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Smart Watch

Old 07-24-18, 08:42 PM
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Mjdtld
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Post Smart Watch

Can anyone recommend a smart watch that will show the heart rate and the other basics such as speed, time, elevation, etc.


Thanks,

Mat
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Old 07-25-18, 08:18 AM
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The Garmin Vivoactive HR seems like the best deal around right now at $140 (using coupon) on Amazon. It includes GPS and tracks just about any activity including cycling (it can connect to cadence/speed sensors). I use it primarily to replace my chest HR strap, which it does nicely and broadcasts it over ANT+ to my Edge 820. As a bonus it also functions as a golf GPS.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LYL8JBT
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Old 07-25-18, 04:30 PM
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Originally Posted by b0geyman
The Garmin Vivoactive HR seems like the best deal around right now at $140 (using coupon) on Amazon. It includes GPS and tracks just about any activity including cycling (it can connect to cadence/speed sensors). I use it primarily to replace my chest HR strap, which it does nicely and broadcasts it over ANT+ to my Edge 820. As a bonus it also functions as a golf GPS.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LYL8JBT

this is is my daily wearable tracking device and I really like it. Will do all the things you want it to do. One word of warning when doing high heart rate activities it can be funky about readings. I wear a chest strap that is really good on the bike but the watch is a bit off over 160bpm. Other than that it’s a great product imo.
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Old 07-26-18, 08:08 AM
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Fitbit Ionic.
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Old 07-26-18, 11:30 AM
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Another vote for Fitbit Ionic.

Plays well with the free version of Strava. Maps my rides and adds bar graphs of speed, altitude, and heart rate.
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Old 07-27-18, 08:52 AM
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Would an Apple watch do these things?
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Old 07-27-18, 03:36 PM
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hello I just spent weeks reading almost everything dc rainmaker wrote on wearables and smart watches, long story short. I settled on the Garmin Vivoactive 3. it had what I needed and plays nicely with my Garmin edge 520. I've only been wearing it a short time but love it so far. no problems with it and I still have so much to learn about it. since my stroke 3 years ago I'm really into tracking my daily health and this is another tool to help me. yes they are pricey but like everything else I do I buy the best one I can afford and research the thing to death before I buy. I was going to go cheaper for a fitness tracker but waited to buy this unit as it can do so much more that I could grow into. if it helps me monitor my health and such it will be money well spent.
good luck on your quest
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Old 07-30-18, 02:39 AM
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While just about any smartwatch will do the job you request, they all have different strengths and limitations. Their main purpose is for health and fitness tracking of multiple activities along with the usual time functions plus smart notifications of email, text, etc. Because of display limitations, don't expect a watch to be the perfect replacement for a bike computer. Garmin watches allow you to broadcast hr from the optical sensor on the watch to a Garmin bike computer. NIce. Some watches work better for swimming. Apple Watch and Polar V800 both track swimming activity with HR and upload that data to Strava. None of the others do this. Some watches can give you turn by turn navigation on a bike. Both the Polar V800 and Garmin Forerunner 735xt do this using built in features or apps. I recently discovered that the notifications function of a smartwatch can be used for turn by turn navigation cues from a host app installed on a smartphone. Both Polar V800 and Garmin 735xt provide this when used with the Osmand app. However, some watches, such as V800, do not allow notifications to be received when recording a fitness activity. Also, only one watch I have studied allows changing the font size of notifications: Apple Watch 3.
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Old 07-30-18, 07:38 PM
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Love my Garmin Fenix 5X.
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Old 07-30-18, 07:39 PM
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Originally Posted by sierrabob
While just about any smartwatch will do the job you request, they all have different strengths and limitations. Their main purpose is for health and fitness tracking of multiple activities along with the usual time functions plus smart notifications of email, text, etc. Because of display limitations, don't expect a watch to be the perfect replacement for a bike computer. Garmin watches allow you to broadcast hr from the optical sensor on the watch to a Garmin bike computer. NIce. Some watches work better for swimming. Apple Watch and Polar V800 both track swimming activity with HR and upload that data to Strava. None of the others do this. Some watches can give you turn by turn navigation on a bike. Both the Polar V800 and Garmin Forerunner 735xt do this using built in features or apps. I recently discovered that the notifications function of a smartwatch can be used for turn by turn navigation cues from a host app installed on a smartphone. Both Polar V800 and Garmin 735xt provide this when used with the Osmand app. However, some watches, such as V800, do not allow notifications to be received when recording a fitness activity. Also, only one watch I have studied allows changing the font size of notifications: Apple Watch 3.
I do that every weekend lately. You need a chest strap that has a memory. Suunto watches can do it, too.

You can record your HR in the water using Garmin and Suunto watches. Certain chest straps have memory bundled with them, and the watch downloads the HR data when you get out of the water. It sounds like the HR data doesn't arrive at Strava though.

Last edited by Seattle Forrest; 07-31-18 at 09:00 AM.
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Old 07-31-18, 06:40 AM
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
I do that every weekend lately. You need a chest strap that has a memory. Suunto watches can do it, too.
Memory is not the issue for Garmin users. They have lamented for years on Strava forums that their swim heart rate is not uploaded with their swim activity even though they use the memory chest strap. Strava team insists that they are working on it.
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Old 07-31-18, 06:54 AM
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@Seattle: thanks for the correction re Suunto. How does the Strava swim hr info compare with swim hr on the Suunto Movescount site? I find the Polar Flow site to be more detailed than Strava.
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Old 07-31-18, 08:58 AM
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Originally Posted by sierrabob


Memory is not the issue for Garmin users. They have lamented for years on Strava forums that their swim heart rate is not uploaded with their swim activity even though they use the memory chest strap. Strava team insists that they are working on it.
Then I was wrong with my "correction." I'll edit the post above for anybody who comes here looking for good info.

I thought you were saying it's not possible to record HR while swimming. You're saying that even while this is possible, the HR part of the data doesn't make it across the transfer.

I use Strava in a very limited way, so while I've been swimming in Kachess Lake and using my HR to get a handle on my recovery needs, I've been looking at the data in Connect, not in Strava.
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Old 07-31-18, 08:59 AM
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Originally Posted by sierrabob
@Seattle: thanks for the correction re Suunto. How does the Strava swim hr info compare with swim hr on the Suunto Movescount site? I find the Polar Flow site to be more detailed than Strava.
The only Suunto I've owned was their Core hiking/altimeter watch, but it didn't have this feature. Everybody I know who's had a smarter Suunto loved it though.
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Old 11-19-18, 09:34 AM
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Well, I'd recommend Fitbit Ionic or Fitbit Blaze. They are amazing smartwatches, I know that Versa is also on the board but honestly, I don't like it.
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Old 12-08-18, 12:36 AM
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I wish to have the smart watch. I am planning to have the Fitbit Ionic.
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Old 12-19-18, 04:50 AM
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
Love my Garmin Fenix 5X.
Me too. I really never wore a watch before getting it - but I wear it all the time now. Great for monitoring sleep quality and long battery life between recharges. Pricey but I got it when it was on a super sale.
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Old 01-17-19, 03:53 AM
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Using Garmin Fenix 3 for a year. I love it!!
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Old 01-17-19, 04:31 AM
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Fenix 5X here, great battery life and features
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Old 01-23-19, 03:59 PM
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I've been using a Garmin Instinct lately.
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Old 01-30-19, 05:24 PM
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Originally Posted by noglider
Would an Apple watch do these things?
Yes. All of them plus record the entire ride on Strava.

J.
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Old 02-20-19, 11:05 AM
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Tested different watches, but still can't find the ideal variant
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