Forerunner 201

I've been using Garmin watches since 2004. I've never had one fail, I've replaced them out of wanting a new feature or eventually losing battery life. Models: FR 201, 305, 225, vivoactive 1 & 3, FR 735XT, Edge 520+ 6 watches over 21 years. Plus pulling the 305 apart and replacing the battery (it still works - so did the 201 last I heard that the guy I'd given it to had passed it on)

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.

Seems like I am replacing my watch every 2-3 years. Battery is always the reason. Have gone with the base models of the garmin forerunner (35,45,55) then finally upgraded to the 200 series most recently.

If they won't want to charge it daily, a Garmin is a great option. The next question is whether they will go through and select specific activities when they do them (hike, golf, cycling, etc). If so, then go to the Garmin website and confirm which model has what you want. If not, then it really doesn't matter as they'll be using the basic background activity tracking features. The Forerunners in the 200 series are good values with most activities, but maybe not golf.

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

I second this. Exact same use case run 3x/week and weight train 3-4x/week. I found the epix pro gen 2 sapphire to be best utility and bang for buck. I tried the FR but was too run focused and I preferred the more tactical look. The fenix 8 was nice but at double the price with same sensor technology it didn’t felt worth it. You do forgo the mic and voice features but I didn’t need it and didn’t want a true smart watch but prioritized a fitness forward watch. 3 months in and I love my Epix pro gen 2 47mm

Garmin Forerunnner has several models in that range. Work like a charm.

>Its a Vivoactive by another name. ironically i've been looking at the FR series to upgrade my old vivoactive. lack of altimeter is deal breaker for me.