Help with picking a smartwatch!

richardgittens

Hi! So, as the title suggests, I'm looking into buying a smartwatch but I'm having real trouble deciding.

Things I really would like:
Easy connection to MFP,
Good, accurate heartrate and activity tracking
GPS tracking for runs

Things I'd like but could go without:
Onboard music
Contactless pay
Water resistant

Has anybody got any suggestions? My phone is an android if that affects your suggestion.

Thank you so much!

MelanieCN77

I recommend a forum search, there are probably a dozen recent conversations about all the options.

cwolfman13

If I were to get a smart watch I'd first and foremost look for compatibility with my phone. I have a samsung galaxy, so the obvious choice would be a samsung smart watch for me.

Rincewind_1965

Garmin Forerunner 645

Lift_Run_Eat

I second the Samsung. I have the Gear Sport and love it, but I also have a Samsung phone.

spiriteagle99

Go to dcrainmaker.com It has detailed reviews of most of the fitness watches.

fitoverfortymom

Samsung is terrible about standing by their products. I have a Garmin Vivoactive 3. It doesn't have the on-board music, but I think they just released a new one that does. Had I been able to wait a few extra months, that's the one I would have purchased. I am very happy with my Garmin!

aokoye

I second the recommendation of looking at DC Rainmaker and starting with this post more specifically - https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/11/winter-technology-recommendations.html . Skip around to the bits about watches and trackers.

kimhski1

Detritus_1965 wrote: »

Garmin Forerunner 645

I'm stalking Garmin's website to order this with music. I wish they'd release it already

scarlett_k

I love my Garmin VivoSmart HR+

DX2JX2

kimhski1 wrote: »

Detritus_1965 wrote: »

Garmin Forerunner 645

I'm stalking Garmin's website to order this with music. I wish they'd release it already

One watchout...for onboard music, make sure that the watch can get a quality bluetooth connection while outdoors.

I stopped using on-board music on my Apple Watch (2nd gen) because it couldn't establish a good BT connection with my headphones while outside given the distance from the watch to the phones and the fact that the signal had no walls to bounce off of. Add in the fact that BT signals hate moving through body mass and sweat and it was pretty miserable. I ultimately just started carrying my phone and learned that I really don't mind it at all.

Meelisv

rhenry2424 wrote: »

I second the Samsung. I have the Gear Sport and love it, but I also have a Samsung phone.

I used Gear Sport for a month. Missed my old Fenix 3 so much. Now, that I have it back, I wouldn't change a Garmin Watch for Samsung one voluntarily. Depends of course what you look for in a watch. Few advantages of Gear Sport didn't outweigh all the disadvantages for me.

Also, for both Garmin and Samsung, doesn't really matter which phone to use. Samsung watches do work better with Android phones than iPhones, but if it is Samsung or some other brand, doesn't matter. Garmin and Polar watches work virtually identically with both Android phones and iPhone.

BitofaState

For a decent HR monitor plus GPS and an app that syncs well to MFP you could try the Polar M430. I don't use the smartwatch function linking it to the phone for alerts and so on, but it does have that function.

For me the Polar range feels better for tracking activity than some of the others out there, and I always use a chest strap when monitoring HR during activity as that's better than the wrist monitor.

Tacklewasher

I like my Fenx 3HR, but a big issue for me is I cracked the screen on a VAHR so I wanted the sapphire lens. Was $440 Cdn at Costco (but I see they are $400 now). No music but I'm just trying out Gear Iconx earbuds that have onboard music.