Garmin Marq Arms-on Evaluation: Dedication’s What You Want

Garmin’s celebrating its 30th anniversary in fashion with the Marq, a sequence of watches centered round sports activities and actions the model is greatest recognized for. The Marq Captain is for sailors, the Marq Aviator for pilots, the Marq Driver for racing drivers, the Marq Expedition for hikers and adventurers, and eventually the Marq Athlete for sportspeople.

Nonetheless, these aren’t watches for anybody vaguely serious about these items, they usually’re not for individuals who could like a little bit of crusing one week, and a fast hike up a mountain one other week. These are critical, centered, devoted watches for critical, centered, and devoted individuals. That is emphasised in all the things from the design to the options inside.

Design, development, and software program

All of the watches share the identical primary development and supplies, however the design varies. Every has a titanium case and sapphire crystal over the transflective, Reminiscence-in-Pixel (MIP) display, with inside expertise based mostly on the Garmin Fenix 5. Every is then tuned and modified to satisfy the wants of its supposed proprietor.

I attempted every mannequin on and was impressed with the light-weight nature and wearability of the watches, and the construct high quality is especially spectacular. Garmin has actually made probably the most out of pricey supplies, and these really feel like nice watches.

Athlete Andy Boxall/Digital Traits

The 46mm case is almost 15mm thick, but the design is nice sufficient that the general measurement doesn’t really feel restrictive; the rigorously chosen straps saved them feeling safe. The ceramic bezel provides much more class. You’re going to pay fairly some huge cash for any of the Marq watches, so these top quality supplies are important.

These are critical, centered, devoted watches for critical, centered, and devoted individuals.

Utilizing the Garmin Marq is an virtually equivalent expertise to utilizing the Fenix 5, which implies you’ve 5 easy-to-press buttons to manage navigation and mode choice. The menus are clear, the textual content simple to learn, and the software program is quick sufficient. Nonetheless, navigation is slightly complicated at first, and fewer intuitive than Apple’s WatchOS and even Google’s Put on OS.

The display is identical 1.2-inch MIP panel, which regarded nice throughout our indoor check, and reacted properly to difficult lighting circumstances. We discovered the backlight wasn’t wanted even within the shadows, however didn’t check it open air.

Particular options

Driver Andy Boxall/Digital Traits

The Garmin Marq options instruments that can enchantment to somebody who’s passionate a few sure exercise. The Marq Athlete, for instance, has improved sensors and coronary heart fee monitor to offer extremely correct V02 Max readings. The watch face then makes use of arrows to level at marks on the bezel for at-a-glance readings, with the highest half exhibiting VO2 Max information, and the underside half exhibiting restoration time.

The Garmin Marq options instruments that can enchantment to somebody who’s passionate a few sure exercise.

The particular options throughout the vary get much more detailed. On the Marq Driver, it has greater than 200 of the world’s race tracks programmed in, and when it acknowledges you’re about to drive on one, it should measure your lap instances. Hyperlink it to a headset, and it’ll verbally give all of the related information to you.

A database of the world’s airports are saved contained in the Marq Aviator, able to be referred to as up on the contact of a button in an emergency state of affairs; and the Marq Captain hyperlinks to Garmin’s nautical gear, performing like a wrist-worn dashboard when onboard, able to do all the things from monitor circumstances to altering course. The Marq Expedition permits the usage of GPS and several other different options for as much as 30 days with no recharge. Twelve days is the usual throughout the vary.

Who’re they for?

Avaiator Andy Boxall/Digital Traits

That is all simply the beginning, with extra options tailor-made to a selected exercise on every watch. See what we imply about centered? Garmin is aware of its viewers. It is aware of consumer-grade wearables just like the Apple Watch can’t get near providing the depth of options and information wanted by critical sailors or pilots, so it’s providing this inside a smartwatch impressed by what it calls “software watches” of previous.

From the designs to the options, Garmin has firmly pigeon-holed the Marq’s potential consumers proper from the beginning.

What will we imply? We could usually solely put on chronograph or aviation watches due to the design right now, however they have been conceived out of a necessity. In 1920, in case you needed to time your lap, you used your watch. That’s how Garmin sees the Marq right now — it fulfils the identical kind of want by integrating fashionable expertise right into a traditional fashion.

It’s apparent who the watches are aimed toward, however this may occasionally additionally find yourself being a draw back by proving to be restrictive. Simply because I wish to use the driving options on the Marq Driver, doesn’t imply I received’t lust after Aviator, for instance. From the designs to the options, Garmin has firmly pigeon-holed the Marq’s potential consumers proper from the beginning.

Conclusion

Regardless of the practical similarity to the cheaper Fenix 5, the Marq sequence are respectable worth. The supplies are the identical as you’ll find on costly Put on OS watches just like the Tag Heuer Linked Modular sequence, and the Montblanc Summit 2, each of which value not less than $1,000. The Garmin Marq sequence begins at $1,500 and goes as much as $2,500, and shall be launched in April.

This laser focus additionally considerably justifies the value too, however you’re actually going to have to wish the options provided to even contemplate shopping for one, after which just like the design that Garmin has chosen for you. The very watch-like design actually helps. They don’t seem like your normal Garmin watch, including to the flexibility and potential to put on one on a regular basis. Simply ensure you actually need one, and couldn’t make do with an everyday Fenix and even the Apple Watch, earlier than forking out.