I’m in the market for a new Multi-sport watch and they all seem to cost a small fortune now and integrate all sorts of crap that I just don’t want all those bells and whistles.
I DON’T want it to:
Play Music
Take calls
Receive Texts
Estimate my Vo2 Max
Tell me if I am training hard enough
Etc. etc.
I simply want something that can record my data and tell me pace, power, distance etc. and not cost $500+
Does this even still exist in a quality form?
Wahoo ELEMNT rival. $380. Might not be quite as stripped down as you are looking for, but has less “features†than the a lot of the Forerunner watches
Polar Vantage M or Coros Pace 2. Sure they have some of the unnecessary features but as soon as you disable phone notifications on them, they’re basically just dedicated tri watches. Even the Garmin 920xt has text and phone notifications, I don’t think that’s something you’ll be able to get away from at this point.
Garmin Instinct - it will do a lot of the stuff you don’t want - but you don’t have to use that.
Records all the metrics you do want - and is about $200 new.
Scratch that - doesn’t support power meters apparently.
+1 to Coros Pace 2
If you also own a Stryd, it’s a perfect match
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Get a Coros. Any other option is more expensive and does the same stuff unless you want to go Full Garmin.
Timex Ironman. I don’t think they have changed since the 1980s. Still get them for like $40.
Those really cheap ones don’t do pace and distance, as OP would like.
But Timex does make a very cheap GPS version for $100. They even advertise it as “Your Simplest GPS Watch Ever”
Think we want the same thing.
I got a Polar Vantage M.
I paid £196 in the UK not long after release (bit under 2 years ago) .
As others say there’s a few functions you didn’t want. But not all the bigger waste of $$ stuff like music and pay.
Battery stated as 30 hrs in gps+glosnass.
Longest race I’ve done was about 14 - 14.5hrs and had over half the Battery remaining.
I’d happily have another.
And Polar Flow is waaay better than Connect in my experience.
Hmmm, and I want the exact opposite. I want a watch that has super advanced Artificial Intelligence that utiizes my physiological information, past and current training data, personal triathlon goals, daily diet, and uses all of of these multi-faceted deep-dive analytics to provide detailed daily training plans and talks to me constantly throughout the day. I’d name him “Hal” and give him the voice from the computer in Space Odyssey 2001.
Here’s a few example of Hal in action. And my name is Bobby for the heck of it I’ll program my name into the watch as Dave.
Running with Hal.
Cycling with Hal
Swimming with Hal
Ironman Race Day with Hal
At home relaxing with Hal
“Dave, gluttony is derived from the latin word glutirre and in many human religions considered a sin. Also, eleven oven-baked pillsbury chocolate chip cookies in a row is not going to contribute to a good experience on race day, Dave.”
“Dave, after analyzing your finances between Swim/ Bike/ Run equipment and clothing, bike maintenance, app and software training subscriptions, Triathlon-related nutrition, recovery devices, Ironman race fees, travel, lodging and sixteen other miscellaneous costs directlty related to Triathlon you are severely in debt and should get credit counseling and perhaps consider bankruptcy, Dave.”
What about a used Fenix 5? You can get them around $200. Ignore or turn off the stuff you don’t want.
I got a Garmin Forerunner 15 as a gift. The small face version to boot.
Other than not looking like I wear a tablet on my wrist, it does record everything I need (time, distance, pace, HR) and I don’t waste time with trying to go through countless menus to ‘boot it up’ or by overanalyzing my workouts.
I reach for it way more often than for my higher end Garmin devices and watches…
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The old Garmin Vivoactive (first gen) works well (no wrist HRM, but you can read from any external ANT+ strap/puck). The only thing it’s missing is power. Seems like Garmin does that to force more serious athletes to their premium offerings. The GPS works well, and so does the swimming functionality.
You can get a used one on eBay for ~$50.
Awesome! I’m the same way.
Yeah I just don’t want a watch with features I won’t use like you describe or one that tells me info I already know like you describe.
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Yeah I just don’t want a watch with features I won’t use like you describe or one that tells me info I already know like you describe.
I was 100% being sarcastic and just trying to inject some humor into the thread 
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Polar Vantage M. Great quality, design and functionality. Easy to read while training. Nice and durable.
If you don’t mind the huge form factor, get a refurb Garmin 310xt. I have one that’s been going for years.
https://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Forerunner-310XT-Waterproof-Running/dp/B0025VKW5K