Just a general thread about running. How's your running going? What are you training for? Did you get new shoes? Sporting an injury etc.
this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2024
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I’m considering getting a gps watch that does heart rate monitoring. I’m looking to transition away from treadmills to outdoors.
Does anyone have recommendations on what to get or what to avoid?
I currently have a chest strap heart rate monitor that connects to the treadmills (but, annoyingly, not my fruit phone). I’ve never used a wrist-based heart rate monitor so I have no idea how accurate they are.
If a gps watch is bluetooth enabled, presumably it could also talk to my computer, not just my phone.
I use a Garmin Fenix 6 X Pro. Before that I had a Forerunner 935.
Wrist based hr is always less reliable than a chest strap. It's also worth noting that sweat, rain and e.g. small wrists make it harder to get even a somewhat reliable result and if you run in a colder climate, you need to wear your watch under your jacket which makes it impossible to look at unless you're willing to expose your wrist.
Generally watches connect to the computer with a proprietary usb cable, not bluetooth. Many watches however have wifi and mobile data connectivity too which can be used to automatically sync data.
What other considerations do you have?
If on a budget a good chest strap and a cheap watch could be a good combo. Maybe even your current strap if you know it to be reliable. I'd wager it uses ANT+ for connectivity which many (maybe even most) sports watches support.
If you need longer battery life (for marathons or some such) then a dedicated sports watch might be a good idea. Otherwise I might go with an Apple watch beacause you mentioned using an iPhone. I don't know whether Apple watches support ANT+ but most current chest straps do have bluetooth and aren't all that expensive.
I’m in a pretty warm and humid climate. We rarely get below freezing in the winter, perhaps once every other winter. So odds are I won’t have to wear long sleeve attire much.
My current chest strap is a Polar H9 model. I’d like to connect it to whichever gps watch I buy while I’m exercising. It connects flawlessly to the treadmills in the gym at work, but won’t connect to my phone, which makes me wonder if it’s ANT+ only and not bluetooth.
I don’t need a super long battery life. No marathons for me. I’m at the level of 45 minutes of alternating brisk walk and jog.
Budget wise, I’d like to keep it under $250. If I get a $200 watch (whether Garmin or some other brand) and use it consistently for a year, then I could justify spending up to $500 or $600.
Apple Watch is an option, but they’re a bit more than what I’m willing to spend at the moment, especially since my current chest strap won’t connect to my iPhone at all.
Curious! I have the Polar H10 and can connect it to my iPhone.
Have you tried connecting the H9 strap with the Polar Flow app? IIRC it needs the app to connect.
The fenix and forerunner series are arguably the best for running. As I've only used Garmin, I can't speak to other manufacturers' products.
All watches from these series should work with your strap.
Other things that might influence your choice are watch size and weight, spotify integration, amoled vs MIP screen and whether you do any swimming, hiking or other activities.
Upon receipt I tried connecting the H9 through Polar Flow but my phone can’t see it at all through bluetooth in the device settings. Might be a phone issue? Idk.
I’d eventually like to get into lap swimming, but realistically that won’t be for another year or two, have to find a place that’s convenient, has good hours, and isn’t extortionately priced.
I don’t have a Spotify account, I do have a Pandora subscription. If a ForeRunner can work with Pandora that potentially means I don’t have to carry my phone while running.
I’m not picky about a screen, but whichever kind I go with I’ll probably buy a screen protector of some kind.
I’m a big guy so a large watch probably won’t be an issue.
I noticed the app I'm using is actually called Polar Beat not Flow.
Maybe using Beat is required for the pairing - I don't know much about Polar's software as I only use the app to check the battery level. (It also allows you to turn visibility on or off among other things)
For me the connection goes as follows:
I hope this helps!
About the other stuff you mentioned.
A quick duckduckgo revealed that Pandora doesn't support Garmin devices I'm afraid. Supported music providers are Amazon, Youtube, Spotify and Deezer. This depends on your locale and device though.
When it comes to swimming, most devices struggle a bit with data. Accurately measuring distance for instance. IIRC Apple does quite a good job followed by higher end Garmins. Swimming does require a chest strap in order to get reliable HR, even more so, than running. Although I haven't read reviews of the newest generation on watches, maybe it's getting better. I only do a little swimming every now and then so I can't go into details.
A feature I didn't know I was going to like as much as I did, is Daily Suggested Workouts. During off-season it gives me incentive to go running every day without having to think about what to do and when.
About health data in general, it's good to remember it's quite inaccurate and even when it's accurate it's not necessarily simple to draw any useful conclusions from it. Sleep tracking for instance is very very inaccurate, especially when it come to sleep phases. HRV, PulseOx etc. is mostly pretty useless too but there are differing opinions too.
You could go with a newer, lower end Garmin model, say a Forerunner 255 or the newer 265 or then look into buying a used forerunner 965 or 955 or a fenix 6. Whatever fits your budget.
When reading up on the specs and features, make sure to watch some videos on the specific implementations of the features you're interested in. My Fenix 6 for instance is limited to only giving me my Daily Suggested Workout while newer models can display suggested workouts for the whole week ahead, something I'm a bit salty about. These small differences are rarely highlighted which can be annoying.
I tend to over reasearch stuff even when I only need something basic to be happy with. That being said I found this guys videos quite helpful:
https://youtu.be/cNVV1PwwpmY?si=HMp-tuqz6UaPGRtr