An Apple Watch can track heart rate and cycling activity, connect to Bluetooth speed, cadence and power sensors
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The phone has an obvious cost advantage since you already paid for it.
Key facts
- An Apple Watch can track heart rate and cycling activity, connect to Bluetooth speed, cadence and power sensors, and display the workout on an iPhone through a full-screen Live Activity
- An old GPS-equipped phone can also serve as a good bike computer
- Today's bike computers can run GPS and navigation while keeping the display visible for many hours without touching your phone's battery
- For serious riders, they can be paired with power meters, heart-rate straps, cadence sensors, rear-facing radar and more via Bluetooth or ANT+
Summary
Your phone may be all you need until battery life, navigation or rough conditions start getting in the way. Most of what a casual cyclist wants from a bike computer can already be accomplished with a smartphone. A fitness smartwatch makes that decision more difficult. Google Maps provides bicycle directions in areas where it supports them, but there's one annoying thing if you're going somewhere where reception is not great: cycling directions don't work offline, even if you've downloaded the map of the area.