Hook and Loop Quick Dry Watch Band for Fenix 7X / Fenix 6X / Fenix 5X, 26mm Woven Nylon Ultralight Sport Wristband Strap for Garmin Fenix 6X Pro/Sapphire,Fenix 5X Plus,Enduro (Black/Green)

These are surprisingly good quality, they're just like the original, I've had mine for months now and apart from some slight curling at the ends the Velcro is still very strong no matter how many times I've gotten it wet.

same great quality I got when I bought my Garmin Enduro -

My wife and I both have a Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar, so I got this double pack so we each had a spare band. Not advertised is the fact that the pack also comes with 4 spring bars, which are not required at all if your Garmin already has its original 2 fitted, so they can be kept as spares. The bands are very easy to fit, we didn't have to remove the spring bars at all, we just fed the bands through the gap between the watch and the spring bar, it is a bit of a tight fit feeding the little hook sections on each end through, but after that the band slides through easily. Neither my wife or I have particularly thick wrists, and our bands fit well, we do have to loosen off the hook and loop section on both ends to put on/take off the watch though, loosening at just one end (to the point where the hook sections on the band get caught in the gap between the watch and spring bar), doesn't provide quite enough space to pass the watch over our hands. After a few days use the bands seem quite comfortable and durable, I've worn it in the shower a number of times and noticed it also dries quite quickly. Neither of us have noticed any kind of skin irritation or signs of rubbing from the bands either, despite wearing them for long periods of time and during physical activities. Time will tell if the hook and loop connection points hold up, I think that's likely to be the first point of failure in the future, which is to be expected, hook and loop attachments do eventually stop working properly after extended use, also, as shown in the product images, rather than having one long section of hooks on each of the band, instead there are 4 stadium shaped hook sections. I'm not sure why this design was chosen, but I would have more confidence in the band not coming undone if there was just one larger section of hooks on each end so that more contact is made between the hooks and the section of band it's attaching to. The product description suggests that the band "can even improve heart rate monitoring", but I didn't find this to be the case, it was no different to using the original Garmin band, both bands gave inaccurate heart rate readings. This has become my new daily band, I find it more comfortable than the standard silicone band the Garmin came with, I'm hoping it holds up over time.

My initial though on seeing this and attempting to place it on my Fenix 6X was that this was not going to end well. I was so wrong. I initially had quite some difficulty in threading the strap through the space between the lug and the watch, and fretted that the hooks would be damaged, but with a bit of extra effort managed to make it. The nylon has a very slight amount of elastic give in it, and the hook and loop structure is VERY secure, far greater than I though it would be. The slight elastic stretch means that it conforms brilliantly to my wrist, and even allows me to place the watch slightly higher up my forearm to improve sensor tracking. Attempting to do this with the standards silicone bands was never successful, but the nylon is able to conform much better and MUCH more comfortably than the standard silicone bands. I used to get sweaty and uncomfortable on the silicone bands and would have to either wear them loose so the sensors were 'off' or tight and needed to regularly release and vent them. I don't have to do this with the nylon at all. Wearing them in the shower does mean they remain wet after - but they retain surprisingly little water and dry quite quickly. I've had it on for a week, and in that time I have not had to adjust it even once. The silicone band would have been removed several times out of annoyance. The sensor performance seems to be better, with a much better fit and exclusion of external light than I can achieve without tourniquet levels of tightness with the silicone bands. As I said, I didn't expect to like these, but though I'd give them a whirl. But I'm completely sold - They are so much more comfortable than I would have though possible, and I now have no misgivings about their security in keeping my expensive watch safe on my arm. Added to that, I can wear the watch higher on my arm when needed to improve sensor performance. Recommended.