Hello, today we will talk about screen protections on Garmin smartwatches. I recently purchased a Garmin Fenix 6X Pro (Gorilla glass), which I got for an excellent price ($420) as the recent Fenix 7 series undercut the price.
The sapphire version was $150-200 more, so I decided to try to save this time. I will tell you whether I succeeded later in this article.
To avoid ongoing scratches, you need screen protection for the Non-Sapphire Garmin watch version.
Gorilla Glass VS Sapphire Crystal
Let’s briefly discuss the pros and cons of Gorilla Glass and Sapphire Crystal. These were the main things that helped me decide to pay more and feel calm about scratches on the glass or save and maybe use protective screen glass.
Gorilla glass is chemically strengthened glass, and Sapphire crystal is made from a process of crystallizing pure aluminum oxide at very high temperatures.
Gorilla Glass Pros
- Gorilla glass is always much cheaper than Sapphire Crystal.
- Gorilla glass performs better screen readability.
- It is proven that sapphire crystal screens break much easier than mineral or gorilla glass.
Gorilla Glass Cons
- It is much easier to scratch than the Sapphire crystal.
Sapphire Crystal Pros
- Good anti-scratch protection.
- No need to think about protective screen glass.
Sapphire Crystal Cons
- It is much more expensive than mineral or Gorilla glass.
- It is easier to break than mineral or Gorilla glass.
- Worse screen readability, more reflections.
What does the scratch test Gorilla glass vs. Sapphire crystal look like?
There is a video test of durability test on Sapphire and Gorilla Glass DX, where a guy showed how differently it performs. As expected, the sapphire version resisted scratches better than Gorilla glass.
Nevertheless, I decided to take a risk and buy a non-sapphire version Garmin watch and try to use it with a protective glass. Well, we almost always stick protective glasses on our phones, which doesn’t seem strange.
Garmin Fenix 6X Pro with screen protector
At first, when I tried to buy screen protectors from local shops, I faced a problem. There was no screen protector for such a massive screen watch. I’ll mention the numbers for the screen sizes if you want to be sure.
So first I bought a simple protective film for phones. The film is not glass, and I cut it with scissors in a round shape. The result may not have been very encouraging, but it was a few days until the ordered protective glass arrived.
That sounds a little paranoid, but I didn’t want a simple scratch on the screen of such a relatively expensive watch to ruin my day.
Garmin watch screen sizes
- Garmin Fenix 5S – 1.2 Inch.
- Garmin Fenix 5 – 1.2 Inch.
- Garmin Fenix 5X – 1.2 Inch.
- Garmin Fenix 6S – 1.2 Inch.
- Garmin Fenix 6 – 1.3 Inch.
- Garmin Fenix 6X – 1.4 Inch.
- Garmin Fenix 7S – 1.2 Inch.
- Garmin Fenix 7 – 1.3 Inch.
- Garmin Fenix 7X – 1.4 Inch.
I bought some HOFI firm screen protectors for my Garmin Fenix 6X Pro, which suited me very well. I checked on amazon, and I can’t find this kind of protective glass anymore, but you can always get another one from Amazon.com (affiliate link).
The protective glass is almost invisible to my eyes, and I had no problems seeing the screen. From me, big thumbs ups. I mean, after a month of wearing protective glass still does not have any scratches. And when it gets some, and if it will be annoying, I change the protective screen glass.
And after some usage, I will sell this watch without scratches on the screen. Win-win. There are some videos of how my watch looks with protective glass on.
Below are some pictures of my Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Watch with the protective glass after a month of use.
And also a short video of how my Garmin watch looks with protective glass on the screen.
Related articles:
- Garmin HRV: Everything you need to know.
- Garmin Acute Load: What you need to know.
- Garmin repair cost. Repair conditions with and without warranty.
- Smartwatch best battery life 2022 (Active HR)
Final verdict
If you have the money and don’t want to put a screen protector on a $500-$800 watch, buy a Garmin watch with a sapphire screen and DLC bezel protection, but if you still want to save money, buy a watch with Gorilla glass and add a screen protector that costs about $5.
