Best garmin watches for hikers

Best Garmin hiking watches

Let’s take a look at best Garmin hiking watches!

There is absolutely no doubt that Garmin makes some of the best hiking watches in the world. In this article I’m going to cover the very best option for every type of hiker. Are you looking for the flagship hiking watch that has all the features you could possibly desire? Or are you on a tight budget and looking for the  best bang for the buck? It’s my intention to find the best Garmin watch for each of you!

Garmin Fenix 6X Sapphire

Features
90%
Battery
95%
Ruggedness
90%
Price
50%

I’m starting of the list with one of the absolute best Garmin hiking watches you can buy today. The Garmin Fenix 6x Saphire is a true flagship when it comes to hiking watches, a lot of features and amazing when it comes to battery life. As you  can see from the bars above, this watch scores very good on all fields, but you do have to pay a high price.

Basics

The watch is pretty expensive, but you do get a lot in return! If you need/would use the features, it’s definitely worth the money – I would say the Garmin Fenix 6x Saphire is fairly priced.

  • 1.4 inch display – 280x280px
  • 3.3 ounces
  • 21 days of battery life in smartwatch mode
  • 60 hours of battery life in GPS mode
  • 32 GB built-in storage
Features

As I said before, this watch is loaded with feautres. Let’s take a look at  what the Fenix 6X has to offer!

  • Wi-Fi
  • Garmin music
  • Pre-Loaded maps
  • GPS
  • Bluetooth V4.0
  • NFC
  • Waterproof: 10 ATM
  • Sapphire glass
  • Thermometer
  • Ambient Light
  • Heart rate monitor
  • 3-axis compass
  • Gyroscope
  • Barometric altimeter

The list is getting pretty long, and I haven’t even covered a lot of smaller features…

Bottom line

The Fenix 6 comes in a lot of different models. There are some cheaper versions than the 6x Sapphire out there. I would highly recommend to stick with the Sapphire version, it will make the watch very rugged and you don’t need  to care too much about scratches. I know a lot of hikers who have regretted their decision of not buying the Sapphire version, don’t make that mistake! If you use it a lot in the outdoors you will collect a lot of  scratches if you don’t have the sapphire glass. Even if you are careful!

Now, you could go with the basic version instead of the X model. However, I feel like you get a lot of additional value for the price. You  would lose Wi-Fi, Pre-Loaded maps, Garmin music, you would get a smaller display and most importantly you would get a lot less battery life.

Since prices are constantly changing I would recommend to take a look on amazon – they usually have the lowest price!

Link to amazon: Garmin Fenix 6x Sapphire​

Garmin Instinct

Features
55%
Battery
80%
Ruggedness
85%
Price
80%

The next watch on the list is the Garmin instinct. This is definitely one of the best Garmin hiking watches for hikers on a budget. It even scored a spot on the list of the best cheap hiking watches.

It’s a rugged wearable device that has all the features that I highly value in a hiking watch.

Basics

The watch is designed to be used in the outdoors. Everything about this watch is rugged, it even has chemically strengthened glass.

  • 1.2 inch display – 240x240px
  • 1.8 ounces
  • 14 days of battery life in smartwatch mode
  • 30 hours of battery life in GPS mode

Features

  • GPS
  • Thermal, shock and dust resistant
  • 3-axis compass
  • Barometer
  • Altimeter
  • Heart rate monitor
  • Activity & stress monitor
  • Preloaded activity profiles

Bottom line

This watch is truly amazing, it has all the “important” features for hikers and it’s very rugged. Especially considering the price…

However, there is one thing that I really don’t like about the Garmin Instinct, it is not compatible with Garmin’s Connect IQ. Which means that you are limited when it comes to downloading custom applications for your watch. Some people really don’t care too much about this because the watch already offers so much. However, I find it pretty disappointing, it would have been even better if it was compatible.

That being said, you still can’t go wrong with this watch. You will get a lot of value for money for sure!

For more information – including the latest price – you would have to consult amazon.

Link to amazon: Garmin Instinct.

Garmin Vivoactive 3

Features
70%
Battery
60%
Ruggedness
30%
Price
85%

When the Vivoactive 4 got released not too long ago, the vivoactive 3 dropped in price, making it a very attractive budget smartwatch for hiking.

It’s very cheap and there are a lot of options when it comes to using it with custom applications because it is linked to Connect IQ. You can take a look at the apps here.

Basics

The vivoactive is mainly a sports and fitness watch. However, it can definitely be used as a hiking watch. It offers a lot of value for money that’s for sure! Let’s take a look at the basics.

  • 1.2 inch display – 240x240px
  • 1.44 ounces
  • 7 days of battery life in smartwatch mode
  • 13 hours of battery life in GPS mode

Features

  • 15+ preloaded sport apps
  • GPS
  • Heart rate monitor
  • Altimeter (works poorly)
  • Counts steps, stairs,
  • Tracks sleep, calories burned, number of active minutes per day, and stress

As you can see, this watch is more a fitness watch than a hiking watch. However, for this very affordable price you still get a lot of hiking features. Remember that you can also download hiking apps from Connect IQ 

If you want more accurate tracking/more options (including on-screen workouts) you might want to take a look at the newer model, the Vivoactive 4.

Bottom line

While the Vivoactive 3 might not seem like the perfect hiking watch, it does offer a lot for the price. Therefore, I consider it one of the best Garmin watches for hikers on a  budget.

Especially if you want to use the apps that are offered on Connect IQ and you don’t want too much money, this is the one to get.

it’s more recommended for hikers that don’t do too much scrambling and climbing because this watch will be more easily damaged than the Fenix 6 Sapphire or the Insinct. Screen protectors help (I would recommend screen protectors for every watch btw), but they don’t prevent all sorts of damage.

In case you are interested in the Vivoactive 3, you can check the latest price on amazon.

Link to amazon: Garmin Vivoactive 3

Garmin Forerunner 25

Features
30%
Battery
60%
Ruggedness
40%
Price
95%

For those of you who are looking for  a dirt cheap watch that has a GPS on board, the Garmin Forerunner 25 might be an interesting option. I have to be honest, this watch wasn’t the first one to come to mind when talking about the best Garmin hiking watches.

That being said, it makes perfect sense if you are just looking for a cheap watch with GPS.

Basics

The basics are simple, it’s lightweight, convenient and cheap.

  • 0.73 inch display – 128x128px
  • 1.09 ounces
  • 8 weeks of battery life in watch mode
  • 8 hours of battery life in GPS mode

Features

  • GPS
  • Pace tracking
  • Tracks calories burned
  • Sync with bluetooth

As I keep saying, the watch is pretty basic. However, when using it for everyday use it’s pretty nice that you can sync with bluetooth. 

Bottom line

The forerunner 25 is a simple but solid watch. It’s not only a good solution for budget hikers, it has also been tried and loved by many runners.

If you don’t care too much about the lack of features, this one might be worth checking out!

If you like this one you might be happy to hear that the Forerunner comes in many different forms and sizes. To give you an idea, here is a sentence from wikipedia: “The Forerunner series consists of the 101, 201, 301, 205, 305, 50, 405, 60, 405CX, 310XT, 110, 210, 410, 610, 910XT, 70, 10, 220, 620, 15, 920XT, 225, 25, 230, 235, 630, 735XT, 35, 935, 30, 645, 645 Music, 45, 45S, 245, 245 Music, 945 (listed in chronological order by release date). All models except the 101 include a way to upload training data to a personal computer and training software”

For the latest price, take a look on amazon: Garmin Forerunner 25

Garmin 5X sapphire

Features
80%
Battery
75%
Ruggedness
90%
Price
65%

Initially I did not intend to include this specific watch – consider it an honorable mention. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great watch, but since I already included the 6X sapphire  -which simply outperforms the 5X sapphire- I did not think it wuold make sense to include the older version of the same watch.

However, I realised that I either recommended the flagship 6X or somewhat budget-friendly options. If you are looking for something in-between, the Garmin 5x sapphire is the one to get. To this day, it’s still one of the best Garmin watches for hiking.

If you are looking for something “in-between”, you might want to take a look at this article. It’s a comparison between the fenix 5x and the fenix 6x.

Long story short, the 6x provides quite a bit more, but it also comes with a price tag. The Garmin fenix 5x a lot more budget-friendly.

The Fenix 5X sapphire is available on amazon: Garmin 5X sapphire.

Conclusion

Garmin is a very good brand when it comes to hiking watches. I would go as far as saying that it is the best brand for hiking watches. However, that’s somewhat personal… Still, I don’t think anybody would argue that Garmin is at least one of the best brands when it comes to outdoor watches.

One of the best watches that you can buy is without a doubt the Garmin  Fenix 6X Sapphire. This watch simply has it all.

For the hikers on a budget there are also plenty of options. The forerunner 25 is the cheapest one on the list. However, if you want a slightly better device, I would highly suggest to take a look at the Garmin instinct. In fact, I would say that the Garmin Instinct is my number one recommendation when it comes  to budget-friendly hiking watches.

What watch is right for you?

Let’s break it down in a very simply overview.

___

Do you want the best possible and do you not care too much about your budget?

Get the Garmin 6X Sapphire 

Do you want a very solid (somewhat) budget-friendly hiking watch and you don’t care too much about being able to install custom applications?

Get the Garmin Instinct

Do you want a watch that is still pretty affordable, but you care more abut features and custom applications than about ruggedness?

Go for the Garmin Vivoactive 3

Simply looking for the cheapest possible watch that has a built-in GSP?

Get the Garmin Forerunner 25

You like the Garmin Fenix 6X Sapphire, but you really don’t want to spend that much money on a watch? 

Consider the Garmin Fenix 5X Sapphire!

___

That wraps it up! This was my selection of the best Garmin hiking watches. As always, if you have any experience with these, feel free to share them  in the comment section below!

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