Garmin recently made its first foray into screenless wearables, and leaks have continued to suggest the company had new smartwatches waiting in the wings. Well, those new smartwatches have arrived: the Garmin Fenix 9 and Fenix 9 Pro. Both feature hardware improvements over the Fenix 8 watches, but as with Garmin’s less-sport-oriented competitors, the real story is the smartwatches’ new software.
The Fenix 9 comes in 43mm, 47mm, and 51mm sizes, each with a round AMOLED display covered by a durable sapphire lens. In contrast to the Fenix 8, which featured AMOLED as an optional upgrade, the display type is now the default across Garmin’s Fenix lineup and twice as bright as the company’s previous model. The watch is also dive-rated up to 10 ATM, gets up to 10 days of battery in its smallest size, and includes 64GB of internal storage for offline maps and local media playback. Other premium features, like an adjustable built-in flashlight and a microphone and speakers for handling voice commands and calls, are also included. The Fenix 9 also works with Garmin’s new stretchy ComfortFit bands.
The Fenix 9 Pro is available in the same three sizes but with a new all-titanium body. The watch features an AMOLED screen protected with a sapphire lens, which offers a large 1.5-inch surface area on the 51mm model. The Pro version of the Fenix 9 also offers an optional solar-powered display and optional inReach satellite connectivity for messaging and getting weather updates off-grid. Like the normal Fenix 9, the watch includes microphones, speakers, and a flashlight, though the Pro’s light also has red and green settings.
Both the Fenix 9 and 9 Pro support new stamina-tracking features that can show how a wearer’s endurance changes over the course of their training history, better indoor rowing tracking, and improvements to how Fenix watches measure rucking workouts. The standout is Garmin Epic, though, a free feature that combines multiple workouts and activities into an “epic” covering a specific trip, training period, or other outdoor adventure. Garmin says Epic can combine 92 days of different activities and incorporate things like photos and text entries alongside your stats. The summaries are built as much for personal insights as they are for sharing with other people.
The Garmin Fenix 9 starts at $1,000, while the Garmin Fenix 9 Pro starts at $1,100, admittedly eye-watering prices for wearables given the growing popularity of cheap fitness bands. Both watches will be available to order on August 28 from Garmin, with prices rising depending on the size and, on the Pro, whether you opt for solar and satellite upgrades.
