Always at the forefront of smart wearables, Garmin is introducing two new series of smartwatches in the Philippines: the Fenix 6 Solar series and the Instinct Solar series. As their names suggest, models under these lineup will tap solar energy in order to keep you performing for longer.
Garming is using a one-of-a-kind Power Glass solar charging panel on their latest range of wearables. A ultrathin layer of tiny conductive elements are placed on top of a glass panel in order to convert light source into electrical energy while still maintaining high permeability when paired with a Memory-in-Pixel display. This means that its screen can still maintain clear and full color visibility while charging at the same time under bright sunlight.
While traditional solar charging techniques need maximum visibility of the sun, Garmin’s implementation on the Fenix 6 Solar and Instinct Solar series rearranges the panel’s conducting cells into a new design in order to maintain charging even if there’s limited sunlight or the glass is partially obscured by clothing or mud.
Garmin Instinct Solar
Garmin Instinct Solar.
Garmin is integrating their latest solar technology into the new Instinct Solar lineup. Made for the urban sport enthusiast, the Instinct Solar smartwatches come with a Power Manager feature where you can toggle its Battery Saver mode for near-unlimited battery life, up to 24 days in Smartwatch mode indoors, or up to 54 days with enough exposure to sunlight.
Garmin Instinct Solar Camo Edition.
Aside from the usual activity and health tracking features, the Instinct Solar lineup now has a Body Battery feature that analyzes heart rate variability, stress level, sleep quality, and activity data to determine overall energy levels. Pulse Ox, on the other hand, measures blood oxygen saturation.
| Mode | Instinct Solar | Instinct Solar Camo Edition |
| Smartwatch | Up to 24 days + 30 days | |
| GPS | Up to 30 hours + 8 hours | |
| Max Battery GPS Mode | Up to 70 hours + 75 hours | |
| Expedition GPS Activity | Up to 28 days + 40 days | |
| Battery Saver Watch Mode | Up to 56 days + Unlimited |
Garmin Fenix 6 Solar Series
Garmin Fenix 6S Pro Solar.
The Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar and Fenix 6S Pro Solar are the latest flagship of GPS smartwatches from the brand. It comes with Garmin’s Power Glass, which allows for the usage of Power Manager mode as well as more efficient charging via solar energy. All the expected features like activities, training features, onboard mapping, and music streaming are included in the package but Garmin is also introducing a few more modes:
- Surf – The Fenix 6 Solar Series can no track total waves, surf time, total time, max speed, and longest wave. Using a Surfline Camera enables these smartwatches to upload their data to your Surfline account and later view videos through Surfline Sessions.
- Mountain Bike – You can now track the details of every ride with mounting biking metrics with specialized grit and flow measurements that rate trail difficulty and how smoothly a user descends. A score is shown by the mode that you can beat in your next ride.
- Indoor Climb – This new mode will now allow climbers to track sessions at indoor facilities. Metrics include the number of routes, vertical distance climbed, climbing time, and difficulty of each route among others.
| Mode | fēnix 6S Pro Solar | fēnix 6 Pro Solar |
| Smartwatch | Up to 9 days + 1.5 days | Up to 14 days + 2 days |
| GPS | Up to 25 hours + 3 hours | Up to 36 hours + 4 hours |
| GPS and Music | Up to 6 hours | Up to 10 hours |
| Max Battery GPS Mode | Up to 50 hours + 14 hours | Up to 72 hours + 21 hours |
| Expedition GPS Activity | Up to 20 days + 6 days | Up to 28 days + 8 days |
| Battery Saver Watch Mode | Up to 34 days + 25 days | Up to 48 days + 32 days |
Price and Availability in the Philippines
The Garmin Fenix 6S Pro Solar and Fenix 6 Pro Solar will be available in the Philippines for PhP 52,995. In various models:
- Fenix 6 Pro Solar
- Black with Slate Gay
- Mineral Blue with Whitestone Band
- Fenix 6S Pro Solar
- Light Gold with Shale Gray Band
- Amethyst Steel with Shale Gray Band
Meanwhile the Garmin Instinct Solar will be sold at PhP 24,995 while its Camo Edition is priced at PhP 27,995. Both the Instinct Solar and Fenix 6 Solar series are now available at Kinetic.com, Lazada, Shopee, Garmin Brand Stores, and all authorized retailers.