Marq - already outdated ?

I am sure you will like it. The only thing to watch out for is bezel scratches. The athlete is the most susceptible to this of the entire MARQ lineup. All the straps are very high end (besides the rubber as it wears unusually quickly), and overall has a much more luxury feel even over the Montblanc and TAG smartwatches.

I think at the end of the day, pretty much any watch that you wear regularly, will scratch and ware. I can imagine the impact on the black bezel is more noticeable than most, and that first mark is going to be  but that's life isn't it. I try to keep my belongings in good condition, but there is no point buying a watch intended for active use... and then not using it. My current Samsung actually has a similar black bezel... I'm sure the materials aren't as good... I have knocked it accidentally on several occasions and it is marked here and there... a younger me would have hated it... now I can move on a little easier I would say and I think this will be no different.

Looking forward to getting it anyway... the clock ticks...

So it arrived and we are going. First impressions... build quality is as you would expect... night and day different than my old Samsung. I think the most pleasing thing here is how comfortable and secure it feels on my wrist... it just fits. The Samsung would move all over the place which meant you had to have the strap super tight especially during activity... I can immediately tell the Athlete is going to work well at a much more comfortable tension.

The rest of the build also looks good. Better than an old automatic Tag I have actually... by some margin in truth.

The only thing that is a little dimmer than I hoped was the screen. I knew it was a different type of tech but sat outside now... it's odd... in full direct sunlight it's great... in partial it's quite hard to read. I'll have to see if there are settings I can dial in.

Anyway... so far so good. Initially verdict is that I'm happy with the choice. Definitely not your average smart watch!

Good to hear you’re enjoying it! The screen is what it is; designed to be excellent for outdoor use and allow for the incredible battery life, but at the expense of not being as good as OLED screens and the like indoors. There are settings to adjust the screen backlight level; but I’ll let you enjoy the experience of exploring all the settings to find it.

Today, got my brand new MARQ Driver.
Updating and charging.
Absolutely in love with it.
And definitively a different tool to my 6X Pro solar, my first luxury watch.

My current wish (wonder how many others would like the same), is for the MARQ line to be refreshed based on the Solar Sapphire Tactix Delta.

I'd guess the next iteration of the Marq will come with solar charging as that appears to a focus for the future of Garmin. But other than that I'm more than happy with my Athlete, except for open water swimming. But otherwise the hardware and software work well.

Hot from the press: https://buy.garmin.com/ro-RO/RO/p/742174?utm_source=EMEA&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ro-RO%20Delivery%2C%20EMEA%2C%20MARQ%20Driver%20Performance%20Editions%20Announcement%2C%2013996

I see some minor changes, like the buttons but not much else. Probably the changes are inside. And today I just sent back my Expedition for replacement due to barometric/elevation crazy behaviour. Hoping it is not SW issue which means I sent it back for nothing (and my worry being that I will receive a worse one - refurbished as they said)

Interesting... Athlete Performance is more expensive with a HRM (and red color) and the others are less expensive because of the silicon band? 

TBD, but I think the MARQ line is going to continue to get updates for awhile, keeping it relevant. The batteries are more easily replaceable and there is more onboard storage. It lacks the solar charging, but it has a smaller/classier watch face with better materials which is the point of the line.