South Africa has already received several of Garmin’s boat-focused wristwear lineup, including the R17,000 Quatix 7, so it’s reasonable to expect it here at some point. It’s currently an overseas-only purchase, but if you own a yacht, you could probably nip over the pond and buy one in the States.

Quatix tendencies

The major differences between the Quatix 8 and previous models include a switch to a 1.4in AMOLED display, protected behind Sapphire glass, and voice-based interoperability with a collection of Garmin’s other marine tech.

This includes some models of Garmin chartplotters and autopilots, while also offering voice control of (some) Garmin Force trolling motors and the brand’s Fusion radios. That takes care of most of the essential modern sailing functions, though we can’t help wondering what it’ll do if you say ‘Oh, hell…’ upon sighting an approaching waterspout. Where… where would it take you?

The Quatix 8 features a speaker and microphone, allowing for on-wrist calls while at the helm (or while driving the big white bus in the head). Apps for the tides and anchor drag, a powerful LED light, and the obligatory ‘readiness’ fitness indicator are also tools intrepid sailors will find useful.

A sixteen-day battery life (it should manage a week with the display always on), waterproofing to 10 atmospheres (100m), and the usual run of Garmin’s ‘track everything’ technology mean you don’t need to set sail to wear the Quatix 8 but it’s marketed toward users who prefer to feel the wind in their sails. Those customised features won’t do you much good on dry land unless you’re faking it especially hard.

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It’s set to arrive, internationally at least, from 24 June, with an LTE version of the device launching later in the year. Local pricing isn’t confirmed yet but will probably come in at around half of the Galaxy Watch 6’s R7,500 launch price. Whether the FE can compete with that wearable’s current price remains to be seen.

Watch FE go

Samsung will certainly give it a shot. The Watch FE is set to launch with a 40mm case — there’s no larger version — and three different colourways. Black, Pink Gold, and Silver are your options. These should cover more scenarios, from the office to a night on the town, but Samsung reckons you’ll use this wearable primarily for its fitness features.

It’s packing Samsung’s BioActive Sensor, tucked away behind Sapphire Crystal glass, and should handle movement, sleep, and advanced heart tracking. Samsung’s HR Alerts, which notify wearers of irregular heartbeats, will be a part of the FE package.

The Watch FE has a 1.2in 396 x 396 AMOLED display, 1.5GB of RAM, and 16GB of onboard storage. A 247mAh battery should lend it similar battery life to its fuller-featured brethren but the more affordable price point might be enough to tempt some users into Samsung’s wearable ecosystem. It’s not like Google’s doing anything sensible with Fitbit other than running it into the ground so you might as well look over here.

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