Garmin Quatix 6x Solar

The Quatix 6x Solar from Garmin is an incredibly capable watch that’s also easy on the eye.

As reviewers, we’re used to seeing things come and go quickly. Every once in awhile, you come across a device that you fall madly in love with. The Quatix is one of those sports watches. It handles every task you can throw at it with quiet confidence. It’s such a comprehensive offering from the fitness-tracking world but it also has some solid smart features thrown in for fun, too.

With a killer 24 days between charges and boosted battery life from solar charging, the Quatix has everything it needs to take the title of ultimate sports watch. It doesn’t come cheap, mind. At over $1,000 it’s on the higher end of the market. Is it worth it? Sorry to spoil the story, but, yes.

Built to last

The Garmin Quatix 6x Solar gives off the impression that it’ll go on forever. It has a bezel and strap made of titanium. This means it’s chunky look isn’t actually heavy on the wrist. It’s really light. 

It has an understated appearance. It has a blue and red dial which resembles classic chronographs. If for some reason you don’t want to use the titanium strap you’re given a silicone one in the box too, which is blue. It’s fit is tighter, but it’s comfortable. All in all, it’s good-looking. It feels like you’re wearing something unique. There are no gimmicky design features or plastic bits. A simple and beautiful design. 

Dissimilar to popular alternatives, Garmin has gone for a transflective LCD display. What you miss out on here is bold colours, but you can read the face at all times, even in burning sunlight. You’ll appreciate this if you’re on a weekend boat trip, for example. Conversely, you can use a light button to illuminate the display in times of darkness. This could be on a diving excursion, as the Quatix also offers you 300 m water-resistance (10ATM). 

Total control

One thing that lets the Quatix down a little is that it doesn’t have a touchscreen. Rather, it offers five buttons. There are two on the right and three to the left. Your first time using it can be quite a demanding process. Three of the five buttons present different menus or shortcuts. Those shortcuts do become second nature to you and then you’ll love the lack of smudges on the screen from fingerprints. You’ll like it even better when, say, you’ve got wet hands and can still use all the functions. A frustration of users with pure touchscreen devices.

You’re offered an abundance of choice over the watch faces. You can even create your own unique face. You can pick the style, colour, hands (if you want them) and what data you want at a quick glance. Heart rate, steps, calories, etc.

It’s like a Swiss Army knife

The Quatix is heavy on features. It’s an all-encompassing sports watch, fitness tracker and smartwatch in one. It matches the Fenix 6 Pro in terms of features. You get preloaded marine and boat options on the Quatix, though. You can track everything you might want from hiking and running (which does include the infamously-accurate GPS system) to cycling, swimming, yoga, swimming and more quirky sports. Kayaking, skiing and bouldering, for example. 

It’ll deliver accurate data for your heart rate, steps, calories and distances. It does more, though. Your temperature and oxygen saturation are monitored through clever sensors.

We haven’t gotten to the marine tech yet. If you have a compatible boat, you can connect the Quatix. This will give you water depth, wind, engine RPM and other bespoke data. Right there on your wrist. If you’re not bowled over by that, how about accessing autopilot controls? Or being able to change your heading, steering or the route? You want more? OK. You can also change the song on your audio system.

This is no ordinary Wear OS device, but you do get the traditional frills. Notifications and calls as well as compatibility with popular music streaming channels like Spotify, Deezer and Amazon Music. You can store up to 2,000 songs locally and listen to them via Bluetooth headphones. 

We’ll get to the battery life shortly, but with all of the above plus great GPS navigation, you’re easily able to leave your phone at home. 

Looking really hard for a downside is that Garmin Pay isn’t widely available, yet.

It never gives up

Garmin’s official promise is 30 days between charging if using the Quatix in smartwatch mode. You can get 5 additional days with solar charging and also 20 hours when using GPS mode.

Final thoughts

The Garmin Quatix 6x Solar is potentially the best fitness and smart watch for the price. It does everything you might want it to. Especially if you’re into marine activities. At the same time, it looks like a million bucks.

Garmin connoisseurs might resent that you can pick up the Fenix 6S Pro for less, even cheaper if you’re OK with the non-solar version. Neither offer those unique marine features, but you could download them using the Connect app.

Really, if you’re into navigating waves and you need a faithful watch that’ll help you do that, this is a thing of beauty. If you want something that’ll last, too, look no further.

Last Updated on September 30, 2020