Garmin Quatix 7 review: Is this marine smartwatch worth the upgrade?

The Garmin Quatix 7 has been my 2022 boating watch, an upgrade over the previous generation Quatix 6. And it’s a serious step on.

Both are full-function marine smartwatches, able to link to a compatible Garmin MFD and display all kinds of boat info from speed to direction, and even control a compatible autopilot, allowing you to steer your boat James Bond-style, using your watch.

Sadly my boat has Raymarine and no autopilot, but I find twiddling the steering wheel still works well. The watches can also monitor your heart rate, display texts, emails and other info from your smartphone and control your Fusion stereo. They can even display charts.

The Garmin Quatix 7 has a few extra tricks, albeit with a slightly more confusing interface.

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But the most obvious difference is the watch face, upgraded from a backlit monochrome to a full colour touch screen! It looks fantastic when illuminated – vibrant and cheerful, with everything from the layout to the colour of the hands configurable.

Although a vast improvement over the Garmin Quatix 6, there is one small disadvantage. When it’s not lit (by touching the face or pushing a button), it is blank (there is a motion sensor to light it, but rotating your wrist doesn’t always trigger it). The Quatix 6 may be less interesting, but when it isn’t lit, you can at least still read the time.

Given the choice, I would still take the Quatix 7, it’s a nicer watch. But I probably wouldn’t urge the owner of a Quatix 6 to upgrade.

MBY rating: 4/5