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  • Best Men & Women Hiking Watches for Adventures 2022
    News 2022. 2. 28. 21:13

    GARMIN PHOENIX 6 SERIES
    Price at time of review: Starting at $549.99 / £529 (Fenix ​​6 Pro)

    The best hiking and outdoor watch for adventurers and ultramarathoners

    While the Fenix ​​7 series may be on the scene, we don't think you should rule it out as an option to capture. Especially if you can find it at a good price.

    In true Fenix ​​style, it tracks everything from trail running to skiing and includes a hiking mode.

    For those who are really into fitness, there is heart rate which is used in VO2 Max statistics for high intensity sports, with training effect data and recovery data.

    But let's dwell on why this watch is the best option for outdoor activities. You can download GPX routes from the Connect app or third party apps like Strava. You also get far more data than any other outdoor watch.

    The Fenix ​​6 Pro uses topographic maps to expand your navigation experience on your wrist, and you can even find points of interest right from your watch. These are the best maps, although navigating your neighborhood with the watch's five buttons can take some getting used to.

    And battery life is another huge plus. UltraTrac mode offers 42 hours of GPS tracking. It's a weekend of hiking without recharging, which is a big plus for multi-day runners or walkers. Switch to the "Expedition" mode and get weeks without recharging. The new solar version will also give you a couple extra days in smartwatch mode.

    Whether you go for the Fenix ​​6S, 6 or 6X, go for Pro to get all those essential mapping features and you'll have one of the best outdoor watches in the business. There are also Fenix ​​6 and 6S Solar versions, which add three days of smartwatch usage to an already generous lifespan. However, only extreme adventurers will like the upgrade.

    The key things you're missing out on from the Fenix ​​7 series are longer battery life with or without solar, full-range touchscreen functionality, more accurate outdoor tracking, and some software features that look like they could be implemented on 6.

    POLAR GRIT H PRO
    Price at time of review: $449 / £439

    The best hiking and outdoor watch for adventurers and ultramarathoners

    The Grit X Pro is an updated version of the Grit X Polar watch released in 2020, adding features that should have been on the original to make it an affordable alternative to Garmin's top outdoor watches.

    Polar puts a lot of emphasis on endurance and recovery, so the main features are things like FuelWise, which lets you plan your adventure, and Polar tells you when and how much you should eat and reminds you on the go. We found this to work very well, but the reminders were a bit easy to miss

    There's recovery-ocused sleep tracking, which we found beat Garmin in terms of accuracy, and running stats and VO2 Max are a big part of the feature set thanks to the 10-LED heart rate monitor.

    A big part of the Polar Grit X is navigation, but that's where it falls short compared to Garmin's Fenix ​​series. This is done by linking to the Komoot navigation app, but you need a paid account to really get useful navigation, and it's a rather simplistic point-to-oint interface. Although the Garmin TOPO map is barely detailed, it adds a lot of useful detail.

    There's a Hillsplitter feature that tracks your ascents and descents and tries to let you know if you're wasting time on the slopes.

    In terms of what you get over the original Grit X, there's an added tracking feature for navigation and the ability to view route and elevation profiles. These features are unlikely to appear in the original.

    Polar is also adding three recovery-ocused tests from its Vantage V2 watch. This is a leg recovery test, as well as running and cycling performance tests.

    An outdoor watch needs good battery life, and this is noted here with 40 hours of full GPS tracking, which can be extended to 100 hours with a power saver.

    The Grit X doesn't quite match the Fenix ​​in terms of data depth and features, especially when you add that Garmin supports music playback on your wrist from the Spotify and Connect IQ apps. However, it vastly outsells the Garmin for the price, so unless you're really testing the limits of endurance and sports science, the Polar Grit X Pro is highly recommended.

    AMAZFIT T-REX PRO
    Price: $179.99 / £139.99

    The best hiking and outdoor watch for adventurers and ultramarathoners

    The successor to the T-Rex, the T-ex Pro is based on a sports watch built for harsh environments and outdoor activities.

    Like the original, it features a 47mm case that has now received a host of new military durability certifications, and its water resistance has been upgraded from 5 ATM to 10 ATM, making it safe to swim up to 100 meters.

    There's built-in GPS with broader support for more satellite systems, 100 sport modes, the latest Zepp Health BioTracker optical sensor for heart rate and blood oxygen, and now there's also a barometer on board for altitude measurement. This heart rate will also influence recovery time, training load, and training effect understanding based on algorithms created by Garmin's Firstbeat division.

    In terms of battery life, you can expect up to 18 days, which is less than 20 days on the first T-Rex. Heavy usage is 9 days and you can expect up to 40 hours of GPS battery life.

    What is missing here is some form of navigation support. As such, there are no crumb navigation or richer mapping features in the Garmin Fenix ​​lineup. Perhaps that is why it can promise such good battery performance.

    If you like the sound of a rugged watch that offers powerful batteries and dedicated modes for a variety of outdoor sports, this is definitely one of the options. Especially when they cost a fraction of the price of most watches on this list.

    We're still finishing up testing the T-Rex Pro, but you can read our in-depth review of the original to get an idea of ​​what to expect.

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