Garmin has launched the new Enduro sports watch, aimed at ultrarunners and those competing in long distance races.
It’s another re-imagining of the Garmin Fenix 6, aimed at the ultrarunning segment, with some unique features designed for life on the trail. Starting at it's actually just as expensive as the Fenix, and double the price of the Garmin Instinct Solar outdoors watch, which will be of interest to less extreme trail runners.
It features the company’s new solar technology, which Garmin says will offer up to 65 days (in power saving modes) with 70 hours of GPS tracking – rising to 80 hours if you take advantage of the solar.
It features the same build as the Fenix 6X and the same low-res color 280x280 transflective LCD screen, with a chunky 51mm case.
However, we’re fans of the new UltraFit nylon strap, and it's lighter than the Fenix 6X. It tips the scales at 76g for the standard version and just 58g for the titanium version.
And there’s a host of tweaks to the biometrics aimed at ultrarunners and racers.
The first is an updated VO2 Max score that takes trail running into account. On standard Garmin devices, VO2 Max is estimated in part using pace. So runners that switch to trail can find the slower pace hammers their VO2 Max. The Garmin Enduro will adjust for that.
There’s a new ultrarun sport profile on the Garmin Enduro too, with a rest button that will tag time spent in aid stations during runs.
However, it doesn't cross into nutrition and hydration planning, which is a feature of the excellent Polar Grit X, and something that will be of serious interest to those fuelling for ultra distances.
And the rest is a distillation of top features found on the Fenix. There’s ClimbPro which will show data on your ascents/descents on hills and, if you’ve uploaded a route in advance, warn you of upcoming climbs.
There’s also a focus on race preperation, with Recovery Advisor and recommended workouts. Both of these aspects are even more important for ultrarunners and cyclists.
Cycling doesn’t miss out, and the Enduro will also track the difficulty and technicality of MTB trails, with specialized grit and flow data. It will also remember MTB trails and score your performance, so you have something to beat next time out.
In terms of health and wellness there’s an SpO2 sensor and produces the Body Battery data that’s filtering down across the latest Garmin smartwatches. You also get notification support, Garmin Pay and support for Garmin InReach satellite communications if you’re really going off grid.
Unsurprisingly, there’s a big price tag for all this and it will retail from . That means it’s actually the same price as the Fenix 6 – which means it will only appeal to extremely dedicated ultrarunners. For those that just dabble on the trails, the Fenix or Instinct are likely to be better fits.
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James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.