Garmin’s Elite Adventure Watch Gets One of the Apple Watch’s Defining Features

And yes, it still beats the Apple Watch in myriad other ways.

Person wearing a helmet and dark jacket checking a smartwatch while kayaking on a river.

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Published December 29, 2025

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Even with the introduction of the Apple Watch Ultra several years ago, Garmin’s smartwatches have been favored by true outdoor adventurers. Reasons? Vastly superior battery life, ruggedness, trailing features, better physical buttons, Android compatibility … and that’s to name a few.

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But with this year’s Apple Watch Ultra 3, Apple introduced a key feature for those same people: satellite messaging. This allows wearers to send texts or an emergency SOS message even when off the grid and without cellular coverage. It’s a game-changer.

Two Garmin Fenix smartwatches with black bands showing emergency response and time display, set against a mountain rescue scene. — The Fenix 8 Pro is Garmin’s first smartwatch with LTE and satellite connectivity.

Fortunately, Garmin’s new “best of the best” smartwatch wasn’t too far behind. The Fenix 8 Pro supports both cellular and satellite connectivity, meaning — for an $8/month fee — you can leave your smartphone and still have a way to reach out to the outside world (or have a lifeline if your smartphone dies).

But that’s not the only upgrade Garmin has made to its premium, multi-sport smartwatches.

Man wearing a black smartwatch with a red button on his wrist outdoors near trees and mountains. — If you purchase the MicroLED option, it’s also Garmin’s brightest smartwatch ever.

Most notably, in addition to the models with an OLED display, Garmin also introduced a more elite version of the Fenix 8 Pro with a MicroLED display and a maximum brightness of 4,500 nits — according to Garmin, it’s the brightest smartwatch ever.

Of course, these new elite smartwatches come at a premium. Although you can’t really put a price on potentially life-saving tech and an excellent display, can you? (Well, maybe you can put a price on the latter.)