Garmin is known for its Fenix line of multisport smart watches aimed at tracking your fitness and helping you as you work out, run, swim, and so on. Those watches, however, have been a little too, well, sports-like for some people.
Not anymore! Today Garmin announced a luxury version of its sports watch, called the Fenix Chronos. The device looks just like any other luxury watch, however under the hood are the smarts you would expect from any sports watch.
The watch is available in three “luxury” styles, including a premium titanium version and two stainless steel versions, which come with either a metal band or a leather band. All of the watches come with Garmin’s multisport functionality and can also track things like sleep and heart rate.
“High-end design meets top-tier performance with fēnix Chronos,” said Garmin vice president of worldwide sales Dan Bartel, in a statement. “With luxurious materials and trusted Garmin multisport technology, fēnix Chronos is a necessary timepiece for anyone who wants to remain stylish through all of life’s adventures – whether it’s hiking through mountains, training for a race, or heading to a formal event.”
There are a number of features that set the watch apart from other sports watches. First of all, unlike some devices, the Garmin Fenix Chronos comes with GPS, which could be an important feature for those looking for a device to help them in hiking or running situations. The device also offers Garmin’s Connect IQ compatibility, and can connect to the Garmin Connect app. Like other smartwatches, the Chronos can also show notifications like texts, calls, and so on. The sensors in the watch include an altimeter, barometer, and compass, and Garmin claims the device has up to 25 hours of battery life in “UltraTrac” battery saving mode, and as much as a full week in “smart watch mode,” depending on the settings.
The watch is one of the few luxury smartwatches we’ve seen from any company, period, let alone a sports-focused luxury smartwatch. Of course, considering Garmin is billing it as a luxury device, it has a price tag to match. For the cheapest Fenix Chronos, which is the steel version with a leather band, you’ll need to shell out $900. That price gets bumped up all the way to a hefty $1,500 for the titanium version.
