Garmin updates the Fenix 3 with heart rate and adds the Tactix Bravo watch

By David Curry Published January 5, 2016

Although Garmin may not come to mind when you think about wearables, the company has a number of sporty smartwatches and other smart gadgets in its wheelhouse. Garmin introduced several new watches at CES, including three new Fenix smartwatch variations and the Tactix Bravo, a multisport GPS smartwatch.

Fenix 3

1 of 5

Garmin Fenix 3 Nylon — Garmin Fenix 3 Nylon Image used with permission by copyright holder

Garmin Fenix 3 Leather — Garmin Fenix 3 Leather Image used with permission by copyright holder

Garmin Fenix 3 Titanium — Garmin Fenix 3 Titanium Image used with permission by copyright holder

Garmin Fenix 3 HR — Garmin Fenix 3 HR Image used with permission by copyright holder

Garmin Fenix 3 HR — Garmin Fenix 3 HR Image used with permission by copyright holder

Starting with the new Fenix 3 watches, Garmin offers a titanium bezel and band option, an interchangeable nylon and leather strap option, and an option with Garmin’s Elevate heart rate sensor located on the wristband.

Recommended Videos

The Fenix 3 HR tracks heart rate 24/7, and offers better analysis of health and fitness, based on the data. Users will be able to gain extra credit for “Intensity Minutes,” which are set to push the user harder and achieve their fitness goals. The heart-rate sensor does drain the battery a bit, so it will require a charge after 40 hours, or even 2 weeks in smartwatch mode.

All Fenix 3 watches will be updated with new activity profiles for golf, stand up paddleboard, rowing, and new running dynamics. Running is the focus of the update, and Garmin will now record stats on your cadence, stride length, lactate ratio, performance condition, and more. The new watches also support all of the older profiles, alongside a Connect IQ store for all sorts of customization options.

Garmin will begin selling the new Fenix 3 watches in the spring of 2016, starting at $600. The Titanium option will cost more, at $800.

Tactix Bravo

1 of 4

garmin fenix 3 tactix bravo news 4 — Tactix Bravo Image used with permission by copyright holder

garmin fenix 3 tactix bravo news — Tactix Bravo Image used with permission by copyright holder

garmin fenix 3 tactix bravo news 2 — Tactix Bravo Image used with permission by copyright holder

garmin fenix 3 tactix bravo news 1 — Tactix Bravo Image used with permission by copyright holder

Garmin is also launching a multisport GPS smartwatch at CES 2016, named the Tactix Bravo. The new watch features a rugged design and outdoor navigation, making it the perfect option for customers who spend a lot of time outdoors. Its sunlight readable screen should make it easy to view in the great outdoors, but it’s also optimized for night vision goggles when you’re out at night.

The Tactix Bravo is a tough wearable, with a sapphire lens and knurled bezel, alongside a carbon coating to protect from scratches. The smartwatch offers 50 hours of battery life, and it comes with most of the software features available on the Fenix 3 — including Connect IQ and the sports profiles. It’ll even send you notifications.

Garmin’s super accurate GPS is the highlight of this watch, and the company boasts that it will help you find your way when you’re on a mission — even in the most remote places. Its TracBack feature lets you mark and store as many as 1,000 waypoints to help you get back to where you started. Anyone who’s ever gotten turned around in the woods at night will appreciate this feature.

The watch is also compatible with ANT+ sensors to collect more data and even control some cameras remotely. Garmin worked hard to ensure that the Tactix Bravo can track any sport with great accuracy, whether it’s golf, rowing, hiking, climbing, or what have you.

It will be available around the same time as the Fenix 3 in the spring, starting at $700.

Former Contributor

David has been writing about technology for several years, following the latest trends and covering the largest events. He is…

Topics

News

Digital Trends’ Top Tech of CES 2023 Awards

Best of CES 2023 Awards Our Top Tech from the Show Feature

Let there be no doubt: CES isn’t just alive in 2023; it’s thriving. Take one glance at the taxi gridlock outside the Las Vegas Convention Center and it’s evident that two quiet COVID years didn’t kill the world’s desire for an overcrowded in-person tech extravaganza -- they just built up a ravenous demand.

From VR to AI, eVTOLs and QD-OLED, the acronyms were flying and fresh technologies populated every corner of the show floor, and even the parking lot. So naturally, we poked, prodded, and tried on everything we could. They weren’t all revolutionary. But they didn’t have to be. We’ve watched enough waves of “game-changing” technologies that never quite arrive to know that sometimes it’s the little tweaks that really count.

News

Digital Trends’ Tech For Change CES 2023 Awards

Digital Trends CES 2023 Tech For Change Award Winners Feature

CES is more than just a neon-drenched show-and-tell session for the world’s biggest tech manufacturers. More and more, it’s also a place where companies showcase innovations that could truly make the world a better place — and at CES 2023, this type of tech was on full display. We saw everything from accessibility-minded PS5 controllers to pedal-powered smart desks. But of all the amazing innovations on display this year, these three impressed us the most:

Samsung's Relumino Mode
Across the globe, roughly 300 million people suffer from moderate to severe vision loss, and generally speaking, most TVs don’t take that into account. So in an effort to make television more accessible and enjoyable for those millions of people suffering from impaired vision, Samsung is adding a new picture mode to many of its new TVs.
[CES 2023] Relumino Mode: Innovation for every need | Samsung
Relumino Mode, as it’s called, works by adding a bunch of different visual filters to the picture simultaneously. Outlines of people and objects on screen are highlighted, the contrast and brightness of the overall picture are cranked up, and extra sharpness is applied to everything. The resulting video would likely look strange to people with normal vision, but for folks with low vision, it should look clearer and closer to "normal" than it otherwise would.
Excitingly, since Relumino Mode is ultimately just a clever software trick, this technology could theoretically be pushed out via a software update and installed on millions of existing Samsung TVs -- not just new and recently purchased ones.

Mobile

How does Garmin measure stress, and is it really accurate?

Garmin Vivomove Sport dial close up. Credits: Garmin official.

Garmin watches are known for their robust activity tracking, but that's not all these fitness watches can do. Over the years, the company has been adding wellness features to its lineup of watches. These new health-focused metrics allow people to analyze their fitness and identify outside factors affecting their performance. One such factor is stress, which is something Garmin watches actively measures.
But you may be wondering—exactly how does Garmin measure stress? In this article, we break down how Garmin measures stress and delve into the accuracy of this metric. Should you trust your stress score? Read on to find out.

Is Garmin's stress score accurate?