Which Garmin would you recommend?

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abijones75
abijones75 Posts: 116 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm looking at buying a new Garmin, I don't want to spend a fortune but want it for running so needs decent specs, gps and I want wrist based hr monitoring. I've been looking at the vivoactive hr and the forerunner 35, does anyone have either of these?
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Replies

  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    I would go with a FR over a VA for running.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    I have the 225, love it
  • Rebecca0224
    Rebecca0224 Posts: 810 Member
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    I have the vívosmart HR and love it. It took almost a month to get it calibrated to me personally so it was as accurate as possible. I have used it in the pool and had no trouble. It can be set in 4 activity modes run, walk, cardio, and other. I like the hr function and with me it reads close to what the doctor gets when taking my heart rate, we compared. I love the notifications and that it has a find my phone feature.
  • BruinsGal_91
    BruinsGal_91 Posts: 1,400 Member
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    For running; definitely the Forerunner. I have the FR25 (same as the FR35 but without the wrist-based HR monitor). It has helped me so much with my training.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    Rebecca0224 wrote: »
    I have the vívosmart HR and love it. It took almost a month to get it calibrated to me personally so it was as accurate as possible. I have used it in the pool and had no trouble. It can be set in 4 activity modes run, walk, cardio, and other. I like the hr function and with me it reads close to what the doctor gets when taking my heart rate, we compared. I love the notifications and that it has a find my phone feature.

    Can you elaborate on the bolded part? My vivosmart HR has been a huge disappointment.
  • Rebecca0224
    Rebecca0224 Posts: 810 Member
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    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    Rebecca0224 wrote: »
    I have the vívosmart HR and love it. It took almost a month to get it calibrated to me personally so it was as accurate as possible. I have used it in the pool and had no trouble. It can be set in 4 activity modes run, walk, cardio, and other. I like the hr function and with me it reads close to what the doctor gets when taking my heart rate, we compared. I love the notifications and that it has a find my phone feature.

    Can you elaborate on the bolded part? My vivosmart HR has been a huge disappointment.

    It was mostly trying to get the stride length correct. I walk with a slight limp on my right side so it takes time to get it accurate. It's important to get stride length accurate if you don't you get bad information(garbage in, garbage out).
  • kc286496
    kc286496 Posts: 5 Member
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    I've had a Garmin 10, 405, and now I use the Vivoactive. All have proven to be awesome running watches. You really can't go wrong with a Garmin. If you just need GPS capability, go with the least expensive model you can find that comes with a HRM option. The more expensive models have lots of bells and whistles but core GPS capabilities are all anyone really NEEDS out of a running watch.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,224 Member
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    I don't have that FR, but I do have a VA HR. It does very well with all the same running things as the 35, but adds an altimeter, connect IQ apps and a whole lot of other sports/profiles-like rowing and lap swimming, etc (which may or may not be important to you). It is ugly as sin (which is subjective of course), but it really is a great deal of watch and a great value and connects to just about any kind of ANT+ connection you might want to add later (like cadence or biking things). I'm not sure if the FR does that. The GPS tracks (therefore distance/pace/etc) and sensor connections are considerably better on my VA HR than my stupidly expensive Fenix 5s. The Va HR is really a great piece of technology.
  • pdo27789
    pdo27789 Posts: 120 Member
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    I have the 235, and love it!!! For me it was a toss up between it and the 630, but opted to get wrist hr.

    Customizable data screens, ridiculous battery life, fast GPS locking, glonas if GPS isn't enough, and plenty of widgets, apps, and data screens available in connect IQ.

    Feel free to message me if you have any questions. I don't visit the forums often these days.
  • brittyn3
    brittyn3 Posts: 481 Member
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    I am a runner and have the vivoactive HR. I loved it at first, but now I don't. It's underwhelming. I had an older version of the forerunner, which I loved, I just hated the hr monitor.

    The VA HR is great if you are novice looking for pace/distance/time. It's small and hard to see if you're tired. I've also had issues of stopping at lights and hitting the button, but not really hitting the button so my timer doesn't start again. The battery dies without much warning. As soon as it says low battery - it's going to die within 30 min if not less. Also, when you pause your run, the touchscreen allows you to delete it/save it. ANNOYING. If you're tired, and not entirely paying attention... it's so easy to "save" a run mid run.

    I can't tell you how many times this stupid watch died during a run (last time, I was running a PR 5 miler), or I accidentally didn't start it after a stop light b/c the button didn't engage, or freaking cleared the run. While I understand these things are mostly human error, I think it's safe to expect more warning before the battery dies than less than 30 minutes. I've had to teach myself the habit of checking the battery before I run....

    Long story long - go with the forerunner. I love love love Garmin, and my next watch will be a Garmin Fenix 5S. I'm just falling out of love with my VAHR. Plus it's so ugly lol. It's kinda bulky and just there.
  • magster4isu
    magster4isu Posts: 632 Member
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    I have the Forerunner 235 and I LOVE it.
  • wimdroid
    wimdroid Posts: 56 Member
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    brittyn3 wrote: »
    . I've also had issues of stopping at lights and hitting the button, but not really hitting the button so my timer doesn't start again.

    Long story long - go with the forerunner. I love love love Garmin, and my next watch will be a Garmin Fenix 5S. I'm just falling out of love with my VAHR. Plus it's so ugly lol. It's kinda bulky and just there.

    Mine autopauzes or is that an HR+ only feature?

    To the OP: if you do go for the VA, which by your description may very well suit your needs, go for the HR+
  • CMNVA
    CMNVA Posts: 733 Member
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    I have the Forerunner 35 and it works well and has a large readout (good for my aging eyes). I didn't buy it, my husband did and he is a several times over triathlete and marathoner so I figured he knows his running gadgets.
  • brittyn3
    brittyn3 Posts: 481 Member
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    wimdroid wrote: »
    brittyn3 wrote: »
    . I've also had issues of stopping at lights and hitting the button, but not really hitting the button so my timer doesn't start again.

    Long story long - go with the forerunner. I love love love Garmin, and my next watch will be a Garmin Fenix 5S. I'm just falling out of love with my VAHR. Plus it's so ugly lol. It's kinda bulky and just there.

    Mine autopauzes or is that an HR+ only feature?

    To the OP: if you do go for the VA, which by your description may very well suit your needs, go for the HR+

    Yeah, you can use that feature. I found that it would pause when it shouldn't. If I changed stride or shook my arms out. I turned it off. It also didn't start for me right away, took about 5 seconds after I started running before it would kick on again. Not worth the hassle if you're running at pace.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
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    I have a Fenix 5S, which is kind of spendy, but I love, love, love it!
  • abijones75
    abijones75 Posts: 116 Member
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    Duck_Puddle wrote: »
    I don't have that FR, but I do have a VA HR. It does very well with all the same running things as the 35, but adds an altimeter, connect IQ apps and a whole lot of other sports/profiles-like rowing and lap swimming, etc (which may or may not be important to you). It is ugly as sin (which is subjective of course), but it really is a great deal of watch and a great value and connects to just about any kind of ANT+ connection you might want to add later (like cadence or biking things). I'm not sure if the FR does that. The GPS tracks (therefore distance/pace/etc) and sensor connections are considerably better on my VA HR than my stupidly expensive Fenix 5s. The Va HR is really a great piece of technology.
    Duck_Puddle wrote: »
    I don't have that FR, but I do have a VA HR. It does very well with all the same running things as the 35, but adds an altimeter, connect IQ apps and a whole lot of other sports/profiles-like rowing and lap swimming, etc (which may or may not be important to you). It is ugly as sin (which is subjective of course), but it really is a great deal of watch and a great value and connects to just about any kind of ANT+ connection you might want to add later (like cadence or biking things). I'm not sure if the FR does that. The GPS tracks (therefore distance/pace/etc) and sensor connections are considerably better on my VA HR than my stupidly expensive Fenix 5s. The Va HR is really a great piece of technology.
    Duck_Puddle wrote: »
    I don't have that FR, but I do have a VA HR. It does very well with all the same running things as the 35, but adds an altimeter, connect IQ apps and a whole lot of other sports/profiles-like rowing and lap swimming, etc (which may or may not be important to you). It is ugly as sin (which is subjective of course), but it really is a great deal of watch and a great value and connects to just about any kind of ANT+ connection you might want to add later (like cadence or biking things). I'm not sure if the FR does that. The GPS tracks (therefore distance/pace/etc) and sensor connections are considerably better on my VA HR than my stupidly expensive Fenix 5s. The Va HR is really a great piece of technology.

  • abijones75
    abijones75 Posts: 116 Member
    edited July 2017
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    Ok so bit of background, I had a vivosmart hr, very basic! Got a forerunner 235 which I loved but then got seduced by the Apple Watch 2's good looks...after I kept talking about it and wondering whether to get one or not my hubby took it out of my hands by getting me one as a surprise birthday prezzie. It's pretty but it's nothing compared to my forerunner, and while I was using my Apple Watch hubby adopted my 235
  • abijones75
    abijones75 Posts: 116 Member
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    So I'm back using my old vivosmart hr, loving being back with Garmin connect app but I miss the gps so need a better watch. I've been looking at the vivoactive hr but it's sooo ugly! And massive. That's the one thing I didn't like about the 235, it looked ludicrous on my skinny wrist.
  • dudasd1973
    dudasd1973 Posts: 275 Member
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    Doubt you'll find what you want in a smaller size than the 235. I love mine.
  • scorpio516
    scorpio516 Posts: 955 Member
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    abijones75 wrote: »
    I'm looking at buying a new Garmin, I don't want to spend a fortune but want it for running so needs decent specs, gps and I want wrist based hr monitoring. I've been looking at the vivoactive hr and the forerunner 35, does anyone have either of these?

    No you don't. Every other way to get your HR is more accurate.

    FR230 plus Scosche Rhythm+. The FR35 is fine, but the 230 is better in every way

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