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Trekking watches have made huge advances in the last 5 years. With the invention and continued improvement of GPS-based watches, they are now more accessible to more people. You can still get great trekking watches without GPS capabilities and I’ve listed a few favourites below but for me, the best trekking watches should have GPS capabilities along with the usual features for rugged outdoors use. As I’m heavily into sports, Ironman triathlon and ultra running. I like to make my trekking watch do double duty. I discuss the suitability of these watches for both trekking and sports below.
Some of the minimum features to include in a trekking watch are a compass, barometer, altimeter, temperature and of course, world time and date.
The watches listed below include these details and most have many more extras.
The limit is down to your wallet and needs.
Phone messages can even be displayed directly on your watch. Perhaps not what you want if you are looking to escape the daily grind in the wilderness, but handy in day-to-day life.
Trekking Watches
Below are a selection of both GPS watches and traditional watches that will greatly enhance your trekking experience.
My pick is the Garmin Fenix 6 (click through here if you’re in the UK, Europe, or USA), For those of us in Australia it’s a bit more complex, we have to click this link for the Garmin 5x sapphire.
I’m a big Garmin fan and user, but check out other models below.
We’ve taken a look at the specifications and data on these watches as available online.
This information is intended as a guide for you only, please double-check all specifications before purchasing as models can vary.
Features to Look For in a Trekking Watch, Explained
- Altimeter. You’ll want to know what altitude you’re at.
- Compass. Make sure you’re heading in the right direction.
- Barometer. Keep track of weather changes.
- Multiple Time Zones. Easy for travelling, flip between time zones rather than fully resetting.
- GPS. Your exact location, the distance you’ve walked, remaining distance.
- Rugged Build. You don’t want to smash it.
- Thermometer. So you can brag about how cold or hot it was.
Watches with Heart Rate Monitoring
For trekking purposes, you don’t really need heart rate monitoring. As I buy watches for triathlon and Ironman events as well as for trekking, my watches always have heart rate monitoring (via a chest strap) and recording features.
These watches connect wirelessly (Bluetooth) to a phone to give a heart rate profile in training and during events.
I find this feature invaluable to monitor my fitness and training progress.
4 of the watches here, the Garmin Fenix 5 Sapphire, the Suunto Sport Baro, the Suunto Ambit 3 and the TomTom Adventurer have this feature.
These watches are more expensive than those without heart rate monitors and if you don’t need the watch for sport or training this feature may be overkill.
Other Bonus Features to Look Out For in Trekking Watches
- Solar Power
- Tides
- Moon phase
- GLONASS, similar to GPS, an alternative satellite system better at higher or lower latitudes and in built up areas like cities.
- None of them makes tea just yet.
Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Sapphire-My Pick
Garmin Fenix 6 Pro- Black. Click the image above or here to check prices.
The Garmin Fenix 6 Pro is Garmin’s flagship watch and comes in 5 varieties and styles.
It replaces the older Fenix 5 (pronounced phoenix) with, I think, better specs and finish.
The list of what this watch does is comprehensive, from downloadable maps to even monitoring your heart rate and lactate threshold levels.
These watches are huge on the Ironman circuit and are a hugely desirable travel and outdoor sports accessory.
- HR ( heart rate) monitoring via wrist or chest strap. Available with or without a chest strap.
- GPS watch with colour topographical U.S. mapping.
- Pulse Ox Sensors
- Hiking, running and cycling maps and other outdoors navigation features
- Rugged design with stainless steel bezel, buttons and rear case.
- 1.3″ screen that is 18% bigger than previous Fenix watches.
- Weight – silicone band: 98 g ; metal band: 196 g
- Built-in navigation sensors include GPS and GLONASS to track in challenging environments.
- 3-axis compass, gyroscope and barometric altimeter
- 2000 ski resort maps and runs preloaded
- Music storage on your watch allows music to be played directly to Bluetooth headsets from your wrist
- Provides stats for activities such as hiking, swimming, running and cycling
- Garmin Pay supported allows for contactless payment via your watch
- Connected phone features include notifications automatic uploads to Garmin Connect online via wifi and personalisation through free watch faces and apps from the Connect IQ store
Suunto Spartan Sport Baro
Suunto SS023310000 Spartan Sport Wrist HR . Click the image or this text check prices.
Suunto’s answer to the Fenix 5 and the upgrade from their Armbit 3 watch. This watch promises a whole bunch of options.
- HR measurement by wrist. A chest strap can be added for more accurate heart rate data
- Responsive touch screen with added bezel buttons, helpful if you’re wearing gloves
- Battery life up to 40h with GPS makes this one of the best battery lasting watches on the market
- Steel bezel and mineral crystal glass give this watch a brilliant finish and it won’t look out of place in any situation from the wilderness to a business meeting
- Barometric altitude give accurate altitude readings and 100M water resistance makes sure getting wet isn’t a problem
- GPS/GLONASS route navigation making it accurate in nearly all situations and will pick up signal quickly and efficiently. Route navigation with POI and breadcrumbs to avoid getting lost. Also has ETA on preprogrammed courses
- Sport expertise and support for over 80 sports with racing and interval use. Including trekking, triathlon, golf, and skiing
Suunto 5
Suunto 5 HR Monitor Running GPS Unit, Copper Burgandy. Check prices.
The Sunnto 5 is a newer model that sits between Sunnto’s 3 and 7 model but is still a solid unit. The price reflects this and you’ll save considerable money on the two watches above without losing many features.
It is worth noting that Sunnto 7 is primarily a smartwatch running Android and as such doesn’t have the same functions or battery life as more sports-based outdoors watches.
It makes up for this in other ways that users may find more beneficial.
Suunto 5 tracks over 80 preloaded sports and also your daily routine. From steps to heart rate and even sleep you can check and see just how you’re performing in the Suunto app.
Battery life is great and you can personalise it to what you’re doing with different modes giving up to 40 hours of tracking with gps on the ultra setting.
While it is unlikely you just have the time option on that will extend the battery to 14 days and with step tracker and mobile notifications you’ll get an impressive 7 days still.
- Heart rate (HR) monitoring by wrist or chest strap.
- HR monitoring while swimming.
- Speed, pace and distance recorded.
- Sleep habits and stress and recovery tracking.
- GPS with full route navigation.
- Altimeter
- Barometer,
- Compass
- 50 meter water resistance
- Great adaptive battery life, 20-40 hours with reminders to charge before big activities and options to increase battery life while running
- Connect Suunto 5 peak to your smartphone for syncing your activities, customizing on the go and seeing calls and notifications on your watch
- Activity-based recovery time to make sure you have enough rest between activities
- Bike power meter support (Bluetooth Smart) and multiple sports in one log ( must be bought separately)
- Discover new routes with heatmaps on Suunto app
CASIO Smart Watch WSD-F20 Protrek Smart
The Casio smart watch isn’t as advanced as the 3 watches above in terms of sports functions or battery life but where Casio smart watch shines is when you’re off grid and hiking or trekking. With a colour screen and the options of downloading maps it really becomes its own.
Nice post.Hope to buy one of these amazing watches.
Hi. That’s a good gadgets for trekking. I’m finding gears and gadgets for trekking as well. Thanks for your blog which contain a lot of experiences, suggestions, and attractive destinations.
Awesome post I might want to thank you for the endeavors you have made in composing this intriguing and educated article.
My husband enjoys hiking and has asked for a watch he can use on his treks. Now I’ve read this I understand the features so much better and feel like I can make an informed choice. I think he’s going to be a lot happier with his present now
I’m very pleased about that Zena, my husband is a complete tech geek and loves all this stuff and researching new gadgets. Glad he could be helpful.