Garmin, Polar, Suunto and Timex found their place on the Heart Rate Watch Company’s list of the best five GPS watches for 2012. After serious tests and evaluations, testers singled out Suunto Ambit as the watch that marked the year with its remarkable performances and extraordinary battery life. Two Garmin’s timepieces deserve to be on the list, confirming the brand’s leading position on the ever-growing fitness watch market.
“It was a real effort to narrow this list to five watches but we wanted to stick to watches that had been introduced in the past 12 months so that eliminated some older products,” says Rusty Squire, President of the Heart Rate Watch Company.
1. Suunto Ambit Watch
The Heart Rate Watch Company decided. As it was expected, the best of the best GPS watches for 2012 is the new Suunto Ambit. It was hard to compete with its phenomenal 50 hours of battery life in GPS mode that put the Ambit more than three times higher than the nearest concurrent. Besides, Suunto Ambit provides a number of useful functions for different kinds of outdoor athletes, explorers and adventurers. Being ideal for mountaineering, distance running and cycling, it is very easy to use and pretty durable. The absence of watts and the cadence indicator is the only deficiency of the watch.
2. Garmin Forerunner 910XT Watch
As the only GPS-enabled watch on the market that integrates swimming, running and cycling metrics, the new Garmin Forerunner 910XT is the perfect device for the triathletes and serious swimmers. Garmin made mode changes being so easy, by using six pushers that allow a user to track multi-sport activities expediently. Among performances that really impress, there is the feature that calculates a sum of the swimming time and the number of strokes, showing swimming efficiency. Furthermore, the new barometric altimeter is also great. The only complain concerns a lack of the heart rate measuring in water.
3. Polar RCX5 Tour de France Premium Bundle Watch
Polar RCX5 Tour de France Premium Bundle watch holds third place on this year’s best five GPS watches list. Named as the 2012 official training computer of the most famous cycling race in the world, this great looking timepiece features Polar’s G5 GPS sensor, S3+ foot pod and Polar WIND speed sensor. Thanks to the 5kHz chest strap transmission from the Polar Hybrid transmitter, it is capable to indicate heart rate in the water and 5 customizable zones. Hurry up if you want to get one for yourself since it is going to be on market just until September 2012.
4. Garmin 610 Watch
Besides the fact that it was already marked by the Heart Rate Watch Company as the best GPS watch in 2011, the new Garmin 610, with an innovative touch screen display and the ability to track a number of metrics per sport, still deserves the place among the bests. Made to be highly useful for almost every outdoor sport, except swimming, this GPS watch is more than a good choice for those who cannot afford the Forerunner 910XT.
5. Timex Ironman Run Trainer Watch
The final timepiece on the list is Timex Ironman Run Trainer which also possesses great quality that makes it one of the best GPS watches for runners. Considering the affordable price of $200 and loads of stunning features, such as heart rate, real-time pace and distance indicators, this is a hell of a watch for those who prefer robust fitness models.
