Garmin has expanded its solar charging technology to a much wider selection of its range. A company blog post has confirmed that the Instinct, fēnix 6 and 6S, and tactix Delta adventure smartwatches will receive the update.
Garmin is still the fitness wearable industry leader as confirmed in 2019. This solar charging technology first came about at the end of last year. It has been a big hit with users since its release with the fēnix 6X – Pro Solar smartwatch.
Solar charging tech expanding across adventure watches
Garmin vice president of global consumer sales, Dan Bartel was very excited about the move. He said that it would “give customers the ability to follow their passion to the sunset and further”. This was due to enhanced battery life as well as other unique updated features.
These include new camouflage design patterns as well as surfing activity profiles to name a couple. In theory, the Instinct Solar watches came with unlimited battery life. If they are exposed to sufficient solar and are in Battery Saver mode then they should last forever.
Other models and modes do not boast quite this capacity. For example, in Expedition mode with sufficient solar exposure, they will last around two months. This would provide increased GPS functionality whilst still having an impressive battery life.
In a more normal setting, the Instinct series should last around 24 days inside and up to 50 with sufficient solar exposure.
fēnix 6 Series – Solar Editions come with updated features
The newest members of the Garmin watch family are the fēnix 6 and 6S. These Garmin models come with solar charging technology as well as new updated features. This includes a surf profile mode to “make the most of every wave” by tracking time and speeds whilst surfing.
The series also comes with a mountain bike setting. This tracks every ride with metrics to measure grit and flow to estimate trail difficulty. The watches also come with an indoor climb ability which allows users to track their climbing statistics at indoor facilities.
The battery life for the 6 and 6S ranges from 9-10.5 days for the former and 14-16 for the latter. This is dependent on solar exposure as explained for the previous models.
Garmin is also expanding with the tactix Delta – Solar Edition which is the fourth edition in that series. This smartwatch can last up to 24 days with sufficient solar exposure.
This watch is built to military standards and is able to enter a stealth mode which disables location and WiFi connectivity.
These watches do not come cheap though. Retail prices will start at $399.99 for Instinct Solar and $849.99 for fēnix 6 Series – Solar Editions. The tactix Delta – Solar Edition will set you back $1,099.
These are clearly some impressive bits of wearable technology and solar charging is a massive plus point. However, at those prices that is a big ask for many.