The Great Outdoors - UK (2021-08)

August 2021 The Great Outdoors 83

Coros
APEX 46mm

£ 300 57 g

sSuperb battery life; compact; lightweight; easy to

use; good phone app

screen a little dim indoors; no OS grid ref

Case size: 46x46x12mm
Screen: 1.2“ transflective colour, always-on
Battery life (GPS on):35-40 hours; 20-30 days in smartwatch mode
OS grid ref?no
Mapping:none, but good breadcrumb navigation screen
Operation:buttons and rotating crown
coros.com/apex.php

This watch has a slim, lightweight case and a comfortable
strap. It’s the most compact watch tested, with an always-
on colour display that’s readable in direct sunlight without
a backlight, but a bit dim indoors. It has a simple hardware
interface: just two buttons, one of which is also a rotating
crown. The menus are simple too, with easy-to-understand
data screens and helpful features such as altimeter
and barometer within easy reach. It can display phone
notifications and will do all the fitness tracking and training
that you’d expect.
The Coros app works well and integrates with many
third-party services. You can import planned routes and
export recorded GPX files. This even works with no internet
connection. Battery life is superb – at least as good as the
manufacturer claims, and good enough for multi-day
walking. It will charge rapidly from a power bank.
Thanks to customisable data screens, it’s a pleasure
to use on the trail once set up to your liking, and the
breadcrumb navigation screen showing your planned route
and current track is the clearest of all the watches tested.
However, there’s no mapping, and no ability to see an OS grid
reference. Accuracy of recorded tracks is superb, however.
If you don’t need more advanced navigation features,
the Coros APEX is an excellent watch for both walking and
running – and competitively priced. Highly recommended.

Garmin

fenix 6 Pro Solar

£ 730 (£ 600 without solar) 84 g

maps on your wrist; excellent battery life; high

level of customisation

very expensive; learning curve; built-in maps

not very good; solar adds little to battery life

Case size: 47x47x14.7mm

Screen: 1.3“ transflective colour, always-on

Battery life (GPS on):35-40 hours, or 2 weeks in smartwatch mode

OS grid ref?yes

Mapping: yes, with option to install additional maps

Operation:buttons

garmin.com/en-gb

This is the most full-featured watch tested, with superb

build quality, comprehensive tools for mountain navigation

and colour mapping. The watch itself is fairly compact but

chunky, and incredibly durable. I found the plastic strap

uncomfortable to wear.

The supplied maps are poor for walking (many paths

missing and no contours), but better alternatives are

available free online and storage is big enough to store

maps for several countries. The map screen drains battery

more quickly and can be slow to refresh. It’s good for quick

checks, though. Unlike the fenix 5 series, OS mapping is no

longer supported.

The user interface has a steep learning curve but it

is efficient and powerful once mastered, with deep

customisation options. You can deactivate most functions

you don’t need. The phone app situation is confusing, with

two apps doing different jobs; the Explore app lets you

transfer routes to and from the watch offline.

Although it has a solar panel, this will only slow battery

drain slightly, even in full sun. However,battery life is superb;

I routinely got over 35 hours with GPS and heart rate.

Youcan switch off features for even better battery life.

Despite high cost, if you want mapping on your wrist this

is an excellent choice.

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