Forums >Gears and Wears>Garmin Forerunner 235
I am thinking about getting a Forerunner 235 as a replacement for my FitBit Charge HR that is falling apart. I have been using my phone as a way to keep track of my run data, but I think it is time for a change.
Does anyone have experience with the Forerunner 235? What are your thoughts on it? Is it worth the $330? Are there other watches that do the same for cheaper?
Thanks for the feedback,
Roland
I love mine and have been wearing it almost all the time since I bought it in May. I paid $250 on sale (it was a garmin 'mandated' sale so the price was the same for all vendors). I think it is worth it but I hate to pay retail so I would wait for a sale...
I also really like mine.
I had the 610 for a while and now have the 235 and am very happy with the change.
It took a little while to get used to not having a touch screen anymore, but you won't have to worry about that.
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
SMART Approach
Really like mine. I like not having to wear a HR strap. I don't really use the steps function. Got mine on Roadrunner (I am a member) when they offered a 20% off special.
Run Coach. Recovery Coach. Founder of SMART Approach Training, Coaching & Recovery
Structured Marathon Adaptive Recovery Training
Safe Muscle Activation Recovery Technique
www.smartapproachtraining.com
On a related note I put a tempered glass screen protector on mine. I have chewed up the screens on several gps watches but I'm going to try to keep this one nice.
It is absolutely worth it.
Out there running since dinosaurs roamed the earth
Definitely worth it for me. I upgraded from the 220, and its great to have the HR and the activity tracking additions, plus seems to be more accurate and picks up GPS a lot faster. I missed the sale that had it down to $250, but waited a while and the sale didn't come back, so paid full price at a local running store that gives me back 10% "rewards".
I bought one about 4 months back and love it. Some find the wrist HRM doesn't work so well for them but I have no issues other than it did seem to get very hot at times and felt like it was burning my skin. It wasn't of course and now I don't notice it. Good battery life, light, and nice clear displays. I'd like to think the predicted race times were accurate, but they are a bit beyond me . Great watch.
I switched from the FitBit Charge HR (like you) to the Forerunner 235 after a sea lion stole my FitBit. Yeah, long story. Anyway, the ForeRunner has been solid, easy to use, not too hard to configure to my needs, and very, very helpful in understanding performance vs. heart rate, elevation changes, and pace changes on the fly.
The 235 comfortable, fairly stylish (I have the black one with red trim), waterproof, customizable, and easy to use. If you carry your phone with you and have your Garmin Connect app open, you'll get split times, pace, duration, etc. The only negative for me is the weird charger. It's non-standard, a 4-pin alligator clip style that's specific to the Garmin. I don't carry the charger around (I'll lose it), so I can only charge it at home. That's fine because I only need to charge it about once a week.
The App (iPhone and PC) are great. Lots of neat features to analyze performance. And, you can customize the watch face, the data fields for activities (i.e., data displayed), and other apps like the weather, stop watch, etc...
I paid around $280 for a new one (including shipping) on eBay. There were a lot of them for sale ... I just did a buy-it-now because bids usually went higher or more often than not the seller would pull it if the price was below $280. So, to me, that's a good price.
I love my 235. The one thing I heard is the wrist HR monitor has issues with workouts where the HR goes up and down (such as weight lifting or hill repeats) but I haven't seen the issue. I also got it on sale for 249.00, but that is the same price as the 230 retail which is the same watch except it comes with a HR monitor chest strap you have to wear. It replaced my 310 vXT, and does some much more than it did.
Return To Racing
Besides current pace, does the 235 show average pace as you run?
By default, it shows current pace on one run page and lap pace on another - but you can configure just about anything you want - including average pace.
When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
I really like mine. I appreciate not having the touch screen, because that means I can wipe the screen off when it's raining and not have it change screens. You get a couple of customized screens that can show whatever you set it too, plus there are a few apps (like a compass), but I haven't really used that feature.
It has a ton of fun features that I would otherwise want a fitbit for, like the steps counting (with goal that auto-adjusts), sleep tracking, and move alarm (get off your butt every hour). But it also has more running features like V02 Max calculator, race predictor, and recovery advisor.