Your Garmin smartwatch could be about to get a lot brighter with ground-breaking new LED tech

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Lumishore's ultra bright LED lighting could be used to light up Garmin GPS watches on the trails or underwater

Man and woman hiking, looking at watch
Breadcrumb navigation works best when you have a predetermined route in mind (Image credit: Getty)

Your Garmin smartwatch could be about to get a lot brighter, after the tech giant got its hands on industry-leading LED innovations this week.

On October 22, Garmin announced that it had acquired marine LED lighting specialists Lumishore. Designing and manufacturing super bright LED lighting for boats, Lumishore’s ‘innovative’ lighting systems perform consistently above and underwater.

While Garmin will continue to run its new acquisition as a marine lighting company, its new-found access to Lumishore’s top of the range LED tech could prove beneficial for smartwatch wearers.

Lumishore’s LED systems are used to light the way for vessels over dark and stormy seas, so could certainly be of use on foggy night-time trails or underwater.

"As a technology leader in LED lighting, Lumishore will expand Garmin's innovative solutions,” said Jarrod Seymor, Garmin Vice President, Marine Segment Lead. “Together, we look forward to delivering unmatched LED lighting technology to our customers around the world.”

Wild swimmers in lake wearing wetsuits

There's speculation that Garmin will use Lumishore's tech to improve their watch displays for swimmers and divers (Image credit: Getty Images)

Garmin currently uses several different display technologies for its range of smartwatches. These include MIP, LCD and the super bright AMOLED display, which uses millions of microscopic LED lights to craft a clear and colorful picture.

Garmin-loving wild swimmers will be happy to hear that Lumishore's high performing LED tech has been proven to be highly effective under cold water.

Just last month, Garmin’s Fenix 8, the company's latest and supposedly greatest smartwatch found itself in the headlines when users repeatedly reported crashes in cold and deep water. Supposedly suitable for cold water diving, the $999 / £949 sports watch would shut down in waters below 46.4°F / 8°C, despite claiming to withstand temperatures down to 32°F / 0°C. Although the company did not comment officially, a forum post by someone saying they were a Garmin engineer, suggested the bug had since been fixed.

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Will Symons
Will Symons
Staff Writer

Will Symons developed his love of the outdoors as a student, exploring every inch of Sussex’s South Downs national park and wild swimming off the Brighton seafront. Now a Staff Writer for Advnture, Will previously worked as a freelance journalist and writer, covering everything from cricket to ancient history. Like most Advnture staff, Will’s time is rarely spent indoors, he can often be found hiking, wild swimming or playing cricket.