Garmin has launched the Enduro 2, an overhaul of its ultrarunning and trekking sports watch, made for extreme endurance.
The Enduro 2 doesn't look like a huge update on the surface, but dig deeper and Garmin has significant improvements to battery life, build quality, mapping and GPS accuracy.
To the naked eye, not too much has changed. It still comes in an enormous 51mm case, comfy nylon strap, with a Power Sapphire solar charging screen, with the familiar 280x280 transflective display.
But there are changes to the built. The Enduro 2 only launches in titanium, which before was a premium option. That’s a good move in our book, as the stainless steel Enduro we reviewed in 2021 was too bulky, heavy and uncomfortable to recommend. At the time, we urged people to choose the titanium option, which was far more manageable.
However, the titanium build contributes to a starter price of $1,099/£929 – which makes it a seriously expensive option.
Garmin Enduro vs Enduro 2
| Enduro 2 | Enduro | |
| Screen | 1.4-inch solar PowerGlass | 1.4-inch solar PowerGlass |
| Case size | 51mm | 51mm |
| Weight | 70g titanium | 71 steel 61g titanium |
| Battery | 34 days (46 days with solar) | 50 days/61 days solar |
| GPS battery | 110 hours (150 solar) 68 hours All Systems GNSS |
GPS: 70 days/80 days solar |
| Price | $1,099/£929 | From $799/£699 |
The Enduro 2 also gets the built-in LED torch, which we saw launch on the Fenix 7X, but according to Garmin, this time it’s 2x as bright.
Unsurprisingly, the Enduro 2 now offers multiband GNSS support, which has been rolling out across the Garmin range. We’ve found improved accuracy in built-up areas using the All Systems on the Fenix 7 and Forerunner 255 so it's good to see that here. But naturally, the Enduro 2 brings this extra accuracy with extreme battery life numbers.
Surprisingly, all out smartwatch battery life is actually lower on the Enduro 2 than the original.
But standard GPS battery life jumps from 70 hours to 110 hours (and 150 hours if you get a full dose of Solar exposure).
All systems GNSS battery life is 68 hours (81 hours with solar) – so essentially the Enduro 2 can offer same battery life as its predecessor, using much more powerful and accurate GPS tracking.
Just for a laugh, if you put the Enduro 2 max battery GPS mode (for hiking) you can get 264 hours – and expedition mode will offer 77 days. Ludicrous longevity.
It also benefits from SatIQ, a new Garmin technology that can disable the battery sapping GNSS when the signal is too poor to derive usefulness from it. We’ve previously seen it on Forerunner 955, Fenix 7X and Epix 2.
The Enduro also gets TOPO mapping, and NextFork, which is a feature that counts down the distance to forks in the trail to help stop you going wrong.
Elsewhere, things on the Enduro 2 are the same – with the full gamut of trail running features, including tracking of rest stops in aid stations, ClimbPro analysis of hills on routes, waypoints and points of interest, trail run VO2 Max, and full performance and recovery analytics.
But as we mentioned, all this doesn’t come cheap. The Enduro 2 starts at $1,099/£929 – making it one of Garmin’s most expensive sports watches, and only those that push the extremes of endurance and performance need apply.
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.