Afternoon all. I’m after a Strava compatible watch for biking and running and am to be honest, amazed at the selection. Budget of about £150 so been looking at Fit Bit Versa (?), theres a few Garmin options and Samsung smart watches.

To be honest, I’m not all that bothered about being able to get messages and look at facebook on a little TV on my wrist so would rather it be more watch-like than mini-phone like.

Anything recommended??

Garmin Forerunner 35 can be picked up dirt cheap and is a good, solid running watch that is fine for cycling. It’ll be more than what most people need, I like mine a lot. The 45 has just been released and has a few more features.

Cheers lunge – looks like Argos have the 245 for £150. Seems to do everything I’d want it to. Or the 45 is £140 at Currys… Must admit, the Garmins were the options I’d looked at which I was swaying toward.

If the 245 is currently £150 I’d jump at that. I’d been looking at those but they didn’t ever drop below £199 or £220 or something like that.

I went with a 645 music that was also on sale at Argos for £199 and so far it’s great.

I’ve just got the Garmin Vivoactive 3 and like it. It’s more multisport compared to the Forerunner, I think.

Forerunner 35’s at £90 at Decathlon which is a bargain, but £150 for the 245 and £199 for the 645 are also very good prices indeed. Any of those 3 will sort you out, just depends what functions you want or need.

Garmin often look tempting but then my experience of their bike stuff (200, 800, 1000) puts me off.

There are some bargains out there and they are helpful if (when) stuff stops working. In a move to find something a bit different I have this bookmarked.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/COROS-Wrist-Based-Monitoring-Barometric-Compatible/dp/B07D527X1N

It was on my xmas list but Santa didn’t pull his weight.

Only downside of the cheaper garmin running watches is the lack of barometric altitude sensor. I use mine regularly in cloud when in the hills, it’s pretty darn accurate, surprisingly (vivoactive 3 here too)

Fitbit are shite for anything other than lifestyle tracker stuff.

I have a Withings Steel HR which looks like a watch rather than a mini phone.
Now connects to Strava via app on your phone.
I’ve found it very good at tracking swimming, walking etc (sorry I don’t do running!) Strava on your phone does the Strava stats though.

https://www.withings.com/uk/en/steel-hr

Does also display messages if you want to!

Amazfit Pace, Stratos, Stratos 2, Verge, GTR etc.

Built in GPS, syncs with Strava, 5 days battery life in normal use, can record a 200k road ride with 40% battery left, notifications from your phone, can upload and display a GPX on the screen, built in HR and all that fitness lark. From well under £100. Cheaper direct from China through AliExpress, etc but next-day delivery from Amazon.

Not a household name in the UK but parent company Xiaomi are the world’s fourth biggest producer of smartphones and biggest producer of smart watches and fitness trackers.

Got one of these before Christmas (after swearing I’d never have another gps watch because my Garmin and Polar ones never worked well).

Makibes BR1

It turned up within 6 days from China and has been better so far than the Garmin/Polar watches.

Costs £38!

Got a Vivoactive 3 last Christmas. Way better than any dedicated bike Garmin I’ve previously had and better than the Lezyne I went to after getting fed up with Garmins. Doesn’t run Strava natively but obviously Garmin Connect can link directly to Strava, and unlike some others I’ve never had an issue with the Garmin app/site other than occasionally having to sync manually if my phone doesn’t pick up the GPS data straight away.

For anyone interested in a Garmin vivoactive 3 music, I have one for sale- bought new in sept, worn twice and decided I preferred the bracelet style tracker. I’ve been meaning to ebay it but it’s £140 delivered to anyone on here. Original box, cables etc

Garmin Instinct.

Fantastic watch for the money.

I’ve not had any issues with my Garmin 235 for the past 18months. Battery life is very good, it’s comfortable and easy to use. Tracks and uploads my runs and mtb rides around Dartmoor without any problems.

I’m selling a Garmin vivoactive 4 in the classifieds. It’s at £190 but could strike a deal. It’s virtually new.

Those with 645 how is battery life.

I nearly bought one then noticed the battery life quoted on Garmin’s site was woeful unless you basically turned everything off……worse than my 735 anyway.

@widge34

I’m selling a Garmin vivoactive 4 in the classifieds. It’s at £190 but could strike a deal. It’s virtually new

Out of interest what’s your opinion of the V4?

It’s been spot on the few times I’ve used it. Battery lasts 5 days and it all syncs to Strava fine, but I don’t need all the vast array of info it gives me.
I just run Strava on my phone.

I’ve been using a Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music for the last six months – works faultlessly so far. Battery life is days and using GPS lasts several hours. Connects to strava via connect virtually instantaneously if your phone is nearby (if that’s important) and I really like the integration with Spotify – I use that with Bluetooth earphones when I’m on the turbo,
A couple of negatives – the unique cable connection for charging (if you’re travelling and leave that behind they’re tricky to find) and it looks a little naff – I much prefer the 4. If I was in the market Widge34’s would be on my list.

Terry, 645 gets about 14 hours on GPS mode, not as much as the 735 as it’s for tri use so expected ironman as well mibbe?

14 hours would do me tbh, though I’d like to do WHW in a day this year so will need more than that! IIRC you can charge and keep tracking, just loses the HR data through the optic sensor, dunno if chest would work though.

I feel a wee experiment coming on.

Slight hijack, my Mrs is getting a new 4S, if want one wants a cheap starter GPS tracker, her year old vivosport is yours for 30 quid posted.

She’s had just under 6 hours on it in GPS mode a few times in the mountains, been a good wee watch.

Forerunner 245 should have better battery life than the 645. It claims 24 hours with GPS and heartrate. Or even longer with ultratrac mode, though a less detailed track. I’ve not tested mine yet.

Though much shorter with 245 Music, if playing music through Bluetooth headphones. Maybe about 6 hours.

Cheers all – it was actually the 235 I found for £150 but read a comparison between that and the 45 and it sounds like the 235 is the one for me 🙂

I was going to ask practically the same question. Anyone got any recommendations for a smart watch that has GPS, STRAVA compatible, water proof and has built in HR monitor and fitness tracker? I want to use it as a back up to my Garmin 1000 for longer rides and cross training as well as cyclocross races. Thx.

Anyone got any recommendations for a smart watch that has GPS, STRAVA compatible, water proof and has built in HR monitor and fitness tracker?

That would be all of the watches listed above! What’s your budget?

Anyone got any recommendations for a smart watch that has GPS, STRAVA compatible, water proof and has built in HR monitor and fitness tracker?

Garmin Instinct….😜

I’ve just got a Polar M430 that I bought to replace a Garmin Vivoactive HR that bricked itself during a software update. The Polar HRM seems more accurate than the Garmin one (benchmarked against my TickR) and the syncing to Strava seems a bit quicker after the first 10 or so uses.

Happy with it overall.

I’ve had the forerunner 245 since just before xmas and have been impressed. It’s far and away more useful than the Fitbit charge 3 I had before, except for sleep tracking, which Garmin appears to be very poor at.

I’ll chime in as I was thinking of the same question… I’ve got a Wahoo Elemnt that I use for tracking rides, but interested in getting a watch too track the rest of life, walking & hiking (munros etc.), cycling to work, gym etc. Note I don’t run.

I want to spend as little as I can, although have ended up looking around the £200 mark. From what I can see it goes like this:

Forerunner 245 Music: Can be had for £200, great battery life, most up to date garmin HRM and GPS chip but doesn’t have a barometer.

Forerunner 645 Music: Also £200 right now, poorer battery life ~14 hours on GPS, previous gen HRM and GPS chip but does have a barometer which is good for hiking etc.

Instict: Also £200, great battery life, recent HRM & GPS but perhaps a bit rugged looking for round the office and not the most attractive of screens.

Or save some cash and get a Vivoactive 3 (not sure I’m too keen on a touch screen) or forerunner 45, although it looks to be missing some functionalities.

Can’t decide which option would be best for me and which features I would like the most. Anyone got any thoughts on these

Can’t decide which features are most useful for me, anyone with any insights as to why they picked what they picked greatly appreciated!

I love my Garmin watch, on a Vivoactive 3 music at the moment but have had Vivoactive HR and FR235 in the past.

I did have an Apple Watch this time last year but preferred the Garmin so went back. Still need to sell the Apple Watch it’s just say in my drawer

I’d get one with Bluetooth so that it uploads activities automatically, no need to have the notifications switched on if you don’t want them

I got my Instinct Christmas ’18, and I love it. It looks more watch like than most in a G-Shock style. I wear it every day and even being a fabricator I can’t see a mark on it.

Or save some cash and get a Vivoactive 3 (not sure I’m too keen on a touch screen)

VA3 can be had for 150, assume you mean VA4?

Touch screen here, had VA3 for nearly 2 years, no issues with it, west of scotland rain, ultras, hill races, Munros, biking etc, dunno what folks issues with touch screen is.

Instinct here. I went through the choosing process this time last year, very happy with it indeed.
Yes it is not the best looker (though I like the g shock look personally) but in every other dimension it is a spot on balance of features Vs price. Compared to the other options, it is a much more of a general outdoor lifestyle watch (which is what I wanted as ai do a lot of outdoor stuff). Others seem much more specialised.
The screen is also basic, however this makes long battery life possible which is more important to me by a long way. Have a look on dcrainmaker YouTube channel for reviews.

PS instinct also very light and comfortable(eg for wearing at night), lots of people saying they prefer over the ££££ fenix (which although much more spendy is a similar general outdoor market segment)

Thanks chaps. Think I’m between the instinct and the 645M.

The battery life (on GPS) of the 645 concerns me a little as I do like the occasional big day out at 12+ hours. But I guess I can charge if required. I do think that I prefer the look of it and the colour screen.

I still can’t decide whether I like the looks of the instinct, I either love it or hate it, but I’m not sure which…

Just in case anyone is interested in a Vivoactive 3 standard version I have one for sale as my Fenix Christmas present has now arrived. £100 plus postage incl a couple of extra straps. Drop me a message.

Does anyone use a Wahoo for running, hiking etc? Just for recording, not for route finding. Can’t see any reason not to as it’s just something to track where you’ve been and how long you’ve taken unless I’m missing something.

I need a new GPS computer thing and want one that does everything. Have had Garmins in the past but Wahoo get such great reviews usually.

And sadly some of my mountain bike ride stats could easily be mistaken for those of a trail runner, and not even a very fast one!

Is anyone still using a Sony Smartwatch 3 for Strava?

Not used my SSW at all for ages, it could record 5 hour rides using the watch’s built in GPS when fully charged, but GPS lock wasn’t great in 2018 (lots of segment times missed for me) and iirc there was talk it would not be compatible with newer Strava releases.

It seemed such a bargain buy in early 2017, until Sony finally confirmed it would not get Android Wear 2.0 and GPS issues (especially at start, as I was unaware it gets a lock quicker if you are on the move, which sounds odd to me but hey)…

It was soon replaced with a Lezyne Enhanced Y10 Super GPS, which I can easily put in a pocket while recording my delivery duties or cycle commuting, using the secure stem lock on the road bike.

The SSW3 was useful for a while though, when a corrupt favourite segment using the Live Segments feature on the Lezyne would lock up the unit until the battery lost all charge and was then recharged, so I took the SSW3 with me as redundancy recording.

Argos have the Garmin Forerunner 235 at the moment for £149.99.