Which ‘Best Buys’ Activiy trackers

Thought this might be of interest

[Hidden]

3 of them Garmin, though the Fenix 3 is way out of date now and superseded by the 5 series.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I think they were looking for a value tracker that still has good features

[Giddys Graduate]

I have the garmin forerunner 210 and the 110. I think they were both brilliant as my first sports watches many years ago. I have just listed these on eBay. There is so many on there at low prices as well might be worth a look before you buy brand new. I now just use my Apple Watch which seems to do the trick.

[Hidden in reply to Giddys]

Yes definitely look second hand. Which were just looking at new though

[Hidden in reply to Giddys]

Yes my Fenix 5s was more or less half price on ebay.

[Henriette2013 Graduate in reply to Hidden]

I have a question for you, my dear. As someone who's just starting to run, and who's not involved in any other sports except weight training at the gym once a week, do you think I'd find the Fenix5s to be "overkill" as far as features? It seems like it's made for avid outdoors folk, who are climbing mountains in the morning, swimming in the afternoon and biking every evening... that's absolutely not me. P'r'aps I'd do best with something cheap and cheerful, like the FitBit Charge2, for starters? Any thoughts on the subject would be greatly appreciated. xo

[Hidden in reply to Henriette2013]

I am not an expert at all. I just found this in Which. Why don’t you post this question as a new post. People will help you I’m sure. I have the Garmin Forerunner 235 which I am very happy with

[Henriette2013 Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Thanks. Good idea. Which forum shall I post it in, please? Thank you.

[Hidden in reply to Henriette2013]

Just on here but as a new post. Click on ‘write a post’

[Henriette2013 Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Thank you

[Rignold in reply to Henriette2013]

Do you need a running watch at all would be my question? It is good fun looking at all the data when you first start running, and they can be useful if you are training for a specific race time, but for the average thrice weekly 5k runner they are in no way essential. It is easy to swept up in the whole 'gear fetishism' aspect of any new hobby or interest but a lot of stuff is 'nice to have' rather than 'need to have'.

And before anyone leaps in to defend their running watches, I am not denigrating their use. I have one (although I seldom use it for anything more than telling the time these days) and have had a series of them which have served me well when I was training for events.

[Henriette2013 Graduate in reply to Rignold]

You're absolutely right, dear Rignold; I do not need a running watch. However, I am trying to find ways that running can be interesting and fun for me (overall, I find it uncomfortable and dull) and I thought the data a running watch could provide might help keep my attention. I have an ugly habit of beginning an activity and then slacking off as soon as an initial level has been achieved and I do NOT want that to happen to my running practice. Perhaps a watch will be a fun way to track my progress and keep me involved. xo

[Hidden in reply to Henriette2013]

You are right, Henriette2013 , a tracker, and especially a running watch, is fun and motivating. I can't wait to download and view my stats each time. The novelty hasn't worn off, and I'm sure it's kept me on task at times when the warm living room has semed the preferable option. It helps you map improvement too.

[Duddles Graduate]

I have for years used the Garmin 305, then the Garmin 310xt - both chunky, but really good at the job. I have just got a new Garmin 235 - £179 from Chain Reaction (cycling site) and it looks really good and has so many features including a built in heart monitor - so no chest strap required. Still getting to grips with it, but it seems excellent, is much neater and can be used as a 'real' watch as well. It is sort of intuitive and works out, based on your exercise, how many steps you need per day, how much sleep, what your VO2 is, and makes predictions for times for distances. That makes it sound too complicated, but so far it is doing the simple stuff really well.

[Hidden in reply to Duddles]

That’s what I have too. I like it 😀

Which do all sorts of comprehensive tests on products and these are the ones they recommend 👍

[Pm3eak Graduate in reply to Duddles]

My wife and a I bought each other 235s for Christmas: the romantic overtones might be negated somewhat by the fact we got them for knock- down prices on Black Friday. Very, very pleased with them. Can't think of much more I could ask from them apart from indoor swimming related capabilities...but there is an app available from elsewhere for that, as yet not explored by us. Terrific bits of kit.

[Duddles Graduate]

I have just found for the Garmin 235 that there is a thing called Connect IQ where you can download numerous apps and watch faces for the device. I have just downloaded a clock face called Simplicitime which turns it into a really smart analogue watch.

[Fishypieface Graduate]

I've recently bought the Forerunner 25 and it's great. You still get all the data and stats stuff that I don't understand but still like looking at.