THE WATCH FACTORY Browse faces
Apex watch face in Apex RedApex watch face in GlacierApex watch face in VoltApex watch face in Amber

Apex Red · 4 colourways in one purchase

New PERFORMANCE · Analog + digital

Apex

Outdoor Performance Watch Face

Apex is an outdoor performance watch face built like a premium adventure watch: a black dial under a sapphire crystal whose reflection lifts the right side, a fine white rim track and a red minute scale, a skeleton hour hand, a solid minute hand and a fine red seconds hand. A 12-segment arc sweeps down the left side and fills with your steps (or any metric with a goal), its value printed inside it. The digital time sits at the top in two tones - white hours, outlined minutes in the accent - over the date, and three ring subdials show VO2 max, battery and altitude, each ring filling with its metric. Four colours in one purchase: Apex Red, Glacier, Volt and Amber.

4
Fields
21
Metrics
4
Colourways
68
Watches
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about €5.50 · one-time purchase · no subscription · v1.5.3

01 The face

Ring subdials, a segmented arc and VO2 max.

Apex is an outdoor performance watch face built like a premium adventure watch: a black dial under a sapphire crystal whose reflection lifts the right side, a fine white rim track and a red minute scale, a skeleton hour hand, a solid minute hand and a fine red seconds hand. A 12-segment arc sweeps down the left side and fills with your steps (or any metric with a goal), its value printed inside it. The digital time sits at the top in two tones - white hours, outlined minutes in the accent - over the date, and three ring subdials show VO2 max, battery and altitude, each ring filling with its metric. Four colours in one purchase: Apex Red, Glacier, Volt and Amber. At night a minimal black screen shows only the time, date, heart rate and battery.

  1. 014 colours + 16 Colour Studio themes
  2. 02Segmented progress arc, 3 ring subdials
  3. 03Two-tone digital time and real hands
  4. 04VO2 max, altitude, battery at a glance
  5. 05Always-on display like the face
  6. 06Units follow your watch settings (km/mi, °C/°F, m/ft, 12/24 h)
02 Live preview

Live preview

Switch colourways, themes, accents and settings, or pick your watch to see the face on its own screen.

Apex: Apex Red

Apex Red · shown on a 454 × 454 AMOLED screen

Colourway 4

Theme 16

Settings 10

Always-on 2

Every state above is a screenshot of the face running in Garmin's simulator with that setting.

03 Make it yours

What you can change

Choose what the segmented arc shows

Steps, battery, Body Battery, recovery time, weekly running distance, calories, floors climbed, active minutes, stress, pulse ox, battery days left or VO2 max - its 12 segments fill as you go.

Each of the three subdials can show any of 20 metrics

VO2 max, battery, altitude, heart rate, steps, Body Battery, recovery time, weekly running distance, weather, calories, floors climbed, active minutes, distance today, stress, notifications, sunrise/sunset, respiration, pulse ox, battery days left or air pressure - its ring fills where the metric has a goal or range.

Remove any metric

Set a field to "Empty" and it is gone from the dial, arc or ring included.

Analog or digital, your choice (setting "Time display")

"Analog + digital", "Analog only" (the digital time is removed) or "Digital only" (the hands are removed).

All 4 colours included

Apex Red, Glacier, Volt, Amber - plus Colour Studio: 16 themes for the whole face.

Hands on top or under the data, your choice (setting "Hands"): "Hands on top" sweeps the hour and minute hands over every number, like a mechanical watch; "Data on top" keeps every number readable through the hands.

12 or 24-hour time as your watch is set, with the hour your way: a leading zero as the watch shows it, always (09:41) or never (9:41) (setting "Leading zero"), and an AM/PM marker next to a 12-hour time (setting "AM/PM marker").

The date your way (setting "Date line")

The date alone, with the month or with the week (FRI 02, FRI 02 OCT, FRI 02 W40), or off for a cleaner face.

Always-on display like the face (its ring, hands and colours) or minimal, dim to bright; the full face on solar/MIP watches.

Change it on the watch (customize the watch face) or in the Connect IQ app.

04 Metrics

21 metrics for every field.

Each of the 4 fields shows any of them, or nothing at all. Swap them any time on the watch or in the app.

Health7

  • Body Battery
  • Recovery time
  • Stress
  • Pulse Ox
  • VO2 max
  • Heart rate
  • Respiration

Activity6

  • Steps
  • Running this week
  • Calories
  • Floors climbed
  • Active minutes
  • Distance today

Weather & sky4

  • Weather
  • Altitude
  • Sunrise / sunset
  • Air pressure

Watch4

  • Battery
  • Battery days left
  • Notifications
  • Next event
05 Settings guide

Settings

Straight from the face's own settings. Change them on the watch (hold UP/MENU on the face, then Watch face › Customize) or in the Connect IQ app (My Device › Watch Faces › Apex › Settings).

Time & date

Time display
Analog + digital · Analog only · Digital only
Hands
Data on top · Hands on top
Leading zero
As the watch · Always · Never
AM/PM marker
On · Off
Date line
Day and date · Off · Day, date and month · Day, date and week

Colour

Colour theme
17 choices: The colourway's own, Ice, Ocean, Royal, Lime …
Time colour
25 choices: From the theme, White, Silver, Grey, Red …
Accent colour
25 choices: From the theme, White, Silver, Grey, Red …
Values colour
25 choices: From the theme, White, Silver, Grey, Red …
Labels colour
25 choices: From the theme, White, Silver, Grey, Red …
Ring colour
25 choices: From the theme, White, Silver, Grey, Red …

Always-on

Sleep mode
Minimal: time + heart rate · Full dial
Always-on display
Like the face · Minimal
Always-on brightness
Dim · Normal · Bright
06 Fits these watches

68 Garmin watches.

Forerunner 16

vívoactive 2

Venu 7

Approach 5

Descent 3

Instinct 2

D2 4

Enduro 2

07 What's new

Version 1.5.3

First released 4 Nov 2026. Updates are free and install by themselves.

  1. 1.5.22 Nov 2026
    • Colour Studio: two themes that looked too alike are now clearly different - Lavender is now Yellow, and Stealth is now Stealth Red (grey time with a red accent).
  2. 1.5.11 Nov 2026
    • Steps now count towards your own daily step goal from Garmin Connect (it was fixed at 10,000), so 7,500 steps of a 7,500 goal is 100%. Thanks for spotting it!
  3. 1.5.01 Nov 2026
    • New: Colour Studio. 16 colour themes re-colour the whole face - the segmented arc, the ticks and the ring subdials - or pick your own colour for the time, accent, values, labels and ring.
  4. 1.4.029 Oct 2026
    • New always-on display that looks like the face: its ring, its hands and its own colours - and no digital time when you have switched it off. Brightness: dim, normal or bright (setting "Always-on brightness"); the old minimal screen is still there (setting "Always-on display").
    • New date formats (setting "Date line"): the date alone, with the month or with the week (FRI 02, FRI 02 OCT, FRI 02 W40).
  5. 1.3.029 Oct 2026
    • New setting "Date line": show the date, or turn it off - change it on the watch or in the Connect IQ app.
  6. 1.2.028 Oct 2026
    • Much bigger and easier to read (thanks for the feedback!): larger subdials, values, icons, date and steps; with "Analog only" the date moves up into the time's place.
    • The date now shows correctly in every watch language: letters such as Č, Ř, Ł or Ş appeared as an empty box; they now show as their plain letter, and other alphabets use the English abbreviation.
08 Questions

FAQ

Something else? Ask us.

Why do I see "--" for vO2 max, Body Battery, recovery time and weekly running distance?

VO2 max, Body Battery, recovery time and weekly running distance are shown only when the watch provides them; otherwise "--".

Weather is the current value synced from the phone?

Weather is the current value synced from the phone.

The steps progress follows your own daily step goal from Garmin Connect?

The steps progress follows your own daily step goal from Garmin Connect.

On solar/MIP watches (64 colours) the dial is plain black without the crystal's reflection?

On solar/MIP watches (64 colours) the dial is plain black without the crystal's reflection.

How do I change a field or a colour?

On the watch: hold the middle-left (UP/MENU) button on the watch face, choose Watch face, then Customize. In the phone: open the Connect IQ app, go to My Device, Watch Faces, Apex, then Settings. Every change shows at once.

Is it a subscription?

No. You buy it once in the Connect IQ store and keep every future update.

Does it drain the battery?

The face is built to be as frugal as a Garmin face: it redraws once a minute and the always-on screen is dimmed and minimal on AMOLED watches.

Apexabout €5.50 · one-time
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