Best Hiking Watch Reviews

This outdoor sportwatch has GPS, and other navigation features that make it ideal for multiple outdoor sports. The crystal is protected by a rugged stainless steel bezel (the top ring on the watch that surrounds the crystal) and the watch is tested to U.S. military standards for thermal, shock and water resistance.

There are satellite navigation and tracking functions, along with a 3-axis compass and barometric altimeter.

The GPS combines with GLONASS and Galileo to track your position more accurately than GPS alone, meaning you can hike or trail ride in more challenging environments.

Activity features include enhanced wrist heart rate, built-in activity profiles, Vo2 Max estimates and more. The built-in activity profiles are for trail running, swimming, running, biking, hiking, rowing, skiing, golfing and more.  There’s also performance metrics and training load balance readings, advanced sleep monitoring and the ability to read altitude acclimation at high elevations. Use the watch to track your training load balance, training status, and running and cycling dynamics.

A great feature is the customizable power manager, where you can monitor how various settings and sensors impact battery life, allowing you to adjust to extend your battery life. The battery has four modes with different performance life depending how you use it: up to 14 days in smartwatch mode, up to 36 hours in GPS mode, up to 28 days in expedition GPS activity mode, and up to 48 days in battery saver watch mode.

The display is readable in sunlight and is “always on,” meaning you can easily check it while climbing or cycling. When paired with a compatible smartphone, you can receive notifications and use Garmin Pay™ contactless payments. Also when paired with a smartphone, the watch will sense an incident and send your location to emergency contacts.

This is the first in the Garmin Fenix series to offer full-color TOPO United States mapping for at-a-glance navigation and location reference. Use it to measure performance and be sure you get back to your location.

It functions as a multisport watch with GPS, as well as Glonass capability to track in more challenging environments than GPS alone. It’s also great for outdoor adventures with a 3 axis compass, gyroscope and barometric altimeter.

It has preloaded run profiles for running, treadmill running, and trail running. There are routable cycling maps and other outdoor navigation features. There are also feature sets for swim training, skiing, golfing and paddle sports. Check your key stats such as training status, training load and more using elevate wrist heart rate technology, built-in activity profiles, and performance metrics.

It can also handle the rigors of many sports with a rugged design that features a stainless steel bezel, buttons and rear case, and a choice of changing bands with the QuickFit bands. It’s also water-rated to 330 feet (100 meters).

You can also connect it to get smart notifications, as well as do automatic uploads to the Garmin connect online fitness community. Use the connect IQ store to download free watch faces and apps.

This unisex training watch has GPS capability with an integrated heart rate wrist monitor and an atmospheric pressure sensor. It features support for over 80 sports. It’s ideal for cycling or running, and since it’s waterproof to 100 meters, it’s also ideal for swimming. 

It also has new outdoor features for mountain and snow sports, along with navigation system improvements and storm warning. Hikers, skiers and trail runners will appreciate the exact altitude measurement provided by the combination of Barometric and GPS altimeter. That’s what enables exact altitude profiles and helps to identify meteorological changes, allowing you to cancel your trek if bad weather is coming. 

Suunto’s value proposition states that this watch will take you from “the highest mountains to the deepest oceans.”

It features an intelligent battery system that allows you to adjust the battery mode. Switch between the three modes to get from 25 hours up to 120 hours of use from the battery. You’ll get real-time notifications on how much battery life is remaining, so you can change modes to save the battery before it completely runs out of power.

The Suunto website provides regular software updates.

The Glonass technology can be used in addition to GPS for improved tracking, providing quick and exact recognition of your position. There are also  tracking and route navigation options, with waypoints and real-time breadcrumb navigation features. 

There’s a graphic heart rate wrist display that shows heart rate even while resting, a step display and calorie display, including showing the last 7 days. The activity monitoring is 24/7. A colour display has 3 action buttons for toggling among the features. If you want even more detailed heart rate data, you can purchase separately the compatible Suunto Smart Belt.

The watch is used in conjunction with the Suunto App, which offers training insights and social features to stay motivated. It helps you track daily activities and workouts, plan routes, show activity maps, and calculate overall speed and distance using the GPS connectivity. You can also monitor sleep patterns and overall fitness levels, and share milestones on social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram.

Tomtom is another brand known for GPS, so it’s no surprise this smartwatch has GPS capacity and more advanced features. For instance, it has a built-in music player and comes with Bluetooth headphones that are sweat and weatherproof.

Pair the headphones with your watch or your phone, and they’ll last up to 6 hours. You can also get audio feedback on your performance and see real time stats like altitude, 3D distance, pace, and total ascent and descent.

It features multi sport modes, including hiking, skiing, swimming, cycling, and running. There are special modes for outdoor adventures like trail running and snowboarding.

There’s a built in heart rate monitor and a 24/7 activity tracker that logs your heart rate, steps, active minutes, and calories burned. Use the Tomtom Sports App to track and analyze your activities, share your achievements, and even create your own workouts.

It also has a built in compass, and altimeter, and is waterproof up to 130 feet (40 meters). Use it to plan and upload a trail onto your watch, and to hike into uncharted territory and find your way back with GPS based trail exploration.

This is a multisport GPS watch that’s made for outdoor adventures with its GPS route navigation.

The durable outdoor grade color touch screen has a steel bezel and mineral Crystal Glass. The watch can also be operated with the buttons, and it is water resistant to 330 feet (100 meters).

You can use the Spartan Sport for training or racing with sport-specific training modes, support for over 80 sports, racing and interval use, and triathlon and multisport modes.

The battery will last up to 12 hours in training mode with GPS, and you can control the watch battery life yourself by adjusting the GPS tracking frequency.

It provides heart rate measurement with a wrist monitor or you can pair with the compatible Suunto Smart Sensor heart rate belt. Combining heart rate functionality with steps taken, you get an accurate picture of daily activity level, resting heart rate and calorie consumption.

The Freestyle brand began as a surf watch brand, designed to be durable enough to withstand the abuses of a high-intensity lifestyle, both in and out of the water.

This watch is ideal for ladies but is actually unisex, great for men who like a smaller watch style. It features Japanese quartz digital movement, a lap counter with memory, alarm, countdown timer and stopwatch, and standard digital functions with a backlight. The case is polycarbonate with hyrdro-pushers, which are able to be pushed under-water.

The digital face has NightVision Display which is ideal for underwater adventures or overnight camping trips.

The strap is a durable canvas synthetic with a solid stainless-steel buckle. The crystal is a durable hardened mineral that protects the watch face from scratches. It’s also water-resistant to 330 feet (100 meters).

The Baby-G from Casio is the smaller, lighter version of the G Shock tactical style watch. It comes equipped with a comfortable resin band with buckle closure and features a resin case with a mineral dial window (42mm size). 

The watch is powered by Japanese quartz movement and resists in water for up to 100m (330ft). It’s also shock resistant, so you can wear it during sports or performing physical activities. Overall, the dial is simple and easy to read, it supports both 12 and 24h format, and has world time function (29 time zones or 48 cities). 

Other functions that make this watch a great deal are the 1/100-second stopwatch, countdown timer, and mute. Also, users enjoy the EL backlight with after-glow as the dial can be a bit dark during the day.