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Spring 2021 Triathlete Buyer’s Guide: Watches

Our 2021 guide to tri watches gives an expert's take on a wide range of smartwatches that can help you track your swimming, biking, running, and much more.

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Black smartwatch

Wahoo Elemnt Rival | $430 (44mm)

Rating: ★ ★ ★
Weight: 47.1g

Basics

A lifestyle watch with an impressive level of bells and whistles standard in the Apple suite. New ECG and heart-rate features, along with Apple Fitness+, make it appealing for general fitness, but without the tri-specific functionality of a more sport-focused watch.

Pros

  • Connection to a phone number enables some truly mind-blowing lifestyle features
  • New ability to track ECG and heart-rate variability are nearly medical-grade
  • Well-designed and pretty
  • Comes in 40mm and 44mm sizes, with a variety of higher-end bands options

Cons

  • Surprisingly poor battery life
  • Workout modes are lacking in the features triathletes would expect
  • Requires an iPhone

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