Garmin introduces top-of-the-line smartwatches for deep-pocketed explorers
Garmin just announced new smartwatches aimed at explorers and fitness enthusiasts. However, these are high-end devices with high-end specs and correspondingly high-end price tags.
First, the Epix Pro series. The main advantage of these watches is that they have a bright and sharp AMOLED display, which is a design choice that Garmin has started to embrace and offers a vivid image without draining too much battery life. There’s also a built-in flashlight with multiple intensities and flash mode, a red-only display option for darker conditions, and plenty of advanced fitness features.
To that end, the Epix Pro Series includes “dozens” of new preloaded activities like soccer, basketball, horse riding, racquet sports, and more. Fitness trackers now offer endurance results and hill scores for advanced metrics. Runners and walkers also receive notifications about places of interest along the way. There are new weather map overlays to show local environmental conditions and improved shading to make elevations easier to understand on topographic maps. The Epix Pro series is now available and launched in three sizes (42mm, 47mm and 51mm). Prices start at $900.
Designed for serious explorers, the Fenix 7 Pro series features solar charging, a powerful LED flashlight, map updates and a red safety light, all designed to increase awareness when training in the dark like a ninja. The heart rate sensor also got a big boost with new optical sensors and sport-specific algorithms that track heart rate in several different functions. However, there’s no ECG app, so you’ll have to look elsewhere if that’s your primary concern.
The new Endurance Score feature measures how easy it is to engage in prolonged physical activity by combining V02 sensors with hill scores and past training data. Just like the Epix Pro, the Fenix 7 features an updated map system with weather overlay patterns, points of interest and topographic map improvements. There are also new preloaded activities like white water rafting and motocross. The Fenix 7 Pro is available in several sizes and models starting at $800.
