I’ve been with Garmin forerunner 101–virtually a brick on your wrist that only connected to your pc via serial port. I’ve had just about every edition, or every other forerunner or fenix, since then.
https://preview.redd.it/9y3djmlqs2wf1.jpeg?width=447&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8970e4e3b30a7ac16290c35ee5912fd8935f3b7f
Garmin does excellent running/hiking/exploring watches but it’s only nominally in that other smartwatch or lifestyle market segment since other brands do that much better.
Though there is a lot of competition with Coros & even Apple Watch Ultra in some cases, most people I know like Garmin for their ecosystem and I don’t think for that specific athlete market it’s even close. So I think one ought to think of it like that rather than Garmin as a smartwatch brand
So affordable is a subjective term. For me, I wouldn’t part with my Garmin because there’s always a compromise with “lifestyle” type watches passing for a training device. Plus I have Garmin edge for cycling and Garmin power meter pedals as well.
I can remember running before GPS running watches came about, but I wore my candybar garmin for years! Wish I wouldn't have given it away, because it was still working great when I decided to downgrade to a smaller/newer model.
I usually keep mine until they break or die. I spend enough on shoes every year, I'd hate to have to buy $500 watches more often than I have to.
My current Garmin is going on 7 years. Still works great, still wear it as my daily and running watch. Replaced the band a couple of times, but still holds a great charge.
i second that. wrist HR with F8 is also faulty for me like 30% of the times, could be because of a wrist or a strap. But i did not see any with F8 improvement compared to F6 or older forerunners
Garmin Venu 1, 2, or even one of the newer Vivoactives would be great. You can get a Venu 2 for probably about $100-$130 on Facebook Marketplace right now. You can also get one of the older Garmin Forerunners for about the same price as well, if not a little cheaper
if he is working a lot in the rain, get him something with more than 2 buttons so he would be able to use the watch using only the buttons (without the touchsreen) if he needs to, something like a forerunner, or instinct (doesnt have a touch screen) or a fenix (but a fenix is one of the more expensive ones)
Top Fitness Trackers on Reddit
1
Garmin
Forerunner 255 Series
86% positive of 466 users
Long battery; but wrist HR tracking is inconsistent.
taverenturtle4
