The range and sophistication of the best outdoor watches on the market are genuinely amazing. They manage to pack a huge number of potent sensors and tools for modern life into a tiny package. They're also more precise than a simple smartphone and typically offer far better battery life. Not looking for something tech-crammed? This ranking also includes outstanding outdoor watches from the other end of the scale: simple, stylish, time-telling, rugged and robust models that are all but indestructible.
While screen real estate is limited, adventure watch manufacturers have taken many tips from smartwatches, and indeed many outdoor watches do double duty as smartwatches, as well as GPS units, running coaches, training aids and music players, to name but a few functions. Read on for our ranking of the best outdoor watches right now – whatever you're into.
The best outdoor watch to buy right now
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The Garmin Fenix 7 is the best Garmin watch around and the best outdoor watch you can buy right now too. There is a range of different variations to choose from, including the Fenix 7S, Fenix 7 and Fenix 7X (with increasingly larger watch body), and options for non-solar, Solar and Sapphire Solar Editions. Our pick is the Fenix 7X Solar, but by all means, go for the one that suits your needs and budget.
There are features galore to explore here, including the ability to track everything from blood oxygen to heart rate to respiration, stamina, sleep and stress levels. On the outdoors front, safety and tracking features such as automatic incident detection and manually triggered assistance alerts, both of which send a message with your real-time location to emergency contacts, are a welcome inclusion. If you opt for the 7X model, you also get a built-in flashlight, which might sound gimmicky but is actually incredibly useful.
Like the rest of the Fenix series, this is one rugged smartwatch. Garmin has added protective button guards and metal-reinforced lugs for extra toughness. Go for a solar option, and you benefit from a big potential boost in battery life – Garmin has apparently improved the solar harvesting capability up to 200% in smartwatch mode compared to the Fenix 6 Solar.
Read our full Garmin Fenix 7 review
Garmin has been at the adventure watch game for a while now, and while 2022's Fenix 7 is the best outdoor watch around, its predecessor is still an excellent option. Again, you have plenty of versions to choose from: there are 3 case size options, sapphire glass and solar options. Be aware that the base Fenix 6 models don’t include maps, wifi or music( the Pro models do). Once you’ve surmounted that specification hurdle, the Fenix 6 Pro Solar is a beast of a watch, offering so much functionality that you’ll need a week off just to work it all out. From preloaded ski maps to fitness coaching and golf course maps to underwater wrist-based HR tracking, this watch has it all.
Particularly strong for outdoors folk is the solar charging function, which will string out battery life to a maximum of 24 days, as is the extensive navigation package that will get you out of trouble with ease - if you have worked out how to set them up. GPS, GLONASS and Galileo satellite systems are all supported, and features like ClimbPro (ascent rate monitor), round trip routing, and turn-by-turn navigation will make it very hard to get lost.
Read our full Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Solar review
Until recently, our pick for the best budget outdoor watch was the Amazfit T-Rex Pro, and while you'll still find it at the bottom of this round-up, it's been thoroughly superseded by the latest version: step forward, the Amazfit T-Rex 2. It's a significant upgrade to the T-Rex Pro, with a larger and brighter AMOLED display, longer battery life and a much better GPS chip, and if you're after a cheap alternative to the Garmin Fenix, this is about as good as it gets right now.
It's rugged and surprisingly lightweight – put that down to the polycarbonate case – with a new BioTrackerTM 3.0 PPG biometric sensor that supports 24-hour health management functions, as well as over 150 sports modes (most of which you'll never use). The GPS accuracy is fine, if not super-accurate, while the heart rate accuracy is a little hit-and-miss, but on the whole, you get a lot of functionality and plenty of bang for your buck. We can't help but feel that the chunky design is there for the sake of it, but if you can live with that and if you're on a budget, this is definitely an outdoor watch worth considering.
Read our full Amazfit T-Rex 2 review
Of course, you don't need to go for a smartwatch when heading into the great outdoors, and our current pick from the analogue market is the Elliot Brown Bloxworth Heritage Diver watch (or, for women, the Bloxworth Hali). Sure, there's no GPS, but you're also getting years of battery life, with no need to ever hunt down a charge point.
This outdoor watch is ultra-robust, with a toughened, anti-reflective sapphire crystal face framed by a ceramic bezel. There's a movement shock protection system that'll withstand a bashing from a 3kg stainless steel pendulum mallet – the brand's preferred testing method – and it's waterproof to 200m, too. Details are geared towards use in the great outdoors – the coin-edged bezel is deep enough to grip with a gloved hand, for example, and if you decide to opt for the bracelet strap version, there's a ratchet buckle that lets you fit it perfectly over your wetsuit.
You can read more about those here, but we especially like the retro styling of the rubber straps and the rope-pattern internal breather lines, inspired by the company's harbourside headquarters. Head to our guide to the best dive watches for some more tech-free options.
While it's not exactly cheap, the Polar Grit X delivers plenty of bang for your mid-range buck. Part of a new focus on adventure watches from Polar, this outdoor watch offers a wide range of tracking, training and recovery tools, including a number specifically designed for use on trails and mountains – Hill Splitter, FuelWise and WeatherWatch, for example. It's robustly built, easy to navigate and boasts up to 40 hours of battery life in full activity mode.
Read our full Polar Grit X review
If you're a water lover, the best outdoor watch for you is the Garmin Quatix 6X Solar. This watch takes the land-based tools and tech found in our top-ranking 6X range and adds a whole bunch more geared towards more watery pursuits. There are plenty of features aimed at boat owners, SUP riders, windsurfers, kayakers and more. Additions include wrist-based autopilot control, dedicated marine mapping and bespoke sailing tools. You'll also get Garmin's solar-boosted battery, which means this watch will run and run... and run. While it's absolutely excellent for marine sports, it's probably unnecessarily complex for land lovers.
Read our full Garmin Quatix 6X Solar review
In April 2022, Garmin released a new version of this watch. The upgraded version adds a touchscreen AMOLED face and some more sea-specific tools, although the former does impact battery life somewhat. Check out our full Garmin Quatix 7 Sapphire review for the full low-down on that one.
The Garmin Tactix Delta is not your everyday wearable. In fact, it's a purpose-built military watch. But that doesn't mean it should be discounted as an everyday outdoors watch, especially for those of us whose hobbies rest at the more extreme end of the spectrum. Feature-wise, the Tactix Delta does everything the rest of the best outdoor watches do, from delivering turn-by-turn navigation to guiding you around the golf course or ski slopes, to storing music, to tracking any and all fitness stats.
But it also packs some rarer, more unexpected features too – there's a night vision capability, stealth mode, sky diving metrics and a kill switch. It does come with a fairly hefty price tag, but those looking to save a bit might want to consider the Garmin Fenix 6X Sapphire instead (appearances aside – this is practically the same watch).
Read our full Garmin Tactix Delta review
The snappily-named Tissot T-Touch Solar Expert ticks a lot of expedition boxes. Robustly built from titanium, the touchscreen face also conceals a solar panel, so there’s no danger of a dead battery in the Karakoram. The feature set is strong too, with 25 features including weather forecasting, altimeter, second time zone and a compass built in. Although the latter is probably best saved for real emergencies, the barometer/altimeter function could come in very handy for acclimatising hikes. With a range of strap materials on offer to suit all preferences, this is stylish enough for town, but also tough enough for those mountain excursions too.
The Suunto 9 Peak is, in many ways, a whole new generation of outdoor smartwatch, designed to marry much of the firepower of the previous flagship – the Suunto 9 Baro – with much-reduced size and weight, making it comfy and unobtrusive to wear over long periods. That’s not to say there’s no innovation here, with blood O2 levels added to an extensive mix of fitness monitoring and stats that can be shared among the big-name partner apps to give you flexibility and a full picture, no matter your preferences.
As usual, the list goes on and on, vo2 max, heart rate training, coaching, recovery. Navigation is the minor deviation – although the impressive array of GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, and BEIDOU satellite constellations is present and correct, there are a couple of gaps compared to the Suunto Baro 9, most notably bearing navigation (for a full comparison, head to our Suunto 9 Peak vs Suunto 9 Baro faceoff).
In our review, we found the lack of full on-screen maps (routes appear as line guides without the context of surrounding roads, obstacles and fields) confusing, and if you suspect you will agree, you might be better off opting for a Garmin. We also found the software a little clunky-feeling compared to the rest of the best outdoor watches on the market. However, if compactness and low weight are your priority, this is still a decent choice.
Read our full Suunto 9 Peak review
How to buy the best best outdoor watch for you
There’s a huge range of outdoor watches on the market, so before you dive in, you’ll want to be clear from the outset just how much technology you really need. Too much and you’ll be out of battery within a couple of days, too little, and your training program will suffer.
For big expedition use, smartwatches and intensive GPS trackers are just too power-hungry, and you’ll want something solar-powered or just very simple to keep working in all conditions. If you’re set on a tracking model, be clear whether you’ll just be tracking your progress for training, or using it as a navigational aid, as the two don’t always go hand in hand.
Models that use GPS and other sensors (such as a barometer) often have better accuracy, but this may chew the battery faster. On the bright side, the newest models tend to have a series of settings, so you can balance accuracy with battery life. Overall – a few incredible all-rounders aside – the best outdoor watch for you will depend on what you want to be doing. Choose wisely, and get out there!
