Sports Watches: Must-Have Features
Whether you are a competitive person or you want to challenge yourself, you may be considering purchasing a sports watch. You can learn all kinds of various things when you have a sports watch, and it can be really rewarding.
However, with so many different sports watches on the market, trying to narrow down the scope of watches you can pick from can be quite difficult because they all offer a range of various functions.
When picking out the best sports watch, there are some must-have features you want to make sure your watch has.
What Are the Features You Should Look for in a Sports Watch?
To narrow down your choices in fitness paraphernalia, you want to look out for these must-have features in any sports watch you are considering.
Screen
The first thing you should look for when choosing a sports watch is the screen size and type. There are a variety of screen sizes so this may not necessarily be a “feature,” but it is important. The type of screen and the way it displays is going to matter to you.
You don’t want a watch that is going to require that you have to search high and low for the information you want to see. Make sure you can see the exact information you want to see when you want to see it. If steps are what matters or the time, then you need to be able to see that at a glance while performing any activity.
Stop Watch
If you are doing interval training, then a stopwatch isn’t a want, it is a necessity. Having a sports watch that comes with a stopwatch is essential to anyone who is training or performing any type of athleticism. You may think you won’t need a stopwatch, but you will quickly find out how having one is super handy.
Water-Resistant
Sports, running, walking, it doesn’t matter. Whatever type of activity you are engaged in, you want to make sure that your watch is going to be water-resistant up to 100m if not completely waterproof. Hardcore athletes or those with sheer determination are going to go out and run or walk regardless if it is raining or not.
Furthermore, no matter what type of athleticism you engage in, you are going to sweat, at least your wrist will feel sweaty under the band. Therefore, your sports watch must be water-resistant so that it doesn’t stop working the minute you do an intensive workout outside in the sun and a bit of sweat drips down your arm.
Be sure to consider if you plan to take your sports watch swimming to count laps. If that is the case, be sure your watch is entirely waterproof.
Straps
You are going to be wearing your sports watch for exercise. You need to make sure the strap is comfortable and adjustable. Another thing you want to consider is if you can replace the straps if they break. You are investing in the best sports watch on the market, make sure a broken strap doesn’t render it useless. There are many materials sports watch straps are made out of, so pick the one that is best for you.
Other Features:
Most may not find these features noteworthy, but they are still worth keeping in mind.
- Offline Music Playback – When your watch can take music from Spotify and play it back to you when not in range of Wi-Fi or any data connection.
- Smartphone connectivity – How your sports watch works with your smartphone. Can it read texts, take calls etc.
- Offline sync – When you leave your phone at home, can you sync the data from your watch to your phone when offline.
- Coaching – Some smartwatches have interactive coaches who can help you in your workouts.
- Distance, lap, and location tracker – Tracking how far you go, where you go, and how many laps you do is a nice feature some want.
Conclusion
The best sports watch on the market for you is going to be one that has all the features you consider important. Different athletes have different needs, and for that reason, there is no universal way to choose a sports watch. Ultimately, that choice is up to you.
However, consider the must-have features above so that when you do pick the best sports watch for you, you can use it exactly how you want to.
Resources— RunTown, 40nine, Lifewire
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