Garmin fenix 6S Pro, Ultimate Multisport GPS Watch, Smaller-Sized, Features Mapping, Music, Grade-Adjusted Pace Monitoring and Pulse Ox Sensors, Black with Black Band

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Thus if at high altitudes you’ll need to pause for probably 15-30 seconds to get a clean reading (and doing so manually is your best bet). Optical heart rate is a given, but it also features the Pulse Ox sensor, which can track blood oxygen.

And there’s no doubt that the specs Garmin has thrown down with the Fenix 6 series will cause many heads there to turn. However, you don't get granular detail over the apps on your smartphone that are allowed to buzz your Fenix. It’s not obvious how beneficial this might be unless you’re at altitude and checking your acclimatisation, or if you suspect you might suffer from a condition such as sleep apnoea. As a result, they tend to be more expensive than the Forerunners and other similar fitness-focused smartwatches. Where Garmin focused on adding smart features with the Fenix 5 Plus, it’s all about sports performance with the Fenix 6.

Even the iconic Apple Watch, the world’s best-selling smartwatch, comes loaded with a bevy of health-focused functions. I often find Garmin’s sleep tracking is somewhat inaccurate, anyway, in that it marks down any periods where you’re very still as light sleep, even if you’re reading a book for example.

Like so many metrics, your respiration rate reflects your fitness — the lower your breathing rate, the better your fitness level.I find myself referencing the watch pretty frequently throughout the day, whether it’s to check the weather, figure out how much daylight I have left, or see how I’m doing on my step goal. If you haven’t had problems charging a battery before, or if you don’t think you’ll ever need to tell someone that you’ve fallen and can’t get up, then that might be the better choice.