Hi All,
I am looking to upgrade my Fitbit Charge 2 to a proper GPS Fitness Watch.
I have started to do more rides and also started Couch To 5K so a little bit of running.
Have found my Fitbit no longer syncs that well and drops signal often so GPS Connect is not that accurate.
I have been looking at the Garmin Watches and think I am set on one of them but there seems to be so much choice.
I have a budget of about £250 and will be looking to do Running, Cycling and Gym Work plus Spinning and Treadmill.
I was initially looking at the Garmin 235 as that seemed to get great reviews but looks like it is quite old now and the newer 245 seems to have a lot more features.
I liked the look of the Vivoactive 3 but not a fan of the single button and touch screen. Find with running with my Fitbit it does not work as well.
Any suggestions or would the 245 Forerunner cover everything ?
245 is a very capable watch for the price, plenty of good features to cover what you'll be using it for, and you'll get plenty of useful info from it when it syncs your data to Garmin Connect. Can also be used for pool swimming lap & stroke count, pool size setting etc. if you start adding some swimming to your fitness plan.
I've got an Huawei Watch 2 sport and it's been good; never experienced any GPS drop-outs for cycling/running and all the readings seem pretty accurate. Also has a sim-card slot, so you can leave your phone at home, should you wish & still be in contact with anyone. Don't know how the different training options compare to Garmin etc, but it's a little limited on activities (outdoor/indoor run or cycle, fat-burning, cardio or other).
I've had the forerunner 235 for nearly 2 years now and cannot fault it. great battery life, do about 5 hours a week of GPS tracking and only charge about once a week. Only think it lack for me is swimming mode which i think the 245 has. My mate has the touch screen garmin and it is a pain to do lap splits. DC rain make is the place to read up about the watches, Garmin Forerunner 245 Music GPS Watch In-Depth Review
I've got a Ticwatch Pro and it's been very good, I use it at the gym all the time, Google Fit is pretty good, plus the Ticwatch installed fitness software isn't bad either.
The other plus is that it looks like a normal watch
Posted in the cycling thread in GC but also putting here too so it may help others, the recommendations/reviews by DC Rainmaker are pretty good:
Sports Technology Buyers Guide & Recommendations: Winter 2018-2019 (Before we start note that obviously Black Friday is around the corner and as such we tend to see good deals on gadgets. As well as the big sales, some of which end this Saturday night. I’ve tried to note www.dcrainmaker.com
He makes a very good point, maybe wait for Black Friday as there are usually good discounts on sports tech.
Thanks for all the suggestions, ended up with a load of Amazon Vouchers so thought I would treat myself to the Forerunner 245 Music and very impressed so far.
I was just going to get the normal 245 but then thought with riding and gym work I could use it with a Wireless Earbud and not worry about my phone.
Did a run yesterday and a few rides commuting to work and very impressed with the GPS and Tracking.
So much customisation and stats and screens to look at.
Impressed with the Garmin App & IQ App Also.
2-12-2019 06:09:07
www.dcrainmaker.com 
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