Outdoor watches: GPS, battery life and what matters

A good outdoor watch can take your hiking to a new level. It tracks your route, shows how far and how high you have come, and keeps an eye on your heart rate and your fitness. If you are walking the Camino or heading out on your next hike, here is my guide to what to look for before you spend money on a watch.

I love being able to follow my own journey on my wrist. There is something satisfying about finishing a long day and seeing how many kilometres and metres of climbing lie behind me. But an outdoor watch is more than a gadget. On the right trips it becomes a tool for navigation, safety and training alike.

What can an outdoor watch do?

An outdoor watch differs from an ordinary smartwatch on a few important points.

• GPS. The watch tracks your precise route, distance and pace, even without your phone in your pocket.
• Altimeter and compass. You can see how high you have climbed and which way you are facing. Invaluable in mountain terrain.
• Heart rate and fitness. The watch measures your pulse and estimates your oxygen uptake, so you can follow your training over time.
• Long battery life. Where an ordinary smartwatch needs charging every night, an outdoor watch often lasts several days or weeks.

It is especially the last one that makes the difference on a long trip. If you are walking for several weeks, you do not want to charge the watch every evening.

Battery life is often the most important thing

When people ask me for advice about outdoor watches, we almost always end up at battery life. A beautiful watch with every feature is worth little if it is dead after two days on the Camino.

Look for a watch with at least several days of battery life in GPS mode. Some models have solar charging that draws extra power from daylight, which is welcome on long trips away from a socket. If you are carrying a power bank for your phone anyway, you can of course top up the watch along the way, but the less you need to, the better.

Do you need maps on the watch?

The short answer is: it depends on the route.

The Camino is so well signposted with yellow arrows and scallop shells that you can easily manage without maps on the watch. There an outdoor watch is mostly about following your distance and your fitness. But if you walk Danish trails, remote routes or head into the mountains, where the signposting can fail, maps and navigation on your wrist are a reassurance that can save you from getting lost.

Consider honestly where you will use the watch most before paying extra for advanced map navigation.

The watch as a training partner

One of the features I appreciate most myself is that the watch helps me prepare my body for a long hike. It measures my heart rate, keeps track of my training and estimates my oxygen uptake over time.

If you want to walk a long Camino, it helps to have your legs and your fitness with you. The watch makes your progress visible, and it is easier to stay motivated when you can see the numbers moving in the right direction. If you want to read more about that, I have written a whole guide to oxygen uptake and endurance.

My advice before you buy

Here are the things I weigh up before choosing an outdoor watch.

• How much battery life do I really need on my trips?
• Should the watch navigate with maps, or do I mostly walk signposted routes?
• How important are heart rate and training data to me?
• How rugged does the watch need to be, and does the strap fit well?
• What is my budget, and how often will I actually use it?

An outdoor watch is an investment, but a good one lasts for many years and follows you from the Camino to everyday runs. If you are putting your kit together, have a look at my full Camino packing list and the rest of my guides to outdoor gear.