Smartwatch advise. Been done I'm sure!

How much is going cardless worth to you? I had the same wishlist, but found a refurbished instinct for £60 did everything else (tells the time, records rides, shows HR, steps, shows notifications, accepts/declines calls whilst wearing headphones, play/pause/skip through playlists).

Cardless seemed like a good idea, and I use it on my phone sometimes, but then there's always something that needs actual cash. And no amount of convenience makes up for missing out on my kebab cravings if I'm riding back past the van 😂

My Garmin vivoactive 3 covers all of those, although with Garmin check which card providers they support. When I looked it was very limited so I got a curve card that works with Garmin devices.

Think I've used it about twice to test it as I always have my phone on me when on the bike. So I'd echo the comments above regarding the value of card payments.

If you have a Samsung then the smoothest integration and functionality will be had with a Samsung watch.

I have found after a couple of years that my Samsungs GPS recording always becomes unreliable. I've just switched to a Garmin Venu and it isn't quite as feature packed but always records rides perfectly.

Annoyingly I have had to use Curve to get my card to be compatible with Samsung Pay. That means I can't then use Curve to pay with my Garmin. However your card provider might not be so awkward!

Samsung have just released the v5 of their watch so the prices of the previous models should be reduced accordingly. I got my Garmin as a renewed model from Amazon, loads cheaper than the going rate, is an official refurb and was just like new in a Garmin box with all the accessories/papers, etc.

I’ve got a Garmin Instinct Solar 2. The battery life is tremendous. Ticks all of your boxes, though as mentioned above, the payment options through Garmin are limited. The original Instinct is available on offers

I wanted the cardless payment option but, sticking with Garmin, my bank didn't support it. However, I'm never really without my phone so it's no great loss..I'd weigh that up before letting it narrow your options

Thanks all, sounds like the card payment would be worth letting go!

Looking at the Samsung watch 4 as I do t want to spend out on the 5! Just because it should be the easiest option as same brand.

Does anyone really use the phone capability on a smart watch? Though it would be useful while on the bike so dodnt have to take my phone out of my bag, but I can't decide if receiving calls is worth the extra ££

I've got a Garmin Fenix so all singing and dancing for waterpoof activity tracking. For this it's ace.

Battery life is in the weeks too.

Whilst it can handle most phone notifications and even allow basic replies from the watch, it won't do calls. For this I get a wrist notification and then have to fish the phone out of my bag.

The ability to take a call would sometimes be useful. And an iWatch does do that. Assume a Samsung does too.

But their battery life is useless compared to the Garmin and they're not as robust / waterproof so I live with having to pull over and use the phone.

Also, you look like a dork taking a call on the watch 😁, and it only does speaker phone so everyone nearby can hear both sides of your conversation...

But TBH knowing someone has called is most useful. So don't miss the phone handset functionality.

Does anyone really use the phone capability on a smart watch? Though it would be useful while on the bike so dodnt have to take my phone out of my bag, but I can’t decide if receiving calls is worth the extra ££

Even if you don't want calls then having the speaker to get alarm beeps, and so on could be worth it.

Card payments aren't hassle as such. You can always use Curve to provide the functionality if it's not natively supported. The only issue is if you need to use Curve for Samsung AND Garmin. If you use it for Samsung phone and Samsung watch it'll be fine.

You might find your card provider isn't awkward and you won't need Curve.

The other advantage of a Samsung watch 4/5 is that theybalso support Google pay if that's something you already use.

I use a Watch4 Classic. Have also used Fitbit and Garmin.

Does all you describe, with the advantage that it uses Samsung Pay and Google Pay so most banks supported.

Yes, phone calls work if you don't mind talking to your wrist in public 🙂

The Classic has a bit more protection from bumps with the raised crown. Battery life is OK, lasts a day with 40% left. I charge every morning when getting ready.

I do track rides with it, GPS seems OK,  but like most watches I've used, the heartrate monitoring can be all over the place. I ended up getting a Garmin Edge + chest strap as I needed that to be reliable.

One other observation - crash detection. Had a big accident a few weeks ago. Still off the bike 🙄 Had incident detection enabled on both the watch and Garmin.

Only the Garmin detected the incident and automatically contacted folks with my location. It didn't trigger on the watch. I'm thinking 'cos the bike comes to a hard stop, but you tuck and roll, so not like a fall.

There are two camps for smar****ches. Sports watches with smart features (Garmin, Polar, Suunto etc) and smart watches with sports features (Samsung, LG, apple, etc), but there is a lot of overlap. Depends on your priorities but I much prefer a Garmin as the battery life is great and the GPS is spot on. I don't really need many phone features on a watch. I did try one but the Garmin suits me much better. They have a huge range so you can pick a feature list and price to suit. You can't go too far wrong with a fenix, does the sports stuff really well and has enough smarts to be useful. The older models are cheap and you can pick up some great deals second hand as some people must have the latest model.

I'm not convinced that using the watch for answering calls is a huge advantage. I'm happy enough to get an alert, then decide whether or not I can be arsed taking my phone out. Usually I can't. When I'm riding I reckon there's (almost) nothing that urgent and if it is then the caller will try again.

Same as scotroutes, look at the watch, decide not to answer the call, or send an "I'll call you back text" from the watch. Worst case, hit the button to answer the call, then fish the phone out

but there is a lot of overlap

Garmin Venu2 is one of those, and high on my list at the moment. Especially as my Vivomove HR screen is now basically dead (and you very quickly realise how much you use it)

There are two camps for smar****ches. Sports watches with smart features (Garmin, Polar, Suunto etc) and smart watches with sports features (Samsung, LG, apple, etc), but there is a lot of overlap

I think this is the key statement here....

I too prefer the "sport watch with smart features", so have a Fenix 7 solar.
It's fab - GERAT battery life, and really useful sports features such as decent maps etc. I've donw proper rides with just the watch (leaving the edge 830 at home).

I'm with halifax, so have used a curve card for NFC pay (which, i think is a REALLY great feature..many times i've not had my wallet, but always have my watch on)..

DrP

@jamze

I think the Garmins are more sensitive than Samsung. My Venu tried telling my wife multiple times I'd crashed while at Ardrock*. Luckily I didn't have my phone so they could be patched through.

*Obviously in the wet mud/offcamber grass I did crash, the rest of the time it was from lumpy trails!

Does anyone really use the phone capability on a smart watch?

If you mean receiving and making voice calls: yes. More often than I use my “phone” for such things.

I had a Samsung watch. The features on it are great, but...... the battery life is absolute garbage. You will have to charge daily if you are doing any sports.
I got sick off it and bought a fenix 7s in the end, lacks some of the features but much better as both a watch and a sports tracker

I’ve been looking for the perfect smar****ch but found that it doesn’t exist.

Apple Watch and the likes are great for their smart functions and working with your phone but average sorts trackers.
Garmin watches are fantastic as exercise and training aids but average as a smar****ch.

You just need to decide which you want and go from there.

I’ve just given up with the Apple Watch and gone back to a Garmin as it suits my needs better (and I’ve got an Apple Watch Series 7 for sale if anyone’s interested!)

Loads of second hand Value on Ebay for rocksolid Garmin. I was unconvinced and bought a Fenix 3 second hand for £70 that has been faultless. My wife has just bought a garmin 735xt refurbished for £50 on Ebay and it is again faultless. Loads of value there for a top quality product.

One word of caution. Mith my Garmin watch it cannot respond to messages if you use iPhone. On Android you can respond with some canned messages. Dunno if it's fixed on newer phones to work with iPhones.

Apple Watch and the likes are great for their smart functions and working with your phone but average sorts trackers.

I've just pulled the trigger on the garmin fr255. It's basically an updated version of the watch I have, an fr935 which itself is a cheaper fenix 5. 299gbp for the most accurate GPS stuff and a bunch of other new features. Same stated battery life (14 days on smar****ch use) as the 935 which I've found to be plenty - I ride three times a week and run somewhere between 0 and three times too. I charge it when I remember and it's super quick to do that.

Take a look at dcrainmaker and you'll learn more than you ever wanted about any of these gadgets. If you're at all interested in your performance I think you'll get a lot out of one.

I think the Garmins are more sensitive than Samsung

My crash test seems to confirm that. As I ride alone quite a bit, it's a feature I'd like to work, so will always stick the Garmin on the bike. I've never had it give a false alarm, and if it did, quite easy to cancel the alert. I think it gives you 30 seconds before it starts notifying people.

Thanks for all the input people!

Some interesting points made there, so I'll have to have a think about my priorities and go from there

I got one of these: https://www.amazfit.com/uk/amazfit-bip-3.html#/ for about £45. Two weeks battery life, links to strava faultlessly so far, does heart rate as well as other wrist-worn devices, is waterproof unlike some of their earlier offerings.

I don't use much functionality - it wants to be a fitness tracker, monitor sleep etc etc (I mean how much interest in me can the Chinese government actually have?) has Alexa, wants to store music etc etc. But for something light to track occasional runs/rides where I don't want to carry a phone I see no point in spending more. I had a garmin phenix for a while. Hated the clunky menus and size of the think on my wrist, and the price. No need for it really.

Thanks again for all the input people!

Ended up on eBay as suggested and picked up a warranty return (faulty charge cable) Fenix5 for £99. Turned up just in time for Scout camp too.

Linked it to Strava and tried the walk tracking when we took the Cubs for a wander round the lake. The step count was interesting to look at each day just to see the 15K, 20K, 30K going up each day!

Incident Detection for MTBing on Garmin watches has been disabled by Garmin - so the watch won't detect and alert if it thinks you have had a sudden stop. Mildly annoying - never had a problem whilst biking but had a few alerts when trailbuilding or spectating at bike races where I've been clapping. For some reason they both made the watch think I'd had a sudden stop.