Who's got what GPS watch?

Thinking of a GPS watch, possibly Suunto 9 or Garmin Fenix. Curious who's using what and if you like it or not...

 

Came this close -><- to buying the new 6x Sapphire but ultimately went with the new iWatch 5. I feel I made the best decision given all the positive reviews I've read of it's emergency/fall detection features. I don't have any music on it and I don't use it for anything else other than strictly for tracking outdoor activities. So far, the battery life has been sufficient for me needs and it's incredibly accurate.

I chose to buy the basic aluminum version and put a slick lens protective sheet and I bought a protective cover. No regrets.

 

Im all about handlebar mounted goodies.

 

I have a Fenix 5 sapphire.
It is a good watch with some very impressive capabilities.

The only issue I have with it is the HR measurement.
I never had much success getting accurate info from any wristwatch in the past and this one is no better.
It must be me (and my wrist), but at times the data is completely out of wack.
I paired my chess strap with the Fenix to "fix" the issue.

Is it as good as a full-blown bike computer? No.
Getting real-time data while riding (downhill @ 35mph) is cumbersome, and might cause you to crash.
I do love the ruggedness, the long battery life, and GPS tracking.
It was money well spent in my book.

 

Wow, I would think at that price point you could see more real-time data.
I use the Garmin 235 watch which has everything I want it to. It automatically scrolls through three or four screens for distance, heart rate, training effect.
Yes and heart rate can be off at times but that's not so important to me

 

Not a huge fan of bar mounted gizmos and not all that concerned about heart rate, especially knowing that the wrist is far from accurate. I would like to be able to load a pre-made route for some bigger rides, plus just basically logging rides and getting real time info as I go.

 

Base model Fenix 5. I pretty much agree with what HB says. Just minor disagreement on opinion in that I don't care to look down while descending anyway, so being wrist mounted doesn't matter. I ride 95% by feel, even though I track heart rate and power on everything (all my bikes have power now).

Wrist optical HR is hit or miss. For some it works, some it doesn't. For me it's meh. It records close enough for hand grenades. But I mostly use it for tracking purposes. If I want accurate HR data, I wear my strap. I'm always recording power. Battery life was a huge selling point for me.

Before this I had one of the Vivo's (forgot which). Honestly, it worked great for 90% of my riding. But it doesn't record power (which at the time I only had power on my roadie), and battery life was only okay, but handled most of my riding still (7 or so hours). I have it to my now ex GF and the optical HR works great on her wrist.

I'm not an Apple person. But, if you are, if definitely keep those watches as an option. Just because of how the Apple ecosystem works, it's sure to be pretty good. But...I don't like Apple...

I use a bar mounted Garmin when I need easy to view navigation. Otherwise, I use the watch for everything.

 

For me, a watch would be a step backward. I need to see certain data and wouldn't be able to with a watch. That's just me, though. If all I needed to see was after the fact, I'd probably get a Samsung Galaxy watch. It has everything I could possibly need.

 

For anyone that’s interested I might pick this up. Price seems right:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQX3306/?tag=imtbtrails-20

 

Channeling myself...I'm considering the Samsung Galaxy watch. But I haven't worn a watch in years.

I don't do Apple either.

 

I’m not a big watch person myself either, but I figured I’d give it a shot. I want to try it out so I can upload routes and have some navigation on the fly. My phone works but sometimes isn’t great with service or whatever. I tried my brothers old Apple Watch but got tired of the constant notifications and all that stuff.

 

Stoked so far. I think it will work well for what I need.

 

Apple watch if you have an iPhone.