Sports & Fitness Best value smartwatch

A lot of people are reporting battery issues now, unfortunately.
My battery lasts a bit over 48 hours, with 24/7 heartrate monitoring, so I'm happy with that.

 

Ok! So tonight I ordered a Suunto 9. The battery on the Samsung Active 2 was a dealbreaker. After been fully charged overnight, it would always die during a ride/around lunch time while recording activity, which was the main reason why I wanted the smartwatch.

Lets see how this goes!

 

I recently bought a Vivoactive 4 for Master No Mates - he gets 7 days out of it. It lasted almost his entire trip to Bourke, Brewarina, 'bungles & beyond.

Amazing battery life but I will need to wait a while longer to justify buying another toy.

 

Yeah I got talked out of buying one for that exact reason, battery life is horrible on the Samsung watches, especially if tracking any meaningful workout data or using GPS. Bought a Garmin Fenix 6 and absolutely love it.

 

Whilst the tracking and fitness aspect of it may not be on par with some of the others, my Apple watch V2 which is now 5 years old is still holding charge for 2 days just like when it was new and still does everything I need, Smart Wallet, basic fitness, alerts, calls, remote for photos.

Every time they bring out a new Apple watch I read up on it just to see if there is anything new in there that I need but nope, Good ol V2 still does what I need .

It tracked my 10K bushwalk just fine yesterday with no visible impact to the battery.

Wonderful wonderful product........ I still don't like Apple though.

 

Ok. Attempt #3. I didn't like the Suunto 9. You can't do Google navigation.

So.... here's the next attempt... and hopefully the last for many years. And in case people don't know me, I am a gal, many watches appear quite masculine, this one isn't.

TicWatch E3 review | TechRadar

 

I can't speak for it's functionality as I have never used one but aesthetically I really like it. The LCD instead of OLED makes it almost feel cool and retro sort of how the old school Swatch watches and Casio watches are regarded now.

Looks like you will need to charge it every second day which seems to be the norm for most watches with decent functionality.

 

Apple Watch se for my daily as it is handy.
It sync with all my Apple product I use for my daily lifestyle.
Phone, tablet, watch - all 3 goes to charge overnight and gets whatever update automatically.
Work flawless.. I have only transition back to Apple in 2020 and it has worked out great.

 

Cheers.
Similarlty, the Samsung Galaxy Active 2 does all I need, except the battery sometimes dies by 2pm in the day. Can't even record a whole ride. Thus my problem with that watch.

 

Kinda surprise your watch don't make it through a whole day. This note came from Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2

I put my watch Apple Watch SE through exercise workout for 2 hours and a whole day of wearing it till after night time before bed time.

I think your watch may be faulty.

 

I don't know, but that's how it is and its not a good consumer experience. I have the 40mm variant, so it has a smaller battery.

 

I have the smaller 40mm version too. Don't have any issue like that.

 

Interesting.
Do you run or ride using GPS via watch only?

 

The GPS is on when I ride my bike via watch only.

 

Maybe something else is my problem. Thanks

 

I received the Ticwatch E3 today, and it seems awesome!!!
It was only $260.
Really smooth interface, fsst to respond, it seems the screen is possibly the best out of Suunto9, Samsung Active 2 and Fitbit Charge 3, it feels most intuitive. The straps feel cheap but I am sure it can easily be changed.
The pay by watch feature looks to be the best implemented/most user friendly compared to the Fitbit vs Active 2. And the Suunto doesn't have an NFC chip. Suunto was a huge disappointment to me unfortunately.

And, it seems to have all apps, Google maps, Strava, calculator etc...
Will keep using it, and I may end up recommending it to everybody

My referral code if you want a 5% discount: (Mods, please delete/edit if inappropriate): QNMWWV

 

Glad you found something that suits your needs

 

I was thinking of an Apple because it has an alarm that contacts a mobile if you have a bad fall or heart attack ( i hope that never happens but i'm 58 and run long distances ). Does anyone know of another brand that has something similar?

 

you can get pendants and such for elderly that do that, not sure about other phones though. I have seen suggestions that it is a good idea to get an aging parent onto an apple watch early so it is not a drama moving them on to one later when they "need" it.

Being able to make a phone call Dick Tracy style appeals to me too - if I am riding my bike on my own and have a stack, at least if im conscious I can get a call out. I'm just not sure if an apple watch would be robust enough for me