'The coating is sprayed onto each smartwatch, then baked to help cure the coating' — Garmin's new Cerakote Edition of its tactix 8 outdoor watch offers 'long-lasting durability' compared to the standard polymer

• Garmin drops new tactix 8 Cerakote Edition
• The ultra-premium adventure watch now gets a new baked-on rugged coating
• It's being released at the same time as new golfing equipment, including a watch for juniors

While the Garmin Fenix 8 is well-known as Garmin's super-premium adventure watch (it's on our best Garmin watch guide for a reason), the military-style tactix 8 is every inch its equal, and then some. Garmin has just released a new version of this watch, now with a Cerakote ceramic coating.

A 51mm monster priced at $1,599.99 / £1,379.99 / AU$2,799, the Garmin tactix 8 Cerakote Edition is slightly more expensive than the standard 51mm tactix 8, priced at $1,399.99 / £1,279.99 / AU$2,449 due to its toughened ceramic coating. Garmin describes the coating process as having the coat "sprayed onto each smartwatch, then baked to help cure the coating, providing a unique look and feel that becomes more refined as the watch is worn".

Otherwise, the tactix 8 is exactly the same watch as the non-Cerakote version, with a 1.4-inch AMOLED display, LED flashlight – although due to the military connotations, the light is green rather than the usual red – and all the usual GPS features you'd expect in a top-flight outdoor watch like TopoActive maps and SatIQ GPS connectivity.

The watch has tactical- or military-flavored features such as a low-light Stealth Mode, a 'kill switch' to remove all your data, and an Applied Ballistics solver feature. This last one is on almost all Garmin's tactical watches and works like Garmin's best golf watch features (but for guns), offering wind information and other contextual environmental information that might affect your shot.

Garmin Pay, a speaker for calls, activity tracking, sleep and recovery tracking, race prediction for runners, and a huge 29-day battery life on top, means even without the tactical features, the tactix 8 can cut it with the best of civilian smartwatches.

New golf gear: Garmin Approach J1

The Garmin tactix 8 Cerakote Edition is not the only new addition to Garmin's lineup. A new range of golf gear has also dropped, including the Garmin Approach J1 – the company's first golf watch aimed at junior golfers.

Said to be "purpose-built to help youth golfers learning the game and play with confidence and track their performance", according to a Garmin press release, the watch is very light at just 29g, with a 1.2-inch screen and battery life lasting up to 10 days. A water-resistant design allows young golfers to play through "light rain and wind" although it doesn't have the usual waterproofing that most of Garmin's adventure watches get.

The watch provides tee-off guidance, club selection guidance, and other golfing features, while also acting as an activity-tracking smartwatch for general use. It's priced at $299.99 / £309.99 / AU$499.

Garmin has also released a new handheld golf unit, the Approach G82, for those who don't want to wear a golf watch.

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