Hikers need reliable, sturdy watches to keep track of time and distance during their treks. But not everyone has the budget for an expensive watch with all the bells and whistles. That’s why we’ve put together this list of the best hiking watches under 200 dollars that will get you through your hikes without breaking the bank.
Best Hiking Watches Under 200
All of these watches on this list have over 1,000 reviews on Amazon and were made for the outdoors. A way to tell a good hiking watch apart from the others is if it’s an ABC watch (altimeter, barometer, compass). If it has some or all of these features, it is the right watch for you!
1. Garmin 010-02064-00 Instinct, Rugged Outdoor Watch with GPS
Price: $159
Reviews: +21,100 reviews
Watch Features: GPS, Heart Rate Monitoring, Water Resistant, Activity Tracker, Shock Resistant, Barometric, Altimeter, Smartwatch
Battery Life: 14 days
GPS Battery Life: 16-40 hours
Why it’s the Perfect Hiking Watch: This watch really does have it all when it comes to a hiking watch. It has an Altimeter, Barometer, and Compass as well as a GPS and a long-lasting battery. It is also water resistant and has heart rate monitoring.
There is also a feature on this watch called TracBack which allows you to navigate the same route back to start on a map that is all on your watch!
What it’s missing: Being able to download a map to your watch.
About this Watch: With this GPS watch, you don’t have to worry about the device being damaged in tough environments– it’s built to last. Additionally, it has a Compass and Altimeter so you can navigate with ease no matter where you are in the world, along with multiple global navigation satellite systems for even more precise tracking. This watch is also helpful for monitoring your heart rate and activity level as well as preloaded profiles for different types of training!
With smart notifications, you can stay connected to your compatible smartphone, as well as automatically upload data onto the Garmin Connect Online fitness community. In addition, use the trackback feature in order to navigate back to your starting point. You can also plan trips using the Garmin Explore website and app before heading out on your journey. As for battery life, you’re looking at up to 14 days in smartwatch mode; 16 hours in GPS mode; and 40 hours max with Ultratrac Battery Saver Mode engaged.
2. SUUNTO Core, Outdoor Sports Watch
Price: $125
Reviews: +14,600 reviews
Watch Features: Storm Alarm, Altimeter, Barometer, compass, Water resistant
Battery Life: 1 year
Why it’s the Perfect Hiking Watch: When it comes to Suunto, you know whatever they make will be well-designed and built to last. I have had the same Suunto watch now for over 3 years and wear it every day and have had no problems with it.
This watch in particular is built for the outdoors and specifically for hiking. With an Altimeter, barometer, storm alarm, and compass, this watch is ready for adventure!
What it’s missing: This watch does not have a GPS and will not track your activities.
About this Watch: The Suunto Core is an outdoor sports watch complete with a Storm Alarm, Altimeter, Barometer, and compass. With these features, you can stay updated on conditions while camping or hiking. The watch is water resistant up to 30 meters and has dual times in case you need to keep track of time in two different time zones. There’s also a date display and alarm plus predicted times for sunrise and sunset so that you make the most out of your daylight hours.
3. Fitbit Versa 3 Health & Fitness Smartwatch with GPS
Price: $157
Reviews: +46,600 reviews
Watch Features: GPS, Heart Rate Monitor, Alarm clock, Smartwatch
Battery Life: 6 days
GPS Battery Life: 12 hours
Why it’s the Perfect Hiking Watch: This watch has a built-in GPS that allows you to upload your hikes to the Fitbit app and look at a map of the hike you did. It also has heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking to make sure you are not pushing yourself too hard.
What it’s missing: This watch is not an ABC watch.
About this Watch: With a Fitbit Premium membership, receive a Daily Readiness Score that tells you if it’s best to exercise or focus on recovery today. Plus, see your real-time pace & distance while working out phone-free with built-in GPS. Afterward, check out your workout intensity map in the app. (Water resistance depth: 50 meters.)
Active Zone Minutes tells you how hard you’re working out based on your resting heart rate, and it vibrates to let you know when it’s time to step up the intensity. With PurePulse 2.0, Fitbit’s enhanced heart rate technology, you better track your heart rate 24/7. You can also use Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa Built-in with this watch to get quick news updates, set bedtime reminders and alarms, control your smart home devices, and more–all without lifting a finger!
4. Garmin Forerunner 35
Price: $111
Reviews: +14,600 reviews
Watch Features: GPS Built-In, Virtual Pacer, Tracks Distance, Pace, HR Data
Battery Life: 9 days
GPS Battery Life: 13 hours
Why it’s the Perfect Hiking Watch: The Garmin Forerunner 35 is a classic Garmin watch that is easy to use and track your activities. It is a classic GPS watch that tracks your activities via GPS and records your heart rate!
What it’s missing: This watch is not an ABC watch.
About this Watch: The GPS built into this watch will help you keep track of your progress while running, even if you’re under tree cover. You don’t need a phone for this watch to work -it monitors your heart rate 24/7 and has vibration alerts to notify you of milestones, notifications, or pacing progress. This watch is also smart enough to automatically upload data, update apps, and control music playing from your phone.
5. Amazfit T-Rex Pro Smart Watch
Price: $128
Reviews: +4,800 reviews
Watch Features: Alarm, Calendar, Distance Tracking, Calorie Tracker, Heart Rate Monitor, water resistant, blood-oxygen saturation measurement system, sleep monitor, weather tracker, sunrise and sunset monitor, current moon phase display, compass, barometer, altimeter, Smartwatch
Battery Life: 18 days
GPS Battery Life: 40 hours
Why it’s the Perfect Hiking Watch: This watch has a little of everything! It has a built-in GPS and is an ABC watch. It also has a heart rate monitor and weather monitoring system to keep you safe in the mountains.
What it’s missing: Maps cannot be downloaded to the watch but this is a small thing compared to everything you get!
About this Watch: The Amazfit T-Rex Pro smartwatch is put through 15 different military tests to ensure that it can withstand even the most extreme conditions. It’s your perfect exploration partner, equipped with four global navigation satellite systems, a blood oxygen saturation measurement system, a heart rate monitor, a sleep monitor, a weather tracker, a sunrise and sunset monitor current moon phase display compass, and a barometric altimeter.
The Amazfit T-Rex Pro smartwatch is water-resistant to a depth of up to 100 meters, making it perfect for activities like surfing, swimming, or exploring the underwater world. The fitness watch features over 100 sports modes and can be used to monitor critical data such as workout heart rate, distance traveled, movement speed, and calories burned in real-time for most sports modes. This allows you to track and improve your athletic performance.
6. Casio Men’s Pro Trek PRG-270-1
Price: $126
Reviews: +1,800 reviews
Watch Features: compass, sunrise and sunset data, 4 daily alarms and 1 snooze, stopwatch, countdown timer, Altimeter, Barometer, solar powered
Battery Life: 9 months with no solar charging. Infinite battery life with solar charging.
Why it’s the Perfect Hiking Watch: This is a classic ABC watch by a company that is one of the most popular in the world. It is also solar-powered so you never have to worry about battery life on your next adventure.
What it’s missing: This watch does not have a GPS and is not a smartwatch but it does the job!
About this Watch: The product has many features including tough solar power, 100m water resistance, and low-temperature resistant (-10 C / 14 F). The battery life is approximately 9 months on a full charge (without further exposure to light). Additionally, the accuracy is +/- 15 seconds per month. It also includes a Full Auto Calendar with 5 Daily Alarms. World Time covers 31 time zones (48 cities + UTC) and displays city names as well as daylight saving on/off. Finally, the product has a Full Auto LED Backlight with Afterglow AND Countdown Timer measuring unit: 1-second countdown range: 24 hours countdown start time setting range: 1 minute to 24 hours!
The digital compass display shows the direction as one of 16 points. The range it can measure is from 0 to 359 degrees, with a unit measurement of 1 degree. The altimeter measures and records altitude information up to -700 meters to 10,000 meters (-2,300 ft to 32,800 ft). 5-foot measurements are taken per second in order to compile this information. Users have the option save 30 specific recordings that include data on altitude levels along with the date and time stamp.
7. COROS PACE 2 Premium GPS Sport Watch
Price: $199
Reviews: +1,600 reviews
Watch Features: optical heart rate monitor, barometric altimeter, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope and thermometer with 24/7 heart rate monitoring, sleep, step, calorie tracking
Battery Life: 20 days
GPS Battery Life: 30 hours
Why it’s the Perfect Hiking Watch: Coros is a fairly new brand when it comes to GPS watches. However, they are quickly rising to be one of the best brands out there. The Coros Pace 2 has a built-in GPS as well as the ABC watch necessities.
What it’s missing: No mapping or map following options for the watch.
About this Watch: COROS Nylon is the lightest GPS watch on the market, at only 29g. It also has a longer battery life than most watches – 20 days of regular use, or 30 hours in full GPS mode. In addition to its built-in running power metrics, COROS Nylon is compatible with Stryd power meters and features running, cycling swimming, cardio strength, water sports modes, and more. Other notable functions include an optical heart rate monitor barometric altimeter, accelerometer compass gyroscope, and thermometer with 24/7 heart rate monitoring, sleep, step, and calorie tracking included too.
8. Garmin 010-01772-00 Foretrex 601
Price: $188
Reviews: +1,400 reviews
Watch Features: GPS, accelerometer, compass, barometric altimeter, smartwatch
Battery Life: 1 month
GPS Battery Life: 48 hours
Why it’s the Perfect Hiking Watch: This watch is a classic ABC watch and has GPS capabilities. It also can upload your hikes to the Garmin app so you can view the route after the hike is complete.
What it’s missing: No mapping or map following options for the watch.
About this Watch: With the Foretrex 601 wrist-mounted GPS navigator, you can explore worry-free thanks to its durable build that meets military standards. With satellite systems GPS, GLONASS and Galileo, accurate bearing is guaranteed no matter where you are. The built-in 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis compass, and barometric altimeter also contribute to a seamless experience. Stay connected with notifications for texts, emails, and alerts right on your wrist as well as automatic uploads to the Garmin Connect online fitness community.
9. Garmin Venu Sq, GPS Smartwatch
Price: $120
Reviews: +9,800 reviews
Watch Features: Sleep Monitor, Time Display, GPS, Stress Tracking, Notifications, Heart Rate Monitor
Battery Life: 6 days
GPS Battery Life: 6 hours with music
Why it’s the Perfect Hiking Watch: This is a cheap watch that has GPS capabilities as well as a heart rate monitor and smartwatch abilities.
What it’s missing: Not an ABC watch.
About this Watch: Keep an eye on everything that matters to you with a bright display that always shows the time. Stay healthy by monitoring your energy levels, respiration, hydration, and stress; plus track sleep, your menstrual cycle, and more. Get moving with 20 preloaded sports apps including walking, running, cycling, and golfing, or create custom workouts in the Garmin Connect app.
10. CASIO Men’s G9300-1 Mudman G-Shock
Price: $158
Reviews: +1,300 reviews
Watch Features: Solar, Digital Compass, Thermometer, Moon Graph, Altimeter, Barometer
Battery Life: Never worry about battery life again with this solar-powered watch!
Why it’s the Perfect Hiking Watch: This watch is an ABC watch that everyone wants. G-Shock is a brand that is made to survive the toughest conditions and still come out on top.
What it’s missing: No GPS capabilities.
About this Watch: CASIO Men’s G9300-1 Mudman G-Shock is a tough, rugged watch designed to handle your toughest adventures with its 200M water resistance and shock-resistant construction. With features like a digital compass, altimeter, barometer, and thermometer, this is one of the best hiking watches under $200 for explorers who want all the essentials.
The Mudman also has world time memory that stores up to 31 different cities and times, a 1/100th second stopwatch, 5 daily alarms, 12/24 hour formats, and an auto calendar. Best of all, this watch is solar-powered so you don’t have to worry about replacing batteries. Whatever your adventure brings you, the Mudman will keep up with the pace.
11. Garmin 010-02172-21 Vivoactive 4S
Price: $175
Reviews: +14,000 reviews
Watch Features: GPS Smartwatch, Features Music, Body Energy Monitoring, Animated Workouts, Pulse Ox Sensors
Battery Life: 7 days
GPS Battery Life: 5 hours with music
Why it’s the Perfect Hiking Watch: The Garmin Vivoactive has a GPS function as well as music downloading and health monitoring.
What it’s missing: No ABC functions.
About this Watch: This product will monitor your energy levels, Pulse Ox (this is not a medical device and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or monitoring of any medical condition), respiration, menstrual cycle, stress, sleep, estimated heart rate, hydration, and more. You can download songs straight to your watch from Spotify playlists Amazon Music or Deezer (may require a premium subscription with a third-party music provider), and connect wirelessly to headphones (sold separately) for phone-free listening.
The GPS and indoor sports apps on this watch allow you to record myriad movements, including yoga, running, swimming, etc. You can also get easy-to-follow, animated workouts right on your watch screen for strength training, cardio exercises like yoga and Pilates. Plus, this watch has a long battery life–up to 7 days in smartwatch mode or 5 hours if using GPS and music mode simultaneously. And as if that weren’t enough features already…you can personalize your watch with thousands of different free faces from our Connect IQ store!
Garmin Pay’s contactless payment solution lets you pay for items with your watch (eligibility varies by country and payment Network). For safety, it has incident detection and assistance features (both of which require a compatible device) to send emergency contacts your real-time location. Additionally, stay connected with smart notifications for things like incoming calls, text messages, calendar reminders, and more (requires a compatible device).
What watch should I get for hiking?
The Garmin 010-02064-00 Instinct, Rugged Outdoor Watch with GPS is the best hiking watch out there and is under $200. This watch really does have it all when it comes to a hiking watch. It has an Altimeter, Barometer, and Compass as well as a GPS and a long-lasting battery. It is also water resistant and has heart rate monitoring.
There is also a feature on this watch called TracBack which allows you to navigate the same route back to start on a map that is all on your watch!
Which Garmin is best for hiking?
If you are looking for a Garmin watch and you are willing to pay the big bucks then check out the Garmin Fenix 7X Solar. This watch has all the features of an ABC watch and so much more. It has the option to download trails to the watch so that you can follow on your watch. This watch has a 37-day long battery life while not on GPS mode and up to 122 hours on GPS mode. It also has a wrist-based heart rate monitor with a pulse oxygen reader and sleep tracker.
This watch costs around $800 so it is not cheap, but if you are looking for the ultimate hiking watch then this is the one for you.
What is the Best Hiking Watch for Under 100
The Fitbit Charge 5 Advanced Fitness & Health Tracker with Built-in GPS is the best hiking watch for under 100. This watch has a GPS that connects to the Fitbit app and lets you see the hike that you just finished. It also has a heart rate monitor which allows you to make sure you are not pushing yourself too hard.
If you are looking for other hiking watches for under 100 then go to this post.
What is the best GPS watch for walking?
The Garmin Forerunner 35 is the best GPS watch for walking. It has an easy-to-use interface, and features such as built-in activity profiles, a step counter, 24/7 heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, phone notifications, and more. Best of all, it’s one of the most affordable watches in its class and is priced under $200. No matter what your adventure brings you, the Garmin Forerunner 35 will help you make the most of it.
What is a hiking watch?
A hiking watch is a specialized type of sports watch designed to meet the needs of hikers and adventurers. These watches are equipped with features such as GPS, compass, altimeter, barometer, thermometer, digital compasses, and more. Thanks to their robust build quality, these watches can survive in extreme weather conditions and terrain.
They come in various designs and price points so you can find one that fits your budget. Whether you’re a novice or an experienced hiker, the right hiking watch will make your journey more enjoyable and safe. Best of all, there are many priced under $200 which makes them a great value for money. So if you’re looking for a watch that can keep up with your outdoor adventures, make sure to get a hiking watch.
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