Yesterday’s Garmin announcement has completely revealed the company’s Fenix 9 lineup, comprising the stock, Pro, and Solar versions of the company’s newest wearables. While they’re not (quite) yet available in South Africa, all of the local prices are already known.
The standard Garmin Fenix 9 will run runners (and other fitness fans) a solid R22,500. That seems to apply to the 43mm and 47mm casings. Moving up to the Pro puts the price between R25k and R26,500. The Solar edition only has 47mm and 51mm casings, and the most you’ll pay is R26,500.
If getting lost is a possibility, you might want to opt for Garmin’s inReach Connectivity, which adds LTE and satellite coverage for an extra R2,500.
Fenix 9 lives
If you’re questioning whether it’s worth paying this much for a fitness wearable, you’re probably not athletic enough to have used a previous Fenix. Across the range, titanium is a feature. All models include a titanium bezel, with the Fenix 9 Pro and Solar using a titanium casing. The standard version has a polymer/fibre chassis, with a titanium back panel.
Each model has a 10ATM rating, with a dive depth rating of 40 metres. The Fenix 9 and the Pro both sport AMOLED displays, with the Solar using a memory-in-pixel screen which gives it substantial battery life. Ten days is the lowest number Garmin provides, with the Pro taking that up to sixteen. If you’re strapping on a Fenix 9 Pro Solar, expect up to 34 days on a charge. Garmin reckons it’ll survive more than two months in Expedition Mode.
64GB of internal storage is standard across Garmin’s new lineup. The company’s sports tracking, training programs, and deep metrics are all supposed to be at their best here, as well. On-wrist calls with a connected phone, improved mapping, and Garmin Epic are also included. Epic is supposed to let athletes “record, relive, and share multiple days of activities with photos, as well as health and performance stats, in a cohesive story of events over time.”
Given that local pricing is out, it’s only a matter of time before they’ll land at retail here. Garmin’s website only lists it as “coming soon,” which is a little less definite than the brand usually is. You can probably stick to your Garmin Fenix 8 a little longer, right?
