Global Position System, or simply “GPS” is a device system that is used to display a person's geographical position and give direction. Built into countless of smart devices today, GPS has allowed for easy mapping of trips and is highly useful in any industry including military. Without it, we will still be sticking our noses on the map for hours to figure out directions.
Should I get a GPS watch?
GPS watches are mainly used for fitness and people tracking purposes. However, they can also be used in many ways such as measuring things. From pace and distance to heart rate and quality of sleep; this little technology will track it all!
What can a GPS watch do?
Many smartwatches today allow for the use of SIM card, letting you receive messages or calls and notification sent from your smartphone. This also then allow for the use of GPS, whether for running or biking through a hilly trail.
If you're constantly worried about your parents or children, you can track their whereabouts with real time location updates. In case of emergency, you can know the exact location of your loved ones.
How to choose a GPS watch?
GPS watches come in many varieties. Depending on your needs, you can either get an affordable GPS watch with basic features to improve your cardio fitness, or splurge on a top-tier device to help you run a 20km marathon in a matter of months.
If swimming is your sport, consider a watch with features catered for diving such as water resistance of up to 100m. And if you hike or mountain bike often, watches with altitude or barometer features are encouraged.
Here are our top picks by category:
When it comes to hiking, have a GPS hiking watches that offers navigation features, barometer and altimeter to monitor your hiking trail.
All of those coupled with a durable, rugged strap and a 20 hours battery life makes this GPS watch the perfect watch for hiking. It also has a system to guide you back to where you set off, so you will never need to worry about going in the wrong direction.
For cycling enthusiasts, this is one smartwatch that you wouldn't want to miss out. With its advanced GPS, the Fitbit Ionic can track details of you cycling up and down the hilly terrains via info on mapped routes, heart rate and total calories burned.
Should you get caught in the rain along your trail, Fitbit Ionic is still a loyal cycling companion as it is water resistant and even has an integrated antenna for stronger satellite connection.
Exercising with music can help you get through a tough workout. Garmin Forerunner 645 Sport Watch is one watch which can store up to 500 songs for offline listening as well as sync music from select streaming services. You can even play and control music directly from the watch to your wireless headphones!
Other than being a walking stereo, it is equipped with necessary features to help you in your workouts like running, swimming, and cycling.
Now why would you need a GPS watch while playing golf?? It turns out that utilising GPS in golfing can help boost your game by showing you how far you are from the pin at any time.
Garmin’s Approach S60 watch includes a large, 1.2-inch sunlight-readable colour touchscreen display to view all necessary details so you can hit a Hole-in-One. It has an automatic course and hole recognition as well as more than 40,000 pre-loaded courses from around the world. In normal watch mode, you can go 10 days without recharging.
Suunto Ambit 3 Vertical is an incredible pick for people who love mountain biking. It offers real time calculation of data as well as speed and altitude metrics for safe and precise guidance in your tracks and climbs. Aside from its GPS functions, it’s durable in strength and can submerge into water of up to 100m.
With this GPS watch, you can also share details of your activity to your friends, family, and social media space.
The Garmin Forerunner 245 GPS has most of the features you want for running: wrist heart rate monitoring, audio prompts, activity and sleep tracking. There is also speed, distance and, of course, running-specific settings.
Can’t run without your favourite music? Store music into the smartwatch or stream directly from Spotify with up to 6 hours of running time when music and GPS is running.
The Amazfit Stratos GPS watch features VO2max fitness level which measures your body's ability to utilise oxygen in order to help improve your endurance and overall performance.
As a fitness tracker, it offers tallying of exercise load, calories info, recovery time advisor, distance travelled, sleep pattern and heart rate. This amazing GPS fitness watch is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphone.
If you are only interested in a basic GPS smartwatch that provides pace, distance, and track real time activity, Foxy’s M3 GPS Running Cycling Smartwatch will do you justice. You'll get around 3-5 days of battery life from this watch that also has an IP68 waterproof rating and 24 hours heart rate tracking as well. This smartwatch has multi-functions to meet your daily needs without splurging on a large amount of money.
For our elderly loved ones, we are always concerned about their whereabouts and well-being. Also, there is a risk that they may fall while being outside. Gift them with this watch as it has the ability to send SOS alerts or make calls if they are in danger.
Several features and functions of this watch involves an IP68 water and dust resistance, battery life of up to 45 days, air pressure monitor, heart beat monitor and more.
The Garmin Fenix 5X Sapphire is a suitable watch for anyone to use daily be it an outdoor enthusiast or an athlete. It can navigate and display maps in detail without the need of a phone signal.
Using its built-in base maps for routes, you can navigate around town or hike through the great canyon without worrying about getting lost. When paired with a compatible smartphone, it delivers call notifications and text messages clearly.