Smart watch / Fitness tracker recommendations?

[ootini]

Hi all. At present I ride wearing a cheap casino digital watch, to avoid damaging my decent Citizen watch. Neither do much more than tell the time, alarm etc.
I'm interested in keeping an eye on heart rate, as per my other thread, but I've noticed there's lots of watches with GPS and other functionality... not sure if that's GPS navigation, tracking (SPOT? Strava?), or other ...
What's the go to smartwatch / fitness tracker type wrist device ?

[johnnystorm]

I wouldn't want to claim these were "The go to" but just my experiences...

Amazfit Pace
A limited smart watch, you can change the watch face, it allows you to read your messages/emails and so on but you can't shop in an app store to add more apps. Great thing is the battery life is stellar and I recorded a 200km audax on it and still had 40% battery left. Also looks like a normal watch and not like a try-hard special forces wannabe. Syncs with strava and you can follow a bread-crumb GPX in it.

There have been new models released since I bought mine

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active
Again, another normal looking watch, does everything that the Amazfit did but also ability to add more apps. It has a better screen (OLED) so easier to read. Not as good battery life, syncs with Strava through the Samsung app or you can just install the strava app. Has auto recording so it "knows" to record a ride or a stroll (but not as a GPX, but enough data to post a manual ride).

Samsung Galaxy Watch (current one)
Same as above but looks like a divers watch, the bezel spins to scroll the the screen, and the screen and battery are bigger. Oh, and you can make/receive calls through it like Dick Tracey. Either paired to your phone or if you get one with an eSim in it.

For the WRT I just left it in low power mode so it was my back-up and just behaves like a normal watch but with step counting.

Samsung are about to change their OS to Google's Wear OS so there might be bargains to be had. Worth checking eBay as both my galaxies were bought new from people who had got them free with their new phones and with a sizable discount.

[ootini]

Amazfit Pace
A limited smart watch, you can change the watch face, it allows you to read your messages/emails and so on but you can't shop in an app store to add more apps. Great thing is the battery life is stellar and I recorded a 200km audax on it and still had 40% battery left. Also looks like a normal watch and not like a try-hard special forces wannabe. Syncs with strava and you can follow a bread-crumb GPX in it.

There have been new models released since I bought mine

This might be just the thing. Cheers

[Dave Barter]

I highly recommend the Garmin Instinct. Superb battery life and rugged

[HUX]

+1 for the Garmin instinct

[pistonbroke]

+2 for the Instinct but to add, I went for the Solar model which when fully charged indicates 40+ days of use. Obviously using all the whistles and bells working knocks a hole in this, I pair it to my Edge Explore to show heart rate and it uploads my activity to Connect and then to Wikiloc within seconds of finishing. Clearly living in a sunny area helps but I've only charged it at the wall 3 times in 6 months.

[ScotRoutes]

For basics you get a Forerunner 35 for about £85 or so. I used one for a couple of years. My Wife has it now as I bought myself a VivoActive 4

[Specialist Hoprocker]

+3 for the Instinct. I've tried Polar, Microsoft, and a dodgy Chinese GPS watch in the past. Instinct is by far the best. I'd have gone for the solar if I had the money, but the standard version holds charge for over a week with 2 or 3 activities, or much longer if you only use it for sports.

[Alpinum]

Depending on what you're asking from a 'watch'.

I find Fenix 6 (have the full blown version) stellar.
About 1.5 % battery use per 1 h of tracking (regular mode) in the sun.
Decent back up for navigating by gps (actually useable). O2 blood saturation and hr combined to give an idea on how well you're acclimatizing and oh so many more things which are beyond helpful when going on certain trips (and allow to take less), but also full of other helpful stuff depending on working environment or activities.

The Instinct does loads too for less money, for many/most outdoor enthusiasts probably best price per performance from the Garmin watches (viewpoint of a friend who sells that stuff). Since it's quite a bit smaller, the battery life is equally shorter than those of the largest Fenix options.

Diving down the Fenix rabbit hole can be a bit overwhelming and may take a while to see what the differences between the different options are.

Also after years of recharging the Fenix & Instinct batteries hold up really well.

So... I guess a +4 for the Instinct.

[ootini]

Much appreciated folks

[slarge]

I bought a Garmin Vivoactive 4 - if you have any kind of life assurance then some do deals - my one (Prudential based thing) gave me a 40% discount and I got it for around £130.

Seems to be really good - although I only use a fraction of the features. It has GPS tracking, activity tracking, workouts and also Garmin Pay, music to bluetooth earphones, and some other stuff. Battery life is 6-7 days with no features, going down to 6-7 hours with all the GPS and music things active.

It's the only one I've ever tried though.

[Asposium]

I have a Garmin Fenix 6 Sapphire.

Fantastic watch.

I tend not to use the Fenix for bikepacking as a main device.
Mainly just to record.
Bar mounted is more convenient.

Is this watch for bikepacking or general everyday fitness activities?

[Boab]

I toyed with the idea of getting a Whoop band when they first came out, but decided they weren't quite good enough. Evidently EF Pro Cycling use them now, judging from the advertorials that Eurosport keep airing every few days. They're not cheap, but if you're not interested in GPS functionality, but rather want heart rate, strain and recovery, etc, then they're maybe worth checking out.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I'm loving the fact that the Garmin Instinct will tell me whether I'm having a stressful day or not ... I mean, how else would I know

[HUX]

And the body battery that tells you when you're knackered I think I could work that one out.
I don't really do technology but I just decided to pair my Instinct with my phone. Its logged everything from when I started wearing it and from the graphs you can even tell if you were walking on on the bike. The 3 days I was riding in the cotswolds by the end of the day my body battery was zero so it's fairly accurate
A lot of stats if you are into that sort of thing.clever stuff

[Dave Barter]

I'm loving the fact that the Garmin Instinct will tell me whether I'm having a stressful day or not ... I mean, how else would I know

On a serious side you might not if your heart rate was up from normal but you were unaware. These devices are great for spotting conditions that might slip under the radar. Just make sure you wear it on the left if you're right handed...know what I mean

[Borderer]

I got an Amazfit GtTS from Argos. I really like it. The battery is pretty good and the charger is compact enough that I could take it with me on a tour.
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8949723 ... lsrc=aw.ds