The Garmin Quatix 6X Solar is a GPS smartwatch that uses solar charging to offer an incredible battery life. Announced yesterday, the Quatix 6X Solar is the second smartwatch from Garmin to offer solar charging – the other being the incredible fēnix 6X Pro Solar. The new addition builds on the features of the popular fēnix, but with additions geared towards sailing and other watersports. It looks like a strong contender for our best outdoor watches ranking.
The headline feature for the Garmin Quatix 6X Solar is that incredible battery life. Garmin says it'll last 21 days in smartwatch mode, which you can boost up to 24 days with solar charging. That's a three-week trip, with change to spare. There's also a built-in customisable Power Manager to enable users to prolong battery life as required.
Update: there's a new watch in this lineup! Read all about it in our Garmin quatix 7 Sapphire review.
While it's still got plenty of features designed for land-based outdoor activities, this watch is designed to really shine on the water. It sports built-in activity profiles and performance metrics for paddle boarding, kayaking and canoeing (as well as skiing and golf – although if it's golf you're into, make sure you check out our guide to the best golf GPS watches).
- Browse the best running watches
You can also connect the Garmin Quatix 6X Solar smartwatch with compatible Garmin chartplotters and other marine electronics for autopilot control, data streaming, SailAssist race assistance, Fusion-Link entertainment control and more.
The Garmin Quatix 6X Solar will has an RRP of £999.99. If you want to get your hands on one, you'll have to wait for now: it goes on sale in the second quarter 2020. Find out more, or sign up to be notified when it's released, on the Garmin website.
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Ruth is a lifestyle journalist specialising in sleep and wellbeing. She has tested more mattresses than her small flat can handle and will talk at length about them to anyone who shows even a passing interest, and has had to implement a one-in-one-out pillow policy for fear of getting smothered in the night. As well as following all the industry trends and advancements in the mattress and bedding world, she regularly speaks to certified experts to delve into the science behind a great night's sleep, and offer you advice to help you get there. She's currently Sleep Editor on Tom's Guide and TechRadar, and prior to that ran the Outdoors and Wellness channels on T3 (now covered by Matt Kollat and Beth Girdler-Maslen respectively).
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