Skip to main content

Garmin’s Quatix 6X uses transparent solar panel to hit 24 days of battery life

Garmin is stepping up its smartwatch game with the power of the sun. The company announced the new Garmin Quatix 6X Solar, which expands on the original Quatix 6X by adding a solar charging display that helps extend the battery life. As a result, while the original Quatix 6X offers a 14-day battery life, the Quatix 6X Solar extends battery life to an impressive 24 days.

The solar charging tech is a smart addition. It’s transparent and lives in the display, meaning that you won’t actually see a solar panel — as you might have on old solar-powered calculators. Users will be able to see how much energy they’re getting from the sun, as well. The watch features a time indicator to show how much sun the watch has been exposed to.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Of course, real-world battery life will depend on how much sunlight the device actually gets — and even with maximum sunlight, it won’t last forever. If the watch doesn’t get any sunlight, battery life will likely remain at 14 days, as which the standard model.

Recommended Videos

Apart from the solar panel in the display, the watch offers the same features as the original Quatix 6X. The watch is actually designed for those into marine sports like boating, fishing, and so on. It’s waterproof to up to an impressive 100 meters, and has tracking features specific to things like boating, fishing, cruising, and sailing. There are also tracking features for other water-based sports, including the likes of paddleboarding, kayaking, and canoeing, and you can use the watch to track other sports, including golf and skiing.

The device is actually a full-featured fitness tracker. We gave the Garmin Quatix 6X a four-star rating in our review, alongside our Recommended Product award. You’ll get a heart rate monitor for what Garmin says is all-day stress tracking and underwater heart rate monitoring, and there’s even a Pulse Ox blood oxygen saturation monitor, which can be handy for more advanced features, like sleep monitoring. Although built with boating in mind, we found it’s a well-rounded premium fitness tracker that can accurately track a wide range of activities.

The Garmin Quatix 6X comes with a titanium band and a blue silicone band and is now available from the Garmin website for $1,150.

Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…
T-Mobile home internet plans have changed, here’s what you should know
how to unlock your iphone use with another carrier t mobile hq sign feat 720x720

*Updated 6/12/2025 to include new plans, promotions and fiber internet service details

While Verizon was the first to deploy 5G home internet, users complained about their network being small at the time with intermittent connections. T-Mobile, while trailing Verizon with their 5G home internet service, at least launched with "nationwide" service that reached a lot more homes on the initial launch.

Read more
These three iOS 26 beta features are my favorite so far
The Liquid Design lock screen on the iOS 26 developer beta 1 running on the iPhone 16 Pro

For fans of the Apple ecosystem, it’s been an incredible week. Apple’s annual WWDC 2025 keynote revealed a whole new Liquid Glass design that’s unified across all its platforms. Also unified across all platforms is the numbering scheme, with iOS 26 designed to represent the year of release… plus one. 

The new platform doesn’t deliver one of the key things I asked for — multitasking, which is available on iPadOS 26 — but it does bring several new features that make the iPhone far more usable. 

Read more
Anker recalls a million power banks over fire risk — here’s what to do
Anker's PowerCore 10000 power bank.

Anker is recalling more than a million of its PowerCore 10000 power banks due to a risk of overheating that could lead to fire and burns.

The tech company has received 19 reports of fires and explosions linked to the power bank, which contains lithium-ion batteries. Two of the reports relate to minor burn injuries and required medical attention, while a further 11 reports cite property damage totaling more than $60,000, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Read more