What blows us away about Garmin’s latest GPS watch, the 301XT, is that it functions as a runner’s watch, a cycling computer, a swimmers watch, a power meter, a very accurate speed and distance measurement device and it allows you to set vibrating or audible alerts for dozens of different measurements. It is unrivaled as a multi-sport watch – period.
If there is a singular flaw it would perhaps be the size of the watch but it feels no different on the wrist than a normal watch as it is actually very light, plus the size gives you a nice, large readable display that is very easy to read and can display up to 4 metrics per screen with 4 screens for each sport.
We chose to display distance, speed, heart rate and pace when testing it running. The pacing feature, or Virtual Partner as Garmin calls it, allows you to put a pre-determined pace into the watch and then it tells you throughout the course of your run how far ahead, or behind, you are from that pacing goal. It’s a really cool feature.
For cycling, we chose to display speed, cadence, heart rate and watts, which can be displayed as long as the bike you are riding has an ANT compliant watts meter. A GPS cycling watch could literally take the place of your bike computer but we recommend the handlebar mount for safety.
For swimming, we set up a meters per minute pacing goal and turned on the vibrating alarm. Since you don’t have time to look at a watch swimming we found the vibrating alarm very useful and actually put the watch on over our wetsuit because it did not feel comfortable and would barely fit under the wetsuit.
In our estimation this watch is great for a whole bunch of different sports and not just the triathletes who served as the inspiration for its genesis. Pure swimmers will love it. It makes a great cycling computer and has versatility to be used for other things. Kayakers can measure speed, distance, heart rate and do all the Eskimo rolls they want because the watch is waterproof.
Power, calories, heart rate, speed, distance, and elevation: You name it, they're all there. It can also help make your workouts more effective. You can easily set up custom interval workouts right in the watch.
The vibrating alarm is a nice feature because it allows you to listen to an iPod and still know when you’ve gone outside the zone for your metrics. It also means that you don’t have to bother your friends with constant alarm chirping during group workouts.
If we were Siskel and Ebert we would have to say two thumbs way up but since we rate a GPS watch on a 5-star system we’ll give this powerhouse 4.9 out of 5 stars.
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