Any recommendations for training watches?

I have two.  A Garmin Swim 2 I use for swimming, and a Garmin Fenix 5s (?) I use for everything else.  The "multi-sport" watch won't measure heartrate while in swim mode.......which I did not know when I bought it.  It also lacks a stopwatch and a countdown timer (so if I have an interval that doesn't end in 5, like 36, 52, etc., I need a beep to say when to go).  Which is all to say that the "multi-sport" watch is pretty worthless.  But it does do stuff like track my VO2 Max, etc.  It really depends on what you are after.  I'm a swimmer who occasionally bikes or whatever else.  The cyclists who swim have a very different view than me (i.e. "if it isn't on Strava, it didn't happen").  The Swim 2 is a very useful tool to help me train.  It it not useful in broadcasting to my peer group that I worked harder than them 3 out of 7 days last week.

Can you tell I get annoyed at my tri-athlete peers who won't go if their watch isn't properly recording everything?

But seriously, if you are looking into a single device for multi-sport training, make sure that it will measure heartrate in the water.  Oh, and the calories burned algorithm is junk.  Doesn't matter if I do a fly set with my heartrate constantly exceeding my theoretical max, or if I tool around in the water, it gives me almost the exact same result per yard.  As is the yardage......any kick sets, underwater sets, or drills utilizing one arm at a time are not going to be picked up.  And the distance for open water swimming is highly suspect.  Easily 10% variable when comparing to other peers.  

Now that I think about it, the most effective watch I had was when I started a few years ago, just a Timex Ironman.  It had a stopwatch and a countdown timer.  No heartrate.  But honestly, anything beyond keeping up with intervals is more of a distraction than a training aid.

I have two.  A Garmin Swim 2 I use for swimming, and a Garmin Fenix 5s (?) I use for everything else.  The "multi-sport" watch won't measure heartrate while in swim mode.......which I did not know when I bought it.  It also lacks a stopwatch and a countdown timer (so if I have an interval that doesn't end in 5, like 36, 52, etc., I need a beep to say when to go).  Which is all to say that the "multi-sport" watch is pretty worthless.  But it does do stuff like track my VO2 Max, etc.  It really depends on what you are after.  I'm a swimmer who occasionally bikes or whatever else.  The cyclists who swim have a very different view than me (i.e. "if it isn't on Strava, it didn't happen").  The Swim 2 is a very useful tool to help me train.  It it not useful in broadcasting to my peer group that I worked harder than them 3 out of 7 days last week.

Can you tell I get annoyed at my tri-athlete peers who won't go if their watch isn't properly recording everything?

But seriously, if you are looking into a single device for multi-sport training, make sure that it will measure heartrate in the water.  Oh, and the calories burned algorithm is junk.  Doesn't matter if I do a fly set with my heartrate constantly exceeding my theoretical max, or if I tool around in the water, it gives me almost the exact same result per yard.  As is the yardage......any kick sets, underwater sets, or drills utilizing one arm at a time are not going to be picked up.  And the distance for open water swimming is highly suspect.  Easily 10% variable when comparing to other peers.  

Now that I think about it, the most effective watch I had was when I started a few years ago, just a Timex Ironman.  It had a stopwatch and a countdown timer.  No heartrate.  But honestly, anything beyond keeping up with intervals is more of a distraction than a training aid.

Thank you so much for all that great information! this helps so much!