Best Watches and Activity Trackers for Runners

The Garmin ForeRunner 235 is the less beefed up runner’s watch from Garmin. Unlike the 630 it is not a touchscreen device. You have 5 buttons as controls. The 235 will measure your heart rate on your wrist. It does this by way of an elevated heart rate sensor. This technology is proprietary to Garmin. The sensor will give you accurate results for running, walking and cycling. However, it is not overly reliable for weight training or Crossfit type exercises. You do have the option, though, of pairing the 235 with any ANT Plus chest strap heart rate monitor.

The optical heart rate sensor runs all day long, so you are able to get constant heart rate monitoring with this device. The Garmin ForeRunner 235 is water-resistant to 50 meters. That means that you don’t have to take it off when you jump into the water. The watch, though, does not track any of your swimming activities, which means that it cannot be used to collect your triathlon data.

This watch is so lightweight that you will hardly even know that it is on your wrist. The screen is much larger than the former 220 and now features a high-resolution display. It is clear, crisp and multicolor. It also comes with a backlight so you can view it at night.

Syncing to your Smartphone is by way of Bluetooth 4.0 or via a USB to PC or Mac web app. Even though Garmin claims that you’ll get a full 7 days battery life from the 235, the heart rate sensor tends to soak up a lot of juice. You are more likely to find yourself recharging after 3-4 days.

​As an activity and sleep tracker, ForeRunner 235 will monitor your steps taken, calories, distance traveled, heart rate and sleep activity. It has a cool auto-goal feature to custom your goals to your current activity level, features move alerts and a move bar and have daily alarms.

​As a sports watch, the 235 will track all of your running workouts. It will map your route, provide details on your pace, speed and distance, and your running cadence. You will also get a VO2 max estimate as well as your distance and pace when running indoors.

In addition to GPS, the 235 has GLONASS. There is no Ultra Track feature, however, on the 235. This watch has built-in dedicated features for cycling, which you can pair with a speed and cadence sensor.

The Microsoft Band 2 has made some major design improvements over the original Band. It now has a full color, touch screen curved display that is very clear to view and easy to use. The new band is also far more flexible. The watch now has a round silhouette, making it far more comfortable to wear on the wrist. The upgraded display is fitted with Gorilla Glass 3, meaning that you no longer require a screen protector.

The Microsoft Band 2 has an amazing 11 different sensors built into it. It has an optical heart rate sensor, an accelerometer, a gyrometer, a GPS, ambient light, skin temperature, a capacitive, galvanic skin, UV sensor, microphone and barometer sensors. It also has a vibration motor for alarms.

Microsoft has impressive software both on the device and on the mobile app. Microsoft Band 2 is one of the few devices on the market that works on all 3 major platforms. The on-device software is easy to use and it is customizable.

The Surge is Fitbit’s highest-end device. It is water resistant up to 50 meters. It tracks your all-day activity, your sleep, your sleep quality, your REM sleep, your continuous heart rate, and your resting heart rate. It will also provide your GPS location and control your music playback. Fitbit market the Surge as their superwatch.

The Surge has an ambient sensor on the front which will tell if it is dark or light out, and will automatically turn on or off the backlight. It will also relay your phone call and text message notifications. The device fits comfortable on the wrist and has a secure, rugged clasp. Its band is made of soft touch rubber. The display is small and is navigated by two buttons on the right side of the device. You also swipe through the touchscreen to get to the page you want.

On the underside of the Surge, you have the heart rate sensor and the proprietary charging port. The heart rate monitor is always on, meaning that your heart rate is constantly being monitored. This is great when you’re exercising, as you’ll probably want to know what your heart rate is consistent. However, it does tend to churn through battery power.

The Surge is one of the best devices to feature all day fitness tracking. The battery on the Surge will last for about 5 days. Some people may find that the Surge is a little too big and bulky. It also lacks some of the high-end features that serious runners may be looking for, such as interval training. The accuracy of the heart rate monitor tends to fluctuate during workouts. The Fitbit Surge is not waterproof.​

The Polar M400 is a merging of a GPS Watch and an activity tracker. This device pairs with a Bluetooth AMP chest heart rate monitor to provide you with a full and accurate heart rate monitoring. In GPS mode, you will get around 8 hours of battery life. If you’re not sucking up the juice through GPS, however, it will run to a very impressive 24 days.

The Polar M400 works with the Polar Flow app. This app has undergone constant upgrades recently and it now is a very impressive application. You can sync the device via either Bluetooth 4.0 or USB. You can charge the M400 with any USB, meaning that you don’t have to worry about losing the one that comes with the device.

The M400 has move reminders and an alarm function. It does not, however, have silent alarms. The M400 will show the percentage of your daily goal achieved, along with the time and date on the home screen. Throughout the day it will track your steps, distance, calories, and sleep. During activities, it will monitor your distance, workout duration, route, average / maximum pace, calories, speed, training benefit (what your workout actually accomplished), heart rate and heart rate zones, average and maximum heart rate, altitude and provide you with laps data. The app gives you a lot of control of this data, allowing you to view a huge array of statistics derived from it.

The on-device software on the M400 is straight forward, and easy to use. You can click through and engage with a number of different sports profiles. Another great feature about this and all Polar devices is that your daily goal is not based solely on steps taken. It will give you a goal based on an aggregate barometer of your activity. This allows it to take into account your other training, such as your weights workout or Crossfit WOD.

The screen of the M400 is easily viewable in sunlight. One glaring omission on the M400 is that it does not contain a standard stopwatch. It also does not provide very detailed sleep analysis. Despite these negatives, the M400 is a very good device for serious running athletes, coaches, trainers, and serious fitness enthusiasts. If you want to wear a fitness watch all day that looks like a fitness watch, and want as much analytical data about your workout that you can possibly get, then the Polar M400 is the device for you.​

The YAMAY is a pedometer watch so it is very effective for runners to help you track your steps. It has 14 activity tracking modes like walking, cycling, running, and other sports.

This watch will monitor your heart rate during the day and night and can check your blood pressure with the press of a button. Yamay wants to help you have an accurate picture of your physical state.

This watch is fantastic if you love water sports because it is waterproof so you can wear it in the pool, although it will not track your swim data. It will also track your sleep quality. The silent alarm will wake you up without disturbing anyone else in the room.

It is compatible with iPhone or Android phone so you can keep track of your calls, messages, and calendar.

This fitness tracker has a large color screen. It uses a 1.3-inch full-color screen with high contrast and definition to bring you a pleasant experience. The band is skin friendly with comfortable material. It records your activities all day like how many steps you take and how many calories you burn and so much more. It will also keep an eye on your sleep quality.

This watch tracks your heart rate in real time and your blood pressure automatically. Then you get a complete report on the app. It also helps to track your sleep quality and analyze the data to see how you can improve your habits.

This watch has other features as well including sport modes, calories counters, call alerts, camera control, an alarm, and a sedentary alert. If you connect the GPS to your cellphone and you can see your run stats and a map of your route.

The BingoFit Fitness Tracker is a perfect way to track your activity. Make sure your GPS is on if your watch is not connected to your phone. You should turn it on and connect it to the Kingfit app.

This watch functions as a heart rate and blood pressure monitor as well as how many steps you take, calories you burn. It also keeps track of your notifications, tracks your sleep quality, runs your camera remotely and reminds you to get up and move around. It includes an alarm clock and stopwatch as well.

The heart rate monitor works in real time and keeps a 24-hour record automatically. You will get an all-day heart rate curve graph on the app. The sleep monitor analyzes your data such as how long you sleep and how deep.

This watch keeps track of your incoming calls and messages from your phone and a variety of internet sites. You can see the message quickly and decide if it is important enough to answer. The watch cannot answer the call but it can hang it up with you do not want to answer.

Timex is a brand that speaks for itself and this watch is no exception. It features an iconic design and performance. It also has a stopwatch with a memory that will work for 30 laps.

This watch has a countdown timer and an alarm included. The strap is resin with durable buckle closure. It also has a light-up dial which is Indiglo and a top pusher you can use for easy operation.

The Garmin is a premium multisport smartwatch that has color maps you can use for finding and following the best paths. It will store about 500 songs which you can play from your watch or connect to Bluetooth headphones.

This watch has navigation sensors with a compass, gyroscope and an altimeter as well as satellite systems. It will help you not get lost even when GPS is not working well.

The Lintelek gives you a slimmer design with a lighter body and a nice HD screen. It tracks your stats in real time keeping track of your heart rate, your fitness activity, and how many calories you burned. It also keeps track of data while you are sleeping. It has VeryFitPro app support and is also easy to read.

This watch has a built-in plug for charging. You take the face off the band and plug it into a USB port. When it is charging in the right direction, the red light will be on. If it does not come on immediately please flip the piece over.

The Lintelek links up with your smartphone so you will not miss any calls or messages. It will even let you hang up on the ones you do not want to answer. The messages you can read and then decide if you want to grab your phone and respond.