Garmin eTrex SE, Outdoor GPS Handheld, GPS Device for Hiking and Geocaching, Multi GNSS Support, Long Battery Life, 2.2" High Contrast Screen, Digital Compass

My old Garmin 12 finally died after 25 years of abuse at sea. I looked at several GPS apps, but they're garbage - and how can you rely on a phone signal in an emergency? Simple setup with this Etrex , does everything needed for navigation. Particularly like the long battery life.

I remember the classic garmin legend, fairly basic but had everything you wanted, this unit is an update of that unit, does everything you would expect and more. But has one or two issues, the internal memory is poor and lacks one or two functions, however for the price very good value.

I bought this to replace a long serving Garmin Geko unit which has served me well for about 20 years, but which has now finally given up the ghost. As you might expect, the eTrex SE is superior in many ways to the Geko, with many more functions, easy connection to the smartphone app, fantastic battery life , excellent screen clarity and fast GPS connectivity, it is a great basic GPS unit for those who carry a paper map and don't need onscreen mapping, I mainly use mine to track mileage and time elapsed, it is far more accurate than a pedometer. Being able to access the OS Grid Reference is invaluable as well, but these functions were also available on the Geko. But my problem with the eTrex and the reason I can't give it 5 stars is - why does it have to be so big and clunky? It's almost twice the size and weight of the Garmin Geko! You would have thought that it could have been smaller and lighter than the models it replaced, the Geko could be slipped into a pocket and you would forget it was there. The screen display area of the eTrex is quite small and only takes up about half of the front of the unit, so I'm not sure why the design is such a backward step. But despite this, the eTex is a well made, reliable and functional device at a decent price and if it lasts me as long as my Geko I'm happy.

As an entry level GPS unit you can not go wrong with this. I bought this to help navigate walks when I started to struggle using a phone. This is so much easier with a bright screen and superb battery life which lasts months. You have to create you routes in the Explore app first and sync to the device as there are no preloaded maps here. Otherwise a great starter unit that does not cost a fortune or require any subscription costs.

Great price of about £105. Although it doesn't display a map, it does connect to your phone where your phone will show the map on the Garmin app. During my first use I used the Kamoot app to plan my walk and then quickly uploaded it to the GPS device. Battery lasts for ages and following the route on the map was easy. The screen is very clear and easy to operate. All I had to do was follow the line which was my track. My route planning app (Kamoot) was still being used but I didn't have to kick it to my phone out to look at the map or directions.

Straight after turning it on for the first time it started freezing and then restarting, but only with battery power. It worked fine when using the power cable. I used YouTube and Amazon for help but nothing explained the restarting problem. I even paid out for expensive high capacity AA batteries in the hope it was the cheap multipack AAs causing the issue, but no. Although I had the issue above I would of probably returned the GPS anyway, I found the screen really difficult see and the feel of it was quite cheap.

Went trekking across Cornwall for a month, and this worked perfectly.

I got this to replace my ageing Etrex 20 which I mostly use as a data logger for cycling, hiking etc. and also as a backup for navigation for when my phone can't get a signal. Pros: 1. Amazing battery life. This was the main issue with the Etrex 20. The SE runs for the best part of a week, occasionally more, depending on how it's being used. I don't even have it set to maximum power saving. 2. Able to pair with phone. There's no proper map on the SE. I always found the map on the 20 difficult to use so I don't consider this any great loss. What you do get though is the ability to pair with a phone running Garmin Explore so you have access to a good quality map but without draining the phone battery. 3. Runs on AA batteries. I've had rechargable devices before but they are a real pain to charge if you're out hiking etc. 4. In terms of it's physical construction it's generally a nice device to use. The controls are easy to operate. The (black & white) display is easy to read. The PC connection is USB-C. Cons: 1. Very poor user interface. I've owned maybe 6 or 7 different GPS devices over the years so I have a fair bit of experience with them but the SE is by far the most difficult device to use. Sure, once you've learned to do a particular operation, it's not too bad, but try to find any feature you haven't used for a while and you're sent round and round in circles. 2. Abysmal documentation. There is a lengthly pdf but I actually wonder if it was written for a different device. For example, it talks about the 'main menu' but doesn't tell you how to find it. (You have to press the 'back' button when on the map screen.) Also there are many places where a short press and long press do different things. This isn't mentioned at all in the manual. Try to bring up the map menu and you're likely to create a waypoint instead. 3. Different names for things. Want to go to the map page? Well that's called 'Tracking'. Want to find which tracks you've saved on the device? I think that might be called 'activities'. Or maybe 'courses'. Who knows. 4. Doesn't create GPX files. On the 20 it was easy to dump a trace as a GPX, copy it to the PC and open it with e.g. Google Earth. On the SE, you have to create a .fit file, and then once it's on the PC, convert it with e.g. GPSBabel. Just why? 5. Very small internal memory. OK so this is a budget device but having only 28Mbytes is pretty stupid. 6. Poor customer support. Well they are responsive and they do try to answer questions but I honestly think they don't know themselves. After several emails with them, I still have no idea how to display a *saved* track in Garmin Explore.