Garmin Enduro 3 GPS Watch Review

I recently published an article on why GPS watches are awesome for thru-hiking. I’ve really come to appreciate this piece of tech after picking one up for my last 13 months and thousand miles of thru-hiking. I learned in the process was that for my needs, battery life is king. 

Enter the Enduro 3, Garmin’s battery-life monster. 

Garmin Enduro 3 At-A-Glance

MSRP: $900

Weight: 

• Device only: 2.0 oz
• With included hook-and-loop wrist strap: 2.2 oz
• Included data/charging cable: 0.4 oz

Materials:

• Glass: “Power Sapphire” (presumably a proprietary lab-grown sapphire)
• Bezel (the top rim around the glass): Titanium
• Remaining case: Fiber-reinforced polymer (a hearty plastic)
• Strap: Nylon

Dimensions:

• Device: 2″ x 2″ x 0.6″
• Strap: 1” wide x 12.25” long (effective length is shorter due to overlapping sections)
• Charging Cable: 22”
• Digital Display: 1.4” (diameter, the screen is round)
• Display resolution: 280 pixels x 280 pixels
• Internal memory: 32GB
• My wrist is ~6.25” above the wrist bone

Advertised Battery Life (not factoring in solar):

• Smartwatch mode (no tracking): 36 days
• GPS-only tracking: 120 hours
• All GNSS systems: 80 hours*
• Multi-band, all GNSS Systems: 60 hours
• All GNSS systems + music: 22 hours

For extensive battery life estimates, including the theoretical extensions with solar power, see their website.

*GPS tracking activities seem to default to the All GNSS mode, but in practice, my device provides a 72-hour estimate rather than the published 80 hours. This may be due to other factors like heart rate tracking.

What Is GNSS?

GNSS = Global Navigation Satellite System. GPS (Global Positioning System, owned and operated by the US) is a GNSS, but the Enduro is also capable of picking up other satellite constellations like Galileo (EU) and BeiDou (China).

The default “all GNSS systems” setting means the device will just use one GNSS to navigate but may switch between constellations depending on signal strength. “GPS-only” means you’ll be locked into just the GPS satellite system. Multi-band means the watch will pick up multiple GNSS networks simultaneously; this setting consumes the most battery but should provide the most accuracy.

Intended Use

The Enduro 3 is a high-end, endurance sports-focused smartwatch. It is best suited for analytical, performance-oriented thru-hikers. It also has helpful features for those training to hike and for monitoring general health and fitness.

Circumstance of Review

I rang in the new year with the Enduro 3 and have been using it daily since. With a fast-paced hike of the Super Sierra High Route and an ultramarathon on the summer schedule, it’s been a faithful companion in the gym, on the trails, and during other activities like climbing and skiing.

Garmin Enduro 3 Features

Elevate V5 Heart Rate Sensor

The Enduro 3 features Garmin’s latest and most accurate optical heart rate sensor, the Elevate V5. I checked its accuracy multiple times against my gym equipment’s capacitive sensors and found them to match within two beats per minute consistently. It does a good job of measuring steady, consistent-effort activities like hiking.

During some more intense activities, I observed the “cadence lock” issue, where the heart rate measurement lags or mistakes your steps as heartbeats. This can cause unnaturally consistent heart rate readings that don’t match your actual effort. I generally found this to be a minor issue, though.

Unfortunately, like many wrist-based, optical heart rate sensors, it doesn’t quite catch the quick changes that “sprint” pattern activities have. I never found this to be an issue for typical running and hiking activities, but it lost the sharp peaks of some others, like downhill skiing and climbing. 

If catching sharp peaks and avoiding cadence lock is a big concern, pairing a chest-based sensor will provide much more accurate results.

Preloaded TopoActive Maps

This watch is capable of maps and navigation features, including showing a loaded course on a shaded, topographic map. The map set for your purchase region comes preloaded on the device. It is a minor but noticeable convenience to not have to go through the wifi or USB connection download process, which can take a few hours.

If you want a different map set (such as satellite, higher resolution, or a different region), there is a process to download and set them as the default. Be prepared to do this at home; it is neither easy nor fast for the tech-challenged.

Large Screen & Large Battery

The display comes in at a hefty 1.4″ and 280px resolution. This is the upper end of a practical watch size. The smaller watch sizes usually measure in at closer to 1.2” (such as the Fenix 7S Pro Solar). On paper, a quarter inch may seem like a vanishingly small difference. In practice, it’s quite noticeable. While I find text fields to be fairly similar in legibility, the big differences emerge in graphic fields, such as elevation profiles and maps. 

The large screen size is paired with an overall large device, leaving lots of room behind the scenes for the battery. For some reason, the actual battery size is considered proprietary by Garmin. Using a USB multimeter, I pulled 3.7Wh of power to take the device from 0% to 99%. With cable and voltage transformation inefficiencies, I would guess the actual battery size is about 3.2Wh. 

Sapphire Glass & Solar Power

Protecting the digital display is a “glass” lens made of, I kid you not, manufactured sapphire. The uninitiated may find this an odd choice in a world powered by Gorilla Glass and its facsimiles. Sapphire is a great choice, however: it is extremely scratch- and smash-resistant while being highly efficient at getting energy through to the solar panel below.

Speaking of solar, the device has an integrated solar “ring” panel that fills the gap between the digital display and the bezel. This feature is meant to slow the rate of power consumption. Garmin provides extensive estimates on how much this could extend your time between recharges, but read on to find out my actual experience with it.

Unlike previous Garmin solar displays, there is no longer a translucent solar film on top of the pixel display. All the power generation is around the edges of the device, increasing screen readability. Advancements in solar panel efficiency mean the solar actually generates more power than the Enduro 2, despite the reduced solar area.

Five Button Navigation

This watch has two device navigation systems: a touchscreen and a series of five physical buttons. Each system can be used to get to pretty much any feature of the watch, although in practice, having both is nice. I generally prefer the button-based interface unless I am trying to pan across a map.

The five-button layout seems just right to me: any more and it would get hard to remember what they do and not bump them. Any fewer and you have to start repeat-pressing buttons to do the same things.

Garmin Connect and Explore

The Enduro 3 has two main companion apps for your smartphone: Garmin Connect and Garmin Explore.

Garmin Connect is the “fitness tracking” side of the duo. It will show you stats related to heart rate, sleep, training status, and more. When you record an activity, this is where you go to see its impact on you and to share it with friends (if desired). It also allows you to configure the vast majority of the watch’s settings from an easier-to-use device. Most of the functions are web-dependent and therefore not usable on trail, away from cell reception.

Garmin Explore is the mapping and adventure side. Here you will find a topographic map, the recorded line of all your GPS activities,* and the ability to upload planned routes to your watch. This app works whether you are online or not, aiding in on-trail navigation and re-routes.

*Some activities that use GPS for distance tracking, such as “outdoor walking,” do not save the track to Explore, to limit the amount of clutter.

ABC

The ABCs are a basic set of features that first popularized smartwatches for backpacking. The “A” is an altimeter, or a digital readout of your current elevation. This feature is powered by the “B,” or barometer. The barometer can also be used to check atmospheric pressure changes that might indicate a storm. Finally is the Compass (“C”), which hopefully needs no further explanation.

Using the ABCs is a bit of a lost art in the age of FarOut. I personally use them quite frequently to check progress on a long climb or keep a bearing during cross-country travel.

Garmin Enduro 3 Pros

Monster Battery Life

Even without factoring in solar power, the Enduro 3 has some of the best battery life in the business. The estimated non-activity (or “smartwatch” mode) battery life is a staggering 36 days, while the default GNSS tracking mode is a hefty 72 hours. If you are willing to sacrifice some accuracy in your tracking, the single-band, GPS-only tracking battery life is 120 hours.

In practical terms, someone hiking 12 hours a day with all the default configurations is going to get ~5.5 days without a recharge. That’s longer than the average resupply on the AT. Dialing it in for GPS-only will give 8.8 days of actual use, about the longest food carry most hikers will do.

I found the no-solar battery estimates to be extremely accurate. Calculating my first battery burn after unboxing, I got 100.06% of the expected battery life. This was in January, so the device received a negligible amount of sun exposure.

As the days got longer and I was able to hike with fewer layers, the solar factor came more into play. I found Garmin’s solar-factored battery estimates a bit generous since they assume 50,000 lux of sunlight will be hitting the display at all times. 50k lux is not actually all that bright (the device can recognize up to 250,000 lux, five times their assumed conditions), but the sunlight has to directly hit the display to generate electricity. If it is partially shaded or receiving indirect light, don’t expect it to do much better than 7500 lux, or 15% of the 50k benchmark.

On one particularly sunny day of desert backpacking, I had my device uncovered on my wrist for 10 hours and collected 320k lux-hours of sun, or an average intensity of 32k lux. This did curb the power consumption during my 8.75 hours of GPS tracking, but not quite as much as I was hoping for. Keep in mind that clouds, trees, and body direction can all cut power generation significantly. Moral of the story: I wouldn’t rely on the solar display for anything critical, especially on east coast trails like the AT.

The ~3.2Wh battery can be recharged off a 10k mAh battery bank about 10 times, making a top-up no big deal in the field. It’s nice to imagine that it can serve as a backup navigation device without factoring in other, more sensitive electronics, though.

Extensive and Flexible Data Screens

My use of a smartwatch like this centers on activity-based functions. I like to keep close tabs on my various trail stats during and after a hike. Luckily, Garmin has as many activities available as you could possibly need, and you can arrange them as you like.

 I try to keep the number of different data screens on my watch limited to avoid having to switch pages frequently. I usually keep two pages of stats (distance, vertical gain/loss, time, speed, heart rate, etc) and two pages of navigation (map and compass/elevation). While following a course, I also allow Climb Pro to display elevation profiles.

If you want to rearrange, you can do so as you please. The stat pages can have as little as one data field and as many as 8, all configurable to your liking.

MIPS Display Good for Outdoors Use

In the smartwatch world, there are two major display technologies: MIPS and AMOLED. You can read more about the differences in this article. I prefer MIPS displays as they require no self-illumination to read in bright conditions and are very battery efficient while remaining always on. For an outdoorsy user, these are all wins in my book. The Enduro uses MIPS.

Useful Alerts

The Enduro 3 has all of Garmin’s standard alerts. I stick to 3 core ones: Sunset, Lap, and Off Course.

Sunset alerts are pretty self-explanatory: the watch will alert you at or a certain amount of time before sunset for your current location. I like to set mine to 45 minutes ahead. This lets me know I need to look for camp in the next 1-2 miles while I can still see.

As a data nerd, I have my hiking activities to automatically lap and alert in one-mile intervals. This lets me quickly see how fast my last mile was and how far I have actually made it during the day.

Finally is Off Course Alerts. This feature buzzes your wrist when you stray too far (~0.1 mile) from your loaded course. This requires that you actually load a route and follow it closely. For thru-hikers cruising trails, this is super handy for getting your attention when you miss a sign or veer off on a social trail. This alert will also let you know when you are headed in the right direction back on the course. Be warned that if you cross your loaded course but keep going in the wrong direction, it will not alert you. This is a good time to switch to the map view so you can point yourself the right way once back on the line.

One other alert that I don’t use but see value in is Heart Rate alert. This can be a helpful training and energy conservation tool. An alert for high (zone four or five) heart rates can keep you from burning the candle too quickly, either during a long day of hiking or a carefully moderated training period.

Quick Navigation Tools

The ABC features mentioned above are core navigation tools in the backcountry and a substantial help during backpacking. Add in maps, elevation profiles, off-route alerts, and the Enduro 3 becomes a navigational powerhouse. 

Having a feature-rich GPS watch has probably reduced my phone navigation time by 80%. I still need to pull up Farout or Caltopo for a larger display of context or getting high res topography. But as a quick reference, the watch is hard to beat.

Flashlight

A nice little bundled feature is the included LED flashlight. Shooting out the front of the watch is a fairly bright red and white flashlight. It has four levels of white brightness for different contexts, while the red gets one fixed level. The flashlight can either be accessed by internal menus or by double-tapping the top-left “backlight” button. 

Improved Shutdown Behavior

If you run out of battery mid-activity, the Enduro 3 will save and “pause” your activity, making it resumable when power is restored. This is much improved from my previous watch, the Fenix 7 Pro SS, which corrupted and almost lost a recording during an unexpected shutdown. Be warned that if you see “1 hour” of remaining battery, you could be anywhere in that 1 hour and should either charge or stop recording to avoid a shutdown.

Garmin Enduro 3 Cons

Phone Dependence

The Enduro 3 can do a lot on its own: the sensors and most of the calculations they power are mostly done on board, and the memory is large enough to store it all for extended periods of time.

That being said, a smartphone is still practically required for use. The Enduro 3 does not have a cellular modem, meaning it needs your phone to check the weather, sync new tracks, push notifications, and upload data to the web. There’s also plenty of info that’s simply easier to read on a larger screen, such as dashboard overviews, training plans, and activity history.

This is true of pretty much any smartwatch, but it is worth keeping in mind before you try to head out the door on your next trip without your phone.

Only One (Large) Size

Garmin only sells one SKU of the Enduro 3. That means no size, color, or display options. Compared to the 15 options of the Fenix 8 line, the difference is noticeable. The case size is directly related to battery size, so the lack of options there is understandable, but I would have really preferred a lighter color body or just about anything other than lime green accents.

Solar Orientation Is Sensitive

As mentioned above in the battery life section, the solar panel is a bit less useful than advertised. Even in ideal sunny and treeless conditions, having continuous 50k lux conditions is hard to achieve on trail. Realistically, a northbound hiker wearing the watch on their left hand is going to have very minimal sun exposure in the mornings (when the sun is to the east and the top of the wrist is facing west).

I usually consider the solar charging to be a nice but unreliable feature. You should always be prepared to charge your device on longer trips.

Bulky Velcro Strap

The Enduro 3 ships with a simple nylon hook-and-loop (“velcro”) strap. This is actually my preferred strap type for active use — far better than the silicone options that ship with most of Garmin’s models. 

What I don’t like about the particular strap that ships with the Enduro 3 is that it’s overly long for my skinny bird wrists. The consequence is that the section on the bottom of my wrist is tripled over, creating a bulky section that is uncomfortable and tends to snag clothes. This could easily be solved with a shorter strap (which they do not sell) or not having the fixed end of the strap loop back to itself, and instead mount directly onto the bar (like how Coros does it).

Coach Doesn’t Understand Hiking

I was curious how Garmin’s algorithmic coaching service would handle a thru-hike, so I plugged in the relevant stats for my upcoming thru-hike of the Super Sierra High Route.

It quickly became evident that Garmin Coach is built for two purposes: running and cycling races. It simply did not have the input range and flexibility to understand something done slowly (<3mph) or over multiple days. It didn’t even ask about vertical gain, which on a high route is perhaps the most important stat. Running flat is not the same as hiking +83,000ft.

This is evident in the workouts it suggested to me: all running at a minimum 6mph pace, with none longer than 45 minutes. During the course of the review period, Garmin Coach was also incapable of suggesting strength workouts, although that has changed since.

If you want guidance on thru-hiking training, you’ll still be better off consulting professionals or listening to a few podcasts.

Corporate Woes

Longtime Garmin users see red flags in the recent direction of Garmin devices.

Over my last year of Garmin use, I have noticed a troubling series of firmware issues that are relatively unprecedented for the company. Some examples are a widespread boot loop issue, a bug that crashed some devices when they were exposed to cold water, and a sticky battery drain on the premium Fenix 8 devices.

Thankfully, the Enduro 3 seems to have avoided all of these particular issues, and I never experienced instability during my testing period.

What’s even more troubling, though, is the recent introduction of Connect +, a paid subscription that is supposed to enhance the analytics and capabilities of the Garmin Connect app. Right now, they are promising all your previously free features and analytics will remain free, and only new, advanced features such as AI coaching will be paywalled. Yet there are dozens of examples of companies moving to “premium” subscription models and reneging on such promises. It’s also concerning that they could stop significant development of any free features and paywall anything new or updated.

Call it SaaS-ification, enshittification, or Rent Seeking, I simply find it ridiculous to pay a subscription to access the full features of a device that costs $900 (or over a thousand for some compatible models). 

Overall Value

The Enduro 3 brings a lot to the table for performance-oriented thru hikers: plentiful metrics, navigational aids, monster battery life, and one of the best solar displays on the market. It faces few rivals for those who value the combination of features and endurance. It sits a few hundred dollars above the rival’s comparable models, but for a device that will last years and has strong resale value, I wouldn’t consider it a deal breaker.

Shop the Garmin Enduro 3

Comparable Watches

Coros Vertix 2S: $700

Suunto Vertical Titanium Solar: $700

The Garmin Enduro 3 was donated for the purpose of review