Wirecutter

Not great for touchscreen use, but the softer and more durable material is a nice upgrade if comfort is your priority.

nytimes.com

amazon.com

walmart

Feature-loaded, a joy to wear and use, and accurate when measuring heart rate from the wrist, this is everything most runners want in a GPS watch.

walmart.com

r/running

r/Garmin

r/triathlon

r/hiking

r/RunningShoeGeeks

r/MTB

r/BuyItForLife

r/ouraring

r/cycling

r/fitbit

r/AppleWatch

r/Ultralight

r/doggrooming

r/Coros

I had an Apple Watch 3 but switched to the Garmin Forerunner 645M and am completely happy.  I love the battery life of Garmin and all the analytics.

Does anyone have experience running with Apple watch? would you recommend it?

I'm trying to decide between Garmin and Apple watch. I don't need much. Just GPS and Heartrate tracking for runs. And a breakdown of per-mile pace would be nice.

Anyone use Apple Watch to track their runs?

When I was just starting to get consistent, I told my partner that if I kept up running 3-4 times a week into my 3rd week of the next semester of law school (January) I’d buy myself a watch. 

I just wanted to share a proud achievement of mine. I started running 5k almost everyday last year.  A few weeks in, I wanted to get one of those cool smartwatches for listening to music without having my phone with me, one for tracking all my stats and stuff but I thought: 

"*you're not there yet, you're going to buy the watch and then eventually stop running.*"

 It happens to me that I want to start to do something, I buy the stuff and eventually I never really dive deep into that hobby or new habit. 
 

Now, running is no longer an option, it is something I do every day. I love it. It brings me into rythm like some sort of meditation. I get to be in the forest every day and see how the seasons change it. It is honestly more about the mental health improvement that it brings to me than about the fitness, though fitness is indeed a very cool plus. When my anxiety builds up, which happens a lot, running calms me down and puts things into perspective. I can also consistently drink beer on weekends or have a pizza or pasta on a weeknight with my friends without worrying about getting fat. 

This is both a thank you letter for this sub and running for improving my mental and physical well-being, as well as a sharing post of how the mundane act of buying a smartwatch can be so full of meaning in the right context.

**Anyhow, make a long time lurker first time runner poster happy and throw some watch recommendations my way! :D**

PS: I hope my post complies with the rules and is not better posted in the Q&amp;A or Daily Achivement Thread since I kinda felt it generates discussion around running watches and it's a little bit of both. Sorry if yes, pls dont ban.

**EDIT: When I said I had trainers that were 8 frickin' years old, I thought we were talking about pants not shoes! I guess I should've said: *"sorry for my bad english"* lol** My shoes are not 8 years old, but my pants are. surprising good shape I might add.

EDIT 2: I'm going to take a break from looking at comments and stuff, my thesis is not going to write itself (sadly) but I'll be back!

**EDIT 3: I made a decision about the watch and stuff happened. I'll update when it arrives :)**

<div class="md">I just wanted to share a proud achievement of mine. I started running 5k almost everyday last year. A few weeks in, I wanted to get one of those cool smartwatches for listening to music without having my phone with me, one for tracking all my stats and stuff but I thought: 

&quot;you&#39;re not there yet, you&#39;re going to buy the watch and then eventually stop running.&quot;

It happens to me that I want to start to do something, I buy the stuff and eventually I never really dive deep into that hobby or new habit. 

Now, running is no longer an option, it is something I do every day. I love it. It brings me into rythm like some sort of meditation. I get to be in the forest every day and see how the seasons change it. It is honestly more about the mental health improvement that it brings to me than about the fitness, though fitness is indeed a very cool plus. When my anxiety builds up, which happens a lot, running calms me down and puts things into perspective. I can also consistently drink beer on weekends or have a pizza or pasta on a weeknight with my friends without worrying about getting fat. 

This is both a thank you letter for this sub and running for improving my mental and physical well-being, as well as a sharing post of how the mundane act of buying a smartwatch can be so full of meaning in the right context.

Anyhow, make a long time lurker first time runner poster happy and throw some watch recommendations my way! :D

PS: I hope my post complies with the rules and is not better posted in the Q&amp;A or Daily Achivement Thread since I kinda felt it generates discussion around running watches and it&#39;s a little bit of both. Sorry if yes, pls dont ban.

EDIT: When I said I had trainers that were 8 frickin&#39; years old, I thought we were talking about pants not shoes! I guess I should&#39;ve said: &quot;sorry for my bad english&quot; lol My shoes are not 8 years old, but my pants are. surprising good shape I might add.

EDIT 2: I&#39;m going to take a break from looking at comments and stuff, my thesis is not going to write itself (sadly) but I&#39;ll be back!

EDIT 3: I made a decision about the watch and stuff happened. I&#39;ll update when it arrives :)
</div>

imma buy myself a watch, and it means a lot.

I own a 645. No end of trouble. First one stopped charging and replaced by garmin. Second crashes every daily, generally during a run

Hi! 

Decided to buy my first sports (running) smart watch, but can't make up my mind which forerunner to buy. The internet is full of great reviews of and comparisons between the 245/645/745 (the ones I'm considering), but they typically assume price differences that aren't true anymore. In the UK, at the moment the 645 is only £200, which is £50 pounds cheaper than the 245 Music. 

Does this make the 645 a no-brainer compared to the 245, or is it a bad idea to buy a watch that is getting discontinued?

I probably wouldn't buy a new smartphone that old, but the release cycles for these watches seem slightly slower than the typical smartphone?

&amp;#x200B;

Thanks :)

<div class="md">Hi! 

Decided to buy my first sports (running) smart watch, but can&#39;t make up my mind which forerunner to buy. The internet is full of great reviews of and comparisons between the 245/645/745 (the ones I&#39;m considering), but they typically assume price differences that aren&#39;t true anymore. In the UK, at the moment the 645 is only £200, which is £50 pounds cheaper than the 245 Music. 

Does this make the 645 a no-brainer compared to the 245, or is it a bad idea to buy a watch that is getting discontinued?

I probably wouldn&#39;t buy a new smartphone that old, but the release cycles for these watches seem slightly slower than the typical smartphone?

&#x200B;

Thanks :)
</div>

Forerunner 645 heavily discounted, bargain?

The major health insurers offer at least pretty significant discounts on all the Garmin Forerunner watches. (Humana Go365 30%, UHC and BCBS 20%). Reward dollars over time in the various programs could be assumed to offset total cost as well.

<div class="md">The major health insurers offer at least pretty significant discounts on all the Garmin Forerunner watches. (Humana Go365 30%, UHC and BCBS 20%). Reward dollars over time in the various programs could be assumed to offset total cost as well.
</div>

My employer recently switched Health Care providers to Blue Cross Blue Shield, and while exploring the various benefits I found the "Well onTarget" site. It's meant to be a wellness management solution through BCBS to help you stay more fit/healthy. 

While on it I found that you can link your Garmin (or other devices) to it and for each activity you sync (it's automatic, linked to Garmin Connect) you'll get 55 points. These points are redeemable for a bunch of items, including Garmins, a few samples:

* Fenix 6X Pro Solar - 196,296 points
* Fenix 6 Pro - 134,288
* 945 - 115,404
* 745 - 86,333
* 245 - 58,752
* 45 - 39,867
* Plenty of other things as well, such as GoPros, Apple TVs, Airpods, video games, etc...

I figure I'm going to be using my Garmin regardless, might as well "earn" my next Garmin as I use it. There's a few other ways to earn points, it looks like it's semi-easy to get around 25k-30k points per year, which is more than enough to earn one of the lower end Garmin's roughly on their release cycle.

I wouldn't be surprised if other healthcare insurances offer programs, it's worth checking out. And quite frankly yes, you are trading your data for points to redeem, up to you to decide if that's something you want to do.

To Find it:

"Well onTarget", for me it was on the left under Quick Links when I logged into my BCBS of Illinois main portal.

<div class="md">Edit: Thank you to <a href="/u/IndyHCKM">/u/IndyHCKM</a> that this is limited to: Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Edit 2: There is also the standard 20% discount that most health insurance providers offer, a listing of them is here: <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11FeOS8Gf26GO9Ewp3rGzBALk9EZgT3Xian3TYOe4fwg/edit?usp=sharing">https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11FeOS8Gf26GO9Ewp3rGzBALk9EZgT3Xian3TYOe4fwg/edit?usp=sharing</a>

My employer recently switched Health Care providers to Blue Cross Blue Shield, and while exploring the various benefits I found the &quot;Well onTarget&quot; site. It&#39;s meant to be a wellness management solution through BCBS to help you stay more fit/healthy. 

While on it I found that you can link your Garmin (or other devices) to it and for each activity you sync (it&#39;s automatic, linked to Garmin Connect) you&#39;ll get 55 points. These points are redeemable for a bunch of items, including Garmins, a few samples:

<ul>
<li>Fenix 6X Pro Solar - 196,296 points</li>
<li>Fenix 6 Pro - 134,288</li>
<li>945 - 115,404</li>
<li>745 - 86,333</li>
<li>245 - 58,752</li>
<li>45 - 39,867</li>
<li>Plenty of other things as well, such as GoPros, Apple TVs, Airpods, video games, etc...</li>
</ul>

I figure I&#39;m going to be using my Garmin regardless, might as well &quot;earn&quot; my next Garmin as I use it. There&#39;s a few other ways to earn points, it looks like it&#39;s semi-easy to get around 25k-30k points per year, which is more than enough to earn one of the lower end to midrange Garmins roughly on their release cycle.

I wouldn&#39;t be surprised if other healthcare insurances offer similar programs, it&#39;s worth checking out. And quite frankly yes, you are trading your data for points to redeem, up to you to decide if that&#39;s something you want to do. 

To Find it:

&quot;Well onTarget&quot;, for me, it was on the left under Quick Links when I logged into my BCBS of Illinois main portal.
</div>

BCBS's Well onTarget Program lets you "earn" a free Garmin every 2-4 years

 The distance is spot on and the battery lasts forever. As someone else wrote l Apple is better for everyday things.

I’ve watched a lot of reviews and it looks like it is a great watch but do you think its better off just getting a normal watch like a Garmin forerunner 35? Im not sure whether the price is completely worth it.

<div class="md">I’ve watched a lot of reviews and it looks like it is a great watch but do you think its better off just getting a normal watch like a Garmin forerunner 35? Im not sure whether the price is completely worth it.
</div>

Arc’teryx Gothic Glove vs Garmin Forerunner 645