This comparison will only look into swimming features of the watches as we focus our series on the swimmers’ needs. Some of the watches have many more features (for other sports or typical for smartwatches) but we will compare only the features needed in the pool or during open water workouts. At the same time, recent news of the discontinuation of Garmin Swim model may cause its price to surge and make it harder to purchase.
This comparison looks at the capabilities of Garmin Swim and Poolmate
Swimming Features
Garmin Swim has all the basic function of a swim watch like laps, pace, duration, distance. It also provides a way to measure your intervals and display your rest times but setting them up on the watch is quite uncomfortable and adds complexity to the product.
Poolmate 2 is a very cheap basic watch that would be perfect as a starting point to measure laps, strokes, pace, sets and rest times but will also track some metrics in the open water (a new addition that came with the second version of the watch).
Accuracy
Garmin Swim has divided swimming community as it tends to work great for some but it has more problems detecting laps for some vocal group of users.
Poolmate 2 is touted for its lap counting accuracy but the feature set would suggest a beginner as a perfect user for this watch. The open water mode is not very useful as even they admit on the website that for open water mode they suggest a version of the device with GPS built-in.
Analytics
Garmin uses Garmin Connect that is available both on the desktop and as a mobile App and is a very comprehensive set of analytics limited only by the features of Garmin Swim itself.
And here we get to the biggest problem we found about Poolmate 2 – there’s no way to upload the swimming data to a mobile or even desktop application. The watch will hold 50 pas workouts and that is all you can see on the tiny screen.
Verdict
Both products here are better suited for the beginners but the lack of analytics for Poolmate 2 makes it not very useful even all you need is a motivational tool as it doesn’t show you your progress in any meaningful way.
Try Swimmo to achieve your swimming goals
If you love swimming and want to see your progress, achieve your goals and make your workouts more effective you can also try Swimmo Training Watch and App with all the features you need and unique real-time feedback to guide you while you’re in the pool!
Latest swimming technology available for You
Boost your workout with these advanced features
Lap and Distance Counting
Fully automatic and accurate with and without professional turns.
PaceKeeper™ Mode
Set your goal and swim at a predefined pace. Smart vibrations will tell you when you need to speed up or slow down.
Heart Rate Monitoring
Stay in your chosen heart rate zone and burn calories more effectively. Smart vibrations will let you know when you need to push yourself harder or slow your pace down.
Real-Time Haptic Feedback
Swimmo communicates specific actions via unique vibration frequencies.
Custom Workout Goals
Using Swimmo App you can quickly create your own training goals that are best suited for you and your needs. Sync them wirelessly to Swimmo watch from your smartphone.
Training History
(Swim Logbook)Simple charts and detailed views of the training sessions are always with you in a dedicated mobile app for Android and iOS.
High-Precision Calorie Counter
Advanced algorithms based on pulse deliver more accurate data about calories you’ve burned.
Rotate&Tap™ Technology
Designed to be easy to use in the water. You don’t need to press any buttons to use your Swimming Training Watch. Simply rotate your wrist and tap the screen to gain full control over your watch.
Swimming Community
Share your swim data with your friends via Facebook and other fitness apps. Compete, compare, and cheer each other on.
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