Amazfit Bip vs Garmin Fenix 5s (GPS and Heart Rate Comparison)

This might seem like an unfair or strange match-up but I’ve been going back and testing out some of the watches that I reviewed several months ago.  The [easyazon_link identifier=”B07CRSK5DM” locale=”US” tag=”thejournier-20″]Amazfit Bip[/easyazon_link] (on Amazon) has received a number of firmware updates since my first review back in March of 2018 so I wanted to see if those updates affected the accuracy of its GPS primarily but also its heart rate sensor.

Amazfit Bip Current Price on Amazon: [amazon_link asins=’B07BHNQ7R1′ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thejournier-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’a77c7d70-7b25-11e8-b58c-35de41687ec8′] (Click price to view item)
Garmin Fenix 5s Current Price on Amazon: [amazon_link asins=’B073X3XQ86′ template=’PriceLink’ store=’thejournier-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’cd4641d4-7b25-11e8-9f09-7dc8fd3f705d’] (Click price to view item) | Check price on Walmart

The [easyazon_link identifier=”B073X3XQ86″ locale=”US” tag=”thejournier-20″]Fenix 5s[/easyazon_link] (also on Amazon) has also had a number of updates and all quality fitness trackers and GPS watches will get periodic updates.  That’s something to look for when choosing a fitness tracker because they all need a little tweaking here and there, especially if it is a new product.

It’s important to point out that just because the Garmin Fenix costs a lot more than most fitness trackers doesn’t mean that it is always more accurate than every other fitness tracker on the planet for every feature. There’s other very good fitness trackers out there.

However, I’ve tested and used the Fenix numerous times and know it to be very reliable and trustworthy. That’s why I use the Fenix as a comparison to pretty much every other fitness tracker I review.  It’s a good baseline to start from.

For sleep tracking, I compare other watches to the Fitbit Versa because I think Fibit does sleep tracking better than anyone else. I need to put this information in the F.A.Q section I guess…

Anyway, let’s get right down to it and compare the results of the Amazfit Bip versus the Garmin Fenix 5s.

The first comparison is of a bike ride.  This was along residential streets and a bike bath with elevation changes as well as some areas that were densely forested and other areas that were more open.

Cycling Comparison

As you can see from the table above the results were nearly identical for almost each metric.  I was surprised!

In my original review of the Amazfit Bip I didn’t test cycling so I’m not sure if this is an improvement but at any rate it did good, at least compared to the Fenix.

Maps (Bip on left or top, Fenix 5s on right or below)

Speed

Heart Rate Comparison

Walking/Hiking Comparison

In the original review I did test the Bip for walking/hiking and it tested well.  The GPS struggled a bit in more densely forested areas but did very good in open areas.

So I took it on another test along the same path I did before and here are the results below compared against the Fenix 5s and my phone’s GPS running MapMyRun.

I was also wearing the Wahoo TICKR chest heart rate monitor synced with MapMyRun and those results are included in the table below.

Again, the Bip did good compared against the Fenix and my phone’s GPS and the Wahoo TICKR.

When I was first reviewing the Bip it was in March before their were leaves on the trees.  This is the end of June and I was expecting possibly a poorer performance sense there is now dense foliage but it didn’t seem to affect any of the devices.

Maps (Bip left or top, Fenix right or bottom)

Heart Rate Comparison

This was a rather leisurely early morning walk so I didn’t exactly get my heart to pounding but still results were similar between all three heart rate sensors.  The Wahoo TICKR shows some major dips in my heart rate but I”m assuming those are anomalies, possibly the sensor temporarily lost my heart beat at those times. I’m pretty sure my heart didn’t really do that.

Again, like the heart rate results of the bike ride, the Amazfit Bip and the Fenix 5s were almost identical.

Wahoo TICKR synced with MapMyRun

So what can we gather from this information? Well, I think it shows that the Amazfit Bip can compare well against probably the best fitness tracker/GPS device on the market today, at least for bicycling and walking.

Of course, the Fenix 5s has a lot more features than the Bip beyond what was shown here and supports many more activities but for most people the Amazfit Bip is probably going to be enough unless you’re wanting navigation for hiking or support for swimming, etc.

>>View the [easyazon_link identifier=”B07CRSK5DM” locale=”US” tag=”thejournier-20″]Amazfit Bip[/easyazon_link] on Amazon
>>View the [easyazon_link identifier=”B073X3XQ86″ locale=”US” tag=”thejournier-20″]Garmin Fenix 5s[/easyazon_link] on Amazon