Garmin Fenix 9 revealed — here are 5 things you need to know about the new flagship smartwatches | Tech Radar
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Garmin Fenix 9 revealed — here are 5 things you need to know about the new flagship smartwatches
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You've got multiple models to choose from (Image credit: Garmin)
Every time that a new Garmin smartwatch appears we know that our list of the best Garmin watches on the market is likely to be disrupted, and from what we've seen so far that certainly seems to be the case with the brand new Fenix 9 and Fenix 9 Pro.
These wearables take over from the Fenix 8 and the Fenix 8 Pro at the very top of Garmin's product range, but are they the right buy for you? How much do they offer above and beyond the older models, and how do they compare to what's already available?
If you're weighing up a potential Fenix 9-themed upgrade, here's what you need to know in terms of what's new and what you get for your money.
If you're interested in a new Garmin Fenix 9, there's no shortage of models to pick from: there's the standard Fenix 9 in three sizes, the Fenix 9 Pro in three sizes, and the Fenix 9 Pro with In Reach in three sizes.
On top of that (try and keep up at the back), there's a Fenix 9 Pro Solar model in two sizes, and a Fenix 9 Pro Solar with In Reach model in two sizes.
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Our comprehensive pricing table might make everything a little easier to digest.
You can also check out the key specs of the Fenix 9 and Fenix 9 Pro models below: we've compared the two 43mm OLED versions to make it a little easier to understand.
Multi-band, GPS + Beidou + Glonass + Galileo + QZSS + Sat IQ
Multi-band, GPS + Beidou + Glonass + Galileo + QZSS + Sat IQ
Multi-band, GPS + Beidou + Glonass + Galileo + QZSS + Sat IQ
Multi-band, GPS + Beidou + Glonass + Galileo + QZSS + Sat IQ
The on-board map is of course core to a lot of outdoor activities with the Fenix 9 series, and there are some useful-looking tweaks coming here. They include a new perspective view, which lets you see what's coming up more easily, at various different zoom levels, and there's more storage across the board with more map content already preloaded.
There's extra RAM inside these watches compared to their predecessors too, which Garmin says will make getting around the map on your wrist more fluid and responsive — panning is apparently now 30% faster, for example. Those are genuine improvements that should be noticeable if you're making the jump up from an older Garmin Fenix smartwatch.
There are some new activity features to talk about. The Fenix 9 watches offer stamina zones and stamina curves, to check how your endurance levels change over time, in relation to your training and fitness. The rucking features have been expanded meanwhile, to support pack changes during activities, and to enable more specific target metrics.
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There's good news for regular indoor rowers. The new wearables are able to read data off selected machines directly, covering power curves and power zones, while the watches are able to calculate VO2 Max and certain other metrics from rowing sessions — which wasn't the case before. It means more detailed fitness insights from your rowing sessions.
We're already big fans of the Garmin Live Track feature, which lets you share your real-time location, route, and associated stats with other people, and it's getting better on the LTE version of the Fenix 9 Pro. Sharing can now be done inside Garmin Messenger from your wrist, with some preset messages available, and improved notifications.
There's also a brand new feature called Garmin Locate, which again works through Garmin Messenger from the other end: Here a contact requests your location, as a one-time share, if they need to know where you are. It's all a bit more elegant and social, but it does mean you're getting gently pushed more towards Garmin's own messaging platform.
An 'Epic' is a new idea from Garmin, arriving with the Fenix 9 series. Essentially, it lets you selected group activities and workouts together, almost like a folder in a filing cabinet: the examples Garmin gives are backpacking trips, cycling stage races, and strength plans. Data from individual sessions can be collected in an Epic, and viewed and analyzed together.
At first glance, it looks like an interesting expansion of what you can do with your Garmin, and you can create these Epics from past activities too — potentially letting you unlock new insights from records going back years. Notes and photos can be added along the way as well, together with health data collected between the main activities of each Epic.
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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on Tech Radar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, Pop Sci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.
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