Running Watch

lisawilkes20

For the runners on here. Which do people prefer, Garmin Frontrunner 235 or Garmin Frontrunner 625 or TomTom??

MeanderingMammal

Key questions become around how much running you do, and what other sports.

Personally I'd suggest the 235 as a reasonably priced, good watch. The 630 doesn't bring a huge amount more to the event.

lisawilkes20

I'm new to running, started a beginners class last May, so I dont need an all singing & dancing watch. I bought a tracker watch not realising I needed GPS which it does'nt have, so I take my mobile out with me, which I would prefer not to do. I'm with a group of runners not alone so I dont need my mobile on me really. Thanks for reply

MeanderingMammal

Personally I run marathons and ultras with a Forerunner 310xt, about £90.

Perfectly adequate

TavistockToad

I have the 225, which I love

lisawilkes20

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

Personally I run marathons and ultras with a Forerunner 310xt, about £90.

Perfectly adequate

Great! Thanks.
I wish I could run alone, as I'm finding it hard to be motivated with the dark cold nights, but I could find time during the day, but I just seem to give up with no one to chat to

lisawilkes20

TavistockToad wrote: »

I have the 225, which I love

Great. Thanks for that

BrianSharpe

I'd be inclined to think the 625 may be a bit of overkill unless you're a serious data wonk (it tracks metric that would really be of interest to really competitive runners)

Personally I'd probably get the 230 over the 235 as I don't mind chest straps but the reviews on the 235 are pretty solid too...

https://dcrainmaker.com/2015/11/garmin-fr230-fr235-review.html

lisawilkes20

BrianSharpe wrote: »

I'd be inclined to think the 625 may be a bit of overkill unless you're a serious data wonk (it tracks metric that would really be of interest to really competitive runners)

Personally I'd probably get the 230 over the 235 as I don't mind chest straps but the reviews on the 235 are pretty solid too...

https://dcrainmaker.com/2015/11/garmin-fr230-fr235-review.html

I'm not sure if I need the heart rate bit, so I'm more likely to go with the built in one rather tban another piece of equipment to wear as well. Thankyou

lisawilkes20

BrianSharpe wrote: »

I'd be inclined to think the 625 may be a bit of overkill unless you're a serious data wonk (it tracks metric that would really be of interest to really competitive runners)

Personally I'd probably get the 230 over the 235 as I don't mind chest straps but the reviews on the 235 are pretty solid too...

https://dcrainmaker.com/2015/11/garmin-fr230-fr235-review.html

Just read all the info! Thanks for that link

spiriteagle99

I am very happy with my Garmin Forerunner 15. It has a HRM, which I rarely use, and has enough battery to get me through a marathon, but is very basic and simple to use, which I like. I just need to know my pace and distance. The GPS maps my runs. I don't need much more. It's also much cheaper than many of the others.

unrelentingminx

I have a TomTom runner. Doesn't do everything under the sun but it tracks my distance, speed, cadence etc and will connect to some HR monitors so it's good enough for my needs. Battery life is amazing and always quick to find a GPS signal.

dewd2

The 235 is a solid choice. If you don't care about the HRM, the 230 will be cheaper.

I have the 630 and have a love/hate relationship with it. Had I known how sensitive the touch screen was going to be I'd have gotten the 230.

pomegranatecloud

I love my 235

Ryokat

I have the Garmin Forerunner 201, so old school, haha! Not particularly helpful to you except that I think Garmin is a good brand. My Forerunner 201 still works and it's from 2003.

bshedwick

I'm pretty partial to Garmin. Although I have the Vivoactive HR, if I was looking for just a running watch, I would go with the 630.

z4oslo

I have 735xt with extra pulse belt.
It was a little overkill, as I dont do triathlon, but I got a good deal on it, and I also wanted Strava live segments.

I use the watch only when running on a treadmill, and pulse belt when running outside.
Easy to use, and it uploads to just about everything, like strava, trainingpeaks, sporttracks etc.

_NMW

I had the FR35 - basic model with optical HRM, but upgraded to the FR235 as my fiance stole my FR35 and I decided I wanted more features. Both are great.

ritzvin

Depends which features are important to you. I remember opting for the 920XT over the next model down (600-something)(I would go with a Fenix if I was buying today since I would love to be able to load basemaps and has other features that are better for hiking/mountaineering) because of longer battery life and better screen visibility (the other was a touch screen). I also wanted to be able to load custom interval workouts and a map course (at least one of these features wasn't available on the next next model down (200-something)). (Note-Models have changed several times over since I bought mine).

irandamay

I like my 220, and would probably go for the 230, because I really like my Scosche Rhythm+ armband HRM. I got it because I had the 220 and didn't want a chest strap, but it's really comfy and I forget it's there. My watch always is sliding around on my wrist, and I don't know how accurate that would make the wrist based monitor.

lisawilkes20

spiriteagle99 wrote: »

I am very happy with my Garmin Forerunner 15. It has a HRM, which I rarely use, and has enough battery to get me through a marathon, but is very basic and simple to use, which I like. I just need to know my pace and distance. The GPS maps my runs. I don't need much more. It's also much cheaper than many of the others.

Thanks, I'll read up on that one

lisawilkes20

Thankyou everybody. You have all helped & given me some good info

lisawilkes20

dewd2 wrote: »

The 235 is a solid choice. If you don't care about the HRM, the 230 will be cheaper.

I have the 630 and have a love/hate relationship with it. Had I known how sensitive the touch screen was going to be I'd have gotten the 230.

Thanks for that, I was wondering, if it was easier with a touch screen instead of having to press buttons, but maybe not!

scorpio516

lisawilkes20 wrote: »

dewd2 wrote: »

The 235 is a solid choice. If you don't care about the HRM, the 230 will be cheaper.

I have the 630 and have a love/hate relationship with it. Had I known how sensitive the touch screen was going to be I'd have gotten the 230.

Thanks for that, I was wondering, if it was easier with a touch screen instead of having to press buttons, but maybe not!

The buttons work every time.
I haven't heard anything bad about the 630 though.

FR230 + Scosche Ryhthm+ has been great to me. Better than the 405 + Garmin soft strap. Better than the 220 + soft strap. Better than the 230 + soft strap.

The FR405 had a touch bezel. Buttons too, but the bezel was to navigate through menus, etc. It was wonky. I had problems on occasion, but other people had problems all the time.

My FR220 was lost, not broken

dewd2

scorpio516 wrote: »

lisawilkes20 wrote: »

dewd2 wrote: »

The 235 is a solid choice. If you don't care about the HRM, the 230 will be cheaper.

I have the 630 and have a love/hate relationship with it. Had I known how sensitive the touch screen was going to be I'd have gotten the 230.

Thanks for that, I was wondering, if it was easier with a touch screen instead of having to press buttons, but maybe not!

The buttons work every time.
I haven't heard anything bad about the 630 though.

FR230 + Scosche Ryhthm+ has been great to me. Better than the 405 + Garmin soft strap. Better than the 220 + soft strap. Better than the 230 + soft strap.

The FR405 had a touch bezel. Buttons too, but the bezel was to navigate through menus, etc. It was wonky. I had problems on occasion, but other people had problems all the time.

My FR220 was lost, not broken

It is not horrible but more of PITA. When running in the winter my long sleeves can change the screen and even start and stop my music. I have to keep the watch locked while running. One day while running in the rain I paused my watch to use the restroom. A rain drop hit the screen and saved the frickin' run.

Ryokat

I have a question for all you who have the "newer" (newer than 2003) Forerunners. Does the watch need to have a clear view of the sky, or can it be worn under sleeves? The Forerunner 201 needs to be worn on the outside of my jacket (but it is totally old school technology). I am looking to replace my old Forerunner and my Fitbit Charge HR with one device--thinking the Garmin Vivoactive HR will be a good option, but only if the GPS still works while being covered up.

OldAssDude

I have a Garmin fenix3 HR, a Polar V800, and a Suunto ambit3 Peak. The Suunto is more accurate, but has less features than the Garmin. The Polar is pretty good too, but again not as many features as the Garmin. The Garmin has much more features, but overt the year that I had it has been quite buggy. In Garmin's defense they have fixed most of the issues with software updates.

I think I did have the Forerunner 235 at one time that was pretty good, but the fenix3 HR felt much more well built than the Forerunner.

Garmin also announced the fenix5 which will be available in February.

ritzvin

If you search for dc rainmaker online, he has lots of very detailed reviews of running watches.

jennypapage

unrelentingminx wrote: »

I have a TomTom runner. Doesn't do everything under the sun but it tracks my distance, speed, cadence etc and will connect to some HR monitors so it's good enough for my needs. Battery life is amazing and always quick to find a GPS signal.

same here.it's a great watch for its price.

scorpio516

dewd2 wrote: »

scorpio516 wrote: »

lisawilkes20 wrote: »

dewd2 wrote: »

The 235 is a solid choice. If you don't care about the HRM, the 230 will be cheaper.

I have the 630 and have a love/hate relationship with it. Had I known how sensitive the touch screen was going to be I'd have gotten the 230.

Thanks for that, I was wondering, if it was easier with a touch screen instead of having to press buttons, but maybe not!

The buttons work every time.
I haven't heard anything bad about the 630 though.

FR230 + Scosche Ryhthm+ has been great to me. Better than the 405 + Garmin soft strap. Better than the 220 + soft strap. Better than the 230 + soft strap.

The FR405 had a touch bezel. Buttons too, but the bezel was to navigate through menus, etc. It was wonky. I had problems on occasion, but other people had problems all the time.

My FR220 was lost, not broken

It is not horrible but more of PITA. When running in the winter my long sleeves can change the screen and even start and stop my music. I have to keep the watch locked while running. One day while running in the rain I paused my watch to use the restroom. A rain drop hit the screen and saved the frickin' run.

When I had the 405, same things happened when the bezel was rubbed on anything. I had to lock it every time I ran.

scorpio516

Ryokat wrote: »

I have a question for all you who have the "newer" (newer than 2003) Forerunners. Does the watch need to have a clear view of the sky, or can it be worn under sleeves? The Forerunner 201 needs to be worn on the outside of my jacket (but it is totally old school technology). I am looking to replace my old Forerunner and my Fitbit Charge HR with one device--thinking the Garmin Vivoactive HR will be a good option, but only if the GPS still works while being covered up.

Under shirt sleeves is fine. Under rain jackets are fine. Under thick jackets? I'm not sure.
The new ones also get signal really, really fast. Both the x2x and x3x series I've found less than 15 seconds to get signal, usually less than 5s.