Garmin's super-expensive Fenix 8 Pro series includes the 'brightest smartwatch ever made'
While you wait for the Apple Watch Ultra 3, Garmin has just unveiled two extraordinarily well-equipped new Fenix smartwatches with fittingly high prices.
While the entire mobile tech world is waiting for the second-largest smartwatch vendor to try to regain its industry supremacy with (at least) two new highly anticipated models, Garmin is getting ready to release a pair of innovative wearable devices of its own that make the Apple Watch Ultra 3 seem affordable.
The Fenix 8 Pro and Fenix 8 Pro - MicroLED are officially set to go on sale on September 8, which just so happens to be the day before Apple's big iPhone 17 family launch event. Priced at $1,199.99 (!) and $1,999.99 (!!!) respectively, however, these bad boys are clearly not what you'd call solid alternatives to the "mainstream" Apple Watch Series 11 or something like Samsung's Galaxy Watch 8 and Galaxy Watch Ultra (2024 or 2025).
inReach technology for game-changing satellite and cellular connectivity
In case you're wondering where Garmin ranks in the aforementioned Huawei-led smartwatch vendor hierarchy, the answer is... somewhere below the top five. One of the reasons why the wearable industry veteran is probably unable to compete with the world's biggest hardware players might be the lack of cellular support from its most popular Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch rivals.
Fortunately, the brand is starting to address that issue with the Fenix 8 Pro family, which packs LTE connectivity as standard. Unfortunately, the feature's implementation is not quite as convenient as on a cellular-enabled Apple Watch Series 10 or Galaxy Watch 8 model, merely allowing you to voice call other Fenix 8 Pro owners or smartphone users with the Garmin Messenger app.
The Fenix 8 Pro comes with built-in cellular support... kind of. | Image Credit -- Garmin
That's obviously far from ideal, but it's also definitely better than no cellular capabilities, which is what most other existing Garmin watches offer. In addition to voice calls, the Fenix 8 Pro series can do 30-second voice messages too, as well as allow your friends and family to keep an eye on your most remote adventures with LiveTrack location sharing and location check-ins.
The cellular connectivity is made possible by Garmin's proprietary inReach tech, which is present on a smartwatch (or two) for the first time here, also enabling unrivaled satellite functionality for text messaging and location check-ins where an LTE or other cellular signal is not accessible.
Are you thinking of buying any of these two new Garmin smartwatches?
Yes, I'm definitely interested in the Fenix 8 Pro - MicroLED
18.18%
The "normal" Fenix 8 Pro sounds amazing
9.09%
Nope, they're both way too expensive for me
54.55%
Nope, I don't like the cellular limitations
18.18%
While the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to integrate some form of satellite connectivity as well, the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro is likely to have no worthy adversary in that field, which kind of makes sense when you consider the $1,199.99 and up device pricing... and the $9.99 a month subscription cost of the inReach service.
Stellar battery life, optional MicroLED, and all the health tools you could ever need
You know how you can tell the Fenix 8 Pro series is special? Simply by looking at Garmin's press release, where the company spends very little time hyping up the health and wellness features of the new smartwatches.
That almost never happens, mind you, and it's happening here because the key selling points are very obviously the satellite and cellular connectivity, as well as the cutting-edge MicroLED display of the costly $2,000 model.
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The world's brightest smartwatch is certainly attractive, but it's also wildly overpriced. | Image Credit -- Garmin
Is it worth spending two grand on a technology that boosts the screen's brightness to as much as 4,500 nits, making this the "brightest smartwatch" in the world today? That's naturally for you to decide (after September 8), but before making up your mind, you should definitely consider that the MicroLED touchscreen reduces the "regular" Fenix 8 Pro's battery life from 27 days to only 10.
Of course, both those numbers are guaranteed to absolutely crush the battery endurance rating of the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Series 11, but if you ask me, you should think long and hard before rejecting the $1,200 model on account of its less-than-stellar brightness.
That's because the non-MicroLED-equipped Garmin Fenix 8 Pro comes with a pretty high-quality AMOLED panel of its own in addition to an undoubtedly huge battery, as well as the exact same ECG, sleep coach, endurance score, hill score, daily suggested workouts, pre-loaded TopoActive Maps, and all other wellness, safety, and tracking features as its fancier and much more expensive brother.
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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'.
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