Forums >Running 101>Best quality least expensive running watch?
im looking for a watch that will measure my speed & distance while I run outdoors. I don’t want to pay Apple prices for all the extras.
i know about those little pedometers that you attach to shoes but I’m afraid I’ll lose it. Ideally looking for something under $100. I also don’t want to carry my iPhone around...
i don’t know, what’s best?
thanks
I’m thinking of getting the garmin forerunner from the SamsClub sale Saturday (tomorrow).
It will be $99 marked down from $140 I believe. The sale will also be available online at samsclub.com
I think the Garmin Forerunner 25 is great. Can probably find it for under $150, have been using it for a year now with no issues. Just be careful on which option you are buying, they offer it as a watch only and the bundle which comes with the heart rate monitor strap. Gives you on separate screens time/distance, pacing & heart rate. It announces every mile with the time and once downloaded gives you elevation, the route map and steps per minute / cadence as well. The only thing I don't like is it does not have a buzz feature as the alarm can be hard to hear on the road and also does not have a dual screen option which would help in doing timed intervals but other than that I think you could not go wrong with this watch.
Jay
Thank you guys! I’ll look into those...
Soleus makes some no frills, adequate GPS watches. I used one before moving to the Garmin 620 and found it satisfactory. The downsides were 1) totally confusing interface but once you get the hang of it then it's not that big of a deal and 2) no bluetooth for synching runs so you have to hook it up to your PC (at least on the least expensive models). Leftlane sports has them on sale from time to time.
I still use the Garmin 220. In fact, i have a spare since i have been using one i bought of a teammate while mine was being factory refurbished. So, I'm set for a while unless someone wants to buy the newly refurbished one.
Great watch, the one with the HR monitoring features.
Does everything i need it to so not really feeling the need to upgrade. (Why should I?)
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I still use the Garmin 220. In fact, i have a spare since i have been using one i bought of a teammate while mine was being factory refurbished. So, I'm set for a while unless someone wants to buy the newly refurbished one. Great watch, the one with the HR monitoring features. Does everything i need it to so not really feeling the need to upgrade. (Why should I?)
+1 on the 220. I hope mine lasts forever, because the most-similar replacement is the 235 which has more stuff than I need. However there is a big gap to the next one down, the 35 ($140). That one does not allow downloading of custom workouts, which would be a dealbreaker. The 25 ($100) apparently does not even allow programming of basic interval workouts, and has no accelerometer (I guess meaning you need to wait for a signal before you start), so that’s even more stripped down. But if you are just going to run and not really do any complicated workouts, probably still OK. Honestly most of the time I run intervals, I do it at the track and use manual lap. But for the times I need to program or download, I need it. So I’d probably end up with the 235, but at $200 for something you use every day, still a good deal to me.
Dave
Okay what would I use a Smart watch for?
I'm very pleased with the performance of my Polar watches. You can probably find an old M400 for cheap, I bought mine for $100 new a few years ago, and now have the M430 which was $175 or something last year.
Smart watch? What good are they? Unless you spend a bunch of money you still have to carry your cell phone with you for them to do anything.
60-64 age group - University of Oregon alumni - Irreverent and Annoying
What I mean is, why does running at intervals vs tempo make a difference in how a gps watch measures speed and distance?
Forgive me, I’m new to running (this long, and finally committed) but I have NO idea about what features I may need in the future. Right now I’m just starting out running 5k four times a week in a treadmill only, and hills twice a week. I’ll be hitting the roads in early spring and plan to marathon in oct 2020 (a long way i know buT I have 4 kids).
i m trying to carry as little as possible with me when I get out there. And in my mind the most important things that my iphone can’t probably do is speed and distance while I’m running. Right?
do I need to be able to sync workouts to a computer? (I do record my speed daily which is what I’m working on now).
i mean technically, I can look at the time, look at my starting point and, map it out and calculate the speed and distance. But I suppose I’m looking for treadmill stats on the road.
anything like that out there?
There are myriad phone apps that will record speed and distance, just like a watch. Runkeeper, MapMyRun, etc. BUT you have to carry your phone with you, and if you are constantly looking at the screen, it will eat up battery. A few years ago I tried this with my iPhone 3 in a wrist sleeve (wore it like a watch) to see if I would be interested in using data, and found in that phone I was limited to about an hour. It was bulky and a distraction.
I know some people are surgically attached to phones, and take them with them even on runs, or to the bathroom, or have them next to their bed so they can be awakened by alerts about something a Kardashian did. If you're going to take a phone along on runs anyway, you might want to try some of those free running apps, and get a cheap $30-50 "smart" watch that will display data from the phone in your pocket. But, that's $50 that COULD have gone to a real GPS running watch.
I really like having the data, and see a watch with a training app (Garmin, Polar) as a great workout tool. I'd never go back to running without one. Mainly for comparing data afterwards, but it's interesting to know how far/fast you're going while running. I probably put in slightly more miles, because I round up to the nearest 1/4 mile at the end of runs; if I finish with 7.12 miles, I keep running until I hit 7.25.
Thank you surly bill. At first I thought no way am I bringing my “bulky” phone with me but as I increase my miles it’s probably a good idea for safety. But yes I dont want to keep taking it out and looking at it. Looking at data with a quick flick of the wrist is ideal. I also found with some running apps on the phone that it takes a few minutes to update so it’s not like while driving in a car and watching your speedometer.
are the gps watches like a car’s speedometer/odometer..gives you real time speed and distance?
I believe you do get nearly instant data from your GPS equipped phone. You should just download a free running app and try it by walking down the block to see if you like it.
As far as I know, the GPS antenna in running watches and phones are the same.
Thanks!
I too like the Garmin Forerunner 25. It's very simple, easy to use. You can probably get one for a hundred bucks.
I hate running with my phone. The 25 does pretty much everything I want. It's easy to charge, too.
Hi! im looking for a watch that will measure my speed & distance while I run outdoors. I don’t want to pay Apple prices for all the extras. i know about those little pedometers that you attach to shoes but I’m afraid I’ll lose it. Ideally looking for something under $100. I also don’t want to carry my iPhone around... i don’t know, what’s best? thanks