UKH

Morning

I'm after a new running watch. My 310xt is a bit old and slow, and i don't bike or swim.

I want to the watch to be able to sync with my phone/Strava, I don't listen to music when running, so storage isn't important.

Only used Garmin but happy to consider other brands, looking to spend no more than £100.

In reply to goldmember:

been happy with the tomtom runner 3 - seems simple to use, easy to sync to its own app as well as strava (so have one for displaying km and the other for miles), pretty accurate (though in area that I tend to run which is heavily tree-lined and hilly it underestimates distance a shade - think all watches would have this issue) and if you keep it sync'd regularly it locks to GPS in a second which I like.

Not really suitable for all day use as battery life is short, though maybe would benefit from switching off HRM which I don't bother to view.

Very impressed with the Garmin Forerunner 30, after all of three days with it. Less featured but newer than the 35, and can be found for £100 easy. It is supposed to be a 'back to basics' running watch and it doesn't seem to do much apart from heart rate (wrist based) and distance and pace - but then it syncs with Garmin Connect as seems to tell me loads more. It doesn't do navigation though. Apparently I slept for 8 hours last night - it certainly did not feel like it, but that is rather reassuring to hear. I didn't plan on wearing it as an activity tracker, but it's really rather interesting.

In reply to goldmember:

I have a TomTom Runner 2, and I'm ambivalent about it. I'm not convinced the measured HR is all that accurate (though that's to be expected with any optical HRM, and easily fixed with a chest strap), and I didn't find the display of metrics/training zones while running that intuitive to begin with. That said, it works just fine, syncs to your phone via the TomTom app, and from the TomTom app to other software. It syncs well with Runkeeper, I have no idea about Strava as I don't use it.

In reply to goldmember:

I've had two Garmins and neither have lasted as long as thee years.

I'll not be getting another.

In reply to goldmember:

My garmin 220 is still going well after 3+ years and I’ve just bought a 235, for new features and better battery life.

Now looking to sell the 220.

In reply

What features do you need? I have a basic suunto watch, does hr, but not gps. I use my phone for gps as I always bring my phone when running anyway.

With Suunto you can replace broken straps yourself.

In reply to goldmember:

The TomTom ones (almost all the same despite the different names spark/runner etc) can be had for as little as £65 for the basic model from the TomTom outlet website. Like new and with a guarantee.

Happy with my basic tomtom spark. Don't think the optical heart rate is worth it generally... Sounds like they work well at resting heart rate in the warm but can have trouble with higher heart rates when cold which describes most of my running!

In reply to goldmember:

I spoke too soon - mine today refuses to sync. A bit of Googling suggests the latest software update has caused no end of issues for people!

In reply to goldmember:

Any particular functions of the 310XT that you need in a new watch? For example the 310XT will give your location as a UK grid reference which very few devices do so if you need that your choices may be limited.

In reply to tehmarks:

mine did that after the update. think i attempted by un-pair it from my phone - wasn't able to do that for some reason, but it seemed to jolt it back to syncing again.

In reply to DancingOnRock:


Mine must be around 4 years old now with no issues. The battery life might have dropped a bit though.

In reply to Ridge:

The Garmin I have is a 220. It's recently stopped locking on to satellites so it can't tell me where I've been. It still tells me how far and how fast though.

I've also had it freeze on me for no apparent reason and at other times discharge rather than recharge. Connecting it to a pc via the cable can also be an issue but is normally fixed by polishing the little connections on the underside of the watch.

In reply to Removed User:

Try deleting all your activities. They go a bit wobbly when the memory fills up.

In reply to tehmarks:

My Tom Tom runner was affectionately set up as 'Shitbag' due to its temperamental attitude to synching with my computer. Good watch apart from that though - I only replaced it with a fancy Garmin because I wanted something with enough battery power to get me through an 14hr race.

In reply to r0b:

There's a data field from the IQ store that you can download for most of the newer Garmins that gives you the OS Grid Ref. The same guy has also done an app ( or is it widget ? ) so you can see your grid ref when you are not recording an activity.

I've got both loaded on to my Garmin 230 and they work brilliant.

In reply to goldmember:

I have a Garmin 35, bit over your budget but it does work well. Shows me time, distance and pace - then buzzes every mile and shows me the pace for that mile. Don't really need any more 'features' than that. Afterwords I just plug it into my laptop and upload the .fit file straight to the Strava website from the internal storage - no software, apps or syncing required.

In reply to DancingOnRock:

You are a gentleman. Watch arrived today