Price: $60-99 USD (online)
I've acquired many pieces of outdoor gear this season, and I would like to share my experience with each of these tools both for my own reflection and for the benefit of others in the market. I have been looking for an altimeter for a couple seasons now, and my first review will cover my trusty new wrist-top aid, the LaCrosse XG-55.
To get us started, here's the key feature list from the box: altimeter, compass, barometer, chronograph, forecast, dual time/alarms, backlight, water resistant. The XG-55 comes in an attractive silver with black band and a red accent around the face, similar to many timex-style watches. Large, easy to use buttons make it simple to use with gloves on, the LCD brightness is great and the backlight is ample. The watch itself is a little bulky, but not uncomfortable or awkward.
The XG55 starts out with all your basic digital watch functions including date, time, day, altitude, temp, barometer, and forecast overlays all on the main screen. From here you can access alarm, chrono, and timer functions as well. Fairly intuitive, works like most other digital watches that I've used.
Pressing the Mode button moves you over to the barometer function, which can be calibrated to the current sea level pressure. The display shows both barometric pressure and temp, with the time in the lower sector. Holding St/Sp toggles the barometer reading between in/hg and mbar, and also the temp between F and C. Barometer has a 12 hour recall memory.
Out of the box I found the altimeter to be very accurate and quite useful. It reads in intervals of a foot (although it can also display meters)and also shows the time/temp overlay. This is a barometric altimeter however, so it is VERY susceptible to fluctuation based on local barometric pressure, and must be calibrated frequently if you want it to be accurate. Calibration isn't the most intuitive, so don't throw out the instruction book. Altimeter also has 12 hour recall.
Finally, the compass. This is a digital compass and best for approximations only. You can take a reading fairly well, however you usually have to take the watch off to get a good line of sight. It has an "off cal" indicator in case you are holding it tilted or are getting too much interference from metal around you, which is nice to alert you if the reading is wacky. Directions are given in NSEW and degrees, which make it nice to casually check a bearing while walking, but I wouldn't trust this thing over the standard compass in my pack for map reading and waypoint finding.
Overall I give it 4 stars. It lacks the high end features of a full function GPS watch, and is a little larger in form factor than some of its cousins, but for the functionality they pack in for the price, you can't beat it. The XG-55 is a great companion for the novice to advanced backcountry user looking for a capable, affordable wrist top.
Tech Specs
Actual Size: 2.12" x 1.38 " x 0.62"
# Altimeter Range: -2306 feet to 30,065 feet
# Barometer Range: 8.85inHg to 32.48inHg
# 5 Weather Forcast Icons
Compass Range:
# 0 to 359 (digital)
# 1 to 60 pointers (graphical)
Chronograph Range:
# 99 hours, 59 minutes, 59.99 seconds
# 100 Lap History
# Recall Lap History and Total Time
Timer Range:
# 99 hours, 59 minutes, 59.99 seconds
# Countdown Mode with Quick Set Values: 3, 5, 10, 15, and 45 minutes
# Timer sounds for 30 seconds when count reaches zero
# Thermometer Range: 14.0F to 140.0F (-10.0C to 60.0C)
# Water Resistant Case: Up to 100 Feet
# EL Backlight
# Watch Power Source:
# Single 3V lithium battery (CR2032)
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