For the past few weeks, my main watch has been the Garmin Quatix 7 Pro, which offers features combining the best of the Sapphire Edition watch and one of my new favorite smartwatches, the Epix Pro. Add to that a case made entirely from recycled ocean plastics, and you have one of the best smartwatches of the year for users who live and travel at sea. And here’s why.
ZDNET’s main findings for the Garmin Quatix 7 Pro
- The Garmin Quatix 7 Pro is available for €1000. This is a 47mm watch made from recycled ocean plastics.
- The screen is AMOLED, it looks great, with a powerful LED flashlight, long battery life, and in-depth support for a wide range of marine activities.
- The downsides to note are the battery-draining always-on display mode, the price, and the fact that the watch only comes in one size.
With the Quatix 7 Pro, Garmin continues to bring its fantastic LED flashlight to more of its watches. After discovering the flashlight on the Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar early last year, it’s now a feature I demand on all of my current watches. I use the LED flashlight almost every day; just this weekend, replacing a car battery, finding a missing watch strap, and locating a wrench in the depths of my toolbox.
Matthew Miller/ZDNET
It is also important to have an LED flashlight on hand in the marine environment.
Red light mode to see things in the dark without affecting night vision
Objects often fall into the bilges or tight spaces of a boat, where a flashlight is essential for finding objects, flipping switches and checking the status of the vessel. The LED flashlight also has a red light mode for seeing things in the dark without harming night vision. It is important to maintain night vision on deck or at the helm to see navigation lights, buoys and other objects on the water at night.
The Quatix 7 Pro looks just like the Quatix, with the attractive titanium bezel around the sapphire crystal display, the red and blue colors around the bezel, the black case, the titanium back and the navy blue silicone strap of 22mm.
It measures 47 mm in diameter and weighs 70 grams. It is therefore well balanced for a large GPS sports watch. The top right button – there are five around the case – is protected from accidental activation by a red highlight line on the bezel. This is one of the most attractive and stylish Garmin watches I have ever seen.
Matthew Miller/ZDNET
The AMOLED display is brilliantly clear
The AMOLED display is brilliantly clear. But if you enable always-on display mode, be prepared to reduce battery life from 16 days to 6 days. Another feature perfect for sailors is the “red-shift” mode which turns everything on the screen into red font, helping you preserve your night vision.
I’ve already detailed and appreciated the many nautical features of the Quatix 7. All of these features are found in the Quatix 7 Pro, including autopilot, support for the Fusion audio system (for listening in a boat), and Viewing data from your chartplotter on your wrist. Additionally, a new electric trolling motor remote control app (quiet motor placed at the front of the boat) is available for Force motor owners.
Fishing forecasts also help you track fish movements throughout the day. I used the Quatix 7 to help my friend monitor anchor drag (drift) during an outing on Lake Tahoe earlier this summer, and there will be more on our next boat fishing trips with my father-in-law.
An overview of the Garmin app to activate various functions. Matthew Miller/ZDNET
In addition to the enhanced feature set for sailors, the Garmin Quatix 7 Pro includes the latest ECG (electrocardiogram) app, golf course maps, ski maps, multi-GNSS support and all features amazing health and wellness benefits found in the Garmin ecosystem. The custom data fields available for water activities are unlike anything seen on other GPS sports watches and Garmin is truly alone in supporting sailors with the Quatix 7 Pro.
ZDNET’s purchasing advice for the Garmin Quatix 7 Pro
If you enjoy outdoor activities such as water sports, sailing or boating, the additional features of the Quatix 7 Pro are ideal for you.
All of the Garmin features found on other Garmin products are also included, so this marine watch can handle more than just on-the-water activities.
Source: “ZDNet.com”