Running watches

Hi all you experienced runners.. thinking of buying a runners watch, does anyone use one? Or is there any advice you could give us to help me pick one

[nhs2015 Graduate10]

I have a TomTom. Run, Ride, Swim. Happy with it. Maybe next time I will get a Garmin. Those watches are getting better and better every day. Happy shopping

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate10]

Hi ...many of us have and do use them. I have, again, like quite a few of us, a basic Garmin Forerunner 10. Simple and effective, it is enough for me

[Hidden in reply to Oldfloss]

Thanks for reply. There is so many out there

[wez70 Graduate10]

I got a little Garmin Forerunner 15 ... small and compact, all I want it to do is give me pace, distance (and calories!) which is does and you can download all the info on the Garmin app which gives you a an activity log

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It gives us a starting point when looking thanks for reply

[runner56]

I have a garmin forerunner 10. Its a few years old now and doesn't do all the fancy stuff that more modern watches do but it serves my purpose (tracks my route, distance, speed, calories, elevation, splits)

[Matt12345 Graduate10]

I use the Garmin FR 35. Cost around £150 I think. Love it!

One thing: I took a while to buy a watch and used it as part of my motivation and was only allowed to buy it once I had reached certain targets. Made it fun and it felt like I had really worked for it!

[mcgurranhouse in reply to Matt12345]

Love my FR35!

[Mummytotwo]

I use a Garmin forerunner 15. It's simple enough to measure distance and duration. I wear it all the time though so it acts like a pedometer when I'm not running.

[mcgurranhouse]

My husband has had both the garmin forerunner 10 and 15 and I upgraded to the forerunner 35 which I absolutely love. It is down to how much you want to spend and how much you want to get from it. Each model does a little more than the one before. Forerunner does the basic pace and timed runs etc whereas the 15 has a pedometer and can be connected to a heart monitor as well. For basic runs the 10 is great, a running friend of mine is on his 2nd or 3rd FR10, as I said it depends on how much you want to spend - garmin is good! Good luck.

[MarkyD Graduate10]

Garmin ForeRunner 235.

Why? It does optical heart-rate monitoring, step count, gives me bluetooth notifications from my phone (appointments, messages, even when someone likes or replies one of my comments on this site!!) and best of all 'Running Dynamics' ie how long I spent in each heart-rate zone, peak, average, resting heartrate, recovery time, cadence, stride length, pace and average pace when I'm running, and a 5-7 day battery life.

Won't suit everyone, but I love it.

[Michael_W]

This might help: dcrainmaker.com/product-com...

Select Watch for product type, Run for product use and pick your price range. You can then select/deselect the highlighted products and then click the compare button. Note: the products table includes everything that has ever been reviewed on the site, including old/discontinued products so only select from the currently available watches.

On the Garmin side of things you're looking at FR25/35/Vivosmart at the budget level, FR230/235 at the mid-range and FR630/735XT at the high-end. If you've got money to burn then the Fenix 5 is the way to go.

Personally, I've got a FR220 (older version of the FR230/235) which does me fine. The only thing that's missing for me is Connect IQ apps but I can't justify the cost of an upgrade. However if my FR220 should break...

[JaySeeSkinny Graduate10]

I've just got myself a Garmin Forerunner 235 and I'm loving it. It does all the things MarkyD says it does (although I haven't set them all up) and that's what I need. It's a bit pricey but provides loads of information. I'm loving it at the moment (might wear off!).

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Thanks everyone. Some really good advice. Much appreciated.