CES 2016: A GPS watch where hardcore adventurists need only apply
Garmin’s first Tactix Bravo was already a GPS sports watch built for serious outdoor lovers and now it’s cranked things up a notch for the updated model along with adding some features from the rest of the Garmin Watch family.
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But let’s start with its rugged, durable look. The all-black watch features a sapphire lens and knurled bezel with a diamond-like coating to stop it from getting scratched. It also comes with a simple black silicone band, but you can pick it up with a nylon option in either black or olive drab as well.
The screen is built for covert operations too. Garmin uses a sunlight readable colour display with a special mode that makes it easier to read through a pair of night vision goggles and there’s enough room to view two sets of coordinates on a single data screen.
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To make it a reliable tool for navigation there’s an EXO antenna underneath the hard as nails body alongside GPS with GLONASS support. That’s also accompanied by some pretty serious software to aid land and aerial missions including something called TracBack, which lets you mark and store up to 1,000 waypoints and navigate back to the starting point. When you’re up in the air, Jumpemaster software means the Bravo can be utilised for different jump types.
While it sounds like a watch better suited to someone in the military than someone that likes going for a cheeky run in the middle of the night, it does also include fitness tracking features and some of the same advanced running metrics that you’ll find on the Forerunner and Vivosmart devices. It does support smartphone notifications as well and is compatible with Connect IQ so you can download apps, watch faces and additional data fields.
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Battery life for the Bravo is said to be up to 50 hours in UltraTrac mode or 20 hours if you’re using the GPS. In smartwatch mode it manages a pretty impressive three weeks.
The new Tactix Bravo is launching in early 2016 and will cost hardcore adventurers a not so wallet-friendly $699.99.