Best smart / swim watch

budhabob · 01-01-2019 2:25pm #1

Hey folks,
I'm getting back into swimming after 2 years of inactivity. I have a Garmin swim watch, but as a tech nerd also I'd like to get a smart watch that tracks my fitness and swimming.
I did a bit of googling and Samsung Galaxy watch and Garmin vivoactive seem to be highly rated.
Any advice recommendations welcome,
Thanks,
Rob

EmptyTree · 01-01-2019 3:04pm

I know it's not a watch, but I recently got the polar H10 and find it a great piece of kit. The app on the phone is excellent and it's all relatively cheap compared to the watches mentioned above. Polar also do some watch variations so they might be worth a look, but for accurate heart rate monitoring I'd recommend the chest monitor. Obviously the H10 will be lacking in other non-fitness areas like reading a text...... Or telling the time :pac: but it could be worth considering.

i71jskz5xu42pb · 01-01-2019 3:15pm

budhabob wrote: »

I did a bit of googling and Samsung Galaxy watch and Garmin vivoactive seem to be highly rated.

Same as yourself, I had a look around a few months ago for something I was just using for swimming. Settled on the Garmin vivoactive, the square one as opposed to the newer one based on the fact that it had some good reviews specifically for swimming. I was really just using it for lap counting which it did well enough. Picked one up second hand on eBay for about €70 euro. Got rid of it in the end, for just lap counting it was hardly worth it.

budhabob · 02-01-2019 1:34pm

Layton Wailing Chrysalis wrote: »

Same as yourself, I had a look around a few months ago for something I was just using for swimming. Settled on the Garmin vivoactive, the square one as opposed to the newer one based on the fact that it had some good reviews specifically for swimming. I was really just using it for lap counting which it did well enough. Picked one up second hand on eBay for about €70 euro. Got rid of it in the end, for just lap counting it was hardly worth it.

Cheers for the responses folks.
I want it for tracking lengths / distance etc, but also steps etc....but would like some smart tech elements aswell - texts etc.

Youre right though, I have a basic lap counter, and found it useless outside of swimming, so want more functionality.

slowswimmer · 02-01-2019 11:01pm

Check out the Suunto Spartan trainer wrist hr. About 240 e does the texts steps multisports cluding swimming laps etc. I have one and pairs with my Samsung phone so tracks my weekly and monthly progress

threetrees · 29-09-2019 1:09pm

Just wondering what devices are best for swimming. I want something that will tell me how many laps of the pool I'm doing on the display as I'm doing them. Something that recognises I'm swimming as soon as I start (or I could tell it by pressing a button.... that's fine).

Then download or sync the lap times to my phone later.

Any recommendations?

budhabob · 29-09-2019 1:26pm

Bought a Garmin Vivoactive 3, and does all you require and loads more. Syncs straight away with the Garmin app.

bambam · 04-02-2020 10:41pm

I recommend the swimovate watches.
they just track swimming, but do it accurately.
I lot of review of smart watches which do 'everything' highlight their inaccuracy.

I have a https://www.swimovate.com/poolmatesport/
you can NFC/tap to transfer swim session info (aggregated)
or connect via usb for full length by length results.

it detects swim styles and supports open water swimming

mrcheez · 28-02-2020 2:23pm

I picked up a Xiaomi Smart Band 4 today for €35 delivered from Three (they have a 20% off sale on at the mo with code JAN20), so looking forward to giving it a spin next week.

I also picked up a pair of Aftershokz Xtrainerz (for a fair bit more!!) for music in the pool so I'll be a fricking cyborg next week

bambam · 28-02-2020 5:31pm

let us know how you get on with the 'Aftershokz Xtrainerz'

budhabob · 02-03-2020 10:02am

mrcheez wrote: »

I picked up a Xiaomi Smart Band 4 today for €35 delivered from Three (they have a 20% off sale on at the mo with code JAN20), so looking forward to giving it a spin next week.

I also picked up a pair of Aftershokz Xtrainerz (for a fair bit more!!) for music in the pool so I'll be a fricking cyborg next week

Often considered waterproof headphones for swimming - would the pool have any issues with it?

mrcheez · 02-03-2020 12:12pm

budhabob wrote: »

Often considered waterproof headphones for swimming - would the pool have any issues with it?

Why would they have issues with it?

One wears earplugs while swimming so I don't see any difference.

02-03-2020 12:21pm

I have the Samsung Galaxy Watch 2, and use it constantly for pool swimming.
I find it to be perfect for tracking lengths. Just need to hit a button when you get in the pool, and it gives you a 3 second count down, and off you go.
It tracks your heart rater as well, and has some useful data at the end of each swim. Strokes, time per 100m, SWOLF, heart reate, level of intensity, what stroke it thought you were doing

It does look to have the ability to be used in the sea, but I've heard the GPS is pretty poor, and doesn't get your distance anywhere near right. Definitely has that problem when I use it for running.

For pool swimming though I'd recommend it. I used a basic Garmin Swim a few years ago too, and I prefer the Samsung offering

mrcheez · 02-03-2020 10:26pm

bambam wrote: »

let us know how you get on with the 'Aftershokz Xtrainerz'

Just got back from a session with the Xtrainerz. Gotta say they worked wonderfully!

I was powering down the lane throughout and didn't even realise how much I had covered but I think I did my usual 1km in about 7mins less than normal.

The only issue I had is that they moved slightly off the sweet spot when kicking off on the turns but you could still hear the music, just maybe a little muffled. But this is probably fixed by ensuring a better fit with the swim cap next time.

Worth every penny and the quality of sound is phenomenal underwater.

Next session I'll test out the new smart band too.

marizpan · 02-03-2020 10:53pm

Swimming is my zen quiet time where I park my thoughts for that hour.
Can’t imagine interrupting that with music. Interesting all the same.
I have the trekz air aftershokz for running/bike and love them. Best purchase ever!

mrcheez · 02-03-2020 11:23pm

marizpan wrote: »

Swimming is my zen quiet time where I park my thoughts for that hour.
Can’t imagine interrupting that with music. Interesting all the same.
I have the trekz air aftershokz for running/bike and love them. Best purchase ever!

Yeah I just found I was getting a bit bored by 50% mark and often ended up signing to myself in my head, but definitely enjoying now getting an energy boost with some pumping rhythms to keep my form in check.

I do get the idea of quiet time alright, reflecting on the day's events, but sometimes you want to forget a day if it wasn't so great so distractions help

mrcheez · 05-03-2020 12:23pm

mrcheez wrote: »

I picked up a Xiaomi Smart Band 4 today for €35 delivered from Three (they have a 20% off sale on at the mo with code JAN20), so looking forward to giving it a spin next week.

I also picked up a pair of Aftershokz Xtrainerz (for a fair bit more!!) for music in the pool so I'll be a fricking cyborg next week

Tested out the Xiaomi Smart Band 4 yesterday and it correctly tracked my distance at circa 1000m (was actually 1004m but that's because I started it in the shower before getting into the pool as the touch screen won't work well once wet). All synced up to my Google Fit account no probs.

Pretty remarkable considering it doesn't have GPS.

All in all I've found it a perfectly good swim watch, plus it has a 20 day battery life so it's become my new daily tracker (plus sleep tracker)

Can't complain for €35!

JTMan · 05-03-2020 7:59pm

mrcheez wrote: »

Tested out the Xiaomi Smart Band 4 yesterday and it correctly tracked my distance at circa 1000m (was actually 1004m but that's because I started it in the shower before getting into the pool as the touch screen won't work well once wet). All synced up to my Google Fit account no probs.

Pretty remarkable considering it doesn't have GPS.

All in all I've found it a perfectly good swim watch, plus it has a 20 day battery life so it's become my new daily tracker (plus sleep tracker)

Can't complain for €35!

Does Xiaomi Smart Band 4 accurately track the number of laps done? Thanks.

mrcheez · 05-03-2020 9:58pm

JTMan wrote: »

Does Xiaomi Smart Band 4 accurately track the number of laps done? Thanks.

Yeah it seems to as you input the pool length and then it knows the total distance.

Also I'm guessing it somehow figures out the turns.

I'll check again tomorrow eve.

The main gripe I have at the mo is that it doesn't seem to remember the custom pool length you set previously, although it does have preselected options of 25m and 50m.

Also the touch screen not working when wet means you need to start tracking before entering water.

So there's a bit of hand-holding required though for €35 I'm not complaining.

Just checked and it seems my Google Fit doesn't have the swimming data whereas it does have my cycling and steps and sleep, though the Mi Fit app does show a full analysis of speed and stroke and even preferred style while swimming.

Stuff like Average SPM and SWOLF shown too.

mrcheez · 06-03-2020 10:19pm

So tried the Smart Band 4 again tonight and I noticed that it doesn't display the number of laps until after you've completed the session.

So it looks like you'd still need to count the laps during the session.

I guess if you're looking for something that you can examine mid-swim you'd probably need to go for the more expensive options.

Best smart / swim watch

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