One of the questions I asked most was, “Is Apple Watch good for hiking?” I reviewed many hiking watches and GPS units, but not everyone wants to invest in another piece of teeth, especially if they are watching Apple. So to cut to the pursuit, Apple Watch is suitable for hiking for most casual pedestrians, and in this guide, I will tell you who and why. I will also show you how to use it for hiking and go through some good applications for hiking with your apple watch.
Is Apple Watch good for hiking?
First, it is important to note that unlike watches such as Garmin Fenix or Instinct, Apple Watch is not a watch that is built specifically for the outdoors. This of course functions outside in many cases, but it was truly built as a wrist-based friend for the iPhone. So who will work?
It’s a good choice if you don’t climb for about 7 hours. If you want to track your increase as an activity, it’s about the range you have for your practice. And for most pedestrians, it’s okay. You can get more life from the watch and use it on a longer increase, and I will share the tips on the battery that follows.
This works well in good condition. If you are not big hiking in the rain or with bulking gloves, touch screens function properly. But if it rains, you want to put a watch in water mode, which means you can’t use the screen. And with gloves, the button on the face of a small watch can be difficult to beat. Garmin Fenix, spectacle fitness, and outdoor are built specifically, have buttons that you can tap without seeing and not depending on the touch screen.
You don’t crush your equipment. I have not tested this by destroying Apple Watch, but if you are hard on the equipment and have the potential to rub the watch against a stone (like granite) when hiking or scrambling, it will scratch or break. Apple Watch is waterproof and quite durable, but not built to become a backcountry instrument. That said, I climbed with it for several months and there was no damage so far.
Hiking is the occasional activity you do. If you are an ordinary pedestrian and want something to track and navigate the increase with, Apple Watch is very good. If you are a more serious pedestrian and want to adjust the data you see when hiking and want to be metric to focus on the outdoor, Apple Watch will fail.
And it’s possible without saying, but I will mention it. Apple Watch is only very useful if you have an iPhone and live in the Apple Ecosystem. There are lots of functions and integration that make it an extension that is useful from your iPhone experience. If you have Android, don’t even think about it.
If you think that Apple Watch is suitable for you, big advantages are:
The screen on the apple watch blows outside the house. There is no comparison; Apple Watch has a bright and colorful screen that makes maps and navigation look great.
You have a good number of applications to choose from navigating your increase. And applications always evolve and compete, and new features appear all the time. Compare this with an outdoor about that is dedicated depending on the manufacturer updating the watch with new features.
Expand the Apple Watch battery
The main Achilles heel of the Apple Watch is battery life. If you hiking for more than 7 hours, you must refill, which means carrying a battery charger with you. And if you want to use a watch after the increase in your daily life, it also means that you have to charge a watch as soon as hiking. I saved an additional charging cable in my car, and then charged the power when I started driving. Magnetic chargers are sometimes cut off from the watch when in the car, especially on sharp turns or wavy roads.
If you climb with your cellphone and it’s fine by throwing away your heart rate information (and Calorie Burn associated), you can turn on “power saving mode” when using the Apple Workout application to track your increase. It will end up using your mobile GPS instead of GPS on a watch. When using saving power and iPhone, I get about 25 hours of use at a full cost. To turn it on, open the watch application on your mobile, then exercise, then the power saving mode. Here is a video on how to make it work, as well as hacking to get a heartbeat.
If you want to use another application to track your increase, there are other battery-saving techniques that you can use based on your situation. I can usually press around 9-10 hours from the battery with this only technique.
Apple watch hiking features
The following are Apple Watch features that are useful when hiking.
GPS is the key when hiking. You can use the Apple Watch to plan your position on the map and / or on the GPX track to see if you are in a trail, from the trail, or which way to turn on the intersection.
You need to use the hiking application to utilize trace mapping (more later), but GPS will track your position regardless of how you record your increase. GPS performs well (and really uses GPS, Glonass, Galileo, QZSS to find your position). Unlike Garmin Smartwatch, you cannot choose and choose a positioning system that you can use. This is a live or dead GPS.
The heartbeat monitor is very good for tracking the level of fitness and business level during the increase. I have found it in a few beats my Garmin HRM and Wahoo Tickr straps heart rate.
Newer Apple watches have a barometric altimeter, allowing you to get a height without GPS (another way to calculate altitude). Just as most non-professional altimeters, you have to take a height reaction on Apple Watch with salt. Use it as a ballpark and not an absolute reading. You can display your elevation advantages (total climbing) and your current height when tracking your increase.
Apple Watch 5 and higher have compass applications and magnetic compasses. Hold the wrist flats, and the watch will point towards what you face. It’s fun to be owned, and useful in an emergency, but it’s not something often used by most people. Applications such as maps can use them in the background to increase routing towards turn-by-turn.
Apple Watch 6 has a blood oxygen sensor. As pedestrians, it is interesting to measure your blood oxygen when you are at a height, where the oxygen saturation in the air is lower and you will theoretically get less than it. This can give you an idea of how hard you work when the air is thinner.
Blood oxygen sensors get a bad rap, but I have found if you use it correctly, it’s quite accurate.
Apple Watch has no features like Garmin Fenix 6 that tell you what height you are acclimatized to.
