I review a ton of running watches, cycling through all of the various features and idiosyncrasies to find which watch would suit which runner best, which watches deserve a place on our lists, and which don’t measure up. Sometimes, there are watches that are really cool, and do a lot of work, but they offer more than what the average runner needs to log their daily miles and monitor their fitness. But for backwoods adventure runners, ultrarunners, or runners who put a lot of demand on their machines, advanced GPS running watches like the ones on this list offer a bit more of everything—from cellular and satellite connectivity to off-road trail mapping to sturdier cases, more multisport functionality, and all around just more.
As an ultrarunner, I am frequently testing watches for 50, 75, or even 100 miles at a stretch. Often these miles are spent deep in the woods in Upstate New York on trails that are poorly marked and pretty treacherous. Sometimes, there simply isn’t cell service to be had.
On top of that, I routinely test them during Hyrox, kayaking, paddle boarding, weight training, hiking, and even skiing—when there’s actually snow on the ground. My daily runs tend toward miles spent in New York City, which you wouldn’t think is an issue, but the tall buildings can thwart GPS pretty hard. Looking for more running tech?
Read our reviews of the best wireless headphones for running, headlamps for runners, and basic running watches. The Fenix 9 is not flawless, but dang, it is as close to it as I’ve ever tested.I’ve put over 300 miles on the Pro Solar, so I’ll get my little nitpicks out of the way first. Annoyingly, there’s a lag of about half a second to a second when you start a workout, and again when you switch between laps that the 8 did not have.
It’s not the most annoying thing in the world, but alas. Also, the app is still the Garmin Connect app. (I will beat this drum until they fix it.) Now? My happy place, the good stuff.
The solar ring on the Pro Solar model puts this watch so far ahead of every other run watch on the market that it can’t even see the others from the rearview. The 51mm is rated for up to 57 days in smartwatch mode with solar, and the 47mm gets up to 34. In the 51mm’s max battery GPS mode, that stretches to 186 hours, or up to 1,000 with solar.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
