new watch needed..advice please

OffalyMedic

Hi there, I'm looking to buy a sports watch for running. Main reason is to track my running data (distance, pace, intervals, etc) to help me train for first 10k then hopefully HM and who knows what else. Currently I just use my phone to track & record data with mapmyrun and 5kto10k app . But I would like to have the option of running with just a watch (more comfortable) and sync with app later.

My key criteria are:
1. HR monitoring - not a necessity but like the idea
2. Accurate GPS. Want to know my exact distance and pace.
3. Sync quickly with app either their own or mapmyrun/strava.
4. A watch that is neat and tidy on wrist with good interface as I want to use it as a regular day to day watch when not runnin
5. Would love if it had music playing capabilities via wireless earphones to eliminate carrying 2 devices (watch +phone/ipod).
6. Dont mind if it has smartwatch features like taking calls, sms but I do want a watch thats main function is for sports purposes.

Budget is about 200-250max

TheBigGreen

I bought a second hand Garmin FR 620 with HRM chest strap, works perfectly and will be using for CCM training next year.

OffalyMedic

TheBigGreen wrote:

I bought a second hand Garmin FR 620 with HRM chest strap, works perfectly and will be using for CCM training next year.

Has it music capabilities?

TheBigGreen

shaunac93 wrote: »

Has it music capabilities?

Nope, missed that in your post.

Johnny_Fontane

I bought the TomTom Runner 3 in September. I think it was €199.
There is a version with music but I didnt need that.

https://www.tomtom.com/en_ie/sports/running-watches/#productLineup

Its my first gps watch and it works great. tomtom sports app syncs directly to runkeeper, but the tomtom app is fine, so runkeeper is just like a back up.

GPS seems to be very accurate and it picks up a signal once you are outside pretty quickly. The HR monitor seems to work well. Whether it as accurate as a chest strap, I dont know. I dont think its relevant either though, because the numbers it gives me tells me exactly what I need to know.

Supercell

FWIW I got a Garmin 630 and returned it because the touch screen drove me bonkers and the advanced runnning metrics were a bit meh, interesting numbers but in practice not much use at my level.
Replaced it with Garmin 235 beacuse the screen wasn't touchscreen and had the on wrist HRM.

If I was buying again I would get the Garmin 230 because the on wrist 235 HRM isnt reliable enough IMHO (using it with my old chest strap now instead) and uncomfortably tight to wear all day if you want to use semi-reliably it all day, and would get a screen cover because the original material seems to be a magnet for smuges and scratches which the current cover i got for it (Brotect HD clear) has negated to a large extent.
If you do go for a garmin, would also recommend using the "Single Run" Connect IQ data field if running, very easy to read on the go even for a glasses wearer like me and quite customisable.

OffalyMedic

Extensive search of amazon watehouse deal revealed the following which would you recommend?

TomTom Runner 3 Cardio + Music €161
TomTom Runner 3 Music €146
TomTom Runner 2 music €106
TomTom Spark cardio + music €147
TomTom Spark 3 music €150
TomTom Spark cardio + music €148
TomTom Spark music €95

Johnny_Fontane

I have the Runner 3 Cardio (w/o music). I use a sandisk music player for music. weighs nothing, clips to anything. https://www.sandisk.com/home/mp3-players/clip-sport

rom

1. HR monitoring - not a necessity but like the idea
Accurcy on this can be a bit of a pain. My wife's Garmin 225 HR measuring is dreadful while my garmin 735 is right nearly all of the time.

2. Accurate GPS. Want to know my exact distance and pace.
Distance is normal good within a margin of error and down to where you are going due to tree/building cover etc. Pace on the other hand is something that no watch is accurate at. Instant pace is not good on any watch I have used. Lap pace is always what you want to use and have autolap at a km or mile or some short distance thats not too short like 100/200m

http://fellrnr.com/wiki/GPS_Accuracy
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2011/03/art-of-pacing-with-garmin.html

3. Sync quickly with app either their own or mapmyrun/strava.
Any garmin will do this, don't know about other watches tbh.

4. A watch that is neat and tidy on wrist with good interface as I want to use it as a regular day to day watch when not runnin
Find my 735 fits this perfectly. Any of the garmins with connect IQ support different watch faces so you can make them look like a more like an everyday watch. They more expensive ones normally have different power modes. dc rainmaker is probably your best bet.

5. Would love if it had music playing capabilities via wireless earphones to eliminate carrying 2 devices (watch +phone/ipod).
I think this is a wish for all of us but motoactv was the only watch that did this. It did a lot of things but as a running watch it was very poor. You couldn't do any interval training with it as there is no lap button and if you took off your hr strap it would simply just hold onto the last number so on failure it just holds your last hr value rather than drop to 0 so given you inaccurate data. Nice watch for a beginner or just for a long run but useless other than that. I am not sure but I think they have discontinued their portal also which is a lame move even though the watch is end of life. Main reason is to stay with bigger brands like garmin, polar etc is that you know your data will still be there in 10 years time as they are not going to simply say nah we will kill off the product line

6. Dont mind if it has smartwatch features like taking calls, sms but I do want a watch thats main function is for sports purposes.
Again this is only available in watches outside of your price range. I would stay clear of any budget watch with this feature as it would just be masking its missing running features like the Garmin - vivoactive HR Smartwatch does.

Budget is about 200-250max

So for your budget and you say that you are running your first 10k I would recommend a garmin 225 (older version thus cheaper)

https://pricespy.co.uk/#rparams=ss=Garmin%20225 (parcel motel if they won't deliver or deliver is more that 4 euro to Ireland)

Using your watch to run in your aerobic zone is probably best bang for you buck time wise when moving from 5 to 10k and this watch will show your HR data.

note button are better than touchscreen as they work even if you are sweating buckets.

TomTom watch review here https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/11/tomtom-spark-review.html
no buttons would be a deal breaker for me.

I think of a running watch that it needs to be a very good watch for running and everything else is nice to have. For example a knife with a big blade is probably the best to cut veg but a swiss army knife will do it also and also do so many other things. specialized running watches are expensive as they one thing well rather than many thing half ok. You may say ah sure I don't mind etc but clearly from your expectation on distance and pace which are normally what you think are must haves many watches fail very badly. I had a watch that used to have me crossing the river lee (1/2) wide such was the inaccuracy of the gps in a non wooded area quite often.

btw the Sandisk is a great player also. I use the nano 6th gen which is probably the best running mp3 player before they messed it up. bluetooth audio means another thing to charge and another thing to go dead on your run and good headphones are not cheap for BT.

PeadarK

The garmin forerunner 230 and 235 are brilliant watches. Have the 230 now. Brilliant watch. Ticks every box.
Going to sell the 230 however to buy the 235 as I don't like wearing a HR chest strap

murpho999

Do people see the Apple Watch series 2 as a possibility as it has GPS now?

Krusty_Clown

murpho999 wrote: »

Do people see the Apple Watch series 2 as a possibility as it has GPS now?

Not for me. The battery life puts it completely out of contention.

murpho999

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Not for me. The battery life puts it completely out of contention.

2 colleagues, recently got one each and say they get 2 days out of it.

veggie newbie

I'm also looking for a watch with HR monitor & GPS tracking, would like it to sync with mapmyrun. GPS more important for me than HR. I notice the Fitbit watches didn't feature on any of the recommendations. Should I steer clear of these?

Singer

Fitbit Surge is on this review: http://thesweethome.com/reviews/best-running-watch/ - it's not particularly recommended. Looks like it's slightly cheaper than a Garmin 235, but the Garmin's got a lot better reviews.

HelenAnne

I know I am probably swimming against the tide by wanting a watch to do LESS rather than more, but I'm looking for recommendations for a new watch.

I have the Garmin Forerunner 10 which I LOVE and don't really want to replace, I just fear it's getting a bit old. It can take AGES to get a satellite, and the battery life appears to be going down.

I'd like a watch that gets a signal quickly when I turn it on, tells me my pace accurately while I'm running, and tells me afterwards how far and fast I've run. I'd like it to be simple to use -- I don't want to have to scroll through loads of screens.

I don't care about heartrate (though I suppose I should!), I don't care if it connects to Strava etc or not as I don't upload my watch data anywhere and I CERTAINLY don't want it taking phone calls etc as some new watches claim to do.

I suppose I wouldn't mind if it had an easy to program function where I could get it to beep every three minutes or something to tell me to change pace if I was doing a fartlek run or whatever.

But to cut a long question short, what's the best reliable, very basic watch?

Thanks!