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I plan to do a bit of touring and wondered if these etrek devices are good / better than a smartphone. Guessing battery life is.
Also would get used walking new places in the Lakes.
Anyone got one? Seem to be about 200quid
I've had an Etrex 20x for several years and generally like it. I mostly use it for cycling (on & off road) and walking. Probably works better for cycling than walking.
Pros:
+ small size
+ rugged
+ waterproof
+ reliable
+ good battery life (generally about 24h actual use from NiMnH rechargeables)
+ replacable batteries if longer duration required
Cons:
- small screen size makes it awkward to get map context sometimes
- no electronic compass means you need to move to register a heading (30x has a compass, IIRC)
- useless for route planning - needs to be done elsewhere and transferred as a gpx
In general, I prefer to keep my phone for emergencies rather than relying on it for navigation (and potentially flattening the battery).
Battery life is about 25 hours with decent batteries. They're a bit dated now, and nothing like as easy to use or convenient as modern bike computers but I'm not sure what alternatives exist for walking these days.
Definitely better than a phone for battery life, weather resistance and general reliability. I only ever, very occasionally use mine as a backup for riding because modern computers work better for 99% of what you need when following a fixed route. The Etrex can be useful when you lose the route, but in those circumstances I'll often get my phone out rather than messing with the clunky joystick and zoom on the Etrex. I'd still take it walking though as a bike computer makes less sense then.
The use of AA batteries used to be a big plus too, but makes less sense now powerbanks are so common. Still personal preference though.
I have an old Etrex H (the yellow one) for hillwalking. I prefer to nav via map and compass and use the Etrex for tracklogging and the occasional confirmatory grid reference when/if stuck in a cloud. There's no mapping and the screen is both monochrome and very small.
I use an Edge 1030 for cycling and it's very good once you learn the routine. It has a built in map based on Google Maps and so long as you plan your routes off the unit (eg via Ride With Gps) and tell it what to do, it's almost faultless.
I've not found anything that can do both as well as these units and I wouldn't rely on a phone for nav. I want that charged and functional for when I really really need it.
My brother in law gave me one. I literally couldn’t work out how to use it.
I’d be looking for something with mapping and a touch screen. Or if it just going to follow a gpx file made on another device maybe a watch.
Have an etrex 30, use it sometimes on the cx bike when off exploring and used it last year hill walking in Ireland, in conjunction with a paper os map and maps uploaded onto the unit. It can be set to show grid ref on the screen so was handy. As others say small screen and a bit old tech now but a reliable useful bit of kit still. Didn’t seem to be much out there for walking when I was looking at replacing an old Magellan unit last year.
@sefton - I've got an Etrex 20x that I bought for a trip and never used. If any interest to you drop me a message and we can work something out.