Garmin fēnix 3 HR vs Garmin fēnix 9
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| Garminfēnix 3 HR | Garminfēnix 9 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | 2016 | August 2026 |
| Display | ||
| Case sizes | 51.5 mm | 43 mm, 47 mm or 51 mm |
| Panel | Memory-in-pixel | OLED |
| Always-on display | Yes | Yes |
| Display detail | 1.2-inch (30.4 mm) transflective colour MIP display, 218 x 218 pixels, with button controls. | AMOLED colour touchscreen; 43 mm is 1.3″ (33 mm) at 416 x 416 pixels; 47 mm and 51 mm are 1.4″ (35.6 mm) at 454 x 454 pixels; Garmin says it's more than twice as bright as the fēnix 8's |
| Screen protection | Domed sapphire lens. | Sapphire crystal lens |
| Health and fitness | ||
| ECG | No | Yes |
| Blood oxygen | No | Yes |
| Skin temperature | No | Yes |
| Sleep apnoea alerts | No | No |
| High blood pressure alerts | No | No |
| Body composition | No | No |
| Fall detection | No | No |
| Crash detection | No | No |
| GPS | Single-band | Dual-band (L1 and L5) |
| Water resistance | 100 m | 100 m |
| Sensors | GPS, GLONASS, Garmin Elevate optical wrist heart rate, barometric altimeter, three-axis compass and accelerometer. | Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate monitor; Pulse Ox blood oxygen monitor; barometric altimeter; compass; gyroscope; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensor; depth sensor to 40 m |
| Health features | All-day heart rate, steps and sleep tracking; intensity minutes. | Garmin ECG App (atrial fibrillation); Pulse Ox; skin temperature; high and low heart rate alerts; HRV status; health status; sleep score, sleep coach, sleep alignment and nap detection; breathing variations; Body Battery; all-day stress; Health Snapshot; lifestyle logging; women's health tracking with past ovulation estimates; jet lag adviser |
| Fitness features | Running, cycling, swimming, triathlon, hiking, skiing, golf and rowing profiles; breadcrumb courses and TracBack; VO2 max estimate, recovery advisor and race predictor. Stride length, ground-contact balance and vertical ratio require a compatible chest strap. | More than 100 activity profiles; stamina zones and stamina curve; Garmin Epic activity stories in Garmin Connect; training readiness and training status; running tolerance; running economy and step speed loss (with HRM 600); VO2 max, endurance score and hill score; PacePro; ClimbPro; Garmin Coach and Garmin Triathlon Coach plans; indoor rowing VO2 max and power curve (with a power-meter rower); rucking with pack weight up to 100 kg; preloaded TopoActive maps with perspective view, dynamic round-trip routing, NextFork and Up Ahead; ski resort and 43,000+ golf course maps; scuba (single gas, air and nitrox to 40% oxygen) and apnoea diving to 40 m |
| Safety features | – | Incident detection during select activities; assistance; LiveTrack; live event sharing (Android only); LED flashlight |
| Battery and connections | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 14 days | Up to 29 days |
| In low-power mode | – | Up to 42 days |
| Mobile data option | No | No |
| Works with | iPhone and Android | iPhone and Android |
| Storage | – | 64 GB |
| Battery life detail | Up to two weeks in smartwatch mode with 24/7 heart rate, 16 hours in GPS training mode or 40 hours in UltraTrac mode. Garmin's launch release also stated up to three weeks in watch mode without the same smartwatch use. | 43, 47 and 51 mm respectively, up to 10, 16 and 29 days in smartwatch mode; 15, 24 and 42 days in low power watch mode; 18, 30 and 54 hours of GPS activity in Normal mode; 15, 25 and 45 hours in Max Accuracy (multi-band); 49, 81 and 145 hours in Max Battery; 7, 12 and 21 hours with music; 10, 18 and 31 days in Expedition mode |
| Charging | Rechargeable 300 mAh lithium-ion battery with USB charging cable. | Garmin charging/data cable with proprietary plug |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth, ANT+ and Wi-Fi; smart notifications, Connect IQ, Garmin Connect and LiveTrack through a paired phone. | Bluetooth, ANT+ and Wi-Fi; multi-band GPS with GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou and SatIQ; Garmin Pay; speaker and microphone for calls and the phone's voice assistant with a paired phone; voice commands |
| Storage | 32 MB built-in memory, with 23 MB available; up to 1,000 waypoints and 30 routes. | Up to 7,000 songs; twice the map storage and 50% more RAM than the fēnix 8 |
| Design | ||
| Weight (lightest version) | 86.1 g | 44 g (better) |
| Software | Garmin | Garmin |
| Case materials | PVD stainless steel bezel and buttons, reinforced housing and treated silicone band; 10 ATM water rating. | Fibre-reinforced polymer case with titanium rear cover; titanium bezel; leakproof inductive buttons; 10 ATM water rating; dive rated to 40 m (EN 13319); tested to US military standards for thermal, shock and water resistance; operating temperature –20 °C to 45 °C |
| Size | 51.5 x 51.5 x 16 mm; 86.1 g with silicone band. | 43 mm is 43 x 43 x 13.8 mm and 44 g case only (61 g with band); 47 mm is 47 x 47 x 13.8 mm and 53 g (75 g); 51 mm is 51 x 51 x 14.7 mm and 65 g (91 g) |
| Bands | – | QuickFit silicone bands, 20 mm (43 mm), 22 mm (47 mm) or 26 mm (51 mm); silicone band fits 108–182 mm, 125–208 mm or 127–210 mm wrists |
| Colours | Dark grey case with black silicone band. | 43 mm in Titanium with Fog Grey or Pebble Grey band; 47 mm and 51 mm in Titanium with Pebble Grey band or Carbon Grey DLC Titanium with Black band |
| In the box | – | fēnix 9, charging/data cable, documentation |
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