I Hiked With Garmin’s ‘Unlimited Battery’ GPS Tracker And It Made Life So Much Easier
Source: ZDNet, Matthew Miller
Photo: Matthew Miller/ZDNET
Garmin’s new eTrex Solar GPS device offers worry-free battery life at a relatively affordable price.
ZDNET’s key takeaways
The Garmin eTrex Solar is available now for $249.99. The eTrex SE without solar is available for $149.99.
Potential for unlimited battery life, extensive GNSS support, rugged build, and affordable.
Small monochrome display, no turn-by-turn directions of TopoActive maps.
My brother and I grew up in the woods of the Pacific Northwest and being outside in the forest is my happy place. I have a good sense of direction, even in nature, but the farther out I explore the more I need GPS navigation to help me get to and from remote locations.
All smartphones have GPS receivers, but battery life is important to preserve for communications and pictures. My watches also have GPS, but the displays are too small for recreational navigation as they are optimized for specific fitness activities. Handheld GPS units are designed and built for outdoor activities — hiking, fishing, geocaching, camping, and more — with large displays, long battery life, and durable construction that can survive in various environments and keep going if you accidentally drop or bump them while exploring.
For the past couple of months, I have been using the Garmin eTrex Solar for hiking, trail riding, and geocaching activities. This GPS handheld provides up to 200 hours of GPS navigation with no solar charging; in an area with 75,000 lux sun — bright sunlight — the battery is advertised as providing unlimited GPS navigation support. I haven’t been in an area with that much sun so haven’t been able to test unlimited life, but I never had to charge up the unit during my testing either so you can count on this device to last longer than most of your adventures do. I also regularly saw the solar intensity appear in the 70-80% range so the device is great at collecting minimal sun too.
The eTrex Solar is intuitive to use with five large buttons covered in soft touch material and a 2.2-inch monochrome display. A lanyard opening is positioned on the bottom so that you can carry the handheld around your neck. An integrated belt loop clip on the back is useful for clipping to your backpack. USB-C is used to charge the device with the port positioned on the back above the belt clip and covered with a rubber gasket to prevent water ingress with the handheld sporting an IPX7 water-resistant rating.