Best gps watch under £200?

kieran240885
kieran240885 Posts: 36
edited February 2018 in Road beginners
I am looking at getting a smart watch for everyday health tracking etc. I can’t afford to buy both a cycle computer and a smart watch.so was thinking a gps watch would be a good compromise. Has any one else found which works best? Or am I better getting a standard hr watch and something like a Garmin Edge 25?

Comments

  • haydenm
    haydenm Posts: 2,997
    I have an Edge 25 and a hr monitor, but bought myself a Garmin Forerunner 235. Never use the Edge 25 anymore, the battery life of the watch is much better and I wear it all the time. For the cost of a garmin HR chest strap I would recommend getting one for serious HR data over the wrist monitor on the watch but it's not vital. I find constantly looking at a dedicated gps on my bars actually makes me ride slower as I prefer to ride 'on feel' but have the data to look at when I'm back inside with a beer.

    I also find the watch useful for running and mountain biking where my edge 25 was less good. My only issue with the watch is that it doesn't give me elevation gain on a ride, I'm sure there is a way of doing it but I can't see it in the field settings, maybe there is something I can download. Not used any other smart watches but I like the Forerunner 235, there is a new one coming out so you might find some good prices about now
  • Joshgav
    Joshgav Posts: 158
    The Vivoactive HR often goes under £200 (get gen 2 with wrist HR)
  • £165 at Millets at the moment....been looking at it myself
  • Joshgav wrote:
    The Vivoactive HR often goes under £200 (get gen 2 with wrist HR)

    Thanks. I have been looking at that one. But I wasn’t sure if a Vivosmart 3 and a Garmin Edge 25 combination would be a better solution. Is the Vivoactive HR good enough to replace a stand-alone, all be it, entry spec dedicated cycle computer?
  • mcstumpy
    mcstumpy Posts: 298
    Don’t go for Samsung gear fir 2. My wife has one and the gps is very inaccurate, out by 25% on most runs She does
  • yiannism
    yiannism Posts: 345
    You can get garmin 520 with less than 300 euros and have them all you need. Stretch a bit your budget and get something really good.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    McStumpy wrote:
    Don’t go for Samsung gear fir 2. My wife has one and the gps is very inaccurate, out by 25% on most runs She does

    DC rainmaker has just tested the new Samsung gear watch. Ludicrous accuracy on it. I think it just guesses where you've been.
  • mcstumpy
    mcstumpy Posts: 298
    cougie wrote:
    McStumpy wrote:
    Don’t go for Samsung gear fir 2. My wife has one and the gps is very inaccurate, out by 25% on most runs She does

    DC rainmaker has just tested the new Samsung gear watch. Ludicrous accuracy on it. I think it just guesses where you've been.

    Samsung gave me the run around for weeks, assured me it would be accurate and even fitted new main board to no gain. I eventually ended up speaking to the back room engineer in the tech support shop who was priobably over candid - he told me it’s only accurate when paired with your phone (which then does the gps grunt work), and that the under powered watch gps will only work if clear blue sky and you give it 20 mins to acquire satellite lock.
  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,583
    I'd suggest a Garmin Vivoactive HR. You can get a little mount so you can put it on your handlebars if you want, although of course you then lose the wrist based heartrate. As mentioned above, you should be able to pick one up for around £165, then save up a few more quid for and Edge 25 in due course.
  • If you can stretch your budget by £30 the Vivoactive 3 is still on Amazon today with a decent reduction. Solid deal for a watch thats much better looking and more functional than the VAHR (I know, I upgraded).
  • Forerunner 35 by a country mile, does cycling besides running, and you can add sensors as you go, it's just like the fr25 only funner
  • Martnw
    Martnw Posts: 27
    Ive had my my mio for years and love it.
    It makes routes for you. If you wanted this on a Garmin it would be so expensive.