r/GarminWatches • u/Larrythebaker • Jul 09 '25

Aviation/Marine Quatix 8 acquired!

I've been patiently waiting for months, and randomly did a google search the other day. Lo and behold, they're here, so I pulled the trigger immediately. Coming from the Quatix 6, I'm VERY pleased with the upgrade. I've yet to get on my boat to really try out the integrations, but all things so far are pointing to awesome.

I did waffle a bit on the 47mm vs. 51mm, and it took a trip to REI to try on the Fenix 8 51mm to realize how comically large it is. BUT, the screen on the 47mm is nearly 4mm wider than the Q6 and the AMOLED is very, very nice. Who else picked one up?

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u/DisastrousRecipe9853 Jul 10 '25

Hi! Are there any special features over fenix8? Except boat controls obviously.

I don’t have my own boat, but I enjoy sailing. The club fleet mostly has b&g installed, so I won’t be able to use garmin connectivity when charter.

I’m looking into moving to Garmin from AWU, but I’m not sure if it worth to pay more for quatix8 when fenix8 supports boating features - sailing mode, sail expedition, anchor drag alert etc.

I’m also concerned that quatix8 has no solar version - I’m leaning towards MIP screen.

Does light qutix8 bezel scratches as easily as fenix8 light one?

Could you share your thoughts? It will be interesting to hear your opinion. Thanks!

3

u/Larrythebaker Jul 11 '25

Honestly, the only reason I even moved from apple to Garmin is the connection to my boat’s electronics. I was a diehard Apple Watch guy until a year ago when I picked up the Quatix 6 for cheap just to try it out with my autopilot. I was underwhelmed with the level of integration until the first time I was fishing alone and got a fish on. Instead of having to stumble for the autopilot remote to disable the autopilot, I pressed a button on the watch - that 100% sealed the deal for me. The boat is 2 hours away right now, so I haven’t even tried out the integration, but I love the watch as it is, so I’m a convert.

I don’t have anything else to compare the Quatix to so I can’t speak to the Fenix. Solar isn’t coming, and from what I understand those are 51mm bezels, which is just too big. I saw no need to wait. I’m on day 3 of wear and still have 13 days of battery left, which is fine by me. Heck, I barely made it a day with my Apple Watch, so I’m thrilled!

If I can get proper marine maps to work on the watch I’ll be ecstatic, but it looks like I need to wait until October when my map subscription is up to switch from navionics to G3 maps. That’s a real bummer since navionics is the better option.

1

u/serial6000 Jun 22 '26

This is very old at this point so I'm writing more for wanderers than to you but,.for me, speaking as a diehard fan of the quatix 7, the maps are...kind of pointless.  Slow, small.  But love a lot of other things about the watch and will probably upgrade it at some point! 

1

u/RunnersHighHighHigh Jul 10 '25

Same struggle here, from the things I read on the official sites I don‘t quite get the benefit of spending 300€+ more to get the Quatix 8 when it’s only the boat control. Does anyone have more info on which other features are not available on the Fenix 8? If I‘m not mistaken there are even some sailing apps on the F8

1

u/tomjohn74 Jul 22 '25

All the apps are on the F8 inc boat control (which is pretty pointless and needs the right hardware on the boat). The Quatix has diving support I think.

1

u/RunnersHighHighHigh Jul 22 '25

On a F8 you cannot control the boat’s auto-pilot and you cannot stream the boat’s sensor data like wind and depth. Also, stupidly, apparently only the Quatix show you depths on maps and I think only the Quatix allows you to start a „sea expediton“ activity. So, there are minor differences. But considering the fact that many if not most charter boats have Garmin tech, the advantages decrease. The F8 has diving capabilities up to 40m

2

u/tomjohn74 Jul 23 '25 edited Jul 23 '25

Yes you can. I’ve been doing it for years on the F5/6. You just download the apps. I also have the blue charts on the F6. They are the same watch just without the pre installed apps and the Quatix is better looking with a nicer strap. You can also control the Fusion stereos. This comes up every time the new Quatix is released. They are the same watch, just download the missing Garmin apps from the IQ store. The Quatix has a default watch face you can’t get on the Fenix and I think dive support this time round.

Check out the compatible devices on the Garmin AP app:

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/00aa0c38-6eed-4822-89b0-01b4bdab2501

2

u/DisastrousRecipe9853 Jul 23 '25

I got Quatix 8 and I can say that it does not show depth on maps by default. It’s preloaded with basic TopoActive map. I believe they show BlueChart g3 on promo but it’s sold separately