Latest news with #Fenix


Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Times
Fenix review: ‘A large, brash cabaret of a thing — good for them'
I circle around Fenix three times before finding the entrance. Google Maps has sent me to an ominously modern office-style building with dark windows. Every few metres, through the gloomy panes, I see great stone monoliths covered in Greek script. It's the only sign I'm on to something. This austere development seems far more likely to offer me an internship with KPMG than a stuffed vine leaf. We're in an odd bit of Manchester just south of the Irwell, near the science museum. Every time I visit this city, it's as if another neighbourhood has sprung up overnight. This one seems halfway sprung, with a still-in-progress air. In a few months the building opposite will be home to Manchester's branch of Soho House, and any number of other glamorous things. Right now, it's a vision of hi-vis jackets.


Android Authority
2 days ago
- Android Authority
I've been using Garmin watches for 5 years and just discovered this clever trick
Ryan Haines / Android Authority At this point, I've probably reviewed more than a dozen Garmin watches since taking my place as Android Authority's resident runner. You might say it's become a big part of my personality, but I'd argue it always was one. I've spent countless hours logging countless miles (alright, Strava probably has an accurate number) across everything from the Instinct to the Forerunner to the Fenix, and I thought I knew everything there was to know about Garmin's lineup. At least I did, until I came across a watch band I wanted to swap out. How often do you replace your watch bands? 400 votes Every week 6 % A few times per month 10 % Once or twice per year 37 % Never 48 % Sorry, Quick Release, but it's all about QuickFit now Ryan Haines / Android Authority To make a long story short, I sweat when I run — like a lot. It's not cute or convenient, but it is what it is. Thankfully, most Garmin watches come with silicone watch bands attached, which might pick up just a little bit of the salt I leave behind, but can usually swipe the sweat without too much issue. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about any of Garmin's fabric bands. As soon as I start sweating in them, they may as well be three feet into a swimming pool, and there's nothing I can do about it. So, I decided to ditch them — all of them. I flipped over my Venu X1, popped out its Quick Release pins, and set up to attach the bands from the Epix Pro 2 that I reviewed several months ago. Then, I realized that my plan wouldn't work. While the Venu X1 uses a relatively standard set of quick-release bands like on countless other smartwatches or traditional watches, the Epix Pro 2 and Fenix 8 use something much smarter: Garmin's own QuickFit system. Garmin doesn't always use QuickFit, but when it does, it's absolutely brilliant. For a second, I was annoyed by the mismatch of band styles. A small part of me still might be, but only because I quickly realized how much better life would be if every watch used Garmin's QuickFit setup. See, QuickFit still relies on a basic pin and release structure, but you just have to release the band instead of releasing the pin itself. It takes almost no effort — pull back on a tiny lever and you're free. I'd compare it to the effort of opening a sliding door, which beats having to line up tiny pins and holes any day. And usually, this type of hiccup would elicit a much worse response from me. I'd use it to bash Garmin's inconsistency, urging it to adopt its much better QuickFit bands for all of its watches instead. This time, though, I'll praise a clever feature I never would have noticed otherwise. I've never considered swapping my Fenix 8 or Epix Pro 2 bands, so I needed this sweaty fabric setup to realize how thoughtful Garmin can be. If Garmin can do it, everyone else should, too Ryan Haines / Android Authority Don't get me wrong — I realize that QuickFit is Garmin's thing and there's a good chance it'll stay that way. After all, Apple already has its slotted setup for the Apple Watch, Samsung has its button-based release mechanism for the Galaxy Watches, and Google seems pretty well set on its slide-out bands for the Pixel Watch. But hear me out — there's no reason it can't become the standard for everyone else. Quick Release became almost universal because of its ease of replacement, and QuickFit seems like the natural next step. Not only would it (hopefully) make some of the existing QuickFit bands cheaper, but it would also probably open up the materials and designs that Garmin fans could tap into. As much as I love my reliable rotation of silicone options, I'll readily admit that they're not always the most appropriate for occasions like weddings, so I would love to be able to swap a leather or metal band in to match my watch of the week. And yes, Garmin already has a couple of QuickFit options that embrace those premium materials, but they're designed for the top-end Marq models and can cost in the neighborhood of $300… which is more than I'd spend on most things, let alone a watchband. Opening up the QuickFit system would make it much, much easier to spice up my favorite Garmin watches. Granted, the main thing preventing other brands from adopting QuickFit probably has nothing to do with price. Instead, I'd imagine it comes down to the fact that swapping in a new pin is a pain in the neck. There's no release on the tiny metal bar itself, so if you damage it, you'll have to cut it in half with pliers before inserting a spring-loaded replacement. If you mess that one up, you'll have to chop it off and repeat the process. I think I have steady hands, but it's still enough to make me nervous. But, as I've learned with every QuickFit band I try out, it's only worth being nervous for a second or two. It's easy to get used to the simple releasing mechanism, and I don't think I'll have to replace my QuickFit pins very often — if ever. And, if I don't, I have to believe that every other aspect of Garmin's QuickFit setup is a winner.


Economist
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Economist
Hollywood's new favourite villain
Culture | Dastardly, deadly and digital Photograph: Landmark/Universal Pictures Y OU CAN glean a lot about America and the world from whom Hollywood chooses as its baddies. During the cold war, the villains were often rogue Russian generals; during the war on terror, they were jihadists from the Middle East. Lately, however, Tinseltown has turned its attention to technology. It seems Hollywood's screenwriters are 'doomers' when it comes to artificial intelligence, believing it poses an existential threat to humanity. Enjoy these titles with strawberries and a glass of Pimms Great records that have been mislaid and rediscovered Stories of restaurants and robots Will it rev up new fans for the motorsport? He was the 20th century's most influential journalist Fenix, in Rotterdam, lets visitors make up their own minds


Forbes
12-06-2025
- Forbes
Garmin Venu X1 Takes Smartwatches In An Unexpected Direction
Garmin Venu X1 The Garmin Venu X1 is the latest watch in Garmin's most smartwatch-like family, and it is the most expensive Venu yet by some margin. Garmin Venu watches typically introduce us to new smartwatch features lines the Forerunner and Fenix don't even have yet, like voice assistant support. But the Garmin Venu X1 starts to bring in features of those more athlete-driven series. It's the screen you may notice first, though. The Garmin Venu X1 screen is a rounded rectangle, and the largest seen in a Garmin watch like this to date. It has resolution of 448 by 486 pixels, is an AMOLED display, and measures two inches across. Screen bezels appear to be far smaller than in other Garmin watches too, leading to fairly petite — for the screen size — dimensions of 41mm by 46mm. At first glance it looks comparable to something like a Huawei Watch Fit 4 Pro, a series that was often compared to the Apple Watch in its earlier generations. A Garmin Venu X1 is more expensive than the base model of either, though. It costs $799, and comes in either Moss green or black colors. What can possible justify such a high cost for what isn't exactly the last word in smartwatch style? It does have core features to match other Garmin watches in the same cost ballpark. On-watch maps is the most obvious high-end addition. You will be able to store many countries' worth of map data on the 32GB storage, complete with roads and points of interest to let you navigate when offline. And those maps may well look better here than they do on any other Garmin watch. After all, the original Garmin watch made famous for its maps, the Garmin Epix from 2015, had a rectangular screen. Garmin Venu X1 rear The Garmin Venu X1 also has a high-grade build, of a style that many confuse some shoppers. This is a part titanium watch, but the metal parts are hidden. The back of the cashing is titanium, but the rest is Garmin's 'fiber-reinforced polymer' plastic. This stuff is great, and tough as anything, but does mean the most expensive-looking and expensive-feeling parts are not up front. It does keep weight low, though. The Garmin Venu X1 weighs just 34g, or 40g with the nylon strap. Comfort is likely to be exceptional among Garmin wearables. What else is there to note? The Garmin Venu X1 has an ultra-hard Sapphire Crystal display surface, just moderate 5ATM water resistance, and is just 7.9mm thick — very thin. Despite that thickness, the Venu X1 still has an LED flashlight built into its top. Garmin Venu X1 LED flashlight As in the Venu 3, a microphone and speaker are baked-in, allowing for handsfree calls, voice commands to control the watch's features and interactions with your phone's own digital assistant. This is the first Venu-series watch that could be a direct alternative to a Forerunner 970 or Fenix 8 for true fitness enthusiasts. But there is one catch. The Garmin Venu X1 only claims to have eight days of battery life. And that drops to two days if you use the always-on mode. Garmin battery life typically halves in 'always-on' rather than dropping to a quarter, suggesting the watch's screen is exceptionally bright, much like the Forerunner 970's. There are a few important feature omissions to note, too. The Garmin Venu X1 does not have the company's top HR sensor hardware, meaning you will not be able to take ECG readings. It also lacks dual-band GPS, suggesting that while Garmin has made the Venu X1 for serious exercisers, it's not really made for adventuring but for the suburbs. Dual-band GPS improves location tracking in areas with poor signal. The Garmin Venu X1 costs $799 and will be available to order from June 18.


Spectator
11-06-2025
- Business
- Spectator
OnlyFans is giving HMRC what it wants
Fenix International occupies the ninth floor of an innocuous office block on London's Cheapside. The street's name comes from the Old English for marketplace, and once upon a time Cheapside was just that: London's biggest meat market with butcher shops lining either side of the road. Today, the street houses financial institutions and corporate HQs. But Fenix still runs a marketplace. Some may even call it a meat market, albeit one that operates on the phones of hundreds of millions of users worldwide. Its name: OnlyFans. OnlyFans is best understood not just as a porn site, but as a social media platform with a paywall. Creators – mostly women – post photos, videos and voice notes behind monthly subscriptions. Users pay extra to tip the women, customise content and have one-to-one chats with their favourite models. Not everything on OnlyFans is X-rated, but that's the content that makes the money. An entire ecosystem has grown around OnlyFans since it was founded nine years ago by two British brothers, Tim and Thomas Stokely. One 'e-pimp' explained that successful models outsource much of their work to offshore call centres to give the illusion of intimacy with customers. Low-paid workers in Venezuela or the Philippines are hired to impersonate creators over text chats, maintaining dozens, even hundreds, of relationships with lonely men. OnlyFans' profits are enormous. In 2023, it generated nearly £5 billion in sales – up more than 2,000 per cent in four years. The company paid £127 million in tax last year, £110 million of that in corporation tax. Because Fenix is based in London, the bulk of that cash is flowing straight into the Treasury. For comparison: Britain's fishing industry – supposedly a red-line issue in Brexit – brings in just £876 million and pays next to nothing in corporation tax, while also receiving £180 million a year in tax concessions. We don't think of OnlyFans as a media company (if we think of it at all) and so we ignore what it is in business terms: a staggering success. With more than four million 'content creators' and 305 million subscribers, it would easily rank in the top three British publishing companies. It is perhaps the most successful creator-based subscription service ever. Traditional platforms can't compete – OnlyFans' revenues are twice that of North America's Aylo, which operates the world's biggest porn websites. Britain's sex industry brings in far more to the economy than politicians are comfortable admitting Britain's sex industry brings in far more to the economy than politicians are comfortable admitting. The Office for National Statistics estimates Britons spend in excess of £6 billion annually on it. It is one of the few British industries which remains a net (digital) exporter. Indeed, OnlyFans is perhaps the strongest unicorn (a privately held start-up worth more than $1 billion) in the country. It's more profitable than any other British tech start-up. And it's doing something our other digital start-ups can't: exporting to America while keeping tax revenues onshore. Two-thirds of its revenue now comes from the US, proving that even in a global tech economy dominated by Silicon Valley, British firms can still compete. OnlyFans' success makes it all the more striking that, according to Reuters, Fenix is in talks to sell. Los Angeles-based Forest Road Company is leading a group of investors in negotiations to buy the business for £6 billion. It's rumoured that other suitors are vying for attention and that shares may be sold on the stock market. Either way, one of Britain's few successful exports could soon be gone. It's awkward to defend pornography, and so politicians don't try. Parliament hosts thousands of lobbying events every year – payday lenders, bookies, vape companies, even arms dealers turn up for drinks and canapés. There is no 'sex tech reception'. Ministers fall over themselves to visit impressive-looking factories that are in fact barely relevant. For example, Glass Futures, a research and production plant for the glass industry based in St Helens, was recently picked by Keir Starmer as the perfect location for his speech decrying 'Farage's fantasy economics'. The plant is a not-for-profit that makes £7 million in annual sales. OnlyFans pays more in tax in a month than Glass Futures earns in a year. But no MP would be caught dead at OnlyFans' Cheapside HQ, despite, I'm told, many invitations to visit. Neither has any politician ever defended the porn industry in a debate on innovation, exports or growth. The most recent House of Lords research note on 'the impact of pornography on society' contains no mention of the words 'economy', 'tax' or 'finance'. Of course, money isn't everything. The harms of porn – to women, to relationships, to the minds of teenage boys – are real and considerable. We might well be better off banning the whole thing. But if we are going to wage a moral war on porn, we should at least be honest about what we're sacrificing. The money is real – and it's already in the bank of HMRC.