Apple Watch just got interesting

[Admin]

"Swimproof", GPS without phone, Bluetooth Music without phone.  Add some wireless waterproof earbuds and that has promise for a nice SUP kit.

[Glowmaster]

I use my apple watch all the time now when I SUP.  Controls GPS motionX, gives me activity record, and can control the tunes I have on the bluetooth speaker.

Now I wouldnt even need my phone with me on the new one.

I am pretty sure even gen1 is water resistant.  I shower with it every day and it has been dunked a couple times paddling.

Has a great tides program too that shows me status of the local tides on the watch.

ed

[gone_foiling]

I am using Suunto Ambit 3 Peak for tracking my workouts, but yesterday's announcement got my curiosity. I know AW will not compare to a specialised sports watch offered by Garmin, Suunto and Polar but inclusion of stand alone GPS is the step in the right direction. The battery life on AW still sucks but nevertheless benefits outlined by Glowmaster might outweigh this shortcoming. I am definitely interested and I will probably buy it to see if it can do what it claims.

[MaineSUP]

I understand it has an accelerometer too.  Anyone know if it can measure stroke rate? I'll probably get one for running and likely use it for SUP too. Apple says something about using it in the surf, not sure if I'd wear it in the surf. Probably still bring phone for fitness paddles in case I need to make an emergency call.

[Easy Rider]

The Nixon Smart Watch is coming out in a few weeks. 
http://www.nixon.com/ca/en/mens-smart

[SUPcheat]

I'm still good with my GoodWill $4 JC Penny green waterproof that's going strong for a couple of years now.

[PonoBill]

The Nixon looks really good. I was sort of considering ditching IOS and going to Android until I started playing around with a phone and several pads. I guess I could get used to it, but ugh. The new iPhone 7 fixes the aspects that really irked me, the major one being water resistance. So I guess I'll stay in the walled garden.

[oceanAddict]

After 3 years of use I just lost my 25 bucks surf watch in Hermine two days ago. Was seriously considering  garmin vivoactive HR. But Amazon reviews made me thinks as there is significant amount of negative comments and Garmin's replies mostly canned.. Read about new Apple watch too today, but stanlessteel watch with metal bracelet cost $1000? No thanks. I like to track my excersize but possibility to lose such expensive watch (I wear watch over wetsuit) makes me sick. Not clear what to do.. Might just buy another Armitron and keep phone in the bag.
   

[JP4]

Was seriously considering  garmin vivoactive HR. But Amazon reviews made me thinks as there is significant amount of negative comments and Garmin's replies mostly canned..
 

I've got that one and I think Pono does too. A couple of my buddies have them as well for paddling. So far I've been pretty happy with it. The only function I find dodgy is the wrist based heart monitor. It seems to be thrown off in bright light, near as I can tell anyway. That feature works well in most other activities though.
The stroke counter seems pretty accurate and it acquires satellites almost instantaneously. I've taken it surfing with no problems and on plenty of downwinders. Battery life is about a week when not using the gps, which automatically shuts off when not logging an activity. I got 4 surf sessions at the coast ranging from 1.5-2 hours over three days before I got the low battery warning.
The biggest downside to it is I can't read any of the data without syncing it to my phone as the font is really small, however it's easy to read while doing an activity if you only have a couple data fields selected per screen.
It's actually a pretty incredible deal for $250 I think. If you are already a Garmin cycling computer user, you'll be familier with the app and Connect website.
JP

[blueplanetsurf]

I'm very tempted by both the iPhone 7s and the Apple watch.  "Water resistant" is my favorite new feature.

[Dwight (DW)]

I'm very tempted by both the iPhone 7s and the Apple watch.  "Water resistant" is my favorite new feature.

To give you a real world perspective of how water proof...

The iPhone 7 water resistance standard is the same as last years Apple Watch rating, that I've been surfing with for the past year. I bought Apple Care for it, and never take it off, surfing, kiting, or windsurfing. Had it replaced once by Apple. My wife does the same, and had two replaced. So pretty good, but not perfect. I'd consider Apple Care on the iPhone if surfing with it.

If my watch fails again, I'll upgrade to the new one, actually rated for swimming and surfing with the higher water proof rating.

[yugi]

Good to know. Thanks for testing it.

[supuk]

Sounds good to me, I have had my 5s in a life edge waterproof case for protection against water,resin and droping it on a regular basis but always slightly nevous so at least this way if I can get a case for protection and waterproof then it should give peace of mind when paddleing with it.

[Dwight (DW)]

To further clarify, in each of our (wife and I) watch failures, we had no idea if water was the cause.

My wife had the taptic engine fail both times. Mine failed to wake up.

[mrbig]

Vivioavtive rocks. Paddle every day. Wet all the time. Bought the optional strap. AWESOME product!!