What are the best value-for-money sports watches?

We analyze which are the best sports watches in terms of value for money on the market. If you are an athlete, you can’t miss this article.

✎ Autor:  Pablo Sánchez

Choosing the best sports watches based on quality – price is not an easy task at all. In fact, if you have already started looking for one of these devices for your wrist, you will have realized the wide variety of brands and models that exist. We would need more hours in the day to see each of them as consumers!

For this reason, at Mundo Entrenamiento, we wanted to make a comparison of sports watches focusing on the best quality – price option of four brands: Garmin, Polar, Suunto, and Coros.

Specifically, we have selected 4 sports watches with similar prices so you can compare the specifications of each one and see which one best suits your needs. Keep reading so you don’t miss anything!

1. Garmin Forerunner 245

This model from the Garmin brand, like many others in its collection, is characterized by having a series of advanced functions that allow sports enthusiasts to achieve maximum performance.

Without a doubt, it could not be missing among the best sports watches quality – price. We tell you below some of its most outstanding features!

ℹ As a good Garmin model, the Forerunner 245 has a very precise GPS and incorporates the collection of metrics to analyze the athlete’s performance. In this sense, it is capable of evaluating physical condition and recommending the ideal moments for recovery and rest.

In addition, it has a long-lasting battery, up to 24 hours in GPS mode, and a series of integrated safety functions. Specifically, we are talking about incident detection that can share your location in real-time in case of an accident.

Of course, it is one of the best sports watches and has a optical sensor that measures the heart rate to include it in activity and exercise reports. There is no better way to see how your body reacts to any sport performed!

Garmin 010-02120-10, Reloj Deportivo GPS Unisex
  • Garmin Coach ofrece orientación de expertos entrenadores y planes de entrenamiento que se adaptan a ti y a tus objetivos; las sesiones de entrenamiento se sincronizan con el reloj
  • Aplicaciones deportivas integradas; cambia de sesión de entrenamiento con los perfiles para ciclismo, natación en piscina, carrera en pista, elíptica, escalada y muchos más
  • El estado de entrenamiento evalúa tu historial reciente para ver si tu entreno es productivo, si has llegado a tu pico de forma o si estás realizando un sobreesfuerzo; incluye VO2 max. y pulsioxímetro

2. Polar Vantage M2

With four different designs to choose from, the Polar Vantage M2 watch is made of glass fiber reinforced polymer and weighs less than 30 grams. It provides the lightness sought in this type of device!

It is another of the best sports watches based on quality – price thanks to its technical specifications and additional functions.

In this sense, it is worth highlighting its screen, made of a PMMA laminate lens, which offers greater resistance over time and to external agents. Its resolution is 240 x 240, positioning itself as one of the best on the market.

This Polar is one of the best sports watches on the market and has an integrated GPS that is responsible for recording the routes taken during training, and provides daily reports of steps, calories burned, and distance traveled.

However, we have to highlight its Training Load Pro function, which offers a comprehensive view of training and how it affects performance and alters your body, especially the cardiovascular system.

In this last aspect, we have to mention that it has a Precision Prime heart rate sensor, ensuring the most accurate records. It also has the possibility of adding music to listen to while you train, as well as call, email, or mobile notifications.

ℹ The Polar Vantage M2 sports watch supports more than 130 sports modes, such as cycling, running, or swimming, expanding its use to more types of consumers.

Regarding its autonomy, this model has a 230 mAh lithium polymer battery, which provides up to 5 days of autonomy in watch mode and up to 30 hours in training mode. It also has a battery-saving option. Very useful when you are not using it!

Polar Vantage M2 - Smartwatch multisport avanzado
  • Ligero multisport smartwatch (de solo 52g) equipado con registro avanzado de la FC en la muñeca, GPS, batería de larga duración, asistente de alimentación inteligente FuelWise, indicaciones de ruta, registro del sueño
  • Las herramientas que miden la carga de entrenamiento y la recuperación te ayudan a optimizar tu entrenamiento y evitan que te excedas; pon a prueba tu rendimiento y personaliza tus zonas de FC, velocidad y potencia con los performance test

3. Suunto 9

The third watch that could not be missing in this comparison of sports watches quality – price is the Suunto 9.

It is one of the best sports watches and the Finnish brand has entered the sports watch market in a big way, offering very durable and functional devices.

In this case, it is a watch with nearly 80 pre-defined sports modes, where you can set a series of goals such as pace, time, or distance. In addition, it stands out for the highest quality of its materials and, therefore, its robustness and durability.

Regarding its autonomy, it has a long-lasting battery that allows for long training sessions without worries.

This is one of the best sports watches because it has a good navigation system, which is key to creating and following routes, as well as a highly accurate compass.

These functions along with its altimeter and water resistance of up to 100 meters make it an even more complete sports watch.

Suunto 9 Reloj deportivo GPS
  • Pantalla a color con 3 botones, Medición de frecuencia cardiaca desde la muñeca, Vista de pasos y calorías, Monitorización del sueño, Guía de intervalos, Reconocimiento de vueltas basado en ubicación y entrenamiento de montaña
  • Seguimiento GPS y planificación de rutas con información sobre ubicación actual con mapas de calor basados en rastreo GPS, Altímetro barométrico (FusedAlti) y seguimiento de ruta (FusedTrack)

4. Coros Pace 2

The Coros Pace 2 model stands out for its size and aesthetics, as it is a small watch compared to other sports watches on the market. In this sense, it is also a lighter and simpler option, but that does not mean it does not have good features to offer. Let’s see it!

As the best sports watch quality – price, Coros Pace 2 stands out for offering sports metrics in various types of profiles, such as rowing, running, cycling, swimming, strength, or cardio. This functionality is very useful as it collects data based on a specific type of physical activity.

In addition, this device is capable of developing and planning workouts. How? It’s very simple! Through the Training Peaks application, you can create or receive workouts from a third party and connect them with this sports watch. The goal is to guide you during physical activity in terms of sets, exercises, or repetitions.

You can even schedule workouts in a calendar and the watch can remind you when they should start.

On the other hand, the Coros brand launched Coros EVOLab on the market. Does it sound familiar? It is the place where you can analyze the data collected during training.

best sports watches

In this sense, it is a very useful platform to observe performance and analyze recovery, as well as other aspects such as fatigue, physical condition, training load, or recovery time.

Regarding its screen, Coros Pace 2 is positioned in this sports watch comparison as an option without a tactical screen.

This means it uses a crown-type wheel to navigate the watch. By sliding this crown, you can access the different widgets offered by the watch such as the training plan, altitude, notifications, heart rate, or temperature.

ℹ Regarding its autonomy, you’re in luck! It is one of the best on the market, as its battery can last 30 hours of autonomy in training mode with GPS.

In this sense, also, the brand assures that with 24-hour use to measure sleep and read notifications, and with 3 or 4 workouts a week, the watch can have an autonomy of 12 to 14 days. Amazing!

Moreover, if that were not enough, the Coros Pace 2 offers an Ultra Max mode that reduces the GPS capacity of the watch and promotes greater autonomy, doubling the lifespan of this model. You can observe this mode in its battery information widget. It’s very detailed!

Reloj Deportivo con GPS Premium COROS Pace 2
  • El reloj GPS más ligero del mercado en su lanzamiento: desde 29 g con la nueva correa de nailon COROS con una duración de la batería de 20 días de uso regular, 30 horas en modo GPS completo
  • Modos de entrenamiento por intervalos, estructurado, triatlón y de fuerza con programas y planes de entrenamiento creados por atletas y entrenadores de COROS disponibles gratis en COROS.com

Conclusion

As you can see, we have compiled a list of the best sports watches on the market, without a doubt any of them, is among the best sports watches you can find for sale on the internet.

Now you must select the one that best suits your sports preferences, but without a doubt, we have conducted a great analysis in the market and they are our top 4 best sports watches.

best sports watches

Bibliographic references

  1. Selena R. P. et al. (2019). Accuracy of commercially available heart rate monitors in athletes: a prospective study. Cardiovasc Diagn Ther, 9(4):379-385.
  2. Muhammad. E. et al. (2019). Accuracy of wearable heart rate monitors in cardiac rehabilitation. Cardiovasc Diagn Ther 9(3):262-271.
  3. Rober Wang, D. et al. (2017). Accuracy of Wrist-Worn Heart Rate Monitors. Accuracy of Wrist-Worn Heart Rate Monitors.

Autor: Pablo Sánchez

imagen del autor del artículo

BIO: Physical Education Teacher. Graduate in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences (UDC). Graduate in Primary Education, mention in Physical Education (UEM). Master's Degree in Secondary Education Teaching (UDC).

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✅ El artículo ha sido verificado para garantizar la mayor rigurosidad posible (el artículo incluye enlaces a estudios científicos de revistas de impacto o bases de datos como Pubmed). Todo el contenido de nuestra revista online se ha revisado por profesionales altamente cualificados (aquí puedes ver nuestro equipo de redactores). Si consideras que nuestro contenido está desactualizado, puedes contactarnos en revision@mundoentrenamiento.com

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