Fit watch? 30 June 2022 at 11:53PM in Sports & fitness MoneySaving 53 replies 796 views

Longwalker

I walk, thats the extent of my exercise, walk and hike

Now I usually just use the free version of Map My Walk on my iPhone as it basically does what I need, speed, distance, calories etc. 

But last weekend I did a charity marathon and A - the free version didnt give me the break downs I was looking for and B -it was a pain in the bum having to carry a battery pack along with the phone - the constant GPS eats the phones battery

So Im thinking of a fit watch or whatever they are called

I dont need tons of extras like music emails etc, just something that is going to be reliable, has GPS , calories, split times etc - well tbh Im not sure what I really want or sure I really need

Any helpful advice would be welcomed and any recommendations would be doubly welcomed

Grumpy_chap

What type of budget do you have?

I am a fan of Garmin following a less than satisfactory experience with Fitbit.

For your needs (walking only) a budget no branded device may suit.  I am not sure whether any have GPS.  Try John Lewis as they stock a choice of budget devices.

jefaz07

Grumpy_chap said:

What type of budget do you have?

I am a fan of Garmin following a less than satisfactory experience with Fitbit.

For your needs (walking only) a budget no branded device may suit.  I am not sure whether any have GPS.  Try John Lewis as they stock a choice of budget devices.

I second a Garmin. I also had a less than satisfactory experience with Fitbit. 

Try looking at a forerunner 45 (not sure what budget is) for around £110. 

This will give you GPS, HR Monitoring, Distance and Intervals

jimi_man

Hi.

My son has a Fitbit but the GPS is not great, however the rest of the functionality is pretty good. 

I have a Garmin who have a long history with marine GPS, so it's very good. As above I have a Forerunner 45 and it's perfect. The battery lasts five days or so (depends how much exercise and thus GPS tracking you use). Automatically uploads to the phone app (and Strava if you choose) when you come in from your Run/Walk/cycle/whatever. Very easy to use.

I've never explored the music side as I don't listen to music when I run, but I think you need your phone close so it's a bit pointless as I don't run with a phone. Same with emails and all the other stuff. I just use it for telling the time, tracking exercise (and calories) and that's it.

Longwalker

Looks like Im looking at a Garmin then

£100 sounds doable ( birthday soon ) and I really dont need bells and whistles as it will only be used when out side of work exercising  - and I have a walking buddy so we are too busy blathering to be listening to music

Thankyou for taking time to respond and to give personal experience 

lisyloo

Have a look at the xiaomi mi band.
i have a 6, not sure when 7 is out.
mine was £30 and it’s a cracking smart band for the price.
the battery can also last many days.
i wear mine swimming for a few ks per week so it’s definitely waterproof.
it come right out of the band and new straps can be had cheaply if you like different ones.
i wear a silicone one for swimming.
definitely worth a look.

Sea_Shell

Interesting thread, as I might need to finally replace my Garmin Forerunner 201, that I've had since 2005!   I want something that doesn't need a phone app and connectivity to work.

It's been my trusty reliable running "mate" with 15 hours run time and useful map mode.

I don't think newer versions have the map mode.  

Can you turn off the 45 between runs, or is it always "on", like a digital watch?

Sea_Shell

Just seen the 55, which appears to also have a swim mode!!!    Anyone used this? 

I used to have a separate swim watch, so would be great to have a 2in1.

Grumpy_chap

Sea_Shell said:

Just seen the 55, which appears to also have a swim mode!!!    Anyone used this? 

I previously had a Vivosmart HR which had a "swim" mode but it was not particularly good at detecting swim activity on the few occasions I wore it in the water.  The watch was, allegedly, waterproof but wearing it in the water caused it to go funny and then eventually was the death of it.  Looking on various forums, the seals fail...

I loved the watch though and would have bought another but they were discontinued.  I now have the Vivoactive 3 which also has a swim mode.  Following the experience with the Vivosmart, I don't wear the Vivoactive in the water.

Try some Garmin forums to see how others are getting on with the swim mode and water resilience.

jefaz07

Sea_Shell said:

Interesting thread, as I might need to finally replace my Garmin Forerunner 201, that I've had since 2005!   I want something that doesn't need a phone app and connectivity to work.

It's been my trusty reliable running "mate" with 15 hours run time and useful map mode.

I don't think newer versions have the map mode.  

Can you turn off the 45 between runs, or is it always "on", like a digital watch?

I have a fenix 6x pro. It’s an amazing watch, with music installed which I like as no phone needed. Colour maps on screen as as many other metrics. 

PrincessFrog20

jefaz07 said:

Grumpy_chap said:

What type of budget do you have?

I am a fan of Garmin following a less than satisfactory experience with Fitbit.

For your needs (walking only) a budget no branded device may suit.  I am not sure whether any have GPS.  Try John Lewis as they stock a choice of budget devices.

I second a Garmin. I also had a less than satisfactory experience with Fitbit. 

Try looking at a forerunner 45 (not sure what budget is) for around £110. 

This will give you GPS, HR Monitoring, Distance and Intervals

Third a vote for the Garmin forerunner (I have the 30). It has an app which works nicely with all of the above and seems to work in sync with my Strava app for running, walking, cycling etc. 

Only separate advice I would give for the Garmin is check on the charging cable/set up as many of the Garmins have different charging connections which can be annoying if family members each have different models.