| Fitbit Flex 2 | Garmin Fenix 2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Basic Info | |||
| Wear Type | Wristband | Wristband | |
| Price | $21331 | ||
| Ratings | |||
Activity & Fitness | |||
| Activity | Yes | Yes | Both track daily activity |
| Calories | Yes | Yes | Both track calories burned |
| Sleep | Yes | No | Fitbit Flex 2 monitors your sleep pattern |
| Heart Rate / Pulse | No | No | Both don't measure heart rate |
| External HR Monitor | No | Yes | |
| Distance | Yes | Yes | Both track your running/walking distance |
| Steps | Yes | No | Fitbit Flex 2 tracks and measures your steps |
| Pace | No | Yes | |
| Speed | No | Yes | |
| Stairs / Floors | No | Yes | Garmin Fenix 2 counts your climbing stairs or floors |
| Exercise Tagging | No | Yes | Only Garmin Fenix 2 provides exercise tagging |
| Smart Coach | No | No | Both don't have coaching feature |
| Goal Setting | Yes | Yes | Both can help with your goals setting |
| Inactivity Alert | Yes | No | Fitbit Flex 2 helps you stay active with inactivity alert |
Additional Features | |||
| GPS | No | Yes | Garmin Fenix 2 has GPS support |
| Navigation | No | Yes | Garmin Fenix 2 has onboard GPS navigation |
| Compass | No | Yes | Garmin Fenix 2 has a compass |
| Watch / Clock | Yes | Yes | Both have watch |
| Alarm Clock | Yes | Yes | Both have alarm clock |
| Reminders | Yes | Yes | Both have reminder app |
| Stopwatch | No | Yes | Garmin Fenix 2 has a stopwatch |
| Music Playback | No | No | Both don't have music playback |
| Weather | No | Yes | *Weather forecast |
| Temperature | No | Yes | |
| Reports | Activity, Sleep | Activity | |
Smartphone Remote Features | |||
| Notifications | Yes | Yes | Both show smartphone notifications |
| Caller ID | No | Yes | Garmin Fenix 2 can notify you who is calling |
| Music Control | No | No | Both don't have phone music control |
| Call Control | No | No | Both don't have call control |
| Camera Control | No | No | Both don't have camera control |
| Find Phone | No | No | Both don't have a find phone feature |
Battery | |||
| Duration | 5 days | 35 days | Garmin Fenix 2 battery life is about 7.0 times longer |
| Battery Type | Rechargeable Battery | Rechargeable Battery | |
Physical Specs | |||
| Weather Resistance | Yes | Yes | |
| Waterproof | Yes | No | |
| IP Rating | 5 ATM | 5 ATM | |
| Weight | 24 grams | 85 grams | Fitbit Flex 2 is 61.0 g lighter |
User Interface | |||
| Display | LED Lights | LCD Screen | |
| Display Size | n/a | 1.20 inches | |
| Screen Resolution | n/a | 70 x 70 pixels | |
| Color Display | No | No | |
| Touch Screen | No | No | |
Compatibility | |||
| Android | Yes | Yes | Both compatible with Android devices |
| iOS | Yes | Yes | Both compatible iOS devices |
| OS X/Mac | No | Yes | Garmin Fenix 2 compatibles with MacBooks and iMacs |
| Windows Phone | Yes | No | Fitbit Flex 2 compatibles with a range of Windows Phone devices |
| Windows | Yes | Yes | Both can help find your smartphone |
| Web Portal | No | Yes | Garmin Fenix 2 allows you upload and view data on the online portal |
| Social Features | No | No | Both don't have social features |
Connectivity | |||
| Bluetooth | Yes | Yes | Both have Bluetooth data transfer technology |
| Wi-Fi | No | No | Both don't have Wi-Fi connection |
| NFC | No | No | Both don't have NFC connectivity |
| ANT+ | No | Yes | Only Garmin Fenix 2 has ANT+ wireless technology |
| Buy on Amazon | Buy on Amazon | ||
Which one should you buy?
Today, people are completely fitness freak and crazily run after the wearables. In fact, we have multiple wearables available in the market, and this is enough to confuse us. In this review we will look into two popular wearables from two heavyweights of the wearable market, that is Garmin and Fitbit. Both of these brands are reputed enough and could be considered as two giants in the wearable market. In fact, these brands are the most popular ones amongst the users, when it comes to buying wearables for fitness tracking.
Let’s do quick review of Fitbit flex 2 and Garmin Fenix 2. If we speak about the basic hardware, then Flex2 can be considered only an entry level equipment without any screen. It is definitely water resistant, which means you can use it during your swimming sessions. While it boasts of the famous fitness tracker “Alta HR”, which can help in customizing the device and make it more stylish. In fact, Alta HR has been considered as one of the popular as well as famous fitness tracker. There is nothing much to talk about the hardware design, as the it is a simply unicolor band with notification LEDs. However, on the other hand since it is simple, it is quite slim and light. As a result, it is quite comfortable to wear. In fact, Fitbit publicize Flex 2 as a slim wearable which optimizes the comfort of the user. This has been tagline of Fitbit.
On the other hand, Fenix 2 has got a big screen, and along with a fitness tracker. It also functions as watch. This device is definitely more feature rich compared to Fenix 2, and has its own GPS. When it comes to the hardware design, it is chunkier in size because of the display screen which is capable of showing multiple set of information. In fact, the size of the device can definitely turn off the user, as it could be painful for the wrist sometimes. Simply, it is large. Probably, you will use this watch only when you are into particular sport, and might not wear at all, rest of the times. Just like Flex2 even Fenix 2 is waterproof. To start with, there are five menu options available with the five buttons. These are start/stop, down, back/lap, menu/up and light. However, once the user gets beyond these menu options, and get into the deeper sub menu options, it could be utter confusing. All it can be said is, this is not something which you might get used to in an hour’s usage. It might take few days to learn about the menu options. The device makes use of Garmin Connect Mobile, to track fitness as well as navigation.
Fenix 2 scores over Flex2 in terms of battery. The battery life of Flex2 is not good at all, while Fenix 2 has got a decent battery life, if not the best. However, the sleek build of Flex2 scores over Fenix 2, as the heft build of Fenix2 might appear out of date. So, it is simple. If you are looking only for a fitness tracker with slim build then Flex2 is the one, but if you are looking for a device which is more than a fitness tracker, then Fenix2 will be the ideal device.