Sports watches

[Yaz]

Hey all, looking at getting a sports watch for walking and hiking (I dont run) as well keep an eye on general items such as heart rate, Oxygen (SPO2), fitness, quality of sleep, other.... It would be nice to have GPS features as well, although I have some of those features with my Wahoo for biking.

Just started looking into this market and thought I would start with a basic sports watch as I don't believe I need a $800 watch t this point.

Anyway I'm looking at the Coros Pace 3 as it has a terrific battery life, however, the bread crumbs for mapping is disappointing for when off grid. Price is great though, warranty is very good and customer support seems to get good reviews compared to other larger companies.

Polar Pacer Pro is interesting too.

Fitbit is interesting, however, appears you need a subscription to get the most out of it so I stopped looking into it.

Any thoughts/experience with sport watches? Any must have capabilities or functions?
Thanks
Yaz

 

[MJ29]

I have the Garmin Vivoactive 3, and I love it. I think it was about $250 when I purchased it. I use it to track my steps and monitor my heart rate. I can use it to log workouts (but I really don't). It also has a GPS function. There are a lot of features I don't use. I've had great experience with Garmin's customer service too.

 

[frackincygy]

Hey all, looking at getting a sports watch for walking and hiking (I dont run) as well keep an eye on general items such as heart rate, Oxygen, fitness, quality of sleep, other.... It would be nice to have GPS features as well, although I have some of those features with my Wahoo for biking.

Just started looking into this market and thought I would start with a basic sports watch as I don't believe I need a $800 watch t this point.

Anyway I'm looking at the Coros Pace 3 as it has a terrific battery life, however, the bread crumbs for mapping is disappointing for when off grid. Price is great though, warranty is very good and customer support seems to get good reviews compared to other larger companies.

Polar Pacer Pro is interesting too.

Fitbit is interesting, however, appears you need a subscription to get the most out of it so I stopped looking into it.

Any thoughts/experience with sport watches? Any must have capabilities or functions?
Thanks
Yaz

I've got a Garmin Solar Instinct 2 which I really like. Though I haven't used the GPS much to try and track my actual (true) position for navigation purposes. Decent life from the battery (~1 week to 10 days when in 'all the features mode'), durable, comfortable, affordable.

 

[cowgirl836]

I have a Fitbit Versa. Think I got this one early 2021. I did the subscription last year when it was on sale and I didn't renew. Wasn't worth it to me. Has GPS, can use cellular data if you pay for that model. I went Samsung for about a year and came back because Samsung didn't have dynamic calorie burn for workouts. It was simply 132 per half hour, no matter if you did yoga or full on HIIT. I've not gone into the Garmin realm because I'm not a big runner. Only thing with fitbit is it won't automatically track GPS on walks (if you're the type who wants to share with Strava or the like). You'll need to start it as a bike/walk/hike/run workout to get the GPS data. It will grab the steps otherwise.

I like the sleep tracking and I usually charge it while I shower. I've never had it run out on me - lasts 3-4 days and charges quickly.

 

[AgronAlum]

We’ve ordered a couple Apple Watch 6s from the Back Market refurb website. They were like 230 bucks for the cellular version with a year warranty. They both came in looking like new and have worked flawlessly. I’d recommend checking there no matter what watch you end up with.

 

[Gunnerclone]

1. Older Apple Watch
2. Garmin

 

[cydnote]

I can host a "sports watch" for Saturday's Oklahoma game. I'll have one extra seat on the couch, a folding chair, and a standing room only spot with excellent visibility. No food or drink will be available so bring your own. LOL

 

[simply1]

Apple Watch SE is $200 now

 

[1100011CS]

Garmin. I don't like the touchscreen Garmins because I sweat a lot and I run in the rain a lot and I had issues with the one I did try. I have a Forerunner 945 LTE and love it. Just enough 'smart' features and all the running/fitness features I could ever need plus some and also has decent golfing features. Most people probably wouldn't need the LTE but I'm on the older side and can be a long way from any way to get help if something happens.