I’d like something that tracks distance and pace mainly, heart rate would be good too, with or without a strap. Route finding is not important. Not too big would be good too. Look is unimportant, it’ll only be worn when running so not fussed what it looks like.

What would the runners of STW suggest?

Slight hijack but if it also has a stopwatch that stays and not a screen that disappears after a minute that would be good.

I have the vivoactive HR and that ticks all the boxes for you, Isn’t stupid money and the battery is pretty reasonable.
GPS tracking seems more accurate than my old Polar to boot

2nd vivoactive hr.

I’m pleased with my TomTom Runner 2 Cardio. The 3 is out now, but the only difference is included mapping/navigation, so may still be able to find a discounted 2.

EDIT: TomTom have the Cardio+Music for £109, I paid £99 for my Cardio-only model
https://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/sports/running-watches/gps-watch-music-cardio-runner-2/sky-captain-blue-scuba-blue-large/

I really like my Forerunner 735xt, but they’re not cheap.

+1 for the forerunner 735xt. Mrs is a serious runnerist and this was her timepiece of choice….

If Crikey was still active he’d tell you about how all you need is a wrist sundial and how he ran his first marathon wearing a granite one he’d had to carve that very morning, and your generation don’t know your born, all skill compensators, just go for a run, etc, etc.

In other news, I have a Fenix 3, which seems accurate in terms of GPS and HR (with a strap). My missus has a forerunner with the built in HRM, which is good but quite often has mad spikes,and the occasional inaccurate GPS data.

I like my tomtom runner 2 cardio + music. I just moved from a garmin 910xt and actually prefer the tomtom, supposedly a less functional watch but I think that technology has moved on.

I like the music when going for a run without having to take a phone, I already have a few decent pairs of bluetooth headsets.

I also like the activity tracking, heart rate tracker and sleep tracker. Only had it a week and it clearly shows I need to sort out my sleep regime (I kind of knew that anyway but it has given me a kick to do something seeing it in black and white).

I would have gone for a fenix 5, but no music and cost swayed me towards the much cheaper option.

Worth a read

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/11/winter-sports-recommendations.html

Wasn’t impressed with my TomTom Multisport 2, the metrics for running were terrible (especially pace, was more or less useless whilst out running). My Garmin 910xt was always good and reliable, and the 920xt that I’ve been using for the past year has been great.

Love my Forerunner 235 would have preferred a vivoactive HR in some ways, but I don’t like the look of it and I live in my garmin. 735 is really nice too, if that had got a barometric altimeter it would have been the one for me, but it’s too expensive without one, and the Fenix is too big.

If that all makes sense.

Edit – @ zippy, screen is always on with the Garmins, I’ve got a separate stopwatch/timer app for microwave meals 8)

Yeah the 235 is nice although I find it straightlines sometimes. Pairs seamlessly with the HRM lots of charts and graphs and stuff

according to an email i received friday, wahoo are bringing out a watch tomorrow.

I know nothing more than that, but having been very impressed with the elemnt, the watch may be quite good as well.

Might be rubbish, might cost £500, who knows. But it might be worth waiting a day.

Forerunner 235 is £215 at Amazon with Prime

Mine should be here today so I can tell you what I think when my shin splints go away and I run again next week 🙁

Considering the reliability of the barometric altimeters on Garmin products, I wouldn’t base my purchasing decision on whether it had one or not 😉

Interestingly even though the Vivoactive HR is the cheaper watch it does have a barometric altimeter

Do the tomtom ones give you an audible alert over headphones when you’re doing an interval program?

You can get a basic TomTom one for £50 that does PACE on the display as you run.

Apparently no TomToms can do auto pause, but thats not an issue in my book.

To me it appears that everyone has issues with Garmin devices, but my cheap and cheerful TomTom has been faultless.

I have a basic Garmin that works fine for all you’ve mentioned, it even does messages and notifications which I begrudgingly quite like.

Looks a bit meh though but less than £100.

wilburt, what model is it?

spawnofyorkshire – Member
Interestingly even though the Vivoactive HR is the cheaper watch it does have a barometric altimeter

Ugly little bleeder though innit

Tiger6791 – paid 260 for a 735xt from sweatshop earlier this week. Then had to get the new all singing all dancing hrm seperately….

£8 off tomtom store with code WELCOMEUK2017 means the Runner 2 HR + Music is £101.99 delivered.

Ugly little bleeder though innit

Not really that bad actually. It’s fairly discreet and a lot less in your face than the Forerunners or the mahoosive Fenix’s

With the cost of the top end units, anyone using a Watch2? I had an original Watch and the lack of built in GPS (and it was a bit erratic with the Strava app) meant I didn’t use it much – wonder if the second iteration is any better?

Bought a used garmin 620 off ebay for under £100 and picked up a new HR monitor to go with it and its fantastic. Always found garmin watches to last hence the reason I buy used.

DC Rainmaker did a video on the pacing on the Watch 2, and wasn’t impressed with it at all. Worse than any other GPS watch of the past 10 years or so.

As others have mentioned the Vivoactive HR is a great bit of kit and pretty good for all sorts of sports including running. The only slight downside is that a dedicated running watch will have a larger display and if that’s a factor for you then either the 235 or perhaps a second hand 220 are worth a look.

I’ve had a Forerunner 220 for a few years and have found that very good, however I’ve also got the Vivoactive and it’s an impressive bit of kit and not expensive given what it offers.

Search previous threads as there has been a couple recently ie recent thread

Mine’s a Garmin FR25 which I had to search to remember the model and it brought them up at £99 in the usual places.

You will need a HR strap on top of that, I had one from cycling but I feel less compelled to use it for running despite being into all those numbers.

Vivosmart HR+ for me, was £100 from Amazon. Vivoactive looks nice but I wanted something I can wear as an all day activity tracker, and the Vivoactive is twice the size.

GPS accuracy is a lot better than my phone’s, and from reviews the heart rate tracking is about as good as you’ll get without a chest strap. It’s also fully waterproof if you’re ever inclined to take it swimming.

Only downside for me is no cycling specific mode, it will still track GPS route and speed and I can set the activity as cycling afterwards so it’s not a big deal.

Really like my Forerunner 235 after a week.

I’ve been really impressed with it

despite my thought that Wahoo were bringing out a watch last week, they didn’t. So I gave up waiting, and bought the Suunto Ambit 3 vertical from Wiggle.

seems very good so far. Well made, very light, very customizable. And not a garmin.

I have the Suunto Ambit 3 running version. Very good.