New watch

milhous

Going to use it for running and cycling and all related stats. Always fancied going garmin as they are made specifically for this purpose I thought they might have more reliable gps etc.

However on reading reviews it seems smartwatches are all caught up?

Anyone have any experiences to share?

I'd like to go for a fitbit ionic gps but I don't want to run into frustrations with acquiring gps, dropping said gps or have me constantly running through fields instead of on the road and cutting corners. I'm planning a few marathons this year so don't mind investing as It'll be worth but msybe a 500quid max.

Krusty_Clown

At up to €500, you can get a pretty decent watch. Personally (I'm a little biased), I'd be looking at a Garmin Fenix 5 or a Garmin 645 for that kind of money (or a Polar equivalent). If the focus is on sports, i wouldn't be looking at a Smartwatch. They're just not in the same ball-park yet. DC Rainmaker is probably a little less biased than I am, and you can read reviews of the various watches (including the Fitbit range) on his website here: https://www.dcrainmaker.com (Ionic review is here).

Kellygirl

I have the Fenix 5s and love it. The Garmin Vivoactive 3 is a great multi sport watch too and looks very similar to the Fenix. It is missing the stats such as recovery time etc in co parison to the Fenix but that’s about it. Both have a good few smart watch features too.

milhous

Thanks for the advice. I looked up the beat garmin for what I have planned and it was the garmin forerunner 735xt. I compared that to the ionic with reviews and spec. Ionic cost less and has a lot of extras

I was wary because it is a smart watch and not a sports one.

Biggest issue being the gps. First walk outside the door and it connected straight away. I've done about 5 activities (cycling and running) so far and the gps tracer is prob the best ive seen. I usually get tagged in runs on strava by a friend that uses a garmin and so far it seems more accurate.

The activities load to strava straight automatically and then you can edit okn strava to make publoic if you wish.

The fitbit app on mobile is great from water consumption tracker to sleep tracker.. they are def. Selling this data 😂 but even still I'm not annoyed. Great watch with great features.

I Also did a small pool swim and it tracked the lengths pretty well.

All in all I'm pretty happy and spent €300.. prob cheaper on Amazon but I couuldnt wait and went to currys.

I will post any complaints if I run into them and if anyone has questions ask away..

Goose76

milhous wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I looked up the beat garmin for what I have planned and it was the garmin forerunner 735xt. I compared that to the ionic with reviews and spec. Ionic cost less and has a lot of extras

I was wary because it is a smart watch and not a sports one.

Biggest issue being the gps. First walk outside the door and it connected straight away. I've done about 5 activities (cycling and running) so far and the gps tracer is prob the best ive seen. I usually get tagged in runs on strava by a friend that uses a garmin and so far it seems more accurate.

The activities load to strava straight automatically and then you can edit okn strava to make publoic if you wish.

The fitbit app on mobile is great from water consumption tracker to sleep tracker.. they are def. Selling this data �� but even still I'm not annoyed. Great watch with great features.

I Also did a small pool swim and it tracked the lengths pretty well.

All in all I'm pretty happy and spent €300.. prob cheaper on Amazon but I couuldnt wait and went to currys.

I will post any complaints if I run into them and if anyone has questions ask away..

How is the ionic holding up now a few months later? I'm considering getting one.

milhous

I used it throughout mara training (measured 42km flat instead 42.195km). It was pretty decent on runs but not exact. The app is he. I took it on a few long bike rides too and it worked out fine. GPS does eat the battery, it went dead on a fewer longer outings so I had to change settings from "always on". Sleep monitoring was great but I think I'm slightly obsessed with that due to having young kids.

If you're not interested in a smart watch and will use it for running only I'd say garmin is your best bet but this fitbit is a nice all rounder. Im back to my every day normal watch as i was getting a bit obsessed with stats and I've stopped the running etc. Im back at the weights in the gym.

Writing this on a phone with kids hanging outta me so sorry it's a bit all over the place. Ifc you have any specific questions I'd be happy to answer.

mo_bhicycle

I’ve used the Ionic, Apple Watch, Garmin Fenix 3 and Garmin 645 and nothing comes close to the Garmins for running. HRM on the first two are a waste of time and the running functionality isn’t close to Garmins.

shotgunmcos

How did you find the 645 vs the Fenix 3?

BeepBeep67

shotgunmcos wrote: »

How did you find the 645 vs the Fenix 3?

Light, additional features, such as REM sleep, I had the M so music, had to send the 1st one back, battery drain issues, generally battery only moderate, gave it to Mrs Beeps.
Had a trial of the 5 plus sapphire, bit on the heavy side, great GPS accuracy with the addition of Galileo, will get a play with the titanium version mid Aug.

mo_bhicycle

shotgunmcos wrote: »

How did you find the 645 vs the Fenix 3?

I love the 645. I find the HR accuracy to be very good vs any other wrist-based ones I've tried, including the older generation Garmins.
I don't have the music version and haven't experienced any of the issues that BeepBeep67 has, so hopefully it's limited to the 645M.
I was hesitant to go for the 645 initially as I do quite a bit of off-road stuff ... but the 645 is more than adequate for my needs.

theyoungchap

Being old-school, I have had a Garmin forerunner 305 for the past 12-13 years and with the exception of a new strap it has not given me 1 minutes problem!
I will change it when it kicks the bucket but not a day before then.
But my point is I would highly recommend Garmin as a manufacturer.

Goose76

milhous wrote: »

I used it throughout mara training (measured 42km flat instead 42.195km). It was pretty decent on runs but not exact. The app is he. I took it on a few long bike rides too and it worked out fine. GPS does eat the battery, it went dead on a fewer longer outings so I had to change settings from "always on". Sleep monitoring was great but I think I'm slightly obsessed with that due to having young kids.

If you're not interested in a smart watch and will use it for running only I'd say garmin is your best bet but this fitbit is a nice all rounder. Im back to my every day normal watch as i was getting a bit obsessed with stats and I've stopped the running etc. Im back at the weights in the gym.

Writing this on a phone with kids hanging outta me so sorry it's a bit all over the place. Ifc you have any specific questions I'd be happy to answer.

No thanks a million that's great. I have a Fitbit Charge 2 and considering the Ionic for the built in GPS - I bought the Charge 2 a few weeks before I started running and at the time swore I would never need built in GPS:rolleyes:

Want to stick with the Fitbit brand for sleep tracking and the compare feature with friends etc, they are also more stylish than the Garmins which is important as I will be wearing it all the time. It defo seems that the Ionic is the best bet out of the Fitbit range.

RunDMC

Don't forget to check out https://www.dcrainmaker.com
for some absurdly detailed reviews and comparisons for all these devices. It might help with the decision.

In my experience, for sporting activities like running, cycling and swimming, the sports watches with smart functions are nearly always better than smart watches with sports functions. It just depends on what your priority is.

R

mo_bhicycle

Goose76 wrote: »

Want to stick with the Fitbit brand for sleep tracking and the compare feature with friends etc

The Garmin sleep features are pretty good. They've recently modified their algorithms to use HRV (in supporting devices) in addition to accelerometer data which should improve accuracy further.
They're not quite as good on the friend comparison side of things though. Fitbit definitely do a much better job of the social side of things.

Goose76

consdering a Forerunner 645 music now instead of the Ionic or anything else in the Fitbit range...looks like I'm a real runner now :P

theyoungchap

theyoungchap wrote: »

Being old-school, I have had a Garmin forerunner 305 for the past 12-13 years and with the exception of a new strap it has not given me 1 minutes problem!
I will change it when it kicks the bucket but not a day before then.
But my point is I would highly recommend Garmin as a manufacturer.

I still use mine going on 10 years. it looks absurdly large but works fine.

greenspurs

theyoungchap wrote: »

Being old-school, I have had a Garmin forerunner 305 for the past 12-13 years and with the exception of a new strap it has not given me 1 minutes problem!
I will change it when it kicks the bucket but not a day before then.
But my point is I would highly recommend Garmin as a manufacturer.

I have a Forerunner 205 !
Its time to upgrade though, so im trying to make an informed choice.....

greenspurs

Garmin 35 in Elverys for €160 .

Good value ?

mo_bhicycle

greenspurs wrote: »

Garmin 35 in Elverys for €160 .

Good value ?

I think the Garmin 35 is a great value watch...I’ve got 1/2 my family wearing one 😛
Having said that I’ve the 645 because I wanted some of the more advanced functions.

BeepBeep67

greenspurs wrote: »

Garmin 35 in Elverys for €160 .

Good value ?

John Lewis and €4 for parcel motel

chris85

Using the FR 645 Music the past 3-4 months. Definitely I must charge it a bit more often (coming from FR220 which lasted for weeks on a charge) but this is understandable given the features with always on HR turned on. Uses considerably more battery when using the music feature but I love being able to go out with no phone for music and with ability to get music from spotify its a no brainer for me. Its also so light and easy to use.

Big bonus did you know you can get parkrun barcode to show on watch? I use an a Garmin app to do this and its nice.

Hurrache

I thought Parkrun insist on having the barcode on paper?

I do like the idea of having Spotify on my watch though.

mo_bhicycle

Which app are you using for the Parkrun barcode?

PhilOssophy

Old Garmins were great.
I had and old one and I've tried 2 Garmin's since and sent them all back to Amazon (235 and 35) - the GPS was absolutely crap, kept dropping, etc.
Since then, I've got a Polar M430 and I have to say the GPS is the most accurate I have seen. It rarely drops and if it does it corrects itself (I hadn't heard of the manufacturer before but saw a comparison between it and some other tracking devices and it was way above any Garmin device bar some device which cost €700 I think).

I've used it for both cycling and running and found it great.

It isn't as advanced as the Garmin with music controls etc but that's all bluster to me - tell me how fast/slow I'm running, how far, etc.

Their GUI isn't as advanced as Garmin either, but it tells you most of what you need to know.

Whatever happened Garmin devices since the original ones, I don't know.

BeepBeep67

mo_bhicycle wrote: »

Which app are you using for the Parkrun barcode?

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/494d7840-d4c5-4410-88b8-5d5a7624ced9

and use "Code128 Example;code128;AXXXXXX" AXXXXXX = Your parkrun code

aquinn

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/494d7840-d4c5-4410-88b8-5d5a7624ced9

and use "Code128 Example;code128;AXXXXXX" AXXXXXX = Your parkrun code

This would be great but having end user error. I now have Code128 Name Wrong format? No sign of a barcode. Help please. First time to see and use the connect IQ store.

Kellygirl

aquinn wrote: »

This would be great but having end user error. I now have Code128 Name Wrong format? No sign of a barcode. Help please. First time to see and use the connect IQ store.

I got it working - I typed in:

Code128 parkrun;code128;axxxxxxx

I presume that’s right as there’s a barcode showing on the watch now anyway but haven’t tried it at parkrun.

The Black Oil

After getting your barcode set up in your watch, might be worth downloading the volunteer app to see if it scans. The app reads the wristbands alright anyway.

https://blog.parkrun.com/ie/2019/04/09/the-virtual-volunteer-app/

aquinn

The Black Oil wrote: »

After getting your barcode set up in your watch, might be worth downloading the volunteer app to see if it scans. The app reads the wristbands alright anyway.

https://blog.parkrun.com/ie/2019/04/09/the-virtual-volunteer-app/

Still haven't fully figured it out but I know that it scans. Not sure parkrun willing to accept though as not official?

Dudda

aquinn wrote: »

Still haven't fully figured it out but I know that it scans. Not sure parkrun willing to accept though as not official?

I was scanning on Saturday. I couldn't care if you had the barcode tattooed to your arm as long the Parkrun mobile app I was using would detect and record the barcode. Can't see others having an issue either as long as it's fairly quick at detecting it. Don't want to spend more than a few seconds trying to get it to scan.

robinph

You might get away with having the barcode on your watch at parkrun, but if for any reason it doesn't scan or the volunteer refuses to scan a non-physical barcode then do not argue with them about it. Just accept your "unknown runner" status and walk away.