GPS Watch - What to Buy?

[BigDL]

15 hours ago, Stretched@Birth said:

I’m in the market to buy a GPS Watch/Activity Tracker. I can’t bring myself to spend in excess of R12000 on the Garmin Fenix that I want, so am wondering what to spend my money on. 
 

I have to get do something about my general fitness, post COVID I’ve been battling and feel I need to become a bit more scientific about my training. In this me gone by, I’d start Strava on my phone to just track the activity. 
 

Activities are mainly cycling (MTB), a bit of running and swim tracking would be nice too (I will still swim Midmar before I die...)  

Is the Apple Series 7 worthwhile? What are the shortcomings for cycling?
 

If not Apple, what is the alternative? Garmin 745?
 

Budget up to R8k 

Any input and advice will be appreciated. 

Apple Watch series 7 is a beast and will look after you well unless you’re wanting to connect a power meter or follow a route 

[Kom]

On 12/29/2021 at 9:43 AM, Stretched@Birth said:

I’m in the market to buy a GPS Watch/Activity Tracker. I can’t bring myself to spend in excess of R12000 on the Garmin Fenix that I want, so am wondering what to spend my money on. 
 

I have to get do something about my general fitness, post COVID I’ve been battling and feel I need to become a bit more scientific about my training. In this me gone by, I’d start Strava on my phone to just track the activity. 
 

Activities are mainly cycling (MTB), a bit of running and swim tracking would be nice too (I will still swim Midmar before I die...)  

Is the Apple Series 7 worthwhile? What are the shortcomings for cycling?
 

If not Apple, what is the alternative? Garmin 745?
 

Budget up to R8k 

Any input and advice will be appreciated. 

There are a few deals going on the Fenix 6 Pro for ~R8-9k

The garmin eco-system is more than just the hardware, its the free training programs (static programs or adaptive), the connectivity to indoor trainers and power meters.

Then in terms of hardware, it doesnt need charging every day like an apple watch, its inherently more rugged and robustly built, and in my opinion, after having owned every version of the fenix, has the best resale come upgrade time.

There is honestly no other product worth considering.

[Jewbacca]

I'm on the Fenix 6x Pro Solar and would buy it again sans solar. 

The deals you get currently and will likely get better January sales deals, make it 'affordable' (relatively speaking) considering the battery life, features and rugged nature of the device.

Mine has done a few pretty awesome adventures with me and has been faultless. 

I'm not a stats guy but I needed a watch with topo basemaps, good navigation and the best battery life possible. The massive memory also helps hugely as you can add breadcrumbs with TONS of waypoints.

It was twice what I wanted to spend, but in hindsight worth every penny

[Pieter-za]

Or wait for the F7...  

 

[Jewbacca]

3 minutes ago, Pieter-za said:

Or wait for the F7...  

 

I think that will blow his budget out of the water........ While you may pick up a F6X for close to the budget while they clear stock just before the 7 is released. 

[KatjieStewels]

Buy a Garmin Fenix 5, you can replace the battery for <R500 courtesy of Takealot. The battery replacement is very straight. I bought my Fenix 5 off the hub and haven’t regretted it. I paid R5500 beginning of the year. My problem with polar is non-replaceable batteries as well as inferior straps. I came from polar (M430) and won’t be going back any time soon. My polar h10 HRM also works flawlessly with the Garmin Fenix. 

[Dewald Oosthuizen]

I just sold my edge 520 and vivoactive 3 and consolidated both devices with a fenix 6. The edge was too advanced for the mtb riding I’m doing and the vivoactive 3 had too much variation in altitude reading. Fenix 6 hit the sweetspot between battery life, reliability and relative info for the bit of gym, swimming, running and riding I’m doing. 
I had a tough time deciding between the fenix 6 and fr 945. Battery life was the deciding factor between the two at the end. 

[Kom]

54 minutes ago, Dewald Oosthuizen said:

I just sold my edge 520 and vivoactive 3 and consolidated both devices with a fenix 6. The edge was too advanced for the mtb riding I’m doing and the vivoactive 3 had too much variation in altitude reading. Fenix 6 hit the sweetspot between battery life, reliability and relative info for the bit of gym, swimming, running and riding I’m doing. 
I had a tough time deciding between the fenix 6 and fr 945. Battery life was the deciding factor between the two at the end. 

the 945 has a very old style feel to the menu's and screen layups when compared to the interface on the fenix 6 too.

[Craai]

The Garmin Fenix 7 is due to be released soon (possible early 2022) meaning that you should be able to find a Garmin Fenix 6 at a reasonable price. ( I have noticed that they have started dropping in price recently)

[ChrisF]

https://www.cwcycles.co.za/product/garmin-fenix-6x-pro-black

 

Some good specials .... going to be interesting to see how low the prices dip as they clear stock while shipping the 7 ....

[Stretched@Birth]

A lot of useful feedback and insight here, thanks all. Seems like the general consensus is to go Garmin, so I scratch Apple off the list. 

The Fenix 6’s, though some specials are available, are still a bit above my budget, but may come down in price. I’m not sure I want to wait and see. 

I’m considering a 5X Plus, a few things are making me think twice, the size and weight, it doesn’t have the body battery function, and is now a few years old. Is it perhaps worth rather buying the Venu 2 for similar money.

Decisions decisions. Too many choices in the Garmin range. 

[Karooryder]

On 12/30/2021 at 2:06 PM, Kom said:

Then in terms of hardware, it doesnt need charging every day like an apple watch, its inherently more rugged and robustly built, and in my opinion, after having owned every version of the fenix, has the best resale come upgrade time.

 

This.
My observation is that the Apple and Samsung options are essentially activity trackers where your Garmin, Polar etc options are "true" sport devices. I have used Apple and Samsung gear and found battery life in particular problematic (there is a good reason why the display on a Garmin appears prehistoric compared to the Apples and Samsungs). E.g. I go about 14 days with a full charge on my Fenix 6x whereas the Samsung Gear required a daily charge and would not last halfway through a single day sports event. I have also found wrist HR sensors on the Apple and Samsung to be inaccurate at times whereas my Fenix is consistently accurate across activities (running, swimming, cycling).

Garmin and the likes have decent apps so mobile phone integration should not be a consideration imo.

I suppose it is about application and budget but you obviously get what you pay for.  

[Stretched@Birth]

Some feedback on this thread.  I ended up buying a Garmin 5X Plus Saphire from the classifieds that was still sealed in the box, at what I think was a good deal.  I then bought an Apple Watch Series 7 for my wife for her birthday.  My observations, as a Smart Watch, the Apple watch is superior.  As a fitness/outdoor device, I feel the Garmin is better.  The buttons on the Garmin work better with gloved fingers than the touch screen and rolly button on the Apple.  The other bit where the Garmin is far better is battery life. 

I've not used either to their capabilities, but so far, I'm really liking the Garmin.

[Dexter-morgan]

I have recently seen reviews on the Garmin Instinct 2, if happy with no fancy color screen this looks like a Good option, the Solar version has SUPER long battery life.

[Kom]

Updating back here that I just couldn’t resist upgrading to the 7X Pro - I’ve had the watch for a week now and these are a few observations since moving on from the 6X Pro:-

1-the new heart rate monitor is not as bright, I used to wake up at night with the green light streaming from between my wrist and watch on the 6x pro, you don’t see the light anymore, especially the pulse ox monitor. The redesign is a slam dunk

2-the end of workout summary screen is much much better, now displaying zones and elevation graphs which I used to always end up having to wait to do only once the 6x was synced back to training peaks for analysis (or Strava).

3-I feel a bit hyped about the touch screen, but I honestly underestimated how good navigating the fenix would be with touch. I have been highly automated with pressing buttons in the 6x and all my prior fenix models, but the touch screen makes me want to explore the watch way more. What I’m enjoying is the long press direct access from the watch screen straight into weathe, training status screens

4-I’m a sucker for metrics, and although my 6x had silly duration on the battery, now having solar is actually useful in knowing how much I’ve been outdoors and just how much sun exposure I’ve had, let alone the top up charge you receive which doesn’t bother me for benefit

5-the torch is useful, we had old shedding the other night, and found it novel to double tape the watch and to have my torch available

Between the sale of my 6x, the contribution from Vitality, my pay in for the upgrade amounted to R7k, that’s a chunk of change, but I’m honestly of the view that it’s been worth it.