Why Garmin’s New fēnix 8 Pro Watch Is Big News for Backcountry Adventurers

Yesterday, Garmin announced its new fēnix 8 Pro watch. The biggest selling point? It connects to both cellular and satellite networks. That means users can make phone calls, trigger an SOS, and have two-way text communications with friends, family, and emergency responders all from their wrist—off-grid and without their phone. Even with all these battery-sucking features, Garmin claims that the fēnix 8 Pro will pack an incredible 27 days of battery life in smartwatch-mode. Also announced was the fēnix 8 Pro MicroLED, which has the same connectivity features but a much brighter screen—the brightest on the market according to Garmin—and a battery that still lasts up to 10 days.

Garmin fēnix 8 Pro

We’re still waiting on an 8 Pro to test and review, but in the meantime, we’ve pored through the available information to find out what’s most important. To start, it weighs nearly half as much as an inReach Messenger Plus (without the strap), and comes with all the smart sportswatch features you’d want in the backcountry; On paper, the fēnix 8 Pro is a device that ultralight hikers and trail runners should be drooling over.

In terms of LTE connectivity, the 8 Pro will not function like an Apple Watch that’s capable of calling any phone. Instead, it will need to connect via the Garmin Messenger app, which is required for any call recipient. Additionally, LTE connectivity will let watch users send 30-second voice messages and allow for live-tracking via the app (and only the app.)

The watch can, however, send a text message to any phone. That message will come in as a random phone number; the recipient can then reply to the issuing number and the sender’s watch will receive the message. If you text someone via the recipient’s Messenger app, the watch user will be clearly identified.

If a watch user triggers the SOS feature, the initial alert and two-way messaging with responders will be sent through the cellular connection if there’s one available. Garmin told us that the 8 Pro will default to LTE for any kind of messaging, but will connect to satellite when you’ve lost cell coverage. They also told us that a feature on the watch allows users to override LTE coverage and go straight to satellite when LTE is available but weak—an achilles heel of Apple’s satellite messaging that makes it wholly unreliable in the backcountry. Like the iPhone SOS system, the 8 Pro will help you connect to a satellite by telling you where to point the watch for optimal connectivity.

On paper the 8 Pro sounds magical, but adventurers will still need to consider relying on a traditional inReach device for longer trips. According to Garmin, the 8 Pro’s battery life goes down to 53 hours when the watch is using its most powerful and accurate satellite system. That should be plenty for a rescue situation, but would put a user at risk if they’d been tracking their progress and communicating with friends for several days and then got in trouble.

The watch also uses different satellites than the standard inReach, which is why the coverage is limited to the continental U.S. and most of Canada and Europe. That coverage area is fine for many of us, but people up in Alaska will be very disappointed, and anyone adventuring in South America or across Africa and Asia will need a separate satellite communication device.

The timing of Garmin’s announcement is strategic: Apple is likely set to announce the Apple Watch Ultra 3 next Tuesday (Sept. 9) and we could see a similar feature that allows that watch to connect with Apple’s Emergency SOS system. Google also just announced the Pixel Watch 4 ($450), which can trigger an SOS via satellite. Google uses Garmin as its response center since Garmin is so well-versed in this space.

The fēnix 8 Pro joins the fēnix 8, which will still be available in a variety of sizes and configurations. The fēnix 8 Pro will start at $1,199.99 for the 47mm version, and the MicroLED version jumps to $1,999.99. The data plans you’ll need in order to use the messaging services on the fēnix 8 Pro start at $7.99/month and go up to $49.99/month.