UKC

Wifey has offered to get me a GPS watch for Christmas but I was unsure of which one to go for. Not bothered about a HR monitor, just something to record time, distance, etc which I can link to Strava. Any recommendations welcome. 

In reply to supersteve:

Depends a bit on budget, but IME the Garmin Forerunners are good, if you're looking for basic then maybe the forerunner 25 or 35?

In reply to supersteve:

I'd suggest the Garmin Forerunner forerunner range which are very good. I have the 245, middle of the range.

I think all their current range have a wrist heart rate monitor, which I find to be completely useless but it luckily is not intrusive. If you can find one the 230 doesn't have a wrist heart rate monitor.

They talk to your phone and sync to Strava very slickly.

In reply to supersteve:

Fenix 5X and 5Xplus are super well priced on SportPursuit right now - the 5X particularly so

https://www.sportpursuit.com/sales/garmin-fenix-nov17

love mine - and the navigation features/maps are more useful than you would imagine 

In reply to supersteve:

Garmin looks the way to go - my brother in law has a 620, but I think the 245 would have all the features I need. HR monitor in the watch is not an issue - just don't need the faff of a chestband. Cheers for the advice - I have sent her a link....

In reply to supersteve:

I bought one of these back in April: https://www.suunto.com/en-gb/Products/sports-watches/Suunto-Ambit3-Peak/Suu...

My criteria was about the same as yours. It's been faultless so far and has stood up to scraps with rock well too. Ordered direct from Suunto and delivery was slick.

Battery life is good too.

In reply to Mark Eddy:

Agree with Mark great watch that and you get a 70 page instruction pdf...good price aswell

In reply to supersteve:

And if that is too expensive I can vouch for the forerunner 35. Basic, but works well (and has a long battery life should you wish to run ultras)...

In reply to More-On:

Not sure about ultras (plural) but hope to do the Fontainebleau ultra next year after this year's was cancelled. Then in the summer plan to ride from Paris to Col D'Iseran, so watch would need a good charge each night. If I'm allowed. At least as of tomorrow we can go more than 1km from the house....Will keep researching watch options this weekend. 

In reply to supersteve:

I've got nothing but good things to say about the Polar Vantage M. Mine's been great for running and indoor/open water swimming. 

In reply to supersteve: A bit of a summary from the other forums where I have a read

Garmin: expensive, relatively mature on-line platform, good iOS support

Coros: excellent battery life and considerably cheaper

Suunto: poor on-line platform, good battery

I am a Garmin user and am very happy. I wanted long battery life so have a Fenix, but the FR245 price point seems to give most things most people want.

Remember to just go for a run without thinking about the watch every now and again!

In reply to supersteve:

 I’ve had an Ambit3 peak for over 4 years and it’s served me well. Decent battery (have complete 2 slow full ironman races with plenty left in the battery) that doesn’t appear to have degraded at all. It’s a tough rugged watch, I’ve worn it every day and swam, climbed, ran and sailed in it. It’s looking a little worn (big scratch on the screen too) but I’ve no doubt it has many more years in it. Navigation is OK. You don’t get maps but you can load a gpx into it to follow a line. My big issue with it is that Suunto are slowly killing and removing features from it. They’re transitioning to a new app and as a result they’ve removed the ability to set workouts and Ambit users are stuck somewhat in limbo you currently need to use 2 different platforms (Suunto app and the movescount web app (and the accompanying moveslink software) to get the most out of it. 
 

it would be an ok choice these days if you just wanted basic accurate gps with decent battery life but nothing more.

 I’ve just picked up a garmin fenix on a BF deal. Eagerly awaiting its arrival today 

In reply to supersteve:

Both sound excellent.

I can add that the 35 can be charged from a small battery pack whilst still recording, if you're out for longer than 13 hours. I'm sure the more expensive options can to, but I like the simplicity of distance, time and pace only...

In reply to More-On:

I have the Garmin 245 and its great. The only criticism is the convoluted procedure of getting routes on to it. 

In reply to supersteve:

I have a garmin it’s great. The Garmin connect app is terrible on par with iTunes. If GC is having a bad day it will take ages to sync with Strava or worse could lose your activity.

In reply to Pullhard:

Never upload on a Sunday or immediately after Parkrun. I think GC is a much better offering than other watch manufacturers, just not as slick as TP or others. I have never lost data except during the hacking outage in July when I lost one run.

In reply to supersteve:

I have a Garmin 245, which is great, but looking at your original post it seems to be massively overspecced for what you need. The entry range models will do all you need.

Only thing I would say is keep the receipt. This is my second 245, the first developed a fault on the display just a week before I had it a year. Wiggle were great and refunded without a quibble.

When I looked on line, display faults (dead pixels forming spots or lines on the display), seem to have been an issue with some 245s. However they probably flog millions, so not very common. I took the plunge and bought another, assuming it was a dodgy batch. 

No problems so far, so maybe something to consider.

In reply to Ridge:

I have a 735xt it’s “multi sport” but it’s incredibly light and does what you want from it. I’ve liked it, only annoyance is my cadence/hr often get mixed up so it looks like I’m well above max hr. 

In reply to supersteve:

Argos has the Garmin Forerunner 645 music for less than £200. It does way more than you want, but at that price is outstanding value!

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1513936

In reply to supersteve:

I've been impressed with my Coros Pace. Battery life is impressive and GPS is quick to pick up. The app support is good and you can link to Strava etc if you want to.

In reply to BattyMilk:

To add to the Ambit 3 comments - mine has been a serviceable watch for mountain use, with an excellent battery life, for about 4 years now, but:

Suunto has stopped supporting the movescount App and there's loads of complaints about the new app not syncing with the Ambit 3

Downloading even to the old app takes ages / fails if you have a long day out - you have to do it via the cable and a PC

The altimeter now sometimes goes bonkers - yesterday I walked in to do a climb 170m on the way in, 30m ice climb, 5000m total ascent by the time I'd walked out. Mmmmm.

Not a concern of the OP, but I'm on the 3rd HRM strap as the sensor pads delaminate.  You have to buy the Suunto one as it's not Ant+ compatible.

I'm now looking at Corus, but I'll keep the Ambit for navigation.

In reply to supersteve:

Thanks for all the suggestions. Wifey has gone ahead and ordered me a Garmin 245, although I have been told I have to wait till Christmas before I can use it. Might try and tempt her into an early present swap if I can find something shiny quickly. 

In reply to George Ormerod:

You can just buy a different Bluetooth chest strap. The polar ones with very well. Wahoo are ok, but harder to get a replacement strap