This impressive hiking watch is my first choice for beginners — not the ...
The NOMAD adventure watch is my favorite watch COROS released in 2025, beating the PACE 4 and APEX 4. An obvious Garmin Instinct rival, the NOMAD misses a few intangibles but has most of the essentials that an everyday hiker or trail runner needs: A sun-friendly display, strong battery life, excellent GPS accuracy with a barometer, safety and tracking features (via your phone), offline maps with turn-by-turn route navigation, and post-workout analysis of your training load and suggested recovery time. Check Amazon
Pros
- +High-contrast MIP display is well suited to an outdoor lifestyle
- +Excellent dual-band GPS accuracy and solid HR accuracy
- +Offline map navigation is speedy and seamless thanks to crown and fast CPU
- +Durable Casio-esque design without being too bulky or heavy
- +COROS training suite is as useful as ever, with fun new voice pins & training notes
- +New features like display flashlight, music controls added since launch
Cons
- -No sapphire glass, solar charging, or official military-grade ruggedness
- -No NFC or LTE/ satellite
- -No rucking mode or hiking/ trail running VO2 Max
- -COROS UI remains unintuitive outside of workouts
garmin instinct 3 smartwatch review a great way to keep track of whats...
The Garmin Instinct 3 is an excellent allrounder smartwatch that can be used for a variety of purposes in a variety of places and keep an eye on your fitness, health and wellbeing while still offering all the smarts we expect as well.
Pros
- Bright 50mm AMOLED display
- Incredible battery life
- Accurate GPS tracking
- Built-in LED torch
Cons
- No touchscreen
- No mic or speakers
I spent three months testing the Garmin Instinct 3, which features a new...
The Garmin Instinct 3 AMOLED may not have a solar panel, but it has weeks of battery life without needing to step out of the shade for a recharge. You get a typical Forerunner suite of training tools in a rugged, longer-lasting package, enough to guide you toward your next PR or getting fitter. But I resent that Garmin didn't upgrade the Instinct 3's sensors or add offline maps. ?52,990 at Amazon
Pros
- +Excellent battery life, no solar panel required
- +Eye-sparing AMOLED upgrade
- +Typical Garmin GPS/ HR accuracy
- +Military-grade ruggedness & backup flashlight
- +Faster than Instinct 2 with new data
- +Surprisingly comfortable for size
Cons
- -Non-touch display, bulk, and buttons will turn off casual users
- -Very few smarts and last-gen sensors compared to Venu, Fenix
- -No offline maps in an adventure watch
