Just put the money you'll give to Fenix 5X+ to a bank and draw it when Fenix 6X is released. I hope that'll give enough interest to cover the cost of Fenix 6X and maps bought, too. :)
Honestly that is the plan at the moment. I'm not quite sold on the upgrade, especially given that I might need to spend an extra $100 to get the mapping capabilities that are already available in my 5x.
Oh, you just upgraded to a brand new iPhone X? That's great! Now please buy your Apps all over again! But I had them on my iPhone 6! It doesn't matter as all Apps are locked to your previous iPhone 6 and now they won't work on the X!
Talky toaster maps are no better for that as he takes his data from OSM mapping, and for some you have to pay.
1) The OP didn't state his concern about paying for maps. 2) The concern seemed to be about lack of routable tracks, of which the talky toaster tracks are routable and at a greater resolution than 1:100K that comes with the watch.
Martin at talkytoaster is pretty accomodating and can show a sample of the area prior to purchase if you ask. This way you can see if it meets your needs or not.
True, but there are other 'routeable' OSM maps about, just want the OP to have the full picture ;)
Personally though when I'm hiking, as the OP seems to include as an activity, I would never rely on using routes suggested by routeable maps, preferring instead to create my own.
I think it depends, if you use the ordinary mass tourism routes/ways and just enter a destination and press go, these map can be useful. For individual routes, this way of use could even be dangerous. But I think, almost 90% of users of a gps handheld/wearable don’t need it really for orientation, they just use is for distance to destinations (and almost all mass tourism ways are plastered with signs, so you can’t miss the way).
I'm not sure I'm doing this the most efficient way, but what I've done is planned my route in basecamp and then transferred it to the watch. The OSM map that I tried required adding a ton of extra points along the way because the trail itself was not routable. In the 24k, I can easily place a point where I start on that trail and the junction to the next one and basecamp fills in the points along the way. I could probably get by without the route all together and just follow the map while directly, but I find the course/route useful. If nothing else it is nice to know the distance I have left to cover for the day.
I've also had some success with routes from Strava for more "well known" trails, but the process for planning long backpacking routes in strava is somewhat similar to the experience of the OSM maps in basecamp likely because the underlying map is the same. Many of the trails I've done in New Mexico or Colorado are simply not routable on when using OSM.
I don't want to pop for another $100 bucks just to transfer something I already own to a new watch. The cost really isn't the issue, but rather the principal. Additionally, i'm doing a trip to Chicago Basin next month (assuming the forest doesn't end up closed again due to wildfires). On that trip we'll send some time on well known trails and then some off trail time to summit 4x 14k peaks. Having the course planned out to get us into the basin and get us close to the off trail approach before we go is likely going to be useful. The extra resolution of the 24k map will also be helpful. While I'd like to see the SpO2 data for sleeping at high elevation and while on the peaks, the 24k map resolution is more important to me on this trip.
If GPS accuracy of the 5x+ were worlds better in the mountains, I might consider the upgrade, but honestly my 5x is likely close enough in accuracy that it would be hard to distinguish based on the tracks I've seen so far. I had my first run with Galileo this morning and I'm not sure it is better/worse than GPS+Glonass yet. I suspect that if i really cared about "best" accuracy i would purchase an etrax or something similar.
So what would be the best way to get the 24k maps to the 5x+ and be able to transfer them to another device later? Can you purchase the maps on a card and use them on the PC then send the maps to the 5X+ via Basecamp?
Does the watch read tracks as well as routes? If so create the route in BaseCamp using whichever map you prefer, then convert it to a track and send that to the 5+. You can then follow the track as that won't get messed about by your watch.
