Review: Garmin MARQ Expedition The unique pleasure that resides in Garmin's finest outdoor smartwatch, which cannot be measured by specs alone.

Garmin has been a leader in GPS devices since the 1990s, when paper maps were still in high spirits. Now, 30 years have passed, he is becoming the leading runner in the cutting-edge industrial field of wearable devices. Drivers, pilots, mariners, explorers, athletes... Now in tough scenes around the world, there's no day when you don't see your Garmin's arm.

Garmin, which has been loved by users in a wide range of fields, has created a new category of products called "GPS Pro Watch" this season. This is the ultimate high-end model, "MARQ" collection, refined the stoic philosophy that has been inherent in 30 years and generously introduced the highest level of technology and materials.

I was given the opportunity to try out MARQ EXPEDITION," which is optimized for mountain activities, among the MARQ collection So, I'd like to quickly review the appeal of this watch and its actual usability after actually using it for mountain climbing, trail running, and running for about three months.

table of contents

• First impression
• What can you do
• Differences between MARQ Expedition and Fenix ​​5x plus
• Try using MARQ Expedition for mountain climbing, trail running, and running
• To sum up

First impression

Garmin's most sophisticated design that you'll want to wear forever

However, the first thing you need to touch on is the highlight of this exterior. The sporty look that is typical of Garmin and all outdoor watches, and the luxurious and sophisticated designs of the material, which exudes luxury and quality, will catch your eye more than anything else, and will make everyone wonder, "Is this a watch for athletes?" The matte, calm surface case is made of light and strong titanium. A 360-degree compass memory is engraved around the bezel.

The windshield uses a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass, and the screen uses a reflective Chroma display to make it easy to see under the sun, and memory-in-pixel (MIP) technology incorporates a mechanism that minimizes power consumption. The backlight will automatically turn on and off depending on the tilt of the clock.

The back plate engraved with the message has a heart rate monitor and a charging connector. The Italian bachetta leather straps become more familiar the more you use them, not only have a high quality feel, but also have a high durability and a high fit, and they perfectly bridge the everyday life and the field. By the way, the black silicone rubber belt is also included, so you can enjoy changing it to your liking.

The weight and size are one of the best attractions of this watch. A smartwatch for outdoor use with a large battery and memory is inevitable for a slightly heavy and rough look. It's a unique compact size, weighing 87g, 46mm diameter x 14.2mm height. With this alone, it doesn't look completely out of place even when paired with suits or everyday wear. Plus, I don't have to worry about the snags on my wrists when carrying my backpack, which I've always felt stressed. Despite the slightest difference, satisfaction can make clear differences.

Comfortable button configuration once you get used to it

Since it's not a touch screen, it's inevitable that there will be more buttons. However, in order to handle all of the many functions with button operations, the operation becomes a bit complicated, and to be honest, it can be said that it is stressful. Since you can also use long presses and other things, it can be difficult to find functions and learn how to do them at first. However, some settings and operations can be made via the paired smartphone app. In any case, I hope that this place will become smarter and more refined.

Durability is also not an issue

The titanium case is sapphire crystal, waterproof to 10 atm, and the operating temperature is -20℃ to +45℃, making it easy to deal with water sports or snowy mountains.

What can you do - It's good to wear, use, and even lasts a long time

It is packed with basic functions as a watch, as well as ABC (compass, pressure, and altitude) functions, notifications, heart rate monitoring, tracking various activities, color maps, and other features that are hard to talk about here. It features all the cutting-edge smartwatch technology, and will appeal to athletes who would be disappointed if they didn't thoroughly analyze their own results. Here, we list the rough features that are just touched, like this:

1. In addition to general clock functions, it can also display environmental data such as ABC (compass, pressure, altitude) functions for mountain climbing, and temperature.
2. The GPS sensor and pre-installed mountain climbing map allow you to display your current location even in areas where the internet is not connected.
3. You can use the heart rate measurement function to measure and record your heart rate at all times, not just during normal times or when performing activities.
4. You can track and record a variety of activities, including hiking and mountain climbing, trail runs, runs, triathlons, exercise, cycling, swim, water sports, skiing, and golf. During this time, information obtained through various sensors such as GPS and heart rate monitors is displayed on the screen in real time.
5. It can be used continuously for 12 days in smartwatch mode, and in GPS mode, for 24 hours to up to several weeks.
6. You can use the Garmin Connect app to save and view activity history and detailed analysis, life logs such as activity level and sleep, and set and operate clocks and various apps.
7. You can use the app called Garmin Connect IQ to add watch faces and apps provided by Garmin or third parties.
8. You can connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth to receive notifications from your smartphone and call notifications, reply to text messages (Android only), and explore lost mobile devices.
9. You can use the map and compass function to navigate to your destination.
10. Garmin Pay allows you to make contactless payments at compatible merchants.
11. You can play music from your paired smartphone or music downloaded to your watch (up to 2,000 songs).

There are just a few that, even if it's a pretty rough summary. Of these, the most important aspects of this site are probably 1 to 7.

Difference between MARQ Expedition and fenix 5x plus (fenix 6x)

Until now, Garmin's flagship model for mountain climbing has been the fenix 5x plus. I'm curious to see what makes this MARQ Expedition different. I've used the fenix 5x plus before, so I've only picked out the parts that are different, including the actual experience.

*The latest model, the Fenix ​​6x, released in autumn 2019, has been announced, but as it has not been seen, only the specs have been listed for reference.

Although there may be differences in the finer features and usability, as far as I can see, there are very few differences in basic functions. As a result of the miniaturization and weight reduction in the smallest details, the battery life has been reduced slightly, but it appears that the convenience of more leisure activities such as ski resort maps and golf courses has been improved. This means that this price difference is largely due to the hardware, such as using the finest materials to make it smaller and lighter, improving design, while increasing the amount of built-in memory.

Try using it for mountain climbing, trail running, and running

That's all for the introduction, and I'll start by introducing the feel of actually using it. Just like with other smartwatches, in order to use it, you must first install the smartphone app Garmin Connect Mobile and pair it with your smartphone.

Watch face to your liking

Once the initial settings are complete, you can use them in the field immediately, but try customizing them a little more to suit your taste.

One of the charms of smartwatches is the watch face. In addition to being installed as standard, MARQ Expedition From simple designs to designs that clearly show indicators specialized for a particular purpose or activity, to even joke-based ones, it's overwhelming.

However, although I try a lot at first, I often end up trying something simple in the end. In the end, I also calmed down for now with the "Titanium," the standard watch face in the fēnix series.

If you have a handy widget, you can quickly access the information you want.

Garmin Connect IQ is a portal that brings together a variety of apps to help you make Garmin's wearable devices more convenient, and it offers a wide range of app watch faces as well as widgets that you can call from your watch.

You can add a wide variety of functions than you might imagine, from those that provide simple information such as temperature, sunrise and sunset, to those that display fitness information in an easy-to-view format, to those that are easy to read for specific purposes, such as maps and navigation systems, music players, entertainment, calendars, and weather forecasts that make everyday life more convenient.

By installing these, you can quickly customize to your own specifications even if you can only use the minimum functionality at first, and you will be able to quickly access the information you want using the button on the left.

It's complicated to put too much in, so I put the following minimum widgets in.

• ABC
• temperature
• Health information statistics (heart rate, stress values, etc.)
• calendar
• weather
• Sunrise & Sunset
• Previous Activities
• Music
• Training Status

There are many English apps, so the whole picture is not visible, but there may be some convenient apps that can be used in Japan as well.

Select an activity to start tracking

Now that I've done some rough customizations, I'll finally try it out in the field.

Press the button on the top right and select an activity to start. If you don't have any particular preferences, this is basically all you need. If you set the route information stored on your clock in various ways and start here, you can also use the function to navigate while walking.

The data that can be viewed in real time during tracking is pre-set depending on the activity, but once you get used to it, you can arrange it as you like. For example, in the case of mountain climbing, the items that are set first are for each screen.

• Total rise/altar/total fall
• Distance/Rise
• Current location (latitude)
• Heart rate
• Current location (map)
• Current time and battery level

is.

However, I can easily arrange the information I want to check immediately while I'm taking action, such as replacing the "Current Location (Latitude)" screen with the "Atmospheric Pressure & Calories Burned" screen, and then adding the "Compass" screen. This is a bit troublesome at first, but once you set it up, it's really comfortable.

Incidentally, the default trail run items are:

• Distance/Time/Pace
• Total rise/time/lowering speed
• Lap distance/Lap time/Lap pace
• Heart rate
• Current location (map)
• Current time and battery level

However, to make this easier for me, I replaced the second "Time" with "altitude" and the "rise and lowering speed" with "total descent," and added screens for "straight length", "pitch", and "speed".

Map view

MARQ Expedition comes with the same topographic map as the fēnix 5X Plus, and can be called even under normal circumstances. Furthermore, when you start an activity, it will be displayed on the map along with the trajectory you have walked so far, allowing you to check your current location and route. The current position accuracy, combined with GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and Michibiki, is high, and it is truly reliable.

As for visibility, if you don't want the precision and clarity of the current smartphone level, you can safely look bright even in the sunlight, and don't feel any particularly stressful. However, compared to smartphone maps and touch screen smartwatches, it is clearly inconvenient to use buttons to zoom in and move the screen. For this reason, it is not recommended to replace a map using this alone, and at a practical level it is merely checking your current location and surrounding topography. Of course, even if you don't, you should always carry a paper map with you in case of the worst.

Battery consumption

Without GPS tracking, even if you keep tracking your heart rate for 24 hours, you still have more than 90% room after the day. It's safe to say that no one is dissatisfied with the 12-day lifespan in normal mode.

On the other hand, regarding the battery life of activities that I'm concerned about, it was fully functional and tracked without thinking about saving anything, and it consumed up to 60% of the time on a 6-hour day hiking course. However, if you dim the backlight, turn off the Bluetooth connection, or use the UltraTrac mode, which reduces the frequency of acquiring your current GPS location, it will last more than twice that much, so even ultra distance is sufficient. Furthermore, in the special "Expedition mode", the GPS acquisition function only has a low power consumption, allowing battery consumption to be reduced for up to several weeks. This is also a great feature that you can freely set it at your own discretion.

In that sense, once you reach this level, you can almost never worry about the battery except in the unavoidable situation where you continue using it without charging for more than three nights.

Garmin Connect

Once you have finished climbing and reach the finish line, you will be able to finish tracking and the activity results screen will appear, allowing you to save the results.

The saved data is automatically transferred to the connected smartphone and can be viewed immediately using the Garmin Connect app. Below is data from a piston walk from Nikko Yumoto on Mt. Nikko Shirane. This allows you to grasp all sorts of detailed behavioral data, which you've never been concerned about before, graphically at a glance.

This app is one of the best among the various other activity management software, including the precision of the data that can be displayed and analyzed, the customizable display content, the large number of functions that can be operated, and the ease of the interface. Not only can you understand detailed data on past activities, but you can also see all your daily activities and health status, including heart rate, steps, exercise, fatigue, stress, calories burned, and sleep quality and quantity. Its precision and ease of display are better than any other app in my personal opinion.

I'm not a serious runner so I haven't seen that detailed data, but if I set it properly, I can graphically check various measurement data that are essential for a detailed, multifaceted analysis of performance, such as pitch, cadence (stroke width), VO2Max (maximum oxygen uptake), FTP (functional effective power), and lactic acid threshold. This is probably an even more motivation for serious runners.

Furthermore, in daily life, it is impossible to keep track of the quality and quantity of daily activities and sleep quality and quantity of sleep in your daily life. I never thought I'd be able to wear a wristwatch until I went to bed at night, but once I start recording, I find it hard to miss out (although I guess the sleep data is still a bit lacking in accuracy).

However, this is a shame regarding the acquired data, but I regret that the "Arterior Oxygen Saturation (SpO2) Measurement Function" included in the North American version and other versions is not available in the Japanese version. Simply put, "Arterior Oxygen Saturation" is a function that measures the oxygen concentration in the blood, and if you understand this, you can tell whether you are likely to experience altitude sickness in high altitudes where oxygen is thin, or whether you are prone to altitude sickness, but due to the legal situation, as of 2019, it is unfortunate that this is not available in Japan as of 2019.

Summary: What kind of people do they recommend?

Since it is the Garmin's finest smartwatch, I raised the bar very much and tried it out. Considering the price range, I think most people who are considering purchasing the MARQ Expedition and are looking at this page are unsure whether it's the company's Fenix ​​5x plus (or the next 6 series). In terms of comparison, as mentioned in the main text, although it is at the top of the top level in terms of functionality, there is almost no difference as much as the price difference. The batteries are also a little less. So Fenix ​​5x plus is fine. In some cases, it may be.

However, above all, the refined design and satisfaction with the fit are perfect, and you won't regret buying this alone. The diameter difference between the 5x plus is only 3.3mm and 5mm in height, but when you actually spend your time with us every day, you will realize that there is definitely an insurmountable wall in the blissful feel.

One thing I can say is that MARQ is not just an expensive sports watch (with reasonable functionality) that focuses solely on luxury, but is a piece for outdoor enthusiasts who don't want to compromise on everything, with features comparable to the flagship, and who satisfy the luxury watch-like design, wearability, and want to own. The evaluation of this smartwatch will differ depending on how you view this difference.

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