Garmin Just Debuted The Brightest Smartwatch To Date With An Eye-Watering Price Tag

Garmin looks to be making yet another big play in the smartwatch industry, officially debuting the Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED. On top of being Garmin's biggest, baddest smartwatch yet — with a price tag to back those claims up — the Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED will also sport the brightest display ever seen on a smartwatch, with a maximum brightness of 4,500 nits.

For some comparison, the Galaxy Watch 8 and the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic — Samsung's latest flagship smartwatches — only reach a max brightness of 3,000 nits. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 maxes out at 3,000 nits as well. Of course, we don't yet know how it will compare to Apple's rumored Ultra Watch 3, though we're expecting to find out more details about that smartwatch next week.

Beyond just brightness, though, the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED is the first smartwatch to introduce the world to microLED displays. The company calls the screen a "first-of-its-kind, high-resolution MicroLED display for superior readability." This, it claims, will make it even easier for users to leave their phone behind and rely wholly on their smartphone for a time, especially since the Fenix 8 Pro supports satellite connectivity thanks to built-in inReach technology and cellular connectivity options.

While the maximum brightness on the Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED is record-breaking, and the announced features like LiveTrack, voice message support, voice call support, and even weather forecasts sound like a winning formula for an outdoor-focused smartwatch, those features aren't being made available at a paltry sum. No, the Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED far more expensive than many of the popular models you'll find on the market, retailing at $1,999.99. Even with a Titanium Milanese Loop band, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 maxes out at $899.

That's a lot to pay for a smartwatch. In fact, it's probably significantly more than you will pay for an iPhone 17 Pro Max, based on the latest price leaks. But if you like what Garmin has to offer, and want a smartwatch with a display that will likely be viewable no matter how bright it is outside, then the Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED is not a bad option by any means.

Seeing Garmin go this far with a display also means we'll likely see others start to follow with brighter displays, too, which will hopefully make it even easier to use a smartwatch when the sun is beating down.