Sports / Smart Watch recommendations

[Trailhead]

Hi all

I am in the market for a sports watch but don’t know much about them so would appreciate recommendations.

Features i’d like:

1 - decent battery life, ideally a week of life
2 - GPS
3 - heart rate monitor / calorie burn

Nice to have:

4 - call / text notifications for iPhone
5 - waterproof or splashproof

Can anyone recommend one? From google I am looking at the Fitbit Ionic and Garmin Vivoactive 3

[barryrs]

I’m no expert but my wife is a keen runner and her group would consider those to be at the fashion end of the market.

Most use TomTom for accuracy, functionality and robustness.

I have a withings HR Steel Sport which is a hybrid watch and useable everyday with a 30 battery life.

Edited by barryrs on Monday 6th May 12:35

[Trailhead]

barryrs said:

I’m no expert but my wife is a keen runner and her group would consider those to be at the fashion end of the market.

Most use TomTom for accuracy, functionality and robustness.

I have a withings HR Steel Sport which is a hybrid watch and useable everyday with a 30 battery life.

Edited by barryrs on Monday 6th May 12:35

Thanks. I like the look of your HR Steel Sport. It’s a shame it doesn’t have GPS but the battery life is impressive.

[Luke.]

I've got both the Apple Watch and more recently the Galaxy Watch Active.

Much prefer the Galaxy Watch. It's far cheaper too.

[alorotom]

In the real world usage you’ll struggle to get a true non-hybrid smart watch that lasts a week.

But; my Apple Watch S3 Nike Cellular only takes about 35-40mins (normally) to charge from under 10% left and does a couple of days easy.

[Phil.]

A Fitbit Charge 3 will do everything you want. GPS requires a phone connection. Relatively low cost too. They are so inconspicuous that I wear mine on my right wrist when I want to wear a ‘nice’ watch on my left.

[ToNyC1]

I have a Garmin vivoactive 3 which should fit the bill apart from will be lucky to get more than 3 days out the battery.

[Jakarta]

I thought the default answer would have been Garmin Fenix 3 or 5?
I have the Fenix 3 with HR, fantastic piece of kit.
Very robust, battery lasts a few weeks if you don't use the GPS.
Step logger, calories, Smart connection, HR etc.
If you do sport diving then the next step up is the Garmin MK1, a full dive computer with gas options and all the regular sports logging too.

[anonymous-user]

I wouldn't go with TomTom (and I have one) as they've pulled out of the sports watch market and support could end at any time.

I think I would go for a Garmin 645 as it has buttons rather than a touchscreen and includes useful running metrics when paired with a pod - but I'd wait until one of the regular deals appears as it's a bit more expensive than the Vivoactive 3.

[C0ffin D0dger]

Garmin pretty much have the market sewn up for these sort of devices. I wouldn't look anywhere else, any running event I go to pretty much 9 out of 10 running watches worn are Garmins.

[bakerstreet]

barryrs said:

I’m no expert but my wife is a keen runner and her group would consider those to be at the fashion end of the market.

Most use TomTom for accuracy, functionality and robustness.

I have a withings HR Steel Sport which is a hybrid watch and useable everyday with a 30 battery life.

Edited by barryrs on Monday 6th May 12:35

Most use a TomTom? Sorry, I don't agree with that. Garmin were producing fitness trackers when TomTom were only known for Satnavs!

Garmin Fore Runner or if you have more money, the Fenix. With a bit of hunting, you can get the base model Fenix for around £300. I got my Fenix 5 in the Amazon Easter sale for £300

Howsoever, I know a few people who have a VivoActive and they are very happy with it. Only reason I didn't consider is is the lack of open water swimming support.

[barryrs]

bakerstreet said:

Most use a TomTom? Sorry, I don't agree with that. Garmin were producing fitness trackers when TomTom were only known for Satnavs!

Garmin Fore Runner or if you have more money, the Fenix. With a bit of hunting, you can get the base model Fenix for around £300. I got my Fenix 5 in the Amazon Easter sale for £300

Howsoever, I know a few people who have a VivoActive and they are very happy with it. Only reason I didn't consider is is the lack of open water swimming support.

Your in my wife’s running group?

[RizzoTheRat]

Have a think about what features you want. For me Garmins "Virtual Pacer" (other brands have similar things) which tells me how far ahead or behind a target pace I am is an essential feature, and sadly the Vivoactive doesn't have it. I also wanted an MP3 player so it came down to a toss up between the 645 Music and Fenix 5S Plus, both of which also have Garmin pay which I find useful.

Take manufacturers battery life claims with a pinch of salt though, my Fenix will do about 5 days if I don't use any of the features, with GPS and music on it's more like 5 hours, not tested battery life with GPS but no music yet. I assume the Fenix 5 plus and 5X plus get bigger batteries though, the S is the smallest case.

My wife's got the forerunner 935 (I think) and charges it about once a week if she's only doing 3 or 4 runs in a week, but it doesn't have music or Garmin Pay.

[FunkyNige]

ToNyC1 said:

I have a Garmin vivoactive 3 which should fit the bill apart from will be lucky to get more than 3 days out the battery.

If I don't use the GPS I probably get a week out of mine, I have turned off the gesture activated light and turn it off overnight though.

My wife also has one and gets similar battery life, the fact they charge in 30 minutes too is a big plus.

You get all the notifications from your phone on there, it's got an HR monitor on the back and is waterproof for swimming.

I would steer clear of the TomTom watches - I had one and it was a bit tempermental with connecting to your phone (a common issue looking at the forums) and TomTom have stopped supporting them.

[anonymous-user]

Garmin Forerunner 235 & about £160 (Amazon) fits the bill
Most impressed with mine which i got a few months ago.
Notifications from iphone etc
Customisable & clear.
Again, most runners I know use Garmin

Far more accurate than my Apple watch 3.Which was useless as a sports watch.

[deckster]

barryrs said:

Your in my wife’s running group?

Maybe, maybe not. But it's certainly true that in fitness circles that Garmin is the standard and TomTom frankly not even in the running (hoho).

[grumbledoak]

My Fenix 5 lasts a couple of weeks, including 40km per week on GPS, but I don't use it to play music.

[barryrs]

deckster said:

Maybe, maybe not. But it's certainly true that in fitness circles that Garmin is the standard and TomTom frankly not even in the running (hoho).

Good job that wasn't the point I made then

[Stockman14]

Trailhead said:

Hi all

I am in the market for a sports watch but don’t know much about them so would appreciate recommendations.

Features i’d like:

1 - decent battery life, ideally a week of life
2 - GPS
3 - heart rate monitor / calorie burn

Nice to have:

4 - call / text notifications for iPhone
5 - waterproof or splashproof

Can anyone recommend one? From google I am looking at the Fitbit Ionic and Garmin Vivoactive 3

I have the Ionic, does all of the above. With a leather or metal strap, can be worn on all occasions.
Battery life easily lasts a week, maybe slightly less when used every day for training.

[Freakuk]

Had a Garmin Fenix 5 for about a year now, battery lasts anywhere between 10 days and 2 weeks on a single charge, use it for gym and cycling. Lots of apps available to download/install also.

Don't even wear any of my expensive watches any more which shows how much I like this one.