There are so many sports watches currently on the market, that choosing the right one is easier said than done! Perhaps the first step in buying the right sports watch for your activity is to consider how you will be using it in everyday life. For instance if you are into running and will be running several times a week, clearly you need to limit your search to running watches that can accommodate these needs. If you are a diver on the other hand, a running watch will be useless, so the first step is to find a watch that matches your favorite activity. Here is a summary of the different types of sports watches.
The classic style analog sports watch is designed as much for looks and image as for functionality. This type of watch can be a nice eye-catching timepiece to wear out on the town, but can also include some basic functions like stopwatch and water resistance.
Running and fitness watches are generally digital watches with a stopwatch feature and sometimes extras like support for a heart rate monitor chest strap device that measures your continual heart rate during a run or race. These are essential for anyone keen on improving their fitness level, but are generally not suited to being worn in a casual setting.
Outdoors watches are watches that are more rugged and robust to stand up to the rigour of an outdoors setting. More advanced versions of an outdoor sports watch often include barometer and altimeter sensors and a built-in compass. Sometimes these watches also include a GPS receiver, allowing you to navigate in the wilderness.
Diving watches are watches specifically designed to withstand the pressures in a deep-sea environment. Authentic diving watches must pass ISO 6424 testing, which is a series of tests under typical pressures experienced on deep-sea dives.
These are just some of the basic watches that are available for different activities. Based on these classes, you should be able to figure out which watches will suit you best. For instance you will know that a Garmin Forerunner and other running watches will be a better match if your aim is to run a marathon and an Invicta pro diver watch a better match for recreational diving. Much more information on the various watches within each of the above categories, can be found on our website by following the links supplied above.