Garmin smartwatches with solar charge

Garmin Solar range (from €410)

What is the most common complaint about smartwatches? Usually it’s the battery life, which can range from anywhere between “barely gets you through the day” to “could be stranded for a week without the charger”. It all depends on what you want the watches to do. Garmin has taken a bold step, introducing solar charging for its Instinct, Fenix 6 and 6S, and the Tactix Delta fitness watches.

Battery-saver mode

The most impressive is the Instinct Solar, which boasts of unlimited battery life when put into battery-saver mode, using the solar panel for power. It’s not just about slapping an ugly solar panel on the device – the new range has a solar lens that absorbs sunlight and keeps the battery powered.The watches looks similar to the non-solar version, and they still have the regular charging method to fall back on.

garmin.com