Up to date March 2026
Contents
Wonderful 6-9 foot GPS accuracy with lower than best battery efficiency.
The brand new {hardware}, with a touchscreen for the primary time, is a step up from older eTrex fashions, however I noticed multi-band mode drain 4-5% battery per hour, placing battery life on par with a smartphone. The brand new software program lacks the extent of options and customization that had been there earlier than. In the event you’re searching for a succesful substitute for an older eTrex, I’d get the GPSMAP 65s.
Video
On this video, I present the eTrex Contact in actual path situations, together with battery drain knowledge, GPS mode comparisons, and the software program habits I skilled after 100+ miles of testing.
Expectations
I’ve used eTrex models for years, lengthy earlier than smartphones with mountaineering apps grew to become dependable. When Garmin launched the brand new eTrex Contact, I hoped it will bridge the hole between the 2. Particularly, I needed it to:
- Substitute my telephone for navigation to protect battery and cut back the chance of injury.
- Present full offline topographic maps without having to pre-download map tiles.
- Ship multi-day battery life.
- Maintain up in rain, chilly, and tough terrain, together with drops.
- Make transferring routes easy and dependable.
On paper, the eTrex Contact checks all of these packing containers. In follow, it fell brief in a number of key areas.
Efficiency
Garmin’s advertising and marketing units excessive expectations. Right here’s how they held up after mountaineering with it.
| Garmin’s Declare | What I Discovered |
|---|---|
| As much as 130 hours battery in SatIQ (good) mode | Battery life is extremely mode-dependent. In “All Methods + Multi-Band,” runtime drops to round 21 hours. Good mode will get nearer to 100 hours, however you’re giving up accuracy to get there. |
| Multi-band GPS and multi-GNSS assist | Accuracy often hits 6-9 toes, which is phenomenal and on par with the GPSMAP 67i in my testing. |
| Constructed Powerful (Mil-Std 810) and IP67 climate resistance | Handed. Survived pouring rain, mud, and a number of drops with out points. |
| Swipe and zoom on a vibrant 3-inch touchscreen | Works in rain with no phantom touches, however the display is dimmer than the advertising and marketing pictures recommend. The sides could be finicky. |
| Preloaded TopoActive maps with routable trails and roads | Maps work nicely offline and routing is dependable. |
| Ascent Planning: see upcoming climbs in your route | Listed on Garmin’s web site. Not on the system. |
Positives
- The {hardware} is stable. At round 150g, it’s compact and well-balanced, nearer to a bar of cleaning soap than the chunky rounded-back eTrex models of the previous. The flatter, squarer profile is straightforward to carry one-handed.
- GPS accuracy in “All Methods + Multi-Band” mode is great, often hitting 6 toes. That’s corresponding to my GPSMAP 67i and higher than the GPSMAP H1i Plus.
- The TopoActive maps are preloaded and purposeful, panning and zooming sooner than older eTrex fashions, however not as quick as a smartphone.
- It syncs shortly and reliably with Garmin Discover and Garmin Join.
- The touchscreen held up in heavy rain with no phantom or unresponsive touches.
- It’s the primary eTrex to assist RINEX logging, though I didn’t check or use it.
Negatives
- Battery efficiency is the largest drawback. On different Garmin handhelds, enabling “All Methods + Multi-Band” sometimes prices 20-30% battery life. On the eTrex Contact, it’s way more extreme: I recorded peaks above 4.8% drain per hour, with a mean of about 3.1% per hour throughout all testing. In “Auto-Choose” mode, drain averaged round 1% per hour, which tasks nearer to 100 hours. However you’re giving up important accuracy to get there, which defeats a part of the purpose.
- The sleep/wake/energy button is difficult to press with gloves.
- The display is readable however dim. Auto-dimming makes it worse; turning it off helps.
- Garmin moved to a brand new “Backbone 2” mounting system, so older equipment don’t match.
- There’s no microSD slot and no assist for Garmin’s microSD chip maps. The 32GB inside storage sounds beneficiant till you notice 16.8GB is taken up by maps and system recordsdata, and any further maps require a paid Maps+ subscription that the system actively promotes within the UI.
- In comparison with older Garmin handhelds, the software program feels stripped down. Fewer customizable knowledge screens, no exercise profiles, and fewer configuration choices total.
- Early firmware had stability points together with settings not saving and random reboots. Model 7.07 mounted most of that, however smaller inconsistencies stay. Garmin hasn’t even created a devoted assist discussion board for the eTrex Contact. For what it’s price, the system is actually a GPSMAP H1 with the buttons and inReach antenna eliminated.
Alternate options
The eTrex Contact has stable GPS efficiency, however at $450, the software program limitations and battery variability are arduous to justify. A $20 battery pack extends the common telephone to an identical runtime. In the event you want a devoted handheld, there are higher choices.
- For harsh situations: The GPSMAP 67i (Amazon) runs Garmin’s confirmed older software program and has been stable for my backcountry navigation.
- Upgrading from an older eTrex: The GPSMAP 65s (Amazon) is compact, performs nicely, and makes use of AA batteries.
- Staying together with your telephone: A rugged case and an exterior battery pack shut many of the hole. For almost all of hikes, loading a course onto a wearable handles glanceable navigation, and offline maps in your telephone through Garmin Discover or comparable apps deal with the remaining.
