UKH

Hi all,

I am looking to buy an old model GPS watch, with a long battery life <20 hours My Tom Tom sport is great for training runs but hasn't got enough juice to last the race itself.

I would like to display a breadcrumb trail, and be able to charge on the fly if required but that's about it for requirements. A weak point on previous watches has always been the charging / transfer data cradle so a proven system here would also be good.

Budget is around £150. The Suunto Ampbit 3 Peak looks promising but I've heard support may be dropped soon for older Suunto watches.

Any other good options - particularly from Garmin 

cheers

Not sure if it's within your budget but my Fenix 3 would fit almost all your requirements. I don't usually run it with GPS on permanently, so don't know the battery life in those circumstances. With occasional GPS use battery lasts a week. It does have a charging cradle. This is easy to use and holds the watch firmly. Haven't tried recharging it when on the move, but imagine that the cradle would be pretty secure.

Hi Andy,

I have a Suunto Ambit 3 peak, it’s a good watch for mountain running. It’s still going to be supported by Suunto on the new app. Suunto Movescount training software is being discontinued next year but because  the ambit 3 has Bluetooth it will work with the new phone app. The newer Suunto watches like the Spartan and Suunto 9 have more bells and whistles inc optical heart rate monitors (I prefer chest straps).In my running club lots of people use Garmin so you won’t go wrong there, I hear their software is very intuitive 

Fenix3 will charge on the move

Garmin 920xt?

Going for around £100 second hand now.

Can do breadcrumb and battery life is impressive. Not sure about charging on the fly though.

A couple of good other options there. Many thanks.

I got a Garmin 735XT with run chest strap and it's great. GPS works great whether following a pre-loaded route or doing the breadcrumb thing. Not sure how long the battery lasts with GPS on but has done me for 8 hour hikes, I only charge it maybe once a week with moderate usage.

I'm sure you could charge it on the go but not while you're wearing it. What is good is that it will charge up fully really quickly because the battery is so small, not like a mobile or laptop.