Garmin fēnix 8 Pro’s New MicroLED Smartwatch Screen Is the Brightest Ever

Count this as Garmin’s attempt to preempt Apple’s thunder. Only a week before industry analysts expect Apple to launch its Apple Watch Ultra 3, Garmin’s premium-priced competitor has debuted with a pair of headline-grabbing updates.

why and when brightness matters

Anything with the word “pro” in its name signals that you should expect a heavy hit to your bank account. The fēnix 8 Pro comes in two flavors. The version with the AMOLED screen runs $1,300, and the MicroLED screen costs $2,000.

That’s not just the price that’s causing your eyes to water. The MicroLED screen is the brightest smartwatch ever made, according to Garmin. That may just seem like a pissing match for bragging rights, and part of it is, but brightest screens are easier to see under strong light, which washes out screens and makes them nearly unreadable.

Indoors, it’s rarely much of an issue. Even a well-lit room isn’t nearly as bright as the sun outdoors on a cloudy day. On a smartwatch aimed for active people who run, bike, hike, and swim outdoors, a very bright screen that’s easily readable on a sunny day is a godsend.

The MicroLED version packs 400,000 individual LEDs into the 1.4″ touchscreen and delivers up to 4,500 nits (a measure of screen brightness). By comparison, an Apple MacBook Air M4 has a maximum screen brightness of 500 nits.

Both versions of the fēnix 8 Pro include Garmin InReach satellite messaging that lets you send and receive messages in many areas without cell service. As long as you’ve got a charged smartphone with you, you can connect it to your watch and message through the Garmin Messenger app.

InReach is the same technology used in Garmin’s dedicated emergency satellite devices that I carry when mountain climbing and hiking, so it’s not just some watered-down version of the technology. It’s the real deal.

Smartwatches are slowly entering a phase of maturity. Annual updates can sometimes feel like exercises in marketing designed to get people to ditch perfectly good, older models for the sake of buying a shiny, new toy.

The fēnix 8 Pro’s greater screen brightness and built-in InReach satellite messaging don’t fall into that bucket, though. These are substantive updates over the fēnix 7 Pro.