Help me pick out a GPS watch?

Go for the 245. You don't really want touchscreen (think about using it in the rain etc with gloves on). Pace 2 could be interesting, but I just don't think it's mature enough yet. The Garmin you can use ConnectIQ and add apps etc on there.

I'd also consider a Garmin 735xt if budget will allow (you often see them on offer).

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Well...... wrote:
Go for the 245. You don't really want touchscreen (think about using it in the rain etc with gloves on). Pace 2 could be interesting, but I just don't think it's mature enough yet. The Garmin you can use ConnectIQ and add apps etc on there.

I'd also consider a Garmin 735xt if budget will allow (you often see them on offer).

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The Vivoactive 4/Venu/Venu SQ all meet your criteria. They take programmable workouts and they have a touch screen. It's true that a touch screen isn't great while working out, but the Vivoactive series has two buttons (Start/Stop and Lap), and that's all you really need while you're actually running. The touch is mostly just for navigating the watch when you're not exercising (or switching screens). They're also very, very affordable right now. You can get a Venu SQ for 170 right now, and it's a very new device.

Every GPS is pretty accurate when it comes to distance, unless you're in a challenging environment like a downtown surrounded by skyscrapers or a deep forest valley. No GPS is very accurate when it comes to instant pace. If you want accurate instant pace, you should use a foot pod. Alternatively, you can use current lap average pace if you don't want more hardware.

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800 dude wrote:
The Vivoactive 4/Venu/Venu SQ all meet your criteria. They take programmable workouts and they have a touch screen. It's true that a touch screen isn't great while working out, but the Vivoactive series has two buttons (Start/Stop and Lap), and that's all you really need while you're actually running. The touch is mostly just for navigating the watch when you're not exercising (or switching screens). They're also very, very affordable right now. You can get a Venu SQ for 170 right now, and it's a very new device.

Every GPS is pretty accurate when it comes to distance, unless you're in a challenging environment like a downtown surrounded by skyscrapers or a deep forest valley. No GPS is very accurate when it comes to instant pace. If you want accurate instant pace, you should use a foot pod. Alternatively, you can use current lap average pace if you don't want more hardware.

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Get one that you can hook up a Stryd or foot sensor to.

I switched from Garmin to Coros this past year. I have the Coros Apex Pro and really like it. I think you will not get more for your money than with the Coros Pace 2. There is a Coros users Facebook group if you wanted to go there to get additional input.

I just bought the COROS 2 a few weeks ago. My initial reaction was that it seemed a bit cheap in the construction side. But to my surprise is very durable and probably the best GPS watch I’ve used. I have own 3 Garmins, Tom Tom (actually my second favorite, but Tom Tom is now out of the watch game) and an Apple Watch (sucks).

The scrolling takes a little practice but is way better than touch screens when it is wet or you are sweaty. Touch screens are useless in the rain.

You don’t want touch screen and garmin sucks. Get the coros 2.

I just got the coros apex pro and it is the best looking watch on the market

Why would you be concerned? Is there any data Garmin would store for you that’s really that valuable? The worst thing would be a password you use for other more important sites so just use a different password than usual if you are actually concerned.

Garmin Forerunner 45

Thanks for all the help everyone! I ended up going with the Garmin venu sq. Thanks again for everything; I really appreciate all of the advice!

I was a Garmin guy for years and years. I come from cycling so Garmin was my go-to for power meters and head units (unit I switched to Wahoo) then as a runner Garmin was a no brainer.

But...

The ransomware attack last summer was a huge deal to me. I work in digital product and for a company to have the production environment open to a simple attack like that is mind-numbing. Not to mention how long it took them to resolve. If your product teams messes up that hard you fix the issue in hours, not weeks.

Then the synching of the watch and bluetooth stability has only gotten worst and worst. I could understand if I was on android where bluetooth support is a crapshoot at best depending on the device (for the dev team to support)...but for iOS bluetooth support to be THAT bad its a joke. I got tired of having to hard reset my Forerunner(s) nearly daily to synch the damn watch to the app.

I switched the the Coros pace 2 2 months ago. Ran with both my forerunner and pace for a few weeks to see how the data matches up (it's nearly the same for me) and finally switched. The Coros UI is more complicated than the Forerunner 45, 235 & 245 I had but its much better. The scroll wheel is fine, it's not worst of better than the buttons the Forerunners have. But the nearly instant synching to the phone and immediate upload to Strava is amazing to me. in over 65 runs with the pace 2 I haven't had a synching issue yet Or had to even mess with the bluetooth connection. With the forerunner it wa nearly a daily problem. Also the battery life of the pace 2 is outstanding. With all notifications off (do not want) and HR reading in realtime I'm getting 7-10 days between charges (my runs are 90-120 minutes daily). My forerunner 235/245 would maybe get 1-2 days and the Forerunner 45 (my favorite of them) would go maybe 20hours tops.

My vote is for the Pace 2. Cosmetically it's no worst that any of the lower/mid forerunners. I mean no GPS watch is a Rolex or anything... but the Pace 2 is significantly lighter on the wrist than any forerunner. On paper I don't think it's that much lighter but the balance of the watch is different. Garmin always felt top heavy to me (as in the top of the crown was where the weight was) which caused it to feel like it was always flopping around on my wrist (even with extra tight). With the Pace 2 I never notice it, it feel less bulky and really does disappear on the wrist.

Okay, so you are basing your decision on a ransomware attack... what will you do once Coros gets hacked? Go back to Garmin because of a superior product?

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Another Dime for the Cursed Jar wrote:
I was a Garmin guy for years and years. I come from cycling so Garmin was my go-to for power meters and head units (unit I switched to Wahoo) then as a runner Garmin was a no brainer.

But...

The ransomware attack last summer was a huge deal to me. I work in digital product and for a company to have the production environment open to a simple attack like that is mind-numbing. Not to mention how long it took them to resolve. If your product teams messes up that hard you fix the issue in hours, not weeks.

Then the synching of the watch and bluetooth stability has only gotten worst and worst. I could understand if I was on android where bluetooth support is a crapshoot at best depending on the device (for the dev team to support)...but for iOS bluetooth support to be THAT bad its a joke. I got tired of having to hard reset my Forerunner(s) nearly daily to synch the damn watch to the app.

I switched the the Coros pace 2 2 months ago. Ran with both my forerunner and pace for a few weeks to see how the data matches up (it's nearly the same for me) and finally switched. The Coros UI is more complicated than the Forerunner 45, 235 & 245 I had but its much better. The scroll wheel is fine, it's not worst of better than the buttons the Forerunners have. But the nearly instant synching to the phone and immediate upload to Strava is amazing to me. in over 65 runs with the pace 2 I haven't had a synching issue yet Or had to even mess with the bluetooth connection. With the forerunner it wa nearly a daily problem. Also the battery life of the pace 2 is outstanding. With all notifications off (do not want) and HR reading in realtime I'm getting 7-10 days between charges (my runs are 90-120 minutes daily). My forerunner 235/245 would maybe get 1-2 days and the Forerunner 45 (my favorite of them) would go maybe 20hours tops.

My vote is for the Pace 2. Cosmetically it's no worst that any of the lower/mid forerunners. I mean no GPS watch is a Rolex or anything... but the Pace 2 is significantly lighter on the wrist than any forerunner. On paper I don't think it's that much lighter but the balance of the watch is different. Garmin always felt top heavy to me (as in the top of the crown was where the weight was) which caused it to feel like it was always flopping around on my wrist (even with extra tight). With the Pace 2 I never notice it, it feel less bulky and really does disappear on the wrist.

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After the ransomware attack they needed to negotiate with the hackers to unlock things again. While it would have been nice to make things live again immediately, moving quickly is not always in your best interest during a negotiation

Garmin 245.

Next question.

For laps I use timex ironman sleek 150. The screen can be smacked or the button press after each lap. Can program workouts and it had +/- (over/under) after each splits

This could be helpful:
https://youtu.be/VrSDJCovEVA

If I had the dough, I'd buy a connected watch like apple or samsung gear. It would be nice to finally ditch the phone and still have music.

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realTalkin wrote:
For laps I use timex ironman sleek 150. The screen can be smacked or the button press after each lap. Can program workouts and it had +/- (over/under) after each splits

This could be helpful:
https://youtu.be/VrSDJCovEVA

If I had the dough, I'd buy a connected watch like apple or samsung gear. It would be nice to finally ditch the phone and still have music.

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Yeah I recently got a 245 Music and it's been great. I listened to music while running already so the increase in price over the regular 245 was well worth it