Garmin unveils Fenix 6X Pro Solar, its first (partially) solar-powered smartwatch

Garmin unveiled the new Fenix 6 series of watches with several new models. This includes the Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Solar, its first solar-powered watch. Well, partially solar-powered.

The watch’s battery life is normally 21 days. But the so-called Power Glass can add 3 days to that or 6 hours of GPS usage. The solar cell is a transparent layer on top of the 1.4” display.

Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Solar Edition

That screen has 280 x 280px resolution and a sunlight visible transflective layer (using power-efficient memory-in-pixel tech). You can have turn-by-turn navigation, topographical and ski maps and more. The new PacePro feature offers grade-adjusted guidance along your run, there’s also the ClimbPro ascent planner.

GPS, GLONASS and Galileo are used to track your location, plus an altimeter for elevation data. A barometer can provide weather alerts and there’s an automatic accident detection. Additionally, there’s a heart rate and a blood-oxygen monitor.

The Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Solar can go on an adventure with you. It’s rated for 10ATM water resistance (most smartwatches only go up to 5ATM). While continuous GPS tracking drains the battery in 60 hours (+6h from the solar panel), Expedition mode will last 46 days (+10 days, if you give it enough sunlight).

There’s a whopping 32GB of storage, which you can fill with music from Spotify, Deezer and Amazon Music and listen on your Bluetooth headphones. You can also view notifications from your phone and use certain apps (e.g. call an Uber), as well as use Garmin Pay.

The watch’s titanium body measures 51mm in diameter and 14.9mm thick. You can have it with a silicone or titanium QuickFit band (26mm). If you pick the titanium band, the whole watch weighs 82g (the case alone is 54g).

There are more Fenix 6 models. Basically, the 47mm models are called “Fenix 6” and have 1.3” screens. You can go smaller with the 42mm Fenix 6S (1.2” screen) or bigger with the 51mm Fenix 6X (1.4”).

The Pro versions pack 32GB, have maps and Wi-Fi connectivity and there are Sapphire Editions if you want more protection for the screen. Only the 51mm Pro watch is available with a solar cell (but there’s no sapphire option for it).

The Solar Edition costs a whopping $1,150 – check it out on garmin.com – but the basic Fenix 6S Pro (42mm, 32GB) starts at $700.

Garmin has many new models to show off at IFA – leaks show a new line, Venu, new Vivoactive and Vivomove models. The Vivomove Style will have physical watch hands over a large screen.