Technology has evolved a lot since, and accurately tracking the location of where someone has gotten quite advanced. And now, you can even precisely track the number of steps, and the calories burnt more easily.
This can all be done in a simple and small watch, and they’re called GPS watches. And depending on the type of GPS watch, they offer many advanced features that can be incredibly helpful and save a lot of your time and effort.
There’s a lot about them, though. So today, we’ll share everything from what a GPS watch is to how it works, the features, the types of GPS watches, comparisons, and much more. Let’s hop in.
What is a GPS Watch?
A GPS watch is quite complicated, and there’s a lot going on inside to make sure everything works properly. But in terms of definition, a GPS watch is a type of watch with an integrated GPS receiver inside of it.
GPS stands for Global Positioning System, and the GPS receivers are the main part of a GPS watch that provides it with the features. GPS watches used to be quite thick and big, but recently they’ve started getting slimmer.
They don’t have the same aesthetic as regular watches, but they look similar to digital watches and are typically equipped with other sensors, such as a heart rate sensor and a foot pod, which calculates speed.
How Does a GPS Watch Work?
The GPS sensor itself is small, so many people wonder how it works. So as you might expect, the sensor itself doesn’t do that much, but it only receives information and acts on behalf of that, hence the name GPS receiver.
It works off of 24 satellites, each of which circles in a specific orbit around earth. All of them are perfectly in sync to show different outputs at exactly the same time, and since there are 24 of them, it can be incredibly reliable.
After receiving information from the satellites, the GPS on your car or watch can figure out the position accurately. But these receivers can be small and simple, as only 3 or 4 satellites can give information on the receiver’s speed, altitude, latitude, and longitude or the person equipped with it.
But if you, for example, simply want your location, a small GPS receiver such as the one on your phone can do just that. GPS watches are a bit more advanced and can do much more, though.
Common Features on GPS Watches
GPS watches have many features similar to regular watches, with GPS functioning at its core. So you can still look for different types of watch dials or strap colors for your GPS watch. However, the features can vary a lot depending on the complexity of the watch. But they mostly include the following features:
- A touch screen LED display with time and date on the front
- The approximate speed or pace with a foot pod
- A complete map with routes and route tracking
- Computer connections with the ability of sharing, logging, and mapping data
- Training programs for various aspects
- Heart rate monitor
- A cycling cadence sensor
- Reminders on aspects such as nutrition and hydration
- Rechargeable batteries and add-on batteries
Types Of GPS Watches
Most smartwatches nowadays have GPS included in them, especially the higher-end ones. But here are the most common types of GPS watches —
- Fitness Watches
Fitness watches come with good GPS receivers to be able to track various aspects such as heart rate, cycling cadence, and maps with route tracking. But aside from the GPS, of course, they have training plans to help with fitness as well as reminders to stay hydrated and eat food.
- Typical Smartwatches
The term “typical smartwatch” can mean many things depending on person to person, but it usually refers to a smartwatch that works as an extension to your mobile phone or laptop.
It can connect to bluetooth and the internet to many things your phone can do but with more ease of access, and they’re even able to pick up phone calls, view images, reply to messages, and much more through an internet or bluetooth connection.
- Sports Watches
Sports watches are incredibly similar to fitness watches, but they often come with weaker GPS receivers that are able to do the things an athlete would need, such as tracking the speed and distance traveled. But similar to a fitness watch, they have heart rate monitors, training programs, and more.
- Traveling Smartwatches
A traveling smartwatch usually has GPS receivers that focus mostly on maps, location, and the route, which can be great if you’re traveling. Most of the time, cyclists or bikers wear these to get information while traveling.
Why Are the Results on Some GPS Watches Different?
A common thing with GPS watches can be getting different results on a different watch, even when the other watch is right next to you. Most people think this is due to a faulty watch, but that’s not exactly the case.
In small to medium distances, a GPS watch may have different results because it uses a different way to receive, log, and filter the GPS signal. This doesn’t mean the watch is faulty, as the difference is usually quite small.
But in long distances, the GPS may have errors that build up over time. This also generally isn’t that big of a difference. There are other factors that can affect it other than the GPS receiver itself, though.
For example, the “Battery Saving Mode” on your phone can give different results because it isn’t using the GPS receiver to its full potential in order to save battery.
GPS Watch Comparisons
Many people ask about the GPS watch comparisons to various other devices that do similar things, so here’s a short comparison —
- GPS Watch vs Phone
When comparing GPS watches and your phone, it really comes down to how often you actually use the GPS watch.
If you exercise or travel often, then the neat features of a GPS watch, such as route tracking, heart rate monitor, and foot pod to track your pace or speed, can be quite helpful.
A few of these features can be done on your phone too, because for your location or for routes, you can just use Google Maps, and some phones can even track steps. However, it won’t be as accurate as a GPS watch.
So if you exercise or travel often and you need to use more powerful GPS features with accuracy, a GPS watch is great as it’s small and simple. But if you’re just a casual person, the GPS receiver on your phone works too.
- GPS Watch vs FitBit (Non-GPS Model)
Some FitBit watches don’t come with a GPS receiver, which can be a major downside. But if you compare a GPS watch and a FitBit, you might argue that they’re equally good for fitness freaks.
This is because even without a GPS receiver, a FitBit is able to accurately calculate the activity of the user, the heart rate, the sleep, and more, sometimes with even more fitness features than a GPS watch.
But a GPS watch is better if you need a smartwatch more focused on accurately tracking the speed, location, or route when you’re traveling.
- GPS Watch vs Bike Computer
Bike computers are attachments to your bike which can calculate biking-related activities, such as speed, generally more accurately than a GPS watch.
However, unless you’re an athlete competing with the bike, the incredibly precise calculations on a bike computer aren’t exactly necessary, and the more approximate calculations on a GPS watch are reliable too.
Generally, a GPS watch will have many more features too, so unless you need accurate results when you’re biking, a GPS watch is better.
Why Would You Need A GPS Watch?
Now that you have a better understanding of how GPS watches work and what they are, the important question is whether you need them or not.
Generally, GPS watches aren’t too expensive considering the number of features they provide, and they look aesthetic too. Along with that, they can save you a whole lot of time as it’s easier to access than your phone.
They provide many more features than a phone, such as a heart rate monitor, more accurate route tracking, your speed or pace, the distance traveled, and much more, all in a small watch on your wrist.
If you travel or exercise a lot, these features can immensely help you in your daily life. Even for a casual person, it can be handy, too.
Besides, a GPS watch may be your faithful partner during hunting in a jungle. Get the best GPS watch for hunting.
So generally, you’d want to have a GPS watch if you exercise or often travel, as it can keep track of a lot of details related to those.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Now that you know about GPS watches, you can take a look at our most frequently asked questions. These can help clear up any further confusion as we cover the most asked GPS-related topics.
- Are there more than 24 GPS satellites?
If you’re counting just purely functional satellites, there are actually 31 operating GPS satellites, and the number will most likely increase over time. This doesn’t mean the old 24 satellite count is outdated, though.
This is because even if there are more functioning satellites now, older GPS watches still only revolve around the previous 24 ones, as they’re still relatively reliable. But the newest models utilize all 31 of them.
So technically, there isn’t any fixed number of satellites, such as 24 or 31, as they’ll likely increase to make things more accurate year after year.
- Can some GPS watches be analog instead of digital?
Most of the time, GPS watches can’t always have the same aesthetic as the original analog watches. Sometimes on the digital screen of the GPS watch, you could have watch indices and other analog features, but it’s still digital.
So to answer the question, they can technically be analog, but they’ll still use a digital screen for it to be able to utilize all the GPS watch features properly.
- Can GPS watches work without the internet?
Yes! GPS watches work off the satellites through triangulation to calculate their speed, not the internet. So it might use the internet for some other features, but most of the time, even without the internet, a GPS watch works.
However, things like the time can get messed up if it’s not connected to the internet and the watch shuts off due to the battery being too low. So generally, you should connect it to the internet every now and then to keep all of the features properly working with no errors.
Conclusion
Hopefully, now you have a good idea about GPS watches, their features, how they work, and when it’s a good investment. But to go over it again shortly, GPS watches work through a series of satellites.
From there, they can calculate precisely the position of the watch. This means you can have features like accurate route tracking, speed and distance calculators, the pace, and much more. It even comes with other sensors, such as a heart rate monitor, and often has training programs.
They’re as small as a regular watch, so it’s incredibly fast and easy to have access to all these features as you can simply click you’re it on your wrist to check, unlike having to pull your phone out of your pocket.
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