New! Garmin Forerunner 620/220 (Read 831 times)

ymmv


    I bought a 220 at the NYC Marathon Expo on Saturday 11/2. I wore it in the race.

    They were selling the 620 too.

    One really interesting thing for me was to see that it measures cadence. My cadence sure went down a lot in the last few miles. I had not suspected that.

    BillO


      I bought a 220 at the NYC Marathon Expo on Saturday 11/2. I wore it in the race.

      They were selling the 620 too.

      One really interesting thing for me was to see that it measures cadence. My cadence sure went down a lot in the last few miles. I had not suspected that.

       

      The 220 measures cadence without the HRM strap?  Could talk me out of the 620 if this is the case.

      Mysecondnewname


        Hot off the presses:  here is DC Rainmakers detailed review of the 620:  http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/11/garmin-forerunner-review.html

         

        and the 220:  http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/11/garmin-forerunner-depth-review.html

         

        At the end of the reviews, there is a 10% off coupon that will work for these watches at Clever Training

         

        According to DC Rainmaker, the 620 started shipping November 4th.

         

        Enjoy!

        stadjak


        Interval Junkie --Nobby

          I bought a 220 at the NYC Marathon Expo on Saturday 11/2. I wore it in the race.

          They were selling the 620 too.

           

          You  must have been at the booth before noon on Friday.  They sold the last 620 in front of me.

           

          It was such a weird setup: Garmin has a new product line coming out and they only brought a few to one of the biggest expos in the running world.

           

          I was amazed how light it was.  Also, it was nice to see the charging nodes on the back have a better configuration promoting more contact -- maybe this version won't have the charging problems of the 610.

          2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do


          ultramarathon/triathlete

            I bought a 220 at the NYC Marathon Expo on Saturday 11/2. I wore it in the race. 

            What happened to "nothing new on race day" ? lol

             

            A training buddy worked the NYCM expo as a volunteer for Garmin, said he sold some $40K worth of that new watch and that people (largely Europeans) were buying 3 or 4 at a pop.  The sales team made bank!

             

            I might buy one as a late birthday, early holiday gift to me.  I'll go read DCR's review first (I read his prelim review a month or so ago).

             

            There's also this HUGE gps map watch (not that the Garmins aren't themselves big) I think I saw on Rainmaker's website, I forget the name.  I got lost in a trail marathon 2 years ago, ran 27.6 or so and missed first place by 4 minutes. I could have used that watch then!  Anyway, I can't think of a reasonable reason to buy that one (for me at least) other than for that one race, but the full color google-maps lookin display was kinda neat. Huge though.

             

            The thing that interest me more than any other bit about the new Garmin is the pre-loaded maps and really fast gps signal catch.  I have stubbornly wasted what must be dozens of hours standing around a minute or two per run, stupidly waiting for a signal.  Like I can't run without recording my data Cool

            HTFU?  Why not!

            USATF Coach

            Empire Tri Club Coach
            Gatorade Endurance Team


            ultramarathon/triathlete

              "One really cool new feature on the FR220 (and the FR620) is the ability to set the auto-sleep setting to ‘Extended’.  In the past, if you were at the start line of a race the unit would try to go to sleep every 5 minutes if recording hadn’t been started.  Now, you can configure the ‘Extended’ option which gives you 25 minutes to do something (either start, or to tap a button)."

               

              Um, does this mean I could have quickly pressed start and stop and left my garmin in transition at a triathlon waiting for me to come get it after the bike portion?  In the past I thought I had to just suck it up and hope to get a signal when I was getting the rest of my gear swapped off the bike.  I must be the last to have figured that out. 

              HTFU?  Why not!

              USATF Coach

              Empire Tri Club Coach
              Gatorade Endurance Team

              stadjak


              Interval Junkie --Nobby

                "One really cool new feature on the FR220 (and the FR620) is the ability to set the auto-sleep setting to ‘Extended’.  In the past, if you were at the start line of a race the unit would try to go to sleep every 5 minutes if recording hadn’t been started.  Now, you can configure the ‘Extended’ option which gives you 25 minutes to do something (either start, or to tap a button)."

                 

                Um, does this mean I could have quickly pressed start and stop and left my garmin in transition at a triathlon waiting for me to come get it after the bike portion?  In the past I thought I had to just suck it up and hope to get a signal when I was getting the rest of my gear swapped off the bike.  I must be the last to have figured that out. 

                 

                Well, if the bike portion is less than 25mins, yes. Wink

                 

                Though, I think this shouldn't be much of a problem with the new GPS saving (assuming you don't have to do the Wifi thing to actually save a location; I can't tell from how Rainmaker worded it).  Assuming the GPS location is saved, it should be the 2secs to unsleep your watch and that's it.

                2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

                  Um, does this mean I could have quickly pressed start and stop and left my garmin in transition at a triathlon waiting for me to come get it after the bike portion?  In the past I thought I had to just suck it up and hope to get a signal when I was getting the rest of my gear swapped off the bike.  I must be the last to have figured that out. 

                   

                  I don't think so. On my 210 if you hit "stop" it will still go to sleep after 5 minutes. You would have had to leave it running--I guess you could hit "lap" right when you got to it and then delete that first long lap of zero distance after you save the activity?

                  Runners run


                  delicate flower

                    I like being able to toggle between run and bike with the 610.  Bummer to see that functionality removed...not that it really matters since I have a fancy schmancy wireless computer on my bike and only use the 610 bike data for the upload.

                     

                    The improvements to the HRM strap alone make the 620 tempting to buy.  Of all the little quirks that can pop up when using a Garmin, the spikes in HR readings piss me off more than anything and they occur way more often than they should. 

                    <3


                    delicate flower

                      By the way, I notice his screen shots show 18.5 miles at 7:00 pace.  That ain't bad!  Smile

                      <3

                      TakeAHike


                        I like being able to toggle between run and bike with the 610.  Bummer to see that functionality removed...not that it really matters since I have a fancy schmancy wireless computer on my bike and only use the 610 bike data for the upload.

                         

                        The improvements to the HRM strap alone make the 620 tempting to buy.  Of all the little quirks that can pop up when using a Garmin, the spikes in HR readings piss me off more than anything and they occur way more often than they should. 

                         

                        I won't discourage you from buying the 620, but I finally broke down and bought a Polar soft strap to go with the Garmin HRM.  This is one of DC Rainmaker's suggestions and it works great for me.  I also run with a footpod, so I get most, but not all, of the data the 620 provides.

                        2013 goals: 800m: 2:20 | mile: 4:59 | 5k: 18:59 | 10k: 39:59 | HM: 1:32 | Marathon: 3:20


                        ultramarathon/triathlete

                          I'm pretty sure I could go back to DCRM's website and read around a bit, but for simplicity sake, can anyone outline the differences between the new Garmin 620 and 220?

                          HTFU?  Why not!

                          USATF Coach

                          Empire Tri Club Coach
                          Gatorade Endurance Team

                          Mysecondnewname


                            Hi, Mendeldave:

                             

                            From:  https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/catalog/product/compareResult.ep?compareProduct=122785&compareProduct=129397

                             

                            Feature

                            Forerunner 620

                            Forerunner 220

                            Touchscreen:

                            Yes

                            No

                            History:

                            200 hours of activity data

                            1000 laps

                            Virtual Partner® (train against a digital   person):

                            Yes

                            No

                            Time/distance alert (triggers alarm when you   reach goal):

                            Yes

                            No

                            Training Effect (measures impact of an   activity on your aerobic fitness):

                            Yes

                            No

                            Additional:

                            V02 max estimate: yes

                            Recovery advisor: yes

                            Race predictor: yes

                            Running dynamics: yes

                            Watch functions include date and alarm.

                            Run/walk feature: yes

                            V02 max estimate: no

                            Recovery advisor: no

                            Race predictor: no

                            Running dynamics: no

                            Watch functions include date and alarm.

                            Run/walk feature: yes

                              I know these watches exist, but maybe in an alternate universe or something. It would be nice to get my hands on one of these watches before my knees go bad from all this running I do.

                              BillO


                                I think the touchscreen is a negative. It's flimsy and not ground breaking.