Garmin adds solar power to existing smartwatch line-up

Garmin has refreshed its current lineup of smartwatches and has given its premium lot one very important feature - solar technology. The new variants will all be solar powered.

The company has refreshed four of its existing models including the Instinct, Fenix 6, Fenix 6s and the Tactix Delta. What’s interesting here though is that this is not the first time Garmin has launched smartwatches with solar technology. They already have other smartwatches that are solar powered but refreshing some older smartwatches that are quite popular still might work well for Garmin.

The refreshed line-up now comes with increased battery life -the refreshed Fenix 6 comes with an extra day and a half of battery life while the 6 Pro Solar gets up to two days of battery life more thanks to the new tech.

There are also some new features like support for new sports modes including surfing, climbing and mountain biking. Under the hood though the refreshed line-up does not come with any major changes in specs besides the solar tech.

The Garmin Instinct is coming in with three new solar models - the Instinct Solar, Instinct Solar Surf Edition and the Instinct Soar Tactical Edition. The new lineup offers up to 50 days of battery life if provided with ample amounts of sunlight - and that’s in smartwatch mode. They should last longer if used in the Battery Saver mode.

The Garmin Tactix Delta, their military-grade smartwatch, on the refreshed mode offers 21 days of battery life indoors and 24 days with enough sunlight exposure.

As far as prices are concerned, the new solar tech-equipped smartwatches are on the expensive side. Prices start at $400 ( ₹30,000 approx) for the Instinct Solar and go up to $850 ( ₹63,884 approx) for Fenix 6 Series Solar Editions and $1,100 ( ₹82,674 approx) for the Tactix Delta Solar Edition.