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So with my birthday coming up soon Mrs Pizza has been asking me for some ideas, there's not a lot I want or need but with me being on a fitness and weight loss kick aided by the bike and hilly dog walks the idea of something to help me along with this has been piquing my interest and it seems watches are in abundance when it comes to choice.
I'm mainly looking for something which can give relatively accurate HR data, sleep insights, maps and route guidance, good battery life, app syncing with google fit/strava, good gps data to report on ascent, conditions and accurately track routes, calories burned taking weight into account (bonus points for something which is more accurate based off body fat %, muscle mass etc if such a thing exists) and any other stuff which STW would think might help with my health endeavors, the problem is that there is so many out there I've no idea where to start looking or what brands to consider.
For clarification I do have a Samsung Gear S3 Classic but have found it pretty poor for anything more than just being used as a smar****ch, particularly around HR tracking I've been busting a lung on a climb before and the watch has said my HR is a steady 70-80bpm, and not ten minutes later been casually pedalling a long a nice flat section and the watch has said my hr is in the 150-160bpm range it just seems to jump absolutely all over, I've tried all the recalibration and proper positioning of the watch on my wrist and find it makes no difference.
I'm using Strava currently to keep track of things like calories burned roughly speaking, ascension and what zones I'm spending the most time in etc and I stopped using the S3 as I felt it was fudging the data, the ft of ascent has been up to 150ft less on the same routes and calories burned have been surprisingly low, now obviously I've lost a stone since October when I got back on the bike but I'm still at a whopping great weight currently at around 21.5 stone, it seems strava takes aspects of this into account but I'm pretty sure the S3 doesn't at all which would explain the lower calories expended.
And then when it comes to things like sleep tracking, the batteries always dead by 10pm and it needs to be charged so I cant even use that function unless I charge it mid evening when I'm usually out walking the dog and wanting to track that too, I'm hoping the technologies got a lot better since 2016 when I got that watch.
Watching with interest.
I’m also on a health drive and watch curious.
A could of thoughts
Nothing seems to do elevation that well. Just use “correct elevation in Strava”
There seems to be good evidence that sleep tracking isn’t a good idea if you’re not getting enough sleep
If I was starting from scratch I’d portably but a Garmin instinct
Too much information here
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2021/11/best-gps-sport-smar****ches-recommendations-guide-2021.html
Instinct does most of what you're looking for. I've been happy with mine. Currently Instinct Solars are on offer at Sport Pursuit https://www.sportpursuit.com/catalog/product/view/id/2687512
My Garmin Fenix 6 does all of that, I think. Got it cheap(ish) from a PSA on here a few months back. Fenix 7 has been out a while so there may be some other deals around.
The benefit of the Garmin is that there are lots of apps and widgets from their equivalent of the app store. I've got one that I use to set a calorie target for the week, broken down each day. Which is really just an excuse to see if I can eat and drink more 😆
I think most of the watches from the big players will do what you want, but the mapping requirement will bump up the cost.
had 5 garmins, garmin connect app is good and updates across to strava, once setup.
had a couple of fenix watches and vivoactive (first,2 small,3 music), (3 warranty replaced, one smashed) i'd recommend them both , vivoactive range can be had for £100 on a good day.
go for the garmin with mapping
Garmin fr255 will do everything you want if you're happy with uploading a route to it and taking prompts. If you want a map on your wrist then fr965. The 965 is a fenix7 without the chunky case.
Take a look on to those on dcrainmaker and go from there. Good luck reaching your goals. The newer Garmin stuff will definitely help. Oh! If you want you can also get the Garmin scales that will take in your weight and a few other bits and pieces but I don't know too much about them.
Edit: newer sensors on the later fenix and fr watches but it must be said that some people just don't seem to get on with wrist heart rate monitors it seems.
particularly around HR tracking
IME, wrist HR tracking on Garmin watches can be hit and miss. If I want/need it to be accurate I use a chest strap.
I’ve a garmin vivoactive 3. Does everything you need and I paid about £140 for it 3y ago with a blue light card discount (so the same as stw member discount)
However… 3 years in and battery life is nowhere what it used to be. Used to last 6-7 days without gps now needs charging every 3. Gps use can empty it in 3 hours now.
Elevation data not reliable. As above correct it with strava. I recently learned there’s a port in the back that measures atmospheric pressure for the barometer and it was full of wrist gunk. Cleaned it out. Not sure it works any better.
No good for open water swimming. Have to set it to walk and then change activity type later.
I have been considering changing it due to the battery life issue. A couple of people I know use corus watches which are known to have really good battery life. I would miss the garmin app though I think. Reminds me to do 150 minutes a week. Especially now I’ve binned off paying for strava.
That instinct solar for £189 on sport pursuit looks like the one I’d get if I was buying one now.
Don't know your budget but I got a fenix 6 when the uncame out and got a good price on it,
Find it really good to have some numbers to try and beat and showing progress.
Mine has the mapping on it and solar (adds a little bit) and lasts easily over a week using it regularly on commute to work, used for MTB and running too, never thought the HR sensor was bad but now use a chest strap.
I have been on a losing weight path for several years and slowly slowly losing weight by a stone a year and helps just keeping track of calories.
I have a garmin vivo. Battery life still ok at 2.5yrs. Garmin app is fairly useful for recording all the stuff and doing some analysis. Touchscreen works well. Mine was the entry level GPS one, vivosport? I think.
Instinct is too chunky for me to want to wear it while sleeping.
Thanks all, seems garmin is the way to go. Took a look on their website and must say they definitely know how to sell a product, some good marketing! Just trying to decide between the Forerunner 965 and Fenix 7 now
Fenix 6x Solar I use for everything except for mapping, 2nd model may upgrade to 7 but waiting for further discounts. There is a Garmin for everyone, but you can't go wrong with Fenix.
Another Fan of the Instinct here, I do wear it while sleeping.
I stopped using the S3 as I felt it was fudging the data, the ft of ascent has been up to 150ft less on the same routes
I have to say though the instinct (V1 solar, not the newer V2) much as I love it, is piss poor on elevation I just use the Strava Elevation correction option by default now on most uploads.
I think the default answer now is whichever Fenix fits your budget best....
if you have blue light or forces discount, there are huge discounts on Garmin website. Just got Daughter a watch and saved £30 on the next best price elsewhere for a Forerunner 45s.
Instinct is too chunky for me to want to wear it while sleeping.
I wear my Fenix 6 whilst sleeping and it looks to be about the same size and similar design to the instinct. I have fairly skinny wrists and it doesn't bother me at night.
Back to the OP, bike rides and dog walks - I do mainly that too, plus a fair bit of outdoor pool swimming. I use an Instinct crossover solar on the bike, though also a bar mounted Garmin unit, as I need to keep an eye on my HR while riding, and an Apple Watch 7 for everything else. I find the Apple wrist HR more accurate than Garmin, and all activities on it sync through Apple Fitness to Strava. The watches also sync to each other, so everything is joined up. The benefit to me is that the Apple is far superior as a smart watch, from the pov of apps and notifications, though battery lasts a full day only. The instinct crossover solar battery lasts for days, or weeks if not recording.