This product has been discontinued by the manufacturer. It's been replaced by the Garmin Forerunner 945, you may want to check out that review instead.
Today, Garmin has officially announced the successor to the FR910XT triathlon/multisport watch, the FR920XT. The swim-bike-run focused watch effectively takes all of the recent new features from a number of other new Garmin fitness devices and plunks them into this watch. Yet at the same time there’s also a number of features which aren’t seen elsewhere on Garmin devices such as cycling-specific VO2Max, a new metronome mode, and then support of Garmin Connect IQ, which allows companies to make apps for the watch.
I’ve had small windows of time with the watch over the past few months, so definitely consider this in the camp of a ‘first look’ post and not an in-depth review. Which means I’m mostly focused on explaining all the new features and functionality, versus deciding if it’s worth the cash (that comes in my full review). Sound good? Grab a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and let’s get started.
The New Features:
In many ways there are few major unexpected surprises when it comes to the FR920XT. This is largely because as most people assumed the feature-set really builds upon that established by the Garmin FR620 and Edge 1000 – Garmin’s latest cycling and running units. So one is squeezing out all the new features from those units and adding it to the FR910XT. Still, it’s a substantial list. Here’s a rundown of the purely new items (over the FR910XT):
– Addition of Bluetooth Smart, WiFi connectivity
– Addition of Daily Activity Tracking (steps, Sleep, etc…)
– Ability to create Internet connected apps, widgets, data fields (Connect IQ)
– Addition of Live Tracking (requires you carry a phone)
– A Color Screen (that actually really shows colors)
– Creation of Activity Profiles (allows you to create your own)
– Running Dynamics (Vertical Oscillation, Ground Contact Time, Cadence)
– Recovery Advisor, Recovery Time, Race Predictor
– Cycling VO2Max
– PR’s (Personal Records)
– Regular Watch Mode
– UltraTrac (for up to 40 hours of GPS activity…with ANT+ sensor data)
– Addition of GLONASS (for increased GPS accuracy)
– Garmin VIRB action camera control
– Indoor Treadmill support (without a footpod pace/distance)
– Metronome Functionality
– Swimming Drill mode (as found on Garmin Swim, Fenix2)
– Swimming Interval Rest Timer
– Racing against past performances, downloaded performances
As you can see, while there are some completely new things (like the metronome and cycling VO2Max), virtually all the remaining features can be found in other recent Garmin products (FR620, Edge 1000, FR15). Which, I’ll point out might actually be a good thing – as it means those particular code chunks have had time to ‘bake’ a bit more and get the bugs worked out.
Now, there are a few things that many people saw in the wild rumor mill that aren’t in the FR920XT, specifically:
– No support for heart rate while swimming (though, there should actually be a workaround there with Connect IQ)
– No optical heart rate sensor in the unit itself
– No 3G/cellular connectivity
– No Bluetooth Smart sensor support (i.e. BLE heart rate sensors)
– No Di2 support at this time (though, this too could likely be added in Connect IQ)
– No small ponies
Also, note that the screen is not touchscreen. For a triathlon watch where it’s all about water, I think that’s probably a good thing at this point.
To that end, this post will largely focus on all the new stuff. In general, unless I specify otherwise in this post you can assume all the previous FR910XT functionality is carried over. So everything from indoor/outdoor swim metrics to regular GPS running/cycling recording to power meter functionality and anything else that’s been on the FR910XT or the FR620, is here. In my full in-depth review (based on final firmware/hardware), I’ll dive into all those regular features like I always do.
But in the interest of most folks who just want the new stuff, we’ll keep it quick and short here. Actually…who am I kidding? Nothing is short or quick here. And for those not so into reading and photos, I’ve put together a bit of a video detailing my first tri with it, as well as the analytics side of the data afterwards. You can watch that below:
With that, let’s start diving into the details!
Colors, Size, & Weight Comparisons:
The FR920XT comes in two color variations, seen above. They are a red/white option and a blue/black option. Like all previous multisport watches, there is only one size of the watch (meaning, not separate sizes for women or men).
The FR920XT reduces its size a bit compared to the previous FR910XT. To begin, it’s effectively the same thickness now as the FR620, which makes it pretty darn thin:
Here’s a quick glance at the difference in size between the FR920XT (right) and the FR910XT (left). As you can see the screen is similar in size though slightly smaller, additionally, the outer shell has shrunk a bit. Note, in the below image the status bar at the top is showing, but that disappears after a few seconds giving more viewable screen space (as seen in other photos here).
And looking at the Fenix2 (regular and special edition), it’s got a substantially bigger screen size, though the overall width/height of the watch isn’t terribly different – just rectangle instead of square.
You can see quite a difference in thickness there as well:
And for completeness, here’s a few on my wrist, and one with the Fenix2 on my wrist:
Next if we look at the color differences you’ll see it’s much more vibrant than the FR620 was, which didn’t really use the colors for any practical purpose – nor did it have terribly sharp colors.
Finally, weight-wise the FR920XT sits in at 61g, a reduction of 11g from the base FR910XT which is at 72g (without quick release kit).
Daily Activity Monitoring & Regular Watch Mode:
The FR920XT adds to it all of the common daily activity monitoring/tracking functions found in typical activity trackers like Fitbit and Garmin’s Vivo line (Vivosmart, Vivofit). These metrics include daily steps, step goals, distance walked, calories burned, and sleep. Most of these specific metrics will also be transmitted to Apple’s Health Kit (which is semi-implemented right now).
You can see your daily activity on the above page, which shows your progress towards the daily goal, as well as metrics related to that. This page is accessible from the lock screen by just pressing the up/down side buttons. Like other Garmin Vivo devices, the step goal is dynamic and will shift slowly from day to day depending on your step count trending. Thus if you walk more, the goal will increase. If you instead watch more Ironman Kona TV marathons, the goal will likely decrease.
Additionally, the unit includes a move alert, which will trigger if you’ve been sitting idle too long – a reminder to do something. You can always override the goal setting, as well as simply turn off activity tracking altogether.
The new activity monitoring function is also directly accessible on the watch-face home page. The watch mode is now accessible 24×7 in non-GPS mode for 33 days without having to re-charge the battery. And if you have activity monitoring and smart notifications enabled, it’s about 30 days of battery (1 month). If you turn off activity tracking, you’ll get 4 months in straight watch-only mode.
This is a significant change from the FR910XT in a lot of ways, but most notably in that it didn’t offer a regular watch mode at all.
The unit also supports the creation of a single time alarm, to help you wake up at 4:45AM for that joyous morning swim session (or not, as in my case).
Now I will say that when it comes to the endurance athlete, sometimes less is more here. Meaning that if you’ve gone out and done a 120 mile long ride followed the next day by a 20 mile long run, it’s quite likely that the end-state goal shouldn’t actually be to hit 10,000 steps for the next day. Instead, recovery is likely a better approach. In that respect, Garmin doesn’t quite seem to have the same cohesive picture of activity total (including steps) vs recovery that the Ambit3 has. I’m not sure if it’s a significant loss as the FR920XT still has recovery time inclusive of those activities you do in sport modes.
Wireless Connectivity (Bluetooth/WiFi), Smartphone Notifications, Live Tracking:
The FR920XT adds in all of the wireless capabilities found on the FR620 that was released roughly a year ago. That means it starts by adding in Bluetooth Smart phone connectivity. This connection to Android and iOS phone allows for the following functions:
– Live Tracking
– Completed workout uploads
– Transfer of Step/Sleep data
– Ability to transfer scheduled workouts
– Firmware updates
– Course transfers
– Satellite pre-population data
– Smartphone notifications
Smartphone notifications enables your iOS or Android device to send notifications to the unit from apps or services. For example, incoming calls or text messages, or an update from Twitter or other critical apps like Words with Friends.
Live Tracking enables you to send your current location as well as ANT+ data (like heart rate, power, cadence) via your phone to friends and family tracking you. They’ll see where you went and where you are. This feature works exactly like the FR620 (rather than the Fenix2) in that it does allow concurrent ANT+ data transmission and recording a swell as location transmission via Bluetooth Smart. Note that some races prohibit the use of cell phones, so you’ll want to double-check that before you get DQ’d.
In addition, some connected features are also available via WiFi. For example completed workouts can be uploaded via WiFi, as well as download of firmware updates and satellite pre-population data.
Satellite pre-population data (officially known as EPO, Satellite Ephemeris), allows the unit to predict satellite locations and thus allows for super-quick satellite reception, typically within 10 seconds or less. So yes, just like in EPO doping, the EPO for these devices makes it faster too.
In using units in three different global locations, I found that all three picked up satellites within 10 seconds, and in one case the unit hadn’t been turned on in that country previously. The EPO data can be downloaded for 7 days in advance.
(Update: Apparently not, this page seen below was only on one beta unit I happened to grab photos for.) This information can be quickly checked via a handy little page in the settings menu, showing you the current age of the EPO data, and when it expires. Sorta like the date stamp on a gallon of milk:
Anytime you connect the device to your phone, WiFi network, or computer (with Garmin Express installed) it’ll automatically pull updated EPO information.
The FR920 adds in many of the same functions found initially in the FR620 and then in the Fenix2/Fenix2SE. For example, it now supports Running Dynamics, which is the collection of running metrics that include Vertical Oscillation and Ground Contact Time. These metrics come via the HRM-RUN heart rate strap. The strap also provides cadence, however, the unit itself will do wrist based cadence without any heart rate strap. And further yet, if you have a footpod you can get cadence there too.
In addition to Running Dynamics, the unit supports VO2Max estimation on not only running, but also cycling. This is the first Garmin unit to support VO2Max estimations on cycling. To get such estimation, you’ll simply do your normal rides. Ones with slightly more intensity will help give more accurate results however.
Next, there’s Race Predictor. This takes the estimated VO2Max values and then corresponds it with data for your particular gender and age from the Cooper Institute to determine the theoretical best case time for a given distance. Note that this doesn’t mean you’ve trained enough to do so, but rather just that your VO2Max would allow you to do so.
Additionally, for astute readers, you’ll note that these figures below are a bit low for me. This was just on a watch I happened to borrow, so the numbers were for someone else.
Finally, there’s Recovery Advisor and Recovery Time. These aim to give you information about how quickly you’re recovering. Recovery Advisor will display about 6-10 minutes into an activity and let you know how recovered you are from your previous workout. I’m interested to see if this has improved over the FR620, which I found is ‘too nice’, and rarely tells you that your recovery is ‘Poor’ (ok, never tells you that). Note that Recovery Advisor will not use step activity from the activity monitor, but only heart rate based activity data. This is because it’s looking at heart rate variability to determine its results.
Meanwhile, Recovery Time is a post-workout thing that tells you how much time it’ll take to recover from that workout.
For multisport athletes the recovery time should best be judged more along the lines of ‘how much time until the next really hard workout’, rather than just any workout.
Training Calendar, Racing an Activity (Virtual Racer):
The FR920XT carries into it the Training Calendar, which allows you to download training plans and scheduled workouts from Garmin Connect into your watch. These workouts are sync’d each time you sync your watch, and then can be executed on the watch itself. They are always structured workouts with specific steps. On Garmin’s site it offers specific training plans for different running, cycling, and triathlon events. These training plans comprise specific workouts for certain days of the week that will then appear on your watch to complete on that given day.
Next, is ‘Race an Activity’, better known as ‘Virtual Racer’. This feature took a bit of a break within the FR620, so it’s good to see it’s not been cut from the FR920XT. In the case of the FR920Xt, it’s been expanded a little bit however and split into two specific sections.
First is the ability to race your past efforts that happen to be on the watch. For example, if you run the same route each week you could race last week’s effort. It’ll then show where you are in relation to that time last week during your run.
Secondly, you can now easily send other activities (not yours) to the watch. For example, you could send a Pro Athlete’s training or racing file to your Garmin (assuming they’ve set that activity file as public), and then race against that. The same could be done from family or friends for given routes/races. For example, I could go run a 39 minute 10K on a specific course with specific speed sections, then give it to The Girl to go execute and follow the same pacing.
Indoor Treadmill Mode, Metronome:
The FR920XT follows the FR620 and adds an indoor treadmill mode that doesn’t require a footpod to be utilized to gather pace and distance. This means you can get both metrics indoors (or in places with no GPS signal like tunnels) without paying extra for a footpod.
Of course, the accuracy of such technology for pace tends to be a little…variable. I haven’t had a chance to test the FR920XT’s treadmill accuracy, but in recent tests on both the Fenix2 and FR620 (which uses the same technology), I’d give the accuracy a ‘B+’ grade. Sometimes it’s better, sometimes it’s worse. It’s rarely (never) perfect for me, but each person has different running styles. It’ll be something I’ll be testing in more detail in my in-depth review. For cadence data (also gathered from the wrist by default), I find it virtually spot on.
Next, Garmin has added one feature completely out of left field – which is the metronome. This functionality allows you to set a specific beat, typically a run cadence, which can be used for anything from running drills to trying to maintain a specific stride rate.
Within the feature you can set the specific cadence and it’ll beep just like a traditional metronome would. You would then align your footsteps to that. You can also set an Alert Frequency, which will allow you to reduce how often the beat happens, such as every 2,3,4, or 6 beats. Further, you can at any time hold down the menu button and select ‘Mute’ to tell the metronome to STFU.
Generally speaking there’s a strong link between running cadence and running efficiency. This is interesting because this falls inline as a component that could be used to actually improve the Running Dynamics metrics you get. I’ve often lamented that Running Dynamics metrics were more about marketing fluff than actual beneficial things that were/are scientifically proven based on a training methodology. With the metronome you could leverage that for various drills and/or focus on running turnover.
Swimming Features:
There’s been a few minor swim enhancements. First is that the unit now adds the Swim Drill mode that was found in the Garmin Swim watch (and on the Fenix2 watch). This mode allows you log drills that might not be easily recognized by the watch, and then simply lets you enter a total distance for those drills.
The second item is a more clear interval/rest timer for swimming. This makes it a bit easier to see how long the previous interval was and then what your current rest time is. This is useful so you can setup a timer for how long your rest should be and then keep each set consistent.
Note that it doesn’t add full pre-defined structured workout support for swimming however like in running or cycling.
The FR920XT largely keeps the status quo when it comes to sensor support, which means it natively supports the following ANT+ sensor types previously found on units:
– ANT+ Heart Rate sensor
– ANT+ Bike Speed Sensor
– ANT+ Bike Cadence Sensor
– ANT+ Bike Speed & Cadence Combo Sensor
– ANT+ Bike Power Meters
– ANT+ Running Footpods
In addition, it also adds support for this new type of ANT device:
– Garmin VIRB action cam control
With that, the unit can now control your Garmin VIRB action cam, such as starting/stopping recordings as well as taking photos from it.
It does not at this time support either the Edge Remote, or Shimano Di2 data recording like the Garmin Edge 1000 does. Nor does it support the ANT+ weight scale (a loss from the FR910XT) or the rarely seen Fitness Equipment (ANT+ enabled gym treadmills/bikes/rowers).
Note that the unit officially supports the above ANT+ sensors, as I discuss in the section at the end around Garmin Connect IQ, it can now effectively support any ANT devices out there via custom apps and data fields. Thus, devices like BSX, Moxy and even the ANT+ weight scale could be added by 3rd party developers with relative ease. I would expect to see that occur pretty quickly by some 3rd party developer.
Also note that the FR920XT does not support Bluetooth Smart sensors, thus while there is Bluetooth Smart within the unit, it’s used for connecting to the phone and not for sensors. In discussing this with them, Garmin has “no plans” to enable Bluetooth Smart sensor support on the FR920XT.
Next, the FR920XT adopts the Activity Profile concept found on the Edge 510/810 and then in the Edge 1000. In the case of the FR920XT, it aligns more to the Edge 1000 variant as it includes the sensor pool concept. This means that instead of having to manage sensors separately for each bike, you simply pair all your sensors. Then, you define specific activity and multisport profiles. You can have up to 10 single-sport profiles, and 5 multisport profiles.
The unit will automatically use whatever ANT+ sensors are enabled when you start that profile, just like the Edge 1000. This actually works out fairly well and allows you to easily create a different set of data pages for training than for racing. Or perhaps yet another set different for a running race (single-sport) than a triathlon (multisport)
The FR920XT brings with it the navigation features found on the FR910XT (but not found on the FR620), while also adding in an UltraTrac mode found on the Fenix series, and then finally adding in support for GLONASS for increased GPS accuracy in some environments (note: WAAS is not included).
The navigation component has two core areas. The first is to follow downloaded courses (routes) that you created ahead of time on Garmin Connect and then synchronized to the watch.
The second is more ad-hoc navigation. In this scenario you can navigate back to the start, while also saving waypoints along the way. So you could save a waypoint for the start of a trailhead (or where you parked your car), and then navigate back to it (or forward to it).
In this mode it’ll show you exactly how far you are away from the waypoint. It was here that I was fairly impressed with the satellite accuracy shown on the device. As I stayed put to where the marker was, the accuracy of the unit stayed within 1-3ft (not meters, but feet). Then as I walked away it increased, and walked back to the same spot it went back to those 1-3ft. Garmin notes that they made changes to the antenna placement and positioning on the unit that should offer increased satellite performance.
All of this navigation also utilizes the units onboard magnetic compass.
As noted, the unit also supports GLONASS, similar to some of the newer Edge devices like the Edge 1000.
Next, the unit adds in an UltraTrac mode. In this mode you can reduce the GPS recording rate down to a less frequent rate, but enables you to get upwards of 40 hours of GPS-on/recording battery time. Outside of that, it’s now 24 hours of 1-second recording GPS data (a bump up from the previous 18-20 hours).
When in the UltraTrac mode you will see reduced data points however, so you’ll want to use this only in cases where your single activity is going to be more than about 24 hours. Otherwise, you’ll lose a lot of data/accuracy due to the reduced recording rate of approximately 15-20 seconds on, and 40-45 seconds off, per minute. The approach is slightly different than the past, because it’s more dynamic than previous units which simply jumped up and grabbed a data point every 60 seconds and went to sleep.
Further, unlike like previous units the FR920XT will record ANT+ sensor data at the same 1-second or smart recording rate in UltraTrac mode. The UltraTrac only impacts GPS updates. This is potentially huge for ultra runners that want to maintain that additional sensor data, but don’t mind as much on the GPS track being less accurate.
Garmin Connect IQ Apps Support:
Last week Garmin announced Connect IQ, which allows 3rd party developers to develop apps for supported Garmin devices. At the time of the announcement though, no such devices had been announced – making the announcement slightly…intriguing. The FR920XT however will be the first device to support Connect IQ apps. The unit will support all four modes of apps. These modes are:
Apps: Full blown multi-level/interactive apps Custom Data Fields: The ability to create custom data fields that you can add to any data page Widgets: The ability to create basic screens that pull data from other sources Watch Faces: The ability to create customized watch faces, from a picture of your bike to something more data oriented.
The real power for the FR920XT will be the ability to support sensor types that aren’t traditionally supported by Garmin. For example, I’d expect that someone like BSX would look at adding in support for their sensor via a simple app. The same could be true of anything from hydration sensors to aerohelmet position sensors.
I won’t re-hash all the Connect IQ functionality/components here, for that simply read last week’s post for all the details. Note that the Connect IQ app store doesn’t launch until January, so you won’t see that functionality quite yet on the FR920XT. However, developers can already download the SDK and there will be an updated emulator that’s clearly marked as the FR920XT soon (though, the default rectangle one is actually the FR920XT already…).
Garmin Connect Changes:
In addition to a slew of hardware changes, Garmin is also rolling out changes to Garmin Connect, one of which is specifically aimed at the triathlon crowd. That change is the addition of a new Multisport display mode for triathlon data on Garmin Connect. Currently (or, I suppose previously), the triathlon watches would split up each segment of your race/training day into separate activities. So one file for swim, one for bike, one for run, etc…
This made it somewhat complex to see the triathlon as a single cohesive event. Now, that’s changed. For Garmin FR920XT, FR910XT, FR310XT, and Fenix2 and Fenix2 Special Edition users, the new activity view allows you to see your triathlon as a single activity:
You can still view each individual leg if you’d like to, but this gives a cleaner picture of things. My understanding is this change should go live sometime today on the site.
In addition to this, Garmin has tweaked a few other areas. First is a new activity detail page. The new page cleans up the view a bit and includes a larger map and then consolidates the player feature that was on the second tab, as well as now shows cumulative lap times. I haven’t spent time with this new view, so it’s unclear to me yet if other things were ‘lost’ as part of it, for that we’ll have to dive into it later today.
Next, there’s now the ability to group different activity trackers together to determine which data you want from which devices. For example, you could have step data from the Vivofit, whereas have running data from the FR15.
Finally, there’s a new Group Leaderboard that ties into mileage and step goals.
This is primarily aimed at being more social with your daily activity amongst friends on Garmin Connect.
Product Comparison Charts:
I’ve added the Garmin FR920XT to the Product Comparison Tool, which means you can mix and match it against any other watch’s/unit’s that I’ve ever reviewed for feature comparisons.
For the sake of simplicity, I’ve just selected the Garmin FR920XT, FR910XT and Fenix2. However, you can easily make your own chart with any device you want here at this link.
The tables are updated dynamically and thus if/when things change that’s represented automatically in this section. And again, remember you can create your own charts easily here with any product you’d like.
Wrap-up:
There’s no doubt considerable new features in the FR920XT. I suspect it hits almost every feature people have been asking for, short of heart rate recording while swimming and Bluetooth Smart sensor support. Even more exciting in my mind is it will be the first device to support Connect IQ apps, which opens the door to tons of creativity for apps that people are already thinking about – but also apps people haven’t even considered. For example I suspect we’ll soon see people writing custom alerts and apps for remembering to take your hydration and nutrition during a race as well as even queue sheets for sections of a race on guidance. So much incredible potential there.
Of course, the proof will be in the pudding when it comes to validating there aren’t teething pains with the new device – be it stability issues or GPS accuracy issues. For that, I’ll need the remainder of the month with a production unit and production firmware. I can only hope that Garmin used the extra time they spent moving the previously planned release dates out from various earlier planned dates that the unit got extra testing and bug squashing. It hopefully helps that Garmin enlisted a group of athletes outside the company to beta test the device since this past spring.
As for availability, a semi-small number of units will be available at Ironman Kona (next week). Beyond that there are extremely limited numbers of units available globally for the next few weeks before production is significantly ramped up. Thus, expect that it might not be until at least mid or late November that Garmin is able to get through a backlog (or even longer). The whole early bird and worm thing is definitely at play here (just like it was for the FR620 running watch last year).
Next, the unit does see a slight bump in price to $449US for the base, and $499 for the version with the HR strap. I suppose this might be to match both Suunto and Polar triathlon watches which have higher prices (yet those units arguably have far less features).
Finally, as noted a moment ago, I plan to spend October putting the final unit through it’s paces. I’ve got a very accommodating work travel schedule that takes me to the perfect places that I need so I can easily get in the openwater swims, bricks and other triathlon focused activities that I need to beat the crap out of the device. Thus, expect a full Garmin FR920XT In-Depth Review the first week of November, just in time for me to decide whether or not the unit makes the cut for my 2014 Fall/Winter Sport Device Recommendations.
With that – thanks for reading! Feel free to drop questions below, and as usual I’ll try my best to post answers.
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Found things here useful? Wanna help support the site?
You can pre-order the Garmin FR920XT below now via Clever Training, which helps support the site and makes posts like this and other reviews possible. They also have all the other FR920XT accessories such as the quick release kit, extra colored straps and the like available. Here’s the link to the FR920XT pre-order page, you can use the drop-down menu on their site to choose which edition (with or without HR strap), and which color you want.
Hi Ray,
Any news on a European deal for DCR readers?
I want to order a 920XT but I am holding for any special European deal you may come up with, so that I also support your site.
+2 an European / UK Deal would be great as I’m looking to order one of these for Xmas (Xmas present from me to me ;), lots of paperwork though is not good when you clearly have limited time but fingers crossed :-D
Live Tracking testing request, if Ray and/or the room doesn’t know the answer:
What do my friends at home see for a Live Track that begins while having cell service, but then leaves the range of the cell towers, and then comes back?
I have a longer trail race coming up, and suspect that this might be an issue.
When you come back into range it should back fill the points for your friends. Live Track samples every minute so not a huge amount of data. I once did a run where started a LiveTrack but left my phone with my wife at a cafe when I went for the run. On returning the watch paired up again (so like regaining cell signal) just before the end of my run and the whole LiveTrack was there when I checked. I don’t think my wife was at all interested though :) !!!
Hello Ray. First of all very nice reviews you have here!
Just double checking on battery life with activity tracking and smart notifications ON all the time it’s 30 days? My Fenix 2 lasts one day with smart notifications enabled via bluetooth.
Yes, that’s correct. The difference is that the Fenix2 wasn’t designed for it from a hardware perspective. It was sorta added as a bit of a ‘Hmm, let’s see if we can get this figured out now on this hardware just for the heck of it since geeky triathletes might like it’. Technically, it was introduced on the Fenix/Tactix.
With the 920XT though, the underlying hardware supports the low-power mode that makes it work.
Just a quick note on something I noticed in your comparison chart, the 910XT does support training calendar. I used it for a half marathon back in May with a Garmin training plan. Then manually made my own for a couple of triathlons.
But, does the 910XT show the correct workout for the day you’re on? Or just have them sync’d and available for you to choose? I thought it was just being available, versus having it set for ‘today’s workout’.
Yes, the 910XT “mostly” provides you with the correct workout for the day. I think there is a time zone bug in there tho. When I would do late night workouts (past midnight GMT) it would recommend tomorrow’s workout. I am in California.
The Edge 500 works like you suggest, it just puts all of the workouts on the device, then you need to know which one to run. I used that for a while too.
I have all 16 weeks worth of my interval workouts on the GC calendar, and downloaded to my 910xt. You go to Scheduled and choose today’s workout (I only have one per day scheduled, so nothing really to choose) and it’s ready to use.
Ive looked over your initial look and comments a few times and don’t see this question.
Could you wear this day in and day out with it not being too cumbersome?
I own and love my FR220 but have been thinking of adding a vivofit. I don’t wear my FR220 all the time. If the 920 isn’t too bulky for 24/7 wear I might just upgrade.
Also, any scuttlebutt on maybe an early refresh of the 220/620 to 230/630 to include activity monitoring?
Thanks for the response Tim. While the face is larger it does not look like its thicker than the 220/620. I tried to look through the pics again and didn’t see a direct comparison, probably because the 220/620 and the 920 are not directly comparable products.
My only hesitation is that I currently would not use the swim or bike mode in the unit. I would love a 620 with a vivofit baked in, but the 920 might be my best bet. Plus it could give me a reason to expand into the bike/swim.
Now to determine if I get it do I want to get this before Disney Marathon Week in January where I will run 4 races (5K, 10K, 13.1, 26.2) in 4 days.
I have Firstbeat a few days ago asked which way the connection between the 920XT and Firstbeat Athlete done. The Firstbeat Technologies answer was:
The data from Forerunner 920XT is uploaded to the ATHLETE software the same way as from the Forerunner 620. Please see the first Q&A from our ATHLETE FAQ link to firstbeat.com
TBD seems appropriate then when that article only mentions the 620 and not the 920. I understand however that the file they mention there to enable R-R recording should work on a 920. Is that what Firstbeat confirmed with you?
I’ve just downloaded the enablement file and tossed it on the 920XT. After disconnecting the unit it showed ‘Updating’. I’ll report back after my workout later today to see if it actually did anything.
My Question to Firstbeat was: How Firstbeat Athlete arrives at the FIT-files from the Forerunner 920XT? Wie gelangt Firstbeat Athlete an die FIT-Files von der Forerunner 920XT?
For those that have the FirstBeat Athlete software, here’s tonight’s run file from the FR920XT after I had placed the enablement Fit on there. I’ve run out of computers to keep installing the trial version of FirstBeat Athlete on…
You have both the 620 and the 920. Will you keep both? The reason I ask, I have the 620 as well and a 510. I was thinking of using the 920 for multi sport mode and set a target and for swimming.
Would you still use both the 920 and 620 for runs?
Don’t think asking us two whether we will keep devices would give much of a representative answer as I have got a bag of “vintage” Forerunners and chargers back to the first 201 :) Ray must have a whole room of “stuff” !
Will I still use the 620 for running – yes – but I tend to wear 2 devices anyway – just in case something goes wrong (user error or otherwise) plus it gives more things to look at a glance …
For biking I would still use my Edge 810 as my main head unit – it’s just optimally positioned for me to see it and of course you can see far more stuff at a glance.
As Tim noted, neither of us are likely to part with any devices.
For me, initially I would have suspected that I’d go back to the FR620 after I’m done with the FR920XT review, but, it’s slowly growing on me as a runners watch (I prefer the smallness primarily of the FR620), so we’ll see.
Any chance that you can take a pic with the 620 and 920 side by side on your arm? I love all the features, but have a 220 now, but also want the cycling, and (eventually) swimming features, plus the battery life seems promising. I always run with my phone in an ultra backpack so the message push seems intriguing too so i don’t have to pull out my phone every time i get a message (at leas the important ones) :-)
Hi, Your impression about GPS accuracy and sensivity to pace variation?
I’ve a 610 and I usually run in a urban city “canyoning” scenario with boring GPS behaviours….
I’m reading about 920xt in order to see a real improvement related to GPS+GLONASS support.
If you scan through here Ray and I have both posted links to activities with the 920. Generally tracking looks fine. I tend to think that GLONASS won’t “improve” tracking to say military degree standard but rather reduce the likelihood of having a really bad track. As I understand it GLONASS just adds the ability for the unit to see those sats as well as the “GPS” ones so hence increase the likelihood of having enough sats locked on at any one time.
That’s true – using Glonass support only will not improve accuracy, since it from a single system point of view is slightly less accurate than GPS (see link link to navipedia.net). It’s the combination of both systems that make it out for better performance, hence you’ll have to both systems to get slightly better accuracy.
If GLONASS works in anyway as it does on chips used in mobile phones, GLONASS will only kick in when needed because not enough GPS-satellites are possible to connect to. So running where GPS-signals are weak (dense forest for example), GLONASS will obviously improve accuracy for that particular run.
I agree though, that in an open field with plenty of GPS:satellites available, GLONASS will make no difference.
There are apps for your smartphone. I’ve played with ‘GPS Test’ for Android. It shows you how many GPS/GLONASS satellites are connected. I usually get around 9 GPS + 3 GLONASS where I live
I think it’s a bit more subtle than that. GNSS chips have a limited number of channels, and generally will track as many GPS satellites as they can, then use any remaining channels for GLONASS satellites. The MT3333 chip which seems to be in the 920 can run up to 33 channels, so might do a little better even in fairly open spaces, though there atmospheric effects are probably going to limit accuracy. It would probably be able to track every satellite of either constellation that’s above the horizon with capacity to spare – that number of channels would only really get used when newer constellations like Galileo start coming online. Sounds as though your phone can handle 12, which is common.
My plan is to begin with Swimrun competitions in Sweden and I therefore wonder if the 920 can do multiple changes between running and swimming in one single activity?
Yes, you can simply tap the lower left corner (side) button and then change to any of your sports. You can seemingly do this as many times as you’d like, swapping around free-form.
Alternatively, you can always create a specific multisport order as well and pre-establish that.
As luck will have my RCX 5 needs to be replaced. Now I was looking at the v800 but had some reservations about Polar quality because my RCX5, HRM and Speed/Cadence quality leaves much to be desired.
Will it be worth it to wait for this to become available, or does Garmin also have its quality issues
I’m not quite sure what you’re referring to, but just for clarity – the FR920XT can connect to a HR strap, but while swimming and wearing a regular HR strap it won’t receive the data due to the ANT+ transmission not going more than about 1-2″ underwater (same for Bluetooth Smart).
Can you turn off all distance tracking (GPS / internal accelerometer / footpod / HRM-Run Cadence) for a specific activity profile like weight training? Thanks.
You certainly can use the HRM-Run for cycling.
As a matter of fact I have been using one (from the Fenix 2 pack) for the last 4 months without any issue.
You will however not get any Run Dynamics (or any cycling equivalent) while cycling though.
thanks for great review. Do you please have more specific information on availability/shipping date? Clever Training says “preorder – expected in November”. But I saw in the comments that some guys already have their 920XTs.
I`m asking because I`m from a small country in Europe and going to US soon. I can order one to my friend`s place and then take it back home with me. I have a limited time to pick it up though and wouldn`t want to leave 2 days before the package arrives.
Garmin has made a handful of units available at a few races globally, such as at Ironman Kona this past week (a couple hundred units), along with a couple of other races. Internationally a few smaller local running/tri shops have had luck getting in one or two units (this is sometimes done simply so Garmin can say they’re actively shipping to a given country…).
Beyond that though, all other retailers are waiting shipment notifications from Garmin. As noted at the bottom of the post, Garmin doesn’t expect to get anywhere near demand from a manufacturing perspective until at least early November.
As far as Clever Training goes, historically they are very conservative with ship dates. They prefer to underpromise and overdeliver, especially since most manufactures tend to do the opposite. The dates seen for availability on the site are for new orders placed today, based on the most recent information given from Garmin. Pretty much everyone globally is in the same boat there.
For Clever, they’ll be sending out weekly updates with the most current information from Garmin (as the have for other major product launches). As usual you can pre-order now and cancel anytime if it doesn’t meet your timelines, though, it does charge the card upfront (which would be refunded if you cancelled).
Thanks for the support for the blog here, via Clever Training!
I ordered on 10/1 and was promised a shipping date of 10/3. A few days later I was told I would have it by 10/17. Today I was notified that I should have it by 11/24. Definitely disappointed but anxiously awaiting.
Why do they charge the card upfront? Most place I am familiar with charge it only when they get the items and can ship them. I think it’s a shady business practice and allows them to get a free loan.
Honestly, as one of your partners it makes me think twice about giving them my business.
Mikey:
I ordered through them as i was able to get a discount and get the bundle for $449. They have not charged my card and will not until the item ships.
Sorry for any confusion. When I posted that I ordered through “them” I was referring to Road Runner Sports. I did not order through Clever Training and they in no way have ever mislead me, or made any type of promise regarding product availability. Sorry again for any confusion this may have caused.
How is the 920 managing run pace now? Like the Ambit ie through accelerometer cadence + GPS? Pace smoothing was an issue with some Garmin products so much so that users tended to use lap based pace rather than instantaneous pace reporting which would be too erratic?
Interested to know..it is a feature I love about my Ambit 2.
Bit of an obscure question, maybe, but I’m considering travel around areas like Central Asia – will I find the GLONASS support in this to be significantly more reliable than the GPS in, say, Fenix2? (Aside from the differences I’d already see in the US or Canada, I mean.)
Just because it’s a Russian system it doesn’t make it work better over Russia or near Russia than GPS. The strength comes from using the combined constellation which does improve accuracy everywhere in the world. link to navipedia.net
I believe the rules are quite clear in that you should be matching to the frame. After all, you’d otherwise have to keep crashing to ensure bruise matching.
Thanks for all the info Ray. I’ve placed my pre-order through Clever Training.
I was wondering: does the 920 support double-tap to turn on the night light as the 910xt did? That was very handy, and I miss it in my poor frequently-confused Fenix2.
Also, I’m really impressed by how you police these comments. Keeping comments civil is a Sisyphean task, well done.
Does it seem possible geocaching support to be added via third-party app? I find it curious that the Fenix2 sports this, but it’s missing from the 920XT. I wonder if it’s purely a marketing decision for product differentiation, or maybe solely an issue of each device reflecting its particular team of origin within Garmin.
Yes, I’d guess we’ll see a Geocaching app at launch from someone (perhaps an employee/example one). It’s probably one of the more direct and easy to implement things. Especially true since so many members of the Connect IQ team hail from the Outdoor Team, which has a much closer affinity to Geocaching than the Forerunner team.
Ray, As always, thank you for the great review. I currently wear a normal watch in addition to my vivofit. Do you know if the 920 activity tracker and the vivofit can reconcile steps at the end of the day if I wear my vivofit for the normal portion of the day and then switch to the 920 for workouts?
At the moment, when I go for a run, I wear the 910xt and vivofit on the other wrist. A very small “ask” really but would be great if the new model did reconcile this as I’m not too keen to wear the 920xt as my daily watch.
Thanks again!
PS – tried to enter a comment on your giveaway for the 920/Fenix 2 but there wasn’t a option to at the bottom of the comments section
Hmm, I’ll have to see. You have to specifically set one as the ‘Activity Tracker’ on Garmin Connect. But I haven’t checked to see if you can set the Vivo as the activity tracker, then do a run with the 920XT and get the step data fed into the daily total (at least on GC).
As for the giveaway, sorry for the minor snag – you should be able to enter now. :-/
Activity Tracking
What is activity tracking?
Some devices provide 24-hour activity tracking (steps, sleep, etc.), so you can get a full picture of your daily health. An activity tracker can only be used by one person at a time, not shared between friends or spouses. Garmin Connect will only sync with one activity tracker at a time. If you have multiple activity tracking devices, set the device you wear all day as your activity tracker.
Question about Multisport mode and the New Garmin Connect View for Triathlon data (which I think is great) and Strava auto sync.
In the old mode the Multisport activity was split into separate files (e.g. Run, Bike, Run) and now with the auto sync to Strava life was sweet.
Now the new view is showing the data file as one activity with a view to see the Run\Bike\Run (e.g. Duathlon) and it seems the sync to Strava has changed as all the 3 event have been logged as a Run (including Bike) and I am now he record holder for a lot of Segment. This has also skewed by personal bests for running.
Did you see this with the 920? Is it just a Fenix 2 thing? or just a Strava Thing which Strava will need to fix?
Very much doubt importing from US to UK will be cost effective. You will have to pay import tax and whenever have ordered stuff from US your package tends to help up in customs until you pay up. I forget the exact amount but recall added about £50 to a £200 purchase. It is sort of worth it as I could buy item in the UK. Wiggle have been selling some 920s in the UK as an “exclusive”.
Thanks for the reply. This behavior is different and definitely has changed since the Garmin Connect change to show all files in one page.
I have previous Triathlons showing as Swim\Bike\Run as separate files and as such did upload to Strava automatically correctly, Below are links to Garmin Connect for a Multisport event as separate files running firmware 3.90
Surprised for the cost that it doesn’t include an AC charger like with the 910xt. One doesn’t always have a pc around. I’ve found that charging with a pc or a simple plug in ac/usb is really slow. I’ve found the same with the Virb, that it charges much faster plugged into the garmn 910xh ac charger. Do you know if they have made improvement in the ability to charge by usb or would I be better off to keep the 910 XT charger and not sell it when I sell my 910xt?
I assume you can plug the usb cable into any standard usb charger. By now most people will have quite a few usb charging outlets in my locations. The 910xt charger is the most clunky charger I have (but I still use it and don’t charge my 910xt elsewhere…force of habit).
Yes that doesn’t answer the question I asked . Clunky or not the std usb charger in my experience has not worked nearly as fast. Difference of hours. I assume something regarding the charging current. So it there something in the new charge cables that work better? Which as I’vesaid before has’t been the case for either the 910xt or Virb.
Typically speaking USB charge times are purely a function of amperage of the specific adapter. For example, many iPad adapters are rated at 2A, but typically Garmin adapters for watches are rated at .5A. Depending on which port on your PC you used, it might vary.
Fwiw, using my laptop last night to change the FR920XT from 0% to 100% took about 2 hours.
Either way, many USB devices these days aren’t coming with power adapters given just how widely available USB ports.
That charge rate is similar to my experience as I went up 20% in 30 mins with a laptop USB port so 2.5 hours in all at that rate. Battery life is quite good on a 920 as I suspect, in most cases, about an hour’s “top-up” would see you back to 100% after using it that day.
After spending quite some time in defining what i need from a smart watch i have come up with one important thing for me that i cannot seem to find information on anywhere: Will it be possible to link this or any gps watch to a phone (IPhone) and have the Iphone give audio audio cues while pressing the lap/split button?
I spend quite some times running in mountains and when going uphill it is quite awkard to look at a watch (or a phone for that sake). I need a solution where i can press the lap button and have the phone notify me on my time, pace etc. Is this possible with this watch? :)
I am not aware of any way of doing that at present but maybe something that somebody may implement when Connect IQ comes online next year.
I use the Strava app as a bit of a “backup” and have set that to “talk” 1/2 mile splits to me which isn’t quite what you want but potentially useful and on the same lines.
Hmm, that’s perhaps one of the most puzzling files I’ve ever seen (especially since I actually understand/know the course fairly well).
Looking at the little player option, it’s like you started the run, and then a quarter mile in shut off the GPS. But, I can’t forse you actually doing that. Can you upload the .FIT file to some other random site to see if it’s by chance a GC issue (such as Strava, TP, MapMyFitness, SportTracks, etc…)?
It is very odd, The TCX file you can export from GC shows the last point with a GPS position was at 2014-10-12T12:34:05.000Z which looks about 9 mins after you started the timer (as GC shows)
It seems that every elevation reading was zero after then.
Also did you start very hard as HR is very high for that first 9 mins then drops right off. It does look uphill however but even so looks like a HR spike to me.
You seem to imply you started the timer late? I guess it is possible that starting the timer on the move may mean the GPS signal was weak initially and finally dropped out at 9 mins. I did once (and have seen others) have runs with the 620 where GPS would suddenly cut out like this and not return. The “problem” with these devices with the internal accelerometer is that it reverts to that when GPS is lost and so does not give GPS reception warnings like older Forerunners and maybe there is some issue where it does not revert back to GPS again – well assuming it ever found it again.
The whole story… I picked the 920 up at the Army Ten Miler race expo while picking up my packet. I took it home and set up some screens the way I like them… Pace, lap pace, and HR with time, distance and cadence mixed in. I also connected a HRM, HRM-Run and a foot pod. I know this sounds stupid… because it was stupid, but I never hit the start button, not even once!
While waiting on the starting line I turned it on and it synced with the HRM-Run, foot pod and established satellite reception. As I, along with 35,000 of my closest friends crossed the starting line I hit the button that was the start button on my 620, unfortunately, this is not the start button on a 920. In heavy traffic it took me a few seconds to figure out where the start button was and get it started.
The 920 appears to have operated properly, until I crossed under Memorial Ave while, running up Jefferson Davis Hwy, where it looks like the 920 lost satellite reception and failed to recover. It retrospect, the friend I was running with and I where occasionally comparing pace and they just didn’t seem right, I was constantly showing just a little slower that she was, she was wearing a FR410.
The elevated heart rate at the beginning was a result of my failure to moisten the HRM strap. I had a screen setup with cadence and HR next to each other and noticed HR was a mirror of cadence for a little while.
The race had me at a 9:28 and the 920 had me at a 9:38 average pace. Not too bad for the foot pod, I assume that is where the data came from.
The trouble is, where I live and run, I never lose satellite reception so I will have to be creative when testing this.
Captain – What I’d do is go ahead and re-pair all your devices sitting at home on the touch, that way you can ensure they’re paired to your sensors others. Just be sure to do both heart rate and footpod. If you don’t have a footpod, go ahead and delete out that sensor.
I’m not sure where exactly in the DC area you live, but, when I lived there the best place for testing what happens in a tunnel was oddly enough near my house on Cameron Run. A few miles upstream where Cameron Run (the running path) goes under I-395 there’s a series of long tunnels fairly deep underground. So, if you’re looking for a different running route than normal, that’s a good one (and, if it’s your normal area, then perfect!).
I dont really find anything strange in Your run.
It seems pretty simple scenario: You started recording (doesnot really metter late or not) with GPS, then passing through some obstacle (tunnel?) the watch lost GPS reception and started to use foot pod. What the problem is, watch never got GPS back and simply continued with foot pod until the end. That’s why Your map shows only small part of the route (until GPS was receiving signal) but the run is fully measured fo whole 10miles from Your foot pod (all pace, HR data is there). Only GPS data is missing (map, altitude etc).
I had similar situation with my Suunto Ambit 2. I have started the run without good GPS signal (or should I say no signal at all). The watch recorded my distance and pace from the built-in accelerometer until it actually found GPS lock, and from then onwards used GPS data and that is when route on the map also started. You can see that on movescount, where distance is 14,6km, but only 13,9km are on the map. First about 670m are added from accelerometer:
Look Tony – you can either be polite here, or you can go elsewhere or be blocked. It’s a simple option. I have zero tolerance for people being rude to others. I’ve told you this numerous times over the years. Hundreds of other people are able to comment each day without being rude to others, I’m sure you can find a way. This is your final warning.
I called Garmin this morning and send the .fit file and device info over… we’ll see what they say. The folks in Kansas are always pleasant to deal with.
Hi All, thanks Ray for all the input and time that you spend answering all these questions.
Have you heard about bragi “The dash”. These are earphone that will be able to monitor Heart Rate, Oxygen in blood and a lot of other features. These can be connected in bluetooth to a smartphone for example and record or send these monitored values to different types of Health software.
I am really interested by the 920xt but also about these “dash”. Do you think that there could be a way of connecting the dash to the 920?
Here is the link to the dash (available early 2015) : link to bragi.com
At present, there’s no method of connecting The Dash to the FR920XT, because The Dash doesn’t do ANT+ (or, one could say the FR920XT doesn’t do Bluetooth Smart sensors).
Forerunner 920 only available at the end of November due to manufacturing problems (see Dutch text and website below).
‘We hebben net bericht gekregen aangaande de Forerunner 920 XT. Momenteel zijn er fabricage problemen waardoor de leveringen pas eind November verwacht worden! ‘
Any chance for a garmin device coming with
Optical Heart Rate Sensor
MP3 Player
Virtual Racer
4 Data Fields
Running Dynamics
The 920xt is appealing over my Fenix 2, but if I could opt to not use the chest strap and carrying my MP3 player on easy days that would be wonderful… I understand I would still have to wear the strap to get dynamics, but most of the time cadence is all I care about so it’s not a huge loss.
You are probably playing with a device that does exactly this, but are sworn to secrecy through some kind of fancy smancy non-discloser.. ha ha
Hi Ray, it’s 2-3 years that i’m following your site and I’m very impressed on the big amaount of work you are doing!!
my big compliment !
I’m an ultratrailrunner ( Tor de Geant- Lavaredo ultra -dolomiti extreme- Sella ronda sky and so on…)
my very big interest is on the running side expecialy the long run where the battery, the precision of the gps, the altitude and the amount of ascend are important.
I’ve read all and try the fenix 2 and personaly in the mountain forest with high tree the signal is very poor especialy if you run, and the ultra trac of fenix in the mountain is ridicoulus when you run ( it lose the signal and bye bye).
so in conclusion for ultratrail athlets what will be very importan in your in depth rewiew will be:
-the ultra trac modality fr 920xt vs ambit 3 ( an in depth comparison betwen fr920 and ambit 3 will be great)
-gps acuracy in canyon , mountain and forest
-a good altitude test
– a really good test on what happen when you lose the signal and it come back intermittent like the alps forest.
– an on trail tetst of recharging the unit with usb battery set while you are running ( in case of super long run with 1 second interval gps for maximum acuracy)
Not sure Ultratrac will be your ideal solution although what is the key issue here – a detailed GPS track recording and/or the activity as a whole from more of a performance point of view?
I tried Ultratrac as an experiment and it seems to wake up GPS for a little bit to take a point and shut off again and does this about every minute. Also note what it says in the 920 manual link to static.garmincdn.com about using the accelerometer to compute distance & speed in this mode when GPS is off – which will be more often than not it seems.
GLONASS may improve ability to get a GPS signal in challenging terrain but apparently its use reduces battery by about 20%. That said it still gives, in theory, 18 hours or so which is still pretty decent. How long are your ultras?
Unfortunately you can’t charge the 920XT and keep the timer running.
I tend to think the best workaround might be to use 2 devices and then merge the tracks after the run.
Elsewhere in the comments here I posted a link to a run I did with the 920 in relatively hilly and twisty trail terrain with some tree cover. It did pretty well but afraid I don’t personally have any mountains nearby to see how it works there.
thank you for the information and fast answer.
now what i’ll be waiting is the in depth rewiew and i hope that some one wear the fr920 and ambit 3 for an ultra and share the data to make a super comparison expecialy to see the difference betwen the 2 gps cheps how they work in forest, mountain etc.
thankyou again
Just a bunch of random updates on things people have asked that I get clarification on from Garmin:
A few Garmin Connect oddities over the past week: Some saw the map centering on Kansas if not logged in, and others also saw the first few minutes of files showing a flat HR. Both were fixed in Garmin Connect last week.
Lack of Map Zoom: from Garmin: “We do not have a manual map zoom capability on the 920 which was a decision based on feature priority, focusing on developing the highest value, most used features first.”
TCX courses on FR920XT: from Garmin: “For technical reasons the 920 does not have a XML parser which is required to ingest TCX files.”
Autolap by position: from Garmin “We are looking into bringing this back and I’ll keep you posted on timeline if it is returning.”
Metronome while in swim mode: from Garmin” We weren’t happy with the quality of the metronome while swimming and didn’t want to provide customers a disappointing experience so it wasn’t featured in the watch.”
Inability to change speed source to a footpod: from Garmin “There is not a way to change the speed source to a footpod in the 920 but we will be looking into if we can work it back in a maintenance release.”
There’s also a few other minor items/issues I’ve run into that they’re fixing in an upcoming update including inability to send courses to the FR920XT from the iOS app. Items which aren’t on the short-term list but are being looked at include oddities with initial elevation setting where it takes a while for the barometric altimeter to adjust to your location (versus using GPS to get ‘close’ and then the altimeter to finalize adjustment).
Thanks Ray. Annoyingly, I’m just going to ask you another question. Did they suggest the map zoom might get changed in a later release, or is that pretty much set in stone now?
Re Metronome while in swim mode – “We weren’t happy with the quality of the metronome while swimming” – I’m not surprised. I’m not happy with the quality of the vibration alert and sound while in water.
On my 910 I had distance alerts set which I found really useful indoors and open water. I could feel the vibration 95% of the time and even hear the sound most of the time depending where my arm happened to be in the stroke.
On the 920 the vibration and sound both seem to be weaker. I cannot feel nor hear alerts in the pool no matter how hard I try. I’ve tested at home, plunging my wrist into a tub of water. The water kills the vibration. Would be interested to hear other’s opinions – is the vibration weaker or is it just my unit?
Hi Ray, Great info here. Any update from Garmin on heart rate while swimming? Will they be leaving heart rate active on open water swims and activating it for pool swims?
I’m an enthusiast, but not a competitive athlete by any means.
I have two bikes, have a cadence sensor that I don’t really use, but enjoy tracking my route, heart rate (I have a garmin strap) and other stats Strava and/or Garmin Connect in order to get better, even though I don’t compete.
I enjoy hiking, mostly day hikes, and just as with the bike, I love tracking my route, elevation gain of the hike, etc.
I also run at the gym and outdoors, recreationally. And I really, really want to get back in the pool :)
In the past I’ve owned several different devices, many tailored to a specific activity (Fenix for hiking, Edge for biking, etc).
It would be great to have one device that I use as a semi-casual-yet-interested athlete, as opposed to several devices where I pretend to be hard core for every activity.
It seems to me that this device, while having a few more features that I’d need, might be the only device I need for everything, based on my actual needs as listed above. Is that correct?
A friend picked up a 920xt in kona and I’m helping him set it up. For pool swimming unless I am missing it there is no “Last Interval Time”. We use this doing descends to make sure we are on track. Am I missing this or is that field omitted?
I was fiddling around with my unit wondering where ‘Last interval time’ and ‘Last interval pace’ were.
I think ‘Int Time’ that is displayed on the rest timer is in fact ‘Last Interval time’ you also get ‘Int. Distance’ displayed which i think is last interval distance.
Haven’t had a chance to swim with my 920 yet but from playing with the screens and data fields the above seesm to be the case.
That is right. There is no way to have data fields showing current interval and last interval simultaneously while in an active interval as far as I can see. When in rest mode the fields such as Int time effectively become “Last Int time” etc until you end rest mode again.
Note that as well as the rest timer being configurable you can also scroll to your other configured pages while in rest mode. Very flexible and I really like that.
I use my current Garmin for programming and tracking rowing works (boat not erg). I would be thrilled if the built in cadence sensor could be used to record stroke rate, e.g., 15-45 spm, while worn on my wrist. I don’t need to see the watch face while rowing, I just want to be able to look at the stroke rate data later. What do you think, will the sensor work in that low range?
If it doesn’t work natively there is a chance connect iq will allow access to the sensor at a low enough level that it could work there.
I know you said you aren’t interested in erg use but there is a chance the a connect iq app could be written to talk to a pm4 head unit from a concept 2 rower as it broadcasts the row over private ant during a row (they just want you to sign a nda to get access to the private ant config info)
Another quick question for those of you in “the Garmin know” (or as close as you can be to being in the know): Is the inability to charge while recording an event a factor of software or hardware? On the fenix, if you plug into the PC, you are done. If you plug into a usb charger, it keeps in whatever mode it is in. I am wondering if you have checked that out with a usb charger instead of the pc’s usb port.
The probability right now is low that I would need 18+ hours so this is mostly curiosity.
Keep up the great work. This is great intel for those of us that are impatiently waiting.
No difference on USB charger. If an activity is going it stops the timer and saves it and starts charging.
The FR10/15/220/620/920 all do this whereas the Fenix line up don’t. Not sure why but we do know the “Fitness” team look after Forerunners and the different “Outdoor” team do the Fenix.
Hi Ray. I’ve been told today by a french physical shop that Garmin has recalled all the 920 XT already sent to the resellers. The reason would be a water proofing problem on the first batch.
Have you heared something about that, or is it just a “rumor” ?
I know there’s been a production delay, but Garmin hasn’t specified what that is exactly. They haven’t asked for my unit back, or to my knowledge any other media outlets. I’ll ping them though on this.
So I checked on this, here’s the official response:
“We have not recalled any 920s but are being cautious during the ramp-up phase. A couple beta testers reported running into waterproofing issues after the first round of production units went out so we are adjusting hardware before shipping any more product as a precaution.”
Fwiw, I’ve been openwater swimming every day this week and haven’t killed it yet, plus swims over the past few weeks.
1) No. And this ‘no’ means ‘110% no’ as the watch, even in battery saving ultra trac mode, will last only 40hrs (best case scenario which I suppose means no beeps, no vibration, no any future apps, no backlight screen on, no navigation, just recording) and cannot be recharged during activity!!! If attached for charging, watch will end current activity, save it and go to charging mode (this though, if enough people will ask, might changed through firmware release)
2) somewhere here in the comments (also in some online shops) You can find info stating 4 months.
For #2: The watch mode is now accessible 24×7 in non-GPS mode for 33 days without having to re-charge the battery. And if you have activity monitoring and smart notifications enabled, it’s about 30 days of battery (1 month). If you turn off activity tracking, you’ll get 4 months in straight watch-only mode.
i used my 910XT , which can last 24hours without vibration , dark backlight ,but i can continue my activity during charging mode. The workout was continue even though the watch screen appeared charging bar,after unplug the cable the activity keep recording.But as you mentioned , this watch stopped /end activity during charge that is not great option to choose this as my next ultra race watch. i don’t like Fenix as my option , because the display designed with round , which cause some data not fully appear in proper screen & add that the screen color is orange. rather monochrome or 920 is great interface design.
i wish can get update for final firmware which able to charge without sacrifice to end the activity.
Thanks again for the great review and personal comments. I live in South American and will be in the US mid-november for a couple weeks. I was hoping to be able to buy the 920xt, but am afraid it wont be available then. I am mostly a runner and openwater swimmer and do fast tris sometimes. Should I go for the Fenix 2 or Ambit 3 instead, or do you think the 920xt is the best watch and is worth the wait?
I have a big question regarding courses:
I do some trail running, and most of them have the gpx trail available. So I create a tcx course of it with the aid stations programmed in them (using tcx convertor because I cannot find a way of putting waypoints in garmin connect, and then the old training center and ant agent, because the) so that when running I can see total distance remaining, and distance till next aid station.
If the 920 is unable to read tcx files, and garmin connect is unable to do it, so am I missing something, or is this completely impossible?
and will the old way of doing this still work, or will I be loosing some major (for me) functionality?
My feeling is that you’d need some way to convert the tcx file to a fit file containing the same information, and the fit file would then work (since it is possible to transfer courses to the 920xt). That should give you the course; I have no way to know if the 920xt would respect the waypoints. I haven’t found a gpx/tcx course to fit converter, and this is something I’m starting to tinker around with myself at the moment, but for now I’ll only be able to try it on a fenix.
If you have a TCX course you can import that to Garmin Training Center and then you can send the courses to the 920 as it effectively converts each one to a FIT file and copies that over to the device.
Sure there are other ways but course creation always do seem a bit of a “black art”.
So GTC still works with the 920xt? That’s great news. If you have customized workouts with labels, does it display those labels instead of the generic labels from GC workouts?
I’m willing to make a fit file with waypoints in it if you give me a course,gpx,tcx link to garmin connect file to start with. (I hope that when I export it to my 910 I will find it somewhere on the disk, in the other case, I just downloaded the FIT SDK :))
Another interesting approach…. If you have an Edge (i.e. 500 or 800 I’ve tried, I assume the newer models work too?).
You can create a TCX with waypoints, load it to the Edge and then pull the FIT file off (after the edge parsed it).
The FIT course can then be loaded into something like the 910. I actually found a way to do it with Express… but it was a mess.
Something like:
1) Exporting a course from Garmin Connect
2) Finding the FIT file it loaded to my PC for Express to use
3) Replacing said FIT file with my own ripped from the Edge
It worked, but was quite an interesting process.
I’ve tried to mess with TCX Converter but never really got it to work right. I wish I could find a better TCX to FIT course tool… (or wish ridewithgps or bikeroutetoaster could export as FIT).
I’m going to try and write something to change a tcx file into a fit file. If you have some samples for me to try out. feel free to send me a gpx and I’ll send you the fit file back.
I also started poking at a C# XML parser -> FIT course converter and it looks pretty simple. In the past I hadn’t checked the formats, but as one probably would have expected, the TCX fields and the FIT course fields are basically the same (with the obvious text to binary differences).
I’d love to see the main course generating sites (read: bikeroutetoaster) export FIT directly.
Secondary questions for those with a 920 already:
1) Can you load a FIT course file from the USB connection?
2) If so, have you tried loading a FIT course with directional course points to see if you get any indicators / prompts (like the 310 and 910 would in the past).
I’m already able to read the tcx file (well I just imported the xml schema I found on the garmin site)
I should be able to write the output fairly easily using the fit sdk
so the main thing to do is write the actual conversion :)
Do you know where you had to put the files so that the watch picks them up?
ps: if you want to mail me, it’s a gmail adres with pluimpje before the @ :)
I was wondering if the 920xt has a satellite page where the strengths and numbers of acquired satellites is displayed. I know that on the 310xt you can access it like this: link to dcrainmaker.com
But how about the 920xt?
My feeling is that all GPS watch manufacturers (including Suunto) are in an arms race for the “fastest” signal acquisition but I am not quite sure how many satellites that guarantees. I would personally trade off some delay in the start of my runs to make sure that I have as many satellites as I can.
Marios, there is no satellite page. All you get is a signal-strength type indicator on the status bar and a “GPS ready” alert. It is blazing fast at acquisition even indoors in surprising places and has totally eliminated the “GPS dance” outside the house waiting for the GPS. I guess this is mostly due to the ephemeris pre-loading ability and probably antenna placement as I have yet to enable GLONASS.
However, as you say, there is nothing to indicate the quality of the fix. They seem to have stripped a lot right back to the minimum. It used to be with Garmin handheld devices that you would have an accuracy specification in the device specs/manual, a satellite status page (signal strength/sky plot) and an error estimation (“EPE” for Garmin devices). Now it is totally dumbed down to “ready or not.” I guess your average user won’t care.
Wait, so there is no menu option in settings or anything to see actual satellite strength (EPE or otherwise)? So many times my Fenix 2 has been “ready” and it really only has 200ft accuracy and it’s saying I’m moving 6:45min/mile… while standing still.
Alternatively, I suppose you could just set a page to instantaneous pace and see when it stops saying you’re moving.
Yes – that’s basically what I do (on any Forerunner) – once it says “GPS Ready” (or similar on other devices) look for a solid period of “zero” (stopped) pace/speed before starting timer.
Well, it’s a practical test you can try and generally has produced good results for me.
The GPS accuracy number only seemed to be a calculation based on signal strength anyway so whilst “interesting” was never going to guarantee anything.
I currently have the Fenix2 and one of the features that I like is that I can make a custom multisport on the watch. I assume that the 920xt allows this as well. Can anyone confirm this? Thanks.
Yes, you can make custom multi-sport (it’s mentioned in the review). Unlike the fenix2, you can set up indoor swim as one of them. In fact, you can also (as mentioned above) do an indoor triathlon (indoor swim, indoor bike, and outdoor run).
In an odd way I really dig the indoor triathlon option. We get enough snow and ice in the winter that I don’t ride outside, an indoor/outdoor brick from home would be fun to make a habit out of.
It’s actually even cooler than the past when it comes to custom multisport. Previously you could change between sports at will, or setup a single order for a multisport event. But now, you can mix and match and set it all up ahead of time. But, you can do it for a number of different potential events. Really kinda neat.
You can also “make it up as you go along”. Do one sport “normally”, switch over to another sport profile and hit the start/stop button and you then start that one whilst still having the first in the same activity file and so on…
Hi Ray, do you know how large the memory is on the 920? I ask because apparently the reason the fenix 2 keeps on faltering when on long runs (20/30mi+) is because it runs out of space to record the activity?
I just used the Fenix 2 on a 50 mile run (1s recording) and had no issues. There was a ton of other runs on their as well. Where did you hear/read that memory was the issue with long runs?
Yeah, you’d have zero issues recording a 20-30mi run (I’ve done 20-26.2mi runs just fine on the Fenix2), from a space perspective.
The FR920XT has a 10MB storage capacity, with roughly 8-9MB available for you to record files. On average, you can budget about 100KB (.1MB) per hour of recording with full 1s GPS & ANT+ data (worst case scenario).
I bought 4 different Garmin watches due to his too positive comments and all 4 were crap! Especially the 620! But he keeps on defending them! And now, with the 920, the story is just repeating itself!
Also his statements on GPS accuracy are worthless!
The best way to test GPS accuracy is by running a known distance ( eg 10 km) and see what the deviation is. Just like fellrnr does it on his blog.
And NOT by comparing watches against each other on an unknown distance.
If 3 of the 4 watches indicate that you ran 10,6 km and 1 indicates that you ran 10,2 km than Rainmaker would say that the 3 watches are more accurate than the one which is actually more accurate (on this 10 km track)!
That’s why I’m so upset the last few years! He’s a Garmin boy, he won’t bite the hands that feed him!
Now I would have to agree with you that comparing watches against each other is not a scientific way to judge accuracy especially if all of them have some sort of systematic bias error (WAAS used to do that). That said, there is no point in bashing DCR as he provides unbiased information to the best of his ability. If you don’t like Garmin, use your judgement and don’t buy it but please leave this blog civilized and readable :-)
Just like fellrnr does it on his blog.
That isn’t what fellrnr did. He found himself a very short route (about 400m) completely full of things which are difficult for GPS watches, and compounded the difficulty by doing a sharp 180 turn at each end – sharper, as far as I can make out, than a typical 180 turn in a race, where you’ll run up one side of the road then back down the other.
This is actually quite interesting in terms of which watches handle really difficult conditions best, but doesn’t have a lot to do with real-world use. My own experience is that, while the 620 wanders a bit more in tree cover than the 310, the overall distance is pretty good. I’ve used both in enough races to tell you my 620 consistently hits race distance plus between 1-1.5%, where my 310 consistently hit race distance plus 2%. Fellrnr would have you believe the 620 is 5 to 8% off along a straight course.
I’m not arguing the Garmins are flawless, but everything else I’ve tried has been worse :)
I bought 4 different Garmin watches due to his too positive comments and all 4 were crap! Especially the 620! But he keeps on defending them! And now, with the 920, the story is just repeating itself!
Also his statements on GPS accuracy are worthless!
The best way to test GPS accuracy is by running a known distance ( eg 10 km) and see what the deviation is. Just like fellrnr does it on his blog.
And NOT by comparing watches against each other on an unknown distance.
If 3 of the 4 watches indicate that you ran 10,6 km and 1 indicates that you ran 10,2 km than Rainmaker would say that the 3 watches are more accurate than the one which is actually more accurate (on this 10 km track)!
That’s why I’m so upset the last few years! He’s a Garmin boy, he won’t bite the hands that feed him!
So let me see if I understand this. You bought a Garmin watch based on Ray’s review and were unhappy with it. Fine. So you then bought another and were again unhappy with it. So your response was to buy 2 more? At what point do you realize either that Garmin watches do not provide the feature set you need or your expectations are too high? Ever hear the phrase “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me”?
The fact of the matter is, like it or not, Garmin is the leader in the market and is the standard bearer and the brand that everyone will be compared to. As a general rule they make a quality product and are the leading innovators in the market (and are masters at creating a need that does not exist and filling it, which is a major key to their success). I personally do not like them and would not buy one. That does not make Ray’s reviews any less valuable. If anything, it helps me refine the features I am looking for in a watch and gives me any idea of what is out there and on the horizon. I have bought a Times, a TomTom, an Ambit, a Scosche Rhythm and a Wahoo SC based on his recommendations. I was not thrilled with the Timex and have some issues with the TomTom, but in both cases, my unhappiness is with things he specifically pointed out in his review. I thought I could live with the shortcomings and found I could not. Ray did not hold a gun to my head and make me by them. He gave his perspective on the product and I used that in combination with other research i did to make my decision. Ray, while an excellent reviewer, is not the only one, and is incumbent on you and me, as the consumer, to make an informed decision based on the full breadth of information available, not based on one person’s opinion.
As to the GPS accuracy, he is not testing absolute accuracy, he is testing relative accuracy. In numerous places in all his reviews he references that none of them are 100% right and he is not looking at that. He is looking at how they perform relative to one another. If you have 4 watches and three of them are not materially off from one another and one is, you can safely say that relative to the others it is less accurate. The actual distance is irrelevant, you are comparing them to one another. If I take 4 people and line them up and three are the same height and one is shorter than I can safely say that relative to the others, person number 4 is shorter. It makes no difference how tall they actually are because I am comparing relative height, not absolute height.
You have a right to be upset, but you do not have a right to be abusive to Ray and the other users of this forum. No one is making you log on and read his reviews. There are something like 20 million websites out there, I am sure you can find one that better aligns with your needs and views. I do not understand the impetus to post just to be negative. Were you never taught that if you have nothing good to say, don’t say anything at all? You may mean well and think that you are doing a service to others by warning them off, but your approach, tone and attitude just make you seem like a jerk and your message is lost in the noise. You would be better served either saying nothing or couching your criticism in a positive manner. “Nah, nah, ban me Cupcake Boy” posts are just childish and disrespectful of everyone who reads these forums and values the input of those who put a meaningful effort into it.
Hi Tommy, I really like your explaination on absolute versus relative accuracy. It makes a lot of sense to me.
Don’t you think it would still be good to know how far from reality the closest GPS watch is? What I mean is that for me, I think that the relative accuracy would gain in value if I knew how well the most accruate GPS watch was compared to the real distance.
For me, I would prefer to have both values, which are both providing a complementary analysis on the accuracy aspect.
GPS is inaccurate due to the nature of the technology (mainly atmospheric effects and signal reflecting). The accuracy class of consumer GPS devices is usually something aroung 10m, while professional devices are more accurate (about +/- 3m).
Using differential GPS you can eliminate atmospheric error resulting in accuracy of less than 1m with professional devices (differential GPS: you put one device in a point with known location and calculate the difference between this known location and what the devices shows. Then you take another device to the point you want to measure and subtract the difference calculated previously from the reading from the device).
As you can see this method can be applied only when atmospheric conditions don’t change noticeably (nearby during a short period of time). When you take a cycling activity taking you tens of miles away and lasting for several hours, you can see that it’s not even theoretically possible to get an accurate distance. So it doesn’t make much sense to compare GPS results to actual distance. But as atmospheric conditions affect all GPS devices in the same way, it makes perfect sense to compare one GPS device to another one during the same activity.
The other problem with defining accuracy as how close your watch comes to a “known” distance over a run/bike of that distance is that the distance isn’t known. Certified courses are certified to be 10k after an painfully complicated process that results in the course distance of 10k IF YOU RUN THE EXACT LINE THAT WAS MEASURED. No one, btw, run the exact line.
Non-certified courses (your “5 mile” daily run) are almost certainly too long/too short.
Short of being followed ON EVERY RUN by a guy with a measuring wheel it is impossible to say exactly how far you ran. But if three watches say 10.4K and one says 10.1k you probably ran 10.4k.
JL Sorry to be a nerd but Differential GPS involves corrections to individual pseodoranges, not the derived position (because base and mobile positions at any one time will likely be based on different satellite combinations). I’m sure you knew that and your explanation is simpler for the less technical readers :)
Sick em’ Tommy. Agreed. Spew your vitriol somewhere else TonyH. Personally, I’m sick of reading your posts and sick of the distraction you create. Don’t you have some Facebook friends you can harass?
from traithlete perspective Ambit3 = Ambit2 + HR recording while smiwwing
920XT does not record HR in swimming, but:
– has better battery (quite important if You are ~15hrs Iron Man guy)
– offers 4 data fields
– color screen
– future much more powerful apps
– offers quick release pack (kind of deal breaker for Ambit3!?)
– is lighter
Hi,
I’ve red all Ray’s articles on this subject but I didn’t find the answer to my situation and I can’t wait the 920xt indepth-review …
In fact, I’ll have 2 prices reductions possibilities in a week : -30% (on french prices) on Suunto products and -15% Garmin. And I mainly need to by a new sport watch for Triathlon ( and sports coming from tri : duathlon, R&B..), but also mountain sports (alpin/cross country/touring skiing, trail, sometimes mountaineering) and I’m thinking about maybe using my sport watch to track the 3 months bike trip I will do in Africa.
So what do you think I should buy between : 920XT+HRM (425€) , Fenix2+HRM (380€), Ambit3S+HRM (280€) + Ambit3Peak+HRM (350€)
Thank you for reading me, and thanks in in advance for your advices!
I recall Ray saying he probably won’t be able to make recommendations of one device over another until has completed his full review of the 920. I would love to comment but of those only got the 920! My run & bike experience has been good with the 920 so far so for those sports think you will be fine. Less clear about skiing as the 920 is just not designed for that but no doubt it will record a GPS track and tell you a distance and speed and some sort of elevation profile.
In general, correct. Part of the review process is finding the quirks, and that simply takes time. Some of those quirks may matter to some people, and other not.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you plan to use a solar charger on your trip to power units, both the Fenix2 and Ambit units will permit concurrent charging and activity recording. Whereas the 920XT doesn’t (I’ve asked why, no clarification yet there). Now, you can easily get around that by just using a Solar charger that charges a battery and then at night charging the unit. Personally, I find less risk in that method anyway (especially since the Ambit charging cable is finicky), but, just things to consider.
Sorry if this has already been discussed, but how important is the ability to record HR while swimming? It seems that this is one of the main differentiators btw. the 920xt and the V800/Ambit3.
Someone on the Garmin forum mentioned that: “Suunto are licensing the tech (comment:for the memory belt, I guess) from Garmin to do store and forward according to DCR so it’s only a matter of time for the 920XT I’d have thought. ” Is this true?
I’m reasonably sure I never said that, primarily because it would make no sense (would be curious where/link someone is saying that, so I can correct them). Suunto is using BLE, and doing their own store and forward.
They wouldn’t need anything from Garmin here, even more so since it’s not ANTfs (via ANT+).
As for Garmin doing it, unless Garmin has secretly put storage capacity in the HRM-RUN (which I suppose, is entirely possible), then it’s not going to happen.
Hey Ray. You did say that the ability to record HR is left active during open water swims. See if you can put a bug in their ear to do the same for pool swim (with a disclaimer). It’s be interesting to how well the 920xt would work with the optical wrist sensors next to them.
My prediction, is the next Garmin Swim will have an optical sensor and GPS capability for open water swim.
I suggested/asked about it earlier in the week, no response on that specific set of questions unfortunately. Though, I just sent them over a pile of ‘Why does my OW swim tracking suck’ type questions, so hopefully that’ll stir the pot a bit.
If you want to see how well wrist mounted HR straps work in the pool, just put the 920 into Run Indoor mode. I’ve done this with the 620 and the Mio Link. Got some sort of trace (worn next to each other) but in answer to the “how important” question then I was wondering that myself and told me little I could not have guessed. My HR was very low even allowing that the trace was a bit jumpy. But my “problem” with swimming is more technique than aerobic capacity so to improve as a swimmer I would be far better off spending money on some lessons than a fancy gadget to measure my HR! For me it is also totally different for running and cycling which am far better at and do get meaningful info from HR in those sports.
Has anyone that ordered a 920xt through Clever Training received an estimated shipping date notice yet? All I got was an email that I am on the pre-order list and it is expected to be released in November. Now I am reading that the shipping date depends on the size/volume of pre-orders from the retailer and may be in December at the earliest. I am doing the full IM in Cozumel 30-Nov and would love to have it by then. Thanks.
Each Friday they send out a FR920XT update to people who ordered, based on the latest information available to Garmin.
Clever put in a substantial pre-order (prior to announcement), so they’re in a pretty good position to cover orders as Garmin sends them units. Of course, all that depends on Garmin actively producing, and then shipping units.
Just to mention, i’m a lucky one.
I’m doing the toronto’s marathon tomorrow and Garmin was at the Expo yesterday.
Got my brand new 920 :-))). They have few.
So will do the marathon with both the V800 and 920xt. Will see wich one will be my bet!
I’ll be running with my wife and her 910xt.
Steph
Love this site and the great information you provide! Do you have any pictures of side by side size comparisons of the 620 next to the 920. I was disappointed in the color on the 620 and as I get older I actually prefer a slightly larger screen. Would love to see the same data on the face of both watches to actually see the difference.
Yup, simply use the VIP program instead (per manufacture requirement). Still saves 10%, gets faster shipping, supports the blog, and supports Girls On The Run: link to dcrainmaker.com
Just an information about french availability of the watch : I’ve been told by several french shops (three to be precise) that the FR 920XT should be available for retail at the end of october.
dear Ray or Tim or all the other,
some question:
when you read the rewiew of the fenix 2 or ambit 3 you always see the amount of the internal memory, the number of waypoint that you can register and number of course ( correct me if i use some wrong world) so what about the fr920xt?
Can i add a way point during a trail like the fenix2?
did you think they will change the fact impossibility of recarge during the activity or is a hardware problem?
thankyou very much and nice day
You can mark your current location with the “Where Am I” function. I think the limit is a 100 of these – it always has been on Forerunners.
Number of courses again not sure but I had about 20 on there the other day so certainly a decent number. Would need to create yet more to further test.
I asked Garmin about charging and keeping the timer going and I understand it is not necessarily impossible – at least from a “wall” or “mobile” charger. As Ray noted the other day they have to focus on what the most important features are first else these watches will never be released and the number of people doing an activity longer than 24 hours is obviously going to be a very small minority of target users for a triathlon watch.
Thankyou Tim for the information!
if I create a course with some point of interest (like in a trail running race the rest point or water point) and I import this course to the watch how the watch manage this point they will be part of the 100 limit or they are part of the course itself?
Usually I run the long race with etrex 30 (big but battery and precision super) and when I import the gpx file of the race with all the food- beverage point etc I can display the estimate time to reach a point or the km missing to arrive there, this will be possible with the fr920xt?
sorry for my english did you get the point?
I understend the motivation of garmin but the fr920xt look much better than fenix 2 for a number of reason when you remain in the 20 Hours limit ( fenix 2 -18 hours correct?) and i’m really courios to see how it works in ultratrak smart because it seems to be more “smart” than fenix 2.
thankyou again and we hope that they start to distribute them so we can have a lot of feedback.
The 920 does not appear to support course points at this time. I added a couple to a course in Garmin Training Center, deleted the course on the 920 and reuploaded to the 920 and I don’t see them.
The only distance you get therefore is to the end of the course.
thankyou very much we will see and wait because i think we will have the watch with good potentiality and with IQ there will be a lot of function that can transform it …..
If this is true, this would be kind of a huge dealbreaker for me. (also trail runner and it is nice to not always have to calculate in your head how for it is till the next aid station)
But I can see why they do it, garmin connect is unable to put course points in a course. This is why I was still using training center and other software.
I started writing a little application to convert tcx files with course points to a fit file. just to be able to continue using this. But if the watch does not support it.
Would it be possible to add this functionality with the connect IQ api ?
Just thought about something. .my wife and I are doing Miami 70.3 next week.
Im, like everyone on standby waiting for the 920 release.
Wondering if Garmin might have a presence at the Miami event?
Any thoughts?
Ill might try to find a Garmin contact as well to see if a rep might know…
Don’t see Garmin on link to ironmanmiami.com
Anyway a bit like new shoes, not sure it is ideal to go into a big target race with unfamiliar equipment. Took me a little while to get used to the 920 as the UI is a bit different to previous Forerunners.
Yeah Tim i’ve ordered the watch anyway so it would just be a matter of getting it sooner than waiting till the middle of December or whenever it might be shipped.
Thanks for checking out the ironman Miami website..didn’t think of that!
As for making sense for only running/biking, it honestly depends on whether you mind the current Fenix2 screen. As well as if you want live tracking with concurrent ANT+, or, if you want WiFi. Additionally, the FR920XT appears to have improved GPS from what I’m seeing (perhaps due to GLONASS), but if your Fenix2 is delivering fine GPS tracks, then that’s probably a wash for you.
Question about premium heart rate monitor. I recently bought Garmin’s premium HRM so when I ordered the 920XT, I chose not to order the one with the HRM thinking it was the same thing. The cadence I would like and the other two metrics would be nice to haves. Am I stuck (cancel order and order the one with HRM) or will the watch do any of that from the wrist or foot pod?
No, those two metrics are only supported via the HRM-RUN strap. The cadence you’ll get without the strap, from the unit itself however (the HRM-RUN strap also gives cadence too).
If you happened to have ordered from Clever Training, you can just ring them up and swap your order pretty easily.
It supports the same as the Edge 510, but it has not been announced as to whether or not it will support the upcoming Cycling Dynamics from Vector (such as seated/standing).
Thanks for the quick reply! From your review of the Fenix 2 , the Fenix 2 DOES keep tracking if I Hook up an external battery? Need it for a 100 mile Ultra. Have the 310xt LOVE it but I can not finish a 100 miler in 20 hours and the 310s charging clip is flimsy the Fenix 2’s charger looks like it will stay put while wearing it, charging it and tracking.
Happy trails.
Last question I promise!! Is the fenix 2 worth the price over the fenix for trail ultramarathons/ultrarunning? No biking, swimming, or hiking just trail running.
Happy trails
If You like Your 310 so much, take a second one and You will be fine for 100miler.
The price now is sthg like $180/150E which makes this watch the best deal right now by far (it’s even listed no1 best seller in amazon). It has far less issues than any of new garmins.
Garmin had a small booth at the Detroit Marathon expo, but no 920xts for sale… One of the people at the booth had one and he let me try it on and go through the screens. Definitely bigger than what I’m used to wearing on a daily basis, but I’m going to give it a shot so I can take advantage of the daily activity/sleep tracking.
I wanted to ask about 920s pace alerts and overall GPS accuracy.
1) does it use current pace for its pacing alerts like Fenix2 does? Or does it use lap average pace like 910 and 620?
2) What’s your experience with the 920 GPS accuracy in urban areas or under foliage if compared to Fenix2 / 620 / Suunto Ambit 3?
It is the same as the 620 – so if doing a normal run then it is current pace for alerts but pace targets in workouts are lap pace.
Compared to a 620 I am seeing fairly similar GPS accuracy in general. If pushed I would say the 920 is marginally better more often than not. That said the 620 for me as been pretty good of late. For some reason I tend to see slightly better tracks with whatever device is on my right wrist so today with a 620 on right there were parts where it looked a bit better than the 920 on my left. Perfectly acceptable tracking though and not seen any wildly off tracks that some people have reported with a 620.
I think that black is a bit easier to ‘hide’ under shirts and the like if in a business setting. But personally I think I like the red color otherwise.
So my 910xt has started giving me issues with the power button not working to turn on the device. Its intermittent at the moment but it seems a known issue from the results of a quick google search and based on all the other users having the same issue i assume its only going to get worse until at some point the watch will be unusable. Of course my watch is a couple of months out of warranty so if i have to buy a new one, the 920xt might be an option.
My watch before this was the forerunner 610. It had multiple issues over the years i had it – the main one being the watch pins would come loose and the watch would come off during running or cycling… After getting it changed a couple of times, i gave up on the model and got the 910 just over a year ago…
Ray based on my experience, it seems garmin doesn’t have the best record with quality control. Its early days with the 920xt but just wanted to get your thoughts on the build quality of the watch and your best guess of its longevity?
The 910 and from reading above the 920 are great watches feature wise, i just feel stupid considering purchasing another $400+ watch after having multiple bad experiences…
I haven’t actually hard of many people with FR910XT button issues.
As for the FR610 band issues, those were fixed within the first few months with a new pin design. I’m surprised that you kept having issues after that.
As for the FR920XT, it uses a totally different pin system that’s more aligned to the FR220/FR620 and the Fenix series, so it’s not coming off easily. I’ve never heard of anyone with a pin/band issues with any of those watches.
Yep, perhaps all the dodgy 610 units were sent to be sold in South Africa then as it happened on at least 3 replacements over a year or two.
With the current 910 issue, its just the power button causing problems. Recently i’ve arrived at my training and tried to turn it on and it feels like the button is no longer there. Yet by putting it on and off the charger the power button works again (sometimes). Googling “910xt power button” will bring up a couple of forums with users discussing the issue. It seems like there its a software issue more than a physical parts issue but no one can confirm.
One more question: I’ll be in the US from the 15th to the 29th of November and am wondering what my best option would be to get my hands on one of these. Pre order now for instance at Clever Training and send to a friends’ house or wait until I’m there and try to pick it up myself in a store?
I’m with you Montana, and i’ll put also the ambit3
will be great to have a comparison on ultra and trail running : fr920-fenix2-ambit3 ( the 3 top watch in this moment).
the comparison on paper are great but the live tests are the cut of (gps precision, altimeter precision, ultratrak modality etc..)
I’m sure that Ray, Tim and the other guys with this 3 watch can make a great job to help us in the right decision.
What are your priorities:
E.g.
GPS Accuracy
Navigation
Battery life
Charge ability “on the run”
Live Track
Running dynamics
etc etc
For me my longest run ever was 30 miles and took 4 hours. I call that “very very long” but some here would barely have “warmed up” so as we say in the UK it is about horses for courses….
I usually run 20 km -40km race during the year in preparation of 2 or 3 ultra trail (100-150 km each). I’m not competitive I’m a middle group runner.
but, I think, a lot of us in the middle like very much the last gadget on the market!
and of course the decision is not very easy so we carefully read around the net but in this moment there’s no blog with a real on trail comparison between Fenix 2 -fr920xt-ambit3.
for an ultratrailrunner the most important caratteristic are what you have write (+ altimeter precision-total ascend) , but there is a must: if i have to run for 18 hour I must be sure that my watch will remain with me up to the end of the race with 1 second gps ; if run for 20 to 40 hour in ultratrak mode the same with a gps map (+ or -) on the real trail.
so in conclusion the stability (no freezing no stop no nothing) and the true battery duration during the race are the most.
of course during my training i’d like to have a good watch (hr cadence etc.) but during the long race i would need something that remain with me all the race otherwise when you are tired after 15 hour of race you will be very frustrated if the watch say bye bye.
personally I trust DC-Ray (and all the comment and people that participate at the blog).
this is why I’ve posted my message, I’m sure to find a good tester!!
thank you very much
There are some additional challanges in such testing. One obvious is terrain type… in deep canyons GPS tends to have trouble keeping good signal and (I guess) might use some extra battery in constantly searching it.
Another thing in 20+ hrs run is how You actually use the watch. Whatever is stated by vendors as ‘max battery life’ is just best scenario, which means:
– no alarms
– no notifications
– no live tracking
– good and stable weather conditions
– no backlight
so, just plain recording. Without all above active, You might get close to max given by producer. But the problem is that during the race You really want to use some of these features:
– for sure some backlight during the night
– probably navigation with race’s route preloaded and some waypoints
– some alarms for food reminders and/or elevation milestones
and You will run in mountains and valleys, so not the easiest of conditions for GPS. Weather doesnot have to be perfect too.
All I want to say is that even with 24hrs stated for 920XT, I really doubt it will get over 20 in real race conditions. You need to take that 20-25% or even more if You want to be dead sure.
just to backup my previous statement:
when I got my 310XT (which is stated to have ~20hrs battery), I did a test leaving the watch on my balcony for a whole day. It did have 1k distance alarm on (watch stayed put but still recorder about 4km so alarm was triggered 4 times I guess) and died after exactly 16h45min – fine by me, I take it as good result, even though far from 20!
Now, my latest trail run with 310XT took me exactly 3h40min. It was in some mixed terrain – a bit of mountains, forest, some valley. Weather was perfect clear sky. Watch had again 1k distance alarm + navigation on with preloaded route. I did play a bit with screens and backlighr during the run, but not much since it was day.
Anyway, I checked battery status before and just after the run and the battery drained from 79% to 38% (exactly 41% in 3h40min of real outdoor conditions). This means that watch would last ~10hrs on full 100% charge with such usage – a way way far from 20, isn’t it? That is exaclty ‘bast case’ vs ‘real world usage’ difference.
this is what I’d like to know!!
thank you for the 310 data will be great to know the same for the fr920, ambit 3 and fenix 2 because the data on chart is one thing the real world is other…
I’m sure that all this 3 watches has different behavior in nature trail running (different gps chip, different altimeter method, different transmission system..) and will be perfect is one of the big or little athlete can wear the 3 of theme in same time during an ultra and share with the community the data. Dream?
thank you
:-D It would be nice to see such tesitng. But as I wrote before, it’s not that straight forward 920XT-F2-A3 comparision. There are so much settings in all of them, that the testing would have to be performed multiple times with different settings.
I do not have any of these devices :-/ but do own A2, which I assume is very close to A3 Peak in these matters. My long race settings (by long I mean anything above 3hrs) is:
– 1s GPS sampling and 1s recording interval
– navigation with preloaded route on (with waypoint every 3-4k avg – this is also important as You do get alarm for each waypoint twice: while approaching and when reached)
– 1k alarm
– elevation alarm (beep and illumination) for every 100m of climb or descent done through App
– no HR recording (the strap bothers me during longer activity)
– minimum playing around with the watch during the race itself (I keep it mostly in one screen with time, altitude and distance, and only occationality switch to map view in case I have doubt about the route)
Anyway, the only data I can give You is from my last mountain marathon (~44k with elev 3000m) done in perfect clear sky conditions, during the day, with minimum tree cover (most in alpine landscape, above tree line). Duration: 6h40min, battery drainage: 64% (from 85 to 21 – I keep track of the battery for longer events, just for curiosity). So, doing the math, full charge would last for ~10h30min. Again, quite a bit off from 16hrs stated by Suunto!
I have some more data, but it’s not so valid since it’s from shorter races (~20k usually done in ~2-3hrs range) when I might use more apps (more alarms) and I do record HR as well – since I dont care about the battery at all.
thankyou you are shearing a lot of usefull information this is the kind of event -test that help me a lot and also help all the people ultratrailers.
I hope that more of this kind of experience will come ( also with ultratrak setting).
If you are likely to be taking say 20 or more hours (noting indeed that 24 is probably with most non-essential things off – GLONASS alone takes off 20% BTW) you have would the issue that you can’t charge the device and keep the timer going. So either you take 2 devices or miss a bit or use UltraTrac which looks like will record a GPS point every minute and extend battery up to about 40 hours or so although have not tested any of the battery life figures.
I presume also battery life will degrade over time which presume explains the figures mentioned with the 310.
correct my curiosity is on ultratrak smart of fr920
I’vnt understand the real functionality because it looks different from 1 gps every 1 minute.
and reading the manual is not so clear, an on ground test will be much better.
I’ve treyd the ultratrak on fenix 2 and the gps result is very poor.
some more battery life testing on Ambit2 (I still only assume that Ambit3 performs equally on that matter).
Yesterday I ran a mountain halfmarathon. Time of recording 2:25:15, battery usage 19%. Not much was on actually:
– 1s GPS, 1s recording
– HR recorded
– 1k autoalarm (single beep)
– navigation with preloaded route ON
– very little buttons during the race
– backlight never on
Race was in clear sky conditions, temperatures ~15-20C, terrain was not demanding (no deep canyons, just about 1km section in deep forest that might be challenging for GPS).
Another testing I did was the 5s GPS sampling with 10s recording interval (Suunto claims 24h battery life with these settings) with no alarms, no HR recorded, no backlight, no touching the watch at all. I simply left it on my balcony (top floor) for as much as it could handle.
Ambit2 recorded exactly 24h20min20sec and went off having 3% of battery left – pretty NICE :-D
On the downside is the accuracy, as the watch recorded 20,12km!!! Although I do understand that actually still possition of the device increases error margin for GPS accuracy. Anyway, here is the link to the log: link to movescount.com
Is there any feature that takes significant advantage from color display (over monochrome) ?
I am just wondering how much battery could be further saved by introducing monochrome display… anyone has some numbers?
I recently found a blog about totally black screen savers on OLED smartphones helping to extend battery life. The numbers there were quite impressive! taking as assumption that display represents about 40% of overall battery usage, savings on battery could reach upto 15%! That’s a lot!
Could this mean that hypothetical monochrome 920XT could work 30hrs??? If yes, I think I would prefer that…
Is there a list of the 920XT data fields and optionally what they actually display? There are several lists for the 910XT available on various sites but so far none for the 920XT. The Garmin manual no longer lists them either. Thanks.
I’m working on putting together a list. About half-way done, it’s a bit messier to consolidate because of the different sport modes allowing different fields.
Next time you are talking to Garmin you might want to ask them why they don’t provide the list. They must have a list of every field they wrote software for. It should be easy to produce and add as a doc to their website support page with suitable updates as they add/remove fields. It shouldn’t require individuals such as yourself to have to produce their documentation for them.
The best list (my opinion) for the 910 I’ve found so far is here: link to tramsoft.ch
Yes. It is easy to get set in your use of the device and miss out on features you actually might use, just since they are so &*$% to find. A decent table for data fields is a min usablity feature.
I’m new to triathlons & even sports GPS watches so my question might be a little stupid but here goes. Multisport mode (Triathlon mode?) does it only work in open water for the swimming section of the training or can you set to counts pool laps too? as the only triathlon I have done so far has only been in a swimming pool.
Thanks for the great reviews. Just wondering will it be possible when cycling to use a Garmin 800 to view cadence, heart rate etc while also having the FR920XT record this same information (then auto upload)? I like the display size of the 800 while riding but it would be good to have the auto upload offered by the FR920XT.
I have a Garmin 810 and a Garmin 910XT. I have many times recorded bike workouts with both units at the same time (cadence, power, heart rate, …), so I guess it will work the same way with 920XT
it’s garmin and both devices use ANT+ for sensor connectivity, so it will work. This is one huge advantage of ANT+ over BTLE! ANT+ sensors broadcast the signal so any device in range can pick it up and record, while BTLE protocol needs pairing so only one device can record. Hopefully ANT+ will not die due to smartphones and BTLE :-/ which is now the trend…
I thought I read about a bluetooth revision that should start allowing multiple connections, not sure when it will appear and not sure if existing devices will be able to utilize a bluetooth update via firmware updates.
Excellent site – I have just read the various reviews…. If price isn’t an option – what would you pick?
Forerunner® 920XT or Suunto Ambit3? I need to buy a watch next week for a present and I’m in doubt about the choice. First Tri Watch!!! :) Please help… Thx.
if it’s next week, I don’t think You have any choice between these two… I doubt You will find 920XT so quickly, so it’s Ambit3 then.
But why only between these two? Why not to look at other options: TomTom, Polar, Ambit2, Fenix2, 910XT? So many to chose from…
well, Ray always directs everybody with this kind of questions to the comparison table (on Your right ‘product comparison calculator’) to start with. If You say ‘best in class’, You probably could add Polar V800 and Fenix2 to this equation. But, do You really need ‘best in class’? It all depends what will You (or the lucky receiver of the gift :-D) use it for… Is it Iron man? Do You need all connectivity features? Do You have any sensors already? etc… It’s a complicated process :-D
:-D I understand Your intensions, but none of the devices has all the features, and ‘best’ is personal feeling.
You need to know what is of the highest value and based on this and using ‘product comparison calculator’ You can either find the winner or narrow the choice.
All devices have sthg unique and all miss sthg else – it’s a compromise.
I.e:
– if HR recording under water is a ‘must’ then 920XT is out
– if vibration or structured interval workouts is a ‘must’, Ambit3 is out
– if charging during activity is a ‘must’, 920XT is out
and so on…
So, You need to do the job and use the calculator first and then dig into reviews for details – no other way.
Any chance of pics with the FR220 or FR620 on your wrist with the 920 at the same time? I want to pull the trigger but need to see them side by side on the wrist. (I have the FR220 now) and wear it all the time as a regular watch.
You don’t need a foot pod if all you want is cadence as the 920 will do that already even without the new HRM. I might trust a foot pod a little more when on a treadmill though.
thankyou for the test you’ve made!!!
it works much better than fenix2
will be super to have a Ultratrac test in New Zeland mountain? ….
one more question how you find the altimeter? is it a fuse or gps only? you thik it works well?
No 920 units at marine corps marathon but garmin rep said full production has already started so shouldn’t have to wait till the end of November (most likely). The waterproofing issue was around the two front buttons and was fixed
are there any alternatives to the hideous 920 bands? the whole design is terrible, but the straps are particularly appalling. is there anything garmin or quality non-garmin that will fit well? thanks
Thx for your work with this site! I have a question. Do you know if the 920 have an option to have a screen look to avoid that you press any buttons by accident (e.g. excercising in the gym)? BR //Janne
No it doesn’t (with the timer going) but all buttons are “physical” (i.e. no touchscreen) so chances of this happening by mistake are slim I would have thought. Also it is only the Lap/Back and Enter buttons on the front that “do” anything writable.
If you are doing something where you think this might be a problem I would be far more concerned about damaging the watch than pressing a button by mistake.
Yes, the distance was measured exactly the same way than with the 620. Yes I Mean Instance pace. Same process, same waiting time before running. After uploading the data is not correct. It matches with the pace that was recorded during the activity.
let me get this one correct:
Your 620 and 920 recorded same distance within same time, correct?
But pace and avg pace from 620 and 920 are different, correct?
Then, maybe check Your ‘moving time’? Is it different on two devices?
Maybe there is some bug/problem/difference to auto pausing? Do You have it active on both devices?
I was only wearing the 920 this morning but the distance I ran today is exactly the same i run all other mornings with the 620.
For this morning, moving time is correct but during the first km I was surprised by the pace and places where km where crossed (I know the route well know).
And at the end this was confirmed by approx 2 km more than the normal distance (11km recorded instead of 9 real)
No autopause on both devices. I reloaded it after. Will do another test tonight but just wanted to know if someone else already had this issue.
then, if I understand correctly, the distance recorded by 920 was ~11km, while You know the route well and it should be rather closer to ~9km, yes?
The the distance recorded by 920 is incorrect – this is Your complain/problem, correct?
Could You share the link to Your activity on garmin connect?
Maybe the GPS fix was not ‘great’ when You started the run and simply during first few km, the device was struggling to get good fix and recorded some extra distance…
Since 920 doesnot have option to show GPS accuracy any more (older devices had this), there is a trick to be sure that the device has good GPS fix before starting the run: You set one of the fields to ‘Instant pace’ and wait until device will show flat 0:00/km for a period of 10-20sec. This usually means good GPS signal and You’re good to go.
Agree with Adam poor GPS fix initially seems most likely and yes if you can post your GC link we might to be offer a proper explanation. Did you see GPS Ready before starting? Also as it is your first run the internal accelerometer would not have been calibrated for you and so if it was using that in lieu of GPS would not have been accurate. I have done quite a few runs now with the 920 and have never seen anywhere near this level of inaccuracy.
I think you’re right. Since the record looks to have began halfway, it looks like there might have been a poor GPS fix. Even when I had a poor one with the GPS of the 620, was displaying the right pace.
Yes it seems you have only picked up a GPS fix at about halfway. Before that it must have been using the internal acceleromter for pace & distance and, as I mentioned, would not be accurate on your first run. At least when GPS was acquired your correct pace was picked up. Try to do what Josh suggests below looking for a “zero” pace and also look for “GPS Ready” (well in English!) and green (not grey) in the little GPS status graph top left when on the Run page.
Garmin was reasonably clear on the dates of when things might be available. It was only announced 21 days ago. Units are shipping, and are headed out – as noted, in small batches.
Ultimately, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t both want them to ship immediately, but then yet complain later on because they held up shipments to solve an issue brought up in the initial run of production units (or didn’t, if they hadn’t).
I was reading the 920XT manual online the other day. It listed that you should not press buttons while the watch is submerged. I currently have a 310XT and use the lap button every 100 when doing longer sets to help keep track of my yardage. Has anyone had experience with swimming long pool sets with the 920XT? I am curious to know how accurately the device tracks pool distance. I do not do flip turns and i am certain that the distance of my push of the wall is not identical each time.
Dan P Accuracy of lap counting has been spot on in my usual pool – no different to the 910. Can’t guarantee others will experience the same but I hope that helps you! In a busy pool with lots of variation in speed, erratic turns because of the sort of people who block the ends or stop 1 metre short and gaze around absent mindedly etc (grrr, you know) I would say the 920 has coped slightly worse than the 910 but it is a bit subjective.
Oh how I wish they would add a simple correction facility to Garmin Connect!
Note, with the 910 hitting lap created a split – if you didn’t move between hitting lap again it was interpreted as a rest. If you hit lap and carried on then fine. You can’t do that now. With the 920 hitting lap will put you into an explicit rest interval (with reverse video to remind you and a customisable rest screen from which you can toggle to other data screens while resting). You then hit lap to come out of rest and start swimming again.
Finally, vibration alerts in the water are undetectable unlike the 910 where I relied heavily on them, pool and open water. I have no other 920s to compare with and Garmin has failed to respond to my support request submitted a week ago. I’d love to hear other’s experiences of in the water vibration.
Interesting note about always having a rest interval. The Garmin Swim watch first introduced Rest Time and Drill Logging… there they allow you to “disable rest timer” if I recall correctly.
I personally always use the rest timer, but I guess for Dan P’s question (and usage for the 310) you may want to be able to turn off the rest timer.
To add one comment to recent post above, before beginning every run with my 620 I watch my instant pace fluctuate for about 10 seconds after locking onto a satellite and then it flattens out at zero. Only then do I begin my run and the accuracy is spot on. I’m looking forward to feedback from others on this unit as to how it performs on runs as the larger screen is very appealing to me versus that of my 620, I am not a swimmer nor am I a biker.
Just out of curiosity, are there effective uses of the color screen? I would think that a great one would be to have the option of color coding the backgrounds of the data fields (green is good/red is bad/etc.). I haven’t seen any reference to this. There may be other ideas, but so far the only real example of color that I’ve seen is the “dial” gauge, which probably didn’t need it.
Sort of – if you do a Live Track. If you have an ANT adapter for the iPhone and say the Wahoo app you can pair with the same devices (e.g. HR) that the 920 does. Not really sure what you are trying to achieve however?
No, unfortunately not. However, with Connect IQ someone could develop something. I’d expect to see an example like that come out quickly – especially for display on an iPad or the like (projected via Airplay to a larger screen).
If you want to see yourself on a map you can just use an app like the Strava one. If you want to keep GPS off on your phone (to save battery) and still see roughly where you are on map just do a LiveTrack and look at that on the phone’s browser.
Ray – Thanks for the fantastic review (as always), and the answers to my earlier questions!
I have one more question here, regarding the use of the shoe-based cadence sensor vs. the HRM-Run. Simply put, have you seen any accuracy or precision difference between the HRM-Run and the shoe pod in terms of measuring cadence, speed, and distance? I notice that you have seen some variable results with the wrist-based measurement of these metrics, but did not see anything on the foot pod vs the HRM-Run.
I’d love to simplify the gear I travel and train with, and if the chest strap can do a good job of double duty, then all the better.
For cadence, no, it’s identical. As you noted, some tiny differences in wrist based primarily just around grabbing a drink from a water bottle. But between HRM and footpod, zero difference from what I see.
No need to buy a separate speed sensor for outdoor riding, really only used for indoor riding or if you hit prolonged tunnels (it’ll by default just calculate the straight line between entry and exit of a tunnel).
Sorry, forgot they snuck that into the beta along with the Di2 pieces (and also on the 810). It had been planned for a while, but forgot they added it in on the beta front. As for the FR920XT, nothing has been announced there at this point.
Ray, have any changes been made to the HRM-RUN strap? I order my gear from clever training, but look at other sites like running warehouse to see if anything is in stock for comparison sake. On their site they have a photo of the watch/strap bundle and the fabric on the strap looks to have a different design. Was curious why this may be and if you knew anything.
Thank you. One additional question if you have time. With respect to the sleep tracking, does the unit take sleep into account when displaying Recovery time, or perhaps it uses sleep tracking in some other way? I don’t need to track steps, I have three kids under the age of 6, I move a lot. But I am fairly certain I don’t sleep enough. After this Sunday’s upcoming 13.1 (ideal weather 37 degrees at start time forecast), it’s time to ramp up for 26.2 training, hopefully as a BQ. So if I can better track sleep and overnight HR (if possible), I would be interested.
No, it doesn’t take into account either steps or sleep in terms of recovery time.
For overnight HR and/or sleep, I’d look at a dedicated solution there. You’ll likely get the most value out of the sleep side (vs the overnight HR). For that there’s a number of phone apps that do a pretty good job.
Or, you can look at dedicated hardware. I’ve been trying out the Beddit solution the last few nights (link to amazon.com). So far so good, only a few minor nits with it. Also been trying out the Withings Aura solution, but just finding it horribly overpriced for what they’re delivering.
I guess even with the delay in launch from way back at CES the functionality they promised isn’t all there? From link to withings.com:
Place the discreet Sleep Sensor under your mattress and forget about it. Highly sensitive, it monitors your sleep cycles through body movement, breathing cycle and heart rate analysis.
BTW Noticed on that page Withings is catering to bs science:
To avoid unnecessary exposure to electromagnetic airwaves the Bedside Device is wired to the Sleep Sensor and shuts off Wi-Fi/Bluetooth when you plug in your smartphone to charge it.
(Seeing how science can’t show that Wi-Fi/Bluetooth does anything to the body and in actual double blind studies people weren’t actually impacted: link to en.wikipedia.org)
Yeah, I looked back at a lot of the detailed information I received from them last year, and I think they’re basically skirting on wording by implying that they use HR, but not that you get to see it.
Ultimately though, the unit just fails on so many other areas. For example, why can’t I play music with it? It’s this gigantic thing sitting next to my bed with a speaker, but I can’t use it as a BLE speaker. Except when it’s doing it’s bird chirping morning wakeup thing.
Hmm, the sensor is the same technology type as beddit only beddit goes ontop of the bed while Aura goes under. Maybe being under the bed isn’t sensitive enough to work in the real world.
BLE speaker? BLE doesn’t have enough bandwidth for audio. (when the device plugs into the wall why worry so much about power use and not have full Bluetooth in it?)
Thanks for your help
I called wahoo – they couldn’t help
I called garmin – they didn’t even know what the 920 was!
I was just hoping you could help
Sorry for the wrong use of this area
I did find GPS, and tried the power meter
No luck
Will try the forums
If you search for a power meter it should find it without issue. Obviously the KICKR needs to be plugged in and powered on. It should find it near immediately once you select on the FR920XT to search for a new power meter sensor.
The watch can only get data from a phone and ant+ sensors. Sure someone may write something that supports the ant+ periodical that transmits temp (I.e. support for the garmin Tempe sensor) but still can’t transmit far under water as ant run over 2.4Ghz
I love the new watch computers 920XT, V800, Ambit, etc BUT, when can I have my cake and eat it too? One watch for everything!! Like most of these Triathlon, swim bike run, hike, SCUBA, Skydive, paragliding, HRM, POWER, CADENCE, etc.
START WITH 920XT, Tactix, V800, or Ambit platform. Add features I had on my old Garmin76s for paragliding, Suunto D4i for scuba, and pilot stuff. Once the sensors are there it’s all software. I really just want one watch to wear daily and log all of my fun…
It’s tricky. The more features you add, the more it requires for a company to test. And, if the amount of resources stays static (it usually does), then they typically are able to test less.
But, I think that’s really the power of Connect IQ. They can offload many things to 3rd party developers that can do it better than Garmin and dedicate resources for it.
Diving stuff is way more waterproof and use a different way to talk to remote things as ant+ doesn’t work as well. Some watches battery life is more important then processing power so hardware is very different. I don’t think hardware is there yet
my father (and I agree with him 120%) used to say that if something is meant to do everything, it will do nothing correctly. You will get way better results with dedicated devices, even if it means 4 or 5 of them. As Ray mentions, the more features in, the more problems. Keeping separate dedicated devices works much better.
I’m invested on BLE Wahoo speed/cadence and heart rate monitors. Is there a way to make 920XT read from these sensors say through a 4iii heart rate sensor? If so, can I do it without an iPhone and let the watch receive the data directly?
No, Garmin hasn’t enabled it. As for 4iiii’s, it goes the other way, so that wouldn’t work. And finally, not via the iPhone – at least not yet. It might be possible with Connect IQ (should be possible actually) and a phone app that sends back data via a channel.
1. Hiking ＆ Trail Run: Fenix2
2. Marathon: FR920XT
3. Cycling: FR920XT
4. Log GPS while travel and map with photos (geotagging): Either one
The challenge I have with the FR920XT and hiking specifically is twofold. First is if you use courses, they just aren’t functional/practical on the 920XT. The map zoom aspect makes them useless. Second, the lack of ability to calibrate the barometric altimeter, combined with the fact that it can take upwards of an hour to ‘settle/normalize’ (and still be incorrect) means that it’s just not useful in cases where you depend on that data.
When I asked they said there was no method of doing so. Though, what you describe might work. I’ll toy with it, though I thought I had set my house elevation and it was still showing off on a few runs.
Tony – I’d probably not buy both of them. But rather, see if Garmin is willing to budge over time on the navigation/barometric altimeter issues.
If they simply were to set the altimeter via GPS first that’d solve most of it (they don’t today, which is unlike every other unit they have). They believe they get higher accuracy this way, I believe it’s pointless when the first hour of your activity is entirely off.
With my current Garmin 310xt I use a Polar soft strap for more stable hart rate measurements. Is this still possible with the 920xt?
I read somewhere that for running dynamics information (vertical oscillation and ground contact time) on the 920xt a new sensor is required. Is the new Garmin strap also required for running dynamics information?
great review as ever and I’ve placed my order with Clever Training after selling on my Fenix 2. Have you been able to get hold of the quick release kit yet? I’ve ordered one but can’t seem to find any photo’s or video on the net of it actually attached to the watch and bike. How well does it work?
I have also placed my order with Clever Training after selling my Fenix2. The 310xt is still holding strong after all this time but I can’t wait for the 920xt (expected teething troubles and all).
Thanks as usual Ray for your reviews and replies.
you may want to remove this post as it is more about site maintenance than the 920XT itself.
I am one of those who registered for getting email notifications for the comments on this page and it looks like some of your posts are not sent. For instance I got an notification for Tony’s and Duane’s comments but not yours.
Interestingly I pre-ordered mine from wiggle in the UK.
A week later they sent me an email saying it would arrive early november.
Then they changed the website to stop taking pre-orders and only have an email alert.
Today they changed to the website to say that the 920xt is no longer available as an item at all!
Sounds ominous.
Me too – watch, check and VIP program – check! Always liked my 910XT but have had issues with the unit from the get-go. Decided to jump in and pre-order the 920XT now and can’t wait to get it–
I occasionally find myself in a position where disabling Bluetooth is advantageous. From the manual, I see where that is enabled/disabled – >Settings>Bluetooth>Status>Off.
Can anyone confirm that once disabled and then enabled the Bluetooth pairings remain and function. It’s not a deal breaker and I can work around it.
Ray – Thanks for the awesome resource.
Hi DC, Great info in these reviews. I’m looking forward to reading the full review of the 920xt soon. Have Garmin ever mentioned releasing a Tri Bundle for the 920xt, I’m a little surprised it not one of the options already?
Hi DC. Just ordered the 920XT :-) Its replacing my Suunto Ambit 2 S … How do you see the difference between Movescount and Garmin Connect ? Which one is the best ? Looking forward to you in depth review of the 920XT.
I am actually in the same situation as you. I have an Ambit 2S and pre-ordered the 920XT.
As an FYI, I have recently been uploading all my Ambit workouts to Garmin Connect. I would export the TCX file from MovesCount and import into Garmin Connect.
Personally, I don’t like MovesCount. I much prefer Garmin Connect, but even that isn’t that great.
Hi Derek :-) Is there a smart way to export all my trainings in movescount to garmin connect ? I mean can this be done in one datafile or do I need to move one training at the time ? …. (I’m pretty sure we will be happy when we get our 920XT…. at least I hope)
I’m not aware of any way to move all the workouts in bulk. I only got the Ambit a few months ago so I simply exported each file one at a time
My fingers are crossed that the 920XT will work well. I had been a long time Garmin user but my last one, the 610 gave me tons of issues. The Ambit 2S has been ROCK-SOLID…..not a single issue or glitch. I just miss having vibration alerts and being able to display 4 fields at the same time.
Hi Ray,
Great, Great reviews,
My question is:-
I run, bike but not swim. However I row and do some sessions on the concept 2 rower – so am I waisting money buying swim functions I will not use? And what has the 920xt got to offer my rowing training
Thanks Ray
Geoff
The Concept2 previously used to transmit as a Fitness Equipment device, which the FR920XT doesn’t support (the 910XT did). With Connect IQ, I suspect we’ll see someone quickly develop an app for that.
I don’t know however if the Concept2 has been updated to just transmit generic speed/cadence information, as I thought someone said it had (I haven’t used one in a gym in years).
The pm4 transmits all the rowing data over private ant (that’s how it does wireless races between rowers) and they are willing to share the private ant convoy if you sign a nda so a connect IQ app is possible
sorry Ray to disturb but on the net there is a little of confusion.
for Europe some shops say “the product is no longer available” other say “probably the 3rd week of December”?
which is the real situation may be you know some news for us?
did you know something about a kind of fenix3 on early 2015?
thankyou for your time and go head testing you make a great job!!!
The shops are wrong. Or rather, they don’t likely know what to put since Garmin isn’t telling them an exact date. So sometimes they just guess, or, they put something that’ll entice you to buy – knowing full well they don’t know when units are coming in.
FR920XT’s are shipping, in very small batches, globally. Different shops have different timelines for shipments based on how many they pre-ordered (prior to the FR920XT even being announced), how many outstanding orders they currently have, geographic locale, and just outright luck. Some people will get units this week, but others might indeed wait till mid December or further.
Hi, great job on Your web site!
I’m planning to switch from my 610 to 920xt id GPS accuracy improvement will be confirmed.
So I’m waiting Your in depth review…what about? :)
Best regards.
That’s great! It means that I can use it to keep an eye on my left/right power output on the rollers during Winter (old hamstring tear from some years back) :-D
From one Ray to another, I love the work you do here! I haven’t bought a sports watch without checking what you had to say about it first. I’ve had the 305, 310xt and the Fenix 2. I pre-ordered the 920xt from Clever Training after you posted this pre review. I’m “patiently” waiting on the watch to ship. I’m also “patiently” waiting on your full review. When will the full review go up?
I was in the market for a triathlon oriented sports watch and believe this is the one I will get. Can different user profiles be created if someone else wanted to use my watch, for instance my wife on a 5k race? Or would the watch need to be reconfigured?
No user profiles on any Garmin devices unfortunately. But, you could just create a different activity profile for running that has different preferences. It will impact things like calories though, as well as VO2Max, but if you don’t care much about that – no other major impact.
When you change time zones the watch will automatically update the time based on either GPS or your phone. You’ll need to briefly take the watch out of standby, but then within about 30 or so seconds it’ll pull the updated time from your phone (if when in GPS off mode, such as ‘Indoors’ sports mode). Or, you can do the same outside with GPS.
Then, on days where you change time zones, with Garmin Connect for the Steps data, it’ll show a little icon at the top indicating ‘Time Zone Change’. It’ll continue upwards counting of steps, but the chart itself will show the most recent timezone.
Thanks for the great review. I’m going to get this watch when it comes out in the UK. But I’m wondering if I need to get the HR Strap that comes with it, or if I can use an older strap – specifically what features do I lose out on by pairing with an old strap? (run cadence, bike V02 etc?)
It will work with older straps that support Ant+ and/or Bluetooth, but you’ll lose the running dynamics options like the cadence, vertical oscillation and ground contact time.
Also the recovery stats are going to be missing, as well as VO2 Max stats (if I’m not mistaken).
As the new HR Strap (with the runner on it) will cost about $99,- on it’s own, it probably makes more sense to get the 920XT with the HR starp right away instead of buying the strap later…
That’s not quite true actually – you only need the HRM-Run (that comes with it – or the 620) if you want vertical oscillation and ground contact time. Cadence would come from the 920 itself if you are just using a “normal” ANT/Garmin HR strap or indeed no HR strap at all.
VO2 Max for running and recovery time you just need the HR bit. Bike VO2 needs HR but also a power meter.
did you maybe test the FR920 for hiking? Is suitable? I read that the Edge 810 have some issues with tracking distance when hiking. If i purchase FR920 i don’t want to have false distance data on a hike. Thanks for the answer.
Just a quick boast :-)
Picked up a 920XT at the Noosa triathlon (Australia) last weekend.
There were a number of stalls with stock available – I think it was Garmin Australia’s official launch for the device.
Its early days for me, but quite happy with the unit so far. I find it comfortable to wear all day – it is quite light compared to similar watches.
There have also been 3 updates to the firmware already! – V2.5 is the current version – citing improvements to various things such as open water swim tracking, activity tracking, notifications etc.
My only gripe (which I knew before purchase) is Garmin express is not available for Windows phone. I can however sync the device through my phone using a wifi hotspot.
The edge computers have the ability to turn off the “off course” warnings for courses and navigation. The 910xt did not have this setting. Anyone know if this setting is present in the 920xt? On a 910 if your GPS signal is a bit off from the breadcrumb you get a pop up that does not go away without a click.
Well after my local running shop stated they wouldn’t be stocking the 920XT because it isn’t a “running” watch I decided to hop on to Clever training and support DC.
Let’s hope my delay in ordering doesn’t lead to a 2015 receive date.
Based off your comments in your other posts the in depth should be any time, so I have my coffee and snacks ready for it.
Is it tomorrow yet in Paris? I will be more than happy to preview your report if you would like to email it to me. Thanks again for all of your great work Ray!
Do you have any posts or website suggestions for people looking to get into cycling? I think I’ve thoroughly gone through your site haven’t seen anything on this specifically. I’m interested in information on how to choose an intro bike, what’s really important for novices, and what’s hyperbole. Thanks!
I like Cyclingtips.com – they have a lot of stuff on the pro side, but also a ton of really good non-pro stuff too. Though, they don’t quite cover as much on pure bike purchases. Bikeradar.com is another good option there, and I believe they have a buyers guide for different price ranges.
I was planning on moving to the 920 from the 910 after I’ve fully recovered from a foot injury. But now that have started short walks with particular attention to gait etc to improve from balance shortening stride etc, I’m now wondering if any of the new functions in the Jr run would be useful feedback & would work with walking.
Think it’s a typo for HR Run strap so we’re talking vertical oscillation, ground contact time and cadence (although the watch can do the cadence itself
Not looked at any of these measures whilst walking but assuming a detectable vertical movement it should work. Usefulness is I guess open for debate ?
Hello DCR
Thanks for the sneak peak on 920xt, it will be very exiting to read you’re full in-depth review. To bad that you cant charge 920xt during activity that would help a lot. I use my old garmin 305 and plug in to a usb-battery and it works perfect. I hope there will be a firmware update for the 920xt down the road.
In regular GPS mode, the 920 doubles the battery life of the 310, so you should get ‘up to’ 24 hours.
If that is not enough, UltraTrac mode can be enabled for up to 40 hours use – one would expect you would be ready for a snooze by then ;-).
I haven’t tested UltraTrac mode yet, but I intend to on my next Rogaine.
WRT to firmware, I have had the unit less than a week and have had a couple of firmware updates!
920 with ~24hrs battery life does not double 310 in this matter (310 has ~20hrs).
But if You meant 305, then 920 more than doubles that (305 has ~10hrs)
I was in contact with Garmin Sweden to day and they replayed that 920xt is able to charge under activity’s.
Q: -“One more thing, I have heard that you can not charge the 920xt during activity. Is there any plan to change it in the next firmware?”
A: -“It is possible to charge Forerunner 920XT during activity.”
HI DC,
I HAD A QUERY REGARDING GOING FOR THE 920XT WHITE RED WATCH WITH THE HRM RUN OR A WHITE RED WATCH ONLY.WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO?
KINDLY HELP !!
MEGHA
Is anybody receiving the units that were pre-ordered on Clever Training or Garmin or Amazon?
I will be in the US (Boston and Baltiomore) from November 14 to 20 and wonder if I will be able to buy a unit during this time, either online or in a physical store.
No units have shipped from any retailer in the US except at a handful of running/Tri expos. I’m awaiting an email this morning from Garmin on current shipping timelines/updates.
Thanks DCR, I guess if that happens I will go for the Fenix 2 instead. This sunday is the Ironman Tri in Fortaleza, Brazil, where I live. I will see later today if in the expo they have any units.
Hi there DC
Thanks for the great reviews.
Question – I am on a long road back from multiple shoulder surgeries and will not be able to swim freestyle for quite some time. Hence my pool work is restricted to walking laps and kick drills with kickboard etc. Which of Garmin 920xt or Suunto Ambit 3 will best capture metrics for kick drills and walking (in water) laps?
Am thinking both will adequately but any traps with either?
With thanks. JF.
I’ve published my In-Depth Review of the FR920XT. You can read it here: link to dcrainmaker.com
As such, I’ll be closing the comments section on this post, like usual, in order to keep things tidy going forward. For questions that aren’t answered by the In-Depth Review (or the comments here/there), feel free to post them to review.
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Hi Ray,
Any news on a European deal for DCR readers?
I want to order a 920XT but I am holding for any special European deal you may come up with, so that I also support your site.
Thanks,
Rodrigo Valle
It’s being worked through, but a local option for Europe folks doesn’t quite look like it’ll be available in the next few weeks. Lots of paperwork!
+1
+2 an European / UK Deal would be great as I’m looking to order one of these for Xmas (Xmas present from me to me ;), lots of paperwork though is not good when you clearly have limited time but fingers crossed :-D
Fear not, it’s not me doing the paperwork. It’d never get done if so! ;)
And yup, we’re working to make it happen as fast as possible. Thanks for the support!
Live Tracking testing request, if Ray and/or the room doesn’t know the answer:
What do my friends at home see for a Live Track that begins while having cell service, but then leaves the range of the cell towers, and then comes back?
I have a longer trail race coming up, and suspect that this might be an issue.
When you come back into range it should back fill the points for your friends. Live Track samples every minute so not a huge amount of data. I once did a run where started a LiveTrack but left my phone with my wife at a cafe when I went for the run. On returning the watch paired up again (so like regaining cell signal) just before the end of my run and the whole LiveTrack was there when I checked. I don’t think my wife was at all interested though :) !!!
Lol.. I would say you are right. And the timing we go for runs (wee hours of the morn, they won’t even bother waking up to check. Lol))
Hello Ray. First of all very nice reviews you have here!
Just double checking on battery life with activity tracking and smart notifications ON all the time it’s 30 days? My Fenix 2 lasts one day with smart notifications enabled via bluetooth.
Thanks!
Yes, that’s correct. The difference is that the Fenix2 wasn’t designed for it from a hardware perspective. It was sorta added as a bit of a ‘Hmm, let’s see if we can get this figured out now on this hardware just for the heck of it since geeky triathletes might like it’. Technically, it was introduced on the Fenix/Tactix.
With the 920XT though, the underlying hardware supports the low-power mode that makes it work.
Thanks for the answer. Does the Ambit3 has a low power mode like the 920xt or has the same principle as Fenix 2?
Thanks!
The FR920XT is the same concept as the Ambit3 in that regard, so it lasts for a long time. Different than the Fenix2 which lasts for about a day.
Just a quick note on something I noticed in your comparison chart, the 910XT does support training calendar. I used it for a half marathon back in May with a Garmin training plan. Then manually made my own for a couple of triathlons.
But, does the 910XT show the correct workout for the day you’re on? Or just have them sync’d and available for you to choose? I thought it was just being available, versus having it set for ‘today’s workout’.
Yes, the 910XT “mostly” provides you with the correct workout for the day. I think there is a time zone bug in there tho. When I would do late night workouts (past midnight GMT) it would recommend tomorrow’s workout. I am in California.
The Edge 500 works like you suggest, it just puts all of the workouts on the device, then you need to know which one to run. I used that for a while too.
I have all 16 weeks worth of my interval workouts on the GC calendar, and downloaded to my 910xt. You go to Scheduled and choose today’s workout (I only have one per day scheduled, so nothing really to choose) and it’s ready to use.
Cool, appreciate it. Just updated the database, thanks!
Double checking that a previous Garmin HR strap will work for this one too.
I’m checking that the previous Garmin HR strap will work for this one too.
Yes. HRM3 will work with this watch.
Ive looked over your initial look and comments a few times and don’t see this question.
Could you wear this day in and day out with it not being too cumbersome?
I own and love my FR220 but have been thinking of adding a vivofit. I don’t wear my FR220 all the time. If the 920 isn’t too bulky for 24/7 wear I might just upgrade.
Also, any scuttlebutt on maybe an early refresh of the 220/620 to 230/630 to include activity monitoring?
You could wear it as a normal watch – I have been. Or course you need to if you want to make best use of the activity tracker.
It’s a bit bigger than a 220 of course however.
There has been some comment about how it might look with business attire but clearly that is a personal choice you need to make.
Thanks for the response Tim. While the face is larger it does not look like its thicker than the 220/620. I tried to look through the pics again and didn’t see a direct comparison, probably because the 220/620 and the 920 are not directly comparable products.
My only hesitation is that I currently would not use the swim or bike mode in the unit. I would love a 620 with a vivofit baked in, but the 920 might be my best bet. Plus it could give me a reason to expand into the bike/swim.
Now to determine if I get it do I want to get this before Disney Marathon Week in January where I will run 4 races (5K, 10K, 13.1, 26.2) in 4 days.
Does it come with a quick release bike mount similar to the 310xt?
Hi,
thanks for this great Review.
Ask a question:
which means “TDB” in “Compatible with Firstbeat HR tools TBD” ?
Regards Horst
Sorry, small mistake
is correct: which means “TBD” in “Compatible with Firstbeat HR Tools TBD”?
Horst
To Be Determined – just means it’s not obvious from the manual and it’s not been tested by Ray yet.
Thanks,
learned something about this again.
I have Firstbeat a few days ago asked which way the connection between the 920XT and Firstbeat Athlete done. The Firstbeat Technologies answer was:
The data from Forerunner 920XT is uploaded to the ATHLETE software the same way as from the Forerunner 620. Please see the first Q&A from our ATHLETE FAQ link to firstbeat.com
TBD seems appropriate then when that article only mentions the 620 and not the 920. I understand however that the file they mention there to enable R-R recording should work on a 920. Is that what Firstbeat confirmed with you?
I’ve just downloaded the enablement file and tossed it on the 920XT. After disconnecting the unit it showed ‘Updating’. I’ll report back after my workout later today to see if it actually did anything.
My Question to Firstbeat was: How Firstbeat Athlete arrives at the FIT-files from the Forerunner 920XT? Wie gelangt Firstbeat Athlete an die FIT-Files von der Forerunner 920XT?
And now I just hope that it works well.
For those that have the FirstBeat Athlete software, here’s tonight’s run file from the FR920XT after I had placed the enablement Fit on there. I’ve run out of computers to keep installing the trial version of FirstBeat Athlete on…
link to dcrainmaker.com
Cheers.
Thanks for the FIT file.
It works very well.
Now I just have to find a dealer in Germany who has the 920XT in stock.
regards Horst
Thanks for the confirmation – just updated the tables. Enjoy!
When you create a map on Garmin Connect, is it possible that you post a Picture how the Navigation of such tracks Looks like?
thank you so much in advance,
Stef
I included some navigation photos in the last section of this post: link to dcrainmaker.com
WOW nice thank you!!
Tim or Ray,
You have both the 620 and the 920. Will you keep both? The reason I ask, I have the 620 as well and a 510. I was thinking of using the 920 for multi sport mode and set a target and for swimming.
Would you still use both the 920 and 620 for runs?
Doug
Don’t think asking us two whether we will keep devices would give much of a representative answer as I have got a bag of “vintage” Forerunners and chargers back to the first 201 :) Ray must have a whole room of “stuff” !
Will I still use the 620 for running – yes – but I tend to wear 2 devices anyway – just in case something goes wrong (user error or otherwise) plus it gives more things to look at a glance …
For biking I would still use my Edge 810 as my main head unit – it’s just optimally positioned for me to see it and of course you can see far more stuff at a glance.
Thanks…Just trying to justify the cost and the need/want for a new watch.
As Tim noted, neither of us are likely to part with any devices.
For me, initially I would have suspected that I’d go back to the FR620 after I’m done with the FR920XT review, but, it’s slowly growing on me as a runners watch (I prefer the smallness primarily of the FR620), so we’ll see.
Any chance that you can take a pic with the 620 and 920 side by side on your arm? I love all the features, but have a 220 now, but also want the cycling, and (eventually) swimming features, plus the battery life seems promising. I always run with my phone in an ultra backpack so the message push seems intriguing too so i don’t have to pull out my phone every time i get a message (at leas the important ones) :-)
Mike
Hi, Your impression about GPS accuracy and sensivity to pace variation?
I’ve a 610 and I usually run in a urban city “canyoning” scenario with boring GPS behaviours….
I’m reading about 920xt in order to see a real improvement related to GPS+GLONASS support.
If you scan through here Ray and I have both posted links to activities with the 920. Generally tracking looks fine. I tend to think that GLONASS won’t “improve” tracking to say military degree standard but rather reduce the likelihood of having a really bad track. As I understand it GLONASS just adds the ability for the unit to see those sats as well as the “GPS” ones so hence increase the likelihood of having enough sats locked on at any one time.
That’s true – using Glonass support only will not improve accuracy, since it from a single system point of view is slightly less accurate than GPS (see link link to navipedia.net). It’s the combination of both systems that make it out for better performance, hence you’ll have to both systems to get slightly better accuracy.
If GLONASS works in anyway as it does on chips used in mobile phones, GLONASS will only kick in when needed because not enough GPS-satellites are possible to connect to. So running where GPS-signals are weak (dense forest for example), GLONASS will obviously improve accuracy for that particular run.
I agree though, that in an open field with plenty of GPS:satellites available, GLONASS will make no difference.
There are apps for your smartphone. I’ve played with ‘GPS Test’ for Android. It shows you how many GPS/GLONASS satellites are connected. I usually get around 9 GPS + 3 GLONASS where I live
I think it’s a bit more subtle than that. GNSS chips have a limited number of channels, and generally will track as many GPS satellites as they can, then use any remaining channels for GLONASS satellites. The MT3333 chip which seems to be in the 920 can run up to 33 channels, so might do a little better even in fairly open spaces, though there atmospheric effects are probably going to limit accuracy. It would probably be able to track every satellite of either constellation that’s above the horizon with capacity to spare – that number of channels would only really get used when newer constellations like Galileo start coming online. Sounds as though your phone can handle 12, which is common.
I see, thanks for clarifying. It seems everything indicates that 920xt will have better accuracy than any previous unit
Out of curiosity, how do you know which satellites are GPS vs GLONASS? Is there a list somewhere?
Hello Ray
My plan is to begin with Swimrun competitions in Sweden and I therefore wonder if the 920 can do multiple changes between running and swimming in one single activity?
/Martin
Yes, you can simply tap the lower left corner (side) button and then change to any of your sports. You can seemingly do this as many times as you’d like, swapping around free-form.
Alternatively, you can always create a specific multisport order as well and pre-establish that.
Thx a lot
/Martin
As luck will have my RCX 5 needs to be replaced. Now I was looking at the v800 but had some reservations about Polar quality because my RCX5, HRM and Speed/Cadence quality leaves much to be desired.
Will it be worth it to wait for this to become available, or does Garmin also have its quality issues
Also, BTLE vs Ant+, what is the way to go
You spoke about there not being a heart monitor, do you mean that there isn’t a heart meter altogether or just when you’re swimming?
I’m not quite sure what you’re referring to, but just for clarity – the FR920XT can connect to a HR strap, but while swimming and wearing a regular HR strap it won’t receive the data due to the ANT+ transmission not going more than about 1-2″ underwater (same for Bluetooth Smart).
Can you turn off all distance tracking (GPS / internal accelerometer / footpod / HRM-Run Cadence) for a specific activity profile like weight training? Thanks.
Hi Ray,
do you think HRM-RUN heart rate strap could be used also for cycling?
You certainly can use the HRM-Run for cycling.
As a matter of fact I have been using one (from the Fenix 2 pack) for the last 4 months without any issue.
You will however not get any Run Dynamics (or any cycling equivalent) while cycling though.
Hope this helps
Hi Ray,
Are you able to try to directly import the 920xt workout to Sport tracks desktop version?
/Chris
Hi Ray
Looking forward to your in depth review.
One quick question; do you now whether the quick release system works with the Barfly TT?
/Morten
Yes, it’s compatible.
Thanks for a great review. Do you think there is a chance that Fenix 3 will include routable/visual maps? I´m waiting for that in a watch.
Also, can you view your activity on a map in your phone like you can on the Ambit 3?
Thanks again.
On last point – yes, during the activity, if you do a LiveTrack and afterwards in the Garmin Connect mobile app.
Hi Ray,
thanks for great review. Do you please have more specific information on availability/shipping date? Clever Training says “preorder – expected in November”. But I saw in the comments that some guys already have their 920XTs.
I`m asking because I`m from a small country in Europe and going to US soon. I can order one to my friend`s place and then take it back home with me. I have a limited time to pick it up though and wouldn`t want to leave 2 days before the package arrives.
thanks
Boris
Garmin has made a handful of units available at a few races globally, such as at Ironman Kona this past week (a couple hundred units), along with a couple of other races. Internationally a few smaller local running/tri shops have had luck getting in one or two units (this is sometimes done simply so Garmin can say they’re actively shipping to a given country…).
Beyond that though, all other retailers are waiting shipment notifications from Garmin. As noted at the bottom of the post, Garmin doesn’t expect to get anywhere near demand from a manufacturing perspective until at least early November.
As far as Clever Training goes, historically they are very conservative with ship dates. They prefer to underpromise and overdeliver, especially since most manufactures tend to do the opposite. The dates seen for availability on the site are for new orders placed today, based on the most recent information given from Garmin. Pretty much everyone globally is in the same boat there.
For Clever, they’ll be sending out weekly updates with the most current information from Garmin (as the have for other major product launches). As usual you can pre-order now and cancel anytime if it doesn’t meet your timelines, though, it does charge the card upfront (which would be refunded if you cancelled).
Thanks for the support for the blog here, via Clever Training!
I ordered on 10/1 and was promised a shipping date of 10/3. A few days later I was told I would have it by 10/17. Today I was notified that I should have it by 11/24. Definitely disappointed but anxiously awaiting.
I assume that order was through Road Runner Sports though, correct?
Why do they charge the card upfront? Most place I am familiar with charge it only when they get the items and can ship them. I think it’s a shady business practice and allows them to get a free loan.
Honestly, as one of your partners it makes me think twice about giving them my business.
Yes it was. Looks like i will now get to see your full review and have plenty of time to cancel my order pending your recommendation.
Mikey:
I ordered through them as i was able to get a discount and get the bundle for $449. They have not charged my card and will not until the item ships.
Sorry for any confusion. When I posted that I ordered through “them” I was referring to Road Runner Sports. I did not order through Clever Training and they in no way have ever mislead me, or made any type of promise regarding product availability. Sorry again for any confusion this may have caused.
How is the 920 managing run pace now? Like the Ambit ie through accelerometer cadence + GPS? Pace smoothing was an issue with some Garmin products so much so that users tended to use lap based pace rather than instantaneous pace reporting which would be too erratic?
Interested to know..it is a feature I love about my Ambit 2.
Dan
I’ve included a video of instant pace here, if you’re interested in seeing what it looks like: link to dcrainmaker.com
Bit of an obscure question, maybe, but I’m considering travel around areas like Central Asia – will I find the GLONASS support in this to be significantly more reliable than the GPS in, say, Fenix2? (Aside from the differences I’d already see in the US or Canada, I mean.)
Just because it’s a Russian system it doesn’t make it work better over Russia or near Russia than GPS. The strength comes from using the combined constellation which does improve accuracy everywhere in the world. link to navipedia.net
Minor point irrelevant to Patrick: IIRC GLONASS is particularly optimized for the Northern hemisphere.
Thanks, folks!
Really important question…
I have the 2014 Giant Trinity Composite 2 (Red and White frame). Should I get the white and red 920 or black and blue 920.
Match the frame or match the bruises?
I believe the rules are quite clear in that you should be matching to the frame. After all, you’d otherwise have to keep crashing to ensure bruise matching.
Thanks for all the info Ray. I’ve placed my pre-order through Clever Training.
I was wondering: does the 920 support double-tap to turn on the night light as the 910xt did? That was very handy, and I miss it in my poor frequently-confused Fenix2.
Also, I’m really impressed by how you police these comments. Keeping comments civil is a Sisyphean task, well done.
It doesn’t appear to do anything when I single or double tap it while in running mode. :-/
(Quite honestly, I never even knew you could do that with the 910XT, but, did just validate you can…learn something new every day!)
Does it seem possible geocaching support to be added via third-party app? I find it curious that the Fenix2 sports this, but it’s missing from the 920XT. I wonder if it’s purely a marketing decision for product differentiation, or maybe solely an issue of each device reflecting its particular team of origin within Garmin.
Yes, I’d guess we’ll see a Geocaching app at launch from someone (perhaps an employee/example one). It’s probably one of the more direct and easy to implement things. Especially true since so many members of the Connect IQ team hail from the Outdoor Team, which has a much closer affinity to Geocaching than the Forerunner team.
There was a Garmin guy and a Potomac River Running guy in a booth with a hand full of 920’s at the Army 10 Miler packet pickup tonight…. I got mine!
I am going to have to read manual with no in-depth review out yet.
Full price though. Have a 610 so think I’ll save $50 and wait a month for clever training
Ray, As always, thank you for the great review. I currently wear a normal watch in addition to my vivofit. Do you know if the 920 activity tracker and the vivofit can reconcile steps at the end of the day if I wear my vivofit for the normal portion of the day and then switch to the 920 for workouts?
At the moment, when I go for a run, I wear the 910xt and vivofit on the other wrist. A very small “ask” really but would be great if the new model did reconcile this as I’m not too keen to wear the 920xt as my daily watch.
Thanks again!
PS – tried to enter a comment on your giveaway for the 920/Fenix 2 but there wasn’t a option to at the bottom of the comments section
Hmm, I’ll have to see. You have to specifically set one as the ‘Activity Tracker’ on Garmin Connect. But I haven’t checked to see if you can set the Vivo as the activity tracker, then do a run with the 920XT and get the step data fed into the daily total (at least on GC).
As for the giveaway, sorry for the minor snag – you should be able to enter now. :-/
No, I do not believe you can “blend” steps from different devices.
From link to connect.garmin.com
Activity Tracking
What is activity tracking?
Some devices provide 24-hour activity tracking (steps, sleep, etc.), so you can get a full picture of your daily health. An activity tracker can only be used by one person at a time, not shared between friends or spouses. Garmin Connect will only sync with one activity tracker at a time. If you have multiple activity tracking devices, set the device you wear all day as your activity tracker.
Question about Multisport mode and the New Garmin Connect View for Triathlon data (which I think is great) and Strava auto sync.
In the old mode the Multisport activity was split into separate files (e.g. Run, Bike, Run) and now with the auto sync to Strava life was sweet.
Now the new view is showing the data file as one activity with a view to see the Run\Bike\Run (e.g. Duathlon) and it seems the sync to Strava has changed as all the 3 event have been logged as a Run (including Bike) and I am now he record holder for a lot of Segment. This has also skewed by personal bests for running.
Did you see this with the 920? Is it just a Fenix 2 thing? or just a Strava Thing which Strava will need to fix?
Thanks in Advance.
Anyone with experience importing a watch from clever training to the uk? I guess they add 20% & 30$ shipping but any other costs?
Strava with the FR920XT works out perfectly. You get three events (Swim/Bike/Run), though it doesn’t show transitions (which is fine).
The issues you noted are a Fenix2/Strava thing within the multisport profile. Strava is aware of it (and has been for some time).
Very much doubt importing from US to UK will be cost effective. You will have to pay import tax and whenever have ordered stuff from US your package tends to help up in customs until you pay up. I forget the exact amount but recall added about £50 to a £200 purchase. It is sort of worth it as I could buy item in the UK. Wiggle have been selling some 920s in the UK as an “exclusive”.
Sorry need an Edit facility!
That should be “It was sort of worth it as I could NOT buy the item in the UK.”
Thanks for the reply. This behavior is different and definitely has changed since the Garmin Connect change to show all files in one page.
I have previous Triathlons showing as Swim\Bike\Run as separate files and as such did upload to Strava automatically correctly, Below are links to Garmin Connect for a Multisport event as separate files running firmware 3.90
link to connect.garmin.com
link to connect.garmin.com
link to connect.garmin.com
Here is a Multisport event on Fenix2 running 4.0
link to connect.garmin.com
It is like Garmin updated Connect to read multisport files better but as a result the upload to Strava is for the 1st event on the Multisport.
Just something to bear in mind.
Correct, all activities uploaded after Oct 1st get thew new view.
As for Strava, it’s actually always been dorked up that way with the Fenix2 and multisport profile (such as my July triathlon). :/
Surprised for the cost that it doesn’t include an AC charger like with the 910xt. One doesn’t always have a pc around. I’ve found that charging with a pc or a simple plug in ac/usb is really slow. I’ve found the same with the Virb, that it charges much faster plugged into the garmn 910xh ac charger. Do you know if they have made improvement in the ability to charge by usb or would I be better off to keep the 910 XT charger and not sell it when I sell my 910xt?
I assume you can plug the usb cable into any standard usb charger. By now most people will have quite a few usb charging outlets in my locations. The 910xt charger is the most clunky charger I have (but I still use it and don’t charge my 910xt elsewhere…force of habit).
Yes that doesn’t answer the question I asked . Clunky or not the std usb charger in my experience has not worked nearly as fast. Difference of hours. I assume something regarding the charging current. So it there something in the new charge cables that work better? Which as I’vesaid before has’t been the case for either the 910xt or Virb.
Typically speaking USB charge times are purely a function of amperage of the specific adapter. For example, many iPad adapters are rated at 2A, but typically Garmin adapters for watches are rated at .5A. Depending on which port on your PC you used, it might vary.
Fwiw, using my laptop last night to change the FR920XT from 0% to 100% took about 2 hours.
Either way, many USB devices these days aren’t coming with power adapters given just how widely available USB ports.
That charge rate is similar to my experience as I went up 20% in 30 mins with a laptop USB port so 2.5 hours in all at that rate. Battery life is quite good on a 920 as I suspect, in most cases, about an hour’s “top-up” would see you back to 100% after using it that day.
After spending quite some time in defining what i need from a smart watch i have come up with one important thing for me that i cannot seem to find information on anywhere: Will it be possible to link this or any gps watch to a phone (IPhone) and have the Iphone give audio audio cues while pressing the lap/split button?
I spend quite some times running in mountains and when going uphill it is quite awkard to look at a watch (or a phone for that sake). I need a solution where i can press the lap button and have the phone notify me on my time, pace etc. Is this possible with this watch? :)
I am not aware of any way of doing that at present but maybe something that somebody may implement when Connect IQ comes online next year.
I use the Strava app as a bit of a “backup” and have set that to “talk” 1/2 mile splits to me which isn’t quite what you want but potentially useful and on the same lines.
Hello,
On Youtube I found: Garmin FR920XT Instant Pace Demo.
link to youtu.be
I’m more familiar to speed than to pace time.
So can the FR910XT add a “Instant Speed” field?
Thanks,
Yes you can show “Current Speed” as well as/instead of “Current Pace” on the 920 (and the 910 for that matter).
Sorry I made a typo, I meant:
So can the FR920XT add a “Instant Speed” field?
I know that it supports “Current Speed”, but does it support “Instant Speed”?
Instant Speed is Current Speed.
link to connect.garmin.com
First run…. I have never seen anything like this.
The map data doesn’t show up? Any ideas?
The distance is my fault…. I didn’t start it,. :/
Hmm, that’s perhaps one of the most puzzling files I’ve ever seen (especially since I actually understand/know the course fairly well).
Looking at the little player option, it’s like you started the run, and then a quarter mile in shut off the GPS. But, I can’t forse you actually doing that. Can you upload the .FIT file to some other random site to see if it’s by chance a GC issue (such as Strava, TP, MapMyFitness, SportTracks, etc…)?
When I shared this actvity on Facebook, the link showed up in kilometers.
It is very odd, The TCX file you can export from GC shows the last point with a GPS position was at 2014-10-12T12:34:05.000Z which looks about 9 mins after you started the timer (as GC shows)
It seems that every elevation reading was zero after then.
Also did you start very hard as HR is very high for that first 9 mins then drops right off. It does look uphill however but even so looks like a HR spike to me.
You seem to imply you started the timer late? I guess it is possible that starting the timer on the move may mean the GPS signal was weak initially and finally dropped out at 9 mins. I did once (and have seen others) have runs with the 620 where GPS would suddenly cut out like this and not return. The “problem” with these devices with the internal accelerometer is that it reverts to that when GPS is lost and so does not give GPS reception warnings like older Forerunners and maybe there is some issue where it does not revert back to GPS again – well assuming it ever found it again.
I’ll try that when I get home.
The puzzling part is that the player plays the whole race, it just does not show the track on the map.
The whole story… I picked the 920 up at the Army Ten Miler race expo while picking up my packet. I took it home and set up some screens the way I like them… Pace, lap pace, and HR with time, distance and cadence mixed in. I also connected a HRM, HRM-Run and a foot pod. I know this sounds stupid… because it was stupid, but I never hit the start button, not even once!
While waiting on the starting line I turned it on and it synced with the HRM-Run, foot pod and established satellite reception. As I, along with 35,000 of my closest friends crossed the starting line I hit the button that was the start button on my 620, unfortunately, this is not the start button on a 920. In heavy traffic it took me a few seconds to figure out where the start button was and get it started.
The 920 appears to have operated properly, until I crossed under Memorial Ave while, running up Jefferson Davis Hwy, where it looks like the 920 lost satellite reception and failed to recover. It retrospect, the friend I was running with and I where occasionally comparing pace and they just didn’t seem right, I was constantly showing just a little slower that she was, she was wearing a FR410.
The elevated heart rate at the beginning was a result of my failure to moisten the HRM strap. I had a screen setup with cadence and HR next to each other and noticed HR was a mirror of cadence for a little while.
The race had me at a 9:28 and the 920 had me at a 9:38 average pace. Not too bad for the foot pod, I assume that is where the data came from.
The trouble is, where I live and run, I never lose satellite reception so I will have to be creative when testing this.
How stupid one can be…
Going for a run with such a device ‘out of the box’…
I hope your soldiers don’t read this….
TonyH – Don’t be a dick.
Captain – What I’d do is go ahead and re-pair all your devices sitting at home on the touch, that way you can ensure they’re paired to your sensors others. Just be sure to do both heart rate and footpod. If you don’t have a footpod, go ahead and delete out that sensor.
I’m not sure where exactly in the DC area you live, but, when I lived there the best place for testing what happens in a tunnel was oddly enough near my house on Cameron Run. A few miles upstream where Cameron Run (the running path) goes under I-395 there’s a series of long tunnels fairly deep underground. So, if you’re looking for a different running route than normal, that’s a good one (and, if it’s your normal area, then perfect!).
Enjoy!
I dont really find anything strange in Your run.
It seems pretty simple scenario: You started recording (doesnot really metter late or not) with GPS, then passing through some obstacle (tunnel?) the watch lost GPS reception and started to use foot pod. What the problem is, watch never got GPS back and simply continued with foot pod until the end. That’s why Your map shows only small part of the route (until GPS was receiving signal) but the run is fully measured fo whole 10miles from Your foot pod (all pace, HR data is there). Only GPS data is missing (map, altitude etc).
I had similar situation with my Suunto Ambit 2. I have started the run without good GPS signal (or should I say no signal at all). The watch recorded my distance and pace from the built-in accelerometer until it actually found GPS lock, and from then onwards used GPS data and that is when route on the map also started. You can see that on movescount, where distance is 14,6km, but only 13,9km are on the map. First about 670m are added from accelerometer:
link to movescount.com
here same run in strava, that takes only GPX file and does not include distance from the begging of the run:
link to strava.com
At least I have a dick…
Am I getting blocked from your site now, mr Cupcake ?
Look Tony – you can either be polite here, or you can go elsewhere or be blocked. It’s a simple option. I have zero tolerance for people being rude to others. I’ve told you this numerous times over the years. Hundreds of other people are able to comment each day without being rude to others, I’m sure you can find a way. This is your final warning.
I called Garmin this morning and send the .fit file and device info over… we’ll see what they say. The folks in Kansas are always pleasant to deal with.
It’s not a big deal, just interesting.
Please block me and delete all of my messages!!!
What is the best : Garmin 920 XT or suunto ambit 3?
What is the best: Garmin 920 XT or suunto ambit 3?
Hi All, thanks Ray for all the input and time that you spend answering all these questions.
Have you heard about bragi “The dash”. These are earphone that will be able to monitor Heart Rate, Oxygen in blood and a lot of other features. These can be connected in bluetooth to a smartphone for example and record or send these monitored values to different types of Health software.
I am really interested by the 920xt but also about these “dash”. Do you think that there could be a way of connecting the dash to the 920?
Here is the link to the dash (available early 2015) : link to bragi.com
Thanks for reading,
MH
Yup, you can read more about my thoughts on The Dash here: link to dcrainmaker.com
At present, there’s no method of connecting The Dash to the FR920XT, because The Dash doesn’t do ANT+ (or, one could say the FR920XT doesn’t do Bluetooth Smart sensors).
Forerunner 920 only available at the end of November due to manufacturing problems (see Dutch text and website below).
‘We hebben net bericht gekregen aangaande de Forerunner 920 XT. Momenteel zijn er fabricage problemen waardoor de leveringen pas eind November verwacht worden! ‘
Source (in Dutch): link to nav-shop.be
Any chance for a garmin device coming with
Optical Heart Rate Sensor
MP3 Player
Virtual Racer
4 Data Fields
Running Dynamics
The 920xt is appealing over my Fenix 2, but if I could opt to not use the chest strap and carrying my MP3 player on easy days that would be wonderful… I understand I would still have to wear the strap to get dynamics, but most of the time cadence is all I care about so it’s not a huge loss.
You are probably playing with a device that does exactly this, but are sworn to secrecy through some kind of fancy smancy non-discloser.. ha ha
So between the 920XT and the Suunto Ambit 3, which would you get for ultrarunning, or is it a toss-up? Is the 920 smaller than the Ambit?
Hi Ray, it’s 2-3 years that i’m following your site and I’m very impressed on the big amaount of work you are doing!!
my big compliment !
I’m an ultratrailrunner ( Tor de Geant- Lavaredo ultra -dolomiti extreme- Sella ronda sky and so on…)
my very big interest is on the running side expecialy the long run where the battery, the precision of the gps, the altitude and the amount of ascend are important.
I’ve read all and try the fenix 2 and personaly in the mountain forest with high tree the signal is very poor especialy if you run, and the ultra trac of fenix in the mountain is ridicoulus when you run ( it lose the signal and bye bye).
so in conclusion for ultratrail athlets what will be very importan in your in depth rewiew will be:
-the ultra trac modality fr 920xt vs ambit 3 ( an in depth comparison betwen fr920 and ambit 3 will be great)
-gps acuracy in canyon , mountain and forest
-a good altitude test
– a really good test on what happen when you lose the signal and it come back intermittent like the alps forest.
– an on trail tetst of recharging the unit with usb battery set while you are running ( in case of super long run with 1 second interval gps for maximum acuracy)
thankyou for your time and sorry for my english
Not sure Ultratrac will be your ideal solution although what is the key issue here – a detailed GPS track recording and/or the activity as a whole from more of a performance point of view?
I tried Ultratrac as an experiment and it seems to wake up GPS for a little bit to take a point and shut off again and does this about every minute. Also note what it says in the 920 manual link to static.garmincdn.com about using the accelerometer to compute distance & speed in this mode when GPS is off – which will be more often than not it seems.
GLONASS may improve ability to get a GPS signal in challenging terrain but apparently its use reduces battery by about 20%. That said it still gives, in theory, 18 hours or so which is still pretty decent. How long are your ultras?
Unfortunately you can’t charge the 920XT and keep the timer running.
I tend to think the best workaround might be to use 2 devices and then merge the tracks after the run.
Elsewhere in the comments here I posted a link to a run I did with the 920 in relatively hilly and twisty trail terrain with some tree cover. It did pretty well but afraid I don’t personally have any mountains nearby to see how it works there.
thank you for the information and fast answer.
now what i’ll be waiting is the in depth rewiew and i hope that some one wear the fr920 and ambit 3 for an ultra and share the data to make a super comparison expecialy to see the difference betwen the 2 gps cheps how they work in forest, mountain etc.
thankyou again
Great review as always, thanks Ray. Thinking of moving from the 910xt to the 920xt.
Hi All-
Just a bunch of random updates on things people have asked that I get clarification on from Garmin:
A few Garmin Connect oddities over the past week: Some saw the map centering on Kansas if not logged in, and others also saw the first few minutes of files showing a flat HR. Both were fixed in Garmin Connect last week.
Lack of Map Zoom: from Garmin: “We do not have a manual map zoom capability on the 920 which was a decision based on feature priority, focusing on developing the highest value, most used features first.”
TCX courses on FR920XT: from Garmin: “For technical reasons the 920 does not have a XML parser which is required to ingest TCX files.”
Autolap by position: from Garmin “We are looking into bringing this back and I’ll keep you posted on timeline if it is returning.”
Metronome while in swim mode: from Garmin” We weren’t happy with the quality of the metronome while swimming and didn’t want to provide customers a disappointing experience so it wasn’t featured in the watch.”
Inability to change speed source to a footpod: from Garmin “There is not a way to change the speed source to a footpod in the 920 but we will be looking into if we can work it back in a maintenance release.”
There’s also a few other minor items/issues I’ve run into that they’re fixing in an upcoming update including inability to send courses to the FR920XT from the iOS app. Items which aren’t on the short-term list but are being looked at include oddities with initial elevation setting where it takes a while for the barometric altimeter to adjust to your location (versus using GPS to get ‘close’ and then the altimeter to finalize adjustment).
Cheers.
Thanks Ray. Annoyingly, I’m just going to ask you another question. Did they suggest the map zoom might get changed in a later release, or is that pretty much set in stone now?
Re Metronome while in swim mode – “We weren’t happy with the quality of the metronome while swimming” – I’m not surprised. I’m not happy with the quality of the vibration alert and sound while in water.
On my 910 I had distance alerts set which I found really useful indoors and open water. I could feel the vibration 95% of the time and even hear the sound most of the time depending where my arm happened to be in the stroke.
On the 920 the vibration and sound both seem to be weaker. I cannot feel nor hear alerts in the pool no matter how hard I try. I’ve tested at home, plunging my wrist into a tub of water. The water kills the vibration. Would be interested to hear other’s opinions – is the vibration weaker or is it just my unit?
Hi Ray, Great info here. Any update from Garmin on heart rate while swimming? Will they be leaving heart rate active on open water swims and activating it for pool swims?
RE: Vibration differences: I haven’t noticed any difference between the 910XT and 920XT when it comes to the vibration motor.
RE: HR while swimming, I didn’t hear back yet on those ones.
Map Zoom: The only response I received there was what was noted above. :/
Hi all,
I’m an enthusiast, but not a competitive athlete by any means.
I have two bikes, have a cadence sensor that I don’t really use, but enjoy tracking my route, heart rate (I have a garmin strap) and other stats Strava and/or Garmin Connect in order to get better, even though I don’t compete.
I enjoy hiking, mostly day hikes, and just as with the bike, I love tracking my route, elevation gain of the hike, etc.
I also run at the gym and outdoors, recreationally. And I really, really want to get back in the pool :)
In the past I’ve owned several different devices, many tailored to a specific activity (Fenix for hiking, Edge for biking, etc).
It would be great to have one device that I use as a semi-casual-yet-interested athlete, as opposed to several devices where I pretend to be hard core for every activity.
It seems to me that this device, while having a few more features that I’d need, might be the only device I need for everything, based on my actual needs as listed above. Is that correct?
Forgot to add: I also have a Fitbit One. Yet another thing I wouldn’t have to carry.
Based on what you say then yes I think it could well fit the bill.
A friend picked up a 920xt in kona and I’m helping him set it up. For pool swimming unless I am missing it there is no “Last Interval Time”. We use this doing descends to make sure we are on track. Am I missing this or is that field omitted?
Interesting, you’re right. Though, you do have the new customizable lap banner option – so that sorta makes up for it. Kinda interesting though…
I was fiddling around with my unit wondering where ‘Last interval time’ and ‘Last interval pace’ were.
I think ‘Int Time’ that is displayed on the rest timer is in fact ‘Last Interval time’ you also get ‘Int. Distance’ displayed which i think is last interval distance.
Haven’t had a chance to swim with my 920 yet but from playing with the screens and data fields the above seesm to be the case.
That makes sense with the rest timer, but still a bit odd they do’t have it outside of that.
That is right. There is no way to have data fields showing current interval and last interval simultaneously while in an active interval as far as I can see. When in rest mode the fields such as Int time effectively become “Last Int time” etc until you end rest mode again.
Note that as well as the rest timer being configurable you can also scroll to your other configured pages while in rest mode. Very flexible and I really like that.
I use my current Garmin for programming and tracking rowing works (boat not erg). I would be thrilled if the built in cadence sensor could be used to record stroke rate, e.g., 15-45 spm, while worn on my wrist. I don’t need to see the watch face while rowing, I just want to be able to look at the stroke rate data later. What do you think, will the sensor work in that low range?
Historically speaking with the 910XT it hasn’t worked well in rowing, but, I haven’t tested it on the 920XT.
If it doesn’t work natively there is a chance connect iq will allow access to the sensor at a low enough level that it could work there.
I know you said you aren’t interested in erg use but there is a chance the a connect iq app could be written to talk to a pm4 head unit from a concept 2 rower as it broadcasts the row over private ant during a row (they just want you to sign a nda to get access to the private ant config info)
Another quick question for those of you in “the Garmin know” (or as close as you can be to being in the know): Is the inability to charge while recording an event a factor of software or hardware? On the fenix, if you plug into the PC, you are done. If you plug into a usb charger, it keeps in whatever mode it is in. I am wondering if you have checked that out with a usb charger instead of the pc’s usb port.
The probability right now is low that I would need 18+ hours so this is mostly curiosity.
Keep up the great work. This is great intel for those of us that are impatiently waiting.
No difference on USB charger. If an activity is going it stops the timer and saves it and starts charging.
The FR10/15/220/620/920 all do this whereas the Fenix line up don’t. Not sure why but we do know the “Fitness” team look after Forerunners and the different “Outdoor” team do the Fenix.
Doesn’t the fitness team do the edge units too? (Not a watch but seems like usb is done same way)
Hi Ray. I’ve been told today by a french physical shop that Garmin has recalled all the 920 XT already sent to the resellers. The reason would be a water proofing problem on the first batch.
Have you heared something about that, or is it just a “rumor” ?
I know there’s been a production delay, but Garmin hasn’t specified what that is exactly. They haven’t asked for my unit back, or to my knowledge any other media outlets. I’ll ping them though on this.
Not heard of that. I went pool swimming with mine on Monday. It survived!
Could be a long term durability issue
So I checked on this, here’s the official response:
“We have not recalled any 920s but are being cautious during the ramp-up phase. A couple beta testers reported running into waterproofing issues after the first round of production units went out so we are adjusting hardware before shipping any more product as a precaution.”
Fwiw, I’ve been openwater swimming every day this week and haven’t killed it yet, plus swims over the past few weeks.
I don’t know if this is the isssue, but I have noticed that several hours after swimming or showering, when I hit a button my finger will get wet…
Hi,
1)i need to know is this sufficient use for 48 hours as ultra trail events ?
2)how long the standby battery in days for watch mode ?
thank
1) No. And this ‘no’ means ‘110% no’ as the watch, even in battery saving ultra trac mode, will last only 40hrs (best case scenario which I suppose means no beeps, no vibration, no any future apps, no backlight screen on, no navigation, just recording) and cannot be recharged during activity!!! If attached for charging, watch will end current activity, save it and go to charging mode (this though, if enough people will ask, might changed through firmware release)
2) somewhere here in the comments (also in some online shops) You can find info stating 4 months.
For #2: The watch mode is now accessible 24×7 in non-GPS mode for 33 days without having to re-charge the battery. And if you have activity monitoring and smart notifications enabled, it’s about 30 days of battery (1 month). If you turn off activity tracking, you’ll get 4 months in straight watch-only mode.
Hi Adam ,
i used my 910XT , which can last 24hours without vibration , dark backlight ,but i can continue my activity during charging mode. The workout was continue even though the watch screen appeared charging bar,after unplug the cable the activity keep recording.But as you mentioned , this watch stopped /end activity during charge that is not great option to choose this as my next ultra race watch. i don’t like Fenix as my option , because the display designed with round , which cause some data not fully appear in proper screen & add that the screen color is orange. rather monochrome or 920 is great interface design.
i wish can get update for final firmware which able to charge without sacrifice to end the activity.
Thanks again for the great review and personal comments. I live in South American and will be in the US mid-november for a couple weeks. I was hoping to be able to buy the 920xt, but am afraid it wont be available then. I am mostly a runner and openwater swimmer and do fast tris sometimes. Should I go for the Fenix 2 or Ambit 3 instead, or do you think the 920xt is the best watch and is worth the wait?
I have a big question regarding courses:
I do some trail running, and most of them have the gpx trail available. So I create a tcx course of it with the aid stations programmed in them (using tcx convertor because I cannot find a way of putting waypoints in garmin connect, and then the old training center and ant agent, because the) so that when running I can see total distance remaining, and distance till next aid station.
If the 920 is unable to read tcx files, and garmin connect is unable to do it, so am I missing something, or is this completely impossible?
and will the old way of doing this still work, or will I be loosing some major (for me) functionality?
regards
hans
My feeling is that you’d need some way to convert the tcx file to a fit file containing the same information, and the fit file would then work (since it is possible to transfer courses to the 920xt). That should give you the course; I have no way to know if the 920xt would respect the waypoints. I haven’t found a gpx/tcx course to fit converter, and this is something I’m starting to tinker around with myself at the moment, but for now I’ll only be able to try it on a fenix.
If you have a TCX course you can import that to Garmin Training Center and then you can send the courses to the 920 as it effectively converts each one to a FIT file and copies that over to the device.
Sure there are other ways but course creation always do seem a bit of a “black art”.
Also, you can check out link to dcrainmaker.com – there’s a few options in there that I believe convert too.
So GTC still works with the 920xt? That’s great news. If you have customized workouts with labels, does it display those labels instead of the generic labels from GC workouts?
Yes can use GTC.
Can’t see the labels however.
Can somebody with a 920 test this?
I’m willing to make a fit file with waypoints in it if you give me a course,gpx,tcx link to garmin connect file to start with. (I hope that when I export it to my 910 I will find it somewhere on the disk, in the other case, I just downloaded the FIT SDK :))
hans
Another interesting approach…. If you have an Edge (i.e. 500 or 800 I’ve tried, I assume the newer models work too?).
You can create a TCX with waypoints, load it to the Edge and then pull the FIT file off (after the edge parsed it).
The FIT course can then be loaded into something like the 910. I actually found a way to do it with Express… but it was a mess.
Something like:
1) Exporting a course from Garmin Connect
2) Finding the FIT file it loaded to my PC for Express to use
3) Replacing said FIT file with my own ripped from the Edge
It worked, but was quite an interesting process.
I’ve tried to mess with TCX Converter but never really got it to work right. I wish I could find a better TCX to FIT course tool… (or wish ridewithgps or bikeroutetoaster could export as FIT).
I’m going to try and write something to change a tcx file into a fit file. If you have some samples for me to try out. feel free to send me a gpx and I’ll send you the fit file back.
We should make this happen.
I also started poking at a C# XML parser -> FIT course converter and it looks pretty simple. In the past I hadn’t checked the formats, but as one probably would have expected, the TCX fields and the FIT course fields are basically the same (with the obvious text to binary differences).
I’d love to see the main course generating sites (read: bikeroutetoaster) export FIT directly.
Secondary questions for those with a 920 already:
1) Can you load a FIT course file from the USB connection?
2) If so, have you tried loading a FIT course with directional course points to see if you get any indicators / prompts (like the 310 and 910 would in the past).
Thanks all!
I’m a java guy :)
I’m already able to read the tcx file (well I just imported the xml schema I found on the garmin site)
I should be able to write the output fairly easily using the fit sdk
so the main thing to do is write the actual conversion :)
Do you know where you had to put the files so that the watch picks them up?
ps: if you want to mail me, it’s a gmail adres with pluimpje before the @ :)
I was wondering if the 920xt has a satellite page where the strengths and numbers of acquired satellites is displayed. I know that on the 310xt you can access it like this:
link to dcrainmaker.com
But how about the 920xt?
My feeling is that all GPS watch manufacturers (including Suunto) are in an arms race for the “fastest” signal acquisition but I am not quite sure how many satellites that guarantees. I would personally trade off some delay in the start of my runs to make sure that I have as many satellites as I can.
Marios, there is no satellite page. All you get is a signal-strength type indicator on the status bar and a “GPS ready” alert. It is blazing fast at acquisition even indoors in surprising places and has totally eliminated the “GPS dance” outside the house waiting for the GPS. I guess this is mostly due to the ephemeris pre-loading ability and probably antenna placement as I have yet to enable GLONASS.
However, as you say, there is nothing to indicate the quality of the fix. They seem to have stripped a lot right back to the minimum. It used to be with Garmin handheld devices that you would have an accuracy specification in the device specs/manual, a satellite status page (signal strength/sky plot) and an error estimation (“EPE” for Garmin devices). Now it is totally dumbed down to “ready or not.” I guess your average user won’t care.
Wait, so there is no menu option in settings or anything to see actual satellite strength (EPE or otherwise)? So many times my Fenix 2 has been “ready” and it really only has 200ft accuracy and it’s saying I’m moving 6:45min/mile… while standing still.
Alternatively, I suppose you could just set a page to instantaneous pace and see when it stops saying you’re moving.
Yes – that’s basically what I do (on any Forerunner) – once it says “GPS Ready” (or similar on other devices) look for a solid period of “zero” (stopped) pace/speed before starting timer.
:-( This is really not a solution though, right? At least we know it’s possible (in the non Sirf chips) since the Fenix2 still has it.
Well, it’s a practical test you can try and generally has produced good results for me.
The GPS accuracy number only seemed to be a calculation based on signal strength anyway so whilst “interesting” was never going to guarantee anything.
Do you know if the FR 920XT HRM strap is identical to the FR620 strap? thanks..
Yes, it is.
thank you! excellent product reviews.. keep up the great work! :)
Is battery changeable in 920XT?
In a word No !
Just wondering how the colour screen is on the 920xt as the 620 is somewhat disappointing given the dazzling pictures Garmin released !
You can see the coloring of the screen in the many photos above, they’re all taken by me. It’s a legit color screen, compared to the FR620.
Thanks – good to hear the pictures are a fair representation of what is seen in the flesh. Definitely looks a step up from the 620
Ray
Do you know what type of glass is in the 920xt? Assuming it is glass and not plastic.
I currently have the Fenix2 and one of the features that I like is that I can make a custom multisport on the watch. I assume that the 920xt allows this as well. Can anyone confirm this? Thanks.
Yes, you can make custom multi-sport (it’s mentioned in the review). Unlike the fenix2, you can set up indoor swim as one of them. In fact, you can also (as mentioned above) do an indoor triathlon (indoor swim, indoor bike, and outdoor run).
In an odd way I really dig the indoor triathlon option. We get enough snow and ice in the winter that I don’t ride outside, an indoor/outdoor brick from home would be fun to make a habit out of.
It’s actually even cooler than the past when it comes to custom multisport. Previously you could change between sports at will, or setup a single order for a multisport event. But now, you can mix and match and set it all up ahead of time. But, you can do it for a number of different potential events. Really kinda neat.
You can also “make it up as you go along”. Do one sport “normally”, switch over to another sport profile and hit the start/stop button and you then start that one whilst still having the first in the same activity file and so on…
Awesome guys! Thanks for the information on this. You all answered my question and then some.
Hi Ray, do you know how large the memory is on the 920? I ask because apparently the reason the fenix 2 keeps on faltering when on long runs (20/30mi+) is because it runs out of space to record the activity?
I just used the Fenix 2 on a 50 mile run (1s recording) and had no issues. There was a ton of other runs on their as well. Where did you hear/read that memory was the issue with long runs?
Yeah, you’d have zero issues recording a 20-30mi run (I’ve done 20-26.2mi runs just fine on the Fenix2), from a space perspective.
The FR920XT has a 10MB storage capacity, with roughly 8-9MB available for you to record files. On average, you can budget about 100KB (.1MB) per hour of recording with full 1s GPS & ANT+ data (worst case scenario).
ooppssss, I’m not blocked anymore….
Rayyyyyyyyyyyy
TonyH – Seriously, is your life that empty that this is what you do with your time, troll comment boards for product reviews?
I think we shoud just igore the crazy guy. Ignorance is the worst punishment for childish people.
I bought 4 different Garmin watches due to his too positive comments and all 4 were crap! Especially the 620! But he keeps on defending them! And now, with the 920, the story is just repeating itself!
Also his statements on GPS accuracy are worthless!
The best way to test GPS accuracy is by running a known distance ( eg 10 km) and see what the deviation is. Just like fellrnr does it on his blog.
And NOT by comparing watches against each other on an unknown distance.
If 3 of the 4 watches indicate that you ran 10,6 km and 1 indicates that you ran 10,2 km than Rainmaker would say that the 3 watches are more accurate than the one which is actually more accurate (on this 10 km track)!
That’s why I’m so upset the last few years! He’s a Garmin boy, he won’t bite the hands that feed him!
TonyH,
Four years ago DCR did exactly what you described; he compared watches over measured distances.
Look for example here:
link to dcrainmaker.com
link to dcrainmaker.com
Now I would have to agree with you that comparing watches against each other is not a scientific way to judge accuracy especially if all of them have some sort of systematic bias error (WAAS used to do that). That said, there is no point in bashing DCR as he provides unbiased information to the best of his ability. If you don’t like Garmin, use your judgement and don’t buy it but please leave this blog civilized and readable :-)
Just like fellrnr does it on his blog.
That isn’t what fellrnr did. He found himself a very short route (about 400m) completely full of things which are difficult for GPS watches, and compounded the difficulty by doing a sharp 180 turn at each end – sharper, as far as I can make out, than a typical 180 turn in a race, where you’ll run up one side of the road then back down the other.
This is actually quite interesting in terms of which watches handle really difficult conditions best, but doesn’t have a lot to do with real-world use. My own experience is that, while the 620 wanders a bit more in tree cover than the 310, the overall distance is pretty good. I’ve used both in enough races to tell you my 620 consistently hits race distance plus between 1-1.5%, where my 310 consistently hit race distance plus 2%. Fellrnr would have you believe the 620 is 5 to 8% off along a straight course.
I’m not arguing the Garmins are flawless, but everything else I’ve tried has been worse :)
I want to order the 920xt but I have HRM straps for the 910. I want to have all the features work on the 920 so should I order a new HRM with the 920?
Thanks! Triweaver
Yes you should in that case. It is the HRM-Run HR strap that gives you the running dynamics data first seen on the 620.
I bought 4 different Garmin watches due to his too positive comments and all 4 were crap! Especially the 620! But he keeps on defending them! And now, with the 920, the story is just repeating itself!
Also his statements on GPS accuracy are worthless!
The best way to test GPS accuracy is by running a known distance ( eg 10 km) and see what the deviation is. Just like fellrnr does it on his blog.
And NOT by comparing watches against each other on an unknown distance.
If 3 of the 4 watches indicate that you ran 10,6 km and 1 indicates that you ran 10,2 km than Rainmaker would say that the 3 watches are more accurate than the one which is actually more accurate (on this 10 km track)!
That’s why I’m so upset the last few years! He’s a Garmin boy, he won’t bite the hands that feed him!
I feel it is pretty simple. If you don’t like what you read don’t come to his page. I don’t understand your point in being critical/negative.
So let me see if I understand this. You bought a Garmin watch based on Ray’s review and were unhappy with it. Fine. So you then bought another and were again unhappy with it. So your response was to buy 2 more? At what point do you realize either that Garmin watches do not provide the feature set you need or your expectations are too high? Ever hear the phrase “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me”?
The fact of the matter is, like it or not, Garmin is the leader in the market and is the standard bearer and the brand that everyone will be compared to. As a general rule they make a quality product and are the leading innovators in the market (and are masters at creating a need that does not exist and filling it, which is a major key to their success). I personally do not like them and would not buy one. That does not make Ray’s reviews any less valuable. If anything, it helps me refine the features I am looking for in a watch and gives me any idea of what is out there and on the horizon. I have bought a Times, a TomTom, an Ambit, a Scosche Rhythm and a Wahoo SC based on his recommendations. I was not thrilled with the Timex and have some issues with the TomTom, but in both cases, my unhappiness is with things he specifically pointed out in his review. I thought I could live with the shortcomings and found I could not. Ray did not hold a gun to my head and make me by them. He gave his perspective on the product and I used that in combination with other research i did to make my decision. Ray, while an excellent reviewer, is not the only one, and is incumbent on you and me, as the consumer, to make an informed decision based on the full breadth of information available, not based on one person’s opinion.
As to the GPS accuracy, he is not testing absolute accuracy, he is testing relative accuracy. In numerous places in all his reviews he references that none of them are 100% right and he is not looking at that. He is looking at how they perform relative to one another. If you have 4 watches and three of them are not materially off from one another and one is, you can safely say that relative to the others it is less accurate. The actual distance is irrelevant, you are comparing them to one another. If I take 4 people and line them up and three are the same height and one is shorter than I can safely say that relative to the others, person number 4 is shorter. It makes no difference how tall they actually are because I am comparing relative height, not absolute height.
You have a right to be upset, but you do not have a right to be abusive to Ray and the other users of this forum. No one is making you log on and read his reviews. There are something like 20 million websites out there, I am sure you can find one that better aligns with your needs and views. I do not understand the impetus to post just to be negative. Were you never taught that if you have nothing good to say, don’t say anything at all? You may mean well and think that you are doing a service to others by warning them off, but your approach, tone and attitude just make you seem like a jerk and your message is lost in the noise. You would be better served either saying nothing or couching your criticism in a positive manner. “Nah, nah, ban me Cupcake Boy” posts are just childish and disrespectful of everyone who reads these forums and values the input of those who put a meaningful effort into it.
Thanks Tommy for expressing so well what I would have said in a less elegant manner
Hi Tommy, I really like your explaination on absolute versus relative accuracy. It makes a lot of sense to me.
Don’t you think it would still be good to know how far from reality the closest GPS watch is? What I mean is that for me, I think that the relative accuracy would gain in value if I knew how well the most accruate GPS watch was compared to the real distance.
For me, I would prefer to have both values, which are both providing a complementary analysis on the accuracy aspect.
Thanks
MH
GPS is inaccurate due to the nature of the technology (mainly atmospheric effects and signal reflecting). The accuracy class of consumer GPS devices is usually something aroung 10m, while professional devices are more accurate (about +/- 3m).
Using differential GPS you can eliminate atmospheric error resulting in accuracy of less than 1m with professional devices (differential GPS: you put one device in a point with known location and calculate the difference between this known location and what the devices shows. Then you take another device to the point you want to measure and subtract the difference calculated previously from the reading from the device).
As you can see this method can be applied only when atmospheric conditions don’t change noticeably (nearby during a short period of time). When you take a cycling activity taking you tens of miles away and lasting for several hours, you can see that it’s not even theoretically possible to get an accurate distance. So it doesn’t make much sense to compare GPS results to actual distance. But as atmospheric conditions affect all GPS devices in the same way, it makes perfect sense to compare one GPS device to another one during the same activity.
Further reading about GPS accuracy for those interested:
link to en.wikipedia.org
link to gps.gov
Boom.
Drops mic and walks away.
The other problem with defining accuracy as how close your watch comes to a “known” distance over a run/bike of that distance is that the distance isn’t known. Certified courses are certified to be 10k after an painfully complicated process that results in the course distance of 10k IF YOU RUN THE EXACT LINE THAT WAS MEASURED. No one, btw, run the exact line.
Non-certified courses (your “5 mile” daily run) are almost certainly too long/too short.
Short of being followed ON EVERY RUN by a guy with a measuring wheel it is impossible to say exactly how far you ran. But if three watches say 10.4K and one says 10.1k you probably ran 10.4k.
link to dcrainmaker.com
JL Sorry to be a nerd but Differential GPS involves corrections to individual pseodoranges, not the derived position (because base and mobile positions at any one time will likely be based on different satellite combinations). I’m sure you knew that and your explanation is simpler for the less technical readers :)
Sick em’ Tommy. Agreed. Spew your vitriol somewhere else TonyH. Personally, I’m sick of reading your posts and sick of the distraction you create. Don’t you have some Facebook friends you can harass?
Simple Question: The New Suunto or the 920?
(From the perspective of a Triathlete)
BTW:
I have a Armbit 2 that needs replacing. It has worked fine for the last 15 Months, it does its job but I need to replace.
I have the new Ambit 3 and I am going to replace it with a 920XT
from traithlete perspective Ambit3 = Ambit2 + HR recording while smiwwing
920XT does not record HR in swimming, but:
– has better battery (quite important if You are ~15hrs Iron Man guy)
– offers 4 data fields
– color screen
– future much more powerful apps
– offers quick release pack (kind of deal breaker for Ambit3!?)
– is lighter
so matter of what features You value more…
no Ant+ sensor connectivity on the Ambit3 vs. dual Ant+/BT on the 920xt
920xt also has vibrate alerts.
If you’re into structured workouts, I think Garmin far outshines Suunto (even with their app store)
Hi,
You’re wrong, Tom : 920 XT doesn’t support BT sensors… Only Ant+. BT is only used for communication with a smartphone.
Hi,
I’ve red all Ray’s articles on this subject but I didn’t find the answer to my situation and I can’t wait the 920xt indepth-review …
In fact, I’ll have 2 prices reductions possibilities in a week : -30% (on french prices) on Suunto products and -15% Garmin. And I mainly need to by a new sport watch for Triathlon ( and sports coming from tri : duathlon, R&B..), but also mountain sports (alpin/cross country/touring skiing, trail, sometimes mountaineering) and I’m thinking about maybe using my sport watch to track the 3 months bike trip I will do in Africa.
So what do you think I should buy between : 920XT+HRM (425€) , Fenix2+HRM (380€), Ambit3S+HRM (280€) + Ambit3Peak+HRM (350€)
Thank you for reading me, and thanks in in advance for your advices!
I recall Ray saying he probably won’t be able to make recommendations of one device over another until has completed his full review of the 920. I would love to comment but of those only got the 920! My run & bike experience has been good with the 920 so far so for those sports think you will be fine. Less clear about skiing as the 920 is just not designed for that but no doubt it will record a GPS track and tell you a distance and speed and some sort of elevation profile.
In general, correct. Part of the review process is finding the quirks, and that simply takes time. Some of those quirks may matter to some people, and other not.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you plan to use a solar charger on your trip to power units, both the Fenix2 and Ambit units will permit concurrent charging and activity recording. Whereas the 920XT doesn’t (I’ve asked why, no clarification yet there). Now, you can easily get around that by just using a Solar charger that charges a battery and then at night charging the unit. Personally, I find less risk in that method anyway (especially since the Ambit charging cable is finicky), but, just things to consider.
Very interesting point!
Thanks
I will continue to investigate to find other answers before next Saturday.
Sorry if this has already been discussed, but how important is the ability to record HR while swimming? It seems that this is one of the main differentiators btw. the 920xt and the V800/Ambit3.
Someone on the Garmin forum mentioned that: “Suunto are licensing the tech (comment:for the memory belt, I guess) from Garmin to do store and forward according to DCR so it’s only a matter of time for the 920XT I’d have thought. ” Is this true?
I’m reasonably sure I never said that, primarily because it would make no sense (would be curious where/link someone is saying that, so I can correct them). Suunto is using BLE, and doing their own store and forward.
They wouldn’t need anything from Garmin here, even more so since it’s not ANTfs (via ANT+).
As for Garmin doing it, unless Garmin has secretly put storage capacity in the HRM-RUN (which I suppose, is entirely possible), then it’s not going to happen.
Thanks for your prompt reply, Ray!
Here is the link:
forums.garmin.com
Thanks! Responded there as well to ensure there’s no confusion.
Hey Ray. You did say that the ability to record HR is left active during open water swims. See if you can put a bug in their ear to do the same for pool swim (with a disclaimer). It’s be interesting to how well the 920xt would work with the optical wrist sensors next to them.
My prediction, is the next Garmin Swim will have an optical sensor and GPS capability for open water swim.
I suggested/asked about it earlier in the week, no response on that specific set of questions unfortunately. Though, I just sent them over a pile of ‘Why does my OW swim tracking suck’ type questions, so hopefully that’ll stir the pot a bit.
If you want to see how well wrist mounted HR straps work in the pool, just put the 920 into Run Indoor mode. I’ve done this with the 620 and the Mio Link. Got some sort of trace (worn next to each other) but in answer to the “how important” question then I was wondering that myself and told me little I could not have guessed. My HR was very low even allowing that the trace was a bit jumpy. But my “problem” with swimming is more technique than aerobic capacity so to improve as a swimmer I would be far better off spending money on some lessons than a fancy gadget to measure my HR! For me it is also totally different for running and cycling which am far better at and do get meaningful info from HR in those sports.
Has anyone that ordered a 920xt through Clever Training received an estimated shipping date notice yet? All I got was an email that I am on the pre-order list and it is expected to be released in November. Now I am reading that the shipping date depends on the size/volume of pre-orders from the retailer and may be in December at the earliest. I am doing the full IM in Cozumel 30-Nov and would love to have it by then. Thanks.
Each Friday they send out a FR920XT update to people who ordered, based on the latest information available to Garmin.
Clever put in a substantial pre-order (prior to announcement), so they’re in a pretty good position to cover orders as Garmin sends them units. Of course, all that depends on Garmin actively producing, and then shipping units.
Thank you! I will keep an eye out for the updates and my fingers crossed.
Just to mention, i’m a lucky one.
I’m doing the toronto’s marathon tomorrow and Garmin was at the Expo yesterday.
Got my brand new 920 :-))). They have few.
So will do the marathon with both the V800 and 920xt. Will see wich one will be my bet!
I’ll be running with my wife and her 910xt.
Steph
They (Garmin) had 20 at the Army 10 miler expo. A few friends took the plunge. Unfournetly i was at another event and could not get my hands on one.
Is it possible to connect the watch to a Tacx trainer with ANT+ (
power measurement)?
Yes, as long as you have one of the new Tacx Smart trainers (with dual ANT+/BLE), it will work just fine (and I’ve tested it).
Thanks!
Love this site and the great information you provide! Do you have any pictures of side by side size comparisons of the 620 next to the 920. I was disappointed in the color on the 620 and as I get older I actually prefer a slightly larger screen. Would love to see the same data on the face of both watches to actually see the difference.
Thanks again!!
I don’t have any posted yet with color screens showing. I’ll try and grab some tomorrow when I get back home for the day.
Where you able to put together some side by sides with the 620? Specifically color screen differences as well as display size.
Thanks
Sorry, did actually take them, just forgot to upload them.
I just added in two FR620 shots – one showing wrist thickness, and another side by side on wrist showing the most colorful elements on each watch.
Both can be found in this section towards the very end: link to dcrainmaker.com
Enjoy!
Decided to preorder – is the 10% discount available through Clever Training? It doesn’t accept the coupon code for me.
Yup, simply use the VIP program instead (per manufacture requirement). Still saves 10%, gets faster shipping, supports the blog, and supports Girls On The Run: link to dcrainmaker.com
Thanks!
Only supports faster domestic USA shipping.
I asked… then ordered anyway ;)
Hi,
Just an information about french availability of the watch : I’ve been told by several french shops (three to be precise) that the FR 920XT should be available for retail at the end of october.
Hope this is true !
Which Garmin do you prefer out of the newer multi-sport watches The 920XT or the Fenix 2?
dear Ray or Tim or all the other,
some question:
when you read the rewiew of the fenix 2 or ambit 3 you always see the amount of the internal memory, the number of waypoint that you can register and number of course ( correct me if i use some wrong world) so what about the fr920xt?
Can i add a way point during a trail like the fenix2?
did you think they will change the fact impossibility of recarge during the activity or is a hardware problem?
thankyou very much and nice day
You can mark your current location with the “Where Am I” function. I think the limit is a 100 of these – it always has been on Forerunners.
Number of courses again not sure but I had about 20 on there the other day so certainly a decent number. Would need to create yet more to further test.
I asked Garmin about charging and keeping the timer going and I understand it is not necessarily impossible – at least from a “wall” or “mobile” charger. As Ray noted the other day they have to focus on what the most important features are first else these watches will never be released and the number of people doing an activity longer than 24 hours is obviously going to be a very small minority of target users for a triathlon watch.
Thankyou Tim for the information!
if I create a course with some point of interest (like in a trail running race the rest point or water point) and I import this course to the watch how the watch manage this point they will be part of the 100 limit or they are part of the course itself?
Usually I run the long race with etrex 30 (big but battery and precision super) and when I import the gpx file of the race with all the food- beverage point etc I can display the estimate time to reach a point or the km missing to arrive there, this will be possible with the fr920xt?
sorry for my english did you get the point?
I understend the motivation of garmin but the fr920xt look much better than fenix 2 for a number of reason when you remain in the 20 Hours limit ( fenix 2 -18 hours correct?) and i’m really courios to see how it works in ultratrak smart because it seems to be more “smart” than fenix 2.
thankyou again and we hope that they start to distribute them so we can have a lot of feedback.
The 920 does not appear to support course points at this time. I added a couple to a course in Garmin Training Center, deleted the course on the 920 and reuploaded to the 920 and I don’t see them.
The only distance you get therefore is to the end of the course.
thankyou very much we will see and wait because i think we will have the watch with good potentiality and with IQ there will be a lot of function that can transform it …..
If this is true, this would be kind of a huge dealbreaker for me. (also trail runner and it is nice to not always have to calculate in your head how for it is till the next aid station)
But I can see why they do it, garmin connect is unable to put course points in a course. This is why I was still using training center and other software.
I started writing a little application to convert tcx files with course points to a fit file. just to be able to continue using this. But if the watch does not support it.
Would it be possible to add this functionality with the connect IQ api ?
hi, just to help my english or slang vocabulary, what’s the meaning of “no small ponies” in this case. Thx
I think that means it does not include any feature that is only in the imagination and of what is possible these days…
Just thought about something. .my wife and I are doing Miami 70.3 next week.
Im, like everyone on standby waiting for the 920 release.
Wondering if Garmin might have a presence at the Miami event?
Any thoughts?
Ill might try to find a Garmin contact as well to see if a rep might know…
Don’t see Garmin on link to ironmanmiami.com
Anyway a bit like new shoes, not sure it is ideal to go into a big target race with unfamiliar equipment. Took me a little while to get used to the 920 as the UI is a bit different to previous Forerunners.
Yeah Tim i’ve ordered the watch anyway so it would just be a matter of getting it sooner than waiting till the middle of December or whenever it might be shipped.
Thanks for checking out the ironman Miami website..didn’t think of that!
Not sure the web site matters. Garmin wasn’t a company at the army ten mile in DC but they were there with a local store selling 920 watches
Hi has the fr920xt the same HR-Strap than the Fenix2? So if i switch from the fenix2 to the 920xt I would be able to use it and shave the extra money?
And would it make sense to switch if I only use it on a bike and for running?
Yup, same strap. No reason to re-buy the strap.
As for making sense for only running/biking, it honestly depends on whether you mind the current Fenix2 screen. As well as if you want live tracking with concurrent ANT+, or, if you want WiFi. Additionally, the FR920XT appears to have improved GPS from what I’m seeing (perhaps due to GLONASS), but if your Fenix2 is delivering fine GPS tracks, then that’s probably a wash for you.
Question about premium heart rate monitor. I recently bought Garmin’s premium HRM so when I ordered the 920XT, I chose not to order the one with the HRM thinking it was the same thing. The cadence I would like and the other two metrics would be nice to haves. Am I stuck (cancel order and order the one with HRM) or will the watch do any of that from the wrist or foot pod?
No, those two metrics are only supported via the HRM-RUN strap. The cadence you’ll get without the strap, from the unit itself however (the HRM-RUN strap also gives cadence too).
If you happened to have ordered from Clever Training, you can just ring them up and swap your order pretty easily.
Thanks for the quick feedback. I am going to look into the VIP pre-order.
Does it support the NEW pedal power phase metrics,power torque, pedal eficciency etc, as the edge 510 & the likes or pedal balance only?
It supports the same as the Edge 510, but it has not been announced as to whether or not it will support the upcoming Cycling Dynamics from Vector (such as seated/standing).
Can you charge this unit while using it like the fenix2? Will it continue to track while charging or does it shut of like the 220? Happy Trails!
No, it turns off like the FR220/FR620.
Thanks for the quick reply! From your review of the Fenix 2 , the Fenix 2 DOES keep tracking if I Hook up an external battery? Need it for a 100 mile Ultra. Have the 310xt LOVE it but I can not finish a 100 miler in 20 hours and the 310s charging clip is flimsy the Fenix 2’s charger looks like it will stay put while wearing it, charging it and tracking.
Happy trails.
Correct, the Fenix lineup (all variants) maintain tracking/recording when attached to a battery.
Unlike the FR310XT, the clip for the Fenix/Fenix2/Tactix will easily stay locked onto the unit when charging.
Last question I promise!! Is the fenix 2 worth the price over the fenix for trail ultramarathons/ultrarunning? No biking, swimming, or hiking just trail running.
Happy trails
If You like Your 310 so much, take a second one and You will be fine for 100miler.
The price now is sthg like $180/150E which makes this watch the best deal right now by far (it’s even listed no1 best seller in amazon). It has far less issues than any of new garmins.
Garmin had a small booth at the Detroit Marathon expo, but no 920xts for sale… One of the people at the booth had one and he let me try it on and go through the screens. Definitely bigger than what I’m used to wearing on a daily basis, but I’m going to give it a shot so I can take advantage of the daily activity/sleep tracking.
Great review!
I wanted to ask about 920s pace alerts and overall GPS accuracy.
1) does it use current pace for its pacing alerts like Fenix2 does? Or does it use lap average pace like 910 and 620?
2) What’s your experience with the 920 GPS accuracy in urban areas or under foliage if compared to Fenix2 / 620 / Suunto Ambit 3?
Great review!
I wanted to ask about 920s pace alerts and overall GPS accuracy.
1) does it use current pace for its pacing alerts like Fenix2 does? Or does it use lap average pace like 910 and 620?
2) What’s your experience with the 920 GPS accuracy in urban areas or under foliage if compared to Fenix2 / 620 / Suunto Ambit 3?
It is the same as the 620 – so if doing a normal run then it is current pace for alerts but pace targets in workouts are lap pace.
Compared to a 620 I am seeing fairly similar GPS accuracy in general. If pushed I would say the 920 is marginally better more often than not. That said the 620 for me as been pretty good of late. For some reason I tend to see slightly better tracks with whatever device is on my right wrist so today with a 620 on right there were parts where it looked a bit better than the 920 on my left. Perfectly acceptable tracking though and not seen any wildly off tracks that some people have reported with a 620.
Thanks for the insights!
Hi Ray,
one question. Which is your favorite color for the 920? red or black?
The display is the same? (none invert)
Thanks
I think that black is a bit easier to ‘hide’ under shirts and the like if in a business setting. But personally I think I like the red color otherwise.
The display is identical.
So my 910xt has started giving me issues with the power button not working to turn on the device. Its intermittent at the moment but it seems a known issue from the results of a quick google search and based on all the other users having the same issue i assume its only going to get worse until at some point the watch will be unusable. Of course my watch is a couple of months out of warranty so if i have to buy a new one, the 920xt might be an option.
My watch before this was the forerunner 610. It had multiple issues over the years i had it – the main one being the watch pins would come loose and the watch would come off during running or cycling… After getting it changed a couple of times, i gave up on the model and got the 910 just over a year ago…
Ray based on my experience, it seems garmin doesn’t have the best record with quality control. Its early days with the 920xt but just wanted to get your thoughts on the build quality of the watch and your best guess of its longevity?
The 910 and from reading above the 920 are great watches feature wise, i just feel stupid considering purchasing another $400+ watch after having multiple bad experiences…
I haven’t actually hard of many people with FR910XT button issues.
As for the FR610 band issues, those were fixed within the first few months with a new pin design. I’m surprised that you kept having issues after that.
As for the FR920XT, it uses a totally different pin system that’s more aligned to the FR220/FR620 and the Fenix series, so it’s not coming off easily. I’ve never heard of anyone with a pin/band issues with any of those watches.
Yep, perhaps all the dodgy 610 units were sent to be sold in South Africa then as it happened on at least 3 replacements over a year or two.
With the current 910 issue, its just the power button causing problems. Recently i’ve arrived at my training and tried to turn it on and it feels like the button is no longer there. Yet by putting it on and off the charger the power button works again (sometimes). Googling “910xt power button” will bring up a couple of forums with users discussing the issue. It seems like there its a software issue more than a physical parts issue but no one can confirm.
Can anyone tell me if it is compatible with the GSC10 (Garmin GSC 10 Speed and Cadence Sensor)?
Yes, it is.
Thank you for the quick reply :-)
I’m looking to upgrade from my Edge 500 and in that case will be looking at keeping the sensors to use with the 920xt.
One more question: I’ll be in the US from the 15th to the 29th of November and am wondering what my best option would be to get my hands on one of these. Pre order now for instance at Clever Training and send to a friends’ house or wait until I’m there and try to pick it up myself in a store?
Thanks!
Hi Ray —
Just want to follow up with a question that appears to have already been asked, but I haven’t seen a response yet.
For someone doing long runs (Marathons/Ultras), what’s your thinking on 920 vs. Fenix 2? Any advantage of one over the other?
Thanks!
I’m with you Montana, and i’ll put also the ambit3
will be great to have a comparison on ultra and trail running : fr920-fenix2-ambit3 ( the 3 top watch in this moment).
the comparison on paper are great but the live tests are the cut of (gps precision, altimeter precision, ultratrak modality etc..)
I’m sure that Ray, Tim and the other guys with this 3 watch can make a great job to help us in the right decision.
What are your priorities:
E.g.
GPS Accuracy
Navigation
Battery life
Charge ability “on the run”
Live Track
Running dynamics
etc etc
For me my longest run ever was 30 miles and took 4 hours. I call that “very very long” but some here would barely have “warmed up” so as we say in the UK it is about horses for courses….
Battery life is first priority, if thinking about a 100-miler.
Navigation a somewhat distant second.
I usually run 20 km -40km race during the year in preparation of 2 or 3 ultra trail (100-150 km each). I’m not competitive I’m a middle group runner.
but, I think, a lot of us in the middle like very much the last gadget on the market!
and of course the decision is not very easy so we carefully read around the net but in this moment there’s no blog with a real on trail comparison between Fenix 2 -fr920xt-ambit3.
for an ultratrailrunner the most important caratteristic are what you have write (+ altimeter precision-total ascend) , but there is a must: if i have to run for 18 hour I must be sure that my watch will remain with me up to the end of the race with 1 second gps ; if run for 20 to 40 hour in ultratrak mode the same with a gps map (+ or -) on the real trail.
so in conclusion the stability (no freezing no stop no nothing) and the true battery duration during the race are the most.
of course during my training i’d like to have a good watch (hr cadence etc.) but during the long race i would need something that remain with me all the race otherwise when you are tired after 15 hour of race you will be very frustrated if the watch say bye bye.
personally I trust DC-Ray (and all the comment and people that participate at the blog).
this is why I’ve posted my message, I’m sure to find a good tester!!
thank you very much
There are some additional challanges in such testing. One obvious is terrain type… in deep canyons GPS tends to have trouble keeping good signal and (I guess) might use some extra battery in constantly searching it.
Another thing in 20+ hrs run is how You actually use the watch. Whatever is stated by vendors as ‘max battery life’ is just best scenario, which means:
– no alarms
– no notifications
– no live tracking
– good and stable weather conditions
– no backlight
so, just plain recording. Without all above active, You might get close to max given by producer. But the problem is that during the race You really want to use some of these features:
– for sure some backlight during the night
– probably navigation with race’s route preloaded and some waypoints
– some alarms for food reminders and/or elevation milestones
and You will run in mountains and valleys, so not the easiest of conditions for GPS. Weather doesnot have to be perfect too.
All I want to say is that even with 24hrs stated for 920XT, I really doubt it will get over 20 in real race conditions. You need to take that 20-25% or even more if You want to be dead sure.
just to backup my previous statement:
when I got my 310XT (which is stated to have ~20hrs battery), I did a test leaving the watch on my balcony for a whole day. It did have 1k distance alarm on (watch stayed put but still recorder about 4km so alarm was triggered 4 times I guess) and died after exactly 16h45min – fine by me, I take it as good result, even though far from 20!
Now, my latest trail run with 310XT took me exactly 3h40min. It was in some mixed terrain – a bit of mountains, forest, some valley. Weather was perfect clear sky. Watch had again 1k distance alarm + navigation on with preloaded route. I did play a bit with screens and backlighr during the run, but not much since it was day.
Anyway, I checked battery status before and just after the run and the battery drained from 79% to 38% (exactly 41% in 3h40min of real outdoor conditions). This means that watch would last ~10hrs on full 100% charge with such usage – a way way far from 20, isn’t it? That is exaclty ‘bast case’ vs ‘real world usage’ difference.
this is what I’d like to know!!
thank you for the 310 data will be great to know the same for the fr920, ambit 3 and fenix 2 because the data on chart is one thing the real world is other…
I’m sure that all this 3 watches has different behavior in nature trail running (different gps chip, different altimeter method, different transmission system..) and will be perfect is one of the big or little athlete can wear the 3 of theme in same time during an ultra and share with the community the data. Dream?
thank you
:-D It would be nice to see such tesitng. But as I wrote before, it’s not that straight forward 920XT-F2-A3 comparision. There are so much settings in all of them, that the testing would have to be performed multiple times with different settings.
I do not have any of these devices :-/ but do own A2, which I assume is very close to A3 Peak in these matters. My long race settings (by long I mean anything above 3hrs) is:
– 1s GPS sampling and 1s recording interval
– navigation with preloaded route on (with waypoint every 3-4k avg – this is also important as You do get alarm for each waypoint twice: while approaching and when reached)
– 1k alarm
– elevation alarm (beep and illumination) for every 100m of climb or descent done through App
– no HR recording (the strap bothers me during longer activity)
– minimum playing around with the watch during the race itself (I keep it mostly in one screen with time, altitude and distance, and only occationality switch to map view in case I have doubt about the route)
Anyway, the only data I can give You is from my last mountain marathon (~44k with elev 3000m) done in perfect clear sky conditions, during the day, with minimum tree cover (most in alpine landscape, above tree line). Duration: 6h40min, battery drainage: 64% (from 85 to 21 – I keep track of the battery for longer events, just for curiosity). So, doing the math, full charge would last for ~10h30min. Again, quite a bit off from 16hrs stated by Suunto!
I have some more data, but it’s not so valid since it’s from shorter races (~20k usually done in ~2-3hrs range) when I might use more apps (more alarms) and I do record HR as well – since I dont care about the battery at all.
thankyou you are shearing a lot of usefull information this is the kind of event -test that help me a lot and also help all the people ultratrailers.
I hope that more of this kind of experience will come ( also with ultratrak setting).
thankyou
If you are likely to be taking say 20 or more hours (noting indeed that 24 is probably with most non-essential things off – GLONASS alone takes off 20% BTW) you have would the issue that you can’t charge the device and keep the timer going. So either you take 2 devices or miss a bit or use UltraTrac which looks like will record a GPS point every minute and extend battery up to about 40 hours or so although have not tested any of the battery life figures.
I presume also battery life will degrade over time which presume explains the figures mentioned with the 310.
correct my curiosity is on ultratrak smart of fr920
I’vnt understand the real functionality because it looks different from 1 gps every 1 minute.
and reading the manual is not so clear, an on ground test will be much better.
I’ve treyd the ultratrak on fenix 2 and the gps result is very poor.
some more battery life testing on Ambit2 (I still only assume that Ambit3 performs equally on that matter).
Yesterday I ran a mountain halfmarathon. Time of recording 2:25:15, battery usage 19%. Not much was on actually:
– 1s GPS, 1s recording
– HR recorded
– 1k autoalarm (single beep)
– navigation with preloaded route ON
– very little buttons during the race
– backlight never on
Race was in clear sky conditions, temperatures ~15-20C, terrain was not demanding (no deep canyons, just about 1km section in deep forest that might be challenging for GPS).
Another testing I did was the 5s GPS sampling with 10s recording interval (Suunto claims 24h battery life with these settings) with no alarms, no HR recorded, no backlight, no touching the watch at all. I simply left it on my balcony (top floor) for as much as it could handle.
Ambit2 recorded exactly 24h20min20sec and went off having 3% of battery left – pretty NICE :-D
On the downside is the accuracy, as the watch recorded 20,12km!!! Although I do understand that actually still possition of the device increases error margin for GPS accuracy. Anyway, here is the link to the log: link to movescount.com
Is there any feature that takes significant advantage from color display (over monochrome) ?
I am just wondering how much battery could be further saved by introducing monochrome display… anyone has some numbers?
I recently found a blog about totally black screen savers on OLED smartphones helping to extend battery life. The numbers there were quite impressive! taking as assumption that display represents about 40% of overall battery usage, savings on battery could reach upto 15%! That’s a lot!
Could this mean that hypothetical monochrome 920XT could work 30hrs??? If yes, I think I would prefer that…
Its not an OLED display, but e-ink. So my guess is that savings would be minimal.
Is there a list of the 920XT data fields and optionally what they actually display? There are several lists for the 910XT available on various sites but so far none for the 920XT. The Garmin manual no longer lists them either. Thanks.
I’m working on putting together a list. About half-way done, it’s a bit messier to consolidate because of the different sport modes allowing different fields.
Next time you are talking to Garmin you might want to ask them why they don’t provide the list. They must have a list of every field they wrote software for. It should be easy to produce and add as a doc to their website support page with suitable updates as they add/remove fields. It shouldn’t require individuals such as yourself to have to produce their documentation for them.
The best list (my opinion) for the 910 I’ve found so far is here: link to tramsoft.ch
Thanks for all your efforts.
There is a similar thread on the Garmin forums and we discussed some of them…
Yes. It is easy to get set in your use of the device and miss out on features you actually might use, just since they are so &*$% to find. A decent table for data fields is a min usablity feature.
I’m new to triathlons & even sports GPS watches so my question might be a little stupid but here goes. Multisport mode (Triathlon mode?) does it only work in open water for the swimming section of the training or can you set to counts pool laps too? as the only triathlon I have done so far has only been in a swimming pool.
The FR920XT supports using the indoor swim mode within the multisport mode. Whereas the Fenix2 does not today.
Thanks for the great reviews. Just wondering will it be possible when cycling to use a Garmin 800 to view cadence, heart rate etc while also having the FR920XT record this same information (then auto upload)? I like the display size of the 800 while riding but it would be good to have the auto upload offered by the FR920XT.
I have a Garmin 810 and a Garmin 910XT. I have many times recorded bike workouts with both units at the same time (cadence, power, heart rate, …), so I guess it will work the same way with 920XT
it’s garmin and both devices use ANT+ for sensor connectivity, so it will work. This is one huge advantage of ANT+ over BTLE! ANT+ sensors broadcast the signal so any device in range can pick it up and record, while BTLE protocol needs pairing so only one device can record. Hopefully ANT+ will not die due to smartphones and BTLE :-/ which is now the trend…
I thought I read about a bluetooth revision that should start allowing multiple connections, not sure when it will appear and not sure if existing devices will be able to utilize a bluetooth update via firmware updates.
Yes, 4.1 supports it. But nobody has actually implemented that yet (multi-connection), despite coming out 10 months ago.
Brilliant, thank you!
Subscribing because I’m interested in this device as well.
me too
Excellent site – I have just read the various reviews…. If price isn’t an option – what would you pick?
Forerunner® 920XT or Suunto Ambit3? I need to buy a watch next week for a present and I’m in doubt about the choice. First Tri Watch!!! :) Please help… Thx.
if it’s next week, I don’t think You have any choice between these two… I doubt You will find 920XT so quickly, so it’s Ambit3 then.
But why only between these two? Why not to look at other options: TomTom, Polar, Ambit2, Fenix2, 910XT? So many to chose from…
I could also just give a giftcard… But as I understand it – these two watch are the best in class?
So let’s take next week out of the equation… and say this year I need to buy a TriWatch.
Thx for the feedback…
well, Ray always directs everybody with this kind of questions to the comparison table (on Your right ‘product comparison calculator’) to start with. If You say ‘best in class’, You probably could add Polar V800 and Fenix2 to this equation. But, do You really need ‘best in class’? It all depends what will You (or the lucky receiver of the gift :-D) use it for… Is it Iron man? Do You need all connectivity features? Do You have any sensors already? etc… It’s a complicated process :-D
It’s for a tri and perhaps in a year or two Iron man… The person don’t have any sensors.
I just want to give the best TriWatch with the best features :)
:-D I understand Your intensions, but none of the devices has all the features, and ‘best’ is personal feeling.
You need to know what is of the highest value and based on this and using ‘product comparison calculator’ You can either find the winner or narrow the choice.
All devices have sthg unique and all miss sthg else – it’s a compromise.
I.e:
– if HR recording under water is a ‘must’ then 920XT is out
– if vibration or structured interval workouts is a ‘must’, Ambit3 is out
– if charging during activity is a ‘must’, 920XT is out
and so on…
So, You need to do the job and use the calculator first and then dig into reviews for details – no other way.
I’m just missing the 920XT in the Product Comparison calculator :)
I’m not :-P
It’s there: ‘Garmin FR920XT’
anyway, here it is with V800, Ambit3 Peak and Fenix2:
link to dcrainmaker.com
Hello Ray,
thanks for your outstanding reviews.
Any news from Garmin about the availability in Europe?
All stores are delaying the release date week by week.
All the best,
illdie4u
Hi Ray,
Any chance of pics with the FR220 or FR620 on your wrist with the 920 at the same time? I want to pull the trigger but need to see them side by side on the wrist. (I have the FR220 now) and wear it all the time as a regular watch.
Mike
Hi Ray,
If I will start using a Garmin 920XT with the HRM-Run, will there be any point in using a garmin footpod with it?
All the best,
Bart
You don’t need a foot pod if all you want is cadence as the 920 will do that already even without the new HRM. I might trust a foot pod a little more when on a treadmill though.
For Ultra runners and just the curious here is my report on an UltraTrac experiment today.
link to forums.garmin.com
Seems to work pretty well…
Well done, thanks for the test. Looks suprisingly good and usable.
thankyou for the test you’ve made!!!
it works much better than fenix2
will be super to have a Ultratrac test in New Zeland mountain? ….
one more question how you find the altimeter? is it a fuse or gps only? you thik it works well?
No 920 units at marine corps marathon but garmin rep said full production has already started so shouldn’t have to wait till the end of November (most likely). The waterproofing issue was around the two front buttons and was fixed
are there any alternatives to the hideous 920 bands? the whole design is terrible, but the straps are particularly appalling. is there anything garmin or quality non-garmin that will fit well? thanks
And you still want one? Check out link to buy.garmin.com for other bands.
Hi Ray,
Thx for your work with this site! I have a question. Do you know if the 920 have an option to have a screen look to avoid that you press any buttons by accident (e.g. excercising in the gym)? BR //Janne
No it doesn’t (with the timer going) but all buttons are “physical” (i.e. no touchscreen) so chances of this happening by mistake are slim I would have thought. Also it is only the Lap/Back and Enter buttons on the front that “do” anything writable.
If you are doing something where you think this might be a problem I would be far more concerned about damaging the watch than pressing a button by mistake.
Hi Ray,
1st run with the 920XT this morning (used to run with a 620) and surprised by pace and speed which were completely wrong (approx 20% error per km).
Did anyone already have the issue ? If yes how to fix it ?
Regards,
Antoine.
was the distance measured correclty?
I assume You mean instant pace during the run only, yes? After uploading to garmin connect, is all data correct?
Yes, the distance was measured exactly the same way than with the 620. Yes I Mean Instance pace. Same process, same waiting time before running. After uploading the data is not correct. It matches with the pace that was recorded during the activity.
let me get this one correct:
Your 620 and 920 recorded same distance within same time, correct?
But pace and avg pace from 620 and 920 are different, correct?
Then, maybe check Your ‘moving time’? Is it different on two devices?
Maybe there is some bug/problem/difference to auto pausing? Do You have it active on both devices?
I was only wearing the 920 this morning but the distance I ran today is exactly the same i run all other mornings with the 620.
For this morning, moving time is correct but during the first km I was surprised by the pace and places where km where crossed (I know the route well know).
And at the end this was confirmed by approx 2 km more than the normal distance (11km recorded instead of 9 real)
No autopause on both devices. I reloaded it after. Will do another test tonight but just wanted to know if someone else already had this issue.
Regards,
Antoine.
then, if I understand correctly, the distance recorded by 920 was ~11km, while You know the route well and it should be rather closer to ~9km, yes?
The the distance recorded by 920 is incorrect – this is Your complain/problem, correct?
Could You share the link to Your activity on garmin connect?
Maybe the GPS fix was not ‘great’ when You started the run and simply during first few km, the device was struggling to get good fix and recorded some extra distance…
Since 920 doesnot have option to show GPS accuracy any more (older devices had this), there is a trick to be sure that the device has good GPS fix before starting the run: You set one of the fields to ‘Instant pace’ and wait until device will show flat 0:00/km for a period of 10-20sec. This usually means good GPS signal and You’re good to go.
Agree with Adam poor GPS fix initially seems most likely and yes if you can post your GC link we might to be offer a proper explanation. Did you see GPS Ready before starting? Also as it is your first run the internal accelerometer would not have been calibrated for you and so if it was using that in lieu of GPS would not have been accurate. I have done quite a few runs now with the 920 and have never seen anywhere near this level of inaccuracy.
link to connect.garmin.com
I think you’re right. Since the record looks to have began halfway, it looks like there might have been a poor GPS fix. Even when I had a poor one with the GPS of the 620, was displaying the right pace.
Yes it seems you have only picked up a GPS fix at about halfway. Before that it must have been using the internal acceleromter for pace & distance and, as I mentioned, would not be accurate on your first run. At least when GPS was acquired your correct pace was picked up. Try to do what Josh suggests below looking for a “zero” pace and also look for “GPS Ready” (well in English!) and green (not grey) in the little GPS status graph top left when on the Run page.
To be honest, maybe garmin communicated a little bit too early about the release of 920xt.
What a frustation to discuss so much about a watch that only a few were lucky enough to catch while most of us are waiting.
Personally, I find it very hard to keep on waiting… God Garmin please hurry up.
cheers
Garmin was reasonably clear on the dates of when things might be available. It was only announced 21 days ago. Units are shipping, and are headed out – as noted, in small batches.
Ultimately, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t both want them to ship immediately, but then yet complain later on because they held up shipments to solve an issue brought up in the initial run of production units (or didn’t, if they hadn’t).
Hi Ray, nothing aggressive in my note. Just expressing my frustation and impatience. cheers
I was reading the 920XT manual online the other day. It listed that you should not press buttons while the watch is submerged. I currently have a 310XT and use the lap button every 100 when doing longer sets to help keep track of my yardage. Has anyone had experience with swimming long pool sets with the 920XT? I am curious to know how accurately the device tracks pool distance. I do not do flip turns and i am certain that the distance of my push of the wall is not identical each time.
Thanks for any input!
link to forums.garmin.com maybe of interest.
Dan P Accuracy of lap counting has been spot on in my usual pool – no different to the 910. Can’t guarantee others will experience the same but I hope that helps you! In a busy pool with lots of variation in speed, erratic turns because of the sort of people who block the ends or stop 1 metre short and gaze around absent mindedly etc (grrr, you know) I would say the 920 has coped slightly worse than the 910 but it is a bit subjective.
Oh how I wish they would add a simple correction facility to Garmin Connect!
Note, with the 910 hitting lap created a split – if you didn’t move between hitting lap again it was interpreted as a rest. If you hit lap and carried on then fine. You can’t do that now. With the 920 hitting lap will put you into an explicit rest interval (with reverse video to remind you and a customisable rest screen from which you can toggle to other data screens while resting). You then hit lap to come out of rest and start swimming again.
Finally, vibration alerts in the water are undetectable unlike the 910 where I relied heavily on them, pool and open water. I have no other 920s to compare with and Garmin has failed to respond to my support request submitted a week ago. I’d love to hear other’s experiences of in the water vibration.
Thanks for the great input!
Interesting note about always having a rest interval. The Garmin Swim watch first introduced Rest Time and Drill Logging… there they allow you to “disable rest timer” if I recall correctly.
I personally always use the rest timer, but I guess for Dan P’s question (and usage for the 310) you may want to be able to turn off the rest timer.
To add one comment to recent post above, before beginning every run with my 620 I watch my instant pace fluctuate for about 10 seconds after locking onto a satellite and then it flattens out at zero. Only then do I begin my run and the accuracy is spot on. I’m looking forward to feedback from others on this unit as to how it performs on runs as the larger screen is very appealing to me versus that of my 620, I am not a swimmer nor am I a biker.
Just out of curiosity, are there effective uses of the color screen? I would think that a great one would be to have the option of color coding the backgrounds of the data fields (green is good/red is bad/etc.). I haven’t seen any reference to this. There may be other ideas, but so far the only real example of color that I’ve seen is the “dial” gauge, which probably didn’t need it.
Small question – when you’re on your racebike… Can you display the information from your Garmin 920XT on your iphone?
Sort of – if you do a Live Track. If you have an ANT adapter for the iPhone and say the Wahoo app you can pair with the same devices (e.g. HR) that the 920 does. Not really sure what you are trying to achieve however?
Just wanted to get a bigger display… And perhaps (if possible) see my track on big map just like on a normal gps.
No, unfortunately not. However, with Connect IQ someone could develop something. I’d expect to see an example like that come out quickly – especially for display on an iPad or the like (projected via Airplay to a larger screen).
If you want to see yourself on a map you can just use an app like the Strava one. If you want to keep GPS off on your phone (to save battery) and still see roughly where you are on map just do a LiveTrack and look at that on the phone’s browser.
Ray – Thanks for the fantastic review (as always), and the answers to my earlier questions!
I have one more question here, regarding the use of the shoe-based cadence sensor vs. the HRM-Run. Simply put, have you seen any accuracy or precision difference between the HRM-Run and the shoe pod in terms of measuring cadence, speed, and distance? I notice that you have seen some variable results with the wrist-based measurement of these metrics, but did not see anything on the foot pod vs the HRM-Run.
I’d love to simplify the gear I travel and train with, and if the chest strap can do a good job of double duty, then all the better.
Thanks!
Sam
For cadence, no, it’s identical. As you noted, some tiny differences in wrist based primarily just around grabbing a drink from a water bottle. But between HRM and footpod, zero difference from what I see.
Enjoy!
It is possible to measure bike speed using GPS in 920XT, or I have to buy separate bike speed sensor?
thanks
No need to buy a separate speed sensor for outdoor riding, really only used for indoor riding or if you hit prolonged tunnels (it’ll by default just calculate the straight line between entry and exit of a tunnel).
Looks like it will be easy to forget my stolen 910xt, looking forward to the full review
Hi Ray.
Will be possible to get segment on the 920xt, like it is now on the 510?
Thanks in advance.
The Edge 510 doesn’t support Garmin Segments at this point.
To that end, the FR920XT is in the same boat. It could if they selected to add the feature, but it doesn’t today.
There is a beta you can download and try out that does support segments on the 510. So far, it works just fine on my 510.
Sorry, forgot they snuck that into the beta along with the Di2 pieces (and also on the 810). It had been planned for a while, but forgot they added it in on the beta front. As for the FR920XT, nothing has been announced there at this point.
For those looking for it 810:
link to www8.garmin.com
510:
link to www8.garmin.com
I have the 920 and a Kickr
How do you sync them?
Ray, have any changes been made to the HRM-RUN strap? I order my gear from clever training, but look at other sites like running warehouse to see if anything is in stock for comparison sake. On their site they have a photo of the watch/strap bundle and the fabric on the strap looks to have a different design. Was curious why this may be and if you knew anything.
Nope, same exact strap at this point. The imagery on that site is incorrect and they use some pre-release imagery that didn’t come true.
Thank you. One additional question if you have time. With respect to the sleep tracking, does the unit take sleep into account when displaying Recovery time, or perhaps it uses sleep tracking in some other way? I don’t need to track steps, I have three kids under the age of 6, I move a lot. But I am fairly certain I don’t sleep enough. After this Sunday’s upcoming 13.1 (ideal weather 37 degrees at start time forecast), it’s time to ramp up for 26.2 training, hopefully as a BQ. So if I can better track sleep and overnight HR (if possible), I would be interested.
No, it doesn’t take into account either steps or sleep in terms of recovery time.
For overnight HR and/or sleep, I’d look at a dedicated solution there. You’ll likely get the most value out of the sleep side (vs the overnight HR). For that there’s a number of phone apps that do a pretty good job.
Or, you can look at dedicated hardware. I’ve been trying out the Beddit solution the last few nights (link to amazon.com). So far so good, only a few minor nits with it. Also been trying out the Withings Aura solution, but just finding it horribly overpriced for what they’re delivering.
Cheers.
Beddit does do overnight hr:link to beddit.com
I think aura can do the same, not sure
Aura does not.
I guess even with the delay in launch from way back at CES the functionality they promised isn’t all there? From link to withings.com:
Place the discreet Sleep Sensor under your mattress and forget about it. Highly sensitive, it monitors your sleep cycles through body movement, breathing cycle and heart rate analysis.
BTW Noticed on that page Withings is catering to bs science:
To avoid unnecessary exposure to electromagnetic airwaves the Bedside Device is wired to the Sleep Sensor and shuts off Wi-Fi/Bluetooth when you plug in your smartphone to charge it.
(Seeing how science can’t show that Wi-Fi/Bluetooth does anything to the body and in actual double blind studies people weren’t actually impacted: link to en.wikipedia.org)
Yeah, I looked back at a lot of the detailed information I received from them last year, and I think they’re basically skirting on wording by implying that they use HR, but not that you get to see it.
Ultimately though, the unit just fails on so many other areas. For example, why can’t I play music with it? It’s this gigantic thing sitting next to my bed with a speaker, but I can’t use it as a BLE speaker. Except when it’s doing it’s bird chirping morning wakeup thing.
Hmm, the sensor is the same technology type as beddit only beddit goes ontop of the bed while Aura goes under. Maybe being under the bed isn’t sensitive enough to work in the real world.
BLE speaker? BLE doesn’t have enough bandwidth for audio. (when the device plugs into the wall why worry so much about power use and not have full Bluetooth in it?)
Aura has both a BLE and legacy BT channel (thus, a full BT4.0 chip).
So I’m sitting on my kickr
920 on indoor cycling mode
Settings
Sensors
Add new sensor
Won’t pick up the kickr??!
No, it won’t pick up the Kickr. The Kickr uses Bluetooth. The 920xt uses ANT+ (and Bluetooth, but only for limited communications purposes).
Hi Ruby-
It’s only been an hour since you last asked. In general, this isn’t a tech support forum, there are better places for that like the Garmin Forums.
That said, you need to search for a power meter within sensors.
Ohhhhh
So what are people saying about hooking it up to the kickr?
The kickr is ant+ according to the website
The KICKR transmits on ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart concurrently. As I noted, you need to search for the power meter sensor to find it from the FR920XT.
Note, if you haven’t done so yet, do go outside and get GPS signal at least one before attempting to search for the KICKR.
Thanks for your help
I called wahoo – they couldn’t help
I called garmin – they didn’t even know what the 920 was!
I was just hoping you could help
Sorry for the wrong use of this area
I did find GPS, and tried the power meter
No luck
Will try the forums
If you search for a power meter it should find it without issue. Obviously the KICKR needs to be plugged in and powered on. It should find it near immediately once you select on the FR920XT to search for a new power meter sensor.
Hey Ray – I’m excited at the potential of new apps appearing for the 920 using the Connect IQ API.
Is there somewhere you can go to suggest the kind of things you’d like to see? (Can’t see anything on the Garmin website)
For example, I would love to see a waterproof external sensor that measures and displays water temperature during an OWS.
The watch can only get data from a phone and ant+ sensors. Sure someone may write something that supports the ant+ periodical that transmits temp (I.e. support for the garmin Tempe sensor) but still can’t transmit far under water as ant run over 2.4Ghz
But an ANT+ sensor worn close the watch (e.g. tucked under the sleeve) should work, no?
Yup, generally it does.
But I would think there may be an issue with body heat impacting the reading if you keep the sensor that close during a swim
I love the new watch computers 920XT, V800, Ambit, etc BUT, when can I have my cake and eat it too? One watch for everything!! Like most of these Triathlon, swim bike run, hike, SCUBA, Skydive, paragliding, HRM, POWER, CADENCE, etc.
START WITH 920XT, Tactix, V800, or Ambit platform. Add features I had on my old Garmin76s for paragliding, Suunto D4i for scuba, and pilot stuff. Once the sensors are there it’s all software. I really just want one watch to wear daily and log all of my fun…
It’s tricky. The more features you add, the more it requires for a company to test. And, if the amount of resources stays static (it usually does), then they typically are able to test less.
But, I think that’s really the power of Connect IQ. They can offload many things to 3rd party developers that can do it better than Garmin and dedicate resources for it.
Diving stuff is way more waterproof and use a different way to talk to remote things as ant+ doesn’t work as well. Some watches battery life is more important then processing power so hardware is very different. I don’t think hardware is there yet
my father (and I agree with him 120%) used to say that if something is meant to do everything, it will do nothing correctly. You will get way better results with dedicated devices, even if it means 4 or 5 of them. As Ray mentions, the more features in, the more problems. Keeping separate dedicated devices works much better.
I’m invested on BLE Wahoo speed/cadence and heart rate monitors. Is there a way to make 920XT read from these sensors say through a 4iii heart rate sensor? If so, can I do it without an iPhone and let the watch receive the data directly?
No, Garmin hasn’t enabled it. As for 4iiii’s, it goes the other way, so that wouldn’t work. And finally, not via the iPhone – at least not yet. It might be possible with Connect IQ (should be possible actually) and a phone app that sends back data via a channel.
Hi Ray,
Thanks for the great reviews, I love your site though most of the products not really available in Hong Kong.
May I ask if I use for below purpose:
1. Hiking ＆ Trail Run
2. Marathon
3. Cycling
4. Log GPS while travel and map with photos (geotagging)
Which one should you would recommend I go for? Fenix2 or 920XT?
Thanks!!
Tony from Hong Kong
Looking at the different categories:
1. Hiking ＆ Trail Run: Fenix2
2. Marathon: FR920XT
3. Cycling: FR920XT
4. Log GPS while travel and map with photos (geotagging): Either one
The challenge I have with the FR920XT and hiking specifically is twofold. First is if you use courses, they just aren’t functional/practical on the 920XT. The map zoom aspect makes them useless. Second, the lack of ability to calibrate the barometric altimeter, combined with the fact that it can take upwards of an hour to ‘settle/normalize’ (and still be incorrect) means that it’s just not useful in cases where you depend on that data.
Thanks for prompt reply!! So ideally……..buy both of them? (920xt is a bit ugly though it got the daily activities tracking function…)
I think I read somewhere you could calibrate the barometric altimeter by manually setting the exact altitude while saving a waypoint? Is this true?
When I asked they said there was no method of doing so. Though, what you describe might work. I’ll toy with it, though I thought I had set my house elevation and it was still showing off on a few runs.
Thanks for your reply (and sorry for the double post)!
Tony – I’d probably not buy both of them. But rather, see if Garmin is willing to budge over time on the navigation/barometric altimeter issues.
If they simply were to set the altimeter via GPS first that’d solve most of it (they don’t today, which is unlike every other unit they have). They believe they get higher accuracy this way, I believe it’s pointless when the first hour of your activity is entirely off.
With my current Garmin 310xt I use a Polar soft strap for more stable hart rate measurements. Is this still possible with the 920xt?
I read somewhere that for running dynamics information (vertical oscillation and ground contact time) on the 920xt a new sensor is required. Is the new Garmin strap also required for running dynamics information?
Yup, same thing, just plop out the HR pod and into the Polar strap.
Hi Ray,
great review as ever and I’ve placed my order with Clever Training after selling on my Fenix 2. Have you been able to get hold of the quick release kit yet? I’ve ordered one but can’t seem to find any photo’s or video on the net of it actually attached to the watch and bike. How well does it work?
Thanks
Mark
Nope, no luck yet. Just shot off a reminder note to Garmin find out what happened there. Thanks!
I have also placed my order with Clever Training after selling my Fenix2. The 310xt is still holding strong after all this time but I can’t wait for the 920xt (expected teething troubles and all).
Thanks as usual Ray for your reviews and replies.
Hi Ray,
you may want to remove this post as it is more about site maintenance than the 920XT itself.
I am one of those who registered for getting email notifications for the comments on this page and it looks like some of your posts are not sent. For instance I got an notification for Tony’s and Duane’s comments but not yours.
Thanks
Interestingly I pre-ordered mine from wiggle in the UK.
A week later they sent me an email saying it would arrive early november.
Then they changed the website to stop taking pre-orders and only have an email alert.
Today they changed to the website to say that the 920xt is no longer available as an item at all!
Sounds ominous.
Just wanted to say thanks for the write-up. I pre-ordered via CT and joined the VIP Program as well.
Thanks for the support Michael – I appreciate it!
Me too – watch, check and VIP program – check! Always liked my 910XT but have had issues with the unit from the get-go. Decided to jump in and pre-order the 920XT now and can’t wait to get it–
Thanks for the support Emily! Enjoy it!
I occasionally find myself in a position where disabling Bluetooth is advantageous. From the manual, I see where that is enabled/disabled – >Settings>Bluetooth>Status>Off.
Can anyone confirm that once disabled and then enabled the Bluetooth pairings remain and function. It’s not a deal breaker and I can work around it.
Ray – Thanks for the awesome resource.
Hi DC, Great info in these reviews. I’m looking forward to reading the full review of the 920xt soon. Have Garmin ever mentioned releasing a Tri Bundle for the 920xt, I’m a little surprised it not one of the options already?
Hi DC. Just ordered the 920XT :-) Its replacing my Suunto Ambit 2 S … How do you see the difference between Movescount and Garmin Connect ? Which one is the best ? Looking forward to you in depth review of the 920XT.
I am actually in the same situation as you. I have an Ambit 2S and pre-ordered the 920XT.
As an FYI, I have recently been uploading all my Ambit workouts to Garmin Connect. I would export the TCX file from MovesCount and import into Garmin Connect.
Personally, I don’t like MovesCount. I much prefer Garmin Connect, but even that isn’t that great.
Hi Derek :-) Is there a smart way to export all my trainings in movescount to garmin connect ? I mean can this be done in one datafile or do I need to move one training at the time ? …. (I’m pretty sure we will be happy when we get our 920XT…. at least I hope)
I’m not aware of any way to move all the workouts in bulk. I only got the Ambit a few months ago so I simply exported each file one at a time
My fingers are crossed that the 920XT will work well. I had been a long time Garmin user but my last one, the 610 gave me tons of issues. The Ambit 2S has been ROCK-SOLID…..not a single issue or glitch. I just miss having vibration alerts and being able to display 4 fields at the same time.
Hi Ray,
Great, Great reviews,
My question is:-
I run, bike but not swim. However I row and do some sessions on the concept 2 rower – so am I waisting money buying swim functions I will not use? And what has the 920xt got to offer my rowing training
Thanks Ray
Geoff
The Concept2 previously used to transmit as a Fitness Equipment device, which the FR920XT doesn’t support (the 910XT did). With Connect IQ, I suspect we’ll see someone quickly develop an app for that.
I don’t know however if the Concept2 has been updated to just transmit generic speed/cadence information, as I thought someone said it had (I haven’t used one in a gym in years).
The pm4 transmits all the rowing data over private ant (that’s how it does wireless races between rowers) and they are willing to share the private ant convoy if you sign a nda so a connect IQ app is possible
sorry Ray to disturb but on the net there is a little of confusion.
for Europe some shops say “the product is no longer available” other say “probably the 3rd week of December”?
which is the real situation may be you know some news for us?
did you know something about a kind of fenix3 on early 2015?
thankyou for your time and go head testing you make a great job!!!
The shops are wrong. Or rather, they don’t likely know what to put since Garmin isn’t telling them an exact date. So sometimes they just guess, or, they put something that’ll entice you to buy – knowing full well they don’t know when units are coming in.
FR920XT’s are shipping, in very small batches, globally. Different shops have different timelines for shipments based on how many they pre-ordered (prior to the FR920XT even being announced), how many outstanding orders they currently have, geographic locale, and just outright luck. Some people will get units this week, but others might indeed wait till mid December or further.
thankyou for your fast answer!!
any rumors about fenix version compatible with IQ?
Neither the Fenix1 nor Fenix2 will support Connect IQ, no plans there to change. Garmin hasn’t announced anything beyond that.
Hi, great job on Your web site!
I’m planning to switch from my 610 to 920xt id GPS accuracy improvement will be confirmed.
So I’m waiting Your in depth review…what about? :)
Best regards.
Hi! Do you know whether the Garmin 920XT can display Quarq’s Power Balance, e.g. from the Elsa R?
Cheers,
Jaska
Yes it can.
That’s great! It means that I can use it to keep an eye on my left/right power output on the rollers during Winter (old hamstring tear from some years back) :-D
From one Ray to another, I love the work you do here! I haven’t bought a sports watch without checking what you had to say about it first. I’ve had the 305, 310xt and the Fenix 2. I pre-ordered the 920xt from Clever Training after you posted this pre review. I’m “patiently” waiting on the watch to ship. I’m also “patiently” waiting on your full review. When will the full review go up?
Later this week.
I was in the market for a triathlon oriented sports watch and believe this is the one I will get. Can different user profiles be created if someone else wanted to use my watch, for instance my wife on a 5k race? Or would the watch need to be reconfigured?
No user profiles on any Garmin devices unfortunately. But, you could just create a different activity profile for running that has different preferences. It will impact things like calories though, as well as VO2Max, but if you don’t care much about that – no other major impact.
Hi Ray,
Do you know how this thing handles Time Zone Changes?? (traveling), does it erase overlaping info?? this for the activity monitoring.
Rgds,
Armando
When you change time zones the watch will automatically update the time based on either GPS or your phone. You’ll need to briefly take the watch out of standby, but then within about 30 or so seconds it’ll pull the updated time from your phone (if when in GPS off mode, such as ‘Indoors’ sports mode). Or, you can do the same outside with GPS.
Then, on days where you change time zones, with Garmin Connect for the Steps data, it’ll show a little icon at the top indicating ‘Time Zone Change’. It’ll continue upwards counting of steps, but the chart itself will show the most recent timezone.
Hi Ray,
Thanks for the great review. I’m going to get this watch when it comes out in the UK. But I’m wondering if I need to get the HR Strap that comes with it, or if I can use an older strap – specifically what features do I lose out on by pairing with an old strap? (run cadence, bike V02 etc?)
Thank you,
James
It will work with older straps that support Ant+ and/or Bluetooth, but you’ll lose the running dynamics options like the cadence, vertical oscillation and ground contact time.
Also the recovery stats are going to be missing, as well as VO2 Max stats (if I’m not mistaken).
As the new HR Strap (with the runner on it) will cost about $99,- on it’s own, it probably makes more sense to get the 920XT with the HR starp right away instead of buying the strap later…
It will not work with Bluetooth straps. It only supports Ant+ for sensors
That’s not quite true actually – you only need the HRM-Run (that comes with it – or the 620) if you want vertical oscillation and ground contact time. Cadence would come from the 920 itself if you are just using a “normal” ANT/Garmin HR strap or indeed no HR strap at all.
VO2 Max for running and recovery time you just need the HR bit. Bike VO2 needs HR but also a power meter.
VO2 Max and recovery time need r-r intervals. Fine with the older chest straps but won’t work right with optical hr
hello,
did you maybe test the FR920 for hiking? Is suitable? I read that the Edge 810 have some issues with tracking distance when hiking. If i purchase FR920 i don’t want to have false distance data on a hike. Thanks for the answer.
Just a quick boast :-)
Picked up a 920XT at the Noosa triathlon (Australia) last weekend.
There were a number of stalls with stock available – I think it was Garmin Australia’s official launch for the device.
Its early days for me, but quite happy with the unit so far. I find it comfortable to wear all day – it is quite light compared to similar watches.
There have also been 3 updates to the firmware already! – V2.5 is the current version – citing improvements to various things such as open water swim tracking, activity tracking, notifications etc.
My only gripe (which I knew before purchase) is Garmin express is not available for Windows phone. I can however sync the device through my phone using a wifi hotspot.
The edge computers have the ability to turn off the “off course” warnings for courses and navigation. The 910xt did not have this setting. Anyone know if this setting is present in the 920xt? On a 910 if your GPS signal is a bit off from the breadcrumb you get a pop up that does not go away without a click.
Hi Ray
Would I be able to hear the metronome on the 920xt in the earphones on iPhone
Thanks
Geoff
No, I don’t think so. It’s just not that loud unfortunately. But it vibrates at the same time though, so you can feel that instead.
Well after my local running shop stated they wouldn’t be stocking the 920XT because it isn’t a “running” watch I decided to hop on to Clever training and support DC.
Let’s hope my delay in ordering doesn’t lead to a 2015 receive date.
Based off your comments in your other posts the in depth should be any time, so I have my coffee and snacks ready for it.
Tomorrow. Though, by the looks of things, it’s going to take more than a few snacks to get through it.
Is it tomorrow yet in Paris? I will be more than happy to preview your report if you would like to email it to me. Thanks again for all of your great work Ray!
Sounds good to me, tomorrow is my rest day.
Do you have any posts or website suggestions for people looking to get into cycling? I think I’ve thoroughly gone through your site haven’t seen anything on this specifically. I’m interested in information on how to choose an intro bike, what’s really important for novices, and what’s hyperbole. Thanks!
I like Cyclingtips.com – they have a lot of stuff on the pro side, but also a ton of really good non-pro stuff too. Though, they don’t quite cover as much on pure bike purchases. Bikeradar.com is another good option there, and I believe they have a buyers guide for different price ranges.
Thanks!
Hehe…
Looking forward to it!
Thanks in advance for this Ray
I was planning on moving to the 920 from the 910 after I’ve fully recovered from a foot injury. But now that have started short walks with particular attention to gait etc to improve from balance shortening stride etc, I’m now wondering if any of the new functions in the Jr run would be useful feedback & would work with walking.
What’s the JR RUN?
Think it’s a typo for HR Run strap so we’re talking vertical oscillation, ground contact time and cadence (although the watch can do the cadence itself
Not looked at any of these measures whilst walking but assuming a detectable vertical movement it should work. Usefulness is I guess open for debate ?
Hello DCR
Thanks for the sneak peak on 920xt, it will be very exiting to read you’re full in-depth review. To bad that you cant charge 920xt during activity that would help a lot. I use my old garmin 305 and plug in to a usb-battery and it works perfect. I hope there will be a firmware update for the 920xt down the road.
tanks keep up the good work!
In regular GPS mode, the 920 doubles the battery life of the 310, so you should get ‘up to’ 24 hours.
If that is not enough, UltraTrac mode can be enabled for up to 40 hours use – one would expect you would be ready for a snooze by then ;-).
I haven’t tested UltraTrac mode yet, but I intend to on my next Rogaine.
WRT to firmware, I have had the unit less than a week and have had a couple of firmware updates!
920 with ~24hrs battery life does not double 310 in this matter (310 has ~20hrs).
But if You meant 305, then 920 more than doubles that (305 has ~10hrs)
My Bad, I was referring to your 305
Hello folks,
I was in contact with Garmin Sweden to day and they replayed that 920xt is able to charge under activity’s.
Q: -“One more thing, I have heard that you can not charge the 920xt during activity. Is there any plan to change it in the next firmware?”
A: -“It is possible to charge Forerunner 920XT during activity.”
B.R.
Nope, they’re confused.
I just tried now (on yesterday’s 2.50 firmware release). It still ends the activity immediately upon plugging into any power source.
Don’t trust Garmin Sweden. They’re clueless when it comes to certain things. Their support seems to just make things up when they don’t know stuff.
Hello Ray,
Too bad, I have inform the support about there mistake. :-)
then I have to set my faith to future firmware updates.
thank you for thorough work,
B.R
If I have a watch like this that can connect to a power meter, do I still need to have a bike computer?
I’m new to the sport.
No But if you’re a cyclist i would suggest to just go with an Garmin Edge computer for the larger screen.
On my edge i have power, cadence, speed, elevation, time, heart rate, etc.
You’re not going to be flipping through the watch during an intense ride to get to all the data points.
In fact in a race i never use my watch to look at my metrics other than for tracking purposes. I use my edge and fenix2 at the same time.
That said if your budget doesn’t allow for many toys i would say go for the watch but dont count on much data on the screen – 4 items
HI DC,
I HAD A QUERY REGARDING GOING FOR THE 920XT WHITE RED WATCH WITH THE HRM RUN OR A WHITE RED WATCH ONLY.WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO?
KINDLY HELP !!
MEGHA
The HRM run refers to a physical heart rate chest strap.
You can choose to bundle one with your watch – there is no difference in the watch itself.
Hi there.
Is anybody receiving the units that were pre-ordered on Clever Training or Garmin or Amazon?
I will be in the US (Boston and Baltiomore) from November 14 to 20 and wonder if I will be able to buy a unit during this time, either online or in a physical store.
Thanks.
No units have shipped from any retailer in the US except at a handful of running/Tri expos. I’m awaiting an email this morning from Garmin on current shipping timelines/updates.
Thanks DCR, I guess if that happens I will go for the Fenix 2 instead. This sunday is the Ironman Tri in Fortaleza, Brazil, where I live. I will see later today if in the expo they have any units.
Fabio
Hi there DC
Thanks for the great reviews.
Question – I am on a long road back from multiple shoulder surgeries and will not be able to swim freestyle for quite some time. Hence my pool work is restricted to walking laps and kick drills with kickboard etc. Which of Garmin 920xt or Suunto Ambit 3 will best capture metrics for kick drills and walking (in water) laps?
Am thinking both will adequately but any traps with either?
With thanks. JF.
Hi All-
I’ve published my In-Depth Review of the FR920XT. You can read it here: link to dcrainmaker.com
As such, I’ll be closing the comments section on this post, like usual, in order to keep things tidy going forward. For questions that aren’t answered by the In-Depth Review (or the comments here/there), feel free to post them to review.
Thanks for reading!
-Ray