Epix 2 and Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar are two watches that have similar price point. Naturally speaking, Epix 2 and Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar will content for your next smartwatch purchase. Which of these two should work well for you? Let us have a look at the key similarities and points of distinction between the Epix 2 and Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar watches.
Price
Epix 2 and Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar will cost you $899.99. Both watches are listed at identical prices. The price makes it imperative to have a detailsed look at what comes with each watch.
You can check the latest price of Epix 2 and Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar on the Amazon marketplace for Fenix 7.
Display Lens
The display lens on Epix 2 is a Corning Gorilla Glass. The Sapphire edition of Epix 2 is based on the Sapphire glass. Epix 2 is a regular smartwatch. It is not a solar watch. In comparison, Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar is a solar watch that uses ‘Power Sapphire’ glass for the display.
Power Sapphire glass has a thin coating over Sapphire glass. The coating helps in making the glass ‘photovoltaic’. This would convert the photons in sunlight to electrons for charging the battery of the Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar watch.
One important thing about the Sapphire and Power Sapphire glass needs to be understood. Sapphire glass is made of the second hardest natural mineral, sapphire crystal. It is second in hardness to diamond. However, Sapphire glass is less bright and you may have readability challenges on a watch with Sapphire glass. We always suggest prospective new owners of Sapphire glass watches to compare it against a normal Corning Gorilla Glass watch in bright sunlight. That will give you an absolute semblance of how the display screen behaves on a Sapphire and a non-Sapphire smartwatch.
Solar vs Non Solar
Epix 2 is a regular smartwatch while the Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar is a solar watch. For solar charging to be effective on Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar, Garmin lists the following two conditions to be complied with:
- You must expose your smartwatch to bright sunlight for at least 3 hours each day.
- The sunlight should be bright to the extent that it has a luminosity of 50000 lux.
If you stay outdoors for extended time during the day, Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar may tick all the boxes in terms of battery charging and battery life of the watch.
Display tech
The most significant difference between the Epix 2 and Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar watches has got to be the display. Epix 2 has an AMOLED display that comes with the feature of ‘Always on Display’. Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar, however, continues to make use of the Memory-in-pixel or MIP screen.
The result of AMOLED display on Epix 2 series Garmin smartwatch is that the display resolution is much better. The display on Epix 2 has more depth and clarity that the display on Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar.
- The display resolution of Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar is 260 x 260 pixels.
- The display resolution of Epix 2 is 416 x 416 pixels. This is more than 50 percent higher than the display resolution of Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar.
One of the benefits of an AMOLED display is the ‘Always on Display’. Epix 2 supports ‘Always on Display’. AOD or ‘Always on Display’ is a battery hog and consumes significant levels of battery charge. If you use AOD on Epix 2, the battery life reduces from 16 days to 6 days only.
Battery
In terms of battery life, we do not find significant difference between the available charge on Epix 2 and Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar.
- On the smartwatch mode, Epix 2 can last for up to 16 days. Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar can go up to 18 days. With solar charging, Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar can last up to 22 days.
- On the GPS mode, Epix 2 can last for up to 42 hours. Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar can last for up to 57 hours on GPS mode. With solar charging, Fenix 7 Sapphire solar can go up to 73 hours.
As mentioned earlier, the difference in battery life is not too significant. The 25% incremental battery life on Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar can be attributed to solar charging of the watch.
Multi-mode GPS
Multi-mode GPS allows you to get multiple GPS readings from a single satellite system. Garmin uses Mediatek’s Auroho chipset on Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar to offer a multi-mode GPS feature.
It calls the multi-mode GPS the multi-frequency positioning sensor on the watch. The benefit of multi-mode GPS is the improvement in precision, reliability, and accuracy of GPS data from the satellite system in use. It is an absolute necessity for runners, triathletes, hikers, and trail runners.
Epix 2 does not have multi-mode GPS. (Epix 2 Sapphire edition does have the multi-mode GPS).
Device Storage
Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar has an on-device internal storage of 32 GB while the Epix 2 standard edition has a device storage of 16 GB only. The benefits of better device storage is:
- Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar comes preloaded with topo and trail maps for your region. Epix 2 standard edition does not have preloaded topo or trail maps.
- Internal storage on the device can be used for storing personal audio content on the watch. A higher device storage makes more space available for you to add audio content and maps of other regions.
- Epix 2 Sapphire edition has 32 GB internal storage. It comes preloaded with topo and trail maps.
Swimming
Both watches have a water resistance rating of 10 ATM. A watch with an 10 ATM rating implies it can go up to a depth of 100 meters or 330 feet below water surface level. 10 ATM is equivalent to saying that the watch can handle a pressure of 10 atmospheres. A pressure of 10 atmospheres is available at a depth of 100 meters below the water surface level.
Epix 2 and Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar have in-built swimming profiles for open water swimming and pool swimming.
Golf
Epix 2 and Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar watches have full integration with Golf.
- Both watches can pair with the Garmin Golf app
- Both watches come preloaded with 42000 Golf course maps
- Garmin Autoshot feature is available on both watches
- Digital scorecard for a game of Golf is available on both watches
- You can play a Golf tournament through both these smartwatch models
Similarities and other points
Before you check out the similarities between Epix 2 and Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar watches, it may be a good idea to fetch the current availability of Epix 2 watches on the Amazon store for Epix 2.
Apart from the major points of feature differences stated above, there are quite a few similarities and a few subtle differences that are listed below for your ready reference:
| Feature | Epix 2 | Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar |
| Bezel | Steel | Titanium |
| Rear Cover | Fiber-enforced polymer with steel rear cover | Fiber-enforced polymer with titanium rear cover |
| Size | 47 mm | 47 mm |
| Thickness | 14.5 mm | 14.5 mm |
| Touchscreen | Yes | Yes |
| Color Display | Yes | Yes |
| Water Resistance | 10 ATM | 10 ATM |
| Display Size | 33 mm | 33 mm |
| Weight | 76 g | 73 g |
| GPS Systems | GPS, GLONASS and Galileo with sensors | GPS, GLONASS and Galileo with sensors |
| Pulse Oxygenation | Yes | Yes |
| Gyroscope | Yes | Yes |
| Accelerometer | Yes | Yes |
| Barometer | Yes | Yes |
| Wireless Connectivity | Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi® | Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi® |
| Garmin Pay | Yes | Yes |
| Incident Detection (safety feature) | Yes | Yes |
| Live Tracking (safety feature) | Yes | Yes |
| Pedometer | Yes | Yes |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes | No |
| Gym Profiles | Yes | Yes |
| Swimming Profiles | Yes | Yes |
| Cycling Profiles | Yes | Yes |
| Outdoor Recreation Profiles | Yes | Yes |
| Body Battery | Yes | Yes |
| Heart Rate Monitoring | Yes | Yes |
| Abnormal Heart rate alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Respiration Rate (24×7) | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Women’s Health | Yes | Yes |
| Body temperature | Yes | Yes |
| Sunrise/Sunset time | Yes | Yes |
| Garmin Elevate Heart Sensor | Yes | Yes |
Summary
Which of the two watches should you buy – Epix 2 or Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar?
You can buy Epix 2 for its:
- AMOLED display
- better display readability on the display screen
You may prefer Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar over Epix 2 for the following reasons:
- Solar charging
- Better device storage
- Titanium bezel
- Titanium rear cover
- Multimode GPS
For runners and fitness enthusiasts, Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar would be a better option. If you do not desire a solar watch, Epix 2 should work well too.
Suggested Fenix 7 content
You may also like to read more content about Fenix 7 and Epix 2 below:
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- Fenix 7 vs Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar
- Is Fenix 7 waterproof?
- Does Fenix 7 have ECG
- How do I start an activity on Garmin Fenix 7?
- Does Fenix 7 have wireless charging?
- Does Fenix 7 have LTE?
- How to enable automatic backlight on Fenix 7?
- Latest firmware version for Fenix 7
- Apple Watch 8 vs Garmin Fenix 7
Helen Kurt is a geeky nerd who loves to cover the wearables space. She has over 5 years of experience in the smartwatch domain. You can reach her on email at [email protected].