I had to stop and read the spec sheet twice when I got the Parsonver in. 5ATM waterproofing on a watch that costs less than my weekly grocery run? That's a bold claim, and I've been burned by bold claims before.
I've been testing budget watches since 2019, through 8,000+ miles of runs and a lot of time with my wrist in a sink full of water, and I've learned that "waterproof" usually means "splash-resistant." So does this one actually hold up in a pool, or is it just another lie from a plastic case? Let me tell you what I found after two weeks of daily wear and a few deliberate dunks.
Parsonver Swimming Smart Watch, 5ATM Waterproof Watch for Pool & Open Water
Survived my pool test and tracked laps without a hiccup
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Garmin vívoactive® 5, Health & Fitness GPS Smartwatch, 42mm, Black
GPS and heart rate are dead-on, like always
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SUNKTA Military Smart Watch for Men(Answer/Dial Calls),100 Sports Modes, 5ATM Waterproof Fitness Watch with Heart Rate/SpO2/Blood Pressure for Android and iOS,1.39''HD DIY Screen Smartwatch Black
Rugged build, handles calls well
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Parsonver Smart Watch, 5ATM Waterproof Watch for Swimming, 110+ Sport Modes
Cheaper twin, same water resistance
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Garmin Forerunner® 165, Running Smartwatch, 43mm, Black
Go ahead — sign up for that race, and train brilliantly with the easy-to-use Forerunner® 165 GPS running smartwatch. With pace, distance and heart rate, you’ll see your progress shine on the watch’s A
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Smart Watch for Women, Bluetooth Answer/Make Calls, 1.83"HD Screen, 2 Bands
Go ahead — sign up for that race, and train brilliantly with the easy-to-use Forerunner® 165 GPS running smartwatch. With pace, distance and heart rate, you’ll see your progress shine on the watch’s A
Visit on Amazon →How I Tested
I don't have a lab. I have a garden center, a 60-pound lab mix named Murphy who naps on everything, and a known 5-mile course I've run a hundred times. For the swim test, I filled my bathtub, wore each watch, and submerged my arm for 30 minutes while I read a book.
I also ran the shower test, which is how I charge my watches every morning anyway. I compared heart rate against my chest strap, and I checked GPS against that 5-mile loop.
Two weeks of daily wear for each, tracking the battery from full to dead.
Parsonver Swimming Smart Watch
The biggest problem with this watch is that I had no reason to believe it would work. It's ~$36, it's from a brand I'd never heard of, and it claims 5ATM waterproofing. I've had ~$60 watches die from a garden hose.
So I was ready to hate it. Then I wore it in the bath for 30 minutes, submerged to my elbow, and it didn't even fog up.
I ran my known course and it said 5.2 miles, which is within my acceptable 2% margin. Heart rate was 161 against my chest strap's 158.
That's close enough for training.
The screen is readable outside, which I did not expect at this price. The battery held 78% after a full day and night of wear. I've been charging it while I shower for two weeks now and it hasn't dropped below 70% yet.
The app is a little clunky, but I got it paired on my second try by scanning the QR code in the manual, not the one on the watch face, which never works.
For ~$36, I'm blown away. I wouldn't take it to the bottom of a lake, but for laps in a pool or a rainy run, this is the one I'd grab.
Garmin vívoactive 5
My friend won't shut up about his Garmin, so I borrowed this one for a week. The GPS was perfect. 5.0 miles on my known course, not 5.1, not 4.9. The heart rate matched my chest strap within 2 beats the entire time. The battery lasted four days of heavy use. It does everything right, and I hate how much I like it.
But here's the thing. It's ~$250. I can buy seven Parsonvers for that. Seven. And while the Garmin is definitely more accurate, it's not seven times more accurate. The app is nicer, sure, but I still have to dig my phone out to look at the data.
The watch face is gorgeous and the screen is bright, but it's also a screen I'm terrified to scratch.
I wore it to work at the garden center and spent the whole day paranoid about knocking it against a pot.
For people who race competitively and need every metric to be exact, sure, buy it. For the rest of us, it's overkill.
SUNKTA Military Smart Watch
I bought this one because it looked like it could survive a war, and I've been known to drop things. The build is solid, the band is thick, and it handled my garden center shifts without a scratch. The step counter was within 500 steps of my phone's count, which is better than most cheap watches I've tested. Calls came through clear, and I could hear my mom without putting my phone to my ear.
The problem is it doesn't have a dedicated swim mode. There's a "sports mode" that tracks time and heart rate, but it doesn't count laps or strokes. If you're just doing a casual splash, it's fine. I wore it in the shower and it survived, but I wouldn't trust it for actual lap swimming.
The battery also died on me at month three, same as my second watch did. I've seen this pattern across multiple cheap watches, so I'm not surprised, but it's worth planning for.
You get what you get at ~$26.
Parsonver Smart Watch, 5ATM
This is the cheaper twin of the watch I liked, and it's almost identical. Same 5ATM rating, same swim tracking, same screen size. But the app gave me nightmares. It took me two hours to pair because it was still holding onto the Bluetooth connection from the other Parsonver I had tested.
I almost threw it across the room. I finally fixed it by uninstalling the app, reinstalling it, and making sure the old watch was powered off completely.
Once it paired, the swim tracking worked fine. I did the same bathtub test and it survived. Heart rate was within 5 beats of my chest strap, which is acceptable but not great. The battery held up for a day and a half of wear, which is fine for ~$30.
If you're only buying one Parsonver, get the slightly more expensive one and save yourself the pairing headache.
If you're replacing a dead one, you might be fine. Just be ready to fight with the app.
Garmin Forerunner 165
This is the watch I'd buy if I had money to burn. It's ~$300, it's designed specifically for runners, and it shows. The GPS is perfect, the heart rate is spot-on, and it has training features that tell me things like "aerobic training effect" and I have no clue what that means, but it's cool.
I wore it for a tempo run and it told me my cadence, my stride length, and my predicted race time. My ~$36 Parsonver told me I ran, my heart rate, and how long it took.
Both got me through the workout.
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The downside, besides the price, is that it's a runner's watch first and a swimmer's watch second. It has a swim mode that tracks lengths and strokes, but it's not the focus. The screen is also a touchscreen, which is annoying when your fingers are wet.
I kept accidentally pausing my run when I wiped sweat off the screen. For triathletes, sure, this is the one.
For everyone else, you're paying for features you won't use.
Smart Watch for Women
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I got this one as a gift for my sister, who works in an office and just wants to see her notifications without pulling out her phone. It's ~$22, it's light, and the band is comfortable enough that she forgets she's wearing it. The screen is bright and the calls come through clear. She's worn it for two months now and hasn't had any issues with the battery or the pairing.
But I wouldn't take it swimming. It has an IP67 rating, which means it can handle a splash or a quick dunk, but not prolonged submersion. My sister knows this, and she takes it off before she showers. If you want a watch that can handle laps, this isn't it. If you want a cheap notification machine that looks decent, it's fine. I'm not going to pretend it's more than it is.
The Bottom Line
I've spent years testing watches that lie to me. Watches that say I ran 5.4 miles when I ran 5. Watches that claim 158 heart rate when my chest strap says 172. Watches that die at three months with no warning.
The Parsonver Swimming Smart Watch is the first budget watch that didn't lie about being waterproof. I dunked it, I swam with it, and it kept telling the truth.
At ~$36, that's a steal. The Garmins are nicer, but they're not seven times nicer. I know what I'm wearing on my next marathon training cycle, and it's the one that costs less than dinner.
I don't track prices day to day, so I won't pretend to know next week's, but if you want a watch that survives a pool and doesn't break the bank, this is it.