Garmin unveils a $1,600 Tactix 8 Cerakote monster and a golf watch for kids

Garmin has done it again and now smartwatch fans with deep pockets have another super premium (and super rugged!) time piece to marvel at.

The popular company has unveiled the Tactix 8 Cerakote monster of a smartwatch, but that's not the end of the story, as there's also the Approach J1 – a watch specifically designed for junior golf enthusiasts. It's "the first GPS golf watch designed specifically for junior golfers", as Garmin puts it.

The tough one

The Tactix 8 Cerakote by Garmin comes with a 1.4-inch AMOLED display (in a 51mm titanium bezel body, so you better have large wrists). Of course, the screen comes with all sorts of protections, but the most notable feature is the use of Garmin's ceramic-polymer material, the Cerakote coating for extra toughness.

That's because this watch is built for serious outdoor, fitness, and tactical use. It includes night vision and stealth modes that reduce visibility and stop GPS and wireless sharing when discretion is needed. Advanced navigation tools allow users to use highly detailed maps from around the world.

The watch also has a built-in multicolor LED flashlight for added visibility in the dark.

It tracks many activities like running, cycling, skiing, golf, and rucking, and gives detailed performance data such as pace, climbs, endurance, and recovery time. Training tools include suggested workouts, VO2 max tracking, and race predictions.

For health, it monitors heart rate, sleep, blood oxygen, stress, and energy levels throughout the day. Features like morning reports, nap tracking, and jet lag guidance help you manage your day and recovery.

The watch has a long-lasting battery, offering up to 29 days in smartwatch mode, so it can handle long workouts, outdoor adventures, and daily use without frequent charging. It costs $1,600, so only get this if you really need it – there's no point rocking such a beast if you spend 99% of your time in the big city.

The golf sibling

Here's a cool gift idea for your kid, if golf is their passion: the Approach J1 model.

It offers tee-off guidance on more than 43,000 courses, with hole distances scaled to the golfer's skill level.

The watch has a simple interface, visual pace-of-play timer, and on-watch celebrations to encourage learning and improvement. It can suggest which club to use based on the golfer's bag and lets users adjust par to match their skill.

The device runs up to 15 hours in GPS mode, making it suitable for full rounds of golf.

Its price is way lower at $300.