Interesting combination: Something for surfing and all-around water sports, plus heart rate and calorie-counting functions. And not much money.
What鈥檚 surprising is that these days that isn鈥檛 an unreasonable thing to ask. Several watches today manage all those functions. The issue may be price鈥搕hat kind of functionality isn鈥檛 cheap. But let鈥檚 see what鈥檚 out there.
The Best Calorie-Counting Heart Rate Monitors: Garmin Forerunner 310XT
骋补谤尘颈苍鈥檚 ($250) offers a pretty powerful set of features in a watch designed for water sports. For starters, it鈥檚 waterproof to 165 feet, which should be adequate. It has GPS, so it tracks your location, speed, distance, and more. It watches your calorie burn. And with an optional heart strap it will keep track of your heart rate as well. It has all the usual watch features鈥攅ven a backlighted display鈥攁nd can talk wirelessly to a PC or Mac.
The Best Calorie-Counting Heart Rate Monitors: Suunto Quest
厂耻耻苍迟辞鈥檚 ($300) starts life as more of a watch than the Garmin. It lacks GPS, but offers a more compact, wrist-friendly profile, and can be set up for use as a running or cycling tracker. It monitors heart rate, calorie burn, intervals, and all that good stuff. A USB stick transfers data to a computer for detailed analysis. And it鈥檚 rated to 100 feet for water-resistance, so it鈥檚 fine for sports on the water鈥檚 surface.
The Best Calorie-Counting Heart Rate Monitors: Polar RS800CX G5
OK鈥攖his one, maybe not so reasonable price-wise. But you sure get a lot!
I鈥檓 referring to Polar鈥檚 very slick ($600). It has it all: GPS sensor to track route, full heart rate and calorie-counting functions, easy connectivity to a computer with a USB cord, water-resistance to 165 feet, and much more. The high-end multi-sport pack comes with three sensors to cover any activity. Expensive, but if you really want a do-everything watch, this is it.