This brand-new Timex smartwatch is an affordable battery life champ with built-in GPS
You probably don't know this, but Timex was one of the first companies to ever try its hand at something akin to the modern smartwatches that have become so popular of late. While that happened more than two decades ago (!!!), Timex is still far from what we'd call a household name in today's thriving wearable device industry.
Although the Ironman R300 GPS is nowhere near as stylish as 2016's analogue Timex IQ+ Move watch with fitness tracking capabilities, the newly unveiled product is actually billed as a full-fledged smartwatch. A "sports-first smartwatch", to be exact, which might still be an all-around first for Timex... as long as we don't count kid-friendly smartwatches sold exclusively through T-Mobile.
This robust and sporty bad boy is up for grabs on its manufacturer's official website at a fairly reasonable price of $120 with a silicone strap and a decidedly unremarkable overall design. But as its (unnecessarily long) name suggests, the fitness-friendly smartwatch comes with a built-in GPS chip for continuous location monitoring and accurate tracking of your distance and pace during those lengthy outdoor running sessions.
The Timex Ironman 300 GPS also has its own optical heart rate monitor going for it, which is a pretty rare asset in the sub-$150 price bracket. What's even more unusual is this thing's mind-blowing battery life of up to 25 days on a single charge, although we're obviously talking about the smartwatch's endurance with the GPS functionality switched off. If you keep that feature on at all times, the best you can hope for is around 20 hours of uninterrupted use, which is roughly on par with many of the latest Wear OS smartwatches.
Of course, Timex is going with a simpler software platform... of some sort, focused primarily on providing all the information you need to stay fit and improve your health while not consuming too much power. The Ironman 300 GPS can do smartphone notifications as well, and like any good "sports-first" wearable device, it's capable of easily surviving water immersion up to 30 meters, which means you don't need to leave the smartwatch at home before going to the pool for a quick swim.
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