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Here's pretty much everything you need to know about the upcoming Garmin Fenix 7 lineup

Published: Jan 12, 2022, 7:39 AM

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Here's pretty much everything you need to know about the upcoming Garmin Fenix 7 lineup

After unveiling its latest "mainstream" alternative to the industry-leading Apple Watch and an affordable new hybrid smartwatch that doesn't have a lot of direct rivals just last week, Garmin is pretty clearly inching closer to releasing another... few wearable devices.

The Fenix 7 family will apparently contain three main members, each of which is expected to come out soon around the world in standard, solar, and presumably sapphire editions too, exactly like the Fenix 6 lineup from all the way back in 2019.

The reason why the Fenix 7, 7X, and 7S haven't been released sooner, of course, is that the Fenix 6, 6X, and 6S already offer pretty much everything their target audience could ever want, leaving little to no room for meaningful improvements or game-changing upgrades.

Enter a "stylish" new design and even longer battery life

Let's be honest, stylish is not the first word that comes to mind when looking at the Garmin Fenix 6 roster. The high-res Fenix 7 series images leaked by WinFuture's always reliable Roland Quandt last week didn't exactly ooze with style either, but the full Fenix 7, 7S, and 7X spec sheets revealed by the similarly trustworthy TechInsiderBlog on Twitter today suggest that's the way Garmin plans to advertise the smartwatch family's "updated, sporty design."

Garmin Fenix 7 (left) and 7X specs (right)

It's perhaps needless to point out that the Fenix 7, 7S, and 7X will not actually look radically different from their predecessors on the outside while also including most of the same internal components.

That being said, it's certainly impressive to see the upcoming Fenix 7X, for instance, listed as tipping the scales at 68 grams by itself and 98 grams with a "QuickFit" 26mm bracelet included while touting a battery life of up to 28 days in "smart watch mode", 89 hours in "GPS mode", and 62 days (!!!) in "Expedition GPS mode."

Those numbers are up from 21 days, 60 hours, and 46 days, mind you, on the Fenix 6X, which weighs in at 66 grams or 93 grams when taking both its steel case and silicone band into account.

Garmin Fenix 7S specs

The Fenix 7 and 7S will bring similar battery endurance upgrades to the table while more or less retaining the Fenix 6 and 6S weight figures, which was definitely no easy engineering feat.

In case you're wondering, the overall frame and display sizes are not changing, and neither is the screen resolution of any of the three variants, so if you're familiar with the measurements of the Fenix 6 series, you're familiar with the Fenix 7 as well.

All the sensors and "premium multisport" tools in the world

Technically, that's incorrect given that ECG monitoring, which has become a pretty standard feature for much cheaper smartwatches than the Fenix 7, will once again be notably absent, and the same goes for the blood pressure sensor built into Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic, for instance.

Of course, the professional athletes and outdoor fanatics that will undoubtedly be interested in buying one of these bad boys when they're eventually released might care more about things like VO2 max, blood oxygen, hydration, respiratory rate, and continuous stress monitoring, not to mention topographical maps, detailed golf course maps, and SkiView maps.

Unsurprisingly, all of that incredibly advanced stuff will be pre-loaded across the board, and on top of everything, the Garmin Fenix 7, 7S, and 7X will also share standalone GPS tracking (well, duh!), PacePro technology for grade-adjusted guidance throughout even your most intense workouts, and a Recovery Assistant that sounds like a new and potentially very useful voice-controlled feature for a lot of future buyers.

Made from "fiber reinforced polymer" and guaranteed to withstand water immersion up to 100 meters, as well as extreme temperatures and various types of shock, the Fenix 7 series is likely to start at the same $550 recommended price in the US as the Fenix 6 lineup, evidently delivering plenty of (outdoor-friendly) bang for your buck.

There's also the Epix 2 to consider if you're in the market for a "premium multisport" smartwatch this year, but after Roland Quandt's earlier leak, this particular product hasn't revealed its full specifications, which might hint at an announcement further down the line.

The second-gen Garmin Epix is expected to borrow many of the Fenix 7-series features while sporting a super-high-quality AMOLED display rather than an energy-efficient transflective LCD panel, thus looking likely to push the starting price dangerously close to the $1000 mark.

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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.