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I generally shy away from tech. However I am interested in these new fangled smar****ches.
i think i would like one for splitboarding, mountain biking, running and perhaps some other things.
I want very accurate mapping with a good display so i can see what godforsaken mountain i am on in the middle of nowhere ( i live in the middle of sweden near the norwegian border so lots of touring,splitboarding xc sking and so on) .
Ability to upload GPS routes (mountainbike routes, other peoples splitboard/ski touring jaunts)
I would like heartrate monitoring without a chest strap. some sort of assesment of calories used etc
Ability to asses gradient of a slope.... is this doable?
very up to date weather forecasts
decent battery for trips a few days without mains power
is all of this possible?
not interested in the following:
spotify
sleep monitoring
a massive screen hanging off my wrist that screams SMAR****CH
Budget is up to perhaps 200-250 euros.
Many thanks in advance
Triple your budget and you'll get very nice Garmin watch with everything.
Lose the map requirement and enjoy huge number of options from Garmin, Polar, Suunto etc in original budget.
GPS accuracy took a hit when all manufacturers went to low power chipsets few years ago but I guess they are now better again due being able to use GPS + Galileo and other services.
Wrist-based heart rate measurements can be hit and miss.
I suspect having a great display for mapping and not having a massive screen aren't particularly compatible.
thanks... aha ok so it's unrealistic to get what i am after for the price?
Yes i am aware of the hit and miss element of wrist heartrate but it's not a bad indication, but than my percieved effort anyhow!
I want very accurate mapping with a good display so i can see what godforsaken mountain i am on in the middle of nowhere
Yet...
not interested in the following:
a massive screen hanging off my wrist that screams SMAR****CH
If you want good mapping on a smar****ch, it's going to need a decent screen.
No charging for multiple days, how many hours of GPS (activity recording) is that? A standard Fenix 6 has 36hrs of GPS, if you're doing 3x 8hrs then you might be getting towards the limit, especially in cold conditions.
Fenix 6 in the sales would do but it's £300 so more like 360 euros.
a decent screen doesn't need to be massive though, just crisp, bright, handles light and shade well and so on? or am i miles off
No charging for multiple days, how many hours of GPS (activity recording) is that? A standard Fenix 6 has 36hrs of GPS,
true yes perhaps 8 hrs a day of gps for a couple of days
It's not a "decent screen" that you're asking for though, it's a screen that will give you enough information to determine where you are - think about how much of a map you need to do so.
Well, I've got a Fenix 6 Pro, and it's okay for following a route, or in a pinch, examining the nearby area.
I don't really think there's any watch I'd like to use for "telling what mountain I'm on" - there's just a limit to how much information you can fit on a screen on your wrist. If I was dead set on it, I think I'd be looking at a 7X for the largest display and a touchscreen so I could pan/zoom easily (it's not terrible on the 6-series, but it is a faff). Way beyond your budget, though.
You say you want HR without a strap which means you are wearing it directly on your wrist. Which will likely be under many layers of jacket, mid layer and glove - which won't be great for viewing maps or current HR and other metrics
I find in the winter - running or biking - I am much better with a chest strap and wearing the watch over my jacket or on my handlebar so i can see my metrics without faffing with layers.
I'm using a Polar Vantage M2 which fits your budget, but doesn't do the mapping. With polar for mapping you would probably need to double your budget to go Vantage V2 or Grit, but not sure if you can download actual maps or just synch routes w Komoot.
Sounds liek you want something like a Garmin Etrex. I suppose you could try strapping it to your wrist.
Grit has very simple navigation capabilities, it is Komoot routes or other GPS tracks. There is no map and not POI sync either, it is more like sports watch with some routing features added.
if a smar****ch cn't do these things why do people pay 700 quid for them...! haha perhaps i should just use an etrex, think a buddy has a 10 somewhere.
doesn't really sound like a smar****ch is what you need... what about ski goggles with HUD? They've been around for years, although no idea if they're actually any good!
First off if you're actually touring in avy terrain with any watch with bluetooth then make sure you turn off the bluetooth bit for the duration as otherwise it'll interfere with a beacon in the same hand during search. AvCan blog
I don't think there's a watch that's big enough to properly navigate by in micro-terrain during touring. I use my smartphone with Topographic Canada maps loaded onto it for that. My watch displays co-ordinates and I have an actual paper map as back-up if I'm unsure where I'm going.
Having said that I use my Fenix 5S to track the day including Heart rate and where I've gone. Waypoints are useful for following on occasion (like exiting onto a road and making 100% sure you turn left or right to get back to the vehicle). The HR is accurate enough for rough RPE. Distance travelled and m's climbed useful metrics to keep track of as you're going along.
Was about to say it sounds like you want a fenix and an etrex, but it looks like I'm not the first. They'd also be somewhat more than your planned budget.
I very recently got a Garmin Fenix 6 pro solar from sports pursuit for £400, not used the mapping in anger yet. but apart from that really happy with the watch.
initially I thought Id hate the feeling of it on my wrist but so far so good.
I used to have an old Garmin Forrunner that this has replaced.
Was on a multi day ski tour recently and one of the guys had the same watch and he managed two 10 hour days using the solar to maintain the charge, then it died on the morning of the third day.
I was seriously close to buying a second hand same model, but the difference was £100 so decided to push the boat out a bit and get it new and hopefully keep for a decade
Ok so it looks like the mapping side of things is out. Fair enough, I can stick to using a phone and or map. Thanks for the suggestions for models, I'll take a look.
Theres a Fenix 6pro just been added to the classifieds...
Hehe i'll take a look! A friend has just mentioned he has a fenix 5x for sale at approx 170 euro
ok a quick straw poll :
Fenix 5 plus or instinct solar? both similair prices
WWSTWD?
Instinct Solar if battery life was the singular most important thing to me, 5 plus otherwise.
cheers, could you expand on why? sorry it's a minefield out there!
WWSTWD?
In the tradition of this forum I would recommend what I have - Suunto 9 baro. Looks nicer than a Garmin too 😉