iWatch, Garmin or something else?

k8andchr1smom
k8andchr1smom Posts: 72 Member
I run-slowly, lift and I'm starting to swim. I have a Blaze but it's starting to die--does not hold a charge well, step count is off. Opinions welcome.

Replies

  • sarabushby
    sarabushby Posts: 784 Member
    Very happy with my Garmin 735XT, much better than the TomTom Multisport that I had previously. I use it for Triathlon training & racing. Excellent battery life, good UI, no connectivity problems, links to Strava etc. Highly recommended.
  • Davidsdottir
    Davidsdottir Posts: 1,285 Member
    I went from a Blaze to the Garmin Vivoactive 3 and love it.
  • VegasFit
    VegasFit Posts: 1,232 Member
    I love my Garmin vivoactive hr.
  • Sarc_Warrior
    Sarc_Warrior Posts: 430 Member
    Garmin Forerunner 35
  • Also a Garmin guy. Just got a VivoSmart HR. Love it.
  • Sasha24201
    Sasha24201 Posts: 39 Member
    I recently got the Vivosport, love it so far.
  • Joyous2018
    Joyous2018 Posts: 21 Member
    I have a Garmin watch and I love it. They have so many options to choose from.
  • k8andchr1smom
    k8andchr1smom Posts: 72 Member
    Thank you all !
  • mabearof6
    mabearof6 Posts: 684 Member
    Garmin....
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    Garmin. Pick your price point and features.
  • bduanemyfitness
    bduanemyfitness Posts: 75 Member
    Purchased Garmin Vivosport a week ago. So far, so good. Just one day outside (using GPS) wearing it 24/7 and battery lasted 7 days (understand GPS will eat the battery much faster). Features meet my needs.
  • k8andchr1smom
    k8andchr1smom Posts: 72 Member
    On day 2 of the Garmin forerunner 235. Love it so far!
  • iwant2seemytoes
    iwant2seemytoes Posts: 27 Member
    I've had a fitbit blaze and Garmin Vivoactive, I prefer the Garmin completely, much better tracking, GPS built in so no need to take a phone with you when out and about. battery lasts a hell of a lot longer than the fitbit as well
  • rodmelching
    rodmelching Posts: 67 Member
    Never much of an apple watch fan but when they came out with the LTE version . . I was in. Really happy with the purchase. Nice leaving the phone at home as opposed to always having it strapped to my arm logging my workouts. Logged multiple long runs over two hours (strava app) with no battery life issues. Really shines in the pool, love the lap counting ability and stroke analysis.

    I personally think the apple watch looks nerdy . . but I'm more of a traditional watch guy. Hate to admit it . . but its really addictive trying to fill up your activity rings each day. Got me off the couch many of times at the end of the day to do a few push-ups or jog in place for a few minutes.

    Garmin watches are great products with a long track record . . can't go wrong. Good luck!
  • jfan175
    jfan175 Posts: 812 Member
    Garmin Vivoactive HR. 3-5 day battery life (I rarely take it off), accurate HR for cardio (not so much for weights), water proof and syncs flawlessly with MFP thru Garmin Connect.
  • Grammytryingtogetfit
    Grammytryingtogetfit Posts: 672 Member
    LOVE my Garmin vivoactive hr
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    Garmin. I wore an Apple Watch every day for 2 years, switched to a Garmin 935 last September and like it much better. I love Apple products and own a bunch of them, but they just can't yet stack up to Garmin on the fitness side of things.

    The Apple Watch is an excellent smart watch with some fitness features built in; the Garmin is an excellent fitness watch with some smart watch features built in.
  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Garmin. I wore an Apple Watch every day for 2 years, switched to a Garmin 935 last September and like it much better. I love Apple products and own a bunch of them, but they just can't yet stack up to Garmin on the fitness side of things.

    The Apple Watch is an excellent smart watch with some fitness features built in; the Garmin is an excellent fitness watch with some smart watch features built in.

    This is my experience as well. I haven't yet found any real gaps in the Garmin swim/bike/run fitness capabilities. I own an older 920 w/HR monitor. I use mine 7 days/week, 9-13 hours of actual training time and it has been rock solid for 2 years. If you're after solid training data, the Garmin is hard to beat.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    edited March 2018
    Djproulx wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Garmin. I wore an Apple Watch every day for 2 years, switched to a Garmin 935 last September and like it much better. I love Apple products and own a bunch of them, but they just can't yet stack up to Garmin on the fitness side of things.

    The Apple Watch is an excellent smart watch with some fitness features built in; the Garmin is an excellent fitness watch with some smart watch features built in.

    This is my experience as well. I haven't yet found any real gaps in the Garmin swim/bike/run fitness capabilities. I own an older 920 w/HR monitor. I use mine 7 days/week, 9-13 hours of actual training time and it has been rock solid for 2 years. If you're after solid training data, the Garmin is hard to beat.

    IMO, the data/software is where Apple falls on their face the hardest. Their workout app is painfully scant on performance metrics and difficult to look back on your historical data. The integration with MFP is very basic and there's nowhere near the level of two-way communication between the apps as there is with Garmin. There's also no cloud storage, no web-based interface, and no way to export your workout data that's comparable to Garmin's .fit files. Garmin Connect (their app) has its own issues and may be far from perfect, but it's light years better than Apple's native fitness app.

    The Apple Watch has the necessary hardware, but their fitness software is surprisingly inadequate and a very weak effort from Apple. It's obvious that they haven't yet focused on being a true contender in the fitness/activity tracker realm.

    (Not to mention battery life. I had to charge my Apple Watch every night, where I only charge my Garmin watch once every week or two, depending upon how much I use the GPS for workouts.)
  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Djproulx wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Garmin. I wore an Apple Watch every day for 2 years, switched to a Garmin 935 last September and like it much better. I love Apple products and own a bunch of them, but they just can't yet stack up to Garmin on the fitness side of things.

    The Apple Watch is an excellent smart watch with some fitness features built in; the Garmin is an excellent fitness watch with some smart watch features built in.

    This is my experience as well. I haven't yet found any real gaps in the Garmin swim/bike/run fitness capabilities. I own an older 920 w/HR monitor. I use mine 7 days/week, 9-13 hours of actual training time and it has been rock solid for 2 years. If you're after solid training data, the Garmin is hard to beat.

    IMO, the data/software is where Apple falls on their face the hardest. Their workout app is painfully scant on performance metrics and difficult to look back on your historical data. The integration with MFP is very basic and there's nowhere near the level of two-way communication between the apps as there is with Garmin. There's also no cloud storage, no web-based interface, and no way to export your workout data that's comparable to Garmin's .fit files. Garmin Connect (their app) has its own issues and may be far from perfect, but it's light years better than Apple's native fitness app.

    The Apple Watch has the necessary hardware, but their fitness software is surprisingly inadequate and a very weak effort from Apple. It's obvious that they haven't yet focused on being a true contender in the fitness/activity tracker realm.

    (Not to mention battery life. I had to charge my Apple Watch every night, where I only charge my Garmin watch once every week or two, depending upon how much I use the GPS for workouts.)

    Agree, battery life with Garmin is far superior. And in full disclosure - I"m not relying solely on Garmin Connect as an app, since my performance and fitness is tracked in Training Peaks.
  • Rincewind_1965
    Rincewind_1965 Posts: 639 Member
    iWatch is diqualified for only being waterproof in "shallow water".
    Since Apple refuses to tell us when exactly the water isn't shallow anymore, guess what "excuse" will be used if your gadget just ran full of liquid.
  • rodmelching
    rodmelching Posts: 67 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Djproulx wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Garmin. I wore an Apple Watch every day for 2 years, switched to a Garmin 935 last September and like it much better. I love Apple products and own a bunch of them, but they just can't yet stack up to Garmin on the fitness side of things.

    The Apple Watch is an excellent smart watch with some fitness features built in; the Garmin is an excellent fitness watch with some smart watch features built in.

    This is my experience as well. I haven't yet found any real gaps in the Garmin swim/bike/run fitness capabilities. I own an older 920 w/HR monitor. I use mine 7 days/week, 9-13 hours of actual training time and it has been rock solid for 2 years. If you're after solid training data, the Garmin is hard to beat.

    IMO, the data/software is where Apple falls on their face the hardest. Their workout app is painfully scant on performance metrics and difficult to look back on your historical data. The integration with MFP is very basic and there's nowhere near the level of two-way communication between the apps as there is with Garmin. There's also no cloud storage, no web-based interface, and no way to export your workout data that's comparable to Garmin's .fit files. Garmin Connect (their app) has its own issues and may be far from perfect, but it's light years better than Apple's native fitness app.

    The Apple Watch has the necessary hardware, but their fitness software is surprisingly inadequate and a very weak effort from Apple. It's obvious that they haven't yet focused on being a true contender in the fitness/activity tracker realm.

    (Not to mention battery life. I had to charge my Apple Watch every night, where I only charge my Garmin watch once every week or two, depending upon how much I use the GPS for workouts.)

    Yes, the battery life on the apple watch is really limited. I charge mine every other night. Funny . . recently died mid-run, forgot to charge it the night before. Was having a good day, felt good . . thought maybe I could set a new 10k PR . . and of course it died at 4.8 miles. LOL
  • tyranapookysaurus
    tyranapookysaurus Posts: 24 Member
    Love my Garmin vivosmart HR. Not once yet have I had an issue with it and MFP.
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