Best Garmin Fitness Watch
Choose the Garmin Watch that Best Suites Your Needs
Introduction
Let’s face it we all lead very busy lives between work, family, school, and social obligations so fitness often times takes a back seat. While fitness may not be something we love to do, many of us love our high tech gadgets so why not purchase one that can help motivate and keep track of your fitness goals? Fitness watches, a relatively new phenomenon are just the device you need. Fitness watches come with really great features like step tracking, heart rate monitor, sleep tracking as well as having the ability to pair with your smartphone ensuring that you will not miss that urgent phone call or text. If you find yourself traveling or choosing to run or bike in new locations, many fitness watches come with built-in GPS, and some even have full-color maps ensuring that if you choose the path less traveled you will still have the peace of mind that you can find your way back home. Fitness watches come in many different styles, colors, and materials and the vast majority of them are waterproof, so you do not have to worry about rain or even if you want to use the device while swimming. Fitness watches provide convenient health monitoring without having to purchase or wear multiple and often times uncomfortable devices. With a variety to choose from fitness, watches are great for beginners as well as experienced athletes.
Why Garmin? We chose Garmin because of its brand recognition and ability to provide a quality product. Garmin was founded in 1989 and quickly became a leader in GPS navigation and wearable technology and now have 60 offices located worldwide to ensure that their customers receive quality products and customer support. With a clear mission and values including honesty, integrity, and respect Garmin is a brand you can trust to deliver a quality product. Below we have reviewed 5 of the best Garmin fitness watches to help take the guesswork out of which fitness watch is best for you, as well as breaking down the individual features to ensure the right fit for the right person. While we love Garmin watches, you may want to explore other brands as well. If you are looking for Garmin specific reviews, read on. If you want to see reviews about other heart rate watches, click here.
Forerunner® 35
Vívoactive® 3
Fēnix® 5X
Vívomove® HR
The Garmin vívomove® HR is an excellent fitness watch for individuals who need to dress formally but still want to track their fitness. If you fall into the category of an individual who wants to track their steps, heart rate, calories, but need or want a more sophisticated looking fitness watch then the Garmin vívomove® HR is the watch you have been dreaming about. This smartwatch packs several features into a watch that does not look bulky or sporty, and most people will not even notice that it is a fitness watch. So whether you are off out to a formal dinner, or maybe enjoying a night at the opera, the Garmin vívomove® HR will not look out of place.
You can view all the available features that come on the Garmin vívomove® HR conveniently on the Amazon.com website. This amazing hybrid smartwatch allows you to have the best of all worlds, with moving watch hands and the interactive hidden touchscreen you can seamlessly track your statistics while keeping up on calls and messages all packed into an elegant looking watch. This more sophisticated looking fitness watch comes in great face colors like rose gold, gold, black, and silver and can be paired with quick release bands that come in leather, suede, and silicone and encompass a variety of colors, so you have the ability to match with any outfit you choose. This watch may have style, but it also comes with great fitness features that include all-day stress tracking, sleep monitoring, step count, heart rate, calories burned, and distance. In addition to the important fitness features, this watch can be paired with your smartphone, so you don’t have to worry about missing any important texts or phone calls when you step out for a quick workout. With Garmin connect this watch also allows you to store your data as well as join challenges with friends to keep motivated or just help encourage friends and family to keep fitness a priority.
While the Garmin vívomove® HR comes with some features we really like including hidden touch screen and elegant look; there were also a couple of features that were missing on such a prestigious device. Perhaps the most disappointing omission was the lack of GPS and the rather small screen. Naturally, when choosing which features to add to a device there will always be budgetary constraints, but we can’t help but feel that not adding GPS was a poor choice by Garmin.
With that being said, this watch is still worthy of your consideration, because not everyone wants to wear a watch that screams fitness fanatic. Sometimes there are sacrifices when it comes to fashion, and for this fitness watch it was clearly the smaller watch face. In order to keep the watch less bulky and more fashionable the screen needed to be smaller, and while this looks great it can sometimes be hard to read messages due to the small size, particularly when you are half way through a marathon, and even putting one foot in front of the other is hard work!
Buyer’s Guide
When you are in the market to buy a fitness watch, it is important to make sure you are getting the right watch to fit your needs. With so many choices and so many different gadgets and gizmos, it may become a bit overwhelming figuring out what fitness watch is the best for you. There are many great features to look for when buying a fitness watch and below are some important features to look for:
- Battery Life
Perhaps the most important element of any fitness watch is the battery life, and how quick and easy it is to recharge the battery. The battery life of fitness watches can vary widely from hours to days and often depends on which applications are being used at the time. The last thing you need is to be out on a long run in a new place and lose your GPS because your battery died. It is important to make sure you are purchasing the right watch for your needs, and you will also want to see how you need to charge the device. Some watches come with a USB cable that can easily be attached to any USB capable device while others utilize a specific charging dock making them more bulky and hard to take with you if you need to recharge your device. Also take into consideration that with any watch that utilizes a proprietary charging cable, you need to be confident that it is easy and relatively cheap to replace should you misplace it. After all, without that cable, the watch will quickly become useless.
- Waterproof Rating
The term waterproof does not always mean the same thing, and the last thing you want to do is ruin your expensive new fitness watch by using it in the wrong water conditions. Waterproof ratings vary from 1 ATM or 1 Bar which means it is resistant to rain, but you will not be able to wear it swimming to 100 ATM or 100 BAR which means it is capable of deep sea diving up to 1000 meters or 3300 feet. In order to better understand waterproof ratings, you can visit Gadgets & Wearables. It is also important if you plan on using your smartwatch while swimming or diving to make sure it is “waterproof” and not “water resistant” these terms are sometimes used interchangeably and may cost you a lot of money if you are not careful.
- Apps
It is important to make sure you are purchasing a fitness watch that comes with the right apps and features to suit your fitness needs and goals. If you want to be able to download and switch apps depending on which fitness program you are following you will want to make sure your fitness watch has the ability to download apps. If you’re going to run multiple apps on your device, you will also want to make sure your device of choice is capable of storing a large amount of data. There are many different fitness apps available on the market today, and you can locate some good ones by visiting Men’s Journal.
- Compatibility
If you want or need to pair your fitness watch with your smartphone, it is important to make sure they are compatible. Unfortunately, not all devices are built the same and while some may be compatible with all smartphones if you need to keep apprised of phone calls and texts it is important to make sure the fitness watch you choose is compatible with your smartphone. For more information on how to pair your devices visit Digital Trends.
- Price
It always comes down to price, doesn’t it? Well, price does matter, and you also want to make sure you are not overpaying for a device that comes with apps and features you will never use. Fitness watches come in basic models that are just for one sport like running and utilize buttons and a primary black and white watch face to advanced models that are multi-sport capable with touchscreen and full-color watch faces. The best place to visit to check out the latest prices in our opinion is Amazon.com.
Final Thoughts
Whether you are an experienced triathlete or an individual setting out on their first run, a fitness watch can help ensure that you are meeting your health and exercise goals. Thanks to significant improvements made to fitness watches you no longer have to purchase or wear multiple bulky devices that can interfere with your work out. Advances in technology allow fitness watches to come equipped with many helpful features to ensure that you are getting the most bang for your buck. All the watches we reviewed above can be paired with your smartphone giving you the peace of mind that while you are working out, you will not miss any important phone calls or text messages allowing you to stay connected with friends and family or clients even in remote locations. Many of the products above also come equipped with GPS, so you do not have to worry about getting lost if you are in a new location or if you just get lost in time while working out, your fitness watch will make sure you have the ability to make it back safely. If you are techy and like multiple gadgets and options or an individual who just wants a straightforward fitness watch without all the bells and whistles, Garmin makes a model that is perfect for you. From simple devices that track running and walking to more advanced pieces with multi-sport capabilities, there is a Garmin fitness watch that will suit your needs.
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