The Garmin Enduro 3 launched at the same time as the Fenix 8, and offers an alternative to Garmin’s top sports watch thanks to its lower price, lighter design and long battery life. It’s also cheaper than the Enduro 2 on RRP, which is a rare and pleasant surprise. How does the watch fare on the run? Mike, Kieran and Nick have been testing it out over the past six weeks and give their verdict here.
00:00 – Intro
00:11 – Design & Key Specs
02:22 – The Run Test: Likes
11:02 – The Run Test: Dislikes
16:10 – Verdict & Alternatives
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Hello and welcome to the Run testers my Name's Nick and this is our full review Of the Garmin in Euro [Music] 3 so Mike Kieran and I have been testing Out the uro 3 over the last 6 weeks We've also been testing out the new Phoenix 8 in that period and comparing It to some other watches and this is Going to be our full verdict on the Watch which is a little bit cheaper than The Garmin injo 2 unexpectedly it cost £ 769 or $899 it's also a fair bit cheaper Than the phoenix8 making the UR you Stand out a bit in garment range a bit More than it did before where it was Almost just a slightly more expensive Longer lasting Phoenix it's got a 51 mm Case like the largest Phoenix 8 uh it's Thicker than that watch though it's 15.7 Mm it is quite a lightweight watch Though it's 57 G 63 G with the nylon Strap which again is a little bit Lighter than the Phoenix 8 one of the Focuses with the uro 3 garment say was To make it a lightweight watch it's got A titanium bezin back with the usual Kind of plastic Pol in between that and Then you have a sapphire crystal screen And it comes with the nylon band as Standard you have a memory and pixel Screen like the Phoenix 8 solar it's got Solar panels running around the outside Of that screen these have been improved
Since the previous model of the uro to Harvest more energy from the Sun and They no longer cover the whole screen so You should get better visibility of the Screen with the urro 3 compared to Previous models cuz there aren't those Solar panels built in across the entire Screen it's not a dive proof watch like The Phoenix 8 but it is still waterproof Rated to 108m you don't have the mic and Speaker on the phoenix8 either that's Another big difference between the new Watches does have a flashlight you got The latest Optical heart rate sensor From Garmin the Gen 5 Optical sensor you Obviously got dual band GPS and the Array of usual sensors like a barometric Altimeter pulse oximeter that kind of Thing in general the focus is making This a lightweight Adventure prooof Watch with a very long battery life and That battery life certainly is a Standout feature on the uro 3 especially If you are in sunny conditions because These new solar panels really can add a Lot of time to your battery life if you Are in sunny conditions but you're Looking at you know up to 36 Days of use In watch mode but that's going to you Know really depend on how much activity You're doing and with all satellite Systems on the GPS is going to last you 80 odd hours which can go to 144 hours With the solar charging so yeah very
Impressive batter life lightweight watch Doesn't have some of the smart features You get on the phoenix8 but does come in At a cheaper price and now offers quite A compelling alternative to the Phoenix Rather than just being a more expensive Version of [Music] It starting with a lightend and that Boosted battery life is a big appeal the Enduro 2 has long been my go-to Primarily because of the big monthlong Battery life that you get tends to mean That you only really have to charge the Watch 12 times a year even with heavy Training usage the uro 3 obviously Offers even more amped up GPS tracking And staying power on paper the Garmin 3 Uro solar battery life Rises across the Board in testing it lived up to billing 2 when you're not running it's super Stingy the average overnight burn was Just 1% over 24 hours without any Workouts the Enduro 3 just shed 3% for Me a 90minut running in normal mode Burned 3% a 3-hour marathon using the Multiband max accuracy mode burned 5% While my 8 hour five alleys Ultra using The normal power mode and sat IQ torch Just 14% And for General usage in my Test I got close to 20 days before I Needed to charge the watch that was with Around 8 hours of GPS runtime often in The highest settings and with
Notifications on so you can eek out and Get longer out of this if some of those Runs come in lower GPS settings now the Enduro 3 Aesthetics are simpler there's Less bezel there's more screen and I Like the slightly more minimal looks You've got it's still a rugged and Adventure ready looking watch it's just A bit less Hench than the Phoenix at 62 Gam the uro 3 is also marginally lighter It shaves 10% off the weight of the uro 2 back to what it was for the uro that's Always welcome not only making it more 24/7 wear friendly than the 95 G Phoenix8 solar 51 mil but that weight Saving plus the fact it ships with a Nylon band is a win I find it reduces The wobble on the wrist helps keep that Optical sensor in place place which in Theory should boost the accuracy of your Readouts as well but generally makes it More comfortable to wear over long long Runs now ditching the screen covering Solar lens also makes the screen Brighter in my tests I found the Enduro 3 easy to read in most like conditions But I had to fire the backlight at times To punch up the visibility sort of fully And it's nowhere near as crisp and Colorful when you put it up alongside The phoenix8 AMOLED which I did on Occasion you do notice the difference But without that side by side you're Going to be happy with how this screen
Performs now the urro 3 is a highly Competent Navigator with mapping up Upgrades that add terrain Contours on Your topoactive Maps Dynamic round trip Routing and route guidance that can Update mid-run to hit a specified Distance if you go off course it's easy To create roots on the Fly I love that Bit all upload courses downloaded from Stra and third parties for races in Testing I plugged the five Valley Ultra Race route into the Enduro 3 and I have To say the off course alert saved me a Couple of times on race day from doing Extra miles I didn't want to do I love Clim Pro as well knowing how many climbs You have left to conquer during an ultra Is dead dead handy so is seeing how far It is to each individual Summit and this Thing does that really really nicely There's a new user interface to just Like the Garmin Phoenix 8 with tweaks to How you start runs change settings and Access things like morning reports and I Find that also much easier to use Quicker access to settings at Key times Like right before you're about to launch Into your activity on a run you can go And tweak Things based on that activity Or general watch settings really easily From where you are on the screen so Start off with things that I've about my Time with the gin ino3 and I think the Thing that has really stood out for me
In my time has been that kind of huge Battery life much like the injo 2 this Is a watch that really Can Go the Distance and I found in my testing and I've been using alongside the Phoenix 8 For most of my testing you know it Lasted longer than that watch off a Single charge obviously that's got an AMOLED display so that undeniably is Going to drain quicker the uro 3 lasted Kind of well over 3 weeks for me I think It has the capability of going longer Than that if you are kind of more Stringent in terms of the GPS modes that You are using I think in terms of the Features you're using on a on a regular Bases that you probably necessarily Don't care about you know and you know Making use of those kind of battery Saver power manager modes that garming Does offer here on the Garmin Ino 3 and My next thing kind of really feeds into That which is you know that Improvement In terms of the solar charging Technology now I was fortunate to be Able to take this away in sunia Conditions kind of use it and get a Sense of you know the promised Improvements in terms of how efficient And how well the new kind of um powerg Glass kind of Technology display Technology that Garmin uses here can uh Or effectively you know improve that Kind of battery performance now you know
I've kind of been out for maybe half an Hour an hour and I've seen those kind of You know 1% kind of 2% kind of creep up In the right kind of optimal kind of Light and kind of sun condition so I Could see if you were out there you know Out doing a kind of multi-stage race You're out hot conditions and you were Worried about the kind of dropping Battery life you know when outside of That running time you can just see it's Quite evident that that battery life Does kind of you know gain and obviously Those improvements have been made I Think the other thing for me and Generally the Run Track experience has Just been very good for me you know what I'd expect to see from a gin very Similar to the Garmin in Juro 2 I think Ultimately the integration of that Powerg glass um display technology now It's just so much nicer you lose that Kind of red kind of tint you got on the Previous watches which I think you know Made it a slightly kind of ugly look I Think with the injur 2 but you kind of Maybe you know accepted it just because You're going to get that bigger battery Life now you don't get that you get a Clearer screen really making sure you Can absorb that information uh you know When you are using it for runs and it Doesn't feel like you're getting that Weird kind of red tint which you know I
Think you know it needed to change you Know I wasn't expecting G to improve That but ultimately in terms of the new Technology that it's adding here has Allowed it to do that so it comes to my Likes it starts with the design of the Garm uro 3 I like the look of it I like The little yellow accents they've had on The uro I really like the fact it is Quite a lightweight watch despite being Very big like it still does feel quite Big on my skinny wrists but it wasn't Actually that bad it doesn't feel that Noticeable and it is lighter than the Phoenix 8 which is you impressive and Surprising given that it is a thicker Watch with a bigger battery but all Around it's a really good looking watch And the screen is certainly a bit more Visible I think than the inj Euro 2 and Kind of previous models of the Phoenix You Know It suffers from the fact I was Testing it at the same time as the Phoenix8 which has that really bright Screen but if you want that memory and Pixel display for the extra battery life You are still getting quite a nice Screen here with a good display and the Battery life is obviously pretty Outstanding I've gone through a couple Of Cycles on the watch it's lasting we Between 17 and 19 days on a charge That's pretty heavy use like I've been Running pretty much every day with the
Watch started marathon training so the Runs are quite long I've had the GPS in Auto Select mode so depending on kind of The conditions you're in like how much Battery life will'll be using so it Tends to range between about 1% per hour In good conditions which is obviously Excellent and to more like 2% an hour if It's slightly trickier GPS conditions I've had notifications coming into it as Well and you really could easily extend The battery life on the watch either by Using a less intensive GPS mode just Using GPS only or having sunnier Conditions like I think I averaged about 30k Lux hours a day when I was using the Watch which isn't very much so those Solar panels just aren't doing a lot for Me if you are in sunar conditions if you Spend a lot of time outside if you're Using it for hiking you're going to see That battery life jump considerably cuz The solar panels do work very well when You do spend a bit of time in the Sun But there's just not always a lot of sun Available here in the UK where been Testing the watch and another big like Is the accuracy it's been really spot on For me like with a GPS you expect this From Garmin their dual band watches have Been at the Forefront of GPS accuracy I Think in the last few years CTO is right Up there as well now but yeah you get Exceptional GPS performance whether
You're in Auto Select mode or if you Stick to multiband which will bring that Battery life down a fair bit and Actually the heart rate monitoring has Been really good so it's a big watch but That Gen 5 sensor I think since we first Tested it on the Phoenix 7 Pro and epic Uh Pro I found it a really reliable one Like I haven't needed to connect a heart Rate strap to this watch throughout Testing like it's had some wobbles like If I go and do a sharp Hill session with Kind of 30 seconds up and then jog back Down like it struggles to keep up with a Chest strap when monitoring that kind of Session but actually the inur 3 heart Rate accurac has been very good in track Sessions and in general it's just a Pretty accurate heart rate sensor I Think as we hit the colder months There'll probably be a few more errors Creeping in because Optical heart rate Accuracy isn't always so good in the Cold so probably I'd look at linking the Sensor myself at for certain sessions But overall the accuracy of the watch Has been very good all around and then Lastly I do think this is a good Direction that garmin's taken with this Watch like first two models in Juro both Had slight flaws I think in their design Like the first model didn't have music And maps maps in particular I think was A big Miss from that watch and it was
Expensive and then the second model was Just basically a phoenix X Plus because You' got a little bit more battery life But basically the same feature set now They've removed a couple of features That I think a lot of people won't be That bothered about on the phoenix like Being able to dive with the watch or use A mic and speaker things like that I Think it's wise to get rid of those to Make a cheaper watch that focuses on Being lightweight having a long battery Life while still having really all the Key garment features so yeah I think It's a good move it's obv great to see a Price come [Music] Down on to dislikes and there's not Really much to dislike about the perance Of the uro 3 but even though it is Cheaper than the previous model is still Quite expensive and I think the big Competition to this watch will be older Gins like the uro 2 is more expensive on List price but I'd expect that to come Down in sales quite a lot as we're Heading into Black Friday and if you're Looking at things like the Phoenix 7 Pro In sales you can get them cheaper than This watch then it'll be worth going for Those because you're going to get pretty Much the same feature set but you might Get a much lower price you might get the Battery life of the Enduro 3 but you are
Still going to get exceptional watches That have a very similar core experience That's the thing with Garmin top watches And there are a lot of them now and There's several generations of all of Them that actually offer very similar Software features all around like a Slightly different user interface and Things like that but you're not going to Miss a lot by going for an older watch And you might get it a lot cheaper and Then the other negative I have because You know is a negative it's not really Negative for me but obviously you don't Get some of the features from the Phoenix8 like if you do want to go Diving if you are invested in the mic And speaker which can be useful at times Then inur 3 is now missing a couple of Things whereas with the uro 2 you were Getting everything that you had on the Phoenix but like I say I don't think That's real negative I think this is the Right idea from Garmin but it's just Worth noting you might not get some of Those bits and Bobs so on to the things That I found a little bit more Challenging I had some heart rate Wobbles heart rate for me was a bit hit And miss at times during interval Sessions with sharper intensity changes I found the Enduro 3 sometimes shot Higher than the chest STP it's not Uncommon for optical but it happened
Here on the longer Lakes Ultra that I Did it also struggled with changes in Effort on the climbs that I did and the Descents and also with the stops at aid Station picking up where my heart rate Might have dropped I also had a 2hour Period towards the end of that race Where it consistently read much higher Than the chest strap and fed notably Worse than the Phoenix 8 during the New Forest Marathon it captured the steadily Increasing intensity more reliably it Also matched the polar h10 chest trap Beat for beat aside from a few sections Where it either dropped lower or it had The odd Lurch higher so steady sort of Intensity runs were much better now the Uro only comes in one 51 mil size so if You're dainty or wristed or if you want The features and function just in a more Compact watch you're going to have to Look at the Phoenix and forgo a bit of That extra battery life that you might Get now maybe the fenix8 solar 43 mil or The older Phoenix 7 Pro solar 42 mil Might fill the Gap but yeah you can't Get the Enduro long battery life or Fully long battery life aside from this 51 case now I said this about the Phoenix 8 and this is maybe a minor Gripe but it's something I found on both Of these new watches maybe that's the New software when you go to load the Stats of a recent activity a run it
Seems to take ages and ages and ages to Load in I've not noticed this lag Anywhere else with any other bits of the Software but it's very notably long when You're trying to get back into to review Those Post Run stats so it's definitely Not a deal breaker but you will notice That there is a bit of lag on that one Specific thing so in terms of things I Disliked about my time with the uro 3 I Think dislike is probably the wrong word To use here I think you know overall my Time's been very good with in Juro 3 is A very good watch to use for running um I think ultimately what it comes down to Balls down to really is I've been using The Phoenix 8 Amed alongside it for most Of my testing um also just looking at The kind of General changes that Garmin Has made here with its watches what Changed for the uro 2 to the uro 3 from Kind of run tracking experience I think The first thing that really kind of Stood out for me is the kind of change With that kind of new software platform The rejigged user interface moving Things around a little bit I'm a little Bit on the fence about whether those Changes have made it a better watch to Interact with Um you know kind of moving those kind of Apps into the connectivity screen um you Know I don't know if those changes need To be made but I think over over longer
Term using we'll see whether that has Been uh the kind of changes that gin Needed to make I think the other thing For me is looking at those battery Numbers I think ultimately obviously This watch has got you know incredible Battery life but I think if you look at How it compares to inj2 on paper I think The real improvements really are in the Kind of solar charging battery numbers And I think unless you're in those kind Of optimal kind of conditions to benefit From that then you know those those Numbers probably aren't going to be that Massively useful to you ultimately I Think the kind of numbers outside of That generally are not that you know Extremely you know you know massively Improved from the injur 2 I think the Other thing for me is generally the Run Track experience has been very Consistent with my time with the injur 2 Similar senses obviously you are getting A better kind of heart rate s or a later Version of garmin's heart rate sensor Technology but I think ultimately you Know I would still be using a heart rate Mon chest trp and I think you know Obviously that's what I'd be doing in Juro 2 as well too I think most people Would if they cared about that heart Rate data but things like GPS and General training and Analysis feels all Very similar for me in terms of what it
It's kind of been telling me um really Kind of offering that kind of guidance So yeah I think ultim I said I haven't Disliked my time with the urro 3 I think Ultimately it's things about you know Have these changes made it a necessarily Hugely better watch than the in Duro 2 And also you know the changes gin has Made to make it's watch is in general Better you know running companions have Those changes been you know all for the Better I'm definitely still a little bit On the fence about [Music] That so my vote on the Gan in jro 3 is That this is another battery Powerhouse From Garmin and if you are willing to Spend and you want to kind of really Feature packed running watch and Garmin Watch that really prioritizes battery Life that goes for weeks as opposed to a Week and then ultimately that's what You're going to get from the uro 3 in Terms of being an upgrade on uro 2 I Think there's a few areas I think maybe Might win uro fans over to make that Upgrade I think the main one for me First would be obviously you are getting A watch that is built on garmin's latest Kind of software platform that won't Roll back to the inur 2 and if you like The look of that kind of re kind of Vamped kind of user interface then Ultimately that may be a reason to make
That Upgrade I think also the other thing for Me here is how well integrated the kind Of power glass that kind of solar Charging display technology is on the Inju 3 compared to inua do it's less Prominent I think you ultim makes it a Nicer watch to kind of look at and look Over your kind of data and you know all The other screens that are available on The Garmin injo 3 and it just feels you Know both of my time when I've been able To use it in Sun conditions that it Feels more effective in terms of kind of Harvesting that energy to kind of boost A battery life um I think another thing To look at ultimately is that kind of Battery life I think there are Improvements in some areas on the inur 3 Compared to urro 2 and not necessarily All areas and I think you know Ultimately the injo 2 still is going to Offer you a strong bat of performance Overall that kind of call kind of strong Run tracking experience as well too I Think ultimately it's cheaper now you Know it's 40 pound difference in the UK From the uh two to the three and I I Imagine that will probably drop even More over the coming months now with the Inura out and being out for a little bit Longer so I don't think it's a Necessarily a instant upgrade for Everyone one but I think those are the
Key reasons I would potentially upgrade I think if you look at the other watches That you're inevitably probably going to Compare it to I think you look at the Phoenix range which has a little bit More in terms of the Smartwatch features Obviously has the kind of Amed display Option as well too so you know and a Slightly more durable build in terms of If you kind of using it for kind of Recreational diving as well too those Would be the reasons to go and pay more For the Phoenix range but ultimately I Think you know everything else is pretty Much here on the uro 3 I think you look At other watches is you know outside of Garmin's range we're looking at things Like corus vertic 2s I think probably The sunto vertical which again you know Offer strong battery life you know good Core run tracking experience you know Mapping and navigation support as well Too but I think ultimate as a package I Think Garing offers something a bit more Comprehensive a bit more slick in terms Of that experience uh and I would you Know ideally probably be still be going For the Enduro 3 um given you know what You're getting here in terms of Experence so yeah for me I think another Uro watch that is you know a battery Powerhouse you know an upgrade in a few Ways on the urro 2 a more affordable Option than the newer Phoenix watches
And probably better than what else is Out there from its rival Brands now if Your priority is long battery life there Isn't really a watch to rival the Staying power of the Garment uro 3 corus Vertic 2 in some settings maybe but There's more to this good-looking Adventure ready running watch than Endurance alone if you can live without The AMOLED screen The Voice tools and The dive skills that you'll get with the New Phoenix 8 It packs the features durability and Enough accuracy I think to rival its Much pricier stable mate it's also Lighter and more comfortable to wear 24/7 to unlock the Myriad of Fitness Recovery and health insights you know Super comprehensive watch this if you Factor in the price drop that you're Getting for the uro 3 and you've got a Serious alternative I think to the new Phoenix 8 particularly the non- AMOLED Solar editions if you already own the Uro 2 I wouldn't really bother upgrading If you can find a knockdown deal on the Uro 2 I'd be tempted to take that above The uro 3 there's probably enough Battery life in the Gen 2 of the uro Though you wouldn't get the UI updates It's almost packing as much in all the Major areas however if you are in the Market for a brand new watch you want to Go rugged long life and you're thinking
About the Phoenix versus the uro 3 those Two top models then I think definitely Have a very very close look at the uro 3 So I think the uro 3 is a really great Update from Garmin actually really shows That Garmin is thinking about and Listening to what people want from the Enduro line they brought the price down They kept the key features it's a Lightweight adventurous watch that has Amazing battery life and still loads and Loads of key garment features I think I Almost think it could stand to lose a Few more in the name of reducing it Further or increasing the battery life Like if they Dro music from the watch I Wouldn't be too gutted I think that' be A good idea as well and anything that Just prioritizes the key stuff this Watch does you know long-term tracking Really rugged build nice light design Maps now for those kind of longdistance Adventurous activities you know it's a Really really well-designed watch and The fact the price has come down is Obviously great news I think it's Definitely a better value watch than the Phoenix 8 solar model I mean you haven't Got the AMOLED screen here I like an AMOLED screen but I think if you're this Deep into the review of the uro 3 you're Probably more set on looking at a memory And pixel screen and this is a really Good screen on a really good watch like
I like the brightness of an Amal screen Myself I don't think it's really a stick To beat the uro 3 with it's just a Different type of watch and it does what It does really well so i' like I said in The dislikes I'd still be looking at Older garments in a sale first I think In general when you comes to G top Watches like I don't think I'd ever Really go and buy them fresh out the Door new at their full price because They're really expensive watches and There are now so several generations of Amazing watches so you're going to get Really good deals on older models in the Sale look out for the Phoenix 7 and 7 Pro in sales first you know you might be Able to save literally hundreds of Pounds compared to this watch and you Are going to get a very similar core Experience if not quite as long battery Life or something like that like there's Nothing you're really missing by going For those older watches in my opinion so I'd look at those first especially if You look at the Phoenix 7 Pro which has The same heart rate sensor as this watch Which I do think is an upgrade on what We've seen before from Garmin then Looking around other brands so one of The big competitors is the choros verx 2s which I do think will probably Outlast this watch very slightly I tend To get more over 20 days of use out of
The coros verx 2s but part of the reason For that is I don't think the screen's Quite as good as on the Garmin and Juro 3 or the Gins and just get a lot more Features on Gins like you're going to Get much better Maps you're going to get Some smart features like those music Features I mentioned NFC payments you Can get better training analysis more Insightful training analysis I think you Are going to get more features and you Get a flashlight as well which is Obviously pretty handy so I do think the Corus verx 2s is a really good watch you Probably get it a bit cheaper keeper I Think I like the design and the features You get on the uro 3 more and I'd be Prepared to pay you know a fair bit more To get them but you know if it's a big Price difference that is a really good Watch as well if you're really just Focusing on battery life in particular And the vertic 2s also is pretty Accurate especially on GPS and then you Got the sunto vertical as well which is Another pretty expensive watch another Very longlasting watch another really Accurate watch good looking watch all Around once again you can get a lot more Features with the Garmin injo 3 or other Garmin so I think once you hit this top End of watches I think unless You' got a Really compelling reason to go for a Different brand if like if you really
Like the design of the sunto vertical You want the allout battery life of the Choros I do think Garmin make the best Watches in this area and I think uro 3 Is you know the best of this kind of Memory and pixel side of things unless You really need the diving or the mic And speaker on the Phoenix so yeah I Think it's a really good watch i' Probably look at older models first I do Like what Garmin has done with the uro 3 Here in making it cheaper stripping out Some features that a lot of people will Find Superfluous so yeah really enjoyed Using [Music] It that's all of the G injo 3 let us Know what you think in the comments Below please do like and subscribe ring The little bell and we'll see you next Time