A&H

Watches

J

James P

Well-Known Member
Looking to buy a smart watch,
Was wondering those of you that you have one, what watch do you use and would you recommend it to others?
Thanks
 
The Referee Store
I use a Garmin Vivoactive with the excellent ref watch app. which Garmin is really personal preferenc, but check for app compatibility as not all can run the app.

(Id call the Vivoactive a semi-smart watch—it runs apps and you can get your alert messages from your phone, but you can’t respond to messages or answer calls.)
 
I use Coros Pace 2 - the GPS is extremely accurate, and you can use it for apps etc (I don't, I prefer it purely for exercise/refereeing), you can also pair it with Strava if you want to.

The Coros metrics are pretty comprehensive as well; Stride length, heart rate, running pace, distances blah blah, the usual and I think the pricing is very competitive.

But the biggest selling point for me is the battery life. If you turn off the night gesture backlight, it can last forever. If I do a 90 minute game, I only lose something like 2-4% of battery, if that. So very useful if you're doing multiple games or you forget to charge. :p
 
I use a Fenix 6x Pro with Refsix App. GPS is not particularly accurate but its solid as anything and typical battery life is 21 days.
 
Are you looking for a smart watch or fitness tracking.
I use a polar vantage v. It doesnt have apps. It can get phone notifications but I don't use that feature.
It is purely designed for tracking exercise, something which it is very good at
 
I have an Apple Watch Series 6. Does the job, but the heart rate sensor struggles with refereeing, I think Apple watches assume there is something wrong if heart rate rapidly changes, something that will obviously happen when refereeing, and it greys out the heart rate. So I pair it with an old Polar HRM strap that I had and that works around it. It isn't a dedicated sports watch and therefore won't be the most accurate, but if you have an iPhone and want to use apps it takes some beating.
 
Apple Watch series 3 and a Casio rft-100 which is in my opinion the best watch I’ve owned. So much so I’ve actually got 2 of them. Countdown with vibrate function is amazing!
 
Willis1976 said:
I currently have a Spintso Pro and use my Samsung Galaxy Watch3 but have just seen Spintso have released the smart GPS watch version for delivery in December. All the same functions plus fitness functionality. Early xmas present I reckon https://www.spintso.com/equipment/referee-watches/spintso-referee-watch-s1-pro
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Since I have a Garmin, I don’t have an interest in this. However, $220 USD or so isn’t a terrible price for a watch like that. I would imagine some would give it a look. When you think that a traditional Spintso runs $125, an extra $100 or so for the GPS and digital features isn’t a lot for those interested in a Spintso.
 
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Personally I use a Sprintso and an Apple Watch with Ref6.

I don’t use Ref 6 for the general match recording but for the use of time management and sin bin timing.

The thing I like about the Sprintso is that it vibrates and it is simple to use. The Apple Watch gives me great after-game stats.
 
Ross said:
Apple Watch series 3 and a Casio rft-100 which is in my opinion the best watch I’ve owned. So much so I’ve actually got 2 of them. Countdown with vibrate function is amazing!
Click to expand...
casio doesn’t make that anymore, do they? I was very sad when mine died.
 
Ross said:
Apple Watch series 3 and a Casio rft-100 which is in my opinion the best watch I’ve owned. So much so I’ve actually got 2 of them. Countdown with vibrate function is amazing!
Click to expand...

Funny you mention the Casio, as I saw Kevin Stott wear one of these as his second watch during today’s MLS Cup playoff game. I had one until a few years ago, but the main button fell off and I couldn’t use it anymore.
It was a great watch. Easily the best non-smartwatch I’ve ever owned. I wore it as my primary watch for a number of years as well.
 
The rft 100 is an amazing watch. I got it as my first watch and it still works perfectly today over 10 years later and havent even had to do a battery change yet.
I also have a spintso and I opt for the casio in tandem with my polar
 
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