HRM Watch Recommendations

25sean

Looking for a watch with HRM so I can leave my strap at home... I like Garmins.. simple is the theme and affordable is the price..

Anyone have any pointers?

Grma

barleyman

Was looking for the same thing, my garmin 910 finally gave up the ghost.

Just pulled the trigger on this: ELEMNT Rival Smart Sports Watch with GPS | Wahoo Fitness EU

Reduced to €99

Decided Garmin devices way too expensive.

seems to get an ok review: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/11/wahoo-rival-multisport-gps-watch-review.html

pairofpears

I'm using the Wahoo watch recently and it's very consistent in it's hrm compared to my Polar H10 and Wahoo Tickr.

Also at €100 it's a great price.

CramCycle

Thats exceptional value considering it was north of 300 a few years ago. I think the Garmins are superior but the price difference is not justifiable.

25sean

Good news! Never ventured outside Garmin, but I'm sure Wahoo are up to task, as said above, very good value

Might just pull the trigger

Many thanks

Weepsie

The wahoo watch got pretty soso reviews when they came out but has had a number of firm updates that addresses some of the complaints.

Only think stopping it for me is lack of nfc ( I use my watch to pay for things a lot when I'm caught out)

I use a vivoactive 4 which is a casual watch I guess. Does everything and nothing. No power meter integration if you want it, even though it has ant+

Macy0161

I find wrist heart rate can be a bit flaky for me on the bike. Fine for walking/ running/ easy bikes, but whatever way I hold my hands/ position my wrists when I'm under pressure (e.g. intervals or hard points in races) it drops out. Might be just n=1, but it's fine for commutes but anything else I go back to the chest strap. It's great for tracking resting heart rate though.

youtheman

I have a fairly 'basic' Garmin Forerunner 45 watch. Just select Menu>Wrist Heart Rate>Broadcast Heart Rate and my HR appears on the Screen on my Garmin bike computer. Works every time!. No longer have to use the HR chest strap!.

cletus

I have the Garmin Epix 2. It's excellent, and will show hr on the Edge.

It's definitely not a budget friendly option, though, and I think pretty much any of the Garmin watches can be set up to run as a HR sensor for your Edge. I know my Vivoactive 3 could.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121562487#Comment_121562487

I really wanted the EPIX 2 and still do as I think it is the most stylish and covers everything I would want but after the post above, I gave in, 100 euro for a half decent watch. I paid more than that for a low end garmin a few years ago and it served me well for a few years. I'll post a review when I get it but I will start with, it will always irk me a bit that its not the EPIX 2.

CramCycle

So here is my first few days review, for comparison, in the past I had a Polar (don't remember what, before smart watches, good for HR) and a Vivoactive 3.

I won't compare the Polar which was good at the time but was 10 years ago. So against the Vivoactive 3:

Heartrate: Both do a fine job but the Garmin wins on extra capabilities. This said, those capabilities such as HRV were wildly inconsistent. For now Garmin wins but possibly there is zero difference. Wahoo doesn't have the background apps, Garmin wins on these due to being more open to developers but that also leads to inconsistency. If they improved their app to offer HRV but I suspect it might not be sensitive enough.

Multisport: Garmin sort of wins, doesn't bother me as my sports are limited but Garmin appears to be more detailed on the individual sports, so long as you can parse your own data though, not much difference bar set up. For someone like me though, it's a non issue and for a person whose main sport is cycling, the Wahoo wins compared to the Vivoactive with setting up and recording.

Battery: I think the Wahoo is better, hard to tell just yet but I have everything on AFAIk and its only at 83% after 2 full days

Looks: The Wahoo looks better by a country mile. I really thought it didn't look great in the ads but it looks way better in real life and the straps are more comfy so far than the Garmin.

Intuitivity: Probably the Garmin but if you use the Wahoo ecosystem it probably is equal but the Garmin felt like I knew what to do from the minute I turned it on, and I do find I keep swiping a touchscreen that doesn't exist with the Wahoo but that is muscle memory rather than a fault.

Smartwatch stuff: I don't really use smartwatch stuff, so not a factor for me but the Garmin beats the sh1t out of the Wahoo so far.

Overall: For 99euro, it is a good watch and Wahoo are known as being solid with milking as much upgrades as is possible through software. It is certainly a good watch for the money but, and here is the honesty part, at 199euro, it was probably at a stretch for what its worth. The cajones on them to charge near 400 at one point after using it is incredible and trading on their name and early adopters was a courageous strategy. If I had the money though, I'd go for the Epix 2, but aesthetically, I would pick the Rival over the Vivoactive 3 by a country mile also. I'll update in a few days once I figure out can I get the data I want off it or not.

fat bloke

FYI If anyone is interested in a Vivoactive 3, we've 2 of em at home in a drawer, haven't been used in a year or more. There was nothing at all wrong with them wen we put them away, we just upgraded to other Garmin watches.

For anyone near Knocklyon area that would like to pick up, I'd let 'em go for tuppence ha'penny. May as well have someone using them. I've tried several times to get my daughters to use them but - they just don't like watches of any kind on their wrists.

secman

Yes please 🙏 I'll dig up tuppence

philten

Me too, my son has started running and would love one. I sent you a PM. Ta Phil

fat bloke

OK guys. Noted. - Let me dig them out when I go home this evening and make sure they're working and I'll give ye a shout.

fat bloke

Yo. Sorry to disappoint guys but I can only find one! The other might turn up yet but for the moment, I guess Secman was first in the queue. I've the watch in my hand here, I charged it up and reset it and it seems to be working bang on. I have a spare strap as well in a box that I got from Garmin.

secman

Sent PM to you

Cheers

philten

No probs, sure if it turns up give me a shout.

secman

@fat bloke

Many thanks for the watch and nice to meet you 👍

Ryath

Highly recommend the Garmin Instinct 2. Battery life is excellent and the solar version if you spend a lot of time outdoors you'll barely need to charge it. It's replaced my head-unit for commutes and more casual rides. The Crossover version with analogue hands came out after I bought mine. I may be tempted to upgrade to it if I see a good deal.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2022/02/garmin-instinct2-2s-2-solar-in-depth-review.html

https://www.amazon.de/Instinct-Smartwatch-Infinite-Notifications-Analysis/dp/B09MTPKSCZ

https://www.amazon.de/Instinct-Smartwatch-Infinite-Notifications-Analysis/dp/B09MTPJ667/

secman

Anyone have a spare garmin watch charger suitable for vivoactive 3. Tried CSS this morning and they had sold last one yesterday. Just checking here before I get onto Garmin.

Cheers

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121610875#Comment_121610875

https://amzn.eu/d/3lsqKk4

I bought these on Amazon. They work perfectly.

CramCycle

Pretty sure I have one as my vivoactive packed in, remind me to have a look tomorrow adn I'll posy on Tuesday if I have it

secman

Fair play Cram, called into several Garmin stockists today, majority of them actually don't stock replacement charger cables, CSS sold last one in stock yesterday.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121612966#Comment_121612966

Can't believe I found it straight away, it's in an envelope and in my work bag, just drop me an address to send it to

secman

Sent a PM

Much appreciated 👏, I can revolut you to cover post etc let me know.

JMcL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121610875#Comment_121610875

I wouldn't go near the official Garmin one, they're about 5 times the price of the no-name ones from Amazon

Just to add my 2c to Cram's Vivoactive/Wahoo comparison. I've had a Vivoactive 4 for about 3-1/2 years now and overall I've been happy with it. It'll record walks, steps, stairs etc, and I'll use it for those times when out on the bike with no PM - commutes, spins into town etc. The main insight into HRV seems to be their "Body battery" feature, and I find by and large it reflects how I'm feeling - though I didn't really need it to tell me that going out to do a 5 hour ride on new years day would have been very dumb 🤪. The battery seems to have degraded quite a bit. A full charge would have lasted about 6 days when new - ir's currently around 3-3.5 (with minimal GPS use). It dropped off quite suddenly maybe a year ago, and I was a bit peeved about it, but I've only realised in typing this that I've actually had it as long as I have, so it's probably reasonable enough, and still long enough to make it worthwhile.

One thing to note with the Vivoactive series - especially important if you want to use it on the bike - is that they've removed the altimeter, so no elevation (also no stair climbing metrics). Their watch range is a dog's dinner at the minute in terms of what has what. It's a shame, as I felt the VA was a bit of a Goldilocks device in looking reasonably like a normal watch, not being too big, features, and price. Closest in the current range is probably the Forerunner 255 or Venu 3 - both more expensive, but will also record power

I've never used the music integration or paired headhones - I've a phone with a bigger battery for that, and the sleep functionality is a bit pointless - it still scolds me for not sleeping 8 hours every night despite all the data it's hoovered up over the years showing me sleeping less than 7 generally and functioning very well nonetheless.

secman

Yeah used the varo 3 from Friday evening with 66% battery until this morning when it had 4% left on it. Handy using it for walks and pilates for sure, have a Garmin 840 for bike spins. I'll charge it up fully when I get the charger on Wed hopefully ? Ordered a no name one on Amazon and will leave that one in Wexford.

fat bloke

Simple stuff like turning the display brightness down to 5%, minimising the timeout and turning off some of the smart stuff or notifications can massively boost battery life too. I set mine for low power mode during the night as well and turn off the vibration notifications etc.

secman

Thanks FB for the tips, hopefully have a charger tomorrow morning 👍

JMcL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121627982#Comment_121627982

The Vivoactive up to and including the 4 were inherently low power using e-ink (can't remember the actual name they give it off the top of my head) with the backlight coming on when you move your wrist to look at it. But on the smart stuff agree and have almost all of it turned off. Automatic pulse ox measurement was a particular offender the couple of times I tried it.