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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Wahoo Elemnt Rival | $380
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Weight: 54g
Basics
Bike computer stalwarts Wahoo make a strong attempt with a very tri-specific smartwatch that has room to improve.
Pros
- Automatic transition function for tri that works surprisingly well
- Bike “handoff” feature to Wahoo bike computers during races
- Intuitive and unconventional data display
Cons
- Light on smartphone functions
- Surprising lack of brick and swimrun functions
- No navigation for the price
Coros Pace 2 | $200
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Weight: 29g
Basics
This is the lightest/smallest exercise-focused smartwatch on the market with big features like running with power, open-water swimming, tri, and more.
Pros
- Killer battery life (20 days smartwatch/30 hours GPS training)
- On-wrist running power
- Ridiculous price
- Future-ready software leaves space for big updates
Cons
- Few lifestyle functions
- No brick/multisport functions aside from basic tri
Read the COROS 2 Pace extended review
Garmin Venu SQ | $200
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Weight: 37g
Basics
A lifestyle-focused, budget-conscious touchscreen smartwatch with some decent single-sport features.
Pros
- Surprisingly good GPS for the price
- Familiar Garmin setup and screens
- Good workout customization
- Easy to use and navigate
Cons
- An unremarkable touchscreen (it’s no Apple)
- Notifications and connectivity are hit or miss
- No open water (pool swimming only) or tri/multisport sport modes
Polar Grit X | $430
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Weight: 64g
Basics
A touchscreen smartwatch with some excellent training/recovery functions like on-wrist running power, loads of sport profiles, and sleep tracking/analysis.
Pros
- On-wrist power with excellent data screens
- Super accurate heart rate (for on-wrist)
- Rugged design for offroaders
- Advanced and consistent sleep/recovery features
Cons
- Buttons are slightly counterintuitive
- Touchscreen is very hit or miss—best for scrolling through post-workout data
- Clunky multisport profile requires lots of fiddling mid-workout
Suunto 7 | $400
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Weight: 68g
Basics
This watch has a blend of full lifestyle functionality and medium-level single-sport training capabilities on a beefy touchscreen smartwatch.
Pros
- Large, beautiful touchscreen with intuitive navigation
- Fantastic GPS navigation display, offline maps, and popularity routing
- Good compatibility with Android via WearOS (works with Apple iOS as well)
Cons
- Low battery life for people who train long and often
- Lack of tri/multisport mode is surprising given the 70+ sport modes and price
- A lack of external sensors (heart-rate strap, cycling sensors, running with power, etc.)
Apple Watch Series 6 | $400 (40mm) | $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