
Let's face it, when looking for the best smartwatch, one thing we all love is battery life. No one wants to be tethered to a plug socket, or fearful that the tech which is supposed to enhance our lives is going to die at any moment.
When it comes to getting great battery life out of a smartwatch, Garmin watches are some of the best on the market. From lower-priced offerings like the Garmin vivomove Trend to the premium Garmin Marq range, these watches just have a lifespan that competitors like the Apple Watch could only dream of.
And if you have battery life anxiety in your day-to-day life, it's fair to say those concerns would be amplified if you were in outer space – there's no chance you'll pass somewhere to stop and charge on the way! That's why, when the Polaris Dawn space mission launches later this year, the crew will all be donning Garmin Fenix 7 watches.
The five-day mission launches from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida later this year. The crew will use the wearables to measure crucial metrics like heart rate, pulse oximetry and sleep patterns, safe in the knowledge that a single charge will last the entire flight.
The Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) will utilise data from the watches to monitor the crew while active and at rest. They are hoping that the data will enable us to better understand how the human body adjusts to being in space, to improve performance in future human space exploration.
The mission will attempt to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown with humans, and look to complete the first-ever commercial spacewalk. More Garmin features: How well does Garmin's race time prediction work, and I followed my Garmin's workout suggestions for a month – here's what happened.
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Sam is an award-winning journalist with over six years of experience across print and digital media. As T3’s Senior Staff Writer, Sam covers everything from new phones and EVs to luxury watches and fragrances. Working across a range of different social media platforms alongside his written work, Sam is a familiar face for fans of T3. When he’s not reviewing snazzy products or hunting for stellar deals, Sam enjoys football, analog photography and writing music.
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