High Gear Enduro Watch Review

First Impressions

A while back, I started exploring Altimeter-Barometer-Compass (aka ABC) watches. There are a range of great products out there from manufacturers like Casio, Suunto, and Tech40. However, the one I kept coming back to was the High Gear Enduro.

Features

Although technically not an ABC watch, the High Gear Enduro has a combination of features that’s tough to match on a watch in this price range. The High Gear Enduro MSRP is $80 but it can be found online for less than $50, which is in contrast to many of the watches mentioned above that range upwards of $150 – $300 or more.

The High Gear Enduro has an accurate digital compass (with 360 degree bearing, 32 cardinal points with N direction and 1 degree resolution with 32 direction pointers) a chronograph (including 100 laps with memory, 100 split time, training log and splits) and a dizzying array of watch functions (time, date, dual time zones, alarms, internal timers, count-up timers, count-down timers and count-repeat timers). I especially find the count-down timers useful for cooking, and the count-repeat is great for interval training.

In addition, the High Gear Enduro includes two other very useful features. First, the watch beeps as you scroll through the functions with a slightly different tone when you reach time. The second is the placement of the illumination button, which is right on the front of the watch face. Very convenient and common sense.

Fit

One of the other things I like about the Enduro is its size. Most ABC watches are massive. Some are two-plus inches across the face, not quite hockey puck size but darn close. I’ve been told that this is because of the barometer plate that drives both the weather and altimeter functions in most of these watches. It needs to be large to be accurate. Without this function, the High Gear Enduro is much more compact, just slightly larger than a normal sport watch making the watch great for sports and wearing around town.