watch screen at any time at the touch of a button. An ingenious function for simply exploring the surrounding area if you're lucky. This is particularly helpful on enduro tours in areas you don't know.
Display and everyday helper
You can always read the time from the color display of the Garmin Enduro 2 because it never “sleeps”. By the way, you don't have to worry that this could disturb your night's sleep. Because without active backlighting, the watch on the wrist always remains sufficiently darkened. You can manually adjust the display brightness itself in eleven brightness levels and differentiate between the desired brightness level in everyday life and during your workouts in the settings. The so-called memory-in-pixel display (MIP) can be read perfectly even in strong sunlight.
In conjunction with the sleep tracker, the smartwatch is able to provide better information about recommended recovery times. It also provides information about, among other things, the status of readiness for training, the current training status, the maximum possible oxygen intake (VO2max) and the energy reserves (body battery).
Further functions such as weather forecast, sunrise and sunset times including information about twilight and, if necessary, helpful details about the current tide round off the range of extras. And of course, an outdoor smartwatch should not be missing special features such as an altimeter, air pressure gauge and compass. You don't have to do without a calorie tracker that not only determines calorie consumption from active minutes, but also shows a daily total including a forecast.
The battery life
The battery life of the Garmin Enduro 2 is seriously impressive. Garmin promises up to 150 hours in GPS mode. The promise of the XXL running time can also be fulfilled in the test! I traveled with it in France for two weeks, with 7-8 hours of GPS tracking every day and had to charge it again at home. With my Fenix 6 this would not have been remotely possible. In everyday life, the battery always lasted well over 2 weeks, with 3-4 activities per week, an automatic heart rate monitor, activated nightly sleep tracking including measurement of blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) and with activated stress level measurement.
At the end of the day, the actual battery life depends on many different factors: How often is GPS tracking used, how brightly should the display shine in certain situations, do you use the built-in LED flashlight more often, and so on. Depending on which settings you choose and how intensively you use certain functions, the battery life will be shorter or longer.
In addition, in strong sunlight, the Garmin Enduro 2 can extend its battery life during all outdoor activities if sufficient sunlight falls on the solar panel integrated into the display at the very edge. Then Garmin promises a runtime of up to 550 days in energy saving mode. However, power-hungry smartwatch functions can no longer be used. The connection to the paired smartphone is disconnected in power saving mode, heart rate measurement no longer takes place and other sensors are also deactivated.
View smartphone notifications
And there's something else that makes the Garmin Enduro 2 a lot of fun: the synchronization of smartphone notifications. If you read a message mirrored from your smartphone on your watch, it will disappear from your cell phone's notification center. If you read a breaking news story on your cell phone, it will soon be deleted from the overview of all notifications on your watch. Sometimes it's more fun to read (and clear) notifications on your watch than on your phone itself.
It's a shame, however, that the Garmin Enduro 2 shows incoming calls on the smartphone and also allows you to accept and reject them, but it is not possible to make calls directly on your wrist. To do this, you have to take your smartphone out of your pocket. One of the few criticisms of the otherwise top-level smartwatch.
Conclusion: The Garmin Enduro 2 is impressive
The Enduro 2 is the ultimate in what you can imagine in a modern multisport GPS watch. Extremely comprehensive, always reliable and on top in every sporting situation and also a helpful companion. Even early in the morning, when a so-called morning briefing provides a helpful summary of the current fitness level of all the body values determined overnight. Details about the recommended daily training included.
I actually used the integrated flashlight a lot, which I doubted at first, but once I realized that it was available, I had it on both on the way home at night and when I was working on machines at work.
Strictly speaking, the Enduro 2 is probably too extensively equipped for recreational athletes. But for extreme and long-distance athletes there is no way around the Garmin Enduro 2. But all of this has a catch and that is the price: €999. Everyone has to decide for themselves whether they are willing to dig so deep into their pockets. The Garmin Enduro 2 accompanied me in my everyday life for three months and, to be honest, I find it difficult to part with my test device again.
Editor's note: Christoph continues to use the Enduro 2 every day; Garmin has allowed him to “buy it out” of the test.
