10 best adventure-ready smart watches for outdoor sports, from hiking to cycling

Garmin’s rugged new watch harnesses the power of the sun to prolong your adventures, using solar to charge for up to 10 days of battery life, or 25 days in basic GPS mode – a big difference to other energy-hungry smartwatches that often only last a day or two. This expensive but excellent watch can track any activity you throw it at, from surfing to backcountry skiing (thousands of ski resort maps come pre-loaded), and the large screen and reliable mapping technology makes it a seriously useful tool for hiking and outdoor navigation as well as sport. It does take a while to get the hang of navigating through the endless built-in options, and this might be overkill if you’re just after something simple for casual running and walking, but if you spend most days in the outdoors, this is a long-lasting and high-performing winner.

Explorers who can’t bear to be separated from their iPhone should pop this watch on their wrists before venturing outdoors. Offering better value than the series 5 smartwatch (which costs £399) but still packed with features, the series 3 model includes GPS tracking for finding your way, a built-in heart rate monitor for fitness tracking and is waterproof at shallow depths, so you can take it wild swimming or, as recommended, answer a call from your surfboard, if you go for the version of the watch that offers cellular connectivity. On test we found it easy to keep track of trail running and cycling adventures, and we like how slim and comfortable the watch feels, even when you’re active. Android user? Pick the Fitbit versa 2 instead.

Meet Suunto’s most outdoorsy offering yet. It’s a big, hefty smartwatch, and its size does take a while to get used to on the wrist, although at 70g it isn’t prohibitively heavy. The large face does mean you get a really huge, easy to read screen, which comes into its own when navigating. This watch has the best mapping abilities we tested overall, working offline and showing a decent amount of detailing that makes following directions when you’re walking or running a breeze. You can even see “heat mapped” trails frequently taken by other users in your local area if you’re looking for route ideas. It offers more than 70 built-in sport modes including trail running, open water swimming and hiking. We found on test that the battery lasted for two days even with heavy use, making it ideal for multi-day hikes and cycles (although you’ll only get around 12 hours of juice if you’re constantly using the GPS).

Fitbit is best known for simple, slim fitness monitors that connect to your phone to show your data, but its forays into more ambitious smartwatches are also a great shout for fitness-driven adventurers. The versa 2 is best suited to dedicated Android users, as it is connected to Google OS. 15. It has easy to use exercise modes to track your stats (and track your movements automatically), and the watch is fully waterproof, ideal for swimming both indoors and out. The tracker also has an impressive four-day battery life, longer than many more sophisticated smartwatches. The stand-out feature is the smart alarm clock, which picks the best time in a 30 minute window to wake you up based on your sleep cycle – so no more groggy mornings in tents or struggling with jet lag. Many smart interchangeable straps are available. 

Polar’s most outward-bound smartwatch aims to be as gritty and rugged as its name suggests. A healthy five-day battery life makes it well-suited to camping and trekking trips, and built-in GPS helps you to stay on the straight and narrow when hiking. You can sync this smartwatch with Komoot, a mapping app offering thousands of pre-trodden routes for hikers and cyclists to download and follow across Europe. This watch is also one of the toughest models we tested, with a large reinforced screen and waterproofing to 100 metres, although it manages to not feel too heavy at 64g.

Half analog watch, half smartwatch, this model is ideal if you like the look and feel of a classic wristwatch but want additional adventure-ready capabilities. It’s waterproof up to 50 metres, connects to GPS to display your distance and elevation and tracks activities including hiking, swimming and biking. It also offers a massive 25 day battery life – so no more worrying that your watch will give up the ghost before the end of a day’s walking or cycling. The watch face includes a small inlaid smartwatch screen showing your data – the downside, of course, is that this offers a limited display, so you’ll still need to carry your phone with you to see most of your stats. Great price point.

The smartest-looking watch on test, this leather-strapped watch is a great choice if you want a smartwatch that can go everywhere from work to the wild. We like the customisable battery modes, so you can keep the watch charged for longer when you’re far away from plug sockets (although the full battery mode only lasts a day, which isn’t ideal for heavy use on longer adventures). Use built-in activity tracking or add on adventure-ready apps such as Strava, Citymapper and weather forecasting – it is also fully waterproof if the heavens do open. The wide screen and simple navigation make this one of the most intuitive, user-friendly watch we tested – it’s a doddle to skip between modes and see your stats.

Check your performance, wave count or even the upcoming surf forecast while you’re sat in the line-up with this surf-specific sports watch. Paired with global surf forecaster Surfline, this tracker is right at home in the sea, offering real-time conditions and weather forecasts right to your wrist, and storing your surfing sessions so you can check your speed and other stats when you’re back on dry land. If you usually swap waves for snow when winter comes, it will also effectively track your skiing or snowboarding adventures, and also tracks running sessions well. This wave-ready watch isn’t really designed with many other activities in mind, but if you’re a dedicated surfer aiming to progress, it’s an invaluable companion, although it’s a pity the display isn’t in colour.

If your idea of exploring is always in a bike saddle, we recommend this offering which came into its own when we were covering the miles on a road bike. It tracks your heart rate and other key stats, uses GPS and Bluetooth to make it easy to see distance and speed and syncs to Strava, so you can smugly share your journey with your mates afterwards. The watch also allows you to create customised daily training regimes – a great motivator for getting out of bed and onto your bike in the morning. Smart looks, interchangeable straps and a slim, lightweight build make this smartwatch easy to wear all day.

One of Casio’s first ventures into smartwatches, this has a classic chunky and plastic look, and is, frankly, too large for slimmer wrists – it also weighs a rather massive 101g. Besides its prohibitive size, this rugged watch is definitely adventure-ready, with a waterproof, shockproof case that feels unbreakable and a comfortable, wide rubber strap that stays put even if you’re running. Sensors measure and display your heart rate, altitude and the barometric pressure, and give other useful adventurous stats including temperature, compass bearing, steps taken and distance travelled, all on one easy to read black and white screen. A synced smartphone app displays all your data in more detail and colour.