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.)

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

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.

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.