Instinct Solar

In most cases, the solar charging capabilities of these watches will extend battery life by a few days, but in the case of the Instinct Solar (which is launching in Surf and Tactical Editions), battery life can be extended indefinitely while the watch is in Battery Saver mode. Of course, the watch also needs enough exposure to sunlight for that to happen, but as long as you’re planning to be outdoors a lot, it sounds like you’ll get unlimited battery life as long as you don’t mind the reduced functionality of Battery Saver mode.

If you’d prefer to have more functionality at the cost of battery life, you can pop the Instinct Solar into Expedition Mode to tap into enhanced GPS features while still getting over two months of battery life. Finally, in smartwatch mode, Garmin says that the Instinct Solar series can last up to 24 days indoors and up to 50 days outdoors as long as it’s getting sufficient sunlight exposure.

As mentioned above, the Instinct Solar is launching in Surf and Tactical Editions. In the Surf Edition, you’ll find features like tide data and surfing activity tracking with a 100 meter water rating. The Tactical Edition, on the other hand, will offer up “night-vision goggle compatibility and Stealth mode.”

fenix 6S Pro Solar and fenix 6 Pro Solar

Considering last year’s launch of the fenix 6X Pro Solar, it isn’t really a surprise to see this solar charging functionality come to other members of the fenix series. The solar variants will offer a feature set that’s mostly the same as their non-solar counterparts, so users can expect music streaming, activity tracking, onboard mapping, and advanced sleep monitoring.

For these solar models, however, Garmin has added three new activity profiles: Surf, which acts more or less the same as the profile on the Instinct Solar – Surf Edition; Mountain Bike, which measures grit and flow to get a better idea of trail difficulty; and Indoor Climb, which will track things like time spent climbing and total vertical distance climbed.

In the fenix 6S Pro Solar, users can expect around 9 days of battery life indoors and 10.5 days of battery life outside with enough sunlight. The fenix 6 Pro Solar has its smaller brother beat on that front, as it will last for up to 14 days indoors and up to 16 days when it gets sufficient sunlight exposure.

tactix Delta – Solar Edition

Like the tactix watches that came before it, the tactix Delta – Solar Edition is built to MIL-STD-810, so this watch is probably the best of the bunch when it comes to surviving abuse. It’s also outfitted with a Stealth mode that cuts off wireless connectivity and disables location sharing. If that’s not enough, it also features a kill switch that can wipe clean all of the user memory on the watch.

Battery life on the tactix Delta seems to be a lot better than the battery life on the fenix 6 Pro series – indoors, battery life can go up to 21 days, while it jumps up to 24 days when it has sufficient solar exposure outside (which, for all watches announced today, translates to 3 hours in 50,000 lux conditions). Garmin says that these 21 and 24-day battery life quotes require the use of “Power Manager” mode, though it’s worth pointing out that the company doesn’t say which settings are required to achieve them.

Pricing and availability

All of these watches, it seems, will be available locally in next few weeks. The Instinct Solar models are the least expensive of the bunch, starting at R8 999. The starting price for the fenix 6 series watches jumps to a not-insignificant R14 499, while the tactix Delta – Solar Edition will set you back a whopping R22 499.

It is essentially a fashionable fitness tracker that disguises itself as a regular analog watch; features include sleep and step tracking, a waterproof construction (to 50 meters), and the ability to notify users when they’ve been inactive too long.

The Garmin Vivomove has a 5ATM waterproof rating and supports several interchangeable bands. As shown above, the watch itself is offered in several styles ranging from dark to light and a few between. There’s the Vivomove Sport and the Vivomove Classic, as well as a higher-end Vivomove Premium with leather straps and a steel body.

Overall, the Vivomove is available in gold-tone, stainless steel, white, black, and rose gold-tone colors. A pair of bars on the watch face show one’s level of inactivity and how many steps have been taken; at night, the watch monitors sleep quality based on one’s movements.

The Vivomove syncs with Garmin’s Connect Mobile app, where it will show and store the watch’s data, and also allow one to participate in online challenges, earn virtual badges, and such. The watch is available now, with the Sport version being priced at R2 999, the Classic at R3 799, there’s no mention of the Premium by Garmin SA. 

You can view different angles of how you’re hitting the ball, as well as the potential distance and trajectory of it, and use that information to see what you can do to improve your stroke. The TruSwing measures a mere 6.7 cm and weighs only 28 grams, making it portable enough for you to take to every golf session — especially since it hooks onto any club. 

It’ll cost R2 499 to own the TruSwing, its already available at leading retailers.

Those of you interested should be grabbing one stat – Garmin says they recognised that there was a need for fitness bands to be fashionable and suitable for any occasion should a man or woman want to wear their activity tracker every day, at an evening event or in the boardroom. Garmin is still pretty mum on pricing for these accessories, the online store doesn’t say much either. But hey, we know at least one person who will want one.

But since that still hasn’t come out, it’s basically a moot point. All of this is to say: There’s a wide-open market for fitness trackers that can also do the core job of smartwatches. Enter Garmin. The company just announced the availablitly of the R2849 Vivosmart band, a fitness tracker that shows texts, emails, calls, calendar appointments, game notifications and music playback controls. For the time being, at least, it might be the most versatile fitness device you’re going to find.

That about covers the intro. Now let’s get to the interesting stuff. For starters, the device is waterproof up to 50 meters — a nice bonus, considering other models (including the FuelBand) are merely water-resistant. Additionally, the Vivosmart carries over some of the features we liked best on Garmin’s other fitness trackers, including the flagship Vivofit and the Forerunner 15 running watch. First, there’s the “move bar,” a line that appears on the screen — and that you have to work off — whenever you’ve been inactive for an hour. It’s a clever feature if only because it’s less intrusive than a vibration or a beep. You can ignore either of those if you happen to be in a meeting, but the move bar — that won’t go away until you get up and walk. Like other Garmin devices, too, it’s compatible with heart rate monitors and bike speed sensors, though you’ll of course have to buy those separately.

The Vivosmart is available for from today. You’ll be able to find it at any other fitness and camping stores as well. There’s also a version that comes with a heart rate monitor. That costs R3349. Hopefully, we’ll get one in to review soon. Until there’s a device that can do everything a fitness tracker and smartwatch can, we’ll be curious to see if the Vivosmart does a better job as a smartwatch than smartwatches have as fitness trackers

The durable rubberized band that houses the actual device is not only a good looking, smart pedometer that tracks your activity but it is waterproof with a long battery life. It can record your day-to-day step count, distance, calories and heart rate for over a month.

Smart enough to absorb your normal activity levels the Vivofit sets goals for you within your range. There are so many other pedometers that require you to set your own goal manually. It reassuring to know that whether you’re a regular training athlete or an average Joe, the Vivofit customizes your activity goal for something within your reach.

The Vivofit alerts you when you’ve been inactive for too long. It displays a red bar that emerges under your normal metrics and grows the longer you stay inactive. To reset the bar, simply get up and move; the bar will gradually drop as your activity level increases.

Another feature on the Vivofit is its sleep monitor. Whilst not as high-tech some of its competitors it tracks your movement and the duration of your sleep. There is also the added feature of recording your heart rate but unfortunately you’ll need to purchase a compatible heart monitor to wear in combination with the Vivofit.

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Garmin Connect is Garmin’s online fitness community and with the use of the Garmin Connect App you can sync data from your device to check your normal stats and daily achievements. There is even a challenge board that allows you to see where you stand on specific challenges that Connect specially set for you and other Vivofit users.

What Vivofit does offer is reliable tracking, useful reports and a durable design. The most impressive quality is the battery life. Some may criticise the elimination of a simple feature like the backlight but the Vivofit will run for an entire year on two common CR1632 watch batteries; so you don’t have to stress about recharging it every few days

The fantastic battery life, its great syncing compatibility, as well as the ability to change to different straps, all go a long way to making this a wearable worth considering.
The Garmin VivoFit is available at leading health & fitness stores from R1899

The company’s new HUD (heads-up display) announced in a press release earlier today, projects bright directions onto a transparent film mounted on your windshield, serving up guidance within your regular line of sight. The simple interface displays your current speed and the speed limit, turn arrows, the distance until your next turn and an ETA.

Speaking exclusively to SA Vibe, Mathys Thompson, Garmin Southern Africa Automotive Category Manager said; “Garmin’s HUD interface has been developed utilising an in-house driving simulator that uses cameras to track the driver’s eye movements. The interface design is based on the time and cognitive load required to perform a task with the goal of minimising driver distraction.”

The Garmin HUD is compatible with Bluetooth-equipped smartphones running Garmin StreetPilot and Navigon apps (Android and iOS). It is exclusively available to Makro at a RRP of R1999.

Dash Cam is a high-definition camera that mounts to any vehicles’ windscreen to continuously record a 120 degree wide-angle view of the road while driving. This one is capable of recording an incident if, god forbid, you do get in an accident. The camera records wide-angle video in 1080p, 720p or WXGA resolutions, turning on and off with your engine.

The Dash Cam has an incident detector, saving relevant video to its 4GB of storage (a number you increase via expandable memory). The 2.3-inch display, meanwhile, makes it easier to position the cam correctly, and, if need be, you can pull the camera off the windshield to take snapshots. The footage is timestamped and, if you opt for the R2999 GPS version, geostamped, so you know where incidents occurred. Both models are already available at leading retailers.

This GPS-ready wrist companion offers a lot of the same functionality as its predecessor, although there are a few notable additions in this edition. Namely, the Approach S4 now offers a new, high-resolution display, a battery capable of lasting up to 10 hours on a charge and the ability to access data from more than 30,000 international golf courses (compared to the 27,000 on the S3). Additionally, Garmin’s added a Smart Notification feature that allows users with an iPhone to receive notifications right on their watch, some of which include emails, text messages and more. The Approach S4 will be R4899 when it becomes available later this month at retailers like thePro Shop and Golfers Club.

Interested athletes can pick the Forerunner 220 (in black, red and white, violet) and 620 (in blue, black and white, orange, white) this festive season from R3840 and R5799 respectively. Whereabouts on availability are yet to be confirmed.