Garmin Tactix 7 Review – What do you see?

Tags: Review | Garmin | Men's | Smart | Military

14.4.2022 | 15 MIN | 7x comment

I see pride! I see power! I see a bad-... machine that don't take no ... off of nobody! Those who watched Cool Runnings will know the full original line. If someone is looking for Garmin watches with the most equipment, they often need to make a hard choice – the Fenix or the Tactix? And now, the new Garmin Tactix 7 entered the scene.

From the top: running, VO₂ Max, date, battery left.

At the beginning of this year, the Garmin Fenix 7X. saw the light of the day. If you've read our Fenix 7 review, you will probably not learn anything new in this article. However if you have not, please,  keep on reading.

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What's the difference between the Tactix 7 and the Fenix 7X?

There are actually only few differences, so let's sum them up.

What the Garmin Tactix has that the Fenix 7X does not:

• military functions such as the Night Vision Mode, the Stealth Mode or theKill Switch,
• aviation features,
• two colour options of the torch, white and green,
• a flat bezel with 24-hour scale.

You might think that this is too little and that some military or aviation features are completely useless, however, the majority of mundane, mortal people choose this watch for a single reason – its design. This is basically the most manly watch by Garmin, no doubt about that.

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What does Tactix 7 bring to the table?

With the Tactix, you can now shed light on any mysterious path of yours. Literally. We can find an LED torch on the 12th index.

The tactical features were also present in the previous generation, but the new Tactix has also aviation features.

And if we take a look at the sensors, there is a big improvement in the GPS and the heart rate monitor.

The dual inteface of this watch combines button interface with touch screen for some functions.

And now about the battery life. Garmin has really outdone itself. A little taste – the battery can last up to 37 days in the smartwatch mode and with a good light source.

What is definitely better about the Tactix 7 than about the Fenix 7

I am very glad to say that the Tactix 7 series has kept the range at two (technically three) models in the series. I definitely appreciate that the Tactix is still also available without solar charging. So now we get the Tactix 7 PRO Sapphire and the Garmin Tactix 7 PRO Solar Sapphire. The third model is the Ballistics version, which comes with a software offering aiming sollutions for long-range shooting.

To rephrase what I said above:

• Garmin tactix 7 PRO Sapphire – For everyone who wants a manly watch with no compromising,
• Garmin tactix 7 PRO Solar Sapphire – For everyone who wants a manly watch with no compromising and a prolenged battery life,
• Garmin tactix 7 PRO Solar Sapphire Ballistic – The same applies + for those who also want to shoot for the sky. :-)

The design stayed basically the same, but...

And so I ask, just as always: "Why change something that works?" I think that Garmin was right not to change the design of the Tactix 7 that much. But what was an excellent move by Garmin was making the material of the bezel and the caseback to titanium.

The bezel is also stretched to the lugs, so the titanium parts are covered by plastic, which previously used to be visible on the lugs. But of course, the case is still plastic to keep the weight down. The weight went down in comparison with the previous generation with the scales showing 89 g. You might not believe it, but the weight of the watch is actually 7 g lighter with a silicone strap than it is with the stiff nylon strap.

Now, let's look at the straps, where the design is actually very different.

There are still both types of straps, that is nylon and silicone. It's only up to your preferences. I personally like the nylon strap better. And even though it's a bit more tough than it is with the Enduro UltraFit strap, I still like it better than the silicone. After all, you can buy an UltraFit strap for the Tactix, too. Since the lug-to-lug distance is the same (26 mm, or 1.02 inches), the UltraFit looks great even with the Tactix. The basic edition without solar charging will come with the silicone straps, and both of the solar version will have the nylon straps with the silicone ones added to their boxes.

The straps in the boxes will be black, but if you'd like any other colour, for example army green or khaki, you can buy these cool colours as well, only separately. And I have to admit, I think that the khaki strap is quite charming.

Girly touch screens

That's not exactly what you want to hear when talking about a military watch. That it's for girls, right? Yes, Garmin has chosen a combination of a touch screen with buttons. Whether it was a right decision or not is up to us to decide. So far, this technology is only in its infancy for Garmin. And yes, it works perfectly. It doesn't freeze, it's smooth, you can key in your credit/debit card PIN, it makes working with maps easier. But there are a few downsides.

For now, you can't set the touchscreen option for the topographical maps only, which is where it would come most in handy. The second, and for me the major, downside is the backlight of the display, which lights up any time you activate the touch screen. And no, you can't adjust this in the settings. In my opinion, this has a significant effect on the battery life, and it its completely useless.

The trick to solve the first downside is to set a shortcut which would activate the touch screen by pressing a chosen button when looking at the topographical map. So all that's left to solve is the backlight problem, and then the watch will be perfect.

Oh so noble sapphire with transflective display

Of course, the classic transflective display with the resolution 280 x 280 pixels and the diameter 1.4" (35.56 mm). This good old 1.4 can be easily read thanks to the transflective technology of the display, but with the slight nuisance because the glass is sapphire. I would call them the best selfie watch, since the reflection in direct light is amazing, as well as the photos for your Instagram will be. What helps me with readability are my polarized lenses, which make the reflections go away.

And if you thought about buying a screen protective foil or a glass protector, no, you don't have to. The sapphire is firm enough and resistible to scratches.

Sapphire or sapphire solar?

Readability, that is the question. If I may give advice, I would recommend the purely sapphire version without solar charging to anyone with even slightly poor vision. That's because the solar layer makes the readability worse. And if you look at the solar ring around the display, you will definitely not mind its absence. Your watch would most definitely not win a beauty contest with this stripe. Okay, no more of my banter, let's look at the photo.

No missing distance history

Are you also one of those people? Those people with the Tactix who couldn't stop complaining about not having as much distance recorded as everyone else? Yes, it is no secret that the bezel EXO antenna did not work the best and cut down on your distance. Well, that's in the past.

The new chipset chipped away at the mistakes and works like a dream. You can choose from four options of satellite frequencies: only GPS (less accurate), all systems (the best performance to battery ration – my setting of choice), all systems + multi-band (insanely accurate), and the UltraTrac, which scans frequencies every minute, which is basically good for nothing when you have a watch of this sort of battery life.

The new chipset using all satellite frequencies in comparison with the Coros Pace 2 (black)

The Tactix simply managed to record the turn at the crossroads better (Coros – black)

And this story repeats itself with the heartrate frequency monitor, which was upgraded to the 4.0 version. It is so far the most exact one by Garmin, but I do have some critique to say. Although it is the most exact, the band still has to tight enough to be snug, and shaking throws the sensor off. But I can say this from the bottom my heart when I say that it is as much as twice as accurate as before.

The rest of the sensors stayed the same. And honestly, I am glad that Garmin did not add any hokum like ECG, blood pressure, and so on. There are the accelerometer, barometer, gyroscope, altimeter, compass, thermometer, HR sensor, and the GPS. There are all the essential sensors measuring all the essential values. The rest is just to show off, anyway.

Trans-Siberian Railway 5 times

You could travel the Trans-Siberian Railway almost 5 times from start to finish. One way is a 6-day-long journey by train, and the watch last impressive 28 days in the smartwatch mode. Well, if the Sun shines, then the battery life can last up to 37 days.

This table should make it clearer and will tell you more about the battery life:

Here in the Czech Republic, we always say that solar charging is pointless for us. It's cloudy too often. However, with this generation, it is not that bad, and I do have to admit that I actually see an advantage to it. If we take a look at the solar intensity widget, we can finally see the current and average intensity of the solar input that's charging your device. You need at least 3 hours of 50 000 lx to charge your watch using solar energy and for the value in the brackets to apply.

When it comes to sport activities, you need to maintain this value throughout the whole activity, which is pretty tough. Well, it is actually not. It's impossible. :-)

I'm blinded by the lights

No, I can't sleep until I turn off the torch. I just can't praise the torch enough. Someone might say that this is a very small thing. But trust me, it is something you will use every day, just like me. Forgot your head lamp and going home from the gym at night? Turn the torch on. Lost a coin in your car? Tun the torch on. Going to the bathroom in the middle of the night and don't want to wake up your family by turning on the lights? Turn the torch on.

You can use it in everyday life as well as in your sports life. Besides that, the watch can be used as a "head lamp", it can also shine according to your walking cadence, for example when you're running near a road and want the drivers to see you. A slight change with the Tactix 7 is that the torch light is white (just like with the Fenix), and green (the Fenix has red light).

To the trenches, to the town

One might say that a military watch is for soldiers and the trenches only. But it is not like that. You can wear this watch in your everyday city life. You can play your music (MP3, Spotify, Deezer, ...), pay for your groceries, and read phone notifications. In my opinion, these three are the most important functions for your lifestyle, which the watch offers.

The feature you will probably always use, now even everywhere (worldwide), are topographical maps. Just like with the Fenix, there are TopoActive maps of the whole world. The storage is 32 GB, and there is also the Topovoucher for the Czech Republic if you decide to go on a trip here. You can download and adjust maps according to your likings either right in the watch or the old way with a wire and get the watch connected to the Garmin Express. It's faster and also old-(s)c(h)ool – vintage is in again.

A preview of a map without the topovoucher.

What's new for the Tactix, and what we saw with the Fenix 7 for the first time, is also the Garmin Connect IQ app store right in your watch. For now, we can only find applications recommended by Garmin itself on the watch, but judging by this step, we will soon be able to load every app available at the Connect IQ.

Soldiers and aviators in the clear

At Garmin, they thought to themselves that having more military features than the Fenix is not enough, and so they added also features for aviators, to make the Tactix even more equipped. A quick recap of the tactical features won't hurt anyone, so here is a list of the most important ones:

• The Tactix have a flat bezel with 24-hour scale and more robust design.
• The buttons are knurled, making them easier to use with muddy hands, or with gloves.
• Kill Switch – You can set a shortcut to one button to reset the watch (by pressing the button for longer).
• Stealth Mode – This mode prevents the storage and sharing of your GPS location and disables any wireless communication.
• Night Vision Mode – Reduces the intensity of the backlight so that you are able to look at the watch with your night vision goggles on. Also disables wrist heart rate monitoring.
• The Tactix watches are the only watch that combine solar charging with sapphire glass.
• The Ballistics edition has the software Applied Ballistics Elite added to offer aiming solutions for long-range shooting.
• The Delta PRO Sapphire a Delta PRO Solar Sapphire versions come with nylon straps (with the silicone ones in the box).

And for aviators, I would recommend downloading the Garmin Connect and Garmin Pilot apps, where you will find everything you need to feel as comfortable and as safe as possible when in the air.

The first feature for pilots is the feature for checking the weather. Weather reports include the NEXRAD radar, METARs, and TAFs. All three systems regularly show reports on weather, wind, pressure, etc. You will usually receive one of these reports er hour. And if there is a sudden change of the weather, you will get notified by SPECI, special notifications.

This is how the NEXRAD will look in your Tactix.

The second feature for pilots is navigation. It uses worldwide aeronautical database to work. With this navigation, you either plan the route of your flight how you'd like or opt for the feature that will guide you to the nearest airport.

Run a marathon, go skydiving

Surprisingly, you can do both activities with these watches. Garmin is known for its sportish core, and the new Tactix watches are no exception. So, if you'd like to run an ultramarathon, go down a steep bike trail, destroy your body in a gym, or go play golf, just do it.

And if you are a cyclist, you will be pleased to hear that there are 10 different cycling activities, and if you like going crazy with your bike in a forest, you can use the GRIT and FLOW statistics. These statistics measure the difficulty of a ride (GRIT), and how smooth the ride is (FLOW). And if you are a runner, don't forget to check out the new feature Real-time Stamina, which will tell you how tired you are and how long your run will last.

Fitness maniacs will surely appreciate animated exercises, which will help you structure your workout. Some of these workouts will be already uploaded in your watch, and you can download some more from Garmin Connect.

How much did you drink?

How often do you hear this question? And I don't mean when you come from a party at night, and your significant other asks you. We often ask ourselves if we drink enough and how much we drank throughout the day. Well, with the Tactix, you simply log it into your watch (and in Connect), and the watch will show you a graph of how much you drink.

Of course, you can expect all the essentials. Steps, sleep, floors, calories, Body Battery, stress. Basically all the essentials so that you keep track of yourself. I would recommend health monitoring, which will, yes, not surprisingly, monitor your health.

I do this almost every morning and I learn everything I need. In just two minutes, Garmin will throw out my average heartrate, SpO_2, breath, stress, and the variability of my heartrate, from which you can tell how tired your body is. So, yes, even as a fitness tool for everyday use, it is a marvellous machine.

Garmin Connect

Let's move on to Garmin Connect. It's an app that you can use to evaluate your workout session, log into an online journal, and use its many other features. To put it simply, if you want to set something, go to Connect. This way, the percentage of successfully solving a problem is going to be 99.99 %. The 0.01 % is missing in the case of overlooking the correct link.

But now from the beginning. We find ourselves on the My day page. Here, we can see an overview of our day, heartrate, sleep, training sessions, evaluation of our VO₂ Max, etc. You can personalize the page according to your likings, of course. Right under these daily values, there are the weekly average numbers of all of them.

The second overview you can see at the bottom is the Challenges page. Here, you can see all the challenges you've accepted, it can be a challenge between your friends' group, or a challenge for the whole country, where you can meet some new friends. The last option is creating a challenge yourself and inviting your friends to join.

The Calendar is the third feature you can click on from the bottom navigation menu. We can see, unsurprisingly, a calendar with some strange stripes. These stripes might be different every day. Each of these stripes is of different colour, and the colour always tells us what the stripe means. Red is for heartrate, blue is for steps, green is for sport activity, etc. You can see everything arranged day by day.

Next is the News Feed, and you can basically imagine Facebook newsfeeds. You can see not only your activities, but also activities of your friends. You can like them, comment on them, or use training sessions of others as your motivation.

The last button is the Notifications, where you can see who liked your workout, who commented on it, and so on.

And on top of that, there is another menu on the side, and it hides more options of settings, overviews, etc. What's also new is the option to set your entire watch using your phone by clicking on the connected watch (only for the Tactix 7 and the Fenix 7). And for people who like things bigger, you can also connect to Garmin Connect on your computer (that's where I began).

The Tactix Delta or The Tactix 7?

If you want to show off your latest watch edition, if you want to have insanely accurate GPS and HR sensors, and with improved battery life and a touch screen on top of that, then you guessed it. The Tactix 7 model offers you all these innovations that are definitely worth having and that will make you content with your watch.

The Tactix Delta on the left, the Tactix 7 on the right

On the other hand, if you are able to settle with the second best watch in the world, and can make do with the attribute "second", the Garmin Tactix Delta watch is still a stunner that will be still crushing other brands from the top of the whole smartwatch market for a few years.

To put it simple and short, I personally really like this watch. I love their design, their resilience, and the concept of a watch similar to the Fenix with added features. That said, the watch does not fit my child-like hands, and I do have to make do with the Fenix, which doesn't make my wrist look as funny.

And the opinion of the biggest Tactix enthusiast in our company, Dominik? Here it is:

"From the practical point of view, this watch is pointless if you are not going to Mali because of a military mission, or if you are not sailing across the sky and cloud. That said, they are very dear to my heart. Mainly because of the design because you cannot find a watch more manly than the Tactix. And with the new sensors on top of that, the brand just leapt forward.

You can hardly find any alternative to this model. And if I really had to mention some, it would be the one and only Garmin Fenix 7. This watch is basically intertwined in this article since the watch is basically identical. Another option would be the sportier Coros Vertix 2 model. Coros watches have immense battery life, too, and they also support measuring in watts.

Can you think of any other alternative to this model? Let me know in the comments! :-)