Running watch recommendations?

apullum

I've just been offered a new job, and I think I'm finally going to buy myself a fitness watch to celebrate. There are so many options out there, though, that it's a little overwhelming.

I'm hoping for something that will track calorie burn accurately throughout the day, and especially during my runs, because I'm very close to my goal weight and am looking to get the last three pounds off and start maintaining. I currently run up to half marathons and don't expect to train for anything longer than that in the near future. I'm a data nerd, so I'd probably go for more information rather than minimalism. It doesn't need to replace my phone, since I always carry that with me for safety (and music). Ideally, I'd like something that wouldn't look comically huge on me, since I'm a petite woman (4'11.75", currently 118 lb, goal 115 lb). I'm going to be a tenure-track faculty member, so while academic folks don't exactly dress formally, I still want something that looks nice enough to wear at work. Since this is probably going to be a treat to myself, I'm willing to pay more to get something high quality.

Any recommendations?

pondee629

I like the Garmin Forerunner series. Currently have the 225 (upgraded from the 110 which recently died after years of valiant service). With Garmin Connect you have all the data you could want. I don't wear the watch other than when I'm running but you could to have nagging constant tracking. ;-)
It is kinda large so that may be a deal buster.
My $0.02

MobyCarp

apullum wrote: »

I've just been offered a new job, and I think I'm finally going to buy myself a fitness watch to celebrate. There are so many options out there, though, that it's a little overwhelming.

I'm hoping for something that will track calorie burn accurately throughout the day, and especially during my runs, because I'm very close to my goal weight and am looking to get the last three pounds off and start maintaining. I currently run up to half marathons and don't expect to train for anything longer than that in the near future. I'm a data nerd, so I'd probably go for more information rather than minimalism. It doesn't need to replace my phone, since I always carry that with me for safety (and music). Ideally, I'd like something that wouldn't look comically huge on me, since I'm a petite woman (4'11.75", currently 118 lb, goal 115 lb). I'm going to be a tenure-track faculty member, so while academic folks don't exactly dress formally, I still want something that looks nice enough to wear at work. Since this is probably going to be a treat to myself, I'm willing to pay more to get something high quality.

Any recommendations?

*Nothing* tracks calorie burn accurately. Close is good enough for weight loss, as long as you build in a bias toward a calorie deficit. Close isn't good enough for maintenance. I weight myself every day, adjust my calorie allowance up or down in response to perceived weight trends down or up, and ignore calorie burn estimates. I've made my weight trend sideways for 5 years, through a stress fracture that put me in a boot for 3 weeks, through 12 half marathons, through 4 marathons started and 3 completed. Managing weight is necessary. Watching calories burned is not.

As far as a running watch, you can't go wrong with Garmin. Look at the various models, look at online reviews by DC Rainmaker (easily found by Google search), and decide what balance of features and price point you want. If you're happy with the last generation's features, you can get a watch cheaper. (Says the guy who ponied up for the latest, twice.)

I'm currently wearing the Garmin 630. What I like: It counts steps and records sleep*, so I don't need a separate activity tracker. It has 2 layers of satellite GPS, for more accuracy in marginal locations. The battery lasts better than the battery on the 620 did. It claims 12 hour battery life with both satellite systems active, and I've had no problem with the battery life through marathons. I can put 4 data fields on one screen, as opposed to only 3 fields for the 2xx series.

What I think could be better: The touch screen on the 620 worked better. With the 630, I need to watch which gloves I'm wearing, and even the touch-screen friendly gloves can stop working consistently after running for 30 minutes in the rain. Garmin Connect got "upgraded" to talk to the network almost constantly, which makes it an iPhone battery hog and makes me wait to see data that's already there. I still get my data; but LiveConnect is no longer usable and because Connect is a battery hog I can't leave it active to transmit weather data to the watch. (I might try to solve the battery hog issue by upgrading my phone; still thinking about that. Other than apps being ugraded to suck more power, I like my old iPhone 5.)

TavistockToad

I have a garmin 225 which I love. It can be used as a step counter but I've never used it for that.

The_Enginerd

It really depends what you are looking for in a watch and what type of other activities you'd like to track. Biking? Swimming? Activity tracking? All of the newer Garmin models seem to do step and sleep tracking. While nice in terms of motivating you get to get up and move more regularly, the step counter feature is marginally useful for calorie tracking IMHO. I only track my activity calories from running/biking and have been "maintaining" my weight loss for over 5 years, including getting down to my running race weight during that period (5'10", ~150 lbs)

The VivoActive HR is a lot of watch for the money and looks like a Fitbit more so than a watch. That's what my girlfriend uses.

I personally have a 920xt because even though it's an older model and is a bit bulky, it had all the features I needed and was a great value when they went on sale this past holiday period.

edit: For tracking calorie burns for running, the following formula has worked well for me for over 2 years of tracking with mileage ranging from 0 MPW up to 60+. I use it even in place of the HRM based estimates from my Garmin. Although the Garmin seems to be about the same when averaged out, it varies from workout to workout quite a bit because of the effects of weather on HR which the HRM cannot account for properly.

Weigh in lbs * Miles * 0.63 = Net Calories Burned

JPotamus

I have a Garmin Vivoactive and love it. Covers everything I would want to track. Syncs to MFP and Endomondo. Easy peasy.

WhatMeRunning

The Garmin will satisfy your data nerdiness. They aren't petite but you can either have lots of sensors/capabilities, or small. I have a Forerunner 630 and think I might just die without it.

MobyCarp

WhatMeRunning wrote: »

The Garmin will satisfy your data nerdiness. They aren't petite but you can either have lots of sensors/capabilities, or small. I have a Forerunner 630 and think I might just die without it.

I was very happy with my 620, until the battery started failing on 13 mile runs. Sent it in for replacement, but needed a watch *right now* at that time. So I bought a 630 locally. When the replacement 620 came, I ran once with both to verify that they recorded the same run within a tolerance level of "I can't press buttons on both watches simultaneously." Since then, all I've done with the 620 is recharge it every so often.

I really like the 630. What sold me on the 620/630 as opposed to the 220/230 was data nerdiness: I can put 4 fields on a screen instead of 3. What sold me on the 630 as opposed to the 235/635 was the heart rate monitor strap. I don't care how good the HR technology is for measuring at the wrist, I don't believe it will be able to do so through 3 layers of sleeves when I run in the winter. And I need my watch on the outside where I can see it while running.

SteveTries

Another vote here for the 630. I love mine and only take it off to charge it.

I won't repeat all the benefits the other folks did above, but I'll call out a few more:
- battery life is excellent. I get 7-10 days from mine which includes 30 miles of GPS use whilst running
- Garmin's run dynamics satisfy my one data-nerd needs. Knowing my ground contact time, stride length, cadence, vertical ration and Left-Right ratio has enabled me to make some corrections
- Smart Phone intergration is great. When in a meeting, it's really helpful to be able to subtly see calendar alerts and text messages on my wrist.
- Vo2 max estimation and trend over time is an interesting feature. Reviews I've read suggest pretty decent accuracy here
- the 4 data fields on a screen was mentioned above, but you also have 4 screens you can swipe across too for different data should you like. I don't use this much but others may.

The touchscreen is tough to use with gloves. You can get gloves that work, but I find once they've been washed a few times, they struggle. However with 4 fields per screen, I've never needed to use the touchscreen once moving - the buttons on the side do everything I need - stop, start, lap etc

7lenny7

MobyCarp wrote: »

*Nothing* tracks calorie burn accurately.

Quoted for truth.

Vladimirnapkin

Ditto on the Garmin recommendation. The Forerunner 235 is pretty nice, and Garmin finally got around to making some that are sort of attractive. I don't like touch screen watches due to moisture and gloves interfering with their operation. The 235 is set up for running, but you can use it for whatever you want.

About data fields: the older I get, the more I worry about being able to read all those tiny numbers while running.

Congrats on the new job!

juliet3455

All of my fellow running friends covered the data.

One of the items you mentioned is not looking clunky and looks nice enough to wear at work.

If you buy replacement straps in different colors you can easily change the visual appearance of the watch, my cousin has straps that matchy - matchy her dressy/classy outfits.
So when investigating watch's at the store ask them to demo a strap replacement for you. Beside's if you use a watch enough you might need to replace a strap at some point in time.

daj150

Garmin is #1 right now, so you can't go wrong with their product line. In my opinion, TomTom's Spark series is amazing too. Super simple interface, amazing GPS, HR accuracy in line with Garmin and Polar. As mentioned, don't religiously follow the calories, as no HRM is super accurate. However, it's still good enough to serve as a guide.

Ke22yB

I have always used Polar the last one was the RCX5 which I loved for running with the GPS module and the swimming setting. I found the swimming to be limited and the chest strap not always able to PU my HR so it left me looking for alternatives.
Last October I purchased the new Apple series 2 watch and I am blown away by its versatility and accuracy in the water I lap swim every morning as well as run most afternoons and do some aerobics as well as it uses apps on my phone and seamlessly integrates all my activity in daily reports as to times distance and HR, laps in pool and lap time as well as running mile splits. I bought a second party metal link band so its all black and looks pretty good for all casual wear.
It also logs all my activity into MFP against my calories eaten at $4oo plus another $30 for the band it was more reasonable than some of the newer Polar and Garmin products and just as efficient in my opinion

SKME2013

I use the high-end Polar V800 and am super happy with it. I believe you can't go wrong with Garmin but you might want to look at the Polar products as well.

greghenley1

I would recommend the New Polar M430. I had nothing but problems with Garmin. I currently wear the Suunto Ambit3 Peak ( way to much watch for what your looking for). How ever, if my training for something other than an ultra, I wear my old Polar M400

rgl536

I tried the Garmin VivoActive HR, but found it really lacked for me as a runner. I now use the Forerunner 235 and am pretty happy with it. Refurbished units available on Amazon will save you a lot of $$ on a unit.

Michael_Moriarty

I echo the recommendations for Garmin, I've been very pleased with their watches, website, and app. I also recently decided to treat myself and upgraded from my Garmin Forerunner 230 to the recently released Garmin Forerunner 935. DCRainmaker has some good reviews of the recent (and expensive) 935 and Fenix 5 series watches which are Garmin's latest and greatest.

The FR935 may be a bit larger than you might prefer, the Fenix 5S is slightly smaller but I prefer the lighter weight of the resin construction of the FR935, personally.

I'm extremely pleased with my FR935, wear it 24x7 as an activity tracker, and really like the looks of it. I got a chuckle out of one of the comments on the DCRainmaker Fenix 5 review that "if you can get away with wearing a 225 at your Senate confirmation hearing, it’s safe to say that anything goes these days".

SteveTries

sjb74uk wrote: »

Another vote here for the 630. I love mine and only take it off to charge it.

I won't repeat all the benefits the other folks did above, but I'll call out a few more:
- battery life is excellent. I get 7-10 days from mine which includes 30 miles of GPS use whilst running
- Garmin's run dynamics satisfy my one data-nerd needs. Knowing my ground contact time, stride length, cadence, vertical ration and Left-Right ratio has enabled me to make some corrections
- Smart Phone intergration is great. When in a meeting, it's really helpful to be able to subtly see calendar alerts and text messages on my wrist.
- Vo2 max estimation and trend over time is an interesting feature. Reviews I've read suggest pretty decent accuracy here
- the 4 data fields on a screen was mentioned above, but you also have 4 screens you can swipe across too for different data should you like. I don't use this much but others may.

The touchscreen is tough to use with gloves. You can get gloves that work, but I find once they've been washed a few times, they struggle. However with 4 fields per screen, I've never needed to use the touchscreen once moving - the buttons on the side do everything I need - stop, start, lap etc

I've just noticed that the strap on my 630 is split, on the inside (wrist facing side), in two places. It looks like the strap has been bent backwards until it cracked. That's certainly never happened. I notice that the white inner strap is discoloured at the points it's split. I surmise the damage has been caused by moisture.

It looks like it's going to wear straight through and fail at some point.

The watch is 17 months old. So I am a little disappointed that the strap required replacing. However on reflection, other than when showering, it rarely leaves my wrist. It's spends 80 or so miles a month having me sweat into it as I run and it is only £17 for a replacement.

I just thought I should update my recommendation with this info.

STrooper

It's a little late but I thought I'd weigh-in. Garmin is "everywhere." However, my watch of choice (at the moment) is the TomTom Spark with Music. Some people complained about early issues with the watch freezing (I had that happen twice), but after a couple of quick patches, mine has been stable and accurate. I've compared the wrist-based HR monitor to a chest strap...pretty close most of the time. GPS tracking and accuracy seems outstanding.

As others have pointed out, calorie tracking is an issue for most of these. TomTom uses MET values for calorie estimation rather than using HR data (because you can turn off the HR monitor of connect to another device via Bluetooth). I've had mine for 15 months and have been happy with the performance. Love the ability to connect to the watch with Bluetooth headphones.

apullum

Thank you all! I haven't forgotten this thread and I appreciate all of the advice. I haven't had a chance to go to a running store and look at watches in person yet, but am strongly leaning toward some of the Garmins folks mentioned.