​Garmin launches new features for Fenix 6

Garmin has launched a bunch of new fitness features for its leading sports watches, with a focus on performance analysis.

The new update will land for Fenix 6, Enduro and Marq watches, which are the top of the Garmin sports watch hierarchy. Parts of the update have already rolled onto the Forerunner range, and other elements were debuted on the excellent Garmin Venu 2 smartwatch earlier this year.

The first new feature to drop is rate of Perceived exertion (RPE), which enables you to log how hard a workout felt – aside from the physiological effects that are recorded by the heart rate monitor.

This isn’t just puff being added to your stats. RPE is a proper metric used by elite runners, and it can help you train smarter. Active recovery days mean working out at a low RPE, so this is a good way of logging when you were taking your foot off the gas within Garmin Connect.

Comparing RPE to your heart rate can offer also insights into your evolving fitness and readiness.

And increases in perceived exertion – a run or workout that felt hard – should be registered in your heart rate data with a higher bpm.

Improvements to intensity minutes and the accuracy of detection have also been rolled out – which will help users ensure they’re getting the WHO-advised 150 mins of exercise per week.

And the fitness age feature, also part of Venu 2, has been rolled out to Fenix, Enduro and Marq too.

Fitness age metric will also come across to these two devices, which will assess the fitness and readiness of your body compared with average ages.

This is a motivating metric, and you can see the number decrease as you get fitter.

Finally, Garmin is also pushing the new Connect app for collecting Challenges and Badges, which was debuted earlier this year.

All eyes are on a launch of the Fenix 7 – but it’s good that existing users of Garmin’s top end sports watches are still getting new features.