• This topic has 26 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 3 years ago by boblo.
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  • Running watch
  • mikejd
    Full Member

    I’m looking for a running watch and am open to suggestions.

    I have been trying a Polar M200 but have had problems with it starting a new session that I have finally given up and returned it.  My wife also has one which seems to be OK but I have been in conversation with Polar support for the last week and still not got it sorted. I was happy with the recorded session but it was getting started that was a problem.

    Anyway, I would like to find something similar. HRM, GPS, phone app, website. Wrist  based measurement but connection to chest strap if possible. Record of HR and track for each session, possibly upload to Strava.

    Budget would be up to £125. I paid £103 for wife’s and £93 for mine, so looking for similar.

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    whichever garmin forerunner fits your budget.

    nixie
    Full Member

    Does Garmin tax not price them out of the OPs budget.

    Suunto have some models in that price bracket that do all the requirements.

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    gingerbllr
    Free Member

    https://g.eu.factoryoutletstore.com/collections/garmin-vivoactive-series

    Factory refurb Garmin vivoactive 3 – just sneaks in at £124.95 – will do everything you’ve asked and more and not look too much like a toy watch.

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    garmin 35 ticks all the boxes. £99

    superfli
    Free Member

    2nd hand or refurb Garmin 735Xt should be easy to find. Very good watch for running (nice and light) and also for cycling. It’ll do swimming/multisport too.
    https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=garmin+735&_sacat=0

    Nobeerinthefridge
    Free Member

    Wiggle do Frontrunner 45 for 130 quid.

    RDL-82
    Free Member

    I know it’s over budget (£199) but the Coros Pace 2 (if you can find one that is) is receiving very positive feedback pretty much everywhere and their update process is pretty much unmatched with regards to back porting features (certainly compared to Polar, no experience of Garmin).

    Having said that. I’ve had a Polar Vantage M since launch and it’s been faultless. Think it was available for around £150 recently.

    Non Polar the Garmin Forerunner 245 is supposed to be a good watch but no experience. Over budget again though.
    Garmin Forerunner 45 is the closest to budget. Again no idea on how good or not it is.

    shortbread_fanylion
    Free Member

    I got a forerunner 45 back in October. It’s been great – no reliability issues and picks up GPS fast. Syncs to phone to upload activities. It’s got some stuff on it I will never use like a coach facility etc but I do use the intervals a lot. You can create workouts on garmin connect to stick on it. It’s wrist based HR which can be a bit flakey but it will work with a chest strap.

    dannybgoode
    Full Member

    Mrs D loves her 45 – really nice watch with just about every feature you could conceivably need to get going.

    That said if you want a lot of toys you could do a lot worse than looking at an older high spec Garmin – the 920XTand 735XT are both in budget and brilliant things.

    I’ve just gone totally mad and sold my Apple Watch and bought a Fenix 6X Pro. Bloody marvellous thing and the on-watch mapping is now pretty much perfect. Love the data I get from it and it’s certainly motivating my exercise although you get pretty much all of the metrics with any of their FR series watches now so mapping aside (which I do use) it is complete overkill 🙂

    mikejd
    Full Member

    Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I’ll  get going on looking at some/all of these, should keep me busy for a while.

    bluebird
    Free Member

    I’ve not long had a forerunner 745, upgraded from a 735XT. Had a couple of runs and I’ve been very impressed. Having music on the watch is a bit of a game changer for me. I have auto laps set to every mile and it speaks my pace at the end of each lap. I didn’t know it did this, but I like not having to look at the watch.

    mikejd
    Full Member

    From your suggestions, Garmin Forerunner 45 was looking good. Checked out on Google and found for £125 incl. post. I did look at some of the others but they were generally over budget. Found it on runningxpress website, quoted 2-3 weeks delivery so I just have to wait. It seems to offer all I was looking for plus a couple more.

    Thanks for your help guys.

    lunge
    Full Member

    Wiggle do Frontrunner 45 for 130 quid.

    Is the correct answer, you have chosen well OP.

    dannybgoode
    Full Member

    @mikejd – excellent choice but be warned, you may get addicted to all the data and want mooorrree!! It is then a slippery slope toward a 945 or Fenix 6 Pro :D.

    On the other hand given how much the 45 brings to the table for the price, particularly post-run in Garmin Connect, you may very well be perfectly happy. It’s a great watch.

    jonny-m
    Free Member

    Get the best Garmin you can afford

    I can currently get 40% off all garmin so PM me if you want and I’ll get you a good price
    (sounds proper dodgy but trust me I’m not 😂

    Merak
    Full Member

    I’ve got a Garmin 245 music.

    It’s the best running watch I’ve ever owned.

    tallmart10
    Full Member

    I got an original Coros Pace from 2018 for £40 off Ebay a month ago or so. Bloomin’ fantastic.

    flannol
    Free Member

    Quietly wish I bought a 245 music when they were on an insane offer a little while back.

    I’ve owned a 245 in the past. Loved it. Had to sell for funds

    Recently bought the 45 – it’s basically a newer 245. Really like it. HR was a bit ropey until I updated the firmware – my bad, their bad, bad. But now good!

    Forget wrist HR for cycling – doesn’t happen. Wildly inaccurate. But very accurate for running. Which is all that matters.

    surfer
    Free Member

    Forget wrist HR for cycling – doesn’t happen. Wildly inaccurate. But very accurate for running. Which is all that matters.

    I cant imagine its accurate for either. Why for running and not cycling? Only chest straps are really accurate but why anyone would want to measure their HR is beyond me.

    stcolin
    Free Member

    but why anyone would want to measure their HR is beyond me

    Can be very beneficial when training. I’ve found it helpful. Good marker of fitness. I know many other metrics are available for that.

    GrahamS
    Full Member

    why anyone would want to measure their HR is beyond me

    Engineering philosophy: the first step to improving something is finding a way to measure it.

    surfer
    Free Member

    the first step to improving something is finding a way to measure it.

    I am being mischievous. Of course I understand how and why but as a practical method of improving performance I think it only has real value for athletes that have a high level of control over a great number of variables. It may be useful to estimate zones for training in general but for most athletes “feel” is more important and practical.

    martin_t
    Free Member

    I was using the Garmin forerunner 35 until a couple of weeks ago. It was excellent but gave it to my daughter when she started running.

    I have since got the 45. Also excellent and not much difference really. The main thing (for me) is the 45 allows you to upload workouts. Which is really handy for intervals. Although, I guess that is quite niche.

    Both of them have wrist based heart rate monitors. It works well enough for resting heart rate but for me at least, is completely unreliable for running. My wrists are pretty bony though.

    The 45 comes in two sizes. The screen is the same size for both sizes. It is just the bezel that is different. So the small size works well for me.

    Last time I checked there were a good few on Facebook marketplace. Unwanted Christmas presents maybe? I picked mine up for £80 and it was as new.

    chestrockwell
    Full Member

    I had a Forerunner 35 and thought it was great, did everything I needed. Then picked up a Vivoactive 4 in the sale along with a heart rate strap for sub £200 and it’s miles better.

    As someone else said, get the best Garmin you can for your budget. They have plenty of sales (especially if you have something like a blue light card) so worth holding out.

    boblo
    Free Member

    Surprised the OP was having bother with his M200. I had an M400 (or was it an M200 on each wrist….?) and it was ace. I ‘upgraded’ to a Garmin 245 because I wanted running and cycling data in one place and I use an Edge. As it happens, I’m pretty sure
    (99.9999%) Garmin don’t aggregate Forerunner and Edge data correctly in Connect.

    The 245 is a great watch for running training. I’m sure it has shortcomings for other things but I only use it for running. I wish it would take a manual lap from the start (or end of last manual lap) rather than end of last auto lap as the M400 did but that’s it.

    I find optical HR more accurate running than cycling around here (the Flatlands) as there seems to be fewer rapid changes in my running HR than cycling HR which the optical jobbie struggles to track. I now wear a chest strap for both just to avoid any doubt.

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