Galaxy Watch 6 Classic : Very Useful When it Comes to Hiking

f you are someone that loves to go out hiking and wondered if the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is suitable for hiking, then you will be happy to know that it is indeed suitable for hiking. Although, there are some conditions that you should be aware of before you decide to go hiking with this watch.

If you are planning to conquer Mount Everest with the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, unfortunately, it doesn’t quite have the power to do that. However, if you are looking to hike in your local nature parks or on trails, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is a great companion for you.

After having tried out the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic for a period of two weeks in order to test its hiking capabilities, I must say that I have found the experience to be quite satisfactory, in that it is very similar to the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. I have my own system for rating products, and based on that rating system, I have given the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic a score of 7 out of 10. Here is a summary of my final results.

After taking a moment to think about it, I really feel like the final score accurately reflects how well the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic performs. The battery life is definitely its weak point, and I found it to be a bit of a hassle at times, but let me explain why in this review.

In this article I will give a short detailed summary of my test results for the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, what hiking trail you should take, and also a few other tips, including how the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is ranked in the market in general.

What Does The Final Score Mean To You

The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic got a 7 out of 10. It’s a good hiking companion, but there are some important things to keep in mind before you buy it or go out hiking. The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic practically ticks all the boxes for a hiking companion, but the one major drawback is that it doesn’t have a strong enough battery life.

Whenever I plan a hike on the weekends, I’m always managing my battery life during the day. It’s a bit of a hassle and before you know it, you may not have enough battery life to finish your hike. A lot of the times I work with what ever battery life I have left before I start my hike, and I have a few tips that’s allowed me to have a reasonable amount of battery life to finish my hike.

The above table is a guideline that I have discovered during testing. After testing to these guidelines, they definelty work. You need to have some battery capacity left, in case you need to send a SOS message, which can be a battery drainer. You can carry your phone during a hike, but there may come a time where you dont have the capacity to call, and that’s where fall detection can have it’s advantages.

The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic has all the tools to help assist you during your hike. I prefer to choose a trail thats low risk (a track thats flat, with good grip), however if you do decide to hike a trail that’s rocky (higher risk of injury), the device can assist you in some way, but beware of the battery consumption.

GPS Accuracy

When it comes to GPS accuracy, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic has performed very well in two of the three GPS tracking tests that I have done. If you want to look at my testing results, check out my article Galaxy Watch 6 Classic: GPS Accuracy is fairly good, but, however I will discuss the issues that I encountered during my hard level test.

The Hard level test I did does not apply to this article. In this test, I test the GPS accuracy, by planning my route through a township, and the main obstructions in this test is tall buildings. Every watch that I have tested in the past have all had this issue, so keep that as a reference.

The very hard level test is a planned route through our local mountain trail, here in New Zealand. It almost gained a perfect score, but the device had trouble pinpointing my location due to a sharp change in elevation over a short distance. This is called the multi path error, and this occurs where the satellites need more time to locate the receiver (which is your watch). What’s impressive though, is it’s ability to locate your position quickly, see image below, red dotted line is my planned route, black line is the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic (using Komoot)

Battery Life

When it comes to battery life, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is fairly average. I have found that the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro has a slight edge in this category. However I have already completed the battery life test for the device and you can check out the full article Galaxy Watch 6 Classic: Battery life could be better.

As you can see, I have provided the final results for two different battery modes. Do not use normal mode when hiking as it will drain your battery life extremely fast, use power save mode for better battery economy when using GPS tracking.

The result that’s important for hiking is the GPS battery consumption. In power saver mode I would typically get around 5% per hour, and with normal mode it’s 10% per hour. As you can see the power saver mode is two times more efficient than normal mode when you are using GPS tracking.

As for battery economy, this is the test result that affects your ability to hike for long periods of time. Battery economy is my typical usage without GPS tracking, and I would consistently use around 30% per day, and that’s using power saver mode. And that’s why I find managing battery life a hassle when I plan to go out for a hike on the weekends. I could use watch only mode to save on battery life, but that feature isn’t that great at all. Yes you do save in battery life, but watch only mode is like turning off your watch.

Altitude Accuracy

When it comes to altitude accuracy it’s never guaranteed. There is a lot things that are out of your control like, the number of satellites on the day, air pressure, GPS strength, and so on. Never the less, Galaxy Watch 6 Classic has performed extremely well, and if you want to see my altitude testing results check out my article Galaxy Watch 6 Classic: Is the altitude tracking accurate?, It’s not bad.

The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic deserves it’s rating of 5 out of 5 rating. I have have my own testing criteria, and to achieve this very strong rating a device must consistently record a location within a variance of ±10m (±32ft). During the Altitude test, I nominate a track and pick out random waypoints and take a measurement. Each time it’s performed very well. Please check out my full article on the test criteria and rating of the device.

Special Features are Essential for Your Safety

If you are not sure why smart features matter when it comes to hiking, it should matter because it can provide that extra assistance that you need to hike at higher altitudes versus a normal nature park trail. But more importantly, the special features can assist you in an emergency, which is something that people tend to neglect when they go out for a hike. Everything that’s available are very reliable, and here is a quick summary of what these features can offer.

• WRM 50m : As a minimum, water resistance level of 50 ATM is more than enough to continue to operate in the harsh environmental conditions.
• Third Party Integration : The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic has a strong ability when it comes to integrating with third party apps. You can control third party apps directly from your watch, or through a partnership which is where you share your Samsung Health information with the Third party apps.

• Barometer Sensor/Air Sensor : This is an essential feature when you are out hiking. This feature can notify you when there is changes in air pressure, for example if there is a sharp drop in air pressure, this indicates bad weather is looming. This information is essential when you make decisions to continue or look for shelter.
• Continuous SP02 : Another essential feature when hiking, the device does not provide continuous SP02 readings, but you can take measurements when needed. An essential feature for hiking trails of higher altitude, and if your SP02 levels drop below 90%, your body needs time to acclimatise, by taking breaks, and slow your pace down.

• SOS Messaging : Reliable feature that’s similar to Garmin devices. So can hit the home button 5 times to call the emergency services in your country or your emergency contact. Fall detection is available in case you dont have the capacity to activate a SOS (like a broken hand, or knocked out). Don’t rely on this feature to work every time, have a back up plan in case the watch fails.
• Digital compass : Calibrate the compass before you start, that’s if you need to use compass. If you can use a manual compass, use that instead to conserve battery life.

How Does The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic Rank in The Market

The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic 6 has performed very well. With a rating of 7 out of 10, it’s still a strong rating but there are some flaws with the device. What I mean is that any device is rated a 8 or lower is more suited to hiking trails in local park ranges, whereas a device that is rated a 9 or higher can assist you in higher altitude hiking trails.

Final Conclusion

Thank you for taking the time to read through my article. There is a lot of information to absorb, but the most important thing is that I hope I have answered any queries you have with the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic’s hiking ability.

I hope you understand why I have rated the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic a 7 out of 10 for it’s ability to track your hiking. Although it’s a strong rating, the only let down is it’s battery life. Battery life is crucial for the best experience when tracking your hiking, and is especially essential when it comes to your safety.

Please also take the time to check out my testing results for each category. I think it’s essential if you are serious about buying the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. Thank you for reading.