From The Verge: Despite being leaked to hell and back, the Garmin Fenix 7 series was a no-show at CES 2022. That’s because Garmin decided to wait until today to separately announce its revamped multisport GPS smartwatches. On top of an updated flagship Fenix 7 lineup, Garmin is also launching the Epix — a rugged outdoors smartwatch with an always-on color display.
Some things with the new Fenix 7 smartwatches will be familiar to Garmin fans. There are still three sizes: the 42mm Fenix 7S, the 47mm Fenix 7, and the whopping 51mm Fenix 7X. The Fenix 7S and 7 will come in “regular” versions made of fiber-reinforced polymer, but there are also Solar Editions and Sapphire Solar Editions for all three models. Additionally, the Sapphire Solar Editions upgrade the materials to titanium and a sapphire display for extra durability.
As the names suggest, Garmin is also adding solar charging capabilities to all three sizes. Garmin says that compared to the Fenix 6X Pro, these watches have 54 percent more solar surface area — and that purportedly translates to longer battery life. With GPS enabled, Garmin says the max battery for the 7S is 90 hours and 162 hours with solar charging. The numbers jump up for the 7 from 136 hours to 289 hours with solar. For the 7X, Garmin says you’ll get 213 hours or 578 hours with solar. Of course, these are all estimates, and what you actually get will heavily depend on your individual usage.
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