Garmin has lined up a live event on its YouTube channel called "Play Harder," and while nothing has been confirmed yet, all signs suggest this could well be the launch of the Garmin Fenix 9, perhaps alongside the Garmin Enduro 4.
The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro and Enduro 3 remain two of the best Garmin watches available, so it will be exciting to see what updates are coming to the Fenix 9 and Enduro 4, if they are indeed launched at the Play Harder event.
How to watch the Garmin ‘Play Harder’ event
The Garmin Play Harder event is scheduled to go live on YouTube at 12:00pm BST on Tuesday, 25 August. That’s 7:00am Eastern Time, 4:00am Pacific Time and 1:00pm CET.
Whether the event will be a presentation or just trailers for new watches is yet to be seen, but you can sign up to be notified when the event happens on YouTube.
What watches are likely to launch?
Garmin plays its hand very close to its chest when it comes to new launches, so leaks and rumors always have to be taken with a pinch of salt, but there are several reasons to believe the Play Harder event will launch the Fenix 9 and Enduro 4.
Firstly, the timing of the event. It's been a couple of years (almost to the day) since Garmin put on a similar event to launch the Garmin Fenix 8 and Garmin Enduro 3 and it ties in with UTMB in Chamonix, France, which is one of the biggest weeks on the ultramarathon running calendar.
Garmin CEO Cliff Pemble said earlier this year that there would be a “significant number of new product introductions” in the outdoor category in the second half of 2026.
The Fenix 9 was always likely to be one of these since the flagship watch has been on a yearly release cycle since 2022, while the timing of this event also works for the Enduro’s biennial launch cycle.
With the event titled "Play Harder" and showing a surfer, it also suggests that rugged, outdoorsy devices are more likely to be on the billing than smartwatches.
What to expect from the Garmin Fenix 9 and Enduro 4?
The Fenix line-up is always extensive with regard to the size, material and display options available, and rumors suggest that both a Fenix 9 and Fenix 9 Pro are likely to launch, with the Pro model having options with and without Garmin’s InReach connectivity.
A leak spotted by Fitness Tracker Test suggested that three sizes would be available for both watches — 43mm, 47mm, and 51mm — with AMOLED and MIP versions of the Pro watch.
The return of the smallest 43mm size is welcome after it wasn’t available for the Fenix 8 Pro. Interestingly, the rumors suggest there won’t be a MicroLED model, despite Garmin using the tech on the Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED last year.
We’ll have to wait and see what new features arrive with the Fenix 9 line-up, but a brighter screen is a likely upgrade.
This might hit battery life, but that’s where the rumored Enduro 4 will come in. The Enduro has traditionally been a MIP watch with the best battery life in the Garmin line-up, and we’d expect that to be the case with the Enduro 4.
We’ll try to get our hands on any new devices launched as soon as possible to see how they stack up against the best sports watches available.
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