Garmin claims new esports smartwatch will improve performance of pros

Fitness technology company Garmin have designed a smartwatch that they believe will elevate the performance of esports professionals.

The Garmin Instinct Esports Edition has been manufactured to help players optimize their habits for improved performance by giving feedback on things such as heart rate, stress level, and sleep.

The watch is said to have a “dedicated esports activity profile” and allows users to share their biometrics to gaming live streams through new tech called “STR3AMUP!”.

Players can broadcast their heart rate and stress level while gaming to show how intense moments affect them, and perhaps how they handle increasing pressure.

While Garmin’s latest move into esports may shock some, the company actually partnered with an organization in February 2020. x-kom AGO — a Polish team who competes in CS:GO, League of Legends, and Fortnite — wears the Fenix 6 line of watches through their sponsorship deal.

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It’s unknown whether the partnership helped to inform how Garmin designed their first watch tailored to gaming. However, the collaboration does include the collection of data from the org’s players so it would not be surprising if it did indeed inform the tech company on what features gamers need the most.

“Elite athletes around the world depend on Garmin products to monitor and improve their performance,” said Garmin’s vice president of sales, Dan Bartel. “With the Instinct Esports Edition, esports athletes can tap into that same technology to track and examine how their body responds to intense competition.

“Players can also use Instinct’s data to make adjustments in their daily lives, whether it be altering sleep patterns or activity levels, which can result in increased cognitive and physical performance during play.”

Though the Instinct Esports Edition has been officially announced, there is no word on the availability or price of the watch at the time of writing.