Many individuals select a smartwatch with particular well being and health objectives in thoughts. There are lots of smartwatches available on the market, however all of them provide a distinct set of options and performance. Whereas it is fairly simple to discover a smartwatch particularly designed for working, it’s kind of tougher to search out one marketed for swimming. Simply because a device is waterproof, does not essentially imply that it is properly suited to monitoring laps within the pool and past.
I’ve taken a deep dive into the particular specs and water-related capabilities of dozens of smartwatches available on the market to search out those that truly provide helpful options for swimming and diving. Some focus totally on swimming or athletic efficiency, whereas others mix spectacular good connectivity performance with strong swimming metrics. The suitable look ahead to you’ll rely in your objectives and preferences.
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Whether or not you are trying to report fundamental swimming stats, prepare for a triathlon, or go scuba diving, these are among the greatest smartwatches for swimming and different water sports activities, with the proof within the product particulars, and most of the time, our personal rigorous product evaluations.
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Garmin Swim 2
Finest smartwatch general
The Garmin Swim 2 is designed completely with swimmers in thoughts and might measure your coronary heart price as you progress within the water. Along with monitoring GPS and pool swimming distance, it will possibly report tempo, stroke rely, distance per stroke, SWOLF (swim effectivity) and even sustain with rests, timed units, and log drills. The Swim 2 is waterproof as much as 50m, and incorporates a long-lasting battery. Plus, it will possibly observe your sleep. Should you do not want many further smartwatch options, this provides probably the most swimming metrics for the value.
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Garmin Forerunner 965
Finest triathlon smartwatch
Whereas costly, the Garmin Forerunner 965 is a worthwhile buy for critical triathletes and open-water swimmers. This premier performance-focused smartwatch boasts spectacular specs and superior well being, health, and connectivity options, together with blood oxygen and coronary heart price. File important swimming stats like distance, tempo, stroke rely, and SWOLF and maximize your coaching with distance alerts, pacing alerts, relaxation timers, and drill logging. Plus, there are devoted triathlon and working/swimming modes.
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Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
Finest smartwatch for Android customers
Android customers shall be onerous pressed to discover a extra succesful smartwatch than the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6. It comes geared up with a complete suite of well being and health options in addition to connectivity options, together with help for third-party swim apps like swim.com. Along with being waterproof as much as 50m, it hits the MIL-STD-810 ranking to face up to excessive environmental circumstances and stressors. There’s additionally a helpful water lock to maintain the touchscreen from activating throughout swimming.
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Polar Ignite 3
Finest smartwatch for teaching
The Polar Ignite 3 provides dependable swim monitoring. For each pool and open water swimming, you’ll be able to observe tempo and distance, strokes per minute or pool size, and SWOLF rating, in addition to your GPS route for open water. Outdoors of swimming, notable options embrace superior sleep monitoring and customized on-demand exercise steerage by the Polar Movement app, in addition to a formidable 30-hour battery life. It is also extra reasonably priced than a few of its opponents with comparable options.
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Apple Watch Extremely 2
Finest smartwatch for iOS
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 boasts a beefed-up design greatest suited to out of doors adventures. It has a stronger waterproof ranking to a depth of 100m as a substitute of 50m, that means you should utilize it for leisure scuba diving and for high-speed water sports activities. The Extremely 2 can report swim distance, tempo, stroke splits, and coronary heart price within the pool, lakes, or oceans. It additionally provides probably the most complete smartwatch expertise for iOS customers, providing seamless integration with Apple companies.
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Kospet Tank X1 Health Tracker
Finest price range smartwatch
The Kospet Tank X1 is hard and constructed to final. It incorporates a light-weight physique fabricated from titanium and zinc alloy, whereas its vivid AMOLED show is bolstered with Corning Gorilla Glass. The Tank X1 can face up to water strain as much as depth of 100m, making it protected for diving 30m beneath the floor. It might observe over 70 sports activities, coronary heart price, blood oxygen, and extra, however most impressively, has a battery life of fifty days in standby mode.
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Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen)
Second greatest smartwatch for iOS
The Apple Watch SE provides lots of the identical options because the Series 9 however for a considerably cheaper price. It is one of the best worth when it comes to performance and efficiency given the value, nevertheless it does require an iPhone. Whereas it is missing among the extra superior metrics like ECG and physique temperature, the swim monitoring is comparable. For each pool and open water swimming, it will observe distance, tempo, splits, and coronary heart price in depths as much as 50 meters.
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Garmin Descent G1
Finest smartwatch for scuba diving
The Garmin Descent G1 is principally a troublesome, sturdy dive laptop in your wrist. It options a number of customizable dive modes, together with technical and free diving, in addition to GPS monitoring, floor multi-GNSS, tide, wave, and surf information, and a built-in 3-axis dive compass. Plus, you’ll be able to select from over 30 different forms of exercises and obtain real-time coaching standing alerts (undertraining, overtraining, or optimum coaching) and calculated restoration time suggestions.
Some of the frequent issues relating to swimming along with your smartwatch is that if long-term use within the water will slowly injury the smartwatch and shorten its lifespan. To keep away from such points, it is necessary to put money into a high quality wearable and know precisely what its limitations are. As long as you solely put on the watch at applicable depths and do not maintain it underwater for longer than the beneficial time restrict, the {hardware} and software program of your watch ought to stay comparatively unaffected.
If you wish to be additional cautious, you’ll be able to rinse your watch underneath clear water after swimming in a chlorinated pool or ocean. It is extra necessary to watch out while you’re washing your palms to ensure cleaning soap or soapy water does not are available in contact along with your gadget. In any other case, your smartwatch ought to be simply nice, even if you happen to handle to squeeze in a swimming exercise each day of the week.
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How a lot do different smartwatch options matter?
This actually comes all the way down to choice. Should you’re searching for a smartwatch that is nice for swimming but in addition simply as helpful for on a regular basis productiveness, you then’ll wish to think about extra versatile fashions just like the Apple Watch Extremely 2, Apple Watch SE, or the Samsung Galaxy 6. However, in case your primary purpose is boosting athletic efficiency, the fitness-forward Garmin Swim 2, Garmin Forerunner 965, or Polar Ignite 3 is perhaps a greater choice. After all, there are much more area of interest smartwatches, just like the Garmin Descent G1 or Kospet Tank X1, for these with actually particular objectives within the water. In terms of swimming, although, all of the smartwatches on our record will serve you properly.
