I recently got my Bia Sport watch in the mail. I was so excited to FINALLY receive it. I immediately plugged in the Go Stick and charged it so I could wear it to my race last weekend. Unfortunately, I was one of the “lucky” ones and it wouldn’t connect to GPS. (Sidenote: Bia’s customer service person is AWESOME and she worked on it all day Saturday and we had it working by mid-day on Sunday. GPS connects about as quickly as my Garmin now.)
Anyways, here are my preliminary observations from two short runs, including today’s run where I wore both the Garmin and the Bia.
Yes, it was super hot out. Yes, I’m dripping sweat.
- Accuracy: The Garmin and the Bia were only .03 apart, so I’m going to say the accuracy is good.
- Comfort of the watch band: I have really small wrists and wear the small band on the Garmin on the second hole. It slides around a lot when I get sweaty. The Bia is infinitely adjustable, so I was able to get it comfortably snug and didn’t really notice it the whole run.
- Comfort of the watch face: I like both the Garmin and the bia. The bia is definitely lighter.
- Visibility of the watch face: I prefer the Garmin because the numbers are bigger, but the bia is fine.
- Usability: I like that I’ve been able to customize my Garmin screen, but I know the bia is new and still improving (and I do love that it can be constantly updated without buying new).
So, all of the above things considered, I think the bia is a good option.
Here’s where the jury is still out for me: the Go Stick.
It’s bigger than I expected. It’s not huge, but it is longer than I thought it would be and it’s a bit heavy. So far, I’m still working to find a place to wear it. The first time I clipped it on pair of loose shorts and ended up with irritated skin. At the company’s suggestion, I tried again with a skirt with spandex shorts.
Here’s what my side looked like after 3 miles:
Thankfully, here are lots of other options (hat, water bottle holder, pocket) that don’t involve having it against my skin, so I’m not giving up yet. Next up is trying it in the side pocket of my running skirt.
I’ll be wearing both the bia and the Garmin in my half marathon this weekend (geek, much?) I’ll have an updated report on it next week.
Do you have a bia? Where are you wearing the Go Stick? What do you think of it so far?
Disclaimer: I helped fund bia through the Kickstarter. All opinions are my own.
I think the Bia is A LOT more comfortable to wear than my Garmin 305. The Garmin always rubbed my wrist bone. The absolute best thing about the Bia, though, is that it automatically uploads my runs to their log. I don’t have to plug it in to my computer or anything. Hands down, that is its best feature for me, along with the automatic wireless updating that goes with it. Fortunately, I haven’t had to use the SOS feature, but it’s nice to know it’s there. I have had some trouble with the accuracy, but I agree that their tech support is outstanding.
I’ve heard some pretty mixed reviews from the Bia. I think I’m going to stick with my Garmin for now, but I have a feeling that as Bia becomes a more mature company, they will become a contender.
Oh, interesting! There are so many new products like this but no one seems “perfect” yet.
I enjoyed reading your review of the BIA. I have been seeing pictures of them but hadn’t yet read any detailed reviews. It is helpful to read your pros and cons. I am guessing they still have some kinks to work out but can’t wait to see what changes they make.
There are definitely some good things going on with them, so I think we’ll see some great improvements. I just need to come up with a good way to use the go stick.
Interesting, I’ve heard of the Bia, but didn’t know much about it. It does look a bit awkward though, I’d like to hear more about your experience as you use it more!
I also helped fund Bia through kickstarter. I’m struggling with the Go stick. The Bia’s definitely more comfortable to wear but I like the big screen of my 305 too. Gotta try a few more runs with it.
Glad I’m not the only one having issues. I sort of feel like I’m doing something wrong, but I just haven’t found a place I like to wear it yet.
Hmm…. I had not heard of Bia before reading this entry! I have a Garmin 220 and I LOVE it, so I probably won’t branch out to anything new, but it’s always nice to hear about other things, just in case!
I’ve been babying my garmin along for ages, but it’s on its last legs. I’m thinking I may need to get a new garmin though.
The size and awkwardness of the Bia is what did it in. The watch was ok, but I hate hate haaaaaate velcro. I found a way to make it less annoying and then the watch was fine. But the size and required placement of the Go Stick was too much for me. I bought this for the intent to have it last a 24 hour race, and no way would I be able to do that with something that size. I expected it to be more the size of an iPod shuffle and it’s like 5 times that big.