GPS watch

Morning!

Have the Garmin Fenix 5, which from looking at is VERY similar to the 935. Just bigger, 60g heavier, more robust casing? And I think slightly more expensive. Would definitely try them on if possible. DC Rainmaker has some good reviews on them. (have not read the 935 one)

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/03/garmin-forerunner-935-depth-review.html
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/03/garmin-fenix5-5s-5x-review.html

It has been great except for had to return the first one per wild altitude swings. (would go +/- 65,000′, apparently I’m a space cadet while sleeping). Garmin would have swapped no issue, tho since I was still in REIs’ return/exchange policy, did that instead.

My second one has been rock solid. Never had an issue connecting to my Ant+ HR strap(sometimes will auto-connect, sometimes I need to tell it). The battery life is insane. I only charge it whenever I shower, morning/after workout, and its never gone below +/-90%. I’m tracking things maybe 7-10 hours a week per the 8 week plan.

Lindsay,

Piling on, I would recommend against anything Polar. I haven’t used any Garmin watches yet, but my Polar M400 won’t even last 4 hours if the GPS is tracking.

-Adam

I am using the Fenix 5x and really like it. The battery tends to last about 5-7 days if I have used GPS during the training session. The feature I have found the most useful is the integration with the structured workout in TrainingPeaks which has really made a difference with focusing my effort in a training session. I would not go back to using a device without the TP structured workout integration and it has been worth the extra money to have it. If you can find a cheaper device with the same structured workout integration it would be worth considering.

One thing I discovered is that with the Fenix 5x you have to set your zones on both the device and Garmin connect to match those you set in training peaks – otherwise the HR AeT threshold alarm in the device won’t trigger at the correct HR.

I broke a Forerunner 220 a year or so ago and upgraded to an Ambit3 Peak. I’ve been super happy with it, the battery life is excellent, and it’s easy to use. I find the Suunto software for uploading works far better than the Garmin, and the connection to Strava works better too. The GPS also finds it’s satellites wayyy faster than the Garmin.

I’ve no idea about the HR chest strap, I stopped tracking HR long before I switched watches (just using nose-breathing as my metric). The watch does track steps, though I have no idea if you can have it bug you to move.

The Suunto line is pretty bewildering, but if I remember my research correctly the Peak had the best battery life of all the options, in addition to the combo altimeter. It’s a little chunky at first glance, but in practice I have no complaints (and I wear it all the time, not just for training).

I replaced a Garmin Forerunner 405 w/HR with the Suunto Spartian Trainer w/HR and I much prefer the Suunto over the Garmin. Battery life is way better, GPS and HR is very accurate, it has tons of exercise “moves” that you can customize, and I prefer movescount.com for viewing the data (integrates with trainingpeak too). You can’t get the raw data files from the watch like I could with the Garmin, but I don’t really miss it so that’s not a big deal.

Compelling review which closed the deal for me. Also if you an AAC member it’s only $195 after the discount which is a great deal IMO.
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/08/spartan-trainer-wrist-hr-review.html

I have been using the Garmin Vivoactive 3 and have found it to be pretty good, though I have nothing to compare it to. The battery life is similar to the Fenix series, but it is much less obtrusive on the wrist. It has a rep counter for strength training that works half of the time, but it is easily editable through the watch interface and allows you to adjust to the proper amount of reps and add your weight used while resting. Although this data doen’t come into training peaks it does go into the Garmin Connect software. It also is quite a nit more affordable the the Fenix.

I use a Suunto Ambit 3 Sport with a Mio Alpha (for optical HR as I was getting skin irritation from chest straps). I got both from ebay fairly cheaply. The Ambit 3 Peak has more features than the Sport, so could also be worth a look.

You can also now get optical HR integrated into the GPS watch with battery life (on GPS and HR) of 30+hours. Good models to look at (several of which have been mentioned above are:
– Garmin Fenix 5;
– Suunto Spartan Sport;
– Garmin Fexix 3 HR;
– Suunto Spartan Trainer;
– Garmin Forerunner 935;
– Suunto Spartan Ultra.

As others have said, dcrainmaker is excellent for reviews, and I’d also check ebay if you fancy looking for a bargain.

Alan

Lindsay,
I upgraded to a Fenix Fs which now has 3-4 days of battery life after adjusting a few settings that Garmin happily helped me with. It integrates with the TrainingPeaks platform seamlessly, the altimeter is easy to calibrate, works with a HR chest strap, tracks steps, sleep quality and is pretty user friendly for a techy watch. Being small, the size of the watch was important to me. I’ve worn clunky altimeters for years. Although the Fenix 5s is not tiny, it’s super reasonable for small wrists. It is pricey but considering the level of support you get from Garmin, it’s battery life and integration with TP I’m super happy with it.