Quatix 6 VS Quatix 5

Garmin has like clockwork released the new iteration of their Quatix series, the Quatix 6. The new model like always is based off their most recent fenix model’s software. They’ve also very recently released the Quatix 6X Titanium version that comes with their new solar charging lens (extends battery life).

Garmin quatix 6 | $999 AUD | List of Compatible Accessories and 360-degree Product View Available Here |

Garmin Quatix 6 Sapphire Titanium | $1499 AUD | List of Compatible Accessories and 360-degree Product View Available Here |

Garmin Quatix 6X Solar | $1799 AUD | List of Compatible Accessories and 360-degree Product View Available Here |

What’s Changed from the Quatix 5 to the Quatix 6

Just like the fenix 5 to the fenix 6, there’s a lot of new inclusions on the Quatix 6. I’ll do a short summary here covering the significant changes with more details later in the article.

New features on the Quatix 6

  • Larger display (1.3” | increased from 1.2”)
  • Higher display resolution (260x260p | increased from 240x240p)
  • Larger internal memory (32GB | increased from 64MB)
  • Comes with Pulse Ox
    • Measure your blood oxygen saturation/acclimation and improves sleep tracking information
  • Music Storage (Quatix 6 can store up to 2000 songs on the watch directly, no need to take your smartphone on the run)
  • Preloaded with 41,000 Golf Courses Worldwide
  • Preloaded with workouts and Gym Profiles
  • Preloaded Topographical Maps
  • Preloaded Ski Resort Maps
  • Garmin Pay (contactless payment via the Quatix 6 NFC Chip)
  • Cycle Map (Routable cycling-specific maps)

Quatix 6 Sapphire Titanium

  • Sapphire Crystal Lens
  • Titanium Band

Quatix 6X Solar Titanium Only

  • Solar Charging Lens (Can extend battery life up to 3 days in optimal sun conditions)

Quatix 6X Solar (Left) Quatix 6 (Right)

Full specification Comparison Table Quatix 5 vs Quatix 6 vs Quatix 6X Solar

Quatix 5 Quatix 6 Quatix 6X Pro Solar
General
LENS MATERIAL glass or sapphire crystal Corning® Gorilla® Glass DX Power Glass™
BEZEL MATERIAL stainless steel stainless steel titanium
CASE MATERIAL fibre-reinforced polymer fibre-reinforced polymer with metal rear cover fibre-reinforced polymer with metal rear cover
QUICKFIT™ WATCH BAND COMPATIBLE yes (22 mm) included (22 mm) included (26 mm)
STRAP MATERIAL silicone or steel silicone titanium and silicone included
PHYSICAL SIZE 47 x 47 x 15.5 mm 47 x 47 x 14.7 mm 51 x 51 x 14.9 mm
COLOUR DISPLAY Yes Yes Yes
DISPLAY SIZE 1.2” (30.4 mm) diameter 1.3” (33.02 mm) diameter 1.4” (35.56 mm) diameter
DISPLAY RESOLUTION 240 x 240 pixels 260 x 260 pixels 280 x 280 pixels
DISPLAY TYPE sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP)
WEIGHT Silicone band: 85 g 83 g (60 g, case only) 82 g (54 g, case only)
Metal band: 156 g
BATTERY LIFE Smartwatch Mode: Up to 2 weeks Smartwatch mode: Up to 14 days Smartwatch: Up to 21 days plus 3 days *
GPS/HR mode: Up to 24 hours GPS mode: Up to 36 hours GPS: Up to 60 hours plus 6 hours **
UltraTrac™ mode: Up to 60 hours without wrist heart rate GPS and music: Up to 10 hours GPS + Music: Up to 15 hours plus 1 hour**
N/A Max battery GPS mode: 72 hours Max Battery GPS Mode: 120 hours plus 28 hours**
N/A Expedition GPS activity: 28 days Expedition GPS Activity: 46 days plus 10 days*
N/A Battery saver watch mode: 48 days Battery Saver Watch Mode: 80 days plus 40 days*
N/A N/A *Solar charging, assuming all-day wear with 3 hours per day outside in 50,000 lux conditions
N/A N/A **Solar charging, assuming use in 50,000 lux conditions
WATER RATING 10 ATM 10 ATM 10 ATM
MEMORY/HISTORY 64 MB 32 GB 32 GB
Clock Features
TIME/DATE Yes Yes Yes
GPS TIME SYNC Yes Yes Yes
AUTOMATIC DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME Yes Yes Yes
ALARM CLOCK Yes Yes Yes
TIMER Yes Yes Yes
STOPWATCH Yes Yes Yes
SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES Yes Yes Yes
Sensors
GPS Yes Yes Yes
GLONASS Yes Yes Yes
GALILEO No Yes Yes
GARMIN ELEVATE™ WRIST HEART RATE MONITOR Yes Yes Yes
BAROMETRIC ALTIMETER Yes Yes Yes
COMPASS Yes Yes Yes
GYROSCOPE Yes Yes Yes
ACCELEROMETER Yes Yes Yes
THERMOMETER Yes Yes Yes
PULSE OX No yes (with Acclimation) yes (with Acclimation)
Daily Smart Features
CONNECTIVITY Bluetooth® Smart, ANT+®, Wi-Fi® with sapphire editions Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi® Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi®
CONNECT IQ™ (DOWNLOADABLE WATCH FACES, DATA FIELDS, WIDGETS AND APPS) Yes Yes Yes
SMART NOTIFICATIONS Yes Yes Yes
TEXT RESPONSE/REJECT PHONE CALL WITH TEXT (ANDROID™ ONLY) No Yes Yes
CALENDAR Yes Yes Yes
WEATHER Yes Yes Yes
BATTERY SAVER - CUSTOMIZABLE LOW POWER WATCH No Yes Yes
CONTROLS SMARTPHONE MUSIC Yes Yes Yes
FIND MY PHONE Yes Yes Yes
FIND MY WATCH Yes Yes Yes
PLAYS AND CONTROLS WATCH MUSIC No Yes Yes
MUSIC STORAGE No up to 2,000 songs up to 2,000 songs
VIRB® REMOTE Yes Yes Yes
SMARTPHONE COMPATIBILITY iPhone®, Android™ iPhone®, Android™ iPhone®, Android™
PAIRS WITH GARMIN CONNECT™ MOBILE Yes Yes Yes
GARMIN PAY™ No Yes Yes
Safety and Tracking Features
ASSISTANCE No Yes Yes
LIVETRACK Yes Yes Yes
GROUP LIVETRACK Yes Yes Yes
LIVE EVENT SHARING No Yes Yes
INCIDENT DETECTION DURING SELECT ACTIVITIES No Yes Yes
DUAL GRID COORDINATES Yes Yes Yes
Boating Features
AVAILABLE BOATING PROFILES Boating, Sailing, Fishing Boating, Sailing, Sail Racing Boating, Sailing, Sail Racing
ANCHOR ALARM Yes Yes Yes
AUTOPILOT CONTROL yes (with compatible Garmin Marine device equipment) Yes Yes
BOAT DATA STREAMING yes (with compatible Garmin Marine device equipment) Yes Yes
VIRTUAL STARTING LINE Yes Yes Yes
COUNTDOWN TIMER Yes Yes Yes
TACK ASSIST MODE Yes Yes Yes
BUILT-IN BAROMETER AND TIDE TABLES Yes yes (downloadable tides) yes (downloadable tides)
Activity Tracking Features
STEP COUNTER Yes Yes Yes
MOVE BAR (DISPLAYS ON DEVICE AFTER A PERIOD OF INACTIVITY; WALK FOR A COUPLE OF MINUTES TO RESET IT) Yes Yes Yes
AUTO GOAL (LEARNS YOUR ACTIVITY LEVEL AND ASSIGNS A DAILY STEP GOAL) Yes Yes Yes
SLEEP MONITORING (MONITORS TOTAL SLEEP AND PERIODS OF MOVEMENT OR RESTFUL SLEEP) Yes Yes Yes
CALORIES BURNED Yes Yes Yes
FLOORS CLIMBED Yes Yes Yes
DISTANCE TRAVELED Yes Yes Yes
INTENSITY MINUTES Yes Yes Yes
TRUEUP™ Yes Yes Yes
MOVE IQ™ Yes Yes Yes
FITNESS AGE yes (in app) yes (in app) yes (in app)
BODY BATTERY™ ENERGY MONITOR Yes Yes Yes
ALL-DAY STRESS TRACKING Yes Yes Yes
Gym & Fitness Equipment
AVAILABLE GYM ACTIVITY PROFILES Indoor Rowing Strength, Cardio and Elliptical Training, Stair Stepping, Floor Climbing, Indoor Rowing, Pilates and Yoga Strength, Cardio and Elliptical Training, Stair Stepping, Floor Climbing, Indoor Rowing, Pilates and Yoga
CARDIO WORKOUTS No Yes Yes
STRENGTH WORKOUTS No Yes Yes
YOGA WORKOUTS No Yes Yes
PILATES WORKOUTS No Yes Yes
ON-SCREEN WORKOUT ANIMATIONS No Yes Yes
AUTOMATIC REP COUNTING No Yes Yes
Training, Planning and Analysis Features
GPS SPEED AND DISTANCE Yes Yes Yes
CUSTOMIZABLE DATA PAGES Yes Yes Yes
CUSTOMIZABLE ACTIVITY PROFILES Yes Yes Yes
AUTO PAUSE® Yes Yes Yes
INTERVAL TRAINING Yes Yes Yes
ADVANCED WORKOUTS Yes Yes Yes
DOWNLOADABLE TRAINING PLANS Yes Yes Yes
POWER MODES - CUSTOMIZABLE IN-ACTIVITY BATTERY SETTINGS Yes Yes
AUTO LAP® Yes Yes Yes
MANUAL LAP Yes Yes Yes
CONFIGURABLE LAP ALERTS Yes Yes Yes
HEAT AND ALTITUDE ACCLIMATION Yes Yes
VO2 MAX Yes Yes Yes
TRAINING STATUS (LETS YOU SEE IF YOU’RE TRAINING EFFECTIVELY BY TRACKING YOUR TRAINING HISTORY AND FITNESS LEVEL TREND.) Yes Yes Yes
TRAINING LOAD (YOUR TOTAL TRAINING LOAD FOR THE LAST 7 DAYS CALCULATED FROM ESTIMATED EPOC) Yes Yes Yes
TRAINING LOAD FOCUS Yes Yes
TRAINING EFFECT Yes Yes Yes
TRAINING EFFECT (ANAEROBIC) Yes Yes Yes
PRIMARY BENEFIT (TRAINING EFFECT LABELS) Yes Yes
CUSTOM ALERTS Yes Yes Yes
AUDIO PROMPTS Yes Yes Yes
FINISH TIME Yes Yes Yes
VIRTUAL PARTNER Yes Yes Yes
RACE AN ACTIVITY Yes Yes Yes
AUTO MULTISPORT ACTIVITIES Yes Yes Yes
MANUAL MULTISPORT ACTIVITIES Yes Yes Yes
COURSE GUIDANCE Yes Yes Yes
GARMIN LIVE SEGMENTS Yes Yes Yes
STRAVA LIVE SEGMENTS Yes Yes Yes
ROUND-TRIP COURSE CREATOR (RUNNING/CYCLING) No Yes Yes
TRENDLINE™ POPULARITY ROUTING No yes (available as a wearable map theme) yes (available as a wearable map theme)
TOUCH AND/OR BUTTON LOCK Yes Yes Yes
HOTKEYS Yes Yes Yes
AUTO SCROLL Yes Yes Yes
ACTIVITY HISTORY ON WATCH Yes Yes Yes
PHYSIO TRUEUP No Yes Yes
Heart Rate Features
HR ZONES Yes Yes Yes
HR ALERTS Yes Yes Yes
HR CALORIES Yes Yes Yes
% of HR MAX Yes Yes Yes
% HRR Yes Yes Yes
RECOVERY TIME Yes Yes Yes
AUTO MAX HR Yes Yes Yes
HRV STRESS TEST (MEASURES YOUR HEART RATE VARIABILITY WHILE STANDING STILL, FOR 3 MINUTES, TO PROVIDE YOU WITH AN ESTIMATED STRESS LEVEL; THE SCALE OF THIS IS 1 TO 100; LOW SCORES INDICATE LOWER STRESS LEVELS) yes (with compatible accessory) yes (with compatible accessory) yes (with compatible accessory)
HR BROADCAST (BROADCASTS HR DATA OVER ANT+™ TO PAIRED DEVICES) Yes Yes Yes
Running Features
AVAILABLE RUN PROFILES Running, Indoor Running, Trail Running Running, Indoor Treadmill and Track Running, Trail Running Running, Indoor Treadmill and Track Running, Trail Running
GPS-BASED DISTANCE, TIME AND PACE Yes Yes
RUNNING DYNAMICS Yes yes (with compatible accessory) yes (with compatible accessory)
VERTICAL OSCILLATION AND RATIO (THE DEGREE OF 'BOUNCE' IN YOUR RUNNING MOTION AND THE COST-BENEFIT RATIO WITH STRIDE LENGTH) yes (with compatible accessory) yes (with compatible accessory) yes (with compatible accessory)
GROUND CONTACT TIME AND BALANCE (SHOWS HOW MUCH TIME, IN THE RUNNING MOTION, YOUR FOOT IS ON THE GROUND RATHER THAN IN FLIGHT AND LETS YOU CHECK YOUR RUNNING SYMMETRY) yes (with compatible accessory) yes (with compatible accessory) yes (with compatible accessory)
STRIDE LENGTH (REAL TIME) yes (with compatible accessory) yes (with compatible accessory) yes (with compatible accessory)
CADENCE (PROVIDES REAL-TIME NUMBER OF STEPS PER MINUTE) Yes Yes Yes
PERFORMANCE CONDITION (AFTER RUNNING 6–20 MINUTES, COMPARES YOUR REAL-TIME CONDITION TO YOUR AVERAGE FITNESS LEVEL) Yes Yes Yes
LACTATE THRESHOLD (THROUGH ANALYSIS OF YOUR PACE AND HEART RATE, ESTIMATES THE POINT WHERE YOUR MUSCLES START TO RAPIDLY FATIGUE) yes (with compatible accessory) yes (with compatible accessory) yes (with compatible accessory)
PACEPRO™ PACING STRATEGIES No Yes Yes
RUN WORKOUTS Yes Yes Yes
RACE PREDICTOR Yes Yes Yes
FOOT POD CAPABLE Yes Yes Yes
Golfing Features
PRELOADED WITH 41,000 COURSES WORLDWIDE No Yes Yes
YARDAGE TO F/M/B (DISTANCE TO FRONT, MIDDLE AND BACK OF GREEN) Yes Yes Yes
YARDAGE TO LAYUPS/DOGLEGS Yes Yes Yes
MEASURES SHOT DISTANCE (CALCULATES EXACT YARDAGE FOR SHOTS FROM ANYWHERE ON COURSE) Automatic Automatic Automatic
DIGITAL SCORECARD Yes Yes Yes
CUSTOM TARGETS No Yes Yes
STAT TRACKING (STROKES, PUTTS PER ROUND, GREENS AND FAIRWAYS HIT) Yes Yes Yes
GARMIN AUTOSHOT™ Yes Yes Yes
FULL VECTOR MAP No Yes Yes
AUTO COURSEVIEW UPDATES No Yes Yes
GREEN VIEW WITH MANUAL PIN POSITION Yes Yes Yes
HAZARDS AND COURSE TARGETS Yes Yes Yes
PINPOINTER No Yes Yes
PLAYSLIKE DISTANCE No Yes Yes
HANDICAP SCORING No Yes Yes
TRUSWING™ COMPATIBLE Yes Yes Yes
ROUND TIMER/ODOMETER No Yes Yes
AUTOMATIC CLUB TRACKING COMPATIBLE (REQUIRES ACCESSORY) No Yes Yes
Outdoor Recreation
AVAILABLE OUTDOOR RECREATION PROFILES Hiking, Climbing, Skiing, Snowboarding, XC Skiing, Stand Up Paddleboarding, Rowing, Jumpmaster, Tactical Hiking, Climbing, Mountain Biking, Skiing, Snowboarding, XC Skiing, Stand Up Paddleboarding, Rowing, Kayaking, Jumpmaster, Tactical Hiking, Climbing, Mountain Biking, Skiing, Snowboarding, XC Skiing, Stand Up Paddleboarding, Rowing, Kayaking, Jumpmaster, Tactical
POINT-TO-POINT NAVIGATION Yes Yes Yes
BREAD CRUMB TRAIL IN REAL TIME Yes Yes Yes
BACK TO START Yes Yes Yes
TRACBACK® Yes Yes Yes
ULTRATRAC MODE Yes Yes Yes
ELEVATION PROFILE Yes Yes Yes
AROUND ME MODE No Yes No
DISTANCE TO DESTINATION Yes Yes Yes
BAROMETRIC TREND INDICATOR WITH STORM ALERT Yes Yes Yes
CLIMBPRO™ ASCENT PLANNER No Yes Yes
TRAIL RUN AUTO CLIMB Yes Yes Yes
VERTICAL SPEED Yes Yes Yes
TOTAL ASCENT/DESCENT Yes Yes Yes
FUTURE ELEVATION PLOT No Yes Yes
PRELOADED TOPOGRAPHICAL MAPS No Yes Yes
PRELOADED SKI RESORT MAPS No Yes Yes
DOWNLOADABLE CARTOGRAPHY SUPPORT No Yes Yes
COMPATIBLE WITH BASECAMP™ Yes Yes Yes
GPS COORDINATES Yes Yes yes (via Connect IQ™)
SIGHT 'N GO Yes Yes yes (via Connect IQ™)
AREA CALCULATION yes (via Connect IQ™) yes (via Connect IQ™) Yes
HUNT/FISH CALENDAR yes (via Connect IQ™) yes (via Connect IQ™) yes (via Connect IQ™)
PROJECTED WAYPOINT No Yes Yes
SUN AND MOON INFORMATION yes (via Connect IQ™) yes (via Connect IQ™) Yes
XERO™ LOCATIONS No Yes yes (via Connect IQ™)
EXPEDITION GPS ACTIVITY No Yes Yes
TIDES No yes (via Connect IQ™) Yes
Cycling Features
ALERTS (TRIGGERS ALARM WHEN YOU REACH GOALS INCLUDING TIME, DISTANCE, HEART RATE OR CALORIES) Yes Yes Yes
COURSES Yes Yes Yes
CYCLE MAP (ROUTABLE CYCLING-SPECIFIC STREET MAP) No Yes Yes
AVAILABLE CYCLING PROFILES Biking, Indoor Biking, Mountain Biking Biking, Indoor Biking, Mountain Biking, Triathlon Biking, Indoor Biking, Mountain Biking, Triathlon
BIKE LAP AND LAP MAXIMUM POWER (WITH POWER SENSOR) Yes Yes
RACE AN ACTIVITY Yes Yes
FTP (FUNCTIONAL THRESHOLD POWER) yes (with compatible accessory) yes (with compatible accessory) yes (with compatible accessory)
COMPATIBLE WITH VECTOR™ (POWER METER) Yes Yes Yes
POWER METER COMPATIBLE Yes Yes Yes
COMPATIBLE WITH VARIA VISION™ (HEAD-MOUNTED DISPLAY) Yes Yes Yes
COMPATIBLE WITH VARIA™ RADAR (REAR-FACING RADAR) Yes Yes Yes
COMPATIBLE WITH VARIA™ LIGHTS Yes Yes Yes
SPEED AND CADENCE SENSOR SUPPORT (WITH SENSOR) yes (ANT+® and Bluetooth® Smart sensors) yes (ANT+® and Bluetooth® Smart sensors) yes (ANT+® and Bluetooth® Smart sensors)
Swimming Features
AVAILABLE SWIM PROFILES Pool Swimming, Open Water Swimming Pool Swimming, Open Water Swimming, Swim Running Pool Swimming, Open Water Swimming, Swim Running
OPEN-WATER SWIM METRICS (DISTANCE, PACE, STROKE COUNT/RATE, STROKE DISTANCE, SWIM EFFICIENCY (SWOLF), CALORIES) Yes Yes Yes
POOL SWIM METRICS (LENGTHS, DISTANCE, PACE, STROKE COUNT, SWIM EFFICIENCY (SWOLF), CALORIES) Yes Yes Yes
STROKE TYPE DETECTION (FREESTYLE, BACKSTROKE, BREASTSTROKE, BUTTERFLY) (POOL SWIM ONLY) Yes Yes Yes
DRILL LOGGING (POOL SWIM ONLY) Yes Yes Yes
BASIC REST TIMER (UP FROM 0) (POOL SWIM ONLY) Yes Yes Yes
COUNTDOWN START (POOL SWIM ONLY) Yes Yes
POOL SWIM WORKOUTS Yes Yes Yes
UNDERWATER WRIST-BASED HEART RATE No Yes Yes
HEART RATE FROM EXTERNAL HRM (REAL-TIME DURING RESTS, INTERVAL AND SESSION STATS DURING RESTS, AND AUTOMATIC HEART RATE DOWNLOAD POST-SWIM) yes (with HRM-Tri™ and HRM-Swim™) yes (with HRM-Tri™ and HRM-Swim yes (with HRM-Tri™ and HRM-Swim

Hardware Design

Most of the hardware between the Quatix 5 and 6 has stayed the same. They both have the same number of buttons but come with a slightly different bezel design. The lens has also changed, the standard edition for the Quatix 5 came with a glass lens while the titanium Quatix 5 had a sapphire lens. The new Quatix 6 comes with Corning Gorilla Glass DX while the titanium version comes with Sapphire Lens. The newer models also have a larger display size overall and a better resolution for that display.

The Quatix 6 series has also seen new battery modes introduced for the watch to enhance battery life.

  • Smartwatch mode: up to 14 days (standard mode)
  • GPS mode: up to 36 hours
  • GPS and music up to 10 hours
  • Max battery GPS Mode up to 72 hours
  • Expedition GPS Activity up to 28 days
    • The watch enters a low power mode and collects GPS track points once an hour. To maximise battery life, the device turns off all sensors and accessories including connection to your smartphone
  • Battery saver watch mode
    • Allows you to access custom settings to turn off different aspects of the watches functions like GPS tracking, smartphone connecting, optical HRM to extend the battery life of the watch

Features and Accessories

Unlike the Quatix 5 the Quatix 6 is packed with features beyond just a marine focus. The quatix 6 has the same features as the fenix 6 in regards to health and fitness. The quatix 6 has both optical HRM and pulse ox tracking. The optical HRM gives the watch information on your heartbeat hwile the Pulse Ox give information on you blood oxygen saturation. This data is passed over to many of the activities and workout profiles preloaded into the watch to give you live updates on your performance.

The quatix 6 comes preloaded with outdoor recreation profiles, navigation features and sensors built into the watch like the barometric altimeter and compass. This allows the watch to be a lot more then just specialised marine watch it’s a versatile everyday watch with specific features for golfing, swimming, cycling and outdoor navigation with preloaded topo maps.

Marine and Sailing Features

The Quatix 6 can pair to your boat for all your navigating information at-a-glance. This does require the use of a compatible Garmin Chartplotter* or the GNT 10 transceiver. With this connection you easily view a tonne of information about your current position including water depth, engine RPM, wind, custom data pages and more. You can also sync your watch to drop a waypoint from anywhere on the boat. You can also have access to built-in features like the anchor alarm, virtual starting line, tack assist mode and built-in barometer and tide tables (tide tables need to be downloadable).

Compatible Chartplotters list: GNT 10 transceiver, GPSMAP 1222xsv Plus, GPSMAP 1222xsv Touch, GPSMAP 7407xsv, GPSMAP 752xs, GPSMAP 752xs Plus, GPSMAP 8410xsv, GPSMAP 8412xsv, GPSMAP 8416xsv, GPSMAP 8417 MFD, GPSMAP 8422 MFD, GPSMAP 8424 MFD, GPSMAP 952xs Plus. (current as of 1/06/20) talk to our team for current updates.

You can find a full list of compatible bands and accessories like heart rate monitor chest straps on this page.

Summary – Is the Quatix 6 worth it?

It’s a great fitness watch if you didn’t even account for the additional marine focused features. It does have an expensive price tag but that tag comes with almost everything current smartwatches can offer and then some especially considering the preloaded maps, golf courses and workouts. The value really stems from whether you will use the sailing features as this is the only aspect that differentiates it from a fenix 6.

 

Joel Clement:
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