Well, I had a Garmin Swim 2 for four years and it was awesome, but it's lack of smart features and AMOLED screen made me go for a Fenix 8.
I tried an Apple Watch Series 8 years ago and it had serious issues with distance tracking (tracked 150m first 200m I swam, and that NEVER happen with Garmin watches, very annoying), and it only is fine if you are a lap swimmer because you can't use physical buttons to stop and go. Definitely is not a good swimming watch. It's my opinion, of course.
Vivoactive and Forerunner (that's what Garmin told me) doesn't have pace alert while swimming.
You have to know that pace alert it's only available on Garmin Swim 2 or the Fenix Series. It's very important if you want help to keep your pace and is why I switch from my old Swim 2 to Fenix 8, not to Forerunner.
I had a Swim 2 and now a Fenix 7S Pro since 2 years. New sensor Elevate 5 is 10x and it tracks HR very well if worn well. I think that for swimming smaller is better, so I prefer 42 mm over 47 or more (lighter, less water drag and so more stable and more accurate HR).
I also developed a swim data field to track training zone using the pace. Very satisfied.
No smartwatch does swimming or lifting particularly well, imo. The development of swimming software has always been secondary to the watch’s software for biking and running. That said, i do use and find acceptable the swim function on my garmin (I’ve had a swim 2, forerunner, and fenix). I don’t pay attention to stroke detection so I can’t speak to that but it does everything else you’re asking for.
For lifting, paper and pen is still king. I track my lifting workouts on my watch so i get “credit” for them and the workouts help me reach some of the silly little “challenges” garmin has, but it’s too fiddly, prone to errors, and doesn’t provide me the same information I get by writing down my lifts & how I felt.
I have made an agreement to myself that when I get under 200lbs (close, but it may still take a while) I can get a new smartwatch. I currently have a Garmin Swim 2. I would like stick with Garmin and would like the following features: track pool and open water, track run (I use this to track trails with my horse, so "running"), and to have good, large, visible numbers (swim without glasses, need to see seconds for work). My friend who frets over me out in the woods would probably like it to have some sort of incident detection or emergency button, but I think those are exclusively the realm of higher-end watches? Nothing wildly expensive, but any recommendations I can look up pricing for and go from there.
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Garmin
Forerunner 255 Series
86% positive of 466 users
Long battery; but wrist HR tracking is inconsistent.
edulfc
