North Edge Apache-46 Smart Watch

Height, pressure and north without a phone.

You are three ridges into a day walk, the cloud has come down, and the phone is on four per cent because it has spent all morning hunting for a signal it was never going to find. That is exactly when you want to know how high you are, which way the air pressure is heading, and where north is. It is also exactly when a phone is least likely to tell you.

Getting turned around does not start as an emergency. It starts as a wrong turn, then a longer day, then walking the last hour in the dark — and that is where rolled ankles, missed check-ins and somebody ringing for help come from.

The Apache-46 is a plain digital watch with a pressure sensor and a magnetic compass in it. Four buttons, a backlight, and a CR2032 coin cell behind a screwed stainless steel case back. It reads your altitude and plots the trend, reads sea-level pressure and plots that trend so you can see weather building, points to north once you have calibrated it, and reads temperature in °C. No charging cable, no app, no account to set up.

What It Does

• Altimeter mode: current altitude in metres, an altitude trend chart, temperature, and a relative-height setting so you can zero it at a known point.
• Barometer mode: current air pressure in hPa with a sea-level pressure trend chart, so a falling line tells you what the sky is about to do.
• Compass mode: azimuth in degrees with a direction-north indicator, plus compass calibration and a magnetic declination setting.
• Everyday functions: time and day, world time, alarm, countdown, chronograph, pacer, step counter, backlight and a low-battery reminder.

What It Solves

• Cloud on the ridge: you can still read your altitude, and whether you are climbing or dropping, which is often enough to put yourself back on the map.
• Deciding whether to push on: a pressure line that has been falling all afternoon is a better call on the weather than a forecast written for a town 80 km away.
• Out of a gully with no landmarks: take a bearing before you drop in, hold the azimuth on the way back out, and stop guessing which spur you came down.
• Boat, beach and kayak days: spray, rain and a swim off the back of the boat are all inside what the case is rated for, so it stays on your wrist instead of in a dry bag.
• Site work with no charger: a coin cell means there is nothing to plug in at smoko, and nothing to forget on the bench at home.

Key Features

• 46 mm case: 46 mm across, 14 mm deep and 95 g. A big face you can read at arm's length, and it wears like one.
• Metal case, knurled bezel: the supplier's material panel labels a metal case with a stainless steel case back held on by six screws.
• Tempered glass lens: stated as tempered glass on the same panel.
• FSTN digital display: three lines of digits with a backlight for night work.
• Nylon strap: pass-through nylon webbing with stainless steel keepers and buckle.
• One pressure sensor, two readings: the same sensor drives the altimeter and the barometer, which is why both are on the same watch.
• Magnetic compass: azimuth readout with calibration and magnetic declination, printed compass points around the dial.
• Temperature in °C: read off the watch, so it reflects the watch and your wrist, not the shade under a tree.
• CR2032 coin cell: engraved on the case back. No charging cable, no dock, no overnight top-up.
• W/R 50M on the case back: that is 5ATM. Read the Limits tab before you take it anywhere near depth.

Limits

This is the part most listings skip, so read it before you buy.

• 50 m does not mean 50 metres deep: the case back is engraved W/R 50M, which is 5ATM. That figure comes from a static pressure test in a factory, not from somebody swimming to 50 m. In plain terms it covers rain, washing up, spray and surface swimming. It does not cover snorkelling down, diving, or jumping in off a jetty.
• Never press the buttons in the water: the pushers are the weakest point on any watch. Push one while it is wet and you can drag water straight past the seal.
• Hot showers, spas and steam are worse than depth: heat expands the seals and steam gets past them. Take it off.
• Changing the battery breaks the seal: the CR2032 sits behind a screwed steel back. Once that back has been off, the water resistance is only as good as the gasket that went back in. Get it pressure tested by a watchmaker if you intend to swim in it again.
• The altimeter is a barometer: both readings come off one pressure sensor, so altitude drifts as the weather changes. Re-zero it against a known height — a trailhead sign, a spot height on the map — at the start of the day, and again if the weather turns.
• The compass needs calibrating: it is a magnetic compass. Keep it away from the bonnet of the ute, your phone and anything with a magnet in it, and set the magnetic declination for where you are or the bearing will be out.
• No phone, no app, no GPS: it does not pair with anything. No notifications, no call answering, no track logging, no maps. If a connected watch is what you are after, look at the FC20 Ultra Bluetooth smart watch instead.
• No health readings at all: there is no optical sensor on the back of this watch, so it does not read heart rate, blood oxygen, blood pressure or anything else about your body. It counts steps and that is the whole list. We are not going to pretend otherwise.
• Battery life is not published: the supplier does not state a runtime for the coin cell, so we are not quoting one. Heavy backlight use is what flattens a CR2032.
• No certificate sighted: the supplier's marketing images carry a "tested tough" stamp. That is a graphic, not a standard, and no test certificate was supplied with this product.
• It is a watch, not a navigation plan: a wrist altimeter and a digital compass are aids. On anything serious, carry a map and a proper baseplate compass as well.

Q & A

Can I swim with it?

Yes, on the surface. The case back is engraved W/R 50M, which is 5ATM, and that covers swimming, spray and rain. It does not cover snorkelling down, diving or hot showers. Do not touch the buttons while it is in the water.

Does it connect to my phone?

No. There is no Bluetooth, no app and no GPS in this model. Everything is set on the watch with the four buttons.

How big is it on the wrist?

46 mm across the case, 14 mm deep, 95 g. It is a big watch and it looks like one. If you prefer something that slides under a shirt cuff, this is not it.

What happens when the battery goes flat?

You replace the CR2032 coin cell. They are a few dollars from any battery shop. The case back is held on by screws, so a watchmaker is worth the small fee to reseat the gasket properly — especially if you swim in it.

How accurate is the altimeter?

The supplier does not publish an accuracy figure, so we will not invent one. What matters more in practice is that it is a pressure altimeter: re-zero it at a known height before you set off and it will track your climb honestly. Leave it alone through a weather change and it will drift.

Does it track heart rate or steps?

Steps, yes — there is a pedometer. Heart rate, no. There is no sensor on the case back to do it with.

The photos show red and grey straps. Do I get a choice?

No. Some of the supplier's images show other straps and other case colours. What ships from us is the one option listed: a black case on a black nylon strap.

How long does delivery take?

Free delivery to Australia and New Zealand. Allow 10 to 14 days from the day you place the order, and up to three weeks if you are regional or remote.

What if it turns up faulty?

Faulty or not as described, we sort it out. Change of mind is not covered, which is why the Limits tab above is written the way it is.

Specs

Watch It In Use

An independent review of this watch, including how the altimeter, barometer and compass modes are set up.