Following last year's rumors and leaks, Garmin officially launched its Fenix 8 MicroLED smartwatch, that utilizes a microLED display. This is the world's first commercial microLED wearable device (if you're not counting Konka's 2020 APHEA smartwatch, which was never commercially available). The Fenix 8 MicroLED costs $1,999 - or $700 more than the Fenix 8 Pro AMOLED watch.
The Fenix 8 MicroLED smartwatch has a 1.4” (35.56 mm) 454x454 round microLED display that offers a brightness of 4,500 nits. This is the company's brightest smartwatch to date - and in fact is likely the world's brightest smartwatch - as the brightest AMOLED watch offers 3,000 nits.
As far as we know, AUO produces this display for Garmin, and it is great to see it ship its first commercial microLED displays. AUO has already announced last year that it has started to mass produce wearable panels. There are other companies that have demonstrated microLED wearable prototypes - including Tianma, Samsung, PlayNitride, and others.
Back in 2024, Apple withdrew from its own plans to produce microLED wearable displays.
