Garmin watch for tracking?

Farnorthfarmer

Hi everyone,

I have been considering getting a Garmin watch to replace my fitbit bit but I have a couple questions.

If you have a garmin watch, how has it been for tracking your running and other fitness activities?

Have you had issues connecting it to my fitness pal?

How has your watch held up? I am a heavy equipment mechanic and I am concerned about it holding up with oils, brakeclean etc.

megd44

I have had one for about three years. The viviomove 3S. Love it. Tracks my activities well and studies indicate they are one if the better options for calories burned, etc. That version I do not think would hold up well as a heavy equipment mechanic but they have others I think would.

Lietchi

I have a Vivoactive 4 and I'm very happy with it. It syncs very well with MFP (I have an Android phone for my Garmin Connect app), once I managed to connect them (3 years ago).
If I remember correctly, Fitbit integration only give you a calorie adjustment, no separate entries in the diary for exercise -> Garmin does show individual exercise sessions in the diary.

Calorie burns are quite reasonable for me, it slightly underestimates my total calorie burn as well as my running calories. Hiking calories are perhaps a bit inflated.
The metrics available on Garmin Connect are vast, impressive (I'm a data nerd). The desktop website offers even more stats than the app.

As for durability: that might depend on the specific model, and I cannot compare it to Fitbit. The frame around my watch is dark grey metal, and the dark grey is a thin layer - there are a few slight scuffs around the edges, nothing overly visible at a first glance. But I don't have a rough job. (There are protective covers available for some watches)

I'm allergic to the silicone band, so I bought a 3rd party metal replacement strap.

BrianSharpe

I've been using Garmin Forerunner / Fenix watches for years and connecting with MFP through Garmin connect.

My current watch is an older Fenix 5X and I find that the calories running are pretty much spot on (compared to using 63 cal per 100 lbs of bodyweight per mile run) when I use the chest strap. On my bike I use a power meter so I'm pretty confident in those numbers (I did find that they dropped when I started using a power meter but it's hard to argue with watts).

It tends to overestimate walks (I don't use my chest strap for those) and I don't really have a basis for checking swimming calories.

It's pretty good at guessing what you're doing with weights (confuses shoulder presses with bench presses and misses leg day - but you can edit the exercises in Garmin Connect).

cwolfman13

I have a Garmin Instinct and it has been great. It can track a pretty wide variety of activities and it's durable. It's more of a "tactical" style watch which is probably what you'd be looking for in your line of work. I was drawn to it because I do a lot of camping and hiking and mountain biking and other outdoor physical activities where a more rugged watch is necessary. I like the Fenix series as well, but I felt like the features were overkill for what I actually use the watch for.

My wife has a vivoactive and it's a nice watch, but it seems more delicate.

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/c/outdoor-recreation/adventure-smartwatches/

Djproulx

Another Garmin forerunner/Fenix user here. Both devices have been rock solid for me. I wore my old 920xt for six years before upgrading to a Fenix 6 pictured below. I am a heavy data user for multi sport activities. My device tracks swims, bike rides and runs very well and integrates with other platforms such as MyFitnessPal and Training Peaks. The data captured by the device is automatically synced to other platforms from Garmin Connect.
As far as durability, I’ve worn both devices daily and they are submerged in both fresh and salt water regularly when I swim. No issues. As you can see, the Fenix 6 has a stainless steel housing, so I’m not worried about any bumps causing it to break.
These aren’t inexpensive devices, but the quality has been great for me. Hope that helps.

AnnPT77

I have a Vivoactive 4 (replaced a Vivoactive 3 after it gave me years of good service). I'm not in a job like yours, but I tend to be hard on watches because I'm kind of oblivious about the fact that I'm wearing one. It's pretty tough, IME.

I use it to track on-water rowing, biking on paved trails, walking, and occasional random other stuff. The sport-specific stats are useful. I like that it syncs with my stationary bike, and it would synch with my rowing machine if I upgraded the rowing machine's monitor. GPS seems accurate.

It gives me plausible numbers for on-water rowing strokes per minute, collects standard 500m splits for on-water rowing via GPS. Nice integration of watch to phone to cloud, and I appreciate not having to have my phone in bluetooth range during workouts (I don't usually take my phone on the water).

The reporting on the web site version of the app is pretty robust, the phone app good but not as comprehensive.

The stairs/altitude data seems a little wonky sometimes. I don't find the strength training remotely accurate for guessing my exercises. Yes, you can edit it after, but I find that fiddle-y. (I have an established paper notebook habit from way back, though.)

For me, there are several things it estimates poorly, that other people report work well for them. For reasons I won't belabor, I think it's about my body being statistically unusual in some way(s), not about the device being inaccurate. Things that don't make sense for me: All day calories (too low by lots, but so are most other statistics-based "calculators"), sleep (I have sleep disorders), stress (this I have no explanation).

The activity stats are great, though. And the other stuff is reported as working well for other people who aren't me.

pridesabtch

I have a Forerunner 745 multisport watch. I upgraded from my 345 last year simply because I wanted a new look. My old watch lasted for 5 years and I gave it to a friend who still uses it today.

chris_in_cal

pridesabtch wrote: »

I have a Forerunner 745 multisport watch.

Same, I have a 745. My 645 worked really well, it didn't have a feature I wanted to I splurged. I gave my 645 away to a kid who is still using it several years later.

rolyh

I have had a 735xt for the past 7 years. good for running, pool & open swimming & some cycling (though I have a edge530 for that now). I don't wear it sleeping, but it still does a good job for counting calories burnt during the day. Cracked the screen a year ago in the gym, and garmin replaced it for $au 120 ($77 usd) with new-old-stock, which I was happy with. Syncs with Strava and MFP fine, some of the garmin connect reports improve on the free MFP ones.

KarenSmith2018

Fenix 6. Daily use. Love it. Good battery life and gives tonnes of data. I'd say pretty durable too.

scavonedan

Love my forerunner 45 and I also have the vivofit 4. Vivofit 4 is hard to see so I use it now for kayaking just as a watch. Forerunner 45 was inexpensive and for running and walks it is awesome.

yirara

I have the top model (kind of), a Fenix 7s solarwhatever. Not that I use the solar because my skin can't deal with sun. It was just the only one with mega gps and mapping.

How well it works always depends on how you set it up. Say you exercise a lot and want to track your calories. If your HR deviates a lot from 220-age then you need to find some manual settings for it to be half reliable. Plus there are some other individual factors.

For me, my garmin works quite well for running, understates longer distance cycling a bit, and like Fitbit is totally rubbish for walking. I do have a good grip on my exercise calories though, and I don't link the watch to my account but log by hand.

loulee997

Farnorthfarmer wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I have been considering getting a Garmin watch to replace my fitbit bit but I have a couple questions.

If you have a garmin watch, how has it been for tracking your running and other fitness activities?

Have you had issues connecting it to my fitness pal?

How has your watch held up? I am a heavy equipment mechanic and I am concerned about it holding up with oils, brakeclean etc.

I used to have a FitBit. Loved it, but too expensive.

I now have a fit watch Chinese knock-off for $24 bucks--and it has been great. It takes a beating, keeps a good battery life, and has an app. The only real drawback is the lack of a 'date' feature.

Bought on Amazon.

I don't know how useful this info is. I only use it to count steps--not running. It does a decent job on steps. It has a run feature but I don't use it.

T

FindingSamMon

I'm on my 3rd Garmin watch (Venu SQ Music). My mother and son have my old watches (vivosmart 4 and vivofit 2). They last a very long time and I only upgraded to have the GPS functionality. I find the tracking pretty accurate, but I'm mostly using it for tracking strength training and walking. My friends who are more active (triathlons etc.) all have Garmin watches. I've never had a Fitbit so I can't compare, but I really like the Garmin Connect app as well.

ritzvin

Djproulx wrote: »

Another Garmin forerunner/Fenix user here. Both devices have been rock solid for me. I wore my old 920xt for six years before upgrading to a Fenix 6 pictured below. I am a heavy data user for multi sport activities. My device tracks swims, bike rides and runs very well and integrates with other platforms such as MyFitnessPal and Training Peaks. The data captured by the device is automatically synced to other platforms from Garmin Connect.
As far as durability, I’ve worn both devices daily and they are submerged in both fresh and salt water regularly when I swim. No issues. As you can see, the Fenix 6 has a stainless steel housing, so I’m not worried about any bumps causing it to break.
These aren’t inexpensive devices, but the quality has been great for me. Hope that helps.

Ditto. I'm still using my 920XT that I bought in 2014, and has been worn daily, knocked about on rock faces, gone swimming, survived a bike crash, etc. I think these things are pretty much indestructible. Faint scratches on the face is the only result of its frequent torture. I have replaced the watch band a bunch of times (most of them 3rd party though..not a fan of the rubber strap). Garmin's are pretty ubiquitous in the athletic world, so pretty much every site out there for analyzing sessions can be set to automatically get the data from the Garmin server (who automatically gets it from your watch via your phone and bluetooth). The watchface in his photo, FYI, is one of the many custom ones uploaded to connectIQ by various developers.

I've been wanting to upgrade to a Fenix since the first gen came out (for the base mapping ability and compatibility with more cIQ apps), but can't justify replacing this perfectly fine-working device. (ok- I *do* occasionally check the current refurb unit prices and availability on the smaller units with base mapping/nav).

dcrainmaker's site has very detailed reviews on various units. You'll want to figure out what features are important to you. (Garmin devices have a wide range in pricing). I wanted to have turn cues while following a running/riding course and be able to program detailed interval training workouts, which required their top-of-the-running-line-at-the-time 920XT.

ETA: I can't speak much to the calorie/step tracking features, since I don't really use it for that.
ETA2: They also have a variety in housing and facing materials now... so solvent compatibility may vary for different submodels in the same line. You might be able to ask Garmin the specific plastic type for the plastic ones and check against a chemical compatibility table for the main solvents in the brakecleaner, etc.