General thread about running with smartwatches.
Why do you run with (or without) a smartwatch? Which model do you have? What functionalities do you use often or are there any that you think are redundant? Did yours ever broke down? Are the sensors accurate?
Currently I do not have any but plan to buy one, budget max 200eu. Both the garmin forerunner 245 or 55 seem like solid choices but I am open to suggestions.
Garmin 245 music. It’s a great watch for my purposes, running, hikes, steps, basic health stats etc. The sleep tracking seems to pick up my in bed reading so not very accurate. The one I’m wearing is a refurbished replacement that Garmin provided (free of charge except postage after a bit of back and forth) on account of the development of the dreaded white spot - Garmin forum link about it. So apart from that issue, it’s a great watch.
Garmin Forerunner 35
it’s an older model but it checks out. i’m only running around 10 miles per week so for that it suffices. it does not track swimming which is a bummer but does allow run, walk, bike , cardio, etc., basic stuff.
Great battery life, can get 8-9 days before charge. You can sync up music which is good but I mostly run with phone anyway. i use it everyday for the last three years and had zero problems.
if I was to go more serious i would upgrade but for now it’s great.
Garmin Tactic Delta. I used to have the Forerunner 245 and it was great but I scratched the face too easily in daily use so I upgraded.
A bit late but still… I run with a smartwatch. I have the basic model of the Garmin instinct 2, which you can get for slightly over 200€ usually. Maybe on sale even cheaper. I am really happy with it. It’s durable hast a decent battery life and I like the kinda old school look.
I use it mostly to stay within certain effort levels (heartrate zones) during training. Before getting it I tracked some runs with a chest strap and noted thet I tend to run in very high heartrate zones. The watch helped to control that and get a better feeling for what I am doing. With that knowledge my training became way more effective and fun.
And of course to track my mileage in general and during long ‘free’ runs.
Garmin Forerunner 965. I track heart rate, pace, distance, time, etc. The map and offline Spotify features have been useful abroad. It’s nice being able to check notifications on my watch without pulling my phone out. I’m always impressed when I wake up feeling like shit and the watch tells me I had a crap night’s sleep.
