That said, I'm a distance runner and within our cohort almost none of us want to buy Fenix's anymore.

Depending on your definition of “cohort”, that’s simply not true. I see plenty of late-model Fenix in the wild. And, yeah, there’s a vocal minority of folks that prefer MIPS (often based on outdated or flat wrong assumptions, like “AMOLED isn’t visible in sunlight”, which is how you know the speaker has never used an AMOLED screen).

As to the latest model, “not a good watch for the price” is a gimme when the thing costs two grand (U. S.). I’m at a loss as to what a watch might do to make it worth two grand to me.

The battery life difference is huge between OLED and MIPS. The Fenix 8 Solar gets 30-45 days of battery life. Fenix 8 OLED can get 28 days, if you turn off the always-on display; otherwise, 12 days.

For me it’s not so much about the readability in sunlight, but about being able to glance at your watch without moving your wrist and about the watch not emitting light in dark environments. I find that distracting and I like the stealthiness of MIPS. That being said, if the minimum brightness is low enough and battery life with always-on high enough I think I could live with it, but with wrist gestures completely disabled except during activity.

Fenix 6 Pro MIPS guy here, you can pry that $600 watch from my cold, dead wrist!

I tried AMOLED once - it lasted about 3 weeks and 200 miles before I sold it.

AMOLED is visible in sunlight, yeah, but even with always-on it only brightens when you lift your wrist...which is always infuriatingly late, coming moments after I look at my wrist. And because they want to minimize that annoying latency, it's constantly blinking on and off with false positives demanding attention like a strobe light. Maybe I have poor form with trekking poles or an over-sensitive/miscalibrated IMU, but I remember one particular foggy dawn hike when was triggering with basically every step. The silent morning light and the mist off the lake should have been magical, instead they just reflected the blinky light on my wrist.

I stare at glowing, colorful screens from 9-5 and struggle with distractions that similarly demands my eyeballs in the morning and evening. When I go into the woods it's because I want to leave those screens behind, not put an ever-larger, ever-more-vibrant one on my arm.

(My wrist will probably be dead and very cold someday when the weather changes and I try to push my ultralight 40F bag to lower temps than it is capable of and couldn't send an SOS because my F6P doesn't have sat comms. You shouldn't have to wait long, it's September...jk, don't worry.)

Probably going Coros or Suunto next, Garmin has lost the plot.

As someone who uses (and prefers) MIPS screen to AMOLED, here are a few reasons I went that route: A) User experience: I prefer watches to be tools that do a job, and otherwise to mostly get out of my way. MIPS serves that function well, and is similar to old school LCD displays in that regard. I find illuminated displays to be distracting and draw attention, especially after dark. In these days, where light up screens are pervasive, MIPS provides a more zen experience. It’s “always-on” when I need to view it, but otherwise gets out of my way. B) Functionality: I use my watch to track daily workouts, and I’m about to go on a multi-day backpacking trek where a Garmin Fenix will be primary GPS device (phone/maps/compass secondary). Being able to view the screen and use maps without excess power drain is more useful for me. I prefer my watch to be a functional tool, and not just an extension of my smartphone. I don’t need a pretty light up screen. Battery life is not just about reducing charging frequency, but also reliability in the backcountry and on long workouts. Which leads to… C) Longevity: longer battery life = less charging cycles = longer device life. I don’t feel like replacing an expensive device every year or two. MIPS screens are also more durable than AMOLED. I have friends that are using 5+ year old Fenix watches to track daily runs.

It's MIP not MIPS and you are very misinformed on the reasons we prefer it.