If you pilot a boat much larger than a rowboat, there’s a good chance you’re already using Garmin equipment on your vessel. Now there’s a watch that can talk to that equipment, even control it, right from your wrist. Even if you are just rowing a kayak these days, the Garmin quatix 6 Marine GPS Smartwatch has something for you.
To start, the quatix 6 has all the functions we now expect from a smartwatch, in fact, the quatix 6 is a marine-focused version of the multisport GPS fēnix 6 smartwatch. You’ll get your smartphone notifications, you can pay with Garmin Pay, and you can listen to your music, either streaming or offline with a 2,000 song storage capacity.
Fitness-wise, the standard heart rate monitor is joined by a blood oxygen sensor and the Body Battery energy tracker that gauges your energy levels, even letting you know when you might need a rest. Built-in workout profiles for swimming, kayaking, rowing, SUP, and land-based activities load you up with all the fitness data you could ever want.
Like any Garmin GPS watch, you get navigation and location functions, plus ABC sensors (for altimeter, barometer, and compass) and the battery will last you up to forty-eight days in battery-saver watch mode or thirty-six hours in GPS mode.
And then, there’s all the marine-focused goodies. The quatix 6 comes with preloaded apps for boating and fishing and supports Garmin’s Bluechart coastal charts and LakeVü freshwater maps. Connect the watch with your Garmin chartplotter, Garmin’s NMEA transceiver GNT 10, and other Garmin instruments, and have data like water depth, engine RPM, wind, and more beamed directly to your watch. You can even set up your watch to control your compatible autopilot functions.
While the boat interactivity is pretty cool, and even useful for the seafaring folks, the quatix 6 happens to look really good too. With the Captain Blue strap, steel bezel, and red detailing, it has a handsome, nautical look that’ll make everyday feel like a good day to sail, even if you’re still saving up for that cruiser.
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