Garmin unveiled the new Fenix 6 series of watches
with several new models. This includes the Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Solar, its first
solar-powered watch. Well, partially solar-powered. The watch’s battery life is
normally 21 days. But the so-called Power Glass can add 3 days to that or 6
hours of GPS usage. The solar cell is a transparent layer on top of the 1.4”
display.
That screen has 280 x 280px resolution and a
sunlight visible transflective layer (using power-efficient memory-in-pixel
tech). You can have turn-by-turn navigation, topographical and ski maps and
more. The new PacePro feature offers grade-adjusted guidance along your run,
there’s also the ClimbPro ascent planner.
GPS, GLONASS and Galileo are used to track your
location, plus an altimeter for elevation data. A barometer can provide weather
alerts and there’s an automatic accident detection. Additionally, there’s a
heart rate and a blood-oxygen monitor.
The Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Solar can go on an adventure
with you. It’s rated for 10ATM water resistance (most smartwatches only go up
to 5ATM). While continuous GPS tracking drains the battery in 60 hours (+6h
from the solar panel), Expedition mode will last 46 days (+10 days, if you give
it enough sunlight).
There’s a whopping 32GB of storage, which you can
fill with music from Spotify, Deezer and Amazon Music and listen on your
Bluetooth headphones. You can also view notifications from your phone and use
certain apps (e.g. call an Uber), as well as use Garmin Pay.
The watch’s titanium body measures 51mm in diameter
and 14.9mm thick. You can have it with a silicone or titanium QuickFit band
(26mm). If you pick the titanium band, the whole watch weighs 82g (the case
alone is 54g).
There are more Fenix 6 models. Basically, the 47mm
models are called “Fenix 6” and have 1.3” screens. You can go smaller with the
42mm Fenix 6S (1.2” screen) or bigger with the 51mm Fenix 6X (1.4”). The Pro versions pack 32GB, have
maps and Wi-Fi connectivity and there are Sapphire Editions if you want more
protection for the screen. Only the 51mm Pro watch is available with a solar
cell (but there’s no sapphire option for it).
The Solar Edition costs a whopping US$ 1,150 – check it
out on garmin.com – but the basic Fenix 6S Pro (42mm, 32GB) starts at US$ 700.
