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Highgear Axio Max Multifunction Watch

$150.00

(9)

Item # 785085

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Strap on the feature-laden Highgear Axio Max multifunction watch and track your elevation, the weather forecast, directions and more!

Altimeter with Swiss sensor reports current elevation in 1m (3 ft.) increments and features 2 altitude alarms
Barometer reports changing trends in the weather; 12-hr. forecast feature predicts upcoming weather changes
Thermometer reports temperature with 1° resolution in Fahrenheit or Celsius (minimum -4°F to maximum 158°F)
Displays time and date; features 2 programmable alarms, 2 time zones and 12/24-hr. readout
Rest and hydration alarms help you pace yourself and stay hydrated
Backlight provides easy viewing in the dark
Water resistant to 50m (164 ft.)

Imported.

Item 785085

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Highgear Axio Max Multifunction Watch Customer Reviews

REVIEW SNAPSHOT®

by PowerReviews

Highgear Axio Max Multifunction Watch

3.6

(based on 9 reviews)

67%

of respondents would recommend this to a friend.

Pros

Accurate (6)
Easy to set up (4)
Simple controls (4)
Well built / quality (4)
Reliable (3)

Cons

Best Uses

Backcountry camping (4)
Day trip (3)
Survival (3)
Travel (3)

- Reviewer Profile:
- Practical (4), Athletic (3)

Reviewed by 9 customers

Sort by

Displaying reviews 1-9

May

2009

(10 of 14 customers found this review helpful)

1.0

Watch failed within 1 month

By kayakak

from Minneapolis, MN

About Me Outdoor Professional

See all my reviews

Pros

Easy To Set Up
Simple Controls
Strong Construction
Waterproof

Cons

Buttons too big
Watch unreliable

Best Uses

Backcountry Camping

Comments about Highgear Axio Max Multifunction Watch:

When wearing belay /work gloves and bending your wrist, the gloves easily push the buttons on the watch. Listening to the constant beeping and seeing the watch face cycle through it's functions is annoying. After 1 month the watch froze. Buttons no longer work, and it reads 9:06pm permenantly. Very disappointing. Glad it happened in the frontcountry and not while in the field.

Oct

2009

(9 of 9 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

Good product - great price!

By hiker5150

from Los Angeles, CA

About Me Gearhead

See all my reviews

Pros

Accurate
Compact
Easy To Set Up
Long Battery Life
Reliable Performance
Simple Controls
Strong Construction
Waterproof

Cons

Best Uses

Backcountry Camping
Day Trips
Survival

Comments about Highgear Axio Max Multifunction Watch:

This is an excellent watch. I have had mine for about a month and a half. I had a Suunto Vector - which is also a good watch. But this one is cheaper in cost and for the money is better.

The face is nicer to me and "cleaner" than the Suunto - easier to read. The face is made of mineral glass, which is nice. (The Vector is plastic, the Core is glass.) The band has a nice "feature" that locks it in so that the loose end doesn't flap around. Very handy so it doesn't snag on clothes, etc.

It tells the time accurately. The backlight is good. The other features are also accurate: Stopwatch good. Compass after declination is set, is accurate. Altimeter and barometer are accurate - though it does need some reseting at times (pressure indoors tends to cause it to change).

Size: suprisingly fits well. I have a small wrist for a man and this watch doesn't look overly large. It is quite light as well - so doesn't feel like a brick on your wrist.

Overall this is a good watch, is durable so far and for the cost beats the Suunto Core. I recommend it to the average to mid-level backpacker and a serious backpacker would want to consider it too.

Sep

2010

(5 of 7 customers found this review helpful)

3.0

Good but...

By Wood Doc

from Corvallis OR

About Me Athletic, Classic, Practical

See all my reviews

Pros

Accurate
Quality Construction

Cons

Bulky
Inaccurate
Too Big

Best Uses

Travel

Comments about Highgear Axio Max Multifunction Watch:

I bought the watch to track altitude gained and lost while mtn biking and hiking. NOT. Unfortunately, I have to remember to stop at the top and bottom of every rise or hollow and push a button to record the high and low. Then I have to go back at the end of the ride / hike and do the calculations from the stored data.

In addition, the sensor is VERY sensitive to changes in barometric pressure. If I'm out in changing weather, which is most of the time in the spring and fall in OR, the changes in baro pressure cause changes in indicated altitude, rendering many / most readings inaccurate.

I just bot a bike computer for $100 that will do this task automatically. Hmmm

The watch is so bulky that I only use it hanging from a carabiner on my Camelback. It won't fit inside the sleeve of any of my clothes.

The compass was a nice addition but I never use it as I always follow a map.

I like the temp sensor but i have to take the watch off to get a reading of the air temp, otherwise I just get a reading of my wrist temp.

There are other tools that, individually will do a better job of all these tasks.

May

2009

(5 of 13 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

I would buy this watch again!!!

By Stumpy

from Denver Colorado

About Me Outdoor Enthusiast

See all my reviews

Pros

Accurate
Compact
Easy To Set Up
Reliable Performance
Simple Controls
Strong Construction

Cons

Best Uses

Backcountry Camping
Campgrounds
Day Trips
Road Trips
Survival
Trail Running

Comments about Highgear Axio Max Multifunction Watch:

Great watch compass could be better!But over all works really well on the trails!!I would buy this watch again!

Jul

2010

(3 of 3 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

Great Altimeter Watch

By bw09

from San Francisco, CA

About Me Athletic, Practical, Techie

See all my reviews

Pros

Comfortable
Quality Construction

Cons

Bulky

Best Uses

Hiking
Skiing

Comments about Highgear Axio Max Multifunction Watch:

I received this watch as a gift, and I love using it for skiing and hiking. It's large, but not too bulky. I'm still working on understanding the altitude setting.

The built in compass is great, but they're serious about avoiding magnets. I got too close to some lightly magnetized iron with my first one, and the compass never worked after that. Calibration is hard too.

Jan

2010

(2 of 2 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

Great Watch!

By Leary

from Munster, IN

About Me Outdoor Enthusiast

See all my reviews

Pros

Accurate
Easy To Set Up
Reliable Performance
Simple Controls
Waterproof

Cons

Best Uses

Backcountry Camping
Campgrounds
Day Trips
Survival

Comments about Highgear Axio Max Multifunction Watch:

The most useful piece of equipment to carry around with you, no matter what you do!
The watch is extremely user friendly.
The watch fits the wrist very well and is not cumbersome at all, the buttons are very easy to press, which does allow for accidental button pressing.
Once fully calibrated and set up this watch is golden.
Compass is accurate, best used just to gain your bearing and go.
Altimeter works good, thermometer does work very well but only if you leave it off your wrist for a few minutes.
Worth every dollar you spend on it!

Mar

2011

(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

2.0

compass calibration impossible

By jason port oregon

from Portland Oregon

About Me Athletic

See all my reviews

Pros

Comfortable
Not too big
Simple

Cons

Inaccurate

Best Uses

Outdoors

Comments about Highgear Axio Max Multifunction Watch:

Watch is great if you can calibrate it. The only way I've been able to calibrate the compass is to use the original box to keep it level as you rotate it. It would be nearly impossible to calibrate in the field. The only problem is they say explicitly not to active the compass around electronics, motorized vehicles, or anything that can create a magnetic field. Well easier said than done, since the first tool activated by the mode button is the compass! So anytime you accidentally hit the mode button (which is pretty often) the first thing to come up in the compass. Bad idea on High Gears end. Numerous times I've been driving looked to check the time and saw the compass on. Now I can no longer get the compass to calibrate at all. Also I don't really see the point of baro based altimeters. The only way these will even work is if your weather never changes, or your altitude never changes, since one affects the other. Example: if your descending a mt.(increasing pressure) and a storm rolls in (decreasing pressure). Or if you can constantly calibrate it, at which point you know your elevation anyway. [...]

Feb

2011

(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

Simple, Low-Key ABC Watch

By Maddog Chiu

from Cali

About Me Practical, Traveler

See all my reviews

Pros

Accurate
Quality Construction
Stylish

Cons

Press Buttons accidently

Best Uses

Daily Use
Outdoor activities
Travel

Comments about Highgear Axio Max Multifunction Watch:

I got the Highgear® Alterra™ Altiware® Altimeter over 2.5 years ago before I got the Axio Max. I returned the Alterra because the rubber trimmings were peeling, so afterwards, I wanted to make sure the next watch body is not a composite (metal/plastic) that may peel again.I was also looking for an ABC (Altimeter/ Barometer/ Compass) watch that is not too techie (okay... too nerdy) looking. Instead, I want a watch that's towards a simple look. All of the Suunto watches are very busy/ techie looking. They area also very pricing ($200+).I use the Axio watch for cross-country skiing/ Alpine skiing, hiking, mountain biking, and traveling.This is what I like about this watch:PROS *Although the display is still pretty busy, it's probably as simple as you can get for an ABC watch. After all, a lot of functions is packed into it. *Compared to the Alterra (former watch), I prefer the Axio Max's COMPASS display. It has pixels circling the watch face to point out the direction of North. It also displays the bearing and the cardinal direction (N, NE, NNE, etc...). *I've learned my previous Alterra watch that metal watches with black paint on it (black oxide?) will get rubbed off easily. It will make you watch look aged quickly. The soft-feel plastic (urethane?) body and band retained its look pretty well. *Altimeter seems to be accurate, but I mainly use it as a reference. Some reviews said that it's accurate, so I trust them on that. What I like about Axio is that I can switch from feet to metric with just a push of a button. With my previous watch, I was traveling through the Thai jungle with a few Aussies. Since they use the metric system, I have to convert Feet to Meters with my head (Alterra takes a little more to set from feet to metric).(NOTE TO FIRST TIME ALTIMETER WATCH BUYERS: You have to understand that most altimeter watches are measure by the atmospheric pressure, not by GPS. You will have to re-calibrate the watch daily to keep it accurate. Re-calibrate your watch once you've arrived to a city from a flight.) CONS *There are 5 buttons and they stick out just enough to get PRESSED ACCIDENTALLY. More than a few times, the watch switched from Time 1 to Time 2 without me noticing it. *The previous Alterra watch actually charts the altitudes and barometer in time sequences. This Axio Max does not. Instead, it only displays the reading as it appears at the moment. (Personally, I prefers Axio Max because it does not have more functions like this.) *The main digital readout looks like the standard cheap watch readout with "7 sticks" to create each number. The previous Alterra watch looker better since it uses a lot of pixels to create a more "refined" the number display. As for measuring the temperature, I don't bother. Unless I take the watch out and have it latched to my backpack outside, it will be inaccurate since body heat affects the readout. This pretty much applies to all watches with a temperature readout anyway.Overall, I like the watch because it's a simple ABC watch in both function and looks without looking too cheap. It makes it a good watch to travel. It's a good low profile casual wear that functions well in the outdoors instead of a watch that screams "I'm outdoorsy!" or "I'm expensive! Steal me!".