So after breaking my 2nd Apple Watxh I'm looking for a better option. Anyone use the Garmin GPS smart watches. Daily use includes, track runs and bike rides, email / phone notification, weather and occasional gps location. I also have a Sunnto Core that has ABC, so I'm thinking the Tactix could replace it as well. HR monitor isn't a big concern

Complaints, likes, other options welcome.

You'd probably get more responses in the health and fitness forum as it's more their cup of tea so to speak. I broke my first gen Apple Watch as well and moved to a garmin forerunner 735 this year when they had a sale on them. It's nice to have a gps track your run without having a phone in your pocket as well. I found that the distance tracking, heart rate monitoring, and overall data was a bit more accurate than what Apple has in their smart watches.

I then got a better watch as a gift recently so I'm actually about to sell that one, so if you're interested in a lightly used (one small, thin scratch on the face) 735xt that's about 3 to 4 months old let me know. They run about $400 and I'll be selling it for about half that.

FIDO - timely post. I just got my Suunto Spartan Trainer w/ Wrist HR. The Spartan line watches are all very, very similar. The Ultra has a few extra goodies, but not enough for me to justify the jump in cost. In addition, I like the smaller watch face on the Trainer and Sport models.

It connects to cell phone to show alerts - text, calls, etc - but you can't reply via the watch. Not a deal breaker for me, but I understand if thats a level of connection you require. The watch is very comfortable to wear. I've been wearing over night for sleep tracking and resting HR monitoring. My favorite thing about the watch is all the Suunto support. The web app, phone app, and website all connect very seamlessly. Easy to use, easy to charge.

I've used the navigation for street running only, but will be taking this to Colorado in November for an elk hunt. I'll try to remember and bump this thread for anyone interested in how well the watch performed in the wilderness. All reports show the Sunnto Spartan watches to be very good GPS quality.

Enjoying the purchase and I like that you can change the watch face from a sport-ish looking watch to a traditional 2-arm watch face. Pretty neat feature.

I have a Garmin 920xt that I really like. Definitely a sport watch but have found anything Garmin is very accurate. Fenix looks less like a sport watch.

FIDO 96 said:

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Daily use includes, track runs and bike rides, email / phone notification, weather and occasional gps location.

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My current humble brag / excercise schedule

Sun - 18 mile easy ride
Mon - 3 mile track workout
Tues - 24 mile hill country ride
Wed - 4.5 mile run
Thurs - 30 min Spin class / X-Train
Fri - 60 minute walk
Saturday - 8 mile long run

I manage it all with a $35 Timex IronMan, sticking my head outside to check the weather, and checking email/phone.....well, on my phone (I do have a $15 handlebar mount on my bike)

The best part is nothing automatically updates to social media for people to not give a **** about

How do you keep breaking apple watches? I have the gen one and kept wearing it in the water which caused the sound to crap out but other than that it keeps on going. I am looking at the gen 3 with gps (not cell) and the fenix 5 as I am going to upgrade soon. My brother n law has the fenix 5 and uses it for everyday wear and trail running/hiking. He really likes it and says the batt lasts 2 weeks to a month depending on use which is a big plus for me as I hate having to take another charger for a weekend trip.

My wife and I each own a Garmin Forerunner 935 and love it. It's got the same software as the Fenix 5 with the only difference being all plastic v metal (fenix watches). I love all the things it tracks and the superb battery life even with multiple activities tracked between charges. I charge it on average every 3-4 weeks. Also, it charges up completely in about 30 minutes. Check out the video made my DC Rainmaker on YouTube. He does a great job on all his videos.

I have a Fenix 2 that I've used for running, cycling, weight lifting, hiking, etc for years. The only thing I don't like is that it's huge (imo) for everyday use, so I don't wear it daily. I briefly used it for phone notifications, but stopped. I really like Garmin products, and definitely recommend them.

I recently got a 2nd gen Apple watch through a deal at work, as part of our wellness program, where it was subsidized to $50. I wouldn't have paid full price for it. If I hadn't had this available, I'd have gotten the new Fenix instead, as I've been looking for an upgrade for a few months (wanted one with wrist HR monitoring). I'm not sure yet if I'll actually get any meaningful use from the Apple features - so far, I've sent 2 stupid canned responses to texts because I have fat fingers, so I'll probably not use that function any more. Tried to use a golf tracker yesterday, but the watch features require a premium subscription, which I'm not going to do. Looked cool, though.

Fenix 3 here and I love it. I'll be getting the Fenix 5 as soon as I have a good reason or get ready to spend the money.

Take it for what it's worth, but...

Switched to Suunto Ambit over Garmin Fenix a year ago. I run trails w/back country & travel globally. I had many issues with the Garmin dropping GPS in the middle of run, rebooting & taking 10-15 minutes at times to capture a satellite. I've had over 230 runs in the past 12 months w/ the Suunto & never had a drop across multiple continents/areas. It's also never taken more than a minute to capture a satellite when starting a GPS tracking activity.

My gen 1 took a swim when I got "pushed" into the pool by my 9U baseball kids.


The super duper Stainless/Saphire Gen 2 didn't survive loading boxes into a UHaul for Harvey relief. Apple Care on both denied because they claim water damage (no issue there) and impact damage (the entire screen popped off intact, but they are claiming it's a fractured/shattered screen.