Any Activity, Anytime, Anywhere – Garmin Has Got You Covered with the Second Generation of the MARQ Collection

Garmin has been a major player in the world of smart and sport specific watches since 2003. Their collection has evolved since then, building their watches out of innovative materials and integrating a suite of features that take fitness, outdoor, and health tracking to a whole other level. I’m going to date myself here, but they’ve most certainly come a long way since their dashboard GPS production days (surprisingly, they still make them). The new Garmin MARQ Collection is the next-generation of their luxury tool watch line and features several upgrades including a new case material and digital interface.

The Garmin MARQ collection features five individual watches – the Athlete, Adventurer, Golfer, Captain, and Aviator. Each model brings a little something different to the table that is specific to a sport or activity. That said, each watch still provides an endless amount of practical features for the casual wearer.

Each model is constructed out of Grade-5 Titanium that features elements of lightweight-ness, corrosive resistance, and well, the strength of titanium. The Garmin MARQ is not a svelte watch by any means, coming in at 46mm in width and 15mm in thickness. But with the large case profile, comes a vast touchscreen dial that displays all your fitness and health tracking needs, and oh yeah, the time, through a new AMOLED display. AMOLED, which stands for active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (say that five times fast), enhances the legibility of the screen from the previous MARQ model. The AMOLED display features smoother graphics thanks to a faster refresh rate and increased viewing angles. The result is a vivid and vibrant dial in any situation. Although an AMOLED display is notorious for limited energy efficiency, it doesn’t take away from the MARQ’s incredible battery life, boasting 16 days of continuous use on smartwatch mode and up to 42 hours during GPS mode on a single charge.

One of Garmin’s hallmark features, and the main reason why their watches stay on wrist after any sport or activity, is the ability to stay on top of your health metrics at all times. Health stats like heart rate, oxygen saturation, as well as stress and sleep tracking are all available with a tap of the screen. The new MARQ features a new function that travelers will find useful in the Jet Lag Adviser. The new program keeps track of the user during travel across time zones and provides recommendations such as the amount of light exposure and exercise needed, as well as a sleep schedule to minimize the effects of jet lag.

The MARQ Athlete sports a DLC coated bezel, a ventilated silicone strap, and neon green accents throughout the dial and on the crown. The MARQ Athlete provides a unique program called Training Readiness that displays a score based on sleep quality, recovery and training load to help you decide if it’s going to be a day to go for your next PR or to just take it easy. The MARQ athlete is pre-programmed with a multitude of sports so tracking your progress and health metrics are cinch, no matter the sport. Speaking of sports, if you’re an avid golfer, then the MARQ Golfer might be the move. The MARQ Golfer creatively uses a ceramic green bezel to display a course “hole indicator” to keep track of where you’re at during a round of 18. With over 42,000 preloaded golf courses in the MARQ Golfer, the watch will automatically detect what course you’re playing and provide precise distances on the green and slope direction with Green Contours. You don’t have to be a PGA-tour golfer to have a caddy when you have the Garmin MARQ Golfer feeding you real-time info to get you under 120.

For the outdoor enthusiast, there’s the MARQ Adventurer. The Adventure comes appropriately equipped with a compass bezel and a FKM rubber hybrid strap. Unique to the Adventurer, the watch is preloaded with TopoActive Maps that provides interactive information including location with pinpoint accuracy, elevation, routable roads and trails, as well as natural features in the area. If the Seven Seas is where you spend most of your time, then the MARQ Captain should be the Garmin strapped to your wrist. The Captain comes on a race-inspired striped jacquard weave nylon strap and a ceramic regatta timer bezel. The list of features for the nautical watch include a program that notifies changes in tides and drag. Like the MARQ Athlete, the Captain is preloaded with additional sport specific functionality, but for any type of water sport including kayaking, windsurfing, and more.

The MARQ Aviator rounds out the new MARQ collection. The Aviator comes with a ceramic 24 hour bezel and is the only watch out of the line up to be offered on a brushed titanium bracelet secured by a flip-lock clasp. The Aviator is programmed with a GPS function for the skies that taps into a worldwide aeronautical database. The user is also able to use the dial to move across a moving map that provides current in-depth weather reports including METARs, TAFs, and MOS mid-flight.

The new Garmin MARQ Collection ranges from $1,900 to $2,400. For the full list of specs, functions, features on the second-generation Garmin MARQ Collection, head on over to Garmin.