Garmin Vivoactive HR vs TomTom Spark Cardio+Music

[Vantreesta]

I am looking to buy a GPS/HRM watch and am debating btwn these two. I have been using MapMyRun for all my running, hiking and snowshoeing but my phone has decided it doesn't like to work when it's below 35℉. The Garmin is a lot less expensive and has a longer battery life in GPS mode but the TomTom has onboard mp3 and comes with bluetooth headphones. I do have concerns about the Garmin touchscreen having the same problems as my phone when it's below zero out. Anyone have either one and care to weigh in? I suck at making decisions. TIA!

[adawn]

I've had the Garmin vivoactive HR for less than a year. I don't think I had it last winter and I don't spend much time in below zero conditions so can't comment on how well the touchscreen works when it's that cold out. I'm not familiar with the TomTom at all.

I use it mainly as an (expensive) step counter, also the GPS on walks outside so I know how far I've walked, and I love and utilize a heart rate zones data field that I downloaded from the connect IQ store:

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/4...c69f911780d6#0

It lets me know what "zone" I'm in when I glance down during workouts at home and I can view a bar graph once the workout is over to see how much time was spent in each zone. It's more helpful to me than just seeing my exact heart rate at any given point in time. (And I recently realized I could modify the boundaries of the zones in garmin express.)

Sorry if this is not very helpful.

[Vantreesta]

Adawn, I appreciate the feedback! It's so hard to choose and any comments are helpful to me even if a specific question isn't addressed. I have been using Polar HRMs forever so I know I'll have a bit of learning curve no matter which I get. Thank you!