Garmin fēnix 3 vs Garmin fēnix 9

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fēnix 3 compared with fēnix 9

	Garminfēnix 3	Garminfēnix 9
Overview
Released
Released	2015	August 2026
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	51 mm	43 mm, 47 mm or 51 mm
Panel
Panel	Memory-in-pixel	OLED
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	1.2-inch (30.4 mm) sunlight-readable 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
Screen protection	–	Sapphire crystal lens
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	No	Yes
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	No	Yes
Skin temperature
Skin temperature	No	Yes
Sleep apnoea alerts
Sleep apnoea alerts	No	No
High blood pressure alerts
High blood pressure alerts	No	No
Body composition
Body composition	No	No
Fall detection
Fall detection	No	No
Crash detection
Crash detection	No	No
GPS
GPS	Single-band	Dual-band (L1 and L5)
Water resistance
Water resistance	100 m	100 m
Sensors
Sensors	GPS, GLONASS, barometric altimeter, three-axis compass and accelerometer. Heart rate requires an optional ANT+ sensor.	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
Health features	Steps and sleep tracking; no built-in optical heart-rate sensor.	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
Fitness features	Running, cycling, pool and open-water swimming, triathlon, hiking and skiing profiles; breadcrumb courses, TracBack, VO2 max estimate, recovery advisor and race predictor when paired with a heart-rate sensor. Running dynamics require an HRM-Run 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
Safety features	–	Incident detection during select activities; assistance; LiveTrack; live event sharing (Android only); LED flashlight
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 42 days	Up to 29 days
In low-power mode
In low-power mode	–	Up to 42 days
Mobile data option
Mobile data option	No	No
Works with
Works with	iPhone and Android	iPhone and Android
Storage
Storage	–	64 GB
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to six weeks in watch mode, 20 hours in GPS training mode or 50 hours in UltraTrac mode, according to the grey model's specification.	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
Charging	Rechargeable 300 mAh lithium-ion battery with USB charging cable.	Garmin charging/data cable with proprietary plug
Connectivity
Connectivity	Bluetooth and ANT+; smart notifications, Connect IQ apps, Garmin Connect, LiveTrack through a paired phone and phone music controls.	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
Storage	32 MB built-in memory, with 23 MB available; stores up to 1,000 waypoints, 50 routes and 100 saved tracks.	Up to 7,000 songs; twice the map storage and 50% more RAM than the fēnix 8
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	82 g	44 g (better)
Software
Software	Garmin	Garmin
Case materials
Case materials	Stainless steel EXO antenna/bezel and fibre-reinforced housing with 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
Size	51 x 51 x 16 mm; 82 g.	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
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
Colours	Grey case with black 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
In the box	–	fēnix 9, charging/data cable, documentation