In June 2012 I purchased a genuine Casio watch in Bangkok for 400฿. I used this watch to time my early runs, and would then map out my route on Nz Mapometer.
Fast forward one year, I thought I was pretty good at running and deserved one of those fancy GPS watches that my running buddies had. I had the spandex, the sock tan, the missing toenail; all I needed to become a fully verified runner was the watch, or so I thought.
This is a technical review of both watches, written by an unprofessional, non-sponsored, not-quite athlete so if you are thinking of making a purchase please read on!
Garmin Foreunner 210
POSITIVES
- Has GPS that sometimes tracks my runs across the sea bed
- You can see your elevation
- You can now use the hashtag #Garmin on Instagram
- Heart rate monitor that I could use if I removed it from the plastic
NEGATIVES
- Isn’t yellow
- LOCATING SATELLITES
- Is freakin’ huge, like wearing a cupcake on my wrist only you cannot eat it and a cupcake is much easier to squash up your sleeve
- Cost $399, I could have 14 Casio watches on each limb for that price
- LOCATING SATELLITES
Casio F-91W
POSITIVES
- Is Canary Yellow
- Cost $7NZD
- Lights up green, red and blue with just the push of a button
- Has a stopwatch function
- Water resistant (but at the same time is going rusty..)
NEGATIVES
- Loses a few minutes a week, who cares anyway, there are no negatives it cost seven bucks.
- Missing the ‘off’ function for an alarm that sounds daily at 10.17am
- Should have bought more in different colours to match my running clothes
To summarise, with no attention paid to the extreme bias based on colour, if you want value for money buy a Casio! Or learn how to use your Garmin properly.
