watch recommendations

If you only want a solid running watch, consider the forerunner 230 or 235. It has everything most runners could want and the price is better than the others.

Also just checked and the 630 seems to be on sale a lot of places now that the 645 has been unveiled.

645 is essentially a Fenix 5 but with music and garmin pay. Id get that. Plus it has more running metrics and abilities vs vivo.

I have lightly used 110 and 220 available if sell cheap if interested.

But id go 645.

I currently have a 220 but wanted one with the HRM. Do the running watches provide a lot more data than the vivoactives? Is the GPS tracking significantly better?

What do you want the watch to do? Just simply track time/distance? Do you want interval/lap support? Super crazy running metrics? Integrated HRM or will you wear a chest strap or you just don't care? Music? Notifications?

This is the best site ever to read more about individual models:

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/

and here's a buyers guide he put together a few months ago, before the 645 came out:

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/11/winter-technology-recommendations.html

Go to dcrainmaker and do the product comparison it shows a complete breakdown of features side by side.

Don't get the vivo, it has a touch screen, you need to double tap the screen to make a manual lap.

It depends on what you want from the watch, because all of your choices are somewhat compromised for some functions. Just for running, a Garmin Forerunner 235 is a good GPS watch built for using as a running watch with hard buttons, a focus on pace and other running functions. If you want to use it as a smartwatch, you can get notifications but otherwise it's pretty limited.

If you have an iPhone and mainly want to do smartphone stuff then that's your choice. It has decent activity tracking, but it's not the best running watch because of the touchscreen and a lack of focus on things like laps and pace.

If you want multiple things you might do better figuring out your budget and getting multiple watches because whatever you get won't be ideal for everything.

Between those, I would go for the vivoactive 3. The 645 doesn't come out until March and is really expensive. Also, the battery life with music is only 5 hours! If you want music, put your phone into a salomon agile single belt or something similar. That's what I use, and I don't really notice it while running. I would much rather buy the Garmin 935 with much better battery life for $50 more than the 645.

Hhhh wrote:

Don't get the vivo, it has a touch screen, you need to double tap the screen to make a manual lap.

True. No physical lap button = not a real running watch.

holbythebear wrote:

The 645 doesn't come out until March and is really expensive.

It's shipping in a couple weeks.

If you want a basic running watch, I'd look at Polar (M200, M400, M430). They're every bit as good as Garmin and a lot cheaper. The 220 is discontinued and if you can find it, it will probably be refurbished. The 230/235 are a massive ripoff right now.

The 645 watch didn't ship until March

If you only care about distance, pace, time (other options still available) then consider the Forerunner 25. It's $100, one of the cheapest GPS watches, and definitely gets the job done. I've had mine for over two years now. Gets me my mile splits and distance on long runs/tempos and that's all I really need it for. Easy runs I go watch-less on routes I already know the distance.

Forerunner 25 has been serving me well for the past two and a half years.

GPS connection is really fast and it's proven to be accurate.

However, the biggest drawback is that it doesn't have a stopwatch (nor a timer) that can be used when the watch is not in a 'run' mode.

Also, it's not possible to preprogram your workouts (intervals and such).

As mentioned before, check out DC Rainmaker's review.

The forerunner 25 seems to be popular on letsrun.

Looking through strava, most of the people I follow use the 235 if training mostly on roads, and people mainly on trail are using Suunto Ambit peak .

I've owned the 230 for about 3 years. I recently got my hands on a 645. It is built much better than the 230/235. Buttons are nice, gorilla glass for the screen and the display and backlight on the screen are a big improvement. It appears that the wrist based heart rate is better on the 645 from what I've read. I think the 645 non-music is a decent buy now at about $330 (go through google express to get $20 off).

Tamara wrote:

Forerunner 25 has been serving me well for the past two and a half years.

GPS connection is really fast and it's proven to be accurate.

However, the biggest drawback is that it doesn't have a stopwatch (nor a timer) that can be used when the watch is not in a 'run' mode.

Also, it's not possible to preprogram your workouts (intervals and such).

As mentioned before, check out DC Rainmaker's review.

Sorry, but I need to get on my high horse...

DC Rainmaker makes terrible reviews. The reviews are based off what the manufacturer wants people to hear.

Remember: He gets goods for doing reviews, so of course it will be biased towards whatever the manufacturer wants to solicit.

DC Rainmaker is kind of like a car salesman or a review peddler.

There's a similar one that does this with cameras and camera lenses; name is Ken Rockwell.

Listening to DC Rainmaker and Ken Rockwell are the worst way to start looking for gear. Terrible way.

My best suggestions is to get on forums like Reddit or other running forums and what not, and see what REAL people have to say about the product not some bozo that gets free crap to get people to buy for the manufacturer.

In fact, it drives me nuts on here when people defer and say, "oh see what DC Rainmaker says". Why not just let folks who actually own the watch give their opinion?

I'm sorry, but I hate anyone who gets free crap and then broadcasts it on TV or the Internet. No different that those "As seen on TV commercials".

I'll say it again and again, the best information is from reading the user manual of the device and actually talking to people that own that model.

End high horse........

manualf150 wrote:

In fact, it drives me nuts on here when people defer and say, "oh see what DC Rainmaker says". Why not just let folks who actually own the watch give their opinion?

Cool. So tell me about your experience with the Forerunner 645 please.

BTW someone upthread mentioned that the 645 has music/Garmin pay, but there are in fact two models of the watch: 645 and 645 Music. $50 difference. Music is not interesting to me, but pay maybe is -- how many stores even accept it though?

Thank you. I totally agree with your opinion. I've seen similar posts here before saying "just go to ____'s site.". Anytime there's a watch thread, someone says the same thing. LRC should check the IPs and see if they from the same place. France?

It's tiresome.

I wouldn't be surprised if their social media teams go on forums to post about them. Their free reviews are a full time job. Ok, maybe I'm jealous I didn't think of it first. Don't work a 9-5 job, just post reviews.

I think if you went straight to dc rainmakers recommended list that he puts out each November/ December, you would be set. He doesn’t just recommend one brand. If you are a weirdo like me and like to research products way too in depth, then his reviews are really good overall. I wish he put a little more emphasis on the important things like build quality and gps accuracy. Another problem with all the reviewers except fellrnr is that they focus on the Multisport stuff a lot.

I got a frickin killer deal on a used garmin forerunner 630 on amazon. i think they took it down on due to the watch being discountinued. but my point is, used/refurbish is the way to go if your looking for a garmin. those things are so tough and long lasting it will most likely run like new. also it saves you some money.

The forerunner 25 the best out there. Never let me down, and I can surely recommend it.