Smartwatch

[Plonkertonk]

Hi all

I have searched & can't find much so thought I'd bite the bullet & do my 1st post!
I'm looking for a smartwatch that has excellent battery life & tracks horseriding as a standard feature, that has all the features you would expect with a modern one.
I have, and am, android all the way through, so the apple watch is out for starters.
Tempted by one of the Garmin Solar ones, but big £, I also farm so will be throughly abused.
I am also small of wrist, so one with a huge face likely won't be comfy.
What would you recommend or avoid?
Big thanks in advance

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I don't want smart as a watch but more a pedometer and been looking at these https://ksmartwatch.co.uk/

 

[Skib]

Our Samsung Android phones act as a pedometer. The app is Samsung Health. OH always knows exactly how many steps he has done each day.
However, he keeps his phone in his pocket. Mine lives in my handbag so it only counts steps when I am out of the house.

 

[Nasicus]

I have a Samsung Galaxy Smartwatch, the 4 I think? It's pretty good, Horse Riding is an option to select when it comes to workouts. Battery Life is okay, could be better but I suspect that'll have been improved in the newer versions of the watch, I definitely have to charge it daily.
Also pretty handy for answering calls when riding, the number of times the hospital have rang me when I've been riding, pretty sure the nurse thinks I live on the horse

Face wise, I have little wrists too, so I tend to wear it a little higher up to get it off my wrist bone, but the face isn't too huge. I also bought a clip on screen protector and a fabric wristband for it, because I can't stand the feel of sweaty silicone wristbands lol

 

[abbijay]

I am on my 3rd garmin watch and love them, currently have the venu 2s and upgraded the strap to something smarter.

The only thing is there is no standard horse riding activity to record against. My old watches (forerunner 235 and vivosmart hr+) had "other" that i used solely for horse riding activities but now use walking/running to record my rides.

 

[poacher82]

I have a Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar - love it! It has a riding setting. One charge lasts 14 days - it reduces a bit with more activity recording, but even riding and running every day, it lasts a good ten days. The ability to upload a GPX file (I create on Ordnance Survey, or download running race routes from organiser's emails) and follow it on screen is very useful! My only one minor niggle is that even when I'm recording a ride, it counts the horse's steps into my daily step count - I keep meaning to email Garmin to suggest they change that - but it's a very tiny niggle! Take a look on SportsPursuit - they often have massive deals on Garmin.

 

[leflynn]

Apple Watch has an 'equestrian sports' tracking type, you could always use the equilab app and track rides that way - gives more info than the watch!

 

[lynz88]

I just got the Garmin Epix Pro Gen 2 (had a discount and bday is not too far way lol!). It was a MAJOR toss up between the Epix and the Fenix 7 Pro Solar. I ended up with the Epix as I was coming from another AMOLED Garmin device (though the MIP screen looks good, it does look quite dated against the AMOLED) and the maps on it is far more detailed than the Fenix which is particularly useful when out hiking. I have never had any issues reading the AMOLED of my Venu 2S in the sun and didn't have any issues with the Epix Pro yesterday in the sun when I was setting it up, even on the lowest brightness. It just arrived yesterday and spent ages setting it up with all the cool metrics and features. I would say, if you don't want to spend a fortune, I would go for a Venu or similar device and just use the "cardio" for riding. It works just fine that way and I did that for quite some time (until yesterday, now). I quite liked my Venu 2S and I really like Garmin overall (would not touch an Apple watch with a barge pole...or anything Apple for that matter). I think the Venu 2S is 40mm so is perfect for smaller wrists and the functionalities are all there without spending a fortune. Not sure what the 3 costs but might be worth a look!

Edited to add: I literally spent about 3 weeks flip flopping between the Fenix 7 Pro and Epix Gen 2 Pro. I really wanted the solar and liked the idea of having an "always on" watch face on the Fenix without draining battery but the battery life between the Epix and Fenix are not too different (if not using the always on display on the Epix). I also like that the Epix looks like a slightly more "classy" watch so doubles nicely to wear out whereas the Fenix is definitely more rugged. The 42mm looks quite large on my wrist already (but not overly large) so wouldn't even dream of going larger for the bigger battery in the Epix. I was just saying on another forum that it feels like I'm wearing a sleek but rugged 4x4 on my wrist now!

 

[Steerpike]

I have a Garmin forerunner 55, on the cheaper end of the Garmin scale but does way more than I want it to, I use it to track my endurance rides but also my day to day watch, very handy app to go with it to download all your info into as well. Also easy to use and I understand as I am not tech savvy! Edited to add I use the cycling feature on mine for horse riding

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Our Samsung Android phones act as a pedometer. The app is Samsung Health. OH always knows exactly how many steps he has done each day.
However, he keeps his phone in his pocket. Mine lives in my handbag so it only counts steps when I am out of the house.

I use pacer app but when it is really hot the phone is too heavy for my shorts pocket, and also i get pestered by text from people for calls and just want to get on with my work in piece.

Also the last thing I want on a watch is to call people or answer the phone when concentrating on riding.

Fraid I am old school, I am not velcro'd to my phone, I don't personaly like mobile phones, handy for safety reasons. If they stopped mobiles I would not be too bothered. So many liveries here are glue to their phones, people don't talk anymore. Can't stand tic tock cr4p and Instagram so really a watch that can do the same for me is a waste of money.

 

[FitzyFitz]

I have a garmin vivoactive 4s, nice small round face (I have REALLY tiny wrists and struggled to find anything) and it has gps tracking, altimeter and accident alerts (when tracking). Older model now so inexpensive. No specific horse riding setting though, so garmin must think theres a particularly mental ultra-runner living around here!

 

[Kunoichi73]

I have the standard (non-solar) Fenix 6s and it has a horse riding option. I have small wrists and wouldn't want to go up to the larger models.

 

[Cavalous Christmas]

Hi all

I have searched & can't find much so thought I'd bite the bullet & do my 1st post!
I'm looking for a smartwatch that has excellent battery life & tracks horseriding as a standard feature, that has all the features you would expect with a modern one.
I have, and am, android all the way through, so the apple watch is out for starters.
Tempted by one of the Garmin Solar ones, but big £, I also farm so will be throughly abused.
I am also small of wrist, so one with a huge face likely won't be comfy.
What would you recommend or avoid?
Big thanks in advance

I have an Amazfit watch. This has what it calls Equestrianism. They are not too large or too pricey compared to many others