Vertical Series

Not only 1 right answer. Coros, suunto, polar are all great watches and honestly it comes down to user. I have suunto vertical which have medicore WHR, their 2nd version of vertical 2 and race 2 improved that. But coros vertix, apex 4 or pacer pro are also great options. Consider some models from polar aswel, like grit x2 pro, vantage v3, etc. Garmin have lots of options aswel with their forerunner and fenix and enduro series. My suggestion would be to check out dcrainmaker reviews and some yt reviews to see what watch can offer you. Then download their software and play on your phone to see how good/bad software fells for you. I am unaware what ios integration will be since i am an android user soo yea. And yea at the end its realy user based as long as you go with watch with dual band gps systemy onboard maps, and other stuff. Garmin is leading in maps since only on their watches you can reroute your route on watch itself, other brands requirw phone to do that + garmin have the most smarr functions. Soo yea also i am suunto user soo i would say suunto but some1 else might dislike suunto soo again not only 1 answer but many options. Garmin is the best but some dislike their app which is harder to use than some others plus price. Suunto is behind in smart functions + can be buggy (mine is flawless but many have problems with newer watches), coros i ve heard lots of complains witz their sensors for alltitude and gps but that might be just users who dont know how to use watch properly, etc. Soo yea read some reviews 1st.

Not only 1 right answer. Coros, suunto, polar are all great watches and honestly it comes down to user. I have suunto vertical which have medicore WHR, their 2nd version of vertical 2 and race 2 improved that. But coros vertix, apex 4 or pacer pro are also great options. Consider some models from polar aswel, like grit x2 pro, vantage v3, etc. Garmin have lots of options aswel with their forerunner and fenix and enduro series. My suggestion would be to check out dcrainmaker reviews and some yt reviews to see what watch can offer you. Then download their software and play on your phone to see how good/bad software fells for you. I am unaware what ios integration will be since i am an android user soo yea. And yea at the end its realy user based as long as you go with watch with dual band gps systemy onboard maps, and other stuff. Garmin is leading in maps since only on their watches you can reroute your route on watch itself, other brands requirw phone to do that + garmin have the most smarr functions. Soo yea also i am suunto user soo i would say suunto but some1 else might dislike suunto soo again not only 1 answer but many options. Garmin is the best but some dislike their app which is harder to use than some others plus price. Suunto is behind in smart functions + can be buggy (mine is flawless but many have problems with newer watches), coros i ve heard lots of complains witz their sensors for alltitude and gps but that might be just users who dont know how to use watch properly, etc. Soo yea read some reviews 1st.

Suunto has different battery modes for activities. For multi-day events, you can select different modes that use less features to extend the battery. EG, for the Suunto Vertical: https://us.suunto.com/pages/how-do-i-get-the-most-out-of-suunto-verticals-battery-modes

I switched to a Suunto solar harvesting watch after my last watch wouldn't last past 10 hours. Their claim of ~60 hours activity time seems pretty close based on the shorter 6-10 hour runs and bikes I've done with it so far. Definitely doesn't have the ecosystem that Garmin does but it checked the 3 boxes I cared about: gps accuracy, battery life, and price (got in on sale for about 1/2 the price of a forerunner)

I’m in the same boat. The Fenix 8 lag, mapping, waypoints, searching for courses, etc. is a dumpster fire. I did pre-order the vertical 2 and have high hopes.

But a Suunto Vertical… days of gps.

The ultra is fine for a long day out and the gps is particularly good. You’ll get around 17 hrs of activity time depending on settings. You’ll can go longer but you need to dumb down everything. I much prefer my Race S or original Vertical which offers days and days of gps activity time. Plus it’s a fabulous looking watch too 🫢 For travelling overseas though the Ultra is king. Absolutely brilliant smartwatch.