Vertix 2 Series

The first and arguably best choice id recommend for anyone is the Garmin Instinct 2 (or the larger Instinct 2X), that’s about it, check it out and see what you think Yes it has smart notifications but you can fully turn off Bluetooth at the system level, and when you do, those notifications are completely gone just like many other models in the market, they’re not as intrusive as you think If you want something even simpler, check on the Suunto Core and if you want to go for something a bit more on the high end side, check on the Coros Vertix 2 which is a premium option but has an insane battery life, dual-band GPS and amazing performance over smart features. Funnily enough, I got both the Instinct 2 and the Coros Vertix which I alternate between but the Coros hits differ with the premium feel idk. You can try [9 Best Smartwatches Worth Investing in 2025: Hiking and Running](https://alaskanarrows.com/best-smartwatches-in-2025-for-hiking-and-running/) for others though Cheers, hope this helps!

For your needs (off‑grid, multi‑day, altimeter/barometer/compass plus maps and long battery), the Coros Vertix 2 is one of the best options: it offers very long battery life (up to around 140 hours with GPS), offline topo and landscape maps, and robust ABC sensors.

"No Feature locking" is not true. Fishing modes are not shipped to all watches, just Nomad and vertix. Also other activity modes are not available on all watch models although it is not a hardware issue

My Coros Vertix is awesome, but it's been a looong time between versions and Suunto has gone way past Coros now in battery life and features. Coros need a new Apex and Vertix otherwise they're going backwards.

Garmin make great gear (used them for years) however lately they’ve gotten stupidly overpriced. I also use Coros and Suunto and they have pretty much equivalent features for substantially less $. Worth a look.

As a Vertix 2 user, I’ll stick with my Vertix 2 😅 I don’t need any fancy features or gadgets really. Just battery life, insane durability, and a good interface/app to use the watch/view data. I have put this watch through a lot in the 1.5 years I’ve owned it—it has zero scratches.. And I only charge it once every few of weeks? It’s all I could ever ask for lol

How much battery life are we talking? I have an OG Apex and it easily gets me through a 100 for half the price of a Vertix. Guess it just depends on what features you're looking for; I want the bare minimum and Apex is great for me.

I feel like Coros is almost there. Flashlight for sure is coming in a future watch (probably Vertix 4, then will trickle down to at least Apex 5). Design is obviously highly subjective, but I agree that Suunto has a cool design. However, I‘m digging the design of the Nomad and also the clean look of the Pace 4. Regarding more data in the web plattform or app. I‘m also very confident that they will add more stuff over time. Overall, going with Coros seems to be the best choice and it will only get better.