Fitness tracker with GPS and full time heart rate monitor

[Brian Stirling]

I'm looking into getting a fitness tracker that has more features that the Samsung Gear Fit. Specifically I want GPS and full time heart rate monitoring. The Fitbit Surge looks interesting and appears to have a pretty decent heart rate monitor but the battery life while using GPS is pretty bad. When I go hiking it is often for many hours and the 5 hours of so the Surge has just isn't acceptable.

The best heart rate monitors use the chest strap, but that's not always desirable and is a bit of a pain at night.

So, what are the best options out there now and is there something we expect shortly that would be better?


Brian

 

[Capt Caveman]

I plan to get one of these when it becomes available - Garmin Forerunner 235

 

[Brian Stirling]

I plan to get one of these when it becomes available - Garmin Forerunner 235

Looks interesting but the battery life specs don't detail battery life with GPS. It would also be interesting to see how well the HR unit works doing dynamic activity like running.


Brian

 

[Capt Caveman]

Looks interesting but the battery life specs don't detail battery life with GPS. It would also be interesting to see how well the HR unit works doing dynamic activity like running.


Brian

Should be 11 hrs

Battery life 11 hours training, 9 days watch + activity tracking + notifications + heart rate

 

[z1ggy]

I can't speak for GPS use, but my Fitbit Surge gets about 4-5 days on a charge with normal use.

So I'd imagine you could get 5 hours out of it while using GPS.

The new MS Band2 is out, but I know battery life will not be as good as Fitbit Surge.

 

[vi edit]

I've got the original Band and really enjoy it.

My daily routine is this:
Wake up at 4:15, disable sleep tracker on band, go for 5-8 mile with GPS on.
Come back and hook the band up to charger. Shower, get ready for work.
Put band on.
Go to work.
Come home. Put band on charger while I make dinner.
Put band on before bed and enable sleep tracking.

I don't need to track steps in the evening. I don't need it to be waterproof and wear it in the shower. It's a great distance tracker for running and works awesome at work for notifications during the day from my phone. It's sleep tracking is also great.

I ran for over an hour yesterday with GPS enabled and that was after wearing it to bed all night and it was only at 50% at dinner time. That's also with having the watch face turned on the whole time so it is backlit all day.

It's got great battery life and the data mining it provides is very useful. Band 2 should only improve on that.

 

[Brian Stirling]

I was tempted by the MS band when it first came out but needing to constantly put on the charger is not going to work for me. The biggest problem I have is that when I do day hikes it's likely I'll be out for 8-16 hours though there are lots of shorter hikes of only an hour or two as well. So, even 11 hours is kind of meh for GPS use.

Back when the first commercial GPS receivers came out, units like the Garmin GPS 50 which I still have, used 4 AA batteries and you were lucky to get 12-15 hours out of them. My current hiking GPS unit, a Garmin 60CSx, uses two AA batteries and lasts about 20 hours, but it's about 10 years old and newer chipsets are much more efficient. Still, the processing load for GPS is pretty heavy so getting 12+ hours is going to drive a fairly large battery.


Brian

 

[jamzmaxwell]

what's it's price?

 

[calahan]

what's it's price?

better don't ask

 

[Brian Stirling]

Well I opted for the Garmin Fenix 3 with HRM. Pretty pricey but the battery should last a long full day of hiking with GPS on.

I've done several longish walks of 5-8.5 miles with it and it seems to work pretty well. Still learning the system and have played with some of the third party apps and watch faces but haven't found any that I really like.

At this point I'm still not 100% after my cycle accident in June so I've not done any running, just fastish walking. Yesterday I did 6.5 miles and average just under 16min/mile. The return leg of 3.28 miles I averaged under 15.6 minutes/mile.


Brian

 

[Techie14]

There are plenty of trackers on the market but I also like the Garmin Fenix 3 pretty much and would also recommend it!

 

[cbrunny]

Well I opted for the Garmin Fenix 3 with HRM. Pretty pricey but the battery should last a long full day of hiking with GPS on.

I've done several longish walks of 5-8.5 miles with it and it seems to work pretty well. Still learning the system and have played with some of the third party apps and watch faces but haven't found any that I really like.

At this point I'm still not 100% after my cycle accident in June so I've not done any running, just fastish walking. Yesterday I did 6.5 miles and average just under 16min/mile. The return leg of 3.28 miles I averaged under 15.6 minutes/mile.


Brian

I just ordered a Fenix 3 HR yesterday. Eagerly anticipating it's arrival. Still liking the unit?