Garmin - Forerunner 210

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.

>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.

I’m a long time user of Suunto after having a lot of issues years ago with the early Garmin FR210 series. I upgraded from the 9 Peak to the Race. But just wasn’t happy with a number of things. Bought a 965FR and haven’t looked back. And I’ve had no issues with the Garmin. I took the leap after purchasing a set of Garmin Rally Power meter pedals a few years back which have been excellent. This renewed my confidence with Garmin as a brand in general

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

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.

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.

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.

Currently running with a Garmin Fenix 6S, and have had it for over 5 years now. It does everything (and more than) I need. Works great and holds a charge so I don’t see myself getting a new watch for a while still. My first two I used for 3-4 years each, first one had charging issues and eventually died (forerunner 210), second one (forerunner 220) I wanted to upgrade to something with HR and more features. They brought out a newer model with HR capabilities a month and a half after I got my second one. 🥲 I couldn’t justify upgrading so quickly and kept it for a few years.