Sport Watches: Growing demand
How important it is to know your fitness’ stats? Knowing how many calories you burn, how fast you’re running, how fast your heart is beating, and even how much you’ve improved over the last few months… All of that was pretty difficult to know before smartwatches and fitness trackers were as popular as they are now.
Because let’s be honest, getting all that data was hard back in the day; having all those stats on your wrist is much more convenient, and also puts health and fitness at a more reachable place for everyone.
As the market is full of options, almost everyone can find a good smartwatch to track his fitness journey, but it can be confusing for those who have never bought one.
If you are looking for the perfect sports smartwatch or looking to upgrade to a newer, more advanced one, then this list is for you.
We will be comparing some of the most well-known smartwatches in the market right now, based on key factors that we consider to make great sports watch.
What to look for in a sports smartwatch
GPS for outdoor activities
GPS is responsible for tracking distance and routes, as we believe exercise should be done in and outside, GPS is a function that every great watch has to offer.
Long battery life
Especially because the GPS and music features consume a lot of batter, it’s key that your watch doesn’t die in the middle of your fitness session.
App synchronizing
There’s a reason for them to be connected smartwatches; it’s much better to see your stats on bigger screens, as well as having access to more functions thanks to how easily your watch connects to your phone and other fitness apps.
Multiple sports tracking
Exercise is not only done at the gym! A watch that offers several sports tracking is more usable. Look for a watch that can at least track walking distance, swimming, endurance and physical performance.
Durability
A pretty watch is worth nothing if it breaks in the middle of a session. Look for something durable that can stand tough conditions.
After establishing our criteria in terms of functions that every great sports smartwatch should have, let’s see the most popular models that you should check. Every single one is different, having different prices and functions.
Best sports smartwatches comparison
Apple Watch Series 7
The most popular one of course belongs to Apple, being the series 7 the most advanced one by the date.
The Apple Watch has GPS and some models even include LTE support, great for outdoor workouts. It’s also swim-proof and has a wide range of tracking options, from gym exercises to sports.
It offers amazing synchronizing with Apple apps, but of course, you have to have an iPhone or else it will be useless. The price range is also one of the highest.
One of the best things about this watch is that it learns your habits, so it will push you to perform better as the time goes by.
For more advanced athletes, this watch might fall short, especially because the battery life is not the greatest; you have to charge it every night. For many users, this is a smartwatch that offers a decent fitness and health tracking. In fact, the health tracking is one of the best in the market.
Garmin Forerunner 245 Music
With a great battery life supporting the use of GPS and music, this one is one of the best sports watches in the market right now.
It offers you a lot of training metrics, from simple calories burned to measurement of your performance improvement. If you’re an avid runner, you will enjoy the advanced run-tracking features.
For those that enjoy working out while listening to music, they have a great partnership with Spotify that allows you to keep listening to music while offline (only with Spotify premium). It’s also water-resistant, and it’s specifically designed for more advanced athletes.
Fitbit Sense
Fitbit fitness trackers are among the most advanced options, and are probably the second most popular option. A great thing to say about the Fitbit Sense is the fact that it’s blurring the lines between a sports watch and a versatile smartwatch without lowering the quality of the fitness tracking features.
In terms of battery life, you will get up to 6 days of battery life despite using the GPS, which makes it one of the best batteries in this list.
It has much more health tracking features than its predecessors, including sleep tracking, stress management, body temperature, and blood oxygen levels. It does send you warning signs in case there’s an irregularity.
Garmin Forerunner 55
Affordability doesn’t mean bad quality, and this watch is the ultimate proof. A perfect option for beginners, this model offers an impressive battery life or 13 hours, even when using the GPS.
You can find almost every premium feature offered by more expensive Garmin watches, and it has been specifically designed for beginners, as the watch offers several suggestions alongside their fitness tracking features.
The suggested recovery time and suggested workouts are great for people that don’t know much about exercise yet, so the watch helps them be gentle with their body according to their performance.
The tracking features are wide, tracking swimming, HIIT, Pilates, yoga, elliptical, stair stepper, treadmill and biking. As for downsides, it doesn’t track strength training, doesn’t offer onboard music, and doesn’t have a touchscreen, so the button-controlled part could be uncomfortable.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Smartseries
As with everything that Samsung offers, this one is a high-end smartwatch that’s worth every dollar. The battery life is pretty decent, even compared to the Garmin ones.
The user experience is the best one in this list, even topping the one from the fitbit fitness trackers.
One of the strongest points for this watch is how quickly and smoothly it synchronizes your data with Samsung Health platform, and it offers a perfect balance between health and fitness tracking and everyday usage. It’s as comprehensive and useful as an Apple Watch, and of course, works great when you have an Android phone.
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