Garmin Swim 2, GPS Swimming Smartwatch for Pool and Open Water, Underwater Heart Rate, Records Distance, Pace, Stroke Count and Type, White

Pros: ease of useAbility to turn off and on alerts in appEasy to track workoutsEasy buttons (up, down,back, etc)Love the connect appLove the simple screen. Day. Timem steps and yards swam. I don't need more info off the batCons:The band gave me a rash :( and will change itGave 5 stars due to simplicity of use, battery charge lasts 1 week and also alerts management

This watch replaced a Garmin Venu Square that stopped charging. Since this watch is more expensive I picked up the 3-year warranty on this one.Pros: Simple to use. Outside rim of the watch protects the bezel nicely. Looks good. Accurate GPS built in. HR monitor matches well with built-in HR in exercise equipment. Looks pretty good for a fitness tracker.Cons: Only one Cardio option. Pricier than the more flexible Venu Square. Can't customize display for fitness use. No Walk event tracking.I have been sticking with Garmin because I need accurate HR monitoring in the water, and most trackers disable their HR on swim functions. These seem to do a good job with that, and if you are an avid swimmer this would be a great watch for you. It has swim tracking and logging functions that I don't use, so I can't speak to those.With this watch being so much more expensive, you don't need your smartphone for the GPS to function, but I'm a little disappointed that there's only one, generic Cardio event for tracking. Otherwise there's Pool Swim, Open Water Swim, Cycling, and Running. I suppose you could use the Running Event to track a walk or hike.Wish List: Break Cardio event into a variety of events only distinguished by there name, for more easy history analysis in the Garmin Connect app. I would like to customize what's shown on the display screens during a recording event. For instance, when swimming I want to see distance, elapsed time and HR on the main screen. Instead, all you can see is the interval distance and time, with unused space at the bottom.So, all that being said, I like this watch. While there are some things I wish it would do, generally speaking it just works. I like not having to mess with a screen protector like I've had to with my earlier, raised bezel models. If you don't mind that, always have your smart phone on you, and need more flexibility, check out the Venu Square, but get the protection plan!

Lovin my new swim watch. After a recent heart attack, helps me keep an eye on my ticker!

The GPS tracking, and heart rate monitoring functions work well in all conditions. This watch is optimized for pool and open water swimmers. Triathletes may do better with other options. This is my second Swim 2, the first lasted four years until battery life became a problem for marathon swims.Great watch, no complaints.

## ONE YEAR REVIEW ##Still very happy with this watch as a triathlete. I learned a few tricks with watch and app. I am updating my previous review. I still keep this watch at 4/5 stars.#UPDATED REVIEW#Well, first time buying a Garmin watch and I really like it. I was used to a running/biking GPS “watch” before this. I’m starting triathlon training and I really needed something polyvalent, especially for swimming. I think this watch is the perfect match.#swimming: it tracks very well all your lap as long as you give it a nice push from the wall. The drill function works well too even if you can’t rest at all when drilling otherwise it will calculate all the data wrongly. Open water GPS works well. I know some people are saying that it does not work properly, I have to agree it did glitch a few times for me. But you know it right away and it was only a couple of times... the app provides a lot of data about your swimming, like it is actually insane! At my level, I’m sure I am only using 25% of its capability lol.# running: basic functions, nothing too fancy=speed, avg speed, heart rate, etc. You can switch between pace mode or speed mode.# biking: exact same as running mode. No issue with the vibration of the pavement.# cardio: nothing fancy, just records your heart rate and calories based on heart rate.#pros: really nice looking watch, especially in white. Love it for swimming and for any triathlon training/event. GPS works well (up to 200/300m difference over 10km compared to other GPS device). No main issue at all for this watch. Battery, if not connected to phone via Bluetooth, lasts forever honestly. Only played with app on phone so far, pretty sure the soft on computer is good too. Customer support is pretty helpful and efficient.#cons: GPS takes awhile before connecting sometimes, like 6-10min. Which is kinda really long when seating in the car ready to go... GPS does glitch badly sometimes, but it is pretty rare and you know right away when something is wrong.Disappointed that it does not recognize your swim exercice more accurately. Watch does not give maximum speed for any mode, you can only find out your top speed once you downloaded the data to your phone and use the app...the sleep mode is not as good as other smart watches and also does not sync with your alarm set on your phone (so the watch does the maths itself for when you go to bed and wake up, so usually pretty wrong).You cannot edit your personal records, like the “categories” are pre set by Garmin and you can’t do anything about it (like 10km, half marathon and nothing else for running...).Price is kinda pricy (still a year later), especially for athletes with no big budget. I’m sure it would have much more success if it was at $199/219...