Additionally, this watch can detect and accurately track your stress levels throughout the day. Whether you are exercising or sleeping, the watch can track and store data via your smartphone or other devices.
You choose which metrics that you want personalized feedback for, and the Forerunner does the rest. Overall, this watch is very effective in its goal of providing you with accurate assessments of your physical activity in every area of your life. It points out trends in your breathing patterns, stress management, sleep cycle, training progression, and more. We recommend this watch for multisport athletes who are seeking an advanced, capable smartwatch that is packed with features.
The Garmin Forerunner is an all-in-one watch at the top of its class. Originally introduced in , the Coros Pace has undergone several software updates since its release. Now, it has been perfected as a solid and reliable entry-level triathlon watch.
We think it offers impressive value for the price. Although this watch is marketed generally as a multisport watch, it was specifically designed to meet the fitness needs of triathletes. High-end competitor models from Garmin may offer more sport modes, but the Coros Pace excels at tracking activities that triathletes care about most: running, swimming, and cycling.
In triathlon mode, the user can easily switch between training modes. With a simple, user-friendly interface, this watch is a straightforward and practical training accessory.
The associated Coros App allows you to completely tailor your training regime. The app monitors and logs every detail from your workout, including heart rate, distance traveled, and steps completed. If you prefer third-party services like Strava, the Pace can sync up easily with those, too. This watch offers impressive GPS capabilities. The durable plastic housing and clear glass face are both effectively resistant to scratches.
The face is sleek and visually pleasing thanks to an LED display and color screen with a resolution of x pixels. Coros claims that the mAh lithium-ion battery will hold a charge for 30 hours with an active GPS connection.
However, many users find that the battery does not quite live up to this claim. The strap tends to be the first component to wear out on this generally durable watch, but it can be easily replaced.
It offers the helpful feedback you need to progress as an athlete. We recommend it to those in search of great value. Simply put, this is a tried-and-true, highly accurate timekeeper that foregoes the features in favor of unbeatable reliability. For athletes who need a simple, budget-friendly athletic watch, the Timex Ironman Essential 10 is the way to go. There are no hidden features here. This watch is free of bells and whistles. Triathletes have been utilizing dependable Timex watches for decades.
Use it to set an alarm for those early morning workouts, and keep it on throughout the day if you like. The screen also lights up with that classic Indiglo for nighttime use. For swimming, this watch provides excellent water resistance up to feet deep. Large buttons allow easy control of the display, even while on the go. Tall numbers let you read the face from all angles. No, the Timex will not automatically upload your afternoon run to Strava, nor will it count your steps or make you dinner.
However, in a market filled with feature-packed triathlon watches, the Timex offers exactly what so many others cannot: simplicity and an approachable price tag. With all the essentials, plus a handful of clever bonus features, the Vantage M is yet another good choice on the triathlon watch market. The Vantage M does not have a touch screen like the Vantage V. Instead, the user navigates using five physical buttons, two on the left and three on the right.
While lots of multisport watches have confusing interfaces, this one is notably intuitive. Although this watch effectively tracks various activities, it really shines in the running category.
The Vantage M tracks running metrics such as step counts and run distances with an impressive degree of accuracy. A variety of built-in training programs, including steady-state tempo training, are great for athletes working to fine-tune specific aspects of their performance.
This Polar model has some fun, unique extras. Guided stretches and a built-in test to estimate VO2 max offer practical resources to round out your workout. This watch can also be put into flight mode, which is great when surrounded by sensitive Bluetooth equipment or for those who work in high-security areas. Among the lightest comparable watches available, the Vantage M weighs just 1.
The Vantage M features a 1. Three sizes and various strap colors allow you to customize the watch to your wrist size and style preference. The Polar Vantage M is lightweight and durable with a quick-to-learn interface.
Out of state bike rides. My first race. My first car. I had a job as a painter and got little white dots of paint all over it. When I was in the hospital I had no clock in my room, but I had my Ironman watch. The nurse blew a vein when putting in an IV so I even got blood on it. You name it, it happened. I think I even lost my virginity while wearing that watch!
Just couldn't wear a suit or tux or T shirt with that thing. Maybe denim cutoff shorts The watch got beat up so bad, buttons started falling off, the cheap plastic band cracked and was replaced with a woven nylon one, the Indiglo stopped working.
But you know what? It still told me what time it was. Exactly what a watch is supposed to do. You don't fire someone that's doing their job. The watch finally died after about 7 or 8 years. Not one battery change. It was replaced by an even more Terminator-looking stainless steel Swiss Army Chronograph fancy name for "watch" that lasted a fraction of the lifespan of the Ironman.
I have since stopped wearing a watch, which some find ironic for a time-trialist. Strangely, I've been more frequently on time or less tardy not wearing a watch than when I am. Post 8 of 18 views. In Reply To:. Post 9 of 18 views. Post 10 of 18 views. John M and triman40, you two have taken early leads for Best Posts of '09!
Post 11 of 18 views. It all has to do with where your Timex was made. Aside from the fact that Mactan's EPZ area is located right beside the Mactan International airport which could affect the integrity of the production process due to airwaves caused by s landing and taking off nearby , one has to take into account the history of Mactan.
In , Ferdinand Magellan in his attempt to circumnavigate the earth crossed the Pacific ocean and landed in Mactan planting a cross as he did so. The natives whom he tried to christianize did not take kindly to his attempts and killed him. But I digress Perhaps he set something in motion over years ago that to this day affects any electronic items built in Mactan. I suspect that whenever you push the threshold of indoor training workout you somehow go back in time by 2 and a half minutes effectively extending your minute by the same time.
I'd keep that watch as it may just prove that the world remains flat and that Magellan's failure to circumnavigate the earth would have been impossible even had he survived. Post 12 of 18 views.
Mine usually last about 3 years. Post 13 of 18 views. I hear that. If you check you'll probably discover that actually, the watch runs 1. That's why you end time always ends up being about right. Somebody should get on to Timex about this. Ed - that's a beautiful story about the teal Timex. I am trying to install the firmware updates to my Timex Ironman GPS on a mac and have downloaded from the timex link for the download and when I try and open it I get a message that there is no default application specified to open the document.
Any help on what I need to do to get the firmware update. So, depending on the day, it fixes the sats quite quickly but still, often, half an hr after the workout has begun. I also have major concerns about the accuracy both of hr and pace. When running with friend with garmin complete different values…. Finally also the charging clip or battery or something else went broke and it does not charge anymore.
So I am definitely pissed off and I am going to execute this rubbish toy with an heavy hammer. I purchased the TGT in mid after reading your review and have generally been very happy with it. Swimming: Given that GPS on mode is not particularly useful for swimming unless the watch is located in a swim cap , then is the best way to time a straight swim to simply turn GPS off and use it as a stop watch in performance mode? Multisport mode: In light of the above comment re swimming, does the same advice apply for a triathlon that incorporates a swim?
If so, then the watch only performs as a timer for all events unless one fiddles around post swim to re-activate the GPS after the swim leg, or alternatively, you place it in a swim cap and leave GPS on. Do you know if you can complete a triathlon wearing the watch on your wrist and with GPS on for the whole time? This seems strangely completely independent of prevailing conditions or line of sight to clear skies.
If this happens, I turn off, restart, and most times it comes good again pretty quickly. Strange though! However it seems to have some form of conflict whilst in use. Could this be due to the device receiving for example speed information from both the Ridesense sensor and GPS and thus having two sets of data for the one metric eg speed or distance?
Notwithstanding the flexible capacity users have re number of fields in display, they could do a much better job with the display under some of the firmware driven displays. For example when locking and unlocking the watch which I use often due to bike gloves, and when MTBing or running , reviewing summary data , or changing settings. Generally they could make much better use of the display area.
The indiglo backlight is also able to be setup with some flexibility. I find it useful to have the light go on each time I press a button, particularly in those winter activities! However once the watch is powered off, the settings revert to default. This necessitates one having to reset the setting each time the watch is powered on. It seems that this type of setting should be a user preference that is independent of the watch being powered down.
Like you say, it would pair immediately, but when riding there were constant dropouts. I just want the nutrition updates if possible. However, I notice it is coming up on 3 years old. Do you know of any replacement on the horizon? Or is the TRT supposed to fit this niche? I bought one of these last week and have used it on a 2 hour run and a long weekend of kayaking.
So far the watch is pretty cool and is holding its own to replace my phone xperia active with endomondo as my GPS device for runs. My only real complaint is that the GPS lock takes an age compared with my phone. My phone will latch onto satellites in about 10 seconds while the watch will take minutes and often asks if I would like to reset the GPS no!
My most major disappointment is the lack of any kind of linux support for this phone. I dwell in linux almost exclusively and this is a major negative especially compared with Garmin which has great GPS support through GPSbabel. Further, the pwx file format is very poorly supported by third party software.
I did find a site that will convert pwx to tcx here:. Those are my thoughts. Is it this one: link to timex.
Same watch, just that the Timex. I have the Garmen and enjoy it quite a bit. Means it needs to able to go in water doing dishes, jumping the lake, …etc.
This is the only point of the Garmin I do not like. How to they compare to each other. I run alone quite often around the same course. The Garmen allows me to run the same course against one of my previous saved runs. Letting me know if I am ahead of behind my previous times. It shows on the screen if I am ahead or behind my virtual runner. Excellent review! Have you tried calling that number though and seeing what options that they can arrange — despite being outside the US? I have had this for 3 years and it has done a great job being used almost every day.
I was hoping that they might just do a firmware update to make it do a few more things but that really does not appear to be the case. A friend of mine made the call to to order the USB cable 10 usd. It just a matter of time, around a week. I just purchased this watch a week ago. I took it on a long bike ride today and it keep shutting off during the ride. How do I get the watch to stop turning off? It sounds like something might be loose inside, which could be getting bumped on the road.
Hi, great reviews. I know that garmin and and fenix do as well as suunto x10 and ambit. Just wondered if I missed any before I take the plunge. I want to use it as an everyday watch, with all the training benefits of a garmin but occasionally use it with a map to pin point my location. Any other suggestions? I owned a Timex Global Trainer for two years. I used it for running every other day. I mount it on bike for a long ride during weekend. Its a real life experience with Timex.
I wonder if Garmin watches have a durable straps that could last forever. I was looking forward to replace it with Garmin because I can not used my Global Trainer anymore.
I returned mine, because of the disappointing GPS. I always ran together with my good old Garmin which is much more accurate. I am in the market to purchase a new triathlon watch and have been spending a lot of time reading your reviews of the Garmin XT and the TGT. I am very curious of your thoughts on a straight up comparison??? I have bucks to spend so money is not the big issue, I just want the best watch to get me through my first ironman.
Look how bad the TGT is: link to dcrainmaker. I already bought a tgt gps watch and am now getting into the training peaks website. I was wondering if it would be worth the money to upgrade to premimium.
If i do upgrade it would be for a year to save all that money, so i really dont want to upgrade for a year and then find out it isnt worth it. I was hoping you could give your two cents on my thought process. But I also am a very dedicated runner though, and currently run around 3 miles a day, do some lean muscel building, plyometrics, biking, swiming, and LOTS of other cardio throughout the week when im not at work, so i dont know if i should upgrade that way i can get more information and to train with, or if i dont really need that info.
One of the major things I would be looking foreward to if I upgrade would be the online coach, that way since cross country season hasnt started yet, i could incorporate a little more of a structured athletes type of training into my schedule, rather than repeating my daily 3 miles, which i know will eventually lead to a plataue… so is the trainer actually good quality or does it just state the obvious that i already know?
I also want to thank you for this in depth review, its the reason i bought the watch. I think the money could be better spent in a training plan even a free one online — that would result in bigger gains. From a free software standpoint, there are tons of options as well, including Sport Tracks for the 2-plugin trial mode, if you want more detail. Hello, I just recently updated the firmware in order to be able to use a footpod. Is there a way to display my run cadence at all?
Oops, forget that comment…I had two footpods in too close proximity and so my watch paired with the one that was still in the box…so it works and all balance is restored in the world…. The marketing makes it look much smaller than it is in real life. Have you or anyone else noticed that the TGT may be discharging if left connected to a computer on standby? Mine had a full charge last night when I closed the laptop. I pulled it off the USB cable this morning but it was almost dead when I went for a run later.
I leave the display off to conserve battery. I think I saw something like this once before. More importantly of course was that the unit was still in the on-mode, rather than the typical watch standby mode. For fun, plug your computer in for a few minutes, then kick it into standby and see if the watch goes from charging to off, or charging to staying in the on mode. I bought this and am trialling it at the moment.
More irritating for me is the overreporting of distance when stationary. Last night I reset the watch and placed it outside with a clear view of sky. Hit start. I came back this morning, 10 hours later, and it said 7. It is adding up every GPS fluctuation to the total, and slowly ticking over like a car odometer.
I am sure my garmin never did that. My phone gps doesnt. Also, no speed smoothing option. Only pace smoothing, which is irritating. The speed display fluctuates a lot more than the xt. For future reviews it would be great if you could comment on whether devices do speed smoothing. It beeps when you turn it on, beeps when you push start, beeps when autolap is triggered, beeps when low batteries, beeps when gps is weak.
When no silence option? The challenge with GPS is that accuracy fluctuates, thus resulting in slight movements of true location. But that really has no bearing of accuracy while moving i.
Are you sure all GPS tick over like that? Yup, absolutely sure. The degree to which each unit does it varies based on the unit and conditions, but they all do it. The accuracy over real distances and training routes seems much the same as my garmins, within 20meters or so of the true distance over a 10km course that I regularly do. I agree with the comments about font size though.
I use it when surf ski paddling and the drops of water that end up on the screen obscure the digits when in 4 panel display. Shame they give so little of the screen real estate to the numbers.
Ray, thanks for the feedback. Impressed that you still remember how the TGT works. We spoke once about custom flash settings for the TGT. I wish I had tome time to play with that because a few updates would improve the user interface.
Resetting the GPS or switching it off and then on makes no difference. The next time it finds within a few minutes, so no consistency. Hoping garmin has a reasonable level of reliability. Hey, Steven. Sorry to hear about your problems. It is pretty aggravating but the watch does have a lot of features for the price. Glad your having a better experience than me.
My habit is now to take the watch outside, turn it on, come back inside for 5 to 10 then hope the watch has found a satellite. It seems that if it struggles the first time, then almost no amount of resetting and switching off then on will make a difference.
Just wish I could turn it on, pick it up within a few minutes and get on the road! Get a garmin xt or xt. It just works. Very frustrating! Garmin it is! I have never had issues connecting to satellites. Once or twice I have had to turn it off and on again, but nothing big. Then you go on to show a table that has nothing to do with these competitors.
Any chance you can fix it or send me the table? The comparison charts are dynamic, and thus I switched them out to update over time to competitive products.
I realize that they have zone alerts however I am not much into all that clacking and beeping while I am running. Am I missing something? Im not sure if I found it here already but Is there a way I can join info from the xt and TGT in one say garmin connect? Eric, you could use Golden Cheetah to append one file into another, export the file, then upload it to Garmin Connect. I believe the only way to really upload a workout in the TGT is through the Settings, Navigation tab in the Device Agent by adding individual Waypoints.
This is definitely a legacy method. Not sure this is much help but check out the Waypoints entry in the Device Agent Settings, Navigation tab. Then save to the watch. The watch was a disappointment, or better the lack of service.
The HRM transmitter was broken after 2 months so I bought another transmitter. I also had it on my wrist during swiming, however the first time I used it during a triathlon the display had waterdrops on the inside and the watch was not working anymore. Feedback from Timex was when I send it for repair that the watch was not damaged. So I probably used the buttons during the system and it did not fall under warranty.
I am pretty sure I did not use any button on the watch during the swing however wearing wetsuit and being in a group of swimmers during a race it might be that somebody else be accident hit the watch.
Conclusion: I bought a triathlon watch which I cannot use in a triathlon, time to switch to another brand.! It was probably cheaper to buy a Garmin immediately. Rainmaker many thanks but….!!!! This happened when i updating it to 3. What can i do to reboot TGT? Are there anythings to do beside sending it for repair?
Have you heard anything about a new version of this watch? No, nothing new. While I was running halfway, the GPS signal was lost, and it was not able to acquire back the signal. Anyone is facing this issue? Is there any way to settle this problem? Considering both are available at the same price.
In my view, even though I am beginner, TGT is a great product considering the price, but I am little concerned as it seems to be a dated product. Very different devices. This watch is no longer available at the timex website, do you know if they are planning to introduce a new model? I tested my watch again.
I ran a half marathon, and the signal was lost at 12km marker. I realized that when I run in a place with a lot of tall buildings, trees or mountains, the signal will be lost and unable to acquire back. Any idea how to fix this? Sometimes fully resetting the watch helps in this case back to initial factory defaults.
You can backup your settings first though. I bought used few days ago. This ir my first GPS sports watch. I was worried about GPS signal and battery, but not so bad. In cold start GPS was fixed during min, but in hot it takes few seconds.
Dear Ray, Thanks for review, it is very helpful indeed. In fact I bought this watch after reading your website, it helped me to make up my mind. In the mean time, Aigars from Latvia, can you please contact me at slava. Not because i love it, but because the first three stopped working. You pressed the GPS button and nothing happened.
Timex sent me a replacement watch and it was a non working watch, believe it or not. So they rushed me a replacement to that one, and it worked for about four months. Pretty sad. Sending it for repair requires a VERY long wait.
Here we go again. Hi everyone, i just bought TGP, and i have a small problem. Any suggestion? I figured it out. Can this watch track calories burned for indoor workouts such as Dips, Push ups, power band workouts?
I guess the HRM should track all of that. Please do let me know. Well, as long as it shows me calories burnt and provides me with accurate heart rate beats I am happy.
Will it be the same when it comes down to weight training at the gym. I want this watch over the fitbit. All I need to track is indoor workouts like routine in door exercises and outdoor running activities. Will the Global Trainer do well in your eyes? It is a bit large though, so do keep that in mind. Daddy, so I am sure, this one is smaller than that! When was the last this watch received an official update?
Years ago. That is using it like a regular watch for time viewing? And how about a battery change? Does this watch have more than 1 battery. Alright and now the million dollar question, for all that I mentioned, would this be a better buy over the fitbit?
For tracking heart rate based activities, yes. Have never tried them before. I need to check heart rate and calories burned for the following — jogging, weight training, cardio — treadmill, cycling and hand exercises, and the regular workouts like resistant bands, push ups and pull ups. Just that I need to pay import duty, etc which inflates the cost, hence asking so many questions. Saying that, when the weather is rainy, cloudy and in the mountains, the TGT is almost equally accurate than the forerunner or On the mountain, is more accurate than the providing altitude data and distances.
A few days ago I got in touch with timex, requesting an update of samples per second by the user eg 1s, 2s to 5 seconds which would give a significant improvement to this great model but for the disadvantage of light loss of accuracy and would make a good watch on the mountain. Timex gave me a response saying that there are no proposals for new updates to be discontinued. With an update as well, some perhaps would trust Timex again. Even though its and I already have a bunch of great training devices, all purchased after reading your in depth reviews of course I decided for pure nostalgic reasons to purchase a Timex global trainer two weeks ago.
After fiddling with the device and finding out that Training peaks is a little off for my taste and since I mostly use Garmin Connect, I decided to write a little service that would allow me to convert the.
I would like to take this opportunity and share this tool with the community as I believe that it can help more of your readers who use timex devices. I need it for running, bike and GPS track recording? Does last upgrade improve a lot?
I went back the xt in the end. Thank you for respond and opinion based on your exepirence. I bought one of these for my wife for Christmas She has never had a desire to download the data from it to keep a running log. However, yesterday she asked if she could use it to navigate a course. I thought, probably. Do you have any hints? I did do a firmware update and perform one test download when I first got it. But I have not tried again since. And the computer that I tested it on has been replaced.
But it was a Mac also. I did contact them. And I cleaned the contacts. I was just wondering if anyone is currently using this device with a Mac successfully. Hopefully on Monday they will have additional troubleshooting steps. Hi great review thank you!!. I am a long distance swimmer. Also how reliable is the heart rate monitor in the water — and how do I read it if it is in my cap??
I want to see my heart rate while i swim. Does any watch do this?? Thanks so much, Fiona. Thanks for this review. I am after an alternative to Garmin. My last two have fogged up with condensation from sweat, messing up the electrics. Thanks to your pool test and the fact its designed for swimming it seems unlikely this will happen.
Thanks for the most indepth product review I have ever read! I am getting one. I ask for another cable to Timex and they sended another to me…but after a while starts all over again. Now i have to use a vise yes…i have to do it slightly to press the watch and the charger together. I purchased 3! Still love watch. Will not switch until the battery goes dead! What unit would you buy if you were in my position?
In advance thank you very much. Kindest regards, Miguel. Hi, I actually started with the run trainer 2. The new firmware allows a foot pod accessory. Check out Amazon or Ebay. People are jumping ship for new technology, but honestly this 4 year old watch still kicks butt, especially after all the firmware updates. So thank you very much and keep up the good work. I have however a question for you: One of the reasons i chose this watch was because, besides running i do a lot of open water swimming.
To get data using the watch on my wrist is ridiculous so i put the watch in a pouch on my back. For some reason after a 1. Running however gives me a pretty accurate measure. I then realised that the extra distance swimming is because the GPS counts distance even stopped so the slower i move the bigger the error. I noticed than when completely stopped in 10 sec i would have moved about m.
Is this normal or is it a deffect of the watch or it has to do with some configuration or software configuration? I thank you in advance for your help.
Best regards. Hello, thank you for your fast reply. I still have, however the following questions: — A while back I was tracking in the woods full day. Do you agree? Once more I thank you in advance for all your good and useful advice.
Best regards, Mark. I had the exact same problem with theTimex Global Trainer — significant overreporting of distance while stationary. See my comments above.
My conclusion was that the garmin has much nicer software that handles the unavoidable GPS fluctuations in a more sophisticated manner. Thanks Tom, Went to see your past comments and realized this subject had already been mentioned here. Timex Global Trainer: Recorded 7. Interesting stuff. The TGT is more innaccurate than the others when moving e.
So, what do you think?. My full recommendations post is here: link to dcrainmaker. Hi Alle i think the cheapest you could get is the Timex Global Trainer…but note that this watch has been discontinued i think.
I have just bought a TGT but am totally confused. Thanks for responding so quickly but it is working ok now, it is just the position of my home, I only had to go down the road a little and it all sprang in to life, now all I have to do is figure out the rest of it lol. I can not find here… Tks. Hey love the site and the reviews. Thanks for putting in the time. My main thing is the performance pacer.
I am going to run a tri. I want to set it up with certain times for each part so I can know where I am at during it. Can it do this in one shot or do you need to set up different screens. I really like your site. I am not looking at a new multi sport watch, may wait for the new Garmin or Suunto, thanks for your reviews, etc.
Very very helpful. I wish Timex was still in the multi sport business. Any way of contacting Timex and complaining, as the service folks , although extremely helpful and polite, can not sway company policy. Hello all…Hope somebody will have time and energy to help me out. It shows only the actual speed and the coordinates.
Do I need to change something or change product and which one? Thank you. No idea why, perhaps to avoid data spikes due to inaccurate GPS data. Just a quick question. My XT is off at Garmin for replacement. I paired it with my foot pod, and entered my calibration data from my XT, sort of 0. I only really want the foot pod for cadence. Thanks for the great service you do to the endurance athlete community. Even on these old devices. This review was excellent. I have used this website to help me decide which unit to buy and the Timex GT is pretty hard to pass by.
Thank you to rainmaker as I find these reviews very useful. Only gripe with this watch is the satellite reception as it takes forever.
I have used this website to help me decide which unit to buy. I consistently pick up a signal anywhere in about 1-min. Set it down until it picks up the signal. I do find that it takes several minutes to get a signal if it is on my wrist, so I stopped that a while ago. I just got a new desktop computer with Windows 8. I have also verified that I am downloading the bit driver as specified for my system.
Have you heard of any problems with this? Update: Next time I tried it, there was a positive connection with Device Agent DA and I was able to download workouts, change settings, the whole bit. It went well for a few weeks then one day it failed a connection again with DA.
I decided to not fret and just try again another time. As an aside, Timex stopped replying to my online pleas for help as I repeatedly asked about any issues they may be experiencing with the Windows 8. The last correspondence I had from them was to send in the TGT for repair. My response was that I would not because the TGT was still functioning perfectly well and uploading to DA on the Windows 7 computer at my work. Got good results when I called Garmin cust svc.
Said it sounded like I was missing a windows update on my home PC. Bottom line lesson learned from this is to first run a Windows update.
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