When Garmin launched the Phoenix 8 Pro last year, it was the first smartwatch to have inReach sat-comm technology as part of the package. From all kinds of locations, a wearer could push a button and call for emergency help, as well as make calls or send texts without having a cellphone. Just about everything necessary for a hiker or bicyclist to communicate from an off-grid playground was right there on the wrist.
Now comes the marinized version of that technology, Garmin’s quatix 8 Pro. “Imagine being offshore anywhere and your cellphone doesn’t work,” says Dave Dunn, Garmin’s senior director of marine sales. “You can press a button on your wrist and communicate with emergency personnel. You get the benefits of that connectivity on your wrist.”
The trick that Garmin pulled off to make this possible was shrinking the technology that makes inReach work. There are a handful of limitations for boaters, including the fact that the smartwatch needs a clear line of sight to fixed satellite positions in the sky—wearers may have to move if something like a tree is in the way when they go ashore. Parts of the world above 65 degrees north are problematic, but many popular cruising areas, particularly in the United States and Europe, are on Garmin’s online coverage map.
Garmin packaged this inReach technology behind a bright amoled screen, and combined the tech with features that boaters have come to expect from previous versions of the quatix smartwatch. For instance, LiveTrack location sharing enables check-ins, and the smartwatch can adjust compatible Fusion stereos that are installed on board.
“You can control your autopilot with it,” Dunn says. “You can navigate with it. Do a trolling motor. The Garmin ecosystem is all tied in together.”
He adds that having a smartwatch with inReach capability is like having a life raft ready to go: “You hope you never use those features, but it’s there if you need it.”
Take the next step: garmin.com
