Garmin - 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 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

Lots of options. Check out the Venu series, Vivofit, and Vivoactive. IMO the value-added aspects of the Forerunner are around running and other aerobic endurance sports. Are those relevant to you?

Forerunner can be a great alternative to Fenix if you're price conscious. Or just last generation Fenix. Do you care about maps?

Forerunner does that stuff too. In general, higher-end Garmins add, they don't take away. Are you serious about any of your sports? Like planning seasons, building for events, that kind of thing?

Changed my mind... I think without an explicit indoor rowing activity profile and VO2max, the extra analysis stuff on the Forerunner won't really work. Not sure if any of the watches have that. I know there are some accepted equations to estimate that stuff, though I think you'd also need a reasonably accurate power meter on your rowing machine. So yeah, Venu or whatever is fine.

You're probably going to get each brand's fans telling you theirs is the best. The Garmin Forerunner 200- or 500-series will give you great coverage of running and cycling. I'm less sure about swimming. I know people do it but I'm not much of a swimmer. I think there are some tricks to setting it up well. It should give you ok coverage of basketball. You'll see how it impacts your overall fitness picture. I found the weightlifting module unusable but people do use it. Must-have accessory - an external heart rate sensor. I think there's a right thing for swimming in particular. It should work fine for the other stuff. The handlebars adapter. If maps are important to you, within Garmin you really need two devices.

My opinion, go with the Forerunner. Check out all the chatter from people moving on from their Apple Watches - I get that some of the newer ones have much better support for running but you say you have an older one. And you're not going to want to carry your phone either. How much running have you done up to now?

With gps actively going(most battery intense thing you can do), a forerunner with MIP will last you like 3 to 5 days straight. OLED probably a solid 2 to 3 days straight. If you just want to wear it when not using it for activities, you get like 2 weeks before charges.

I use a Garmin Forerunner watch, and it displays heart rate while tracking activity. The reading is pretty visible to me even with slightly foggy goggles but ymmv. They have a lot of models with this capability, so maybe you can find one with a bigger screen. The default heart rate screen also has a colored Zone indicator, if that's easier to see & you're not looking for exact numbers https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=kbOXNev7NS4DQcc3IjAV49

I use Garmin forerunner watch, sync Strava with Garmin Connect and sync Komoot with Strava. It works like a charm.

I have a Garmin Edge bike computer and chest based heart rate because I like to see my speed on the handlebars rather than having to look at my watch. It also navigates for me on more adventurous rides and race courses I'm unfamiliar with. For local social rides I just track on my Garmin Forerunner watch.

A Garmin head unit. You could buy used to reduce the cost. I do ride wearing my forerunner watch, however it is purely for heartrate (linkeded to display on headunit) In reality you could buy the headunit and an inexpensive chest heartrate monitor such as magene. I do however like that my watch provides lots of other daily data such as resting heartrate, steps and so forth. There is benefit to headunit + basic level sports watch.

Runs are the same concept as rides. Personally, I use purpose-built devices to record: Garmin Edge bike computer, Garmin Forerunner watch (they also both do navigation, connect to heart rate sensors, watch does music, etc.). When I stop an activity and hit save, it's uploaded to Strava before I can even get the garage door open. I don't want to carry my phone on a run, and I don't want to run down the battery on all-day rides.

Obviously a Fenix 8 Micro LED. For real though, Fenix/Epix watches will give you full golf functionality minus a feature or two which are reserved for the golf specific watches. If you are budget conscious I would look for a Fenix 7/epix 2 series watch. If you have money to spend, a Fenix 8 will be great for everything you can imagine. Forerunner watches do have some golf features but they are dumbed down a bit to basic distance to green and score keeping.