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Bought a $65 'fitness tracker' and it's useless without my phone nearby
I run trails near Flagstaff and the GPS drops every time I get under tree cover, so should I just stick with my phone in an armband or is there a cheaper watch that actually handles dense forest?
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the_margaret1mo ago
wait, $65 and it cant even hold a GPS signal through some trees? thats wild, my $20 outdated phone does better than that in the woods.
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parkerp801mo ago
I read somewhere that GPS watches for trail running really need dual-band chips to handle tree cover, and that tech usually starts around $200 minimum. @the_margaret is right about the phone doing better, but the phone in an armband gets annoying when you're scrambling over rocks or trying to grab water. I've heard the Coros Pace 3 handles canopy better than most, but even that can struggle in dense pines. Honestly, for Flagstaff trails, I'd stick with the phone for now and save up, because a cheap watch will just frustrate you more than it helps. The signal tracking on budget watches is basically the same as your $65 one, they just put a nicer face on it.
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