Garmin has revamped its Quatix 6X with solar technology, which extends battery life for its boating sports watch.
The Quatix features specialist modes for boating, fishing, cruising and sailing capabilities, as well as other water sports - all added on top of the mighty sports credentials of the Fenix 6.
The Quatix 6X Solar manages to grow even larger than the Quatix 6X, with a 51mm case that packs in the large 1.4” display.
It boasts Power Glass, which houses the solar panels in the screen surface, but remain invisible to the user.
The watch has a widget on the menu interface that shows you the solar intensity, and how much it’s charging.
The Quatix 6X Solar will last 21 days as a smartwatch, up from 14 days on the original Quatix 6X. That's not just the solar pabels – which add an extra three days extra battery, assuming all-day wear with 3 hours per day outside in 50,000 lux conditions. That means a total of 24 days away from the mains.
The Quatix 6X Solar also introduces a Power Manager, so that users have more control over settings and sensors, and their impact on battery life. It even includes power saver modes, which can eek every last drop from the battery.
We’ve seen this tech before, of course, in the Garmin Fenix 6X Solar that launched last year.
“We’re excited to introduce solar charging into the new quatix 6 series, giving users everything they’ve come to know and love from this sophisticated and connected marine smartwatch series, now with even longer battery life performance,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of global consumer sales.
“Because of its unique power-replenishing technology, the quatix 6X Solar gives mariners more on-wrist time to enjoy their favorite activities both on the water and on land.”
For the uninitiated, the Quatix uses the same size case and pretty much apes the feature set of the Fenix, but with a focus on life on the waves.
That means there’s a heart rate monitor, pulse oximeter, GPS, HRV stats and VO2 Max – and will track running, cycling, hiking and golf – just like the Fenix.
But that’s not why you buy a Quatix. It will hook up to Garmin Chartplotters so that data from the boat, such as speed, depth, temperature, wind data all appear on the wrist, and you can even control the boat’s autopilot from the watch.
That’s on top of SailAssist data that shows whether you’re headed or lifted, waypoint marking and Bluechart G3 mapping, on top of the TOPO found on the Garmin outdoors watches.
The Garmin Quatix 6X Solar will cost and is on sale now.
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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.