At the beginning of the year, the Garmin announced the Fenix 7 line of smartwatches. Fenix 7, 7S and 7X offer robustness, GPS, recharge via solar energy and long battery life. They just weren’t officially released in Brazil. But that should change soon. The three watches have just been homologated by Anatel.
Although the Apple Watch line is a global reference when it comes to smartwatches, Garmin models appear as very interesting options for those who place more emphasis on sports activities.
Issued in early October, documents from the approval at Anatel show that the procedure was requested by Proparts. The company is focused precisely on sports products and, today, works with 14 brands. Garmin is among them.
But what is so special about Fenix 7 watches?
Let’s start with the features that appear in all models in the line. One of them is the MIP (Memory-In-Pixel) LCD screen, which resembles an e-ink panel, but is colored and offers great viewing outdoors.
This type of display is nothing new to Garmin. It already appears in Phoenix 6, for example. The big difference is that, in the Fenix 7 line, the screen is touch sensitive.
The watches’ solar energy charging technology is another highlight, although it is not present in the basic versions. And this is not a new feature either.
But, compared to the previous generation, there were important advances. THE Garmin speaks in a 54% larger sunlight detection area than that of the Fenix 6X Pro smartwatch, for example.
The solar recharge feature allows the most advanced model in the line, the Garmin Fenix 7X, to have autonomy of up to 24 days:
| Clock | Battery without solar charging | Battery with solar charge |
|---|---|---|
| Garmin Fenix 7S | 90 hours (about 4 days) | 162 hours (about 7 days) |
| Garmin Fenix 7 | 136 hours (about 5 and a half days) | 289 hours (about 12 days) |
| Garmin Fenix 7X | 213 hours (about 9 days) | 578 hours (about 24 days) |
Other features common to the trio include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, blood oxygen and heart rate meters, as well as integration with Android and iOS. Technologies such as GPS, Glonass and Beidou are also part of the package.
The main differences between them appear in their dimensions. The smallest is the Fenix 7S, with a 42mm crown. The Fenix 7 appears next, with 47 mm. The Fenix 7X is 51mm. This leads to differences in screens:
- Garmin Fenix 7S: 1.2 inch, 240×240 pixels
- Garmin Fenix 7: 1.3 inch, 260×260 pixels
- Garmin Fenix 7X: 1.4 inch, 280×280 pixels
Which versions arrive in Brazil?
The recharging feature by solar energy is available in the Solar and Sapphire Solar versions of the Fenix 7 line models. In addition to the recharging technology, the latter features sapphire glass (more resistant), as the name makes clear.
The documentation obtained by technoblog at Anatel shows that all of them were approved for commercialization in Brazil. The standard version of the Fenix 7S, without solar charging, also received the approval of the agency.
The beginning of sales here is still a mystery, however. Or not. The watches already appear in the Brazilian Garmin Store. It is just unclear whether the units available in the store are the ones that carry the Anatel seal.
In any case, the Garmin Store in Brazil shows that the line is expensive, very expensive. There, prices start at R$ 8,149 (Fenix 7). In the United States, the same model starts at $700.
https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/2022/10/20/com-recarga-solar-melhorada-relogios-garmin-fenix-7-passam-pela-anatel/