The concept of smartwatches has become a common thing for the technology geeks and gadget lovers. If you can afford one, then you are certainly going to give it a try and enjoy the benefits of it too. However, not all smart watches are the same. Some are fitness trackers while others allow you to operate your smartphone through them, without having to use your phone. Some are great navigators and others allow you to track your running time and improvements through them. If you are a serious runner, then you will understand the need of a sports watch just right.

If you are beginner, you would know that tracking your running time and abilities is really important. However, finding the right gadget to do so is a little hard for you. This is where sports watches tend to help you out and make your life much better. They allow you to keep track of everything while you prepare yourself for a marathon. An iPhone strapped to your arm is not as pleasing as sports watch attending to multitasks for you, letting you know endless things about your improvements.

But, buying a sport watch for running is not as easy as it might seem. The diversity is endless and it definitely makes the choice pretty hard. It is like you get an analysis paralysis. Which one is worth your investment? What features are really important and which ones can be excluded? All these queries eat your brain and then the variation makes it tougher. So here is a quick guide for what you need to look for before you buy a sport watch for running.

1. Define your Running Aims

Defining your goals of running is going to set the bar for what type of running sports watch you need. This is important as you have to invest hefty in it. Moreover, if you just wish to get a running sports watch for casual diet plans or jogging, then you don’t need a perfect pro sports watch. You can buy simple sports watch which lets you track your run at the best. Don’t think about the position that you are into at the moment. You need to evaluate your plans about where you want to be in a year or so. Serious runners understand this as casual runners don’t really run for a huge aim. They simply want to make themselves smart. Therefore, the features are defined by the running goals that you have for yourself.

2. Know your Budget

Once your goals have been defined, you need to talk budget! Just like your running shoes require good investment, your sports watch is going to demand a hefty amount too. Thus, you need to keep a specific amount in your brain that you can invest in a sport watch. You can get a $50 sport watch too and then there are ones which cost you $450 or even $500 too. The fact that more money offers you more features is quite right. But it doesn’t mean that you pay for features that you don’t really have to utilize in some way or another. Don’t go for complicated monsters. They are going to waste your time a lot as you will be lost in their complex menus for sure. For example, the Polar M400 is a great and user friendly sports watch and have all the essential features in it that a runner would demand for.

3. Important Features-The Must Haves

The most important feature to check out in sports watch for running is the interface. Is it easy to use or does it looks like a complicated ride? Reading online reviews is going to help you heavily thus keep your research strong. User friendly sports watch is the best one you can buy because it doesn’t require you to waste your time and you can easily focus on running more than its settings.

Second, you need to look into its design. A lot of people don’t pay much attention to the design and later they envy the attractive sports watches that other runners have around their wrist. Don’t ever compromise on design due to cost. If you are ready to invest, make sure that the design is great too. The outlook does matter for majority of people. However, if it does not matter much to you, then you can easily call quits on it and make sure that it is user friendly. Usually the sports watches which lack design are lacking great interface and functionality too so you need to be really careful before you pool your money into something.

GPS is very important and by this I mean a good one. A lot of GPS are not accurate. Yet again, a little research online will help you in finding which sports watches have great GPS which provide you with accurate data too. And obviously, battery life matters more than anything. Imagine your watch shutting down in the middle of your run? Isn’t that frustrating? It certainly is. This matters a lot for people who are raining themselves for Marathon or Olympics etc. These people usually stay out all day and focus on training 5-6 hours per day with intervals. Therefore, make sure that it has to offer you at least 6-8 hours battery timing. You ain’t any iron man so you don’t have to rely on a 10 hour battery life, do you? Who can train straight for so many hours? Now, the apps that the sports watch is offering you is also very vital. You need to make sure that the watch is capable of running the apps smoothly and does not ruin your practice mode. Heart rate monitoring feature has been added to a lot of sports watches which is great. This lets you know when your heart has had enough and you can easily pause for some while and catch up with your breath.

Conclusion

PHEW! There is so much to look into before you invest into a running sports watch. CrossFit and Polar are some great brands which bring you the best ever sports watches. Always look forward to well-reputed companies as you get warranty and other great features if you buy from them. Moreover, they are trustworthy so you don’t have any fear too. Apple smart watches allow you to track your fitness and running amazingly too. So basically, you need to define your needs, set your budget and know what features must be there and you are all set to buy sports watch and run incredibly!