I am looking at the Tomtom runner 2 as it will give me distance and heart rate. I don’t want to wear a chest strap, is there anything else I should look at? There seems to be a bewildering array of gps watches about now.

Garmin 735 is getting good reviews. Or one of the new(er) Fenixs.

My wife recently bought a garmin forerunner 35, does distance, pace, cardio etc (without a chest strap) and she is over the moon with it.

Seems to be a pretty simple and foolproof bit of kit.

G

What about the Vivoactive HR? Mine is proving to be just as accurate for HR and GPS as my 220 & chest strap plus it has the benefits of covering a lot of sports in one watch.

Mrs is watching the prices on fenix 3 at the moment… they are being superceded with the fenix 5 shortly and prices are starting to fall a little.

**Bookmarks, as was about to ask a similar question***

Garmin 735 is getting good reviews. Or one of the new(er) Fenixs.

Should probably have said I’ve got a Fenix 3 with a strap, and I’m very pleased with it. Great battery life, doesn’t look too bad (I wear it all the time), and the bluetooth notifications are more useful than I thought.

Just got a Tom Tom Adventurer – has optical HR (no chest strap)GPS and even music via Bluetooth headphones. Pretty intuitive to use, good battery life (24hrs with GPS)and even uploading to their website isn’t the clunk-fest that is Garmin

uploading to their website isn’t the clunk-fest that is Garmin

Mine syncs automatically via bluetooth, and from there straight on to Strava. Nothing clunky about it.

The runner 2 cardio with gps is about £150 but there are still some available at £99 – black only both strap and watch.
I’ve just got one from Run4it.
The small will only fit miniscule wrists which explains why there aren’t many with large straps available.
If you need large but can’t find one, buy the small complete and a replacement strap in colour of your choice – still cheaper than rrp.

I have recently done lots of research into this.

Garmin Fenix 3 – bees knees top of the range super duper Garmin. BIG so if you are a man with big wrists you may be okay. Currently getting discounted as they have announced a Fenix 5 is coming out.

Garmin 735XT – alternative super duper watch, however if you only want it for running and walking. I”m not sure why you would spend £360 for a watch (personally) but it has built in wrist HR and is a lot smaller than the Fenix 3. I have one and it is amazing but then I do triathlons and lots of sports so the huge variety appeals to me.

Suunto Ambit – don’t know much about them. Very similar to Garmin but a different brand, again you can find offers and discounts. I have a Suunto dive computer and it was incredibly simple and easy to use.

Garmin 35 – again it has a lot of functions like swimming etc but is more affordable than the 735 or Fenix.

Tom Tom – I also have a runner 3 but the basic function (as I didn’t want heart rate) this is a great piece of kit for the price. It is simple, easy to use and does what I want but has the added functions of swimming etc needs be.

I guess you need to narrow it down to budget and specifically what you want it for.

I have the Forerunner 235. It’s been pretty flawless so far.

I have the Suunto Ambit and its very good but probably no better than many of the cheaper models.
I would never recommend paying the extra and getting a HR strap they are largely a waste of time IMO.

I’m also curious as to the Garmin klunk fest, mine just syncs via Bluetooth and then onto Strava.

I would never recommend paying the extra and getting a HR strap they are largely a waste of time IMO.

I’m actually starting to think that HRM training is a better measure for me. With 4 primary activities, 3 of which then get sub divided out into a wide range of different types, e.g. Fell to Road Running, time/effort are a better measure of what I’m doing.

Admittedly I’m only managing to use a HRM nearly all the time as it’s optical, which I gather is farm from the best for accuracy. And I’m calling it HRM training, really I mean HR recording.

Have optical ones caught up accuracy wise then?

HRM training requires too much data and has far too many variable so unless you are incredibly scientific, have a lot of time on your hands and never imbibe the odd Expresso before training which will skew your results then fine. Otherwise its not particularly useful

I have a 735XT. I had Garmin 305+310XT previously which were both very good. I wanted smart notifications that they offer now and also bluetooth uploading to my phone rather than rely on 3rd party software (phone has ANT+ built in which helps). Used primarily for cycling, but also running once a week and needed to be waterproof (for some OCR events). If I was mainly running I’d get the cheaper 235 – I wasnt too sure on its cycling capabilities. The 735 does allow you to follow a course with an arrow on a plotted line (pretty good actually, I used the feature yesterday). I was also keen on the Optical Heart Rate (OHR) meaning no need for the HRM chest strap, if the watch was worn on wrist (I still use chest strap when on bars).

Good points:
Battery is very impressive. I wear it daily. If not doing any GPS activities it last for well over a week. On holiday (no sports recorded), it was 50% after 1 week! With GPS running continuously I reckon a couple of days max.

Loads of different activities already setup, but you can create your own. Basically just different data screens with either GPS on or off (indoor). I use Indoor running for squash and indoor footy.

It does the modern lifestyle/activity monitoring that is all the fad like the fitbits etc. Step counter/sleep recorder (load of tosh).

Smart notifications are very good. phone calls (answer/discard), txt, whats app, messenger, facebook, Calendar items, weather widget

Controls your music player.

The bad:
OHR is carp for squash! It really bugs me that after a hard squash workout, it reckon my heart rate is 95bpm! I’m on my 2nd 735 because of this. Its no better. The sweat screws it up. Its usually ok for running and sometimes for footy.

My old unit turned off when it got cold with windchill. It was only 3C, so not that cold. Maybe it was just that unit.

A little awkward to get the hang of. It doesnt seem that intuitive to me.

No backup of the data fields and system. With it syncing to phone IO’d thought that would be fairly easy to implement.

Sync if very slow to phone.

Have optical ones caught up accuracy wise then?

I don’t think they have, no.

HRM training requires too much data and has far too many variable so unless you are incredibly scientific

I agree, thing is for me I’m not HRM training.

It’s a measure of activities across multiple disciplines. 10m on the roads of Norfolk is a very different thing to 10m in Knoydart. Different again to a days sea kayaking, ski touring, gym, etc etc.

If I was mainly running I’d get the cheaper 235 – I wasnt too sure on its cycling capabilities.

If it’s anything like the 225 it’s a bit meh for cycling data. You’ll still have speed, distance, elevation, and…. HR…. but no cadence and no cycling mode. You have to edit the activities after syncing.

Speaking of which, syncing is a doddle.

My old unit turned off when it got cold with windchill. It was only 3C, so not that cold. Maybe it was just that unit.

225 has been used at -14c plus some exposure to associated wind chill. Usually under a jacket sleave but still bally cold.

Have optical ones caught up accuracy wise then?

My Vivoactive HR seems good enough, however with the optical HR monitors you there can be a problem if it’s too loose or too tight on your wrist.

I’ve used mine for cycling (and it can sync with most sensors although I don’t think it can with a power meter – not tried that with mine though), swimming (it’s very good for that) and walking as well as running and it’s been great for all of them. It picks up a GPS signal almost instantaneously – certainly much quicker than my 220 and that was already quicker than any other GPS I’d tried. No issue running or cycling in cold temperatures either, although I’ve not done that at below -10c so far, and the battery life is good, easily lasting a week. The notification functionality is also very good and syncing etc. has always worked well.

If it’s anything like the 225 it’s a bit meh for cycling data. You’ll still have speed, distance, elevation, and…. HR…. but no cadence and no cycling mode. You have to edit the activities after syncing.

Garmin 235 does have a cycling mode (unlike the 225), both indoor and outdoor. It pairs with the Garmin speed and cadence sensors for indoor use. I also use a separate wrist mounted optical heart rate monitor (Mio Link that I already had), so I can mount the 235 on the bars when I’m indoors. The 225 is a 220 (which I also have) with optical HR. The 235 was a big step forward, despite looking almost identical.

If it was running only, I’d probably get the 35.

Edit:
Website to check which sensors will work with what

my 235 has had 4-5 firmware updates now and is a lot better and more stable than it was when I got it.

Fenix 3hr here. In terms of the optical HR I’d say it’s largely accurate but it lags a bit so on a long steady run it’s fine, but intervals the data looks a bit messy. I just use a strap for intervals.

That said, when I was using a strap with my old 310xt I would sometimes get weird heart readings if I wore certain nylon tops so I guess nothings perfect.

Wife likes her garmin 235 and I’m considering an upgrade but my old 610 still works ok for now (charging cradle is a bit crap and unreliable). The 235 can sometimes be found for about 150 quid but not currently.

I have the Suunto Ambit 3 Peak and use it with the HRM (chest strap).

I find the data quite useful when uploaded to Movescount as it allows me to see at a glance a number of useful graphs (i.e. no number crunching required) e.g. ‘Peak Training Efforts’, ‘Heart Rate Zones’ and in particular ‘Training Load Trend’.

OP – any particularly reason why you wish to avoid the chest strap?
I tend to forget about mine once it’s on, but I know a few folks who have problems with skin irritation.

Maybe better to use a separate wrist strap for optical heart rate. eg Mio Link or Scosche Rhythm.
Might be more accurate. It means you can try different positions on your arm to see what works best. Also useful if wearing a long sleeved top or jacket – the heart rate sensor has to be directly on your skin.

Duckman,
TomTom runner 2 is perfect for what you want.
TomTom are great for GPS accuracy and pick up a signal fix real quick too.
Their wrist based optical HR is as accurate and reliable as anything on the market.
It’s got cycling and swimming modes that are pretty useful too. The website/online account is great and easy to use for tracking progress.

There’s a runer 3 out now, so I guess you’ve seen a good deal on the 2 somewhere. Make sure it’s got cardio in the name of you want the HR version : runer 2 cardio.

Another shout for the Garmin Vivoactive HR. No more sweaty chest straps and no more having to switch on laptop, connect, plug in and sync my Edge 500 after rides or activities. Now, a couple of taps, job done, no more klunk!

Oh and it tells you to move your lardy ass! And it conveniently tells the time too. 🙂

I’ve had the original Vivoactive for about a year, very happy with it. Just waiting for a good price on the Vivoactive HR as I would like the proper barometric altimeter and OHR. I would love a Fenix but can’t justify the cost.

I’ve a Fenix 3 with Mio Active optical HR and the G/F has a TomTom Spark HR + Music. Both great.

If I was starting afresh, I’d probably go for the TomTom, as it’s far cheaper and pretty much does everything you need!

I’ve the Garmin 235 which replaced a 110 much prefer the optical heart rate to wearing a chest strap.

Best place for detailed reviews and comparisons is DC Rainmaker’s website
although he goes into so much detail you can waste hours comparing different watches.

I have the TomTom runner (without HR)
I was never interested in getting a gps watch but it was £50 on sportpursuit so gave it ago.
Very simple to use, not to big on the wrist like many peoples at the running club. Tells me all I would ever need to know – miles, average pace, live pace.
bluetooth link with phone is really easy to show route and a bit more info.

My replacement 735XT is no better for OHR whilst playing squash. I’ll just have to accept it and use a chest strap. Its fine for cycling and usually ok for running+footy. Its the sweat the OHR doesnt like, and my arms sweat a fair bit more than any other activity when playing squash.

I picked up a Tomtom runner cardio music 2 from Wiggle for £87 in the black Friday sales as the dcrainmaker review was pretty good. It’s got a 2yr warranty I think and came, unexpectedly, with free tomtom Bluetooth headphones which was related to an offer which had expired so that was a nice bonus!

Reasonably intuitive but using some settings took a bit of trial and error. Gps seems accurate enough as does Optical HR which is preferable over faffing with a strap. It’s reasonably simple and does what it says on the tin.

Battery life isn’t great imo (but it does a lot I suppose), with ‘GPS only’ lasting 11hrs per Tomtom so the Adventurer’s every 2 seconds gps read helps here. I need to charge it before each of my 2 weekly runs to be certain it’ll last but guess it would be less of an issue if I ran more regularly (as if). The bluetooth music initially drops out very briefly for the first couple of minutes but then is fine unless you move your wrist behind your back or similar; they’re my first bt headphones but seem great and much nicer than wired.

I think the key is realistic expectations and I’d certainly recommend one compared to spending £100+ on a newer model unless you need the improvements.

Another Garmin 235 user here, mainly as just a smart watch but it’s taken over from my Edge 810 for MTB duties too and I will use tbfor tuning when I can be bothered.

I’d go for the Vivoactive over the 235 if you can stomach the looks, but I couldn’t, plus I didn’t really want a touchscreen. I’ll be sticking with Garmin watches for the foreseeable future. If I did more swimming I’d have got a 735xt or a Fenix, but they’re just a bit too bulky for me.

Thanks everybody ,after reading the replies and looking at the opposition I bought the Runner 2 for £75 (refurbished)

That’s a good price…. I’m tempted!

Amazon, red strap. Amazing how getting into running starts to be like mountain biking…lots of kit that is ABSOLUTELY essential.