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The boss's birthday is looming and amongst other things she's said she want a new "fitness watch".
She has previously mislaid (got bored with and/or given up on) 3 fitbits and a Garmin vivofit, all basic fitness trackers. This time I'm thinking I'll go a bit more up market to try and maintain her interest a bit. She is a "fair weather exerciser" with almost zero intuition or interest in understanding 'tech' so it needs to be easy to use day to day.
I'm hoping to keep it under £150 and find something with wrist HR, GPS and and a few smart watch features that might suit. The current front runner is the vivoactive 3 as it's available for a reasonable price and seems to tick all the boxes function wise.
I looked at some of the forerunners but those still seem to be more specialized runners watches unless you're creeping up the product range...
What else is about in budget? I'm not fixed on garmin but they are a known quantity at least.
I have the vivoactive 3 music. Great for music if you don’t want to bring your phone with you. Heart rate monitor is good. Haven’t tried it as a fitness tracker and haven’t tried connecting sensors such as cadence etc as I use standard garmin for that. I’m very happy with it.
Lezyne Mega XL, not a watch, but lots of features and can be had for ~£145 https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/lezyne-mega-xl-gps-2018/rp-prod171671
What features are you looking for that aren't in the FR35? I ask as I use one and bought one for my (very) technophobe wife. She manages it just fine. It's also still quite small and unobtrusive which can be a good point if you have small hands and wrists.
I have a forerunner 25 just for the occasional 5k, so I did look at the FR 30/35/45, but they are "just" runners watches really, I think she needs something closer to a fitness tracker, dare I say it a basic smart watch...
Features it needs:
-Optical HR (she won't do a HR strap)
-Accelerometer (for indoor steps, etc)
-Activity/sleep tracking (displayed on the watch, as she just won't bother synching with an app)
-GPS logging
-At least 3 days battery life (without GPS)/At least 3 hours battery life with GPS running.
-Waterproof
Ideally also:
-Multi-sports modes (Hence I dismissed the lower FR models) she'll probably run, walk, cycle, do boxercise, zumba, kettle bells, swim, etc with it.
-A full week of battery life (GPS off)
-Phone sync (so messages can pop up and distract her)
-Virtual coach options.
Most of that the VA 3 offers, I just want to be sure there's not a better option for the same sort of money before I get her one (and she inevitably loses it)...
I think the FR 35 has all of those, it certainly does multi-sport as my wife tracks cycling, CrossFit and spin on hers.
Only thing I'm not sure of is it is shows sleep stats on the phone. But you don't need to manually sync it, install the app on her phone and it'll do it automatically.
If you do decide a Forerunner fits the bill I have an almost new, boxed 45 over in the classifieds.
I got a Vivoactive 3 a couple of weeks back.
I like it a lot - looks good, nice interface, easy to record a walk or ride etc - no complaints! Much nicer than the old Vivosmart HR I had
The blurb for the FR35 made it just sound like an update on my old FR25 i.e. A basic running watch with optical HR but still only with indoor/outdoor running, a walking mode and a basic activity tracker (accelerometer based)...
The VA3 and a couple of others (I did spot the FR45S) seem to have quite a few of the features that I think she'd like for about another £50...
I think I'm going to take a punt on the VA3.
Hmmm, on further examination there appears to be similar prices and similar features for the VA3 and the FR45 the only real thing being multiple push button operation (FR45) vs touch Screen (VA3)...
I think I'd better put that question to the customer...
Forerunner 45S is a wee bit smaller and lighter than the Forerunner 45 or the Vivoactive 3. Worth a look if have skinny wrists.
Just bought the g/f a V4s and she loves it....
I'll be selling her Forerunner 235 if you're interested?
Just got a Vivoactive 4S for Mrs and it seems great. One essential for us is Spotify support which is optional on Vivoactive 3 as the Music Edition and standard on V4. One of the key differences to Forerunner (I think) is touch screen + 2 buttons vs 5 buttons on FR. Also the Vivoactive is a lot more multisport and has various options for Pilates and Yoga type workouts too showing the moves/holds and timings on the screen (
but not sure how gimmicky that is.
I'm gonna nick it for a mountain bike ride and maybe get one myself.
Yep she wants a touch screeny one, so VA3 it is.
VA4 looks good but it's too pricey and I doubt she'd take advantage of the few extra features.
I Have to admit I sort of like the idea of a FR45 for myself, but I already have all the garmin kit I actually need and I'm not a daily smar****ch/GPS wearer.