Fossil Smart Watches, Does Anyone Use Them - Any Advice

[OldManRunning]

The reason I ask is several years ago I bought one from a friend for £50 as he wasn't using it. After a flirtation with it; Mrs OMR preferred me to wear the nice one she bought me 😂In the interim the winder broke so I took it in to get it repaired with the thought of selling it. I had started running so fancied a smartwatch, obviously 😂

They had stopped repairing this generation watch but offered to part exchange it for 50% of the cost of the new watch. Their cheapest smartwatch was £275 so a massive £137.50 discount and technically a £87.50 profit on my purchase. The reason they do this is because of the value of the components internally.

However there is no point in the outlay if the watch doesn't do what I want it to do. They did tell me it would run Strava.

Anyone got any first or second hand knowledge of Fossil watches?

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10]

You could always sell the new one and put the proceeds towards a proper running watch if that's what you really want 😁

[OldManRunning Graduate10 in reply to Yesletsgo]

I like your thinking Yesletsgo 👍😀

[taichi1 Graduate10]

Hi there, I can't really comment on Fossil watches as I have no experience of them. But if you want a watch that is great for running then I would recommend my watch the Garmin Forerunner 45. It's £129 on Amazon I think, so very affordable. I've had mine for 2 years and still love it. It has GPS, step monitor, heart rate monitor, training modules, sleep monitor etc etc. While you are running it shows your heart rate your speed, distance, route and pace etc. I love that it syncs with Garmin Connect and Strava and Strava Best Runs which are great on your laptop or mobile phone. It has 10-15 week training modules for 5k and 10k which I like to do to have something to aim for. I think Fossil watches seem more general in their smart watch approach and they care equally how the watch looks and its aesthetics whereas Garmin are definitely in the main dedicated to running. And their support I've found to be excellent. Anyway I don't wanna sound like an ad for Garmin so I leave you to it and best of luck in your decision making!!!

[OldManRunning Graduate10 in reply to taichi1]

Thanks taichi1, I think that coupled with Yesletgo's idea could be a winner 👍😀

[taichi1 Graduate10 in reply to OldManRunning]

👍

[MrBassmanjazz in reply to taichi1]

I'm using a Forerunner 30. I find it great for running. Just shy of £40 off ebay. Not so ggod for swimming, though.

[HeavyFoot Graduate10 in reply to MrBassmanjazz]

I set my Garmin F45 to Cardio for swimming. It doesn’t measure strokes or distance but will monitor heart beat, time and calories burned. Sometimes it notes altitude and tells me reassuringly that pool has no incline!

[MrBassmanjazz in reply to HeavyFoot]

A swim comes up as Cardio. I usually change that to to Pool Swim. I've told it pool length. I generally put in distance in metres as I'm following a program. This works for Garim Connect but won't update Strava for me. I believe you can use the Lap button, but it troubles me to remeber to switch it on never mind record Laps.

1st time - I left GPS on and managed to swim 25M in 45mins! The trace was funny too.

[Instructor57 Graduate10]

I can't comment on the fossil watch but I can agree with taichi1 about the Garmin forerunner 45 It's advertised as an entry level watch , but certainly does everything I want from a running watch at a very competitive price .

If mine broke today I would go out and get exactly the same one again .

[OldManRunning Graduate10]

Thanks Instructor57. I just looked on the Fossil smartwatch page and their £279 has only 2 star review although the £329 reduced to £219 has a 5 star review. But looking at the image it doesn't look like the smartwatches my running friends have, it looks more conventional

Fossil Watch

[OldManRunning Graduate10]

Having now read a number of reviews which seem to suggest that the original was way behind its time when it was released and the new one is an improvement but still no comparison with minimal wellness ability. I think I'll go with Yesletsgo's suggestion and maybe by their best seller so it will be easier to sell, then go with taichi1 and Instructor57's advice. Thank you

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to OldManRunning]

I'm another Forerunner 45 fan too. My husband has a much more sophisticated Garmin watch but I don't need all that extra techie stuff 😁

[OldManRunning Graduate10 in reply to Yesletsgo]

Thanks Yesletsgo. I have now purchased a Forerunner 45. Although I do love the techie stuff budget was also a consideration and I had it for £84.49 using my Blue Light card.

From the Fossil site I could see they'd reduced their 50% trade in to 15% so not quite the bargain anymore, although I will try in store before giving up.

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to OldManRunning]

Good luck OldManRunning 😁

[OldManRunning Graduate10]

Instructor57 and taichi1 Is this the right one?

Garmin 45

[Instructor57 Graduate10 in reply to OldManRunning]

Yes that's the forerunner 45There is also a 45S

Which is the same watch but a slightly smaller bezel (which is what I have)

[Instructor57 Graduate10]

This is the 45S

As I say, slightly smaller bezel.

I also downloaded a different watch face as I preferred it to the default 🙂

Garmin 45S