Best Smartwatch for Hiking 2024

If you are looking for the Best Smartwatch for Hiking in 2024 then you are at the right place.

Hiking is one of the popular outdoor activities. Hiking allows you to explore nature, exercise, and enjoy fresh air. Having the right gear can make your hikes more enjoyable. Hiking helps to keep you safe. One useful piece of tech to bring on a hike is a smartwatch. Smartwatches are wearable devices that connect to your smartphone to provide notifications, track your health and fitness data, and more. They can be beneficial when you’re out on the trails.

In this article, we will discuss the benefits of using a smartwatch while hiking and review the top smartwatch models for hikers in 2024.

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Benefits of Using a Smartwatch for Hiking

Before choosing the best smartwatch for hiking you have to be aware that there are several key benefits to using a smartwatch on your hikes:

GPS Tracker:

Most smartwatches have built-in GPS to accurately track your hike route, distance, speed, elevation gain and more. This helps you navigate unfamiliar trails and know exactly how far you’ve gone. GPS tracking is useful if you get lost or need to retrace your steps.

Heart Rate Monitor:

Smartwatches can continuously monitor your heart rate. This lets you keep your effort levels in check and maintain appropriate intensity on long hikes. Abnormal heart rate spikes may indicate overexertion or altitude sickness.

Steps Counting:

Smartwatches use motion sensors to count your steps throughout the day. You can track step counts on your hike to set goals and monitor your activity.

Altimeter:

Some smartwatches contain an altimeter to measure elevation gain as you hike uphill. This helps you understand the total ascent on your route.

Weather Update Features:

Smartwatches connected to your phone can provide weather alerts and lightning warnings. This gives you time to seek shelter if conditions turn hazardous.

Emergency Notifications:

You can use your smartwatch to notify emergency contacts or services if you get injured on a solo hike and need help. Most smartwatches have this SOS feature.

Quick Access To Maps:

Without taking out your phone, you can view topographic hike maps on your smartwatch screen. This allows for convenient navigation.

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Best Smartwatches for Hiking

Let’s look at the top smartwatch models for hiking in 2024 which follow the above-mentioned benefits:

Garmin Fenix 7X Pro Sapphire

The Garmin Fenix 7X Pro Sapphire is arguably the best smartwatch for hiking available today. It has a large 1.4” colour touchscreen and up to 37 days of battery life in smartwatch mode or 8 days in GPS mode. The Garmin Fenix 7X Pro Sapphire contains topographic maps for over 2,000 ski resorts and 41,000 golf courses worldwide. It provides ABC sensors (Altimeter, Barometer, Compass) plus a multi-band GPS for accurate positioning.

For hiking, the Garmin Fenix 7X Pro Sapphire tracks your route, pace, distance, and elevation gain. It monitors heart rate variability for fitness level insights. You can download relevant outdoor recreation maps and view them directly on the watch screen. The Garmin Fenix 7X Pro Sapphire also offers safety features like incident detection, which sends your live location to emergency contacts if you’re injured.

Apple Watch Ultra

The new Apple Watch Ultra is designed for extreme outdoor adventures. On a single charge, it provides up to 36 hours of battery life. The biggest highlight is the 49mm titanium case and flat sapphire crystal display, making it much more durable than regular Apple Watches. The Apple Watch Ultra contains dual-frequency GPS for accurate distance and pace measurement on hikes.

There’s a built-in compass and water resistance up to 100 meters. Extra safety features include an 86-decibel siren and night-vision mode with retina display max brightness. Hikers can download third-party apps to supplement the built-in GPS with topographic hike maps. The Apple Watch Ultra is the best smartwatch for iPhone users who hike.

Garmin Instinct 2

For a more affordable yet rugged hiking smartwatch option, consider the Garmin Instinct 2. Garmin Instinct 2 is the standard edition. Available in 40mm, 45mm and 50 case size options. The Instinct 2 comes in standard and solar versions with unlimited battery life in solar mode. It’s military-grade and durable with thermal and shock resistance.

The Instinct 2 provides ABC sensors, heart rate monitoring, GPS tracking, and Garmin’s intuitive navigation features. You can download speciality apps like SkiView that display relevant mountain stats and trail maps. The Instinct 2 solar is an excellent value hiking watch with a long battery life.

The Garmin Instinct 2 smartwatch is available in 4 different editions with some extra features. These editions are – CAMO, TACTICAL, SURF and DĒZL.

Suunto 9 Peak

Suunto is known for its durable multisport watches. The Suunto 9 Peak is optimized for hiking and mountaineering with an impressive battery that lasts up to 170 hours in GPS mode. It provides accurate GPS tracking, wrist-based heart rate, altitude and ascent stats, and weather integration.

The Suunto 9 Peak watch face displays a useful heat map to show your heart rate intensity throughout the hike. You can download Suunto’s outdoor recreation maps within the companion app. Overall, the Suunto 9 Peak offers advanced metrics and long battery life perfect for hardcore hikers and backpackers.

The Suunto 9 Peak Pro comes with a few extra features like better battery life, satellite connectivity etc.

Casio Protrek PRW3500-1

The next smartwatch in the list of Best Smartwatch for Hiking is the Casio Protrek PRW3500-1. When it comes to watches Casio never fails to surprise us. The Casio Protrek is a solar-powered smartwatch with a rotating bezel. It can operate in very low temperatures like –10ºC or 14°F. Casio Protrek PRW3500-1 provides accurate GPS tracking, heart rate sensor, altitude and ascent stats, manual memory measurements (up to 30 records) and weather integration.

The watch body is made of stainless steel which makes it sturdy. It has a 56 mm dial with 260 to 1,100 hPa (7.65 to 32.45 in Hg) display range. The Casio Protrek smartwatch also offers sunrise and sunset data, pressure change indication with graph, backlight with after-glow and many more.

COROS VERTIX 2 

The COROS Vertix 2 delivers premium hiking watch features at a more reasonable price. It provides up to 140 hours of battery life in GPS mode and continuous wrist heart rate monitoring. The COROS Vertix 2 is rugged and waterproof up to 100 meters.

For hiking, it tracks your route, distance, elevation, and workout intensity using GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo and QZSS satellite systems. The ClimbPro feature lets you set ascension goals and monitor progress on the trail. Altimeter, barometer and compass sensors provide key environmental data. COROS offers free offline topo and ski maps. At around $700, the COROS Vertix 2 is a hiking smartwatch with great value.

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Also Read: Top 11 Tiny Self Defense Gadgets

What To Look for in a Hiking Smartwatch

Before choosing a smartwatch for hiking you should keep these key factors in mind:

Durability:

Look for durable watch case materials like titanium, ceramic or high-grade polymer. Sapphire glass protects against scratches. Waterproofing up to 100m is ideal.

Battery Life:

Opt for a battery life of at least 5-7 days in smartwatch mode or 20-30 hours with continuous GPS. This reduces the need to charge on longer hikes.

GPS Accuracy:

Choose watches with dual or multi-band GPS for the most accurate distance, pace and position tracking on hikes.

Altitude Acclimation:

Altimeter, barometer and compass sensors provide helpful elevation data and environmental context.

Heart Rate Tracking:

Wrist-based heart rate monitors let you train effectively on hikes by watching effort and intensity.

Mapping:

The best hiking watches allow you to download relevant outdoor recreation or topo maps to view on the go.

Safety Features:

Incident detection and emergency notifications provide extra assurance if you hike solo.

Price:

Determine your budget. Entry-level models start around $200. More advanced hiking smartwatches run $500-$1500.

If you select a hiking-focused smartwatch based on the above criteria, you can enhance your outdoor adventures with helpful technology. Don’t forget to also use proper hike preparation and safety practices. It’s our advice before buying the best smartwatch for hiking do a proper checklist. So, best of luck with your future hiking endeavors.

Best Smartwatch for Hiking 2024 FAQs