GPS watches? Any Go...
 

[Closed] GPS watches? Any Good?

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Would love one that connects to phone if there is one.


 
Posted : 21/06/2014 5:27 am
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I think one of the newer Garmin forerunners does so you can live track your ride but i can't remember the model, sorry


 
Posted : 21/06/2014 7:54 am
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Magellan echo connects to phone and you can use it to change music etc..but it actually uses GPS signal from phone I think, rather than having GPS on board. Garmin 620 and 220 have a livetrack facility via your phone. See DCRainmaker blog for more info on GPS than you can shake a stick at.


 
Posted : 21/06/2014 8:19 am
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Garmin Fenix2 or Forerunner 620 connect to iOS and Android (hardware list [url= http://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/simpleCase.htm?caseId={bbfc9660-8f77-11e3-d5f4-000000000000}&kbName=garmin ]here[/url]).

Fenix is ANT *or* BT in use (so fitness sensors or phone connection at that time (clearly you can switch between the two protocols for uploads and the like)), but as far as I can recall the 620 does both concurrently. 620 is tightly focused on it's job as a running watch, the F2 is maybe more of a outdoor-activity watch in general.

Any good? - as always 'it depends' ๐Ÿ˜‰
Certainly my 910XT gets a hammering data-logging runs and rides.

(My phone is at least 6 years old, so doesn't talk to anything (or get switched on more than a couple of times a year, so I dunno about how useful / not useful that it)).


 
Posted : 21/06/2014 8:21 am
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Depends on what you need it to do, but I have a Suunto Ambit, which does everything I need, but it doesnt connect to a phone.

I wanted the following features:-

- waterproof
- Small enough (just about) to wear as a regular watch
- Configurable displays - So ican choose what data I display depending on what I'm doing - so for mountain biking I have current time, distance, average speed, current altitude, total amount of height gained plus heart rate data.
- Ability to navigate via waypoints.
- excellent battery life - 15 hours of continuous GPS use (at 1 second intervals), or 30 days of non gps use
- ability to log all data (regardless of what you were displaying on the watch ) and upload to PC/strava later on

It also does lots of other stuff I'm not so bothered about like:-

- built in compass
- Ability to hook up to cadence sensors.
- Interval training features
- heart rate zone training features

I bought it a couple of years ago, so I dare say there are better watches out there now.


 
Posted : 21/06/2014 8:28 am
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Does anyone know if the Garmin 910 xt connects to smart phones via Garmin Connect ?


 
Posted : 21/06/2014 8:57 am
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+1 For the Ambit ive got the Ambit2 s it does everything very well and conects to my garmin bike pod and heart rate moniters..ive had all sorts of garmins and still have edge 500 and 800 and a forerunner 620, however i only use the Ambit now I wish id known about it a couple of years ago, obviously it dosent have the mapping etc of the edge 800 but for everything else you cant beat it


 
Posted : 21/06/2014 9:01 am
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I think the Garmin Fenix will do what you want but it ain't cheap.

I have the Forerunner 220, which is decent for running but a bit useless for anything else. Good battery life though.

620 is better but also twice the price.


 
Posted : 21/06/2014 9:08 am
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[quote=jacob46 ]Does anyone know if the Garmin 910 xt connects to smart phones via Garmin Connect ?

Not as standard, but if you have a phone with Ant+ (check out the listings at http://www.thisisant.com/directory/ and filter on phones - mostly Sony Xperia and some Samsung Galaxys) then you can get apps which allow you to upload to Garmin Connect. Also an Ant+ dongle available for the iPhone I think. Ant+ was one of my main buying criteria when I got a phone for this reason!


 
Posted : 21/06/2014 10:40 am