Garmin may have cool new smartwatch screen tech to show off

By Andy Boxall Published October 9, 2024

The Garmin Forerunner 165 Music sat in an open gym bag. — Mark Jansen / Digital Trends

An unlikely manufacturer may be the first to use a new screen technology on a mobile device. Garmin is being linked with the impending release of a Fenix 8 smartwatch equipped with a MicroLED display, which would be an industry first. It follows the announcement of a partnership between Garmin and Vuzix to develop “next-generation nano-imprinted waveguide with MicroLED based displays”.

Neither Garmin nor Vuzix put a date on when we’d see the initial products from the partnership, but documentation discovered by developers making watch faces for Garmin smartwatches contained reference to a “Fenix 8 MicroLED” model, along with the current Fenix 8 AMOLED models. If the document is genuine, it may indicate such a model is coming soon.

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MicroLED screens are ripe for use on a smartwatch as they don’t consume much power, but still provide plenty of contrast, brightness, and dynamic range. Garmin promotes long battery life as a key benefit of its adventure smartwatches, and is already considered an expert at extracting as much energy from its batteries as possible. Reducing power consumption from different components is key to seeing ongoing improvements.

Currently, MicroLED screens are used for televisions, where they have the benefit of not requiring a backlight, but still return all of the visual punch of an AMOLED. They are also cheaper and less complex to produce. The panels are also slim, another reason they should work well on smartwatches. What makes Garmin’s partnership with Vuzix and the possible arrival of a MicroLED screen on a smartwatch noteworthy is that it’s way ahead of the mobile industry. While manufacturers, most notably Apple, have been linked with the technology for several years, it seems many have delayed plans. If Garmin does put a MicroLED screen on a smartwatch and it works very well, we may see them accelerate again.

While a reference to a Fenix 8 MicroLED may have been spotted, it’s not confirmation the smartwatch is coming soon, especially as Garmin announced the AMOLED Fenix 8 smartwatches at the end of August.

Former Senior Mobile Writer

Andy has written about mobile technology for almost a decade. From 2G to 5G and smartphone to smartwatch, Andy knows tech.

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