Garmin’s Quatix 7 is a GPS sailing watch with a boatload of features
Seafaring wearable
A fitness watch might be fine for logging your jogging, but most multi-sport tickers are all at sea when it comes to sailing assistance. Need a ticker that can brave the waves with you? Garmin’s Quatix 7 is a GPS sports watch designed for seafaring sorts.
Equipped with a sturdy stainless steel bezel, reinforced polymer shell and 1.2in display, the Quatix 7 looks every bit the classic Garmin wearable. But dive deeper and you’ll find a marine-grade feature set: hooked up to compatible yachting equipment, the Quatix 7 can be used to control your craft’s autopilot – ideal if the first mate’s too distracted by their smartwatch to handle the helm.
The aquatic timepiece can also display live situational data from connected sensors, including water depth, engine RPM and windspeed, as well as alerting you to tide changes and anchor drag. So you shouldn’t find you’ve accidentally drifted into dodgy waters. Lost something overboard? Log a waypoint via the watch and you’ll know where to circle back to. And don’t be afraid to fish for your flotsam: with a water-rating of 10 ATM, the Quatix 7 can deal with dunkings down to 100m.
Hapless sailors won’t find port and starboard indicators installed, but Garmin’s Sailassist feature can offer tacking tips and a virtual start line. And for those in need of a navigator, the Quatix 7 also supports coastal charts and TopoActive maps, with multi-system GPS for pinpoint positioning.
Sizeable at 47mm across, the Quatix 7 packs a battery to match: it’s good for 18 days in smartwatch mode, or 57 hours with GPS enabled. Heading on a longer voyage? Splash out on the Quatix 7x Solar Edition for a smart sailing watch that keeps itself topped up from the sun.
All editions of the Quatix 7 feature an updated touchscreen interface, with five physical buttons providing a reassuring fallback. Because swiping isn’t easy in Force 10 Storm. Want a punchier panel? Opt for the Sapphire edition and you’ll get a vibrant AMOLED screen, plus a carbon-coated titanium casing that’s sure to cut a dash offshore.
Available now, the standard Garmin Quatix 7 will set sailors back £600. The Sapphire variant drops anchor at £900, while the Solar edition makes waves with a £1050 price tag.
Chris Rowlands
Freelance contributor 
