smart watch/band for OW swimming tracking...

[stepfen]

Hello everybody,

During summer I quite often swim in the sea and I would like to know my elapsed time (usually/occasionally wife and kids are waiting back on the beach or home for me) and since technology has advanced, why not being able to track the distance I cover, my pace etc. I'd guess that would need GPS tracking, isn't it so? Some watches I have seen count laps in swimming pools which is useless to me.

To sum up, basically I need:
- water/swim proof. No diving below say 10m (just in case)
- basically show current time (a timer would be a bonus)
- if possible provide distance covered but for open sea (hence not by counting pool laps)
- as I occasionally do some cycling too, being able to track this too would be a bonus (but not necessary)
- I don't plan to wear it 24/7 - just something I wear when I plan to swim or cycle, but still I'd prefer something discrete
- I am looking for something on the cheap side (below 50$ or less if possible).

Any suggestions???

Thanks a lot in advance

 

[saxman242]

I was going to say garmin fenix until I got to the below $50 line

 

[Marie13]

You can get Casio digital watches that are waterproof and keep track of time, stopwatch function, etc. I’ve seen them for maybe $30. GPS? No way you’re going to get GPS on a watch under $50.

 

[Paul M]

$50 is going to be a challenge.

I have a Garmin Forerunner 235 w GPS. It's a nice running watch. It's very light weight and the battery can go more than a week depending on enabled functions.
You could use the 'other' activity setting for tracking pace and distance on a swim.
Its depth rating is 5ATM and I have worn mine diving 70'.

That said, their are many waterproof smart watches with Swimming functions but nothing good for $50.

The Forerunner 235 has been around a few years so they are not too hard to find used for ~$100. Ebay or Local classifieds?

 

[Umuntu]

You're in Greece ... Have you tried Decathlon ? These are probably as inexpensive as you will find.

RUNNING GPS WATCH KIPRUN 500 BLACK/AQUA - Decathlon

RUNNING WRIST HEARTRATE MONITOR WATCH KIPRUN GPS 550 WHITE

 

[barth]

If you want to log god and want a cheap solution you can install a app at your smartphone and put it into a swimming bouy

$50 is going to be a challenge.

I have a Garmin Forerunner 235 w GPS. It's a nice running watch. It's very light weight and the battery can go more than a week depending on enabled functions.
You could use the 'other' activity setting for tracking pace and distance on a swim.
Its depth rating is 5ATM and I have worn mine diving 70'.

That said, their are many waterproof smart watches with Swimming functions but nothing good for $50.

The Forerunner 235 has been around a few years so they are not too hard to find used for ~$100. Ebay or Local classifieds?

The forerunner 235 is a running watch. If you want to swim it’s not a good choice. There is no swim activity in the software. There is a good reason for that. When you are swimming the watch is on your wrist. Most of the time the watch is underwater. It’s not possible to use gps when swimming with the forerunner on your wrist. The gps is not powerful enough to connect with satellites during swimming,

I thought when you select other in the software there is only a measurement of the time and heart rate.

You can install a swim app and use the forerunner 235 for swimming. But you should mount it to a mask strap. But then you can’t read the watch and there is no heart rate logged.

The forerunner is a nice watch but if you want to swim you should chose a fenix or something like that.

 

[lowwall]

For $50? Use the Google Fit app and put your phone in a waterproof swim bag/buoy like ISHOF SaferSwimmer Personal Swimming Float Large With Dry Storage Pouch Orange .

 

[Paul M]

If you want to log god and want a cheap solution you can install a app at your smartphone and put it into a swimming bouy



The forerunner 235 is a running watch. If you want to swim it’s not a good choice. There is no swim activity in the software. There is a good reason for that. When you are swimming the watch is on your wrist. Most of the time the watch is underwater. It’s not possible to use gps when swimming with the forerunner on your wrist. The gps is not powerful enough to connect with satellites during swimming,

I thought when you select other in the software there is only a measurement of the time and heart rate.

You can install a swim app and use the forerunner 235 for swimming. But you should mount it to a mask strap. But then you can’t read the watch and there is no heart rate logged.

The forerunner is a nice watch but if you want to swim you should chose a fenix or something like that.

As I mentioned, when set to 'Other Activity' it works fine. I can assure you.
How do other GPS swimming watches work if your wrist is going under water?
Swimming with the Garmin Forerunner 235 - Run Reporter

 

[stepfen]

Thanks everybody.
I was hoping that some of these 20-30 euros bands I see everywhere would do. Apparently they don't.

When you are swimming the watch is on your wrist. Most of the time the watch is underwater. It’s not possible to use gps when swimming with the forerunner on your wrist.

That's a good point I haven't thought of. The watch would stay above water for maybe less than a second per time. Is that enough time for it to track GPS??? Hence are there ANY watches able to track GPS while swimming???

You're in Greece ... Have you tried Decathlon ? These are probably as inexpensive as you will find.

RUNNING GPS WATCH KIPRUN 500 BLACK/AQUA - Decathlon

RUNNING WRIST HEARTRATE MONITOR WATCH KIPRUN GPS 550 WHITE

These look promising but for higher budget I would have to wait for the covid thing to settle down. Most of our income depends on tourism which is gone for now...

Worst case, wife and kids will have to wait a bit longer for me when I get carried away...

 

[barth]

As I mentioned, when set to 'Other Activity' it works fine. I can assure you.

I tried it in 2017 and didn’t work. Maybe there is something changed in an update.

"Other" Activity Profile with GPS off not recording distance - Forerunner 230/235 - Running/Multisport - Garmin Forums

How do other GPS swimming watches work if your wrist is going under water?
Swimming with the Garmin Forerunner 235 - Run Reporter

Different/better gps not all watches are using the same parts.

At some depth your gps doesn’t work anymore otherwise I would use it during diving...

I’m not even sure if fenix gps works underwater or it connect much faster when it’s (near) the surface during swimming.