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 It's been replaced by the Garmin Forerunner 945, you may want to check out that review instead.
Last month just ahead of the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii, Garmin announced their latest triathlon watch – the FR920XT. At the time I wrote a relatively long first look at the watch, but now I’ve had a solid month under my belt using the final watch and firmware. In doing so I’ve been able to beat the crap out of it and see where it shines…and where it might need some more polish.
The FR920XT brings together in one unit a slew of new features found on many recent Garmin devices across the health and fitness landscape. For example, it adds in Live Tracking that started on the Edge series, more swim functionality found in the Garmin Swim and Fenix2, Running Dynamics that started in the FR620, and finally activity and sleep tracking from the Vivo lineup of activity monitors. But, these are really just small tidbits of what is without question the most full featured multisport watch on the market (if not most full featured watch of any type out there today).
To be clear, I’ve been using a FR920XT provided by Garmin to test with (final production unit). Like always, I’ll be shipping that back to them in Kansas in the next little bit and going out and getting my own via regular retail channels. That’s just the way I roll.
Lastly, at the end of the day keep in mind I’m just like any other regular athlete out there. I write these reviews because I’m inherently a curious person with a technology background, and thus I try and be as complete as I can. But, if I’ve missed something or if you spot something that doesn’t quite jive – just let me know and I’ll be happy to get it all sorted out. Also, because the technology world constantly changes, I try and go back and update these reviews as new features and functionality are added – or if bugs are fixed. So – with that intro, let’s get into things.
Unboxing:
The FR920XT comes in two box flavors and two unit colors. You can purchase the unit with the HRM-RUN heart rate strap, or without it. And then both of those are offered in either Blue/Black, and Red/White. I’ll discuss the HRM-RUN later on.
To start, here’s the box of the HRM-RUN bundle:
After cracking it open you’ve got these five basic piles: The USB charging clip, the watch itself, the HRM-RUN strap, some paper stuffs, and the HRM-RUN transmitter model that snaps into the strap:
And again, without the plastic bags:
Starting with the charging cable, it allows you to plug into any USB port on the planet to charge the FR920XT. The other end snaps into the FR920XT. It’s incredibly secure and requires pressing of a side button to remove. Thus, it’s somewhat ironic that given this high level of snap security that it doesn’t permit you to charge the device in the middle of an activity (such as an ultra run or super-long ride). When you add USB power to the FR920XT mid-activity, it’ll instantly end the activity and begin full charging. This is a bit of a disappointment.
Next is the HRM-RUN strap. This includes both the strap and the transmitter module. I’ve had good luck with the HRM-RUN strap and lack of drops/spikes. The strap is no different than the HRM-RUN straps found with the FR620 or the Fenix2. The presence of the little runner icon means it’s the HRM-RUN strap, versus just a regular strap. The regular straps are unable to transmit Vertical Oscillation or Ground Contact Time, as they don’t have the accelerometer inside that the HRM-RUN has.
Next is some paper quick start guides and manuals. You won’t really need them after reading this post:
And finally, we’ve got the watch itself. Again, but the end of this post you’ll be sick of photos of the FR920XT:
Let’s move onto how it compares in physical dimensions to other units.
Size & Weight Comparisons:
When it comes to size, the FR920XT is notably slimmer than past models. It’s roughly the same thickness as the Garmin FR620 running watch.
At the same time, the display colors are also increased over the FR620. While the FR620 included colors according to Garmin marketing, in reality it was pretty washed out. The FR920XT on the other hand is much crisper and brighter:
Speaking of wrists, here’s a look at how it compares on The Girl’s wrist, who is quite petite at 5’2″ tall:
Here’s a comparison to the FR910XT – the previous generation:
And finally, when looking at the Fenix2 (and Fenix2 Special Edition) – here’s how those compare:
Next, to compare it to other watches in the same markets (or just past Garmin watches), here’s a full lineup.
From left to right: FR920XT, FR910XT, Fenix2, Ambit3, Ambit2, Ambit2S, Polar V800, Polar M400, Polar RC3, Garmin FR620.
And here’s the thickness shown. In this case the roller was kept level, so the depth between the surface and the watches shows you height:
Zooming in on just the higher end multisport watches (Left to right: Garmin FR920XT, Garmin FR910XT, Garmin Fenix2, Suunto Ambit3, Polar V800):
Finally, looking at weight of the watch – it’s quite light. The FR920XT comes in at 61.6g, which is even lighter than the older running only FR610:
The Polar V800 comes in at 80.8g:
The Suunto Ambit3 at 86.0g:
And finally, the Fenix2 at 85.6g:
Now with everything all compared, let’s get onto using it.
Initial Setup & Configuration:
To start the software side, you’ll open up Garmin Express and get it added to your account:
From there you can choose to create a Garmin Connect account, or link it to an existing one. You’ll use this Garmin Connect account to upload workouts to the service, which can then be sent to other services including Strava, Training Peaks, and Sport Tracks – all automatically. But I’ll talk more about the Auto Sync piece later on in the Garmin Connect section.
Next, in the event you already have a Vivo product like the Vivosmart or Vivofit, you’ll need to choose which device to use for your daily steps.
Next, you’ll be asked to setup WiFi networks. You can attach to up to 7 WiFi networks, as long as they don’t have some sort of ‘I agree’ type page, like Starbucks or some airport WiFi hotspots. Home and office ones almost never do, so you’re setting up both easily there.
You can also specify a preferred network. Additionally, it’ll show you the MAC address in the event you do MAC filtering on your routers/WiFi hotspots.
Finally, you’ll want to ensure the software checks for updates and grabs them, this is especially true earlier on in the product cycle where things might iterate quickly with bug fixes.
You can see below there are two updates available, so I’ll just go ahead and click ‘Install All’ to get things underway.
Next, you’ll go ahead and unplug your device, which will allow the install to finish:
The whole process only takes a moment to complete. With everything set, it’s time to head on outside.
Running:
Now that we’ve got it all configured, we’ll start with running and go through the run-specific items. Note of course that there are many features that are applicable to all sports that I’ve covered elsewhere in the review. For this section I’m just focused on the run-specific items.
To begin, like all sports you’ll go ahead and power change from standby mode to sport mode. In doing so you’ll then choose the sport, in our case an Outdoor Run:
This will enable the GPS. The FR920XT uses satellite caching to speed up satellite acquisition time. In general, it’s going to take about 3-7 seconds for it to find satellites, often less. This satellite cache is valid for 7 days, and is refreshed each time you connect your FR920XT to your phone, computer, or WiFi.
With that ready, you can begin your run by pressing the start/enter button. This will begin the timer and start recording.
At this point the unit will start showing you pace and distance from GPS. To get a feel for how quickly the unit will respond to changes in pace, I’ve put together the following video that shows me running along at a steady pace, then stopping within the width of a crosswalk, and then resuming running again.
It’s pretty quick to respond. You’ll notice that the pace is rounded to the nearest :05 seconds, which is common on most of Garmin’s newer running watches. This is to make the pace a bit smoother. In reality, all GPS watches do smoothing, so while it may seem annoying to some – one way or another the pace is going to get smoothed. Either with or without you knowing about it. For me, I don’t find this too big an issue. When I’m doing intervals timed to sets that are less than 5-seconds in definition, such as 6:22/mile, I simply use the ‘Lap Pace’ option instead. Problem solved!
The FR920XT adds the Running Dynamics found on the FR620 & Fenix2 watches. Running Dynamics include three components: Vertical Oscillation, Ground Contact Time, and Cadence. In this case, the first two – VO & GCT – are only available using the HRM-RUN strap. Whereas while cadence can some from the HRM-RUN strap, it’ll also come from the watch itself.
These metrics are shown on a specific Running Dynamics page. After uploading a run, this data is available to plot on Garmin Connect (you can see a sample run here). You’ll notice the most definition when doing something like an interval run that has clear pace changes in it.
While this data is interesting, in using it over the past year, I haven’t actually found much training value out of it. I suspect that most users stop looking at the numbers after the first week or two.
In addition to Running Dynamics, you’ll get Running VO2Max. This is updated following the completion of each run:
It’ll take a number of runs for this number to even out, so don’t judge too harshly after just the first few runs. The VO2Max number is then used to calculate race predictions. These race predictions are simply done by looking up your VO2Max combined with gender and age, to known ‘best case’ results. This means this is somewhat of a best case scenario, and doesn’t mean you have actually done the training to complete – for example – a marathon at that pace/time.
Still, I find that once my VO2Max number stabilizes, the race predictor numbers are very close to my PR’s. It won’t be perfect for everyone, but it’s certainly interesting.
Next we have two recovery related metrics. The first metric will show up about 10 minutes into your run, and let you know how well recovered you are from your previous run. This will give you a ‘Good’, ‘Fair’, etc… type metric that you could use to potentially change your workout.
The second metric is the actual recovery time following completion of the workout. For this metric it’ll give you hours until your next hard workout. For triathletes of course, these numbers can be a bit tricky because you might do a hard run one day, and then a hard bike the next.
I tend to take these numbers with a solid boulder sized grain of salt. Also, note that while none of the recovery/VO2Max pieces require the HRM-RUN strap, they don’t work as well with optical HR straps from 3rd party vendors. See my section on that later on to get more clarity there.
When it comes to mid-run related functionality, there’s a ton of features found on the FR920XT. In general, everything you’ll have used in past Garmin watches is present here, for example:
Auto Pause: This will automatically pause the watch when you stop running. It’s ideal for city running, but I personally keep it off. If you do enable it, you may want to tweak the configuration a bit to get better results.
Auto Scroll: This will change your data pages automatically every few seconds. I prefer though to just control them myself.
Auto Lap: This will automatically create laps at a preset distance, such as 1-mile. I use this mostly on long runs where I don’t have any other structure in my run. But for shorter runs, I’ll turn this off so I can manually break up the structure of my run. You can always manually lap at any time by pressing the lap button.
Alerts: These can be used to notify you when you go above/below certain thresholds like distance, time, heart rate, cadence, etc…
Run/Walk Mode: This mode will allow you to create a Run/Walk routine that’s often used in beginner marathon attempts to have you run for a certain time/distance and then walk for a certain time/distance – repeating over and over until 26.2 miles of misery is complete.
All of these options are available in other sport modes, except Run/Walk.
For one last FR920XT specific new feature we have the Metronome. The Metronome enables you to have the unit automatically beep or buzz to a specific running cadence. Running at certain higher cadences has long been used as a way to increase turnover and generally improve efficiency. The fastest of elite/pro runners will have extremely high running turnover. A running cadence of 180rpm is generally considered a good baseline (90rpm per leg).
Within the FR920XT you can specify the exact running cadence (with both legs combined, as beats per minute which is equated to rpm) and then the unit can be configured to beep/buzz every other beat, or in increments up to every sixth beat. Note however that this will impact battery life a fair bit in my experience.
For me, I went with every fourth beat, which is basically one leg every two steps. I find it a nice balance.
Now, I also find that it’s a bit tough to hear the beeps in the city at rush hour, so the vibration makes it super easy to just match the buzz to the foot hitting the ground.
Finally, the FR920T gains the ability to show PR’s on the unit. PR’s are ‘Personal Records’ for a variety of items from longest run to fastest one-mile time. Upon the completion of each run it’ll let you know if you’ve triggered any PR’s during that run:
These PR’s will also show up on Garmin Connect as well, so you can validate them there too.
Cycling:
The FR920XT supports a cycling mode that allows you to track bike-specific metrics. In the cycling mode you’ll see speed instead of pace, thus it’ll show up at MPH or KPH. Further, you can access power meter metrics from ANT+ power meters, and speed/cadence/combo sensors from ANT+ devices there as well.
The FR920XT is able to clip into the standard Garmin Edge series quarter-turn bike mounts that are so popular these days. Both Garmin and many 3rd party companies make these mounts, and some bikes even have mounts built into them. However, that does require the FR920XT quick release kit. The quick release kit is a add-on that slides into the backplate of the FR920XT to allow it to mount directly to quarter turn mounts.
It also contains a separate plate that you then attach your watch straps to, so that you can quickly turn it from watch to bike computer. Below, are a slew of pictures of the kit.
The quick release kit
Quick release kit parts
Bands attached to plate, FR920XT separate
Within watch band
On wrist side
On road bike step with rubber band mount (seen above to left/right as well).
On the Barfly TT mount on bike
On wrist front
On wrist profile
Backplate attached to FR920XT
When it comes to power meter metrics the FR920XT has all the same metrics as the Edge 1000 does – so it includes advanced power sensor metrics around everything from left/right balance to pedal smoothness. It also has one metric the Edge 1000 doesn’t have – which is Cycling VO2Max.
For this metric it computes your VO2Max value using cycling specific algorithms, in conjunction with a power meter (which is required). These algorithms will update your cycling VO2Max after each ride:
I noticed it’s a bit low for me, but each time I ride it appears to increase slightly. I asked Garmin about that and they said it’ll take a number of rides to stabilize, as it ‘learns’ you. I’ve seen this on the running side as well, where it’s just now finally getting close to the VO2Max numbers that I get on my FR620 (as well as the ones that I’ve been tested against).
When it comes to sensors, the FR920XT supports two major cycling types of sensors. The first is power meters. Within this it supports ANT+ power meters, from any vendor including Garmin but also Quarq, PowerTap, SRM, Stages and so on. It does not support Bluetooth Smart power meters though.
Next, it also supports ANT+ Speed sensors, ANT+ Cadence sensors, and ANT+ Speed/Cadence combo sensors. Garmin themselves had units in each of those categories – but there are many other companies making ANT+ speed/cadence sensors, including some like Trek & Giant that insert directly into the bike frame itself.
Note that like power meters, the FR920XT does not support Bluetooth Smart speed/cadence sensors, only ANT+. Many of the speed/cadence sensors though coming onto the market are dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart, so it’ll support those just fine.
Beyond these bike-specific items noted in this section – the rest of the features I’ve covered in other sections. So routing for example is applicable whether in bike or run mode, just as Live Tracking or structured workouts are as well.
Swimming (Openwater):
The FR920XT contains two different swim-specific modes: Openwater and pool. For this first section, I’ll cover openwater. The next will be for pool swimming.
Openwater swimming is simply the swimming in any body of water that doesn’t have lane lines. Be it a river, ocean, lake, or pond (or, I suppose this crazy big pool in Chile). In these settings the watch uses a special openwater mode that allows it to determine your pace, distance and location.
It’s important to understand though that this is a tricky affair. Each time the watch goes underwater during your swim stroke it loses GPS signal. For the 1 second or so that it’s above the water it regains it, but usually with low accuracy. It might be off by 5 meters or 100 meters. This process repeats every stroke. The openwater swim mode software however takes all these potentially inaccurate data points and starts to create a picture of where you’re going. That picture tends to be a bit smoothed in order to normalize the craziness of GPS data captured during swimming.
As such, I find that for most openwater swim sessions, you won’t often have exact accuracy. Within 10% or so is the name of the game. If you want exact accuracy then the swim cap method is the way to go. But for most people putting it on the wrist is just fine. I’ve included my openwater swim GPS accuracy numbers in the GPS accuracy section a bit lower.
While in openwater swim mode the unit will show your distance in yards/meters and then miles/kilometers. It’ll also show you stroke information as well as pace.
Now, the FR920XT does actually allow you to complete Live Tracking in openwater swim mode. In my earlier testing there was a bug that produced incorrect data tracks (it looked like I was swimming drunk). My understanding from Garmin is that bug has been addressed in yesterday’s firmware update. Still, the concept is pretty cool. I just set my phone inside my swim buoy and then it’ll actually keep the connection alive and transmit my location via cellular services:
I won’t re-write my entire post on it, but you can read about it here. Alternatively, you can watch a video I put together on it below:
Overall, like past openwater swim devices the accuracy is generally acceptable for most purposes – albeit not perfect. For those looking for perfection the best bet is to sacrifice stroke information/metrics and place the unit in your swimcap.
One final note is that the pins on the FR920XT are greatly improved over previous watches. It uses a similar pin system to that of the Fenix2 and FR620/FR220, which uses dual sets of screws that tighten into each other on both band portions. This means that unlike some older multisport units, it’s highly unlikely the band pins will break on the unit. Note however that I haven’t yet had a chance to try out the quick release kit. That is still pending release from Garmin.
Swimming (Pool):
The next swimming related mode is for pools. It doesn’t matter if the pool is inside or outside, it’s the same mode. In the pool mode the unit doesn’t use GPS, but rather uses an internal accelerometer to detect each time you reach the end of the length of the pool. It uses the same accelerometers to detect strokes and stroke types.
To begin, you’ll select the ‘Pool Swim’ mode from the available activity profiles:
Because the unit simply tracks each time you complete a length, it needs to know how big your pool is. To set that you’ll press: Settings > Activity Settings > Pool Size, and then specify a pool size. You can choose from a number of common pool sizes, or just select your own.
By default it’ll save your last pool size, so it’s not something you need to change unless you go to a different sized pool.
At this point you can begin swimming after hitting start. It’ll automatically count your laps, lengths and pace for you.
The FR920XT also introduces a new swim rest timer as well. This allows you to better time intervals by showing you your resting time and interval time on one handy screen:
You’ll use the ‘Lap’ button to toggle between swimming and resting. You’d usually do this at the end of the lane.
While swimming it’s easiest to just twist your wrist slightly when you push off the wall to see your current pace. You can specify all the usual data fields such as pace, time and distance. You can also create alerts for set distances, such as 500y/500m, or time alerts.
Note that while there is a metronome mode for running, it’s not available in the swimming mode. I asked Garmin about it, and they said that in their testing it resulted in a poor user experience. Likely simply because of the downside of dealing with it being on your wrist versus some of the swim metronomes being in your swim cap.
As for the heart rate strap, it won’t transmit more than an inch or two underwater, so you won’t get heart rate while swimming. The FR920XT does not permit pairing to any HR strap within the pool mode. It does however permit connectivity to a heart rate strap in openwater swim mode. In this case, you’d have to use a HR device that’s within an inch or two of your wrist – such as the Mio Link. I tested this with mixed success, you can read more about that here.
The FR920XT contains the swim drill mode, which allows you to complete drills and then specify a total yardage/distance at the end of the drill section. This is useful when you do something like a kickboard drill, which wouldn’t accurately be captured by the watch due to lack of stroking.
All of this data is then available afterwards on Garmin Connect. It’ll show your sets as well as your individual swim lengths:
In the event you have miscounted lengths, Garmin Connect doesn’t offer a way to fix it. However, 3rd party sites like Sport Tracks do allow you to fix lengths on your swim. As does this site here, which will fix the file and then allow you to re-upload it to Garmin Connect.
In my experience I’ve found no issues with swimming accuracy and the FR920XT. Though, that’s also generally the case for almost every swimming watch I test. It was par for the course with other units I wore at the same time. This is likely because I understand fairly well how these devices work and know how to get the best results from them.
So if you haven’t swam with a watch that measures distance it might take a bit of tweaking to your normal routine to get accurate results. Here’s a few things to consider that should help you dramatically improve swim accuracy:
– The unit is measuring movement, and thus extra and unexpected movement will cause inaccurate results
– If you randomly stop in the middle of the lane, the unit will assume you’ve reached the wall and complete the length
– If you don’t pause the unit and run to the bathroom, the unit will likely assume you’re still swimming
– If you don’t pause the unit at the wall and then have an animated conversation with your lane mate, the unit will not understand the YMCA song movements and assume you’re doing something like swimming
– Swimming in crowded pools can be a challenge. But I assure you it’s not worse than mine, which I’ve counted up to 19 people in my lane at once. The key here is that if you accelerate to pass people, try and make it slightly smooth – versus outright stopping after a pass. Obviously, I recognize that initial acceleration to pass is required, but try and smooth the deceleration after the takeover.
– Stroke recognition can be tricky. I only swim freestyle, so I can’t really comment on other strokes.
– For the most accurate results, give a firm push off at the start of each length. It doesn’t matter whether you do a flip (tumble) turn, or an open (no flip) turn. Just do it with conviction.
All of this is likely common sense, and also completely expected by those using such devices for the past 3-4 years, but nonetheless I find it worth noting to those who might be new to swim watches. The most important thing to remember is that extra and unexpected motion is your enemy. The second most important thing is do push off the wall like you mean it. No wimpy pushes. Remember those two and you can usually get perfect results.
Indoor Training – Bike Trainers/Running Treadmills/Gyms:
The FR920XT allows you to track workouts indoors. By default it includes both an indoor cycling and indoor running mode. In the case of the indoor cycling it will allow you to track speed and distance on a trainer in conjunction with an ANT+ Speed or Speed/Cadence sensor (or a trainer that transmits those metrics).
But for those without electronic trainers, then you’ll just need the $35-$50 ANT+ sensors (see sensor section here).
For running indoors on a treadmill, the FR920XT will actually utilize wrist based detection (called WDR) to determine your pace and distance. This is calibrated automatically during your outdoor runs with GPS. Historically when I’ve tested the accuracy of this it varies wildly by device and sometimes just week to week in terms of recent runs and calibration efforts.
Take this run I did last night on a treadmill. In this case my workout was a 10 minute warm-up, then a 5 minute build in pace before 90 seconds of recovery and then starting a simple 4x800m interval set. The pace was set and controlled by the treadmill.
Now obviously I can’t say with 100% certainty that the treadmill was precisely accurate. But I can however state that the paces shown by the FR920XT were not accurate. I’ve run enough to know the difference between a 7:30/mile pace and a 6:00/mile pace. In my case, the FR920XT was showing my paces as significantly too slow. Though, the paces were quite smooth, whereas sometimes I see significant variations in these modes – so that’s a nice improvement.
You’ll also note that because it’s wrist based, that it’s fully impacted by non-running wrist movements. For example at the ~15 minute marker I used the same wrist/hand as my watch to change the treadmill pace. This resulted in that dropout you see. Whereas for the rest of the run I used my other hand.
Here’s a simple chart showing the paces for each section by what the treadmill reported, and what the Garmin reported:
Garmin FR920XT Treadmill Data
Description:
Time Slot:
Treadmill KPH:
Treadmill MPH
Treadmill Min/Mile:
Garmin Pace MPH
Starting treadmill
00:00 - 02:00
Variable
Variable
Variable
Variable
Warm-up
02:00 - 10:00
13 KPH
8.1 MPH
7:43/mile
8:29/mile
Build
10:00 - 15:00
14 KPH
8.7 MPH
7:11/mile
7:32/mile
Recovery
15:00 - 17:00
5 KPH
3.1 MPH
19:20/mile
17:12/mile
Interval #1 Work
~16:30 - ~19:40
15 KPH
9.3 MPH
6:27/mile
7:06/mile
Interval #1 Rest
~19:40 - ~21:20
5 KPH
3.1 MPH
19:20/mile
15:37/mile
Interval #2 Work
~21:20 - ~24:30
15 KPH
9.3 MPH
6:27/mile
7:08/mile
Interval #2 Rest
~24:30 - ~26:00
5 KPH
3.1 MPH
19:20/mile
16:00/mile
Interval #3 Work
~26:00 - ~29:10
15 KPH
9.3 MPH
6:27/mile
7:13/mile
Interval #3 Rest
~29:10 - ~30:40
5 KPH
3.1 MPH
19:20/mile
16:40/mile
Interval #4 Work
~30:40 - ~33:50
15 KPH
9.3 MPH
6:27/mile
7:04/mile
Interval #4 Rest
~33:50 - ~37:00
5 KPH to 0 KPH
3.1 MPH to 0 MPH
Variable
Variable
In some cases the pace was off significantly, and in others it was just off by less. I wouldn’t worry too much about the walking sections, since that’s more heavily impacted by how long the ramp is. I tried to ensure that the times for the work effort sections were only started once up to speed.
Now this level of accuracy shouldn’t really come as any surprise to most readers. It’s largely the same on many devices (Garmin or otherwise). Some devices are slightly more accurate, and some are slightly worse. For some people it works better, and others not so much.
You can improve the accuracy of pace indoors by picking up a footpod. Pairing to an ANT+ footpod traditionally produces near perfect results with Garmin devices in my experience – and is the best way to get accurate pace/distance data indoors recorded on your Garmin.
Finally, when it comes to regular gym cardio workouts (non-bike/run), the FR920XT can track the calories burned and heart rate metrics. The best way to do this is to simply create a new activity profile within the watch that uses the ‘Strength’ default activity profile.
This will then use heart rate to determine calorie burn. It won’t track specific movements like pull ups or weight lifting, but it will track the calorie burn during those activities.
Above you can see a core workout of sorts that I did using this profile. It’s nice as no distance is reported by the watch (at least, it wasn’t during this workout).
Multisport and Custom Modes:
Perhaps core to the FR920XT is the fact that it’s a multisport watch. Specifically this means that you can change sport types as part of a single cohesive activity. As a result if you’re doing a triathlon you can go from swim to bike to run, without having to end the activity and start a new one. This is different than a simple watch that can do both run and bike, but not as a single activity (for example, the Garmin FR620).
The FR920XT supports two ways of doing multisport events. The first is via fixed multisport modes where the order and sports involved are known ahead of time. For example, in a triathlon it’s swim-bike-run. Within that you can enable transition times as well (aka T1/T2).
The second method is a free-form multisport mode where you simply change from sport to sport on demand, using the mode button. This is best for training brick sessions where you may repeat sports numerous times, or in unpredictable order.
For most though, you’ll just use the generic triathlon mode:
In this mode it’ll iterate through Swim/T1/Bike/T2/Run, recording each segment as you go along. Afterwards, on Garmin Connect there is a new multisport view, which will show your entire activity, as well as the individual segments that make it up:
You can also create your own multisport mode with set sport profiles. Within this you can choose any other individual sport profiles on the watch (standard or custom) to string them together as a multisport profile. The most obvious example would be a Duathlon:
But, you could just as easily make up your own sports such as Windsurfing, Weight Room and Wallyball into a multisport profile of your own.
Live Tracking:
Garmin introduced the Live Tracking service nearly two years ago as part of the Edge 510 and Edge 810 units. This service was extended to the FR220 and FR620, as well as the Fenix2 watches. The platform enables you to connect to your cell phone and transmit your location to a website that allows friends and family to follow you. The primary reason to use this method over a generic phone app is that the GPS component is offloaded to the FR920XT, saving significant battery on your phone. The second reason to use it is that the vast majority of phone apps won’t transmit sensor data such as heart rate/cadence/power, whereas the Garmin Live Tracking service does. The service is free, so there’s no added cost.
Of course, you will need to bring your phone with you. So this typically isn’t an issue on the bike, but some folks don’t enjoy having a phone on the run. And, for those curious – it does actually work while swimming, provided your phone is above water.
To begin a Live Tracking session you’ll need to have first paired your phone to the FR920XT. Next, on the FR920XT you’ll go into the LiveTrack option on the app. From there you can give the activity a title, as well as select the recipients. You can choose to send out the link onto Twitter or Facebook (as well as via e-mail).
The ‘Extend Sharing’ option is rather useful, as it ensures the session stays visible for 24 hours after you’ve ended the activity. Otherwise the recipient may not know you’ve finished and instead just get some nebulous information that might imply you got hit by a car or something.
From a friend standpoint, here’s what they’ll see (on the desktop, there is also a mobile phone view). They’ll see your current position as a blue dot, and then when finished as a red ‘Stop’ icon. Along the bottom they’ll see your ANT+ metrics, as well as pace/speed and elevation. These metrics include heart rate, cadence (run/bike), and power meters (bike).
Up in the corner they can toggle between average pace and average speed, as well as showing time, distance and elevation gain.
Meanwhile, at the bottom they can change the map from Bing to Goggle (or Baidu), as well as the language and whether the distances and paces are shown in Statute/Statute UK, or Metric. Up top in the left side they can swap between map and satellite view.
Finally, they can click on a mile marker to look at splits. For running these are shown every 1MI (or 1KM if in metric mode), and for cycling these are shown every 5MI/5KM.
Note that these splits do NOT align to any button pressing you do. That doesn’t show up here. It’s just autolap for the online folks. Don’t worry though, it doesn’t impact the splits/laps/intervals you set on your watch for yourself.
Overall, I’m finding quite good success with the Live Tracking and have used it a number of times without any issues. You will note in the images that there is some slight GPS track smoothing that is applied that isn’t on the native files you’ll upload yourself after the activity. Don’t worry too much about that, it’s simply to minimize how much data is used on your data plan.
For those curious about swimming and Live Tracking with the FR920XT – I wrote an entire post about it here. Note that while I did see a bug with Live Tracking and swimming tracks, my understanding is that the bug has since been fixed in the 2.50 firmware update. I haven’t been able to retest that since the release was only yesterday.
Navigation and Routing:
The FR920XT includes some limited navigation and routing capabilities. These capabilities include the ability to follow a ‘Course’ that is effectively a breadcrumb style trail. This course does not include features like roads, lakes or rivers, but rather just a line to follow. In this case, a purple line.
In order to utilize this you’ll need to create the course ahead of time on Garmin Connect. It’s here you can simply press the mouse on various points in the map to create a course:
Once that’s done, you’ll send it over to the watch to execute. Upon pulling it up on the watch you’ll get the estimated time to completion, as well as distance to completion.
The unit will show you a map of your planned route, and as you run it will also show you where you are:
Unlike previous units, the map redraw is incredibly quick. Further, it’ll also display your on-unit saved waypoints on any and all routes you do. Saving these waypoints is quick and easy, and you can give them customized names:
(Post-Review Update: This next section regarding zooming has now been addressed via firmware update – the unit now has a zoom option.)
Now, this sounds great, but there’s a number of limitations. First is that you can’t change the zoom level. While running (at speed) the unit will automatically zoom in to .3-Mile zoom. Well, at least that’s the scale noted on the screen. In reality, it’s actually higher up than that. In any event, this isn’t quite zoomed in enough to figure out complex intersections or trails.
Second, making matters worse is that when you stop running it zooms out to show the entire route. Since there is no roads/rivers/etc on the map, this gives you even less context in the zoomed out view. In my opinion the behavior should be the opposite – zoom in when stopped – since you’re likely trying to figure out where to go.
Again, there is no method to manually zoom in (Update: There is now). It would seem to me this could easily be accomplished via a long-hold on the up/down buttons, just like the Fenix series supports long holds for various secondary functions. In fact, so does the FR920XT. When using the VIRB for example, you long-hold the mode button to access a special menu.
But the limitations don’t end there. For example, you can’t drop older .TCX or .GPX course files onto the FR920XT and have it automatically use them (such as those from RideWithGPS, or from older Garmin units). That’s because Garmin wasn’t able to include a parser for those on the unit itself. This means for those you’ll have to first convert them in Garmin Training Center and then send them to the FR920XT from that software. It’s not the end of the world, but it doesn’t make it convenient. Note however that the FR920XT does not support waypoints sent from software, only those created on the device itself.
Ultimately, the way it stands right now I wouldn’t recommend the FR920XT if you’re looking to use it for complex course following/routing, or if that’s going to be the primary purpose of the watch. For that there are much more suitable options on the market such as the Fenix2 or Ambit series watches. In discussing it a bit more with Garmin this morning, they do note that options are still on the table for how to improve the experience.
Workout Creation, Intervals, Training Calendar:
The FR920XT supports a number of ways that you can pre-create structured workouts, as well as create impromptu intervals. Finally, it supports the ability to assign specific workouts to certain days and have those available on the watch.
To begin, we’ll create a structured workout for an upcoming interval run. The easiest way to do that is on Garmin Connect, within the workout creator.
Once in that you’ll go ahead and drag and drop to create all your steps, such as the below workout:
With that set, you have two options. The first is to pull it from your phone (though that’s coming in an upcoming Garmin Connect Mobile app update), and the second is to push it via USB. To do that, select ‘Send to Device’ and then select your FR920XT:
It’ll take a second and then it’ll be all set.
Alternatively you can add it to your Training Calendar for a specific day. When you do this, it’ll then show up on the watch within the Training Calendar option. You’ll need to send a range of workouts to the device however, so don’t forget to do that.
Note that the training calendar can also be populated by a slew of training schedules that Garmin has put together for a ton of events:
With that all set, on the device itself you’ll go into Training and then into Workouts. Alternatively, if you use the Training Calendar you can just select the workout by choosing the appropriate day:
With the workout selected you can review the steps:
Once you’ve started the workout it’ll begin each step by giving you a full-screen description of the next step and the targets associated with it.
During the execution of each step it’ll show you a special screen that tells you the specific target as well a your pace/HR/cadence/etc against that target. This is a new data screen that shows up:
In the event you stray from the target goal (high or low), it’ll give you a notification as such on the screen as well as audio/visual alerts.
Structured workouts such as these are ideal when you have a complex workout that’s more than just a basic interval. However, it can be overkill for simply executing a basic repeating interval.
An interval workout within the confines of most devices is a workout that has four core components: A warm-up, a work effort, a recovery effort (and some number of repeats), and a cool-down. Those components then must have the ability to set a target (such as pace). The FR920XT allows you to create simple intervals that have all of those components along with targets for each segment, including durations.
You can create an interval workout in the same Training area:
Just like the structured workouts it’ll walk you through each step until completion.
Now, if both of these workouts sound complex, you can also simply define targets/alerts. These targets could be just a simple pace target or heart rate zone. If you stray from these it’ll alert you to get back on plan:
Lastly, there is Virtual Partner. This isn’t actually a training component per se, but rather just a screen you can enable on any run/ride. It allows you to specify a desired pace and it’ll show you how far ahead or behind you are of that desired pace.
This is best used in races where you are trying to pace very smoothly over the course of the run. If you slow down it’ll tell you how far (in distance, such as feet/miles), as well as how far behind in time.
Activity & Sleep Tracker Functionality:
In line with virtually all new watches and bands coming onto the market these days, the FR920XT carries with it activity tracker functionality. This means it’ll count your steps and sleep over the course of the day. This information is then periodically synchronized with your phone for upload to Garmin Connect as well as integration with some 3rd party apps, such as MyFitnessPal.
Steps are shown in a few places, the first is the main ‘home’ screen that is displayed on your watch 24×7 in standby mode. You’ll see the current steps in the lower left corner:
Next, if you press the down button once, you’ll get a activity monitoring specific screen that shows you total steps for the day, progress towards your goal steps, calories burned, and miles (or kilometers) walked:
By default the goal is dynamic, automatically shifting slowly to edge you on to walk a bit more. It’s designed so that a single ultra-high step day doesn’t dramatically sway the goal the next day. Alternatively, you can just set a specific step goal if you’d like.
Below that (and on the home screen) you’ll see your ‘Move Alert’, which is a red bar that lets you know when you need to move. The different chunks indicate how long you’ve been inactive. After approximately one hour it’ll give you a vibration/beep (if enabled) telling you that you’ve been lazy too long.
Next you’ve got the ability to track sleep with the FR920XT. Like other Garmin sleep tracking capable devices, it requires that you manually enable the sleep mode when you’re ready, as well as turn it off when you awake. You’ll do this by just pressing down once to the activity tracker page, and then pressing enter. Once within that mode, it’ll show you a little icon that lets you know you’re in sleep mode. Upon waking up you’ll want to remember to exit sleep mode by doing the same steps again. Note that you cannot pair a HR strap during sleep mode, only during workout activities. Similarly, you can’t pair a HR strap in regular step activity tracking mode (day watch mode).
All of this information (steps and sleep) is then fed up to Garmin Connect via your mobile app (or desktop upload). From both the mobile app as well as the desktop you can view both sleep and activity details. The main ‘Steps’ page shows you daily summaries of how active you were by the hour:
You’ll also get detailed information on total calories burned, steps, your current average daily steps, as well as your goal for that specific day.
You can select the ‘Breakdown’ tab to get a bit of a charted version of your activity that day:
If you tracked sleep, you’ll see that displayed on the sleep tab:
As you can see, it’s just a case of showing how active in movement you were, and doesn’t show anything like the type/phase of sleep. So in general, I don’t find this very valuable compared to some other devices like the Basis watches. Thus, I tend not to wear it sleeping (I also find it a bit bulky sleeping).
Both daily activity and sleep tracking produce longer term graphs as well, for example here’s my step activity over the past 30 days:
With the Garmin devices (like the Fitbit), you will need to choose a single ‘Activity Monitor’ device to use. Meaning that if you own both a FR920XT and a Vivofit/Vivosmart, only a single device can contribute step data at once. You can select that within Garmin Connect in your dashboard however.
Note that in the event you’re travelling and changing time zones, you’ll get a little icon displayed on the day in question, which indicates a time zone change occurred. Your steps will increase even across time zones (you won’t lose steps if going ‘back in time’), however the graph will overwrite any hours that were ‘re-done’. So if you flew back 5 hours in time zone shifts, and then you re-lived 1PM to 5PM, it’ll overwrite the graphical displays of those hours, but it won’t overwrite the total steps for the day.
Finally, Garmin has established a partnership with MyFitnessPal, which enables you to sync calories and step data between the services. This means you can track food within MyFitnessPal, and then it’ll show the total calories consumed within Garmin Connect. Inversely, on MyFitnessPal, it’ll show calories burned via Garmin devices, including the Garmin FR920XT. This can be setup from the same ‘Steps’ page by just clicking the ‘Calories In/Out’ tab seen in some of the screenshots above.
Smart Watch Functionality:
The FR920XT includes the ability to display smart watch notifications on your device from your mobile phone. At present that includes Android and iOS. You can find a full list of compatible phones here from Garmin’s site.
These alerts are configured on your mobile device ahead of time, and involve using the systems native notification center ties. For example, on iOS devices the notifications would be configured using the Notification Center component of your phone. This is where you can enable apps such as Twitter, E-Mail, and even Words with Friends to display notifications on your Garmin device.
Next, these notifications are displayed in real-time on your FR920XT – both in standby mode and in sport mode. Actually, often times I’ll surprisingly find the watch buzzes just ahead of the phone itself for incoming text messages. It’ll show you the application/function responsible for the notification as the top line, and then show you the first line of the notification.
However, you can then select the notification to get the full details displayed:
You cannot however respond to the notification, such as composing a text message reply or answering a call. Look at it as simply being read-only. You an also access the missed notifications menu while in standby by just pressing the down button twice:
Here you can dive into specific notifications just like above.
Note that you can select whether you want notifications displayed on your device in either workout mode, standby mode, or both:
You can also configure whether or not it beeps or vibrates (or both). I personally just set it to vibrate only.
Now when the notification piece works, it works quite well and is rather handy. But I’ve found that like the Vivosmart, that after a few days the watch and phone seem to forget about each other. This invariably requires me to either reboot the FR920XT, the Garmin Connect Mobile app, or flip the phone to airplane mode and back.
I don’t have a clear enough understanding of whether or not this is a Garmin issue (either their app or their device), or an Apple issue (hardware or software). Though, it seems to have occurred on both my iPhone 5s and iPhone 6. On the flip side, the random loss of Bluetooth Smart pairings is something I’ve seen with other activity trackers from other companies as well.
Use as a day watch:
When it comes to using the watch as a day to day timepiece, the FR920XT works fairly well. I’ve been wearing it daily for the past month – both in the office in my day job, as well as during workouts and airports alike. Now to begin there’s no getting around the size of the watch. Nor the colors Garmin has selected. It is what it is.
But, if you don’t mind wearing it around the clock then it works great as a watch – including all the smart watch and activity tracker functions noted in those sections. Beyond that it also has base time functions, functions which will expand as Connect IQ (next section) allows 3rd parties to build new watch faces.
In the meantime though, the watch will show you the time day of (using either 12/24h formats), the day of the week, and the date. Further it’ll show you connectivity to your phone via the Bluetooth icon, and battery status. Finally by default it’ll also show you many steps you’ve taken and the inactivity bar below all that.
You can set a single daily alarm. Unlike some watches, the alarm cannot be configured though for certain days of the week, nor is there multiple alarms.
The alarm will follow the same settings that you have configured for alerts, which means you can select either vibrate only or audible alerts + vibrate.
Garmin states that the watch should get about 30 days of battery life in this standby watch mode with notifications enabled. My experience says you’re going to get about 3-5 days at best in this mode. I don’t see myself as having a significant amount of Bluetooth notifications either. Perhaps once per hour on average it’ll buzz about something. Despite the battery life claims, it doesn’t bother me a huge amount – but it is something to be aware of.
Finally, note that the unit does have a bright and crisp backlight. This backlight can be set to automatically turn off after a few seconds of being left alone, or, can be set to “Stay on”.
In general, I set mine to stay on when doing activities at night.
Garmin Connect IQ (Apps):
Roughly a week prior to the Garmin FR920XT announcement, Garmin announced Connect IQ. This platforms allows 3rd party developers to develop apps for supported Garmin devices. The Garmin FR920XT will be the first device to take advantage of the platform however, upon launch early next year. While my other post describes in more detail the concept, the key item to know is that the unit will support all four modes of apps within Connect IQ. 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 to 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. It might also be able to bridge the gap on features that didn’t make the cut for the FR920XT such as weight scale support and the fitness equipment (gym machines) profile.
I won’t re-hash all the Connect IQ functionality/components here, for that simply read my Connect IQ 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 utilize the emulator to get started. Once it releases on the FR920XT I’ll come back and update this section with how it works and some examples of cool 3rd party apps.
Garmin Connect (online/web/mobile):
The FR920XT allows you to sync directly to your mobile phone using Bluetooth Smart. This allows you to upload workouts from wherever you are, without the need for a PC. That combined with Garmin’s Auto Sync options, means that your workout will automatically be uploaded to sites like Strava and Training Peaks mere seconds after you save the workout on the device.
This can be accomplished not only via Bluetooth Smart to your phone, but also via WiFi networks that are pre-saved onto the device. And of course, via USB to your computer.
In addition to uploading completed workouts, the device will use the phone to transfer step data (activity monitoring) and sleep data to Garmin Connect. Once on Garmin Connect, you can view the workout data. You can also view activity and sleep data, though I cover those within those sections.
The workout data can be sync’d as noted automatically to a variety of sites, including Training Peaks, Strava, Sport Tracks, MapMyFitness, and Endomondo (all via Auto Sync). But, for those sites that don’t support that yet, you can also just upload the native .FIT files that are sitting on the device itself. These are accessible by just plugging the device in via USB and opening up the ‘Activities’ folder. The FR920XT has ~10.3MB of free usable memory, which means that using the average 100KB an hour (at most), you can store about 103 hours of activity data.
Virtually every site on the planet that does sport data will support .FIT files. In the highly unlikely case it doesn’t support .FIT files, you can use one of the tools listed here to convert them.
Ultimately, Garmin Connect is a great site for those just getting in online training logs. In fact, it’s probably the best of the manufacturer provided sites out there. But no doubt more advanced athletes will use other, typically paid, options for their training logs.
Battery Life & UltraTrac:
The FR920XT extends the battery life over the FR910XT in two ways. First, is simply just straight up by having longer battery life in the same scenarios as the FR910XT. For this you get a slight increase to 24 hours (from 20 hours). But it also can dramatically extend the GPS battery life through a mode called ‘UltraTrac’, which gets some 40 hours of GPS-on battery life.
GPS-on at 1-second rate: 24 hours
GPS-on at variable UltraTrac rate: Up to 40 hours.
GLONASS enabled: About a 20% reduction in battery life
The 920XT UltraTrac mode is both similar and different to how it works on other Garmin devices. It’s similar in that it reduces the GPS polling interval. However it’s different in that unlike other devices it’s not a set one point per 60-seconds. Rather, it’s a slightly variable rate that effectively works out to be 15-20 seconds of GPS on time, and about 45 seconds of GPS off time.
This means that it wouldn’t be ideal for very fast moving sports where you are constantly changing directions. It’s much better for either slowly moving activities (like hiking), or activities where the route doesn’t shift much (such as cycling on really long/straight roads).
Ultimately, if you’re looking for the highest levels of GPS accuracy, UltraTrac isn’t it. But if you’re trying to eek out more than 24 hours of GPS-on performance, it’s your best bet.
Note that I prefer to use GLONASS to get what appears to be more accurate tracks. But it will take a hit of about 20% on GPS-on battery life. Personally, that’s fine since I’m not doing any activities anywhere near 24-40 hours.
Note that because of the fact that I’ve been using the device almost 24×7, I haven’t been able to do any pure GPS-on till it dies testing. That’ll come actually after I publish and then I’ll go back and add it in here. I had hoped to have an additional device to test that with by now – but that hasn’t happened.
Next, beyond GPS-on battery life you also have standby battery life. Officially these are spec’d as follows:
Watch-only mode with activity tracking & activity alerts enabled: 30 days
Watch-only mode with activity tracking enabled: 33 days
Watch-only mod with neither of the above enabled: 4 months
Now, in my experience – I don’t get anywhere near these numbers. In general, I’m seeing about 3-5 days of normal 24×7 activity tracking with it paired to my phone for Bluetooth Smart alerts (about 1 alert per hour). But, I just don’t see how I’d be able to get anywhere near 30 days when I can’t make it more than a few days. Perhaps others will have other experiences.
Satellite Accuracy:
The FR920XT contains new GLONASS satellite capabilities, which are typically used in conjunction with existing satellite systems to improve GPS reception. In my testing, the FR920XT consistently performs as the most accurate Garmin GPS device I’ve seen, and certainly on par and usually better than other brands with recent models.
Now, when it comes to GPS accuracy I tend to take a fairly practical viewpoint. I’m generally looking at how well a unit tracks compared to where I went, as well as the total distances seen between different units. Generally speaking I’m running/riding with 2-5 other GPS devices at the same time. I feel this is pretty important – comparing two different runs, even on the same route, will result in differences due to environmental factors and simple things like body placement. Which, is also important to consider. You can get different results between the left and right wrists, depending on how your body impacts GPS reception. In most cases, it’s negligible, but in edge cases it could be more overt.
When looking at GPS accuracy and tracks on a map – you must be sure to be in satellite mode and not map mode. Maps don’t always align with reality, while satellites are much closer. A map might have you running in the water whereas the satellite will show you on a river path.
Finally, do recognize the limitations of consumer grade GPS, which is generally specified as +/-3M. By default the FR920XT does NOT have GLONASS turned on, so you’ll want to enable that via: Settings button > Settings menu item > System > GLONASS = ON. Note it will have a slight impact on battery, but not significant.
All that said, I’ve seen consistently impressive results when it comes to GPS accuracy with GLONASS enabled. Here’s a data sheet of distances recorded by two or more devices. Obviously, with only two devices in some cases, it’s hard to know who was right – but as you can see, in almost all those cases the two devices were nearly identical. For cases where I had a third device, I included that.
Garmin FR920XT GPS Accuracy Data
Activity Name
FR920XT Distance (Mi)
Ambit3 Distance (Mi)
Other
River Run
7.43
7.44
-
Ferry Loop Bike Ride
26.10
26.15
26.04 (Edge 1000)
Rainforest Mountain Run
8.12
8.10
8.03 (Bia Watch)
Auckland Sunset Ride
13.56
13.58
13.55 (Edge 1000
Final Malta OW Swim
0.95
0.85
.91 (Swimcap)
Blue Lagoon OW Swim
0.54
0.51
.48 (Swimcap)
Partial Bay OW Swim
Froze
0.82
.83 (Swimcap)
Point to Point OW Swim
1.25
1.21
(Missed button)
Quick Lunch OW Swim
0.44
0.40
.39 (Swimcap)
Evening OW Swim
1.28
1.15
1.16 (Swimcap)
Evening Ride
20.39
20.42
-
Canal Run
6.53
6.54
-
Louvre Mile Repeats
7.73
7.74
-
Part Peripherique Run
9.54
9.64
-
Parisian Tri - Swim
0.51
0.51
-
Parisian Tri - Bike
8.29
8.29
-
Parisian Tri - Run
3.10
3.13
-
(Note: Indoor trainer sessions are not included, or cases where I only had a single device on me. The single swim where the device distance counting portion froze, Garmin believes they have that fixed in 2.50 firmware.)
For those that are curious, here’s a package of all my swim/bike/runs over the past few weeks (Note: Coming within the next 24 hours…). Most of secondary files from the Suunto Ambit3, Garmin Edge, or Bia Watch along with it to compare against.
Altimeter Accuracy (Elevation):
The FR920XT contains a barometric altimeter, which in theory means that it would be able to track your elevation gains and losses more accurately, as well as your exact elevation more accurately. This is different than many running watches that just use GPS based altimeters, which while having improved significantly in recent years – still aren’t quite as precise.
But Garmin has made some changes in how the latest multisport device establishes initial elevation. Previously, with every other Garmin sport/fitness device ever made the unit would get a reading of the elevation from GPS first, allowing it to establish the initial GPS elevation to a rough degree. From there, the barometric altimeter would kick in and more precisely hone in on the exact elevation.
Unfortunately, the first step is skipped in the case of the FR920XT. This means that it attempts to determine the elevation using only the barometric altimeter. The problem is this takes forever – and even when it does decide where you are, it’s inaccurate. In case you’re looking for a more clear definition of ‘forever’, it’s at least an hour after you’ve turned the device on and are ready to run/ride/etc…
For example, take a look at this pancake flat run I did. What you see is that the elevation slowly decreases, where the altimeter is attempting to adjust over the course of the hour run:
And, it still doesn’t get the elevation right either.
Next, this run I did from virtually sea level (perhaps at a starting elevation of 10-15ft), up a mountain and back down again. Note that despite starting and ending in the exact same place, it shows two different locations. Not only that, it shows me 17 meters below sea level:
If you compare to to the Suunto Ambit3 on the same route, the Ambit3 nailed the starting position straight up, and then only exhibited minimal drift that would be expected due to shifting weather, also ending in the same spot. Meanwhile, you can see the FR920XT started and ended in the wrong spots (data compared using this tool):
Now compounding this problem is that there isn’t actually any way to calibrate the altimeter or manually override it. I asked Garmin why they’re doing it this way versus the previous method, and they noted the following:
“How long it takes for the elevation in real-time to “correct” itself is mostly a function of how far off the initial elevation is, which is a function of the local barometric pressure. If the local pressure due to current weather conditions is far off from “base pressure” average, then the initial elevation estimate will be a ways off and it takes the watch a while to correct this error. We have been discussing ways to improve the initial elevation estimate based on the pressure and speed up the correction, but nothing is planned in the short term.”
Which, may be true. But at the same time from a user perspective the current method is the worst I’ve seen in a barometric altimeter device. So I’m not exactly sure the grass is greener on this side. I checked in again this morning, and they noted that “all options are still on the table” as far as changes they might make to how it works.
Now some folks have seemed to find a tricky little workout to setting the elevation, which is to go ahead and save a waypoint at the current location with the correct altitude. Obviously, that requires you know the correct attitude, which is no doubt potentially a big ask.
Sensors & Accessories:
The FR920XT is compatible with numerous sensors, both Garmin branded and 3rd party. For sensor connectivity, the FR920XT utilizes ANT+, which is a low power wireless protocol. It’s similar to Bluetooth Smart, though more widely used within the cycling community than Bluetooth Smart. Like previous Garmin products, the FR920XT supports ANT+ sensors only, be it from Garmin or 3rd parties.
It does not support Bluetooth Smart sensors (or Bluetooth Legacy), nor Polar W.I.N.D. sensors, analog sensors, or Nike sensors.
Below is a quick compatibility table of products and sensors that I’ve tested and/or have ANT+ certification for compatibility with the FR920XT:
It should be noted that the FR920XT also doesn’t support two sensor types previously supported on past Garmin multisport devices. That would be the weight scale as well as fitness equipment profile (gym equipment). The weight scale previously allowed you to connect to what was a handful of ANT+ wireless weight scales for uploading weight data. Meanwhile, the fitness equipment profile enabled some gym equipment like treadmills and spin bikes to transmit data directly to the watch.
Garmin has previously said that the number of users using these functions was just too small to justify future development. And, that’s probably very true. With WiFi being the primary and most relevant way to get weight scale data to the internet, it just makes more sense than routing it through your watch, then through your phone, just to get to the same place.
That said, while Garmin isn’t providing such connectivity, I suspect we’ll see it provided by 3rd parties using Garmin Connect IQ coming up early next year. That’s already true in the case of Moxy, a 3rd party sensor using the Muscle Oxygen sensor. Virtually all of the Connect IQ demo’s that Garmin has used utilize this protocol. This is an example of where Garmin isn’t natively supporting the Muscle Oxygen sensor type, but is allowing 3rd parties to do so.
Said differently: I suspect that if the software API’s allow for it, we’ll see a weight scale and fitness equipment app pretty quickly after Connect IQ release.
Heart Rate Straps & Optical HR Sensors:
I just wanted to very briefly touch on this but in its own section – since I see lots of questions about it. First, the FR920XT is compatible with optical HR sensors from companies like Scosche and Mio. It will pair to those sensors just fine.
However, there are some limitations there. First is that optical sensors on the market today largely ‘guesstimate’ heart rate variability (HRV/RR). Heart rate variability has nothing to do with your actual heart rate. Rather, it’s measuring a different metric. Sometimes that guess is spot-on, and sometimes it’s way off. It’s simply a limitation of the technology today. Will it improve down the road? Absolutely. But it’s not there today.
The result of that limitation on heart rate variability is that’s how advanced watches like the Garmin FR920XT, as well as Polar and Suunto determine recovery information. They utilize algorithms (in Garmin’s case, from a company called FirstBeat) to understand the variability information, and from that they can tell you if you’re recovered or not. For conventional chest straps, this is easy. But again, in optical, not so much.
As a result, if you use an optical HR sensor, here’s the impact of it on the FR920XT:
– Recovery Advisor: May have non-accurate values
– Recovery Time: May have non-accurate numbers
– VO2Max: May have non-accurate numbers
– Vertical Oscillation & Ground Contact Time: Not shown at all, requires HRM-RUN
– Calories: May be impacted, usually pretty accurate, but still can be impacted
There is no impact however on straight up heart rate recording (your beats per minute – i.e. 140bpm). The FR920XT simply displays and records the values from your heart rate sensor for those pieces.
Finally, what about not using the HRM-RUN strap and using another company’s strap – like the Wahoo TICKR or 4iiii’s Viiiiva (or even the older Garmin HR straps)? Well, in that case all ANT+ straps do transmit heart rate variability (HRV/RR), so instead you’re only looking at a few features that will be impacted. Here’s how those work out:
– Recovery Advisor: Works normally!
– Recovery Time: Works normally!
– VO2Max: Works normally!
– Vertical Oscillation & Ground Contact Time: Not shown, requires HRM-RUN
– Calories: Works normally!
As you can see, the only thing impacted here is VO & GCT. Note that you’ll still get running cadence, because the FR920XT can provide that from three places: The Wrist, the HRM-RUN, and a Footpod. As long as you have one of those three, you’re good. And since obviously you’ll still have the watch on your wrist while running you’ll still get cadence.
Further, note that some have asked about the Wahoo TICKR X & TICKR RUN. Neither of those straps transmit Running Dynamic metrics to the FR920XT – or any other watch. They only transmit similar running efficiency information to the Wahoo Fitness app. Additionally, that strap won’t work in terms of saving swims with the FR920XT either, unless you manually merge the data with 3rd party (non-Garmin) tools afterwards.
The Garmin FR920XT adds in VIRB action camera support. This means that the Garmin, via ANT+, can control the VIRB action camera. This control includes both taking a photo as well as video.
You’ll start by pairing your VIRB action camera through the sensors menu:
Once you’ve done so it’ll add a new VIRB-specific screen to your workout pages. This screen will show you the recording time of the VIRB, and whether or not it’s recording:
By default the unit will automatically start and stop recording based on when you start and stop your activity using the buttons on the watch. When you start the watch, it starts the recording. And the same for stopping.
However, you can also long-hold the lower left button down to manually control the VIRB – such as to take a photo.
The system works fairly similar to that of how the Fenix and other devices control the VIRB, so this isn’t new territory for Garmin.
Data Fields & Pages:
The FR920XT can be customized a number of ways with different data fields and screens. Each activity profile can have its own set of saved data pages (data screens), with each data page having up to four data fields (1, 2, 3, or 4 fields per page). The size of the fonts increase with less data fields, and decreases with more data fields per page.
The fields available are generally consistent across activity profiles, though some are obviously sport specific – such as power meters for bikes are only available in the cycling fields.
You can have four fully customized data pages/screens per activity profile. You can then additionally have the following data pages enabled or disabled: Clock, Map, Virtual Partner, Running Dynamics (Run Only), Drill Log (Pool Only). Additionally there are context-enabled pages for Courses (following) and Workouts (when in a structured workout, such as an interval workout). Finally, there’s the Metronome page and VIRB pages, available when those features are enabled.
Here are the data fields available to you:
Garmin FR920XT Data Fields - Part 1
Power Meter Fields (Bike Only)
Power Meter Fields (Bike Only)
Swimming Only
Swimming
Heart Rate Fields
Running Dynamics (Running Only)
Power
Balance
Average Stroke Rate
Last Length SWOLF
Heart Rate
Vertical Oscillation
Work
3s Avg. Balance
Interval Stroke Rate
Rest Timer
Average HR
Avg. Vertical Oscillation
Power to Weight
10s Avg. Balance
Last Length Stroke Rate
Repeat On
HR Zone
Lap Vertical Oscillation
3s Avg. Power
30s Avg. Balance
Interval Stroke Type
Average Pace
Training Effect
Ground Contact Time
10s Avg. Power
Average Balance
Last Length Stroke Type
Interval Pace
HR %Max.
Avg. Ground Contact Time
Average Power
Lap Balance
Last Length Strokes
Interval Distance
%HRR
Lap Ground Contact Time
Lap Power
Intesnsity Factor
Average Strokes/Length
Last Length Pace
Average HR %Max.
Cadence
Last Lap Power
Training Stress Score
Interval Strokes/Length
Average %HRR
Average Cadence
Max. Power
Normalized Power
Lengths
Lap HR
Lap Cadence
Max. Lap Power
Lap Normalized Power
Interval Lengths
Lap %HRR
Power Zone
Last Lap Normalized Power
Average SWOLF
Lap HR %Max
Time in Zone
%FTP
Interval SWOLF
Time in Zone
Pedal Smoothness
Torque Effectiveness
Garmin FR920XT Data Fields - Part 2
Timer Fields
Distance Fields
Pace Fields
Speed Fields
Cadence Fields
Elevation Fields
Other Fields
Courses
Timer
Distance
Pace
Speed
Cadence
Elevation
Calories
Distance Remaining
Lap Time
Lap Distance
Average Pace
Average Speed
Average Cadence
Total Ascent
Heading
Estimted Finish Time
Last Lap Time
Last Lap Distance
Lap Pace
Lap Speed
Lap Cadence
Total Descent
Laps
Time Ahead/Behind
Average Lap Time
Last Lap Pace
Last Lap Speed
Last Lap Cadence
Grade
Sunrise
Elapsed Time
Maximum Speed
Sunset
30s Avg Vertical Speed
Time of day
Vertical Speed
Finally, you can create numerous activity profiles, both as individual sports (for example, your own Wind Surfing profile), or tie them together to make multisport profiles. In total you can have up to 10 individual sport activity profiles, and up to 5 multisport activity profiles.
Comparison Charts:
Before we wrap things up I’ve put together the comparison charts of all the features of the FR920XT and FR910XT, compared to the Garmin Fenix2, with the Suunto Ambit 3 and Polar V800 (closest competitors). You can of course create your own comparison tables using this link with any of the products I’ve previously reviewed/looked at, such as adding in other watches:
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.
Bugs and other imperfect notables:
As I’ve been doing on all reviews over the past year or two, I’ve been including a section on bugs and/or issues that I’ve seen within my timeframe using the unit. Do remember that a ‘bug’ is different than ‘by design’. For example, the lack of a feature is something I highlight within a given section is considered ‘by design’, whereas something not really working right is considered a bug. For example, not having weight scale support isn’t a bug. It’s a design decision Garmin has made. Whereas Bluetooth connectivity failing to work consistently is more of a bug.
Here’s what I’ve found as my main issues:
– Elevation Accuracy: As noted within the elevation section, the device is simply taking too long to acclimate to the baseline elevation. Response to elevation changes during an activity is immediate, but the calibration is what’s taking an unacceptable amount of time, thus skewing the elevation profiles. (Update: For me, I see this issue as now resolved through a firmware update earlier this year (2015))
– Loss of connectivity to phone: While this hardly seems specific to the FR920XT from my testing (seeing it both on Garmin and non-Garmin devices), it is nonetheless annoying. Not a showstopper, but just annoying that every few days I have to reset the connection to the phone.
– Courses: While not a specific bug per se, as is designed today, I don’t believe courses are usable for the majority of non-obvious road routes. In cases where there are clear intersections with minimal choices you can use it with success. However, in complex dense forest situations or even more complex urban situations – the lack of of zoom option makes it impossible to get the directions right. (Update: The ability to zoom was added in a firmware update, which now resolves this issue for me)
Now, for most triathletes these aren’t likely complete showstopper issues. The vast majority of users don’t actually use courses. And while having to reset the phone connection is annoying, I find that it’s kinda par for the course for many devices out there. Elevation accuracy is really the big ticket one though. No doubt most online apps re-write the elevation data anyway, but it’s still problematic that it just doesn’t give me accurate elevation data to begin each activity.
Obviously you’ll have to decide whether these bugs (or ‘by design’ in some cases) are an issue to you personally. Everyone is different. I do think there’s hope to fix both elevation and courses. The phone connectivity piece may be more challenging though as I suspect there’s some dependencies there on the phone OS platforms that make this less reliable than fitness device manufactures want.
Again, this doesn’t mean this is all the bugs out there. These are just the ones I saw during my use. As a single person I can’t possible test every possible feature in every possible combination to reproduce every possible scenario. Sure, I’d love to – but companies have entire teams of testers and they still miss things. So I do the best I can to note what I’ve seen above. If you have bugs, please post them to the Garmin Forums, or report them to Garmin. That’s the correct channel to get them fixed.
Summary:
Overall, the FR920XT is the best multisport watch in the market with the most features. It’s also the watch that has the most potential for really cool 3rd party apps with upcoming Connect IQ enablement. What’s core to understand is that by itself the FR920XT doesn’t contain any shockingly new major functionality. Rather, Garmin has just plucked out all of the new features from numerous devices since the FR910XT was released three years ago. They grabbed the Running Dynamics from the FR620 series, the additional pool options from the Garmin Swim, the Live Tracking from the Edge 510 & 810, and the activity tracking from the Vivo series. The FR920XT just unites everything under one device roof.
Well, almost everything. There are a few areas that are lacking in the FR920XT found in past Forerunner multisport devices, such as weight scale & fitness equipment support. Also missing from the Edge 510/810/1000 is Di2 support and Garmin Segments. As well as better elevation calibration options and better course support. Hopefully though future updates can address those.
While the FR920XT isn’t perfect, it is the most capable device out there for the multisport athlete. It may not however be the most capable device for the hiking or outdoors enthusiast. For that I’d look at other devices that have better support for courses, routing and altimeter data – such as the Garmin Fenix2 series or the Suunto Ambit 2/3 series.
As for whether it’ll stay on my wrist, that’ll depend. I tend to be more of a single-device person except for racing. I prefer smaller watches for running (like the FR620), as well as the Garmin Edge for cycling, and my favored little Garmin Swim for swimming. Which isn’t to take away from the FR920XT, as it has nothing to do with the device but just my personal preference is more sport specific. If I were to choose a single triathlon watch for a race (which I often do), there’s no doubt that it’d be the FR920XT at this point. Between the consolidation of new features from other devices, plus the minor adds of additional completely new features like the Metronome – it’s hard to beat.
With that, thanks for reading!
Found this review useful? Or just want a good deal? Here’s how:
Hopefully you found this review useful. At the end of the day, I’m an athlete just like you looking for the most detail possible on a new purchase – so my review is written from the standpoint of how I used the device. The reviews generally take a lot of hours to put together, so it’s a fair bit of work (and labor of love). As you probably noticed by looking below, I also take time to answer all the questions posted in the comments – and there’s quite a bit of detail in there as well.
I’ve partnered with Clever Training to offer all DC Rainmaker readers exclusive benefits on all products purchased. By joining the Clever Training VIP Program, you will earn 10% points on this item and 10% off (instantly) on thousands of other fitness products and accessories. Points can be used on your very next purchase at Clever Training for anything site-wide. You can read more about the details here. By joining, you not only support the site (and all the work I do here) – but you also get to enjoy the significant partnership benefits that are just for DC Rainmaker readers. And, since this item is more than $75, you get free 3-day (or less) US shipping as well.
Additionally, you can also use Amazon to purchase the FR920XT or accessories (though, no discount). Or, anything else you pickup on Amazon helps support the site as well (socks, laundry detergent, cowbells). If you’re outside the US, I’ve got links to all of the major individual country Amazon stores on the sidebar towards the top.
As you’ve seen throughout the review there are numerous compatible accessories for the unit. I’ve consolidated them all into the below chart, with additional information (full posts) available on some of the accessories to the far right. Also, everything here is verified by me – so if it’s on the list, you’ll know it’ll work. And as you can see, I mix and match accessories based on compatibility – so if a compatible accessory is available at a lower price below, you can grab that instead.
Thanks for reading! And as always, feel free to post comments or questions in the comments section below, I’ll be happy to try and answer them as quickly as possible.
I just chatted with them a bit. The UPS truck arrived super-late today, likely due to delays country-wide with airports*. Usually it arrives mid-morning. Today, it arrived mid-afternoon. They were trying to make the cut-off for outbound delivery, but it didn’t work out after all the inventory/boxing/etc… Everyone is bummed.
That said, they’re ready to go out first thing in the morning. Once folks (such as yourself) have the tracking numbers in hand in the morning, then Clever Training will re-list the remaining red bundle inventory, and update the site ship dates accordingly (for new orders). I appreciate the support!
*Fwiw, I had a bunch of packages go sideways as well in the US over the last 24 hours. Apparently y’all forgot that winter occurs…in the winter. :)
FedEx is still showing service delays, even as of today, due to Northeast issues: link to fedex.com
Unfortunately, it pretty much is what it is when the UPS truck arrives that out of normal late. :( Thankfully, it’s there and everything will easily go out today. Enjoy!
My 920 hasn’t made it to me yet either. I called USPS and they said that priority Mail 2-day doesn’t really mean 2-day it means 2 or 3 days. They said most packages will make it in 2 but some come in 3. That was the stupidest explanation ever but this morning my package shows that it’s at my local post office. I SHOULD get it today.
I’m being told you should see the outbound scan notifications in the next couple hours at latest (which is what generates the shipping e-mail). They’re all packed and ready to go.
Once those shipping e-mail hit, I’ll come back here and note how many Red Bundles are left for sale.
My other concern, and I contacted them before on this, was other than receiving my initial order confirmation, I haven’t receiving any other communications. Others had indicated seeing weekly updates, etc. and I’m concerned that something’s “not quite right” with my order.
Double check your junk/spam e-mail folder. You would have received weekly Friday afternoon updates since your order date. You can always give them a quick ring to ensure though.
Might be good to stay calm and work on your patience. Being in a rush to use something new without patience will leave you disappointed when you hit a bug our confusion in using the watch during your races.
Yeah, not a spam folder issue. Not sure why I am not getting updates. Just heard back from them. Apparently the order from Garmin was received today, not yesterday, and they are trying to get orders out today and tomorrow.
My races next week aren’t very serious and a great opportunity to kick the tires before some bigger upcoming races, thus my eagerness to get it sooner rather than later. I see other suppliers have some in stock now as well.
I had the same question and was informed by CT that you only get update emails if you subscribed to their newsletter emails. I got my shipping label notification less than a minute after I very politely inquired as to the status and absence of notifications. ;-)
Sorry for the small confusion with what you were told on the phone with the CT folks. You managed to snag one of two new hires this week that weren’t quite fully in the loop. Following your note, they now have a very solid grasp of the loop. ;)
Everyone with Red/White bundles (with the HRM-RUN strap) should have received ship notices this afternoon from Clever Training. If you didn’t, dig around your SPAM folder, and failing that check your order status online.
With all of those shipped, there’s approximately 10-12 leftover Red/White bundles for those that want them. They would ship out tomorrow like normal, first come first served: link to clevertraining.com
Beyond that for other units, expect the usual Friday FR920XT shipping update. They’ll get their unit numbers for next week’s allocations then. At this point, things are looking very good, but as always, no counting chickens yet.
I was one of those who called CT yesterday and had been told they couldn’t get me one until December, but after reading your post last night, I signed up for VIP and was able to snag a red/white bundle. I called them this morning and was told it should ship later today. They still have a few more in stock for anyone else interested. The VIP membership saved $50 (the coupon code wouldn’t work for me).
So not only are you a great resource for information on the devices themselves – you’re a money saver too ! I’m active in a number of running communities, so I posted a link to your VIP / CT page in several of my forums which will hopefully generate some more love too.
My Red/White HR bundle arrived (international FedEx to Dublin, Ireland) early this morning. Well done Clever Training!
Now to sneak off for a lunchtime run :-)
Between Pola 800v and Garmkn fr920xt, which one would you take as a multi sport/overall fitness? Which has better integration (now) with Apple HealthKit or 3rd Party Apps? I do not want to rely on “future updates” much.
Thanks
Ray’s summary above starts with the following comment. “Overall, the FR920XT is the best multisport watch in the market with the most features.” I see Garmin Connect is one of the “Sources” to the Health app on my iPhone so that should be OK.
What about the recovery functions in both watches? I am currently in the middle of a situation where stress and lack of sleep are high, so I am having trouble finding the right training intensity and recovery time. I sometimes just end up crashing. That is why I am looking at watches with recovery/testing capabilities!
I was under the impression that it was possible to get coordinates in different formats from long/lat (specifically in a British OS Map 6 digit grid reference) as per the 310xt as detailed here; link to forums.garmin.com
I just received an email from Garmin however advising that “it is not possible to set this information as a data field.”
Can someone please confirm for me if (whilst you are using the watch) it is possible to get your current position (and that position in British OS Map 6 digit grid reference)?
“Can someone please confirm for me if (whilst you are using the watch) it is possible to get your current position (and that position in British OS Map 6 digit grid reference)? ”
You cannot. Only Lat Long.
I don’t see anything either in connectIQ that would obviously allow that as a customisation though I could be wrong.
Looks like you can (unsurprisingly) access the current “position” in Connect IQ in lat/lon so it seems only a matter of implementing a function that translates that into the BNG. As such I would expect that to be possible.
Garmin have answered your question correctly. But I suspect the problem was the question you asked.
On the 310 and 910 you couldn’t get the BNG as a data field, so their answer is technically correct for those and I suspect for the 920. What the previous models will do however is display the cords not he map screen (as the link explains) and I expect the 920 is exactly the same.
I have a Suunto Ambit2 and today i used the navigation futures for the first time. I found 200 m zoom to work good. I really Think that Gamin has to fix the navigation/zoom “bugs” on the 920xt. If they do fix it i will buy it. If not, then maybe i´ll go with the Ambit3 instead…
You can do either flip turns or open turns (non-flip turns). No impact on distance either way. Just ensure you push off with conviction each time. No lazy grandma turns.
You keep saying this, but it’s not the case. The 910xt records turns when there is a significant pause in your stroke pattern. Start an indoor swim while sitting on your couch. Don’t move and mimic swimming a lap, Stop for 5 seconds and start ‘swimming’ again. The unit will record a completed lap. I’ve gone over 900,000 yards with the 910xt and in that time I can count on one hand the number of times a lap was missed during normal swimming. In almost every case it’s during a sprint 50 freestyle where the flip turn is much quicker (less of a pause) and MUCH harder push off (plenty of conviction) then standard laps.
Except that I’ve seen more cases than I can ever begin to count where people reported issues and have gone back and the only thing they’ve changed is pushing off harder.
To counter your argument, if it were pure pauses in a stroke pattern, try stop stroking mid-late but still perhaps lightly kicking – to simulate multiple peoples in a lane that have blocked you. As one who’s often stuck in that situation, it’ll still keep track correctly most of the time.
Obviously there’s elements of both – but the single biggest thing that seems to help when people have issues is to simply push off sharply.
I can often get laps counted during drills or kick with no kick board if I keep my hand moving rhythmically (like sculling). I do believe the watch estimates when you should be near the wall and will ‘listen’ towards the end of the lap to record changes as lap changes. I say this because my distance warnings always come right at the middle of the lap no matter what my pace is. With that in mind, I would bet that disruptions in the beginning of your lap will not cause a lap to be recorded (and may also be the reason that my sprint 50s don’t record a turn since they’re much faster then my previous pacing)
For those having lap counting issues these are my suggestions which worked for some folks over in the Garmin thread:
1. Work on technique. I don’t know of any swimmers with good technique that have too many issues.
2. Keep your stroke moving. Pausing during your freestyle stroke is not helpful (especially in open water).
3. (Nod to Ray) On your turns, push off the wall hard and underwater. Hold your streamline a little longer then usual.
4. Put your watch on the hand that takes the 2nd stroke after you push off. This will extend the pause longer.
5. If passing mid-lane, keep your hands moving as rhythmically as possible, avoiding (as best as possible) significant stops or change in the previous pattern.
Not sure why it is posting like that but just add https:// and paste the below (if it posts correctly:
Q: How do the Garmin Swim and Forerunner 910XT/920XT and fenix 2 determine swimming distance?
A: The length count is one trip down the pool and is counted by detecting your turn or stop with the motion sensors built-in to each device.
I just called Clever Training to see if I could get on the band-wagon and get one from them, instead of waiting for Amazon and my order from early October. The lady was very honest and said realistically – it would be December for me as they had a lot of pre-orders to get through. So I guess I wait and kick myself for not ordering through CT in the first place… ;)
Don’t feel bad. I ordered mine directly through garmin.com on 10/7 and they now estimate a 12/12 ship date. Look at it as a blessing in disguise. Some of the original ones are having waterproofing issues and being replaced not to mention some of the bugs can be worked out in the meantime as well.
Just used the watch for the first time today on the treadmill. Quick question surrounding VO2 max and race predictor – I didn’t get either one of these metrics at the completion of my run. Do they only show up after an activity utilizing GPS? I did get the recovery advisor information however. During the treadmill run I was wearing the HRM-Run strap.
I did my first run today outdoor and all 3 popped up afterwards. So I assume you need to do an outdoor run.
My race predictor says I should be running a faster at all distances than I have done before. Will be interesting to see if it settles down or I just need to go and set better times :)
I’m also curious as to how you can go back and access that information? Is in the history for the activity on the watch or on Connect? Or do you just have to make sure you don’t miss it when it pops up?
Ah! Didn’t even notice that menu. Good to know. Just an FYI – I went to the VO2 max menu and it tells me I have to run 10:00 outdoors to get my VO2 max (same with the race predictor). It’s supposed to warm up this weekend so my hopes are high!
Please could you ask The Girl (or any petite readers out there!) for a comfort comparison between the 920xt and the 620? i’ve been using a 310xt but can’t bear the discomfort any longer!
Do you agree that comfort will be my major deciding factor between the devices given that i’m a beginner triathlete and marathon runner in training? For the time being, all i’m going to need on the bike is cadence, hr and distance which the 620 seemingly do. I have a Swim i use for pool sessions and adore.
Bike and Run, I train mostly outside but increasing my turbo-time and may get access to a treadmill over the winter. In the summer I usually try to get one open water session a week but have never used data.
Appreciate anyone’s insight!
Thanks
Heather
(apologies for repeat comment as I accidentally posted this in response to someone else’s comment above and can’t see how to delete!)
Hi Heather, did you already pick a watch? Just in case, I thought I’d share my thoughts. I stopped by a Garmin store to try them on. I was all set on the 920 because it had so many more functions over the 620 at only $50 more. I thought if I didn’t go with the 920, I’d rather get the 220 for the lower price. However, after trying all three of them, I went with the 620. The 920 was HUGE, and I found it cumbersome to wear with long sleeves. Maybe if it was short sleeve weather, I wouldn’t have minded the size as much. Despite my initial hesitation to get the 620, I ended up preferring the touch screen and four data fields display, plus it now has Bike and Race profiles as well (I plan on using the Race profile for gym or any non-run/bike workouts). I found one on sale for under $300, so I’m really happy. I still think $400 for the watch is too steep. Hope this helps!
Heather, I’ve always worn a wrist sweatband under all my Garmins, the 305, 310xt, 910xt and soon-to-be 920xt. Otherwise they would hit my wrist bone which I always found annoying. Also, it helps keep the salt/moisture combination away from the recharging electrodes. I won’t even consider going for a run without a sweatband under my Garmin.
Also, for the 310xt I got a Velcro strap from Walmart to replace the one that came with it. Not only is it more convenient, but you can fit it more precisely to your wrist.
Yup, Richard hit it right on. The link for the VIP program is at the bottom of the post, or here: link to dcrainmaker.com
This is required for a handful of Garmin products (per Garmin), including the FR920XT. Once you sign-up though, you’re good to go. I appreciate the support!
Thanks for the support Rich. Just ring up or e-mail Clever Training and they’ll happily refund you the difference for the attempt. It’s no problem at all. Just e-mail me if you have any issues there and I’ll get you taken care of.
Got one in the mail yesterday and so far I have mixed feelings.
My wishlist so far:
1) Being able to connect both the VivoSmart and FR920XT to GarminConnect on the phone at the same time. I understand that only one of them can be used as the activity monitor at a given time but at least allow me to connect both for smart alerts and workout uploads. I’d be using the VivoSmart for activity monitoring but still get text messages and notifications on the FR920XT and I wouldn’t have to turn off the VivoSmart bluetooth to upload my latest workout via the phone.
2) Allow multiple devices to upload activity data and join the two on-line and feed back the result into the devices. Case in point, I might want to wear the 920XT for half the day while I’m out and doing my morning workouts and as a daily watch at the office but I’d liek to wear the VivoSmart for sleep tracking and in the evening when I go out and put on a nicer watch.
3) Vibrate only alerts on the FR90xt for alarm.
4) Have button sounds only during workouts but not during regular time.
5) Connect IQ is in serious preview beta stage, it is long ways away from being useful and the API as implemented is seriously limited. It is a work in progress but as of right now it really isn’t good for much of anything let alone to develop programs that one could monetize on.
Does anyone know if it is possible to change the name of the custom activity profiles you make? I ask because I just created two Brick profiles, one with outdoor biking and one with indoor biking and it would be nice to be able to name them obviously…
This is not a 920xt issue but seemed a good place to ask:
Just done my first brick with the 920xt. Worked like a charm!
It auto uploaded and looks great in the new layout on garmin connect.
It got auto synced to strava but the run splits are all wrong. It includes all the time on the bike and transition. Has anyone else seen this? I guess I should log a bug with Strava for this.
Really? Under splits on the main page I see 45 X 1k splits. The first 41 are 0 – 0. I definitley didn’t run 45k!
Maybe you can’t see because of my privacy settings. I have logged a bug with strava now. Thanks for taking a look though.
Could be. For “Splits” I just see 3 splits and 2.2 miles in total – 2 Mile splits and the remaining 0.2 miles in the 3rd. The other 0,3 miles is presumably in your privacy zone.
What is do you mean UltraTrac use for 40 hrs battery ? Is one of Gps recording ? I plan to have to this watch but I need estimate 38 hrs gps time for this watch. As I known 910xt able to charge & still continue the activity without end after charging cable plug in,whish I used to do in ultra race. So this watch soon will release firmware to resolve this issue ? The battery life really can record Gps in 40hrs ? If I using trail running is this suitable regarding the accuracy during the activity ?
As also noted above, the FR920XT doesn’t support charging at the same time as an activity. I have confirmed with Garmin this is NOT a hardware limitation in the FR920XT and could be changed down the road to support charging concurrently. They’re evaluating feedback on this.
I like the Garmin FR920XT, a nice watch with whole lot of features compared to fenix 3 though the looks is a bit plastic but that doesn’t matter the one thing it lacks it the charging on the go. It would be a no 1 watch if Garmin can sort out the charging on the go issue It will be nice as I can record my activity full Brevet of 1230 km on the watch with all the details of cadence and HRM data. Eagerly waiting for the update to remove this only limitation the watch has.
hi dc
i just received my VIP code from clever and i almost ready to order my 920. i just need to clarify something. as you say in the review if i used any other heart rate strap of course ANT+ (i am planning the cycleops heart rate and power meter) , i still have the recovery time and Vo2 displayed correctly . please i need advised i do not want to spend extra money with another heart rate monitor but also i dont want to lose those metric neither.
hello, is it possible to use the Garmin taing center with the 920xt.
can i send a workouts base on speed zones?
If so, where can i see the Zones on the watch?
Yes you can use GTC for downloading runs (although some come out multi sport when they are not) and downloading/uploading courses and workouts. Not so sure about named speed zones (remember that was an issue with the 620) but custom zones should work fine. Remember of course GTC has not been supported for sometime so if something does not work, it won’t get fixed.
Thanks for review Ray. I currently have the 910 and looking to upgrade to the 920. Re OWS mode – why is it when I do an open water swim, the distance for the Activity will be one number, but when I save that swim as a Course, the distance for the Course will be invariably quite a lot (>20%) longer (and more accurate) than the distance of the Activity, even though both you’d think would be based on exactly the same data?
This same thing happens on all of my swims, with the Course distance always being the greater/more correct of the two.
I understand it may have something to do with the distance on the Activity excluding the parts of the swim where the GPS signal has been lost? – whereas the Course distance joins up the dots so to speak and provides a true total distance? Your reviews indicate however that the Activity distance should also be estimating the distance covered during lost signals in which case it should be the same/similar to the Course distance?
It leaves me with a misleading Activity file as the time recorded is the total elapsed time, i.e total time taken regardless of whether the GPS signal is there or not; and therefore the overall swim pace looks slow as you have the total time but not the true total distance covered.
Maybe there is a setting which I have wrong? Does the 920XT handle this any better? Thanks!
UPDATE on early production problems and product returns. CAUTION: Garmin customer service on this issue is very poor!
Bought my FR920XT with HRM-Run a week ago here in Australia. I had high expectations for a $600 watch. Worked fine, liked the features. A couple of days later received an email from Garmin stating my serial number was subject to recall, but no further details, except that would be “replaced AT NO COST”.
Yesterday went for my first swim and afterwards bluetooth connection to phone lost and wouldn’t sync to my HR strap.
Today (coincidentally) received another email from Garmin asking me to ship the product back to them. No further detail, except to say that the email wasn’t being monitored and if I had further questions contact Garmin, no telephone number provided.
Frustration set in…who would pay for shipping (note Garmin correspondence “a new replacement 920XT AT NO COST”)!? Once they received my faulty unit when/if would I get a new one?! Would Garmin compensate me if by the time I receive a new one retail prices had fallen? Correspondence sorely lacking so a phone call followed.
Will spare the full details of the call (needless to say it was not a great experience) but the outcome was a visit back to retailer, emails in hand for a full refund, which retailer gladly did. I couldn’t take the risk of not getting a new unit back soon due to upcoming travel – and Garmin couldn’t give me an estimate on when this would be. In fact Garmin support mentioned they didn’t know “as we need to check that the new one we send you isn’t also faulty”. Hardly confidence inspiring.
Fortunately national retailer has offered to contact me when a new shipment of unaffected units arrives. Local store manager had no idea of the product recall, unsure if this a result of Garmin not informing the retailer’s head office or head office not passing the information onto local stores. If it’s the former it’s inexcusable that Garmin would let retailers continue to stock a faulty product without informing them.
Will be interesting to see how long the turn-around time is for those who return 920 to Garmin, especially as production/distribution seems patchy. IMHO Garmin should have a) covered all shipping costs, b) guaranteed a 5 day turn around time from receipt of faulty unit to replacement, even if this means the expense of overnight courier and c) offered compensation for inconvenience. To date Garmin has done none of this to my knowledge.
Unfortunately, one of the challenges is Garmin Support in AUS, is generally horrible. I’d agree given that going back to the retailer (if in AUS) makes the most sense.
As for retailer notifications, they typically all receive a retailer bulletin for these types of things. It’s fairly standard boilerplate for Garmin and is sent out for all sorts of random things, so I suspect that may just be a retailer not passing it down (pretty common for a larger company since the notifications come out for all products and everything from new accessories to new firmware).
I’m waiting on a 920xt from Wiggle in the UK. They’ve given me four failed delivery dates so far. Anybody else in the same situation? I ordered the watch at the start of October.
I ordered mine on the 5th Oct and got it last Monday. I’d check with Wiggle as my understanding was that they’d fulfilled all their pre-orders and were showing some in stock mid last week
Very conservative. If you ordered prior to Friday night, you would have also received a Friday evening status update on the shipments expected for arrival this week from Garmin to Clever Training. The expectation is that they might get enough to clear out all backlog. They’ve been turning around those units same-day out of the warehouse, baring the one day where UPS arrived extremely late.
The only fuzzy one is the Blue/Black base unit (non-bundle), where those won’t ship out from Garmin till this week (could be today, could be Friday) for likely arrival next week. Just depends on exactly when Garmin sends them.
Could you keep us updated on the shipments? I ordered the Blue/Black base unit on Oct 1st. If orders of the bundle become available before the stand alone, I would probably switch my order and sell the HRM-Run strap. Thanks again!
Yup, right now it looks like two shipments will arrive Tues/Weds, with plans for same-day turn (again, assuming no super-late UPS arrivals), which should catch up everyone except the base Blue/Black. I’ll post here once they’ve arrived and have been scanned into inventory.
Clever Training will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving, but will be open on both Friday and Saturday getting shipments out the door as well.
Any updates on their status with the blue/black bundles? I ordered pretty late and was hoping that they’d get enough to cover everything :) I see the red/white is back in stock so I assume they got at least one shipment but I don’t know if the red/white comes separate from the blue/black.
Per the Friday status, blue/black bundles are expected to be fully fulfilled this week (they come in different shipments depending on bundle). Many of the blue/black came in yesterday (and went back out already). Another massive chunk came in today, and is being worked through at this very moment for shipment back out today for hopefully all remaining bundle orders. In the event they aren’t able to get through all of the units today for shipment back out, they’ll ship on Friday.
Either way, for all but the black/blue base, they’ll be fully caught up and back in stock this week. Thanks for the support!
The UK Garmin customer services help line and email service is also extremely poor, when I have had to get help on other Garmin products before. That is why I probably have more chance of getting a better more accurate answer to my question from you DC R ! Do you know a date in the UK that Garmin Will have the 920 available for sale again? other than 4th quarter of 2014.
Thanks
It’ll depend fully on which retailer you’ve ordered with. Each week they get different allocations based on both what they pre-ordered (before announcement back in September), as well as what they’ve sold but are unfulfilled. There isn’t an easy answer there unfortunately.
@James – Wiggle have 2 weeks exclusivity in the UK starting from 17/11/14. That means that Garmin will be in a position to sell direct to the public from a week today (24/11/14). Whether they will start selling directly straight away is yet to be seen. I’m waiting to use the same 25% discount as you but may well bite the bullet and order from Wiggle with a 12% discount when they have their stocks replenished.
I’m sure there will be one written for it in Connect IQ, one of the sample codes for a custom display field does just that along with speed. So it’s just a matter of time until it shows up in the Connect IQ market.
You can turn them off entirely, but on iOS you can’t single out specific apps from the FR920XT (just through the notifications center but it also impacts general phone screen notifications).
If you are using Android, the Garmin Connect app has the option to select which apps it notifies you about. Inside the app, just got to Settings -> Smart Notifications and turn on/off whatever you prefer.
Ray – I realize you called this out in your review, but WOW – the altimeter sucks !! I live in Denver, and know that my house is at 5,370 feet. Since the watch doesn’t calibrate with the GPS – my first run had me at about 4,800 feet. I do several races in the mountains, and so altitude is one metric I use a lot. I’ll try that trick of entering a waypoint in tomorrow, but hopefully Garmin can come up with a fix for this. If there’s any dev/support e-mail that I can write to to ‘encourage’ them to investigate this further – I’m happy to do that. As it stands now – it’s a definite step back from the GPS altimeter on my 610.
Yeah, you’re best bet is to leave it outside for a bit today and let it stabilize (ensure it’s on in a regular GPS-on mode, just recording a blank/empty file). next time i’ll be a bit better since it’ll be closer.
As for a fix, I’d really encourage opening a support ticket – especially by phone. Those have the biggest impact.
I ordered my blue/black bundle (and VIP membership) from CT on Oct 21. No word yet. Hoping I get it soon. I just had my 4th 910XT fail due to a defective altimeter.
Anyway, wondering if anyone can tell me if there is an option for backing up or storing profiles and preferences for data field displays so that if a hard reset is needed, these could be restored rather than re-entering. I have spent so much time re-entering this each time I have had to reset my 910XTs.
You would have received weekly e-mails each week on each Friday. Double check your junk e-mail folder though, just in case it got stuck there. Either way, they expect to ship all remaining Blue/Black bundles this week. Thanks for the support!
As for the profiles, sometimes you can backup/restore the settings files on the USB connected Garmin’s, but that doesn’t quite always work 100% of the time.
link to support.garmin.com (although not for a 920 specifically) explains how you can save some settings. BTW VO2 Max is held in memory so that is one that can’t be saved.
Quick question around training programs from the Garmin training plans.
I downloaded one of the running plans to try and see how it all works out. The run went just fine and all, except the 920’s alerts I had configured were overridden by the program’s alerts.
I have an alert set for 30 minutes, 5 miles, and auto-lap set to On at 1 mile.
None of those alerts in the Run profile happened while I got HR alerts when I pushed up and out of the desired zone / range.
Any idea how to modify the workout calendar’s alerts?
Thanks for the in-depth review, fantastic as always.
Those alerts and auto lap are only relevant in “normal” training mode – i.e. not a workout.
The point of a workout is that you run for a specific time/distance maybe rest for a bit and then do another one. As such each step becomes the laps.
I guess it would depend on the workout. For marathon training, there’s lots of long easy runs. I want to know my 1 mile splits as well as get an alert when it’s timer for nutrition.
It’s one of the drawbacks of the calendar in that all the activities are “workouts”. For easy/steady state runs, it might be best to use the calendar just as a reminder and use a “normal” run for the actual run.
I have two questions about everyday watch functionality:
1) Does it support non-latin symbols in notifications? I speak russian, without this support the smartwatch functianality is useless for me. Why I ask? I know, that Garmin Fenix 2 still doesn’t have support of unicode.
2) Is there a possibility to set simple alert timers like “ring in 25 minutes”?
The manual says don’t press buttons underwater.
Is this really no good for the watch? I can’t believe that you have to watch out with pressing buttons underwater.
I wan’t to use the ‘lap’ button without being affraid that the watch is to wet…
How it is working with the basic version of VIRB? can I put the watch on cycling and start the activity and on the same time it will record the video which allow to add the sensors data later (e.g. power, speed etc)?
Yup, it’ll work great with the base VIRB. Then, afterwards you can take the .FIT file from the FR920XT and use it within the VIRB Edit software to get all the sensor data noted above. Solid deal at $99 these days.
Just to update on expected delivery of my order from Amazon. I ordered 12 October. I just got email stating that I will receive next week, on 5 December at the latest. This order is a blue bundle. Cheers!
So, I cancelled my order from Amazon, joined CT, and ordered the black-blue bundle, and its already shipping. Once I got my account set up, the process was as easy as I know. Additional thanks to Ray for introducing me to CT.
Thanks Raul! The Clever Training warehouse worked extra hard today to get everything out today, with a special emphasis on the FR920XT orders knowing how badly everyone wants them.
Ordered red/white watch only(have the HRM Run from my 620) on 10/1/14 from Clever Training. Just received shipping notification.
Next time I may just wait. I have noticed recently that some folks just ordered and within a day or 2 receive their 920 from other sources. 57 days + shipping is a long time to wait for a guy like me who suffers from the horrible affliction of desiring immediate gratification of wants.
It depended on which version. Garmin sent out the base units last, hence why your just getting them now. There were actually red/white bundles available last week.
I thought I use Garmin Connect from now on. But it is driving me crazy! I like the interface so far but the import and export functions are incomplete and mostly not documented. For people who want to know how GC does not import the data it exports read this. I also have trouble importing my old history from Sporttracks 2 and you can read about it here.
Anyway I would be interested to know who is using what kind of methods to keep all their data (and I am talking about years of running … and some swimming and biking) in one place and not have to manually edit stuff on several sites/software.
I thought I go with Garmin Connect because of the new feature to auto sync with several sites but I start to mistrust Garmin with my data because I keep stumbling over issues. But I also do not want to loose the function to simply upload the data from the watch over Wifi.
I would invest in Sporttracks.mobi but I am hesitant. If I do not know how to get my data from them to another system at some point I have to pay the annual fee … forever! :) But maybe that would solve all my issues. I hope I can import my old data from Sporttracks 2 into Sporttracks.mobi and I have to use Garmin Connect only as a communication tool and write my notes and stuff all in Sporttracks.mobi.
Just as a heads up for those curious on FR920XT unit availability through Clever Training, here’s the rundown as of about 5 minutes ago.
Shipping for backorders:
Red/White Bundles: All units shipped
Red/White Base: All units shipped
Black/Blue Bundle: Majority of units shipped today before truck came, rest will go out Friday (closed Thursday for Thanksgiving holiday)
Black/Blue Base: Pending Garmin shipment for arrival next week, should cover about 95% of backordered units. Might get lucky and they’ll send enough to cover everything.
Stock Availability:
Red/White Bundles: In stock
Red/White Base: In Stock
Black/Blue Bundle: In Stock
Black/Blue Base: Backordered
You can see real-time status here: link to clevertraining.com
K eep in mind the available units will go fast so please be sure to check the availability listed at checkout. All in-stock products would ship out on Friday (like any other US company), due to the holiday tomorrow.
Finally, as usual, the FR920XT does qualify for the DCR/CT VIP program 10% savings. I appreciate the support. And for those in the US, have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!
Any update on the Blue/Black base availability through CT? Sorry for asking as I know this isn’t your job you just seem to have all the info. I noticed since all the other pre-orders have been filled I did not receive the typical Friday update so I was just curious.
Stopped into my local running shop today and they had the 920XT in stock and 10% off. Had NO intention of buying one but it kept nagging me the rest of the day so I stopped by in the evening and picked one up. Can’t wait to use it. So far love the looks of it while it’s charging in its base. :) Thanks Ray for the review.
Hello,
After using the watch for 5 days and training it with swim, bike and run I have to say that this device rocks!
The swimming features of rest and drill makes a long swimming session easier as the watch do the counting for you. just a shame that there isn’t a data field for the interval counter (e.g. how many interval done till now) so you don’t need to calculate it in your head based on the total distance.
Wireless sync works well and fast and it is big benefit just to come home and click one button to upload your activities.
Some items to comment:
1. Power meter
– Unlike the 910xt now you can see the battery status and the status of each pedal (for Vector)
– If you need to calibrate it just long press long on the 3 dots button and the calibration is available in the menu .
2. Data issues
– When swimming 25 FS /25 BS x20 on 80% of the cases it shows that I have done 50 BS link to connect.garmin.com
– Only one time that I have change the interval pace it jumped the pool size, this is big improvement from the 910xt
– On 45 min ride (inside) it lost the cadence and power 5 times , compared with EDGE 800 data and haven’t seen those drop (both set to use to include 0 counts)
3. Settings from Garmin connect:
– You can adjust your steps size from the device setting and also set your own Zones (HR+ Power).
– As using windows phone I can only sync 920xt using the phone internet sharing, I have try to add it yet the application do see the network even if the computer showing it in the available networks. even when manually adding it the watch wasn’t able to connect to the phone.
Summary – no way I go back to any other stone age device :-)
Black/Blue base ordered earlier this week from CT. No need to change to bundle since I already have 620 bundle, correct? Just wondering the merits of having a second HRM-RUN strap on hand.
Correct. If you have a FR620 strap, in theory the FR920XT with the most recent firmware will actually send a firmware update to the HRM-RUN strap (also just released last week). Though, I haven’t tried it myself yet. The update merely adds some battery life improvements.
Just un update and a question…….
I’ve received my FedEx shipping label notice (must have missed the truck) so mine’s ready to go on Friday I assume (International Standard Delivery)……. Happy Thanksgiving all.
Querstion: My order includes the Quick Release Kit so they must now be available? Has anyone got one yet…..pics etc?
I’ll double check if quick release kits have come in. They (Clever Training) were separating out deliveries (watch without QR kit) to ensure folks got watches quicker – but I thought international one were being held since the QR kits were expected any day now.
In any case, I’ll post some pictures here later tonight. The sample QR unit from Garmin came in on Friday.
Here ya go, a slew of FR920XT with the quick release photos, just scroll slightly down from the start of the ‘Cycling’ section. I’ll re-order it later on, but running out the door, so just a simple 10-12 photo gallery of everything from unboxing it to on bike and wrist: link to dcrainmaker.com
Thanks for the detailed pics. I could see using it on race day for an easy transition but it seems to the raise the watch up a bit on your wrist. I’m not sure if I would want to wear it around like that all the time. Whats your opinion on the generic watch mount vs quick release for daily use?
For daily use, the quick release mount makes it a bit higher than I’d prefer. Having had the quick release on it for the last few days, I’ll be switching it back this week I think to the regular mount.
So how will you be using it on the Bike Ray?
I must admit having gone from a QR 910 to the 920 I love how much smaller it is, but I love the quater turn bike mount and obviously for an actual triathlon it great.
But day to day use for me is sometimes cycling sometimes running.
I guess I see 2 options:
1) Use the strap mount on bike which I never much liked the look of and it won’t mount in as many useful places.
It’s somewhat a individual decision. If I was using it day to day as a activity tracker, I’d probably go sans-QR kit. But, if i was mostly using it as a sport training tool, then I’d go with the QR kit and then a Barfly TT mount.
Of course, I sorta just split the difference. ;) I use the FR620 for running and the Edge for cycling. And the pool, the good ol’ Garmin Swim.
I will need the QR kit for triathlons anyway so when I get it I will see if I can cope with wearing it all the time otherwise I may consider getting and edge for cycling. I already use a Garmin out front style mount.
Ray, I’m currently using the 910xt linked with SRM on my bike, unfortunately, the 910xt does not support the left/right power ‘only’ total power. Does the 920xt has this functionality? As far as I uderstand the SRM does send the left/right power data. Thanks & best regards, Jürgen (from Germany)
SRM does not send left/right information from any of their power meters via ANT+. On the flip side, the FR910XT does support left right (you’ll need to ensure you’re on firmware 2.50 or higher), as does the FR920XT. Enjoy!
1) In the 920 manual it says that naps can be added to your sleep time but that has to be done on Garmin Connect. I’ve gone into Garmin Connect but the only thing I can find is to change your start and stop sleep times. That doesn’t work because I want to see my movement levels during sleep so need to be able to enter nap start and stop times (maybe more than 1?).
2) Garmin connect seems to double count steps for calorie purposes, sort of. When I go into “Reports”, “All Activities” and “Active Calories”, I see my calories burned through walking, running, swimming etc. But, I noticed on days where I ran that my walking calories would be higher than on days where I just swam (by about 60 calories for a 5Km run). So, on the screen the total calories for the day includes the calories from running plus the calories from walking but with walking includes the running steps!
3) To make things even more confusing, I connect to “myfitnessplus” and sync Garmin connect to that. Garmin connect feeds myfitnessplus with your activities so that you can see total calorie consumption and usage. Sounds great. But, the calories “Earned from exercise today” on myfitnessplus are more than the total calories from Garmin Connect (shown in #2 above). Part of this is because there is a Garmin Correction that gets passed through – I think it is attempting to calculate your metabolism rate and let myfitnessplus know. But, I also suspect that it is feeding the inflated walking calorie consumption number through. And while that number is less than a chocolate chip cookie for a 5 Km run, a longer run would be different.
Anyway, thanks for the write up and the device has made me more aware of calories BUT, if it isn’t at least close I’ll quickly loose interest in that component.
a- when I set the wifi network with garmin express, no problem , but then i try directly from the watch and it dosen´t recognize any familiar wifi network.
b- is it possible to pair the watch with de HRM & cell phone? both at same time? so i can use live tracking with my HRM connected?
c- also I use metric, so my pace is in kilometers, but the watch send me alerts of pace in miles… I try to change it.. and switch it to kilometers, but I can only change units… do you know how to change the units from alerts?
A) Hmm, I’d try setting it again via Garmin Express and see if it sticks.
B) Yes, no problem. You can see that in the review with my screenshots of live tracking with the HRM
C) Good to hear you’re all set there.
I ordered from garmin and I still have not received it. I’d like to cancel my order and get it from CT but apparently my order cannot be cancelled at this point. lesson learned, never ever order from garmin!
Does the 920XT recovery time play well with other garmin devices? For example, if I use my old 910XT or Edge unit to complete a workout, will the 920XT sync with Connect / recognize that I’ve performed a workout? If not, it seems like I would need to carry both devices and then not sync my Edge.
which is exactly a huge BS from Garmin.
Recovery time feature is based on recorded fit file (or any other with HR data) and is completely device independent! It should be within garmin connect service not single devices. This would allow to handle things properly for owners of multiple devices and open the feature also for any older.
But garmin prefers to use it as selling point of new devices. sad
Perhaps, but it’s not a feature of any device of any company actually. Recovery time on every device I’ve seen is specific to that device (even if shown online). Be it Garmin, Polar, Suunto or anyone else. It’s never been transmitted back to other devices you may own.
as I understand it, it’s an algorithm, that takes HR data recorded during exercise as input and generates hours of recommended recovery as output. Is this algorithm different on each device – I dont know. I would assume Garmin actually bought something from external fitness company, so I dont understand why is it calculated and presented only on specific devices (models), why not on their service – then could be synced with any device. How different is strava’s suffer score? It’s same idea, just different algorithm and different presentation (points instead of hours). I just like strava’s idea better :-D where it doesnot metter with which device I did my exercise.
A good use case for something like Google Fit. Someone could do a site / app to look at your data from all devices and work out a simple stat like this. Unfortunately Google Fit has no HRV support that I have seen even though it wants you to upload everything with nanosecond accuracy even though the default website of course can not display a most of this data.
I would like to ask for recovery advisor. Does it work for all sports? Do I get single recovery time graph like on Polar personal trainer for all sports? Or is it separated by sport? Will it work correctly if I will do some cross-country skiing training on weekend and than I will train on bike rollers in working week days?
Just tried to order with the 10%discount code. It wouldn’t work online, so I called directly and they couldn’t get it to work either. I did join the VIP club. The lady on the line sent the inquiry to management and got this response,
Dear Clever Training Customer,
Thank you for your inquiry. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reason the coupon cannot be applied with the provided information. Please be advised that the code cannot be combined with any current sale prices and certain manufacturers may have placed restrictions on the usability of codes. I am sorry for any inconvenience.
Regards,
Kat
Flat rejected. How are people getting the discount to work?
Didn’t work for me either (placed my order Wednesday). I just assumed that it was excluded and I signed up for the VIP membership to get it. Still a net savings (especially when you consider the lightening fast order fulfillment and no sales tax outside of Florida) and I’ve been nothing but pleased with the customer service. So I didn’t mind the $4.99 outlay.
For the FR920XT (and about 6-7 other Garmin products), you’ll need to use the DCR/CT VIP program, per requirement from Garmin. But, you’ll still save the same 10%.
For sale items, like some of the Black Friday deals when things are discounted 30% percent, those fall into the deepsale/clearance category – so no additional savings there.
When you sign-up for the VIP program, 30 minutes later you’ll get your personalized coupon code and that’s good on the FR920XT. That’s the one you’ll want to use. If you have any issues, simply shoot me a note using the contact form and I can usually get you all sorted out in a few hours.
OK, I tried a different call to Clever Training. Here’s what I found out.
To get the 10% discount, you must join the VIP program. They will email you a code which you may use throughout the year for 10% discounts and priority shipping on orders. It is THAT CODE which you must enter in the discount code box. NOT the DCR10JKW code!
This worked for me doing a website purchase of the 920XT.
I just received a 920XT from Garmin as a replacement for my 910XT which had a problem they couldn’t solve. Anyways, I took it for my first open water swim, and the GPS track is horrendous. I know you have posted many, and they were all fine. So I doubt it is a systematic problem with the 920XT. But what can I do to try and “fix” the problem? I’ve e-mailed Garmin. But it’s obviously the holiday, so I don’t expect anything for a while.
Oh, I did a run shortly after in the same area and its GPS track was fine, so I don’t think there was anything local/weather/interference wise.
The first being to ensure you’re on the latest firmware, as there were some fixes there. The second is to ensure that before you start the swim you’ve got a solid GPS lock. So let it find satellites and then give it a few seconds extra before pressing start. Also, always press start ABOVE water, and even then – for all watches by various companies I find I get better results if I give it about 2-3 seconds after pressing start above water before I swim. Seems to ensure the first data point is set.
It says that I’m on the latest firmware (2.50).
I’m pretty certain that I had GPS lock long enough. (I actually had to prevent power save once, so however long the default for that is).
I probably pressed start just before actually starting to swim. So that might be the only thing I did “wrong”. I waded out into the water until waist deep, pressed start, then “dove in”.
The other thing I should mention I virtually always do is upon exiting the water at the end give it 2-5 seconds to ensure it has a final GPS lock before pressing stop. It’s just a habit I developed a few years ago that seems to help across all brands.
Got this response from Garmin support:
Please turn off GLONASS when doing the open water swim and test it again. I think the track will be smooth if the additional satellites are turned off.
So I’ll give that a try this weekend. But Ray, was GLONASS on or off on your open water swims? I’m just kind of curious.
It’s really only the units shipped/bought from Garmin the first week of October. These were almost all exclusively at races (such as Kona), and a very small handful of small retail stores internationally. The waterproofing issue was caught near immediately, hence the stoppage in production.
The ones bought from Clever are outside the range.
Hi Ray. My first post even I follow blog for years.
I have ordered 920xt through CT. It has been shipped and I expect to get it for Christmas as it still need to be brought to Europe for me. ;-)
I have one basic question. I understand you can not charge it when it is used but If you leave the watch charging overnight will alarm work in the morning?
Well, the first run with the 920xt was an epic fail in my opinion. On a course measured as 30.31 miles by my 310xt, the 920xt showed 10.07 miles. I’ve run this course many times and know the 310xt to be accurate. My 910xt is usually off by 0.06 to 0.08 miles, but the 920xt is off by 3 to 4 times even that. That is over a half mile for a marathon distance. It seemed to be progressive. It kept losing distance rather evenly across the entire run.
This was on a greenway which is tree lined, but with probably 2/3 of the leaves off by this time of year. I have a 16 mile run scheduled for tomorrow on a different Rails to Trails type path and I’ll wear both of them again. (Maybe I should also wear my 910xt and FR305.)
I don’t have a track run scheduled until Tuesday, but I don’t want to trust pacing an intervals workout to the 920. I’ll try the 920 on the track on Wednesday when I just have an easy 6 miles scheduled.
Garmin may have left off the GPS precision screen intentionally, so that people couldn’t see that the precision is worse than their other devices.
Garmin said that they moved the antenna in the 920. Any idea where? Would it be of advantage to move the face to the inner portion of the wrist so that the other edge is facing up? What about wearing the device with the face on the edge of my wrist which would make it face up when running?
This device does some nice things, but if it can’t handle basic GPS measurement I’ll have to get rid of it.
I also have an issue with the removal the ability to change backlight intensity. At this time of year I usually start my runs during the week in daylight and finish them in the dark. On both my 310xt and 910xt I have “Backlight Stays On” set, and keep the intensity (Press of the start/stop button and then arrow keys) at zero.
When running, when it starts getting dark, I can just press the start/stop button, and then the up arrow key 2 or 3 times for the intensity I want. After the run I can just set that intensity to zero again.
That is certainly more convenient that what is available on the 920xt. Also, if one just sets the backlight on the 920 to always stay on, even when it is not needed then one will have to recharge more often than otherwise. The more one recharges a battery the more the lifetime of the battery is decreased.
I don’t think the backlight is a huge battery drain. Remember testing with a 620 (which has a similar on/off backlight) and only seemed to be about 20% drain at most. With the 920, even on the “Always On” setting, you can still press the power button to turn it off again.
Because at the time development for the unit started (well over 18+ months ago), Garmin didn’t see optical HR technology as accurate enough. To a large degree, that’s still relatively tree.
The challenge is that Garmin can’t get away with typical 95% optical HR accuracy (95% of people working). Companies like TomTom can get away with it a bit more, but as you’ll often see here, even when 1-2% of people have an issue, they’ll throttle Garmin for it. Kinda funny double standard, but hopefully it results in higher levels of accuracy down the road. Eventually, Garmin will have to come out with a unit. No question about that.
(Note: Let’s not let this topic diverge too much here though….)
I tried to check not just this in-depth review and the other earlier one, but also all the posts of the others before posting my questions. But there are still some:
1) if I understand well, no battery life test were made w/o GPS and notifications, so as a real everyday watch. But it must be less than 15 days, pr let’s say a month instead of 4 months claimed by Garmin.
2) Is it possible to upload a New Lead calorie burning profile as it is with 910XT and 310XT?
3) I can’t see Last Lap HR in the data field list. It is strange. 310XT does miss it, but 910XT has it. Can somebody double-check it, please?
And a comment. It is a big shame that Garmin almost always makes some stupidity related to elevation. Either in the elevation calibration process or with the resolution of logged and/or displayed elevation.
Thanks God, at least the elevation resolution is OK, Ray you reported it as to be at least 1ft, so I guess it is the same 0.2m as it is with 910XT, but why the heck Garmin gave up to simply use the pretty good (let me say, almost perfect) method they introduced with the barometric outdoor units like 60CSx.
1) I did some in days where notifications didn’t work and just used it as a day watch. Battery still burned pretty highly, but my unit was also within the ‘affected units’ recall notice, so perhaps that changes things since it specifically called out battery.
2) No
3) The data fields just as presented in teh data fields section.
I know not many people uploaded their personal calorie profile including fat calorie to their Garmin 910/310XT, but I guess it was bigger effort to remove this option that it would have been to keep it intact.
Have only used my 920xt for two activities – both on the treadmill to avoid the ice and snow here in Minnesota. One run using just the watch to measure pace, etc.; very inaccurate as Ray reported. The other run I used my foot pod which has been calibrated all summer long paired with my FR15. This run also appeared to be inaccurate, reporting a pace almost 10% faster than the treadmill and at least somewhat faster than I *think I was running. Do I need to recalibrate my footpod against the 920? Or am I faster than I think I am?
For the non-footpod one, it does take a number of outside runs to get somewhat close, and even then as I noted, it’s not super close.
As for calibration, you need to enter the calibration value on the FR920XT. The calibration value isn’t stored on the footpod, but rather on the watch.
You don’t have to go outside, just calibrate it on the treadmill. There’s an option to calibrate it to a known distance. Also if you’re doing mostly treadmill runs, it’ll be more accurate if you calibrate it on the treadmill you usually run on
On the treadmill you would have to do some maths and then enter the value manually. Run on the treadmill for a set distance according to the treadmill and note what the default calibration of the foot pod gives for the distance on the 920. Then divide the two and multiply by 100 and round to nearest 0.1. So if the 920 gave 1000 metres but the treadmill 950 then it would be 950/1000*100 = 95.0
So if I have access to an indoor track then I could use the exact distance run. Is tha right? Then I could ignore the distance reported by the treadmill like I always do.
Tim?????
On the 910xt all you did was calibrate the footpod. Set a specific distance to calibrate, start running on the treadmill until you hit that distance and then press stop.
I used to do this, but determined that
1) Most treadmills are not very accurate
2) I hate running on the treadmill
3) That HR and perceived effort were the best measure for me to use for treadmill running, not the distance numbers on the watch or the treadmill.
Yeah I think that feature on the 910 was largely doing as i described. I don’t think anybody really prefers running on treadmills over outdoors but needs must sometimes (and it is better than nothing!) and if you want your Garmin to match the treadmill (right or wrong) best to calibrate your foot pod on the treadmill.
Sorry if this has already been covered but I haven’t seen it anywhere. Does anyone know the impact/benefit on battery life from disabling activity tracking when you are training with GPS on. Judging by posts about general battery life it seems that “officially” the difference between “watch only” and “watch with activity tracking” is 4 months -> 33 days. Im just wondering how much of a difference the activity tracking has on training battery life with GPS on. I presume it must have some impact. I hadn’t thought about it until yesterday when I ran 65km and then at the end back in watch mode it popped up showing 78,000 steps. I was then reading the manual which states to save battery life you should disable activity tracking.
It might be nice if there was an option to have activity tracking auto-disable when you start training if it actually does make a difference.
Ray: When you did your “watch on the roof battery life test” was activity tracking totally disabled?
I might throw mine out on the balcony and see how long I get out of it.
It is nice that, judging from other comments, they seem to have fixed the annoying issue in the 910 that if the battery ran out mid-trainig it would lose all your data though.
Doubt it would be very much – as the activity tracker is, by design, a “low power” activity. Of course if you want to squeeze every last minute out of the battery then best to turn off anything that you don’t actually want or could live without. How much battery did the 65km run consume and how long were you were running for?
Well, that’s the bit I’m not sure of. I ran for about 9 hours but for the first hour or 2 I had it in ultratrac and then switched it to 1 second GPS. When I stopped I thought to myself “there must be plenty of battery life left” and didn’t check. I came home and syched via wifi and then this morning after about another 12 hours in watch only mode it was down to 35% (I could only check by plugging it in. Is there another way to get a %?). Given it should have lasted 24 hours with GPS and I had it in ultratrac for 2 hours I would have expected it to have more juice after 9 hours, a wifi synch and 12 hours in watch mode but maybe the wifi synch drains it more than I realise.
The only reason I questioned activity tracking is that according to garmin numbers it cuts watch only mode by ~75% (4 months to 33 days) so I wondered how that translates into gps mode. Garmin numbers look high but like I said the wifi could drain the battery more than I thought. This was my first use of the watch so I will pay more attention next time.
I don’t think there’s any battery life impact with activity tracking on during GPS mode. The reason is that the accelerometer is already being leveraged in GPS on mode for internal cadence/pace calculations there anyway.
Oh, and just to clarify…in my roof test, activity tracking was not disabled, but because it was in running mode, the sensors would have been enabled for internal cadence monitoring.
First, thanks for another great review.
Second, I totally agree whit you about the zoom feature, somebody at Garmin must have entered a 0 there it should have been a 1 and reversed the function to give less help when you need it the most.
This I think (hope) will be fixed in one of the first updates because they simply have to.
One more thing (as Steve J said) any clue of when the shipment of this start in europe?
I can’t find anything about it…
It’s already been shipping in Europe, for quite some time actually. It’s available for example in many countries and stores (including one behind my house in France), albeit sometimes hard to find. It’s really up to your specific local retailer and how many pre-orders they made way back in September, as well as local Garmin country managers ability to snag more shipments for their country.
Thanks
On Garmin’s website, they have postponed the delivery from October to November o now we are in December, then I probably not have to wait much more before it reaches Sweden:-)
Thanks so much Ray for this great review! I bought a 920xt 2 weeks ago (no luck, it’s concerned with the replacement program). I’m looking for a carrying cover for my 920xt in order to carry the watch, the strap and the usb charging cable. Any suggestion please?
Haha, ironically I use an old Polar Zip Bag that came with my late lamented Polar S625X to store my Garmin 910XT, charger cable, USB stick, Viiiiva HR bridge strap and ANT+ footpod if I want to take it off my shoe when I travel. It’s well made, about the size of a small toiletry bag, has a waterproof divider compartment, is very convenient, and smartly decorated with the Polar logo :)
Hey Ray, wondering if there is any way to create advanced workouts for the 920xt with custom step names like Garmin Training Center allowed. Or if this is an option that Garmin might be planning to implement down the road in Garmin Connect?
Currently, in Garmin Connect you can only choose the step type (i.e. Warmup, Interval, Recovery, etc.) and target (i.e. heart rate, pace, cadence, power, etc.)… it does not allow you to create custom step names. So if I’m doing a workout based on something other than the preset targets such as perceived exertion (easy, steady, hard, harder) or strides/buildups/fartleks I have no way of indicating that in the workout via Garmin Connect.
In Garmin Training Center with my 910xt I could specify a custom name for the step and that’s the message that would pop up on my screen during the workout (i.e. 5min Easy, 10min Steady, 5min Hard, 10min Easy w/strides). My easy/steady/hard paces vary quite a bit based on sleep, training recovery, weather, etc so putting a pace range in Garmin Connect wouldn’t work. When I have a complex interval workouts now with the 920xt I have to carry a piece of paper with my workout on it so I know what I should be doing for each step.
It’s my understanding that I can’t use Garmin Training Center to develop the advanced workout and send it to my 920 since I had to get rid of ANT Agent in order to download Garmin Express. Otherwise I absolutely love my 920xt but not being able to custom name my workout steps is a huge negative for me as I’ve heavily relied on that function in all of my previous devices (405, 310, & 910). Awesome review by the way, I keep referring to it to learn the various functions as I’m still getting used to my new toy :)
You can certainly still use GTC with the 920 and send courses/workouts to/from the device as well as download your activities (except pool swims).
Some things aren’t currently supported however. Afraid custom step names is one of them (if you name a step it does not appear when you transfer it) and also course points. Not so sure about named pace ranges either. Just tried and the “name” comes over but I haven’t yet tested if it understands what it means in pace range terms. It will however definitely work with explicit custom ones like say 7:30-8:00 rather than just “Run” (or whatever).
Sounds like GTC won’t fix the issue then. Sucks that I have to carry a piece of paper with my workout on it when I never had to do that for any of my other devices… what a step backwards.
Thank you for your quick answer. But I am yet confused. I have other devices (Polar) where I can set different values (wheel size) on Bike1, Bike2…but I can not find that on Garmin 920xt’s manual (I still do not have the watch). Is there something like this so: Menu->Bike->Settings->
Bike Profiles?, I have seen this in Edge 800 manual.
.
The FR920XT adopts the same model as the Edge 1000 (but not the Edge 800/810 and other Garmin devices). It does away with the bike profile concept, and instead just goes to a sensor pool. You can still configure settings on a given sensor, but this way you don’t have to change bike profiles.
Instead, you have activity profiles, which you can customize different display screens for as well.
You have different activity profiles – but there’s actually no tie to sensors. Sensors on the Edge/FR920XT just automatically light up (enable) when they are turned on. You can name the sensors as well common names (like PowerTap). Then, if you happen to have two sensors of the same type get enabled at the same time, it’ll just ask you if you want to change to the other sensor.
Works really well, and quite honestly is my most favorite feature Garmin has released in the last 8 months.
Do you think they will ever do a software update to the 910xt to allow this??
i.e. for an ironman, I use an optical HR strap and switch it from bike to run bc only lasts 8 hr each…
Turned on, and it had around 60-75% of battery life…
Turned activity monitor and alerts (bluetooth) on and during those 8 days I’ve swam indoors for 1h16m (3.3 Km) and did a 1h hiking (5.0 Km) with GLONASS on… also I messed around alot with configurations…
Today, 8 and half days after turning it on for the first time, it still has 15% battery life… so I was pretty impressed with that, and got much better results than reported on Ray’s review…
Hello, very thorough review as always. I have a few questions:
1. You mentioned that the elevation profile can be off, but is the overall amount of elevation gained off, or just what the actual elevation at each step was during the run/ride?
2. I’m not 100% clear about how easy it is to take off the watch after running and put it on the bike. I don’t have to unscrew the screws in the picture do I?
1) Once it finds the correct elevation, then you’re good. On some of my flat runs, it’s not that big of a deal. And, even some of my hillier runs, because the initial difference isn’t huge. But if the initial difference were huge, then it’d matter.
2) With the quick release kit, you just turn the watch 90* and it pops off and attaches to the bike. Sorry, I had added those pics quickly over the weekend and still need to go back in and add more context and probably a quick video explaining it.
I’ve found that the actual elevation tracing on my 920 is perfect. If I run a hill that is 20 feet, my elevation raises 20 feet. When I run over a bridge I get credit for it (whereas the “elevation correction” on my 620 always had me running at ground level.
That said (and this is SLOWLY improving) the starting elevation is way off. I live on an island and start runs MAYBE 20 feet above the water, and starting elevations have been as high as 300 feet. Last night was 80. Hopefully it’ll be lower soon.
Yup (the FR910XT was as well). Though, there was about a 4-6 month period where CycleOps stopped shipping PowerBeam Pro’s that weren’t transmitting the power on open ANT+. They since fixed that though, and you can ring them up and they’ll get you sorted out if so.
Hi New (and others), here’s the update on 920XT’s from Clever Training:
Red/White Base: Fully in stock
Red/White Bundle: Fully in stock
Black/Blue Base: A shipment left Garmin yesterday that will cover 95% of the existing backorders, it’s scheduled to arrive no later than early next week. They’re expecting an additional shipment as well next week there.
Black/Blue Bundle: Was completely caught up until yesterday-ish on pre-orders (that shipped yesterday as well), now backordered a few units. Likely have that cleared out next week.
As always, with backorders, they go out in the order they were received. Thanks for the support, I appreciate it!
Thanks for the update Ray!
I ordered one from CT a couple of days back to support your work and will have it shipped to Europe. It is less expensive and complex than struggling to find one here…
Thanks, Ray, for the update. I’ve got the shipping notification from CT today, expecting to receive it later this week. Thank you for the awesome review!
For the ones showing ‘in-stock’, then definitely. They ship same day as long as it’s before I think 1PM (can’t remember the exact time cutoff offhand).
For the the others, I’d expect everything should be caught up and cleared out by next week, which still would easily clear the 22nd for anywhere within the US.
I was wondering if you had some updated information from the CT guys.
I ordered a unit last week but it looks like the Garmin shipments are delayed (at least for the B&B bundle version)
Ordered an HRM Bundle on December 4th, can’t wait to receive the shipment notification! My old Forerunner 410 is with a loose button and I just started my macro series for my first 70.3 on april!
Thanks for the insight.
It does’nt look so good for the B&B bundle though as they were not able to fill backorders with the last shipment and are not sure when the next one will arrive…
They had fulfilled backorders up until the new ones in the last 5-7 days I believe. Additionally, I just got a note saying they’re expecting Garmin to ship them all four unit types (bundles/non-bundles, both colors) to be fully caught up with extra stock. That shipment is scheduled to go out Thurs or Friday, for arrival early next week into Clever Training.
Once they get tracking numbers from Garmin, I’ll drop back by with confirmation that all is well there. So, one way or another everyone wanting a FR920XT via Clever Training should have it by the end of next week (assuming a gazillion of you don’t go order this very second). As always, first come first serve – and thanks for the support via CT!
Hey Ray, sorry to bother once again. Any news on the stocks for the Blue HRM bundle pre orders? I’m really anxious about it, cause if I miss this opportunity I’ll only be able to buy it again in February.
Enough units were shipped on Thurs/Friday to fulfill all outstanding orders. Those units will arrive early this upcoming week and then ship back out the same day.
I have a question for others with a 920XT using notifications. For me, I get notifications for personal e-mail to my GMail account accessed via IMAP using the iOS Mail application. However, I do NOT get notifications from my work e-mail Exchange account using the iOS Mail application. Is anyone receiving e-mail notifications on their watch from an Exchange server? (Strangely, or maybe not, but work meeting notices received (from Exchange) do come up. But I believe that is actually the notification from the Calendar application.)
I am running iOS 8.1.0, and version 2.50.0 for the 920XT.
As garmin is just using the notifications ios gives it this i something Apple needs to fix add it seems to be a known issue: link to discussions.apple.com
Thanks Eli. But that discussion seems to be for a different feature. I get notification center messages on my phone for the Exchange e-mails, they just don’t also show up on the 920XT. (It may still be an iOS issue). I’d take it up with Apple, if I knew of other smart watch platforms having the same problem. So I figured I would ask here first. Any Vivosmart owners have it working?
Is the 910XT at $240 with HRM a better deal than full price 920XT or should you just put down the extra money for the new model. I would love to save the money if possible.
Actually you might want to consider the 310xt which should be even less expensive. I think it provides better GPS accuracy, but the 910xt’s form factor is nicer.
Just a quick one. Is it possible that the first series to have issues that will be fixed in later releases? I.e. Should I wait for a few months or should order right now?
Anyone else have an issue with speed when a cadence/speed sensor is connected? With my 920xt the speed jumps around and I get almost 7km less reading on a 60km ride.
But when I disable the sensor the speed reading is fine and it tracks corectly.
You have be having connectivity issues with the sensor, the sensor battery might be going (despite being brand new, it can happen), or the sensor might be having issues. In any case, I’d ring up Garmin support to have them troubleshoot it.
Make sure your wheel magnet (if it’s that type of sensor) is properly located on the spoke and doesn’t slide or turn while you’re riding; also make sure that you don’t accidentally kick the sensor out of position so it can’t read the magnet going by.
Last thing is that you can force a ‘manual’ or ‘custom’ wheel circumference, which is then not dependent on a GPS based calibration of the wheel circumference.
Been looking through different sources fro 920XT and availability in EU is, well, what it is still… Any tips from anyone where could one even order the device with some sort of a decent timeline? (decent here being few weeks max rather than months)
Order through Clever Training here. Shipping to EU (Ireland anyway) was $30 (around €24) and the 920xt cost less than I’d of paid over here with the VIP discount. Shipped last week and arrived in Ireland yesterday for €410 with HRM-Run and a cadence sensor!
Is there a way to make a profile for runs that I don’t want to include in the VO2 calculations?
I run pushing my toddler in a pram sometimes and I assume that runs in deep snow wont be good for the VO2 statistics either.
I recall you asked this (or very similar) on the Garmin forums link to forums.garmin.com
Were the answers there no good? Either way you don’t seem to come back with any follow ups.
A profile based on the bike one should do it. Just don’t attach a power meter to the pram :)
I asked the question there, and before posting this questions there wasn’t really any answers there. Now there are and I will continue the thread at the Garmin forum.
@Thounee:
Got mine last Friday (Switzerland). The shop told me they only received 4 of them (Black/Blue Edition) and none of them went to the shop/display. They handed all out to preorder customers (and I was one of them :-)).
Firstly, thanks AR11S for the CT tip, thought shipping to EU would be even more expensive.
And for Sibylle -> I live in the land of Polar and Suunto (to be precise, about 7km from Polar HQ), hence garming products are not the first to be stocked in shops… Going to check the CT anyways if not finding anything locally or online in EU ready to ship.
I have my 920 since last weekend and im really not impressed at all more than the few new color on the watch. I have done a few race and some mountain bike together with my old 610 and really I don’t see much improvement to the GPS accuracy with glonass activated. I still saw me running on the grass and the opposite side of the road. so maybe is my 920 with old system inside or really I run on the grass but I don’t realize.
Thank you for the Quick Release update pics! Having donated a 910XT to Poseidon, is the 920XT kit any “stiffer” to turn than the old 910XT kit, which seemed just a tad too loose.
Hi Ray,
first of all, great great review!
I was in Alpe D’Huez this summer during the triathlon (court version) but at that time i didn’t know anything about you, otherwise i’ll talk to you.
Anyway, i was wondering to buy the 920 xt, but the code for the 10% (DCR10JKW or DCR10WHP) discount seems no more available.
Is there anything wrong in what i’m doing?
Thanks.
Marco
For the FR920XT, you’ll need to use the DCR/Clever Training VIP program (per requirement of Garmin). Don’t worry, it only takes a second and you’ll still save 10%. You can sign-up here and then you’ll get your unique coupon code: link to dcrainmaker.com
Thanks for the support! And hope you enjoyed Alpe d’Huez, it was a great day there!
it appears that the UK date has been pushed back a second time with some places now saying 17th december. This is very disappointing from Garmin, especially the fact that they are not notifying suppliers of the delay until the day it was supposed to be available.
I was quite convinced I was going to buy the 920XT but after reading all the issues…not sure anymore.
Is it still the best multi-sport watch at the moment in the market? And most important, is it worth?
It’s still the same, the best unit on the market is the FR920XT. Any GPS device out there is capable of having a bad GPS track, I can pull up ones from all of them. But overwhelmingly you’re just not seeing that with the FR920XT. With tens of thousands of units out there, you’ve got what amounts to 2-3 folks that have had a bad run (one of which was only 2% off, which is generally considered normal).
Your’re right. Sometimes we just focussed on the errors and forget the overall picture. So I understand you also made the upgrade from 910XT. Thanks again for your work here.
Impossible to say if it’s worth it, as that’s an entirely individual issue. The 310xt is a great value that still checks most of the really important boxes (great accuracy, custom workouts, fully waterproof, power meter support). There aren’t many brand new devices that can do all that. Personally, while I like all of the extra features of the 920 (which I’ve been using for about a week), the one thing that would’ve made me stick with the 310 is precaching of satellites. It’s probably just where I live, but I wasn’t willing to wait 5-10 minutes to start every run. If the 310 had gotten a lock in 60 seconds or less for me, I would’ve been happy with it.
Hi Ray/all,
Thanks for all your reviews
I want to buy one gps watch and I need good opinion. I rarely run and for cycling I already use an Edge 800, but I swim quite a lot ( specially openwater),and I also hike a bit. I’m wondering which is the best watch regarding the openwater accuracy. I understand that none is perfect, but I don’t like the swimcap method, so do you think there is a real difference between ambit2/ambit3/ fenix2/920xt ? In this review it seems that the ambit 3 is better than 920xt, but what about the other two. Could we say that ambit 3 is below the 10% you usually specify for openwater? On the other hand, can you tell me which watch is more comfortable for swimming.
Many thanks,
Xavi
I’ve never used a quick release kit before. However, I have to say, the QR kit for the 920XT makes the watch almost unusable on a day to day basis. It lifts the watch up off the wrist about 14 feet (kidding but it’s extremely noticeable and almost ridiculous). With the kit installed, I am no longer able to use the watch for sleep tracking. It also causes the watch to rotate badly on my wrist during runs because the center of gravity is now higher.
Maybe there’s another option out there to use this watch on and off the bike. If only Garmin could make the kit a bit more low profile by using different materials. I know that won’t happen but I wanted to at least makes sure folks knew what they were getting into. The pictures don’t really do it justice. It completely transform the look and feel of the watch to something akin to a skyscraper on my wrist.
Uh oh… my QR kit is scheduled for delivered from CT on Monday. I was really afraid of the additional height- I’m already hitting the watch face very frequently as I wear it all day & track my steps!
Might have to exchange it for the Garmin Forerunner Bicycle Bike Mount and just connect it to my bike via wrist strap.
Great work as usual, Ray.
By the way, if you ever come to this side of the world… and want to swim at that “crazy big pool in Chile”, let me know. I can arrange that.
It’s only 90 min away of the capital city of Santiago.
Ray, a quick note to thank you for the info and effort you put into your site. Love my CT delivered 920. Having steps, notifications and IMO, a better screen. GPS seems right on, only 4 runs(31 miles) no issues.
I kinda smile when some folks get their panties in a wad over the tracking issues. Age sometimes adds a perspective to things. When I got serious about running(38 1/2 years ago) there was nothing like the devices we have today. Most old timers either drove their cars over the routes they ran or used a bike. Looking back I probably overestimated the distance on some of my runs, but I am not going to change my current total of 81,112 miles. GPS measured since my first Garmin- 101?-“the brick”. Keep up the great work. Closing in on 72, and though slower, I love being fortunate enough to be able to run. I appreciate it even more as I age. Nick
No, you just have to hit the lower let button (the one with the three dots) then the ENTER button to unlock and you will be in sport mode or you can keep pushing the menu (three dot) button to go to settings or other menus.
Have to give a big thumbs up to Garmin. Bought my Red/White 920XT at the Noosa Tri at the start of Nov, and used it in the tri with no problems. Have been very happy with the unit, then got advised by Garmin that mine was one of the early models. Had to send mine back, which worried me a little (I hadn’t had any of the waterproofing or battery issues they were suggesting). Being this close to Xmas I thought I wouldn’t hear back from them till the New Year, but was surprised to get my shiny new one today.
The process took exactly two weeks from their initial contact by email, and only about a week turnaround once I posted the original back. I read on here how people are still waiting for original orders around the world, so it’s great that Garmin are able to have a high level of customer service even while backfilling these orders. I am glad I have stuck with them. Now to get back to using this awesome watch.
It doesn’t support the temperature pod at this time. however, it’s one of the 9 explicitly exposed ANT+ Profiles within Connect IQ. Thus, I suspect we’ll see an app for it as one of the first few apps released once that goes live (supposedly in January).
920 arrived yesterday. Fits and feels quite a bit better than my 620 which may head over to ebay. I’ve done updates to show versions 2.50 for software and 2.60 GPS. can anyone confirm these are in fact the most up to date?
Also re wifi it says use Garmin connect to set up however garmin connect didn’t detect my wifi. I’m a bit confused as to why wifi is needed when syncing is done with my smartphone nearby. Sorry not a technology guru so my apologies for the elementary question.
Finally GLONASS I’ve set to be on vs factory setting of off. Opinions?
For WiFi, the main reason is just offering another avenue. For me, it tends to be slightly faster in that I walk into the home or office after a run/ride, and it’s just done it automatically, often before I’m fully in the door near my phone. You’ll use the Garmin Express software to configure it.
For the firmware, yup, that’s the latest.
And finally, for GLONASS, I prefer to leave it enabled. You’ll get about a 20% hit on battery, but for most people that’s not a huge deal versus the increased accuracy. For a very small handful of people (a couple percent at most), due to environmental items they sometimes see oddities with GLONASS (for example, on the Edge 510 and other devices). But, I’d really leave it on unless you have a specific repeatable case where it’s having issues.
Thanks Ray. Now I just need to figure out why garmin express isn’t allowing wifi to configure, set up my data screens and give this watch a test run. Have a great day!
hi dc
what you think about these track that my new 920 are recording every day.the glonass is on at every second as well.i think that i have a fail unit.please.
Are you sure that you have 1-second recording on? Can you triple check? It really looks like it’s recording in smart recording mode. If that, along with being on a mountain bike at high speed on trails, you’re going to get some slight variance. If you had 1-second mode on you’d see more points.
yes, at least the watch say Data recording every second.how to know is the watch is really recording at that interval of 1/second. the trail is in mountain bike but not to much speed. i just call garmin and they just told me that i need to use an speed sensor. that it should look better is the watch use the speed from sensor. what you think about this men. is weird that is not much difference respect to my old 610 and galaxy s5. im a litter disapointed.
If you can upload the file to Dropbox, it might help – though, it’s probably better to continue the conversation over on the Garmin Forum post thread that I believe you’re on. The speed sensor won’t really help the GPS track. The challenge is what speed and how big those corners really are. The track per se isn’t bad for smart recording. You might consider that if it says it’s on 1-second, then switch it to Smart (Save), and then go back into that menu option and set it back to 1-second.
Then look at the track, it looks super-clean, and doesn’t look like it’s missing segments. Probably a good lesson for other folks as well on winding/twisting tracks, since GC is basically showing every few seconds worth of data points. Previously they only did that on the playback tool, but now it looks like they do it site-wide.
yes it looks much beter but still the straight line instead of the loop the segment than i want you to see in the activity
is close to bottom on top of the water or lake, all the way to the left bottom to see the segment
i just did i round loop and it show like two straight lines back and forwar. any way thank for your time.
tomorrow im going to run or maybe just walk those litter segment to see what happen in gps track.
Hi Ray, do you know if it does exist any heart rate sensor which can support simultaneously both Garmin and Polar watch ? I’d like to put one wrist 920XT and other wrist Polar RS or RC series and watch hearth rate on both.. Thanks
Yup, any of the dual ANT+/BLE ones will work. Such as the Scosche, Wahoo TICKR, or 4iiii’s Viiiiva. You can use the product comparison tool and look for the ones that are dual: link to dcrainmaker.com
Careful there Ray, Paolo wants to use an older RS/RC watch which means he’d need an ANT+/WIND or ANT+/5KHz HR sensor neither of which exists to my knowledge. If you’d like to use a Garmin with the newest V800 then Ray’s recommendation stands, any dual ANT+/BLE sensor would work. For older Polar you’re out of luck, sorry.
finally got my 920 and generally like it however the bluetooth pairing is a mess (on android at least).
seems to need you to pair at the OS level and then in garmin connect. ok, more complicated than it should be but done. however whenever the device goes out of range, you have to re-pair it to get it to connect again. seems to change passcode which i assume is what prevents the phone from automatically re-establishing the connection as happens with any other bluetooth device. seems like this is a well known recurring problem and nothing is being done about it. i’d email garmin support to complain but they don’t seem to provide any ability to do so!
only other gripe so far is that there is no last lap average HR display option (for running, assume also cycling) which seems like something obvious you want to see after an interval.
I am having the same issue with the phone pairing on my LG G3. Every time they are “away” from each other, the connection is lost and then I have to re-enter a password to connect again. Somewhat frustrating from an otherwise great watch. If you figure out a cure, let us know.
Do you know how to set the alarm to vibrate only. I’ve turned alerts to vibrate only but the alarm chirps still as well as vibrating. I run early morning and the wife gets annoyed……..
It’s on the fenix 2 so certainly something that exists in Garmin already. Do you think they’ll include separate alarms seems silly only to be able to program one alarm sometimes I want a lie in!
I know the Garmin Forum should be the place to ask the following… but I thought that some of the most advanced users of these kind of gadgets are on DCRainmaker’s page… so, here I am.
Just did my first swimming workout with the 920XT and there’s something that bothers me.
The watch (or just Garmin Connect, I don’t know) adds the rest time between intervals to calculate the average pace…
Is this normal? (I have the rest screen disabled, by the way… I don’t know if it matters, just info)
If I look at “avg pace” on my swim session I see the correct pace while swimming — excluding rest time.
I do however notice that Strava parses the avg pace differently with the 920xt than the Garmin Swim. In this case Strava is including the rest time (where it did not on the Garmin Swim).
Awesome, very thorough review thank you! I’m a stand up paddle board racer looking to upgrade my Forerunner 205. Many of us will take the watch and mount it to a Go Pro mount on to our boards(this way to be able to see it without breaking paddle stroke). My question is, in the Multi-sport mode or “other” as I currently use, will the 920 be able to give me accurate metrics like Vo2 Max and more importantly stroke rate and or cadence? Would swim or bike mode work better for stand up paddle? Although I do occasionally run and swim and certainly do gym workouts, SUP training would be my primary use for this unit. Having said that, the primary data I want are:
speed
stroke rate
cadence
V02 max
heart rate
So, do you think this watch would perform well for SUP? Thanks again!
Had to Google what that sport is. Speed & heart rate certainly OK. Cadence from the watch in running mode comes from detecting arm movements when worn on wrist so I would have thought wearing on wrist would be best for some chance of getting something there. Not sure what difference is between cadence & stroke rate in this instance. VO2 Max algorithm in running mode essentially correlates % of your HR max with running speed so any VO2 reading you might get would not be the same as for your sport. It might give you an idea relatively but equally what speeds do you achieve? If they are more than elite runners then the algorithm is likely to throw it out. Cycling mode would be no good as need a power meter and VO2 Max is not computable for swimming.
Ray, not sure if this question belongs here but since my 920xt just arrived today this is the best place I can think of. Do you see the ‘Badges’ section of Garmin Connect ever being expanded to include achievements from activities other than basic steps walked (i.e. runs under a certain time, distance cycled, etc)? Thanks!
Wow, thanks for the incredibly detailed review! Bought my wife a 920XT for Christmas based on it.
Given your attention to detail (and mine), I should point put a typo:
“This means that unlike some older multisport units, it’s highly **unlike** the band pins will break on the unit.”
1. Can you load courses via WIFI? It doesn’t seem to work for me. I have a course in GarminConnect, I choose SendToDevice and pick my 920. It seems to imply that wifi connection will work but it isn’t clear and then if I synch via wifi it transfers and then gives me a transfer complete (1 file error) and I can see my outbox on my garminconnect still has the course on it. I tried a few times and then eventually connected via USB and it worked fine. The manual actually seems to say you have to do it via USB (at least that is how the describe loading a course from garminconnect) but I wasn’t sure as you could synch courses via ANT before on 910. I notice that your original first look post stated that only “some” of the bluetooth features were available via wifi as well. Has anyone managed to load a course from garminconnect just by synching their watch using wifi? If it worked did you have to do anything special? As I say, works fine for USB
2. Is there a way to get the battery % remaining without plugging it into the charger?
1. You can load courses onto the 920 (that have been synched from those setup in your Garmin Connect account) from the Garmin Connect mobile app over Bluetooth. Not aware you can do over WiFi.
2. No afraid not – well apart of the battery gauge on the clock page of course.
1. I managed to upload courses via wifi. I did the course in GC and clicked on the “Send to Device” button and let the browser start Garmin Express. Then I pressed the wifi-sync button on the watch and after that I found the course on the watch. Bluetooth was disabled.
Interesting. For me it definitely claimed to be “transferring” something but then came up and said “transfer complete” but said there was 1 file error, which was the course. The course was one I created a few months ago for my 910 but I don’t see why that would matter.
Have my 920XT for three days now and did my first bike ride today.
For longer ascents I liked to use the data field “30s avg vertical speed” on my 910XT for estimating my actual power.
So I setup my 920XT also with the data fields “30s avg vertical speed” and “grade” which are both working almost perfect on the 910.
What I noticed on my ride today is that the data field “30s avg vertical speed” wasn’t showing any data at all, only “—.-“ for the complete 2h ride. The data field “grade” showed only nonsense. The grade was jumping from negative to positive values without any correlation to reality.
Anyone tried these data fields already or noticed the same strange behavior?
Am I missing something?
I did my ride with both the 910 and 920 and uploaded the activities to garmin connect:
920XT: link to connect.garmin.com
910XT: link to connect.garmin.com
(Glonass = off and intelligent recording)
Both tracks and elevation graph are looking good.
I was just going to make a similar comment. I wanted to use grade for an upcoming road race that I know is hilly, but I don’t have its exact elevation profile. So I was planning on running particular paces based on the grade. I did a test run today and the only grade numbers I ever saw were (-7, -8, 0, 7, 8, 12, 16). Now generally the signs were correct. But I don’t know if I was dreaming, hoping that I’d be able to see 1,2,3,4 on hills while running. Which I understand is trickier to do than cycling.
Ray, is it unrealistic to expect grade to work while running?
I’ve got the same issue with random grade indications. I’ve only checked for cycling, but it happens all the time. Feels like it is at 0 most of the time but every second jumps around like crazy. It might be possible that the average could be correct, but jumping around like -5, 0, 11, 0, 28, 0, -2, 0, 7, 0, 15,… every second is just useless and unacceptable.
I’m running the latest firmware upgrades (as of August 2015). This behavior is independent of location, weather and steepness of the road.
Maye the calculations are done with the most recent, unsmoothed GPS data instead of barometric data…
Anyways, I’ve sent more or less the same description to Garmin Support, specifying that I run the latest firmware. Answer from Garmin: please update your device… WOW thanks.
Anyone got more insights on the issue in the meantime?
Ray, I know it’s already more than one year, but did you have a chance do bring it up with Garmin? I have the same problem with grade field, it affects cycling, running, cycling and probably all other possible activities. I contacted Garmin and they told me to reset the device, which of course didn’t help. I found few similar posts on Garmin’s forum about the exact same problem, people are getting RMAs and getting new units with the same bug.
Trying to read all the comments and find my question and answer but I’m not having luck.
This is yet another watch doing the live tracking and the smart notification but in each previous watch there were always some catch. Like you couldn’t do live tracking if you were doing something else (cant remember) and you couldn’t do smart notifications if you were doing something else. There always seems to be limits either with bluetooth connections or something.
Does the 920 actually work as we would hope and expect? If I’m using it to track a run, HR monitor and live tracking will smart notifications also work?
Just a quick battery test report in case anyone is interested. I have been seeing battery drain during use that seemed higher than what I thought it should be. Yesterday, I ran for 5 hours from 100% battery in 1s GPS mode/1s recording mode (GLONASS disabled) with no bluetooth enabled and just with an ANT HR strap. I had activity tracking enabled. After 5 hours the battery showed that I had used about 35% (which seems a bit high for a 24 hour battery life).
Anyway, I charged it back up to 100% and put it out on the balcony. The temp was reasonably mild (about 15 degrees I guess) and it had a reasonable view of the cloudy sky. Probably not the perfect spot but it seemed to have a signal no problem. Below are the settings I used.
1s GPS mode
1s Recording mode
GLONASS Disabled
Activity Tracking totally disabled
No Sensors (HR strap deleted from sensor list)
Bluetooth disabled
Audible/Vibration alert every 25 mins
Backlight set to 8sec delay
Total Time: 20 hours 00 minutes 15 seconds
This is still a few hours short of 24 but seems a lot better than the performance I have had before which has pointed towards a 15-18 hours total battery life. I am going to try a few more tests with Smart recording and then with activity tracking enabled again and also with ultratrac. Would seem strange if Smart recording makes as big a difference as other people have seen but perhaps there is some reason that writing out a data point every second causes much higher battery drain than Smart mode. The manual does state to use Smart recording to maximize battery. I guess I will find out in about 20-24 hours :).
Just in watch/activity tracking mode (no bluetooth) I seemed to be getting roughly inline with what Garmin claim. I seemed to use about 20% of the battery in 6 days just wearing it as a watch, including me getting move alerts when sitting at my desk and me using the menus a bit during the day. That would come out to around 30 days total which isn’t too far shy of their suggested performance in that setup.
If anyone else has any other battery numbers to share it would be interesting to get an idea of how different settings are affecting battery life.
1s GPS mode
Smart Recording mode
GLONASS Disabled
Activity Tracking totally disabled
No Sensors (HR strap deleted from sensor list)
Bluetooth disabled
Audible/Vibration alert every 25 mins
Backlight set to 8sec delay
Total Time: 22 hours 40 minutes
Not too far away from their maximum and Im guessing the 25 minute alerts use a bit and perhaps the GPS signal is not perfectly strong given location with surrounding buildings and cloudy sky.
Good test! Turn off those alerts and sounds like will get virtually there. Interesting then that it seems Smart Recording is a must for a maximum battery life.
Yeah, I think the 55 vibrating alerts with 8 seconds of backlighting will get you closer to 24 hours. @Tim: While the smart recording is probably not the best bang for the buck, I could see how it could add a 10-20 minutes over such a long period of time.
Hi! Thanks for your time putting together another great review!
Can you confirm my understanding that the 920xt includes all the functionalities of the Garmin 510 especially in relation to the pairing with the Garmin Vector pedals (in terms of recording, calibration, display)? I’m essentially focused on cycling but also training for occasional tri and love the option to have all in one device.
Oh dear! the 920XT at 400 quid! Beware senior users.
My opinion (FWIW) Intro:-
If you are a “young” Triathlete – I’m sure this is the watch for you! But myself and two friends are 56, 58 and yours truly 62.
We are not elite runners although many years ago – not bad. We don’t do much swimming and bike mostly in the summer. We “Park Run” the 5K at about 25+. So my key area is running improvement.
I’ve only had the watch for a couple of weeks so its still under experimental conditions. The reason I mention my two colleagues is to offer x3 evidence, perhaps as a slightly better sample than just my own opinion.
Issues (that are probably of interest to older runners) :-
Metronome
I was hoping that this would be useful to tweak the beat /cadence towards gradual improvement.
Vedict – impossible to hear and almost impossible to feel the beat (regardless of how you have it beat or where you wear the watch). This is especially difficult when applied to northern winter distractions of wind, rain and traffic – absobloodylootlyuseless!
Dual use
Very occassionaly I could feel the beat of the metronome (usually) whilst stood still waiting for traffic. The beat feeling is the same as that from an alert – so I wasn’t sure if it was a beat or that I’d reached the mile marker. If the mile marker visual stayed on screen a bit longer I may have been able to deduce the answer. But that alert is gone in a flash (perhaps that’s tweakable).
I also had set up to run against yesterdays run. My little man would not appear on any screen, so I’m thinking that you cant have that and metronome at the same time.
Alerts on their own
These were poor for us codgers – The alert was short and easy to miss. For example I set a vibrate alert for mile markers and over 5 miles I missed two of them and (as I knew the distance measured from my cheap Nike sportswatch) I was anticipating, and therefore over-vigilant when it arrived. I doubt that I’d be as attentive when it whispered the 22 mile marker of a marathon to me. – verdict – very poor!
Readability
This is the ability of an older athlete to see and read the data on the screen without running wearing reading spectacles!. Now here, to be fair, it is not possible to single out the 920XT with the task of creating a wrist mounted ipad, but as a new state of the art device costing £400 I do think a better effort could have been made. Perhaps the younger athletes currently make up the lions share of the customer base, but I cant help thinking that some designer might benefit from offering a prototype with bigger fonts to someone over 40 as a start. Maybe even 1 piece of info per screen might be a start. Verdict – no better than previous models and some cheaper watches available that are easier to see.
Plus
I like the way it downloads data to PC automatically – although this is a also a feature of less expensive watches
Summary
Firstly this is only a first impression and the watch is only a few weeks old. So there are many untested features. Although I fail to see how these shortcomings can be improved.
It’s a nice looking watch and keeps very good time (I’m struggling here!!)
If I had the chance to get my £400 back – I would do that in a heartbeat – this is too much money for a watch that falls well short of my requirements.
I have downloaded a free app that beats BPM as loud as I like in my ears – impossible to miss. I can also have my playlist played at my BPM. This is where us aged runners gain over the elite athletes. This is because some favourite tunes are still distinguishable at 160 BPM although I concede difficult to sing along with. (The 1812 overture sounds a bit more like Gunfight at the OK Corral !). So my metronome is now unrequired as well as useless.
So I would suggest:-
Buy a cheap or second hand watch from Ebay
Download free audio stuff for your phone
Get a bigger turkey for Christmas
To think that for the last few months we were all jumping up and down awaiting the arrival of this bummer (“coming to an ebay near you next year for about 150 quid!”).
@Geoff.
I haven’t used the metronome feature, so can’t comment on that.
Alerts: Exactly how long do you want them to stay? I often get annoyed with the alerts because they’re on for too long.
Visibility: You’re kidding right? Name one sport watch that has a better display. I find the e-ink quality of the 920xt to be so clear that I feel it’s looks like a fake sticker. You can also set as many fields if you like. If you can’t see just the information with just 1 field, then I can’t believe anything other then a smart phone sized screen will work.
I know many triathletes your age and older who can use devices much harder to see and use then the 920.
Thanks Olu,
I was careful not to blame 920XT for the vision issues and highlighted the fact that it was a global thing. Most older people have age relation vision issues – for example those that reading glasses fix. I’m lucky to have some expensive progressive lens Oakleys which help. But I have observed older athletes almost coming to a halt or bumping into things whilst trying to read a watch. My joke about the iPad mirrors you smart phone alternative.
It’s just an observation about vision v older people issues that in my opinion could be addressed better and if it means a smart phone sized watch – bring it on!
Geoff
@Geoff: I’m 66, so I empathise with your visibility issues. I am an experienced runner, and in the last few years I have become attuned to increasing my running cadence to improving my running efficiency. I find the metronome idea useless (unlike in swimming, where it very effectively sets a pre-arranged tempo) in running, likely due to micro terrain and other footing related issues that throws off foot strikes. Far better is to set a close approximation in your intended running, and have the footpod send back your actual cadence averaged over the last few footstrikes. With this set-up I have successfully trained and modified my running mechanics to achieve consistently higher cadence which I can now maintain, and which I can approximate on my own, with the foot-pod to confirm in real time. This has really paid off in competition.
Now, how to display or register the cadence information? The Garmin watches do a decent job of displaying cadence information, just as they do for HR and speed etc. However, this information is a little awkward to read while running, especially for those with vision issues. I can do it well enough to get by, and it’s not that I need to look at it constantly. However, there is a brilliant product, the Sportiiii made by 4iiiis Innovations that addresses this. Ray has reviewed this product thoroughly, but the short story is that it is a module mounted on your sunglasses that displays a linear array of 7 LED’s in front of one eye that you have previously calibrated to convey information about HR, pace, cadence etc., each LED in the array corresponding to a specific range in your set-up. In addition, there is also an audio update in your ear repeating this information at regular intervals. Might be worth your consideration.
Thanks sclim, I’m going to investigate that LED gismo.
Many years ago when I was in the Royal Navy (Rugby) we just put shoes on and ran! My heart tells me I’m still great, but my body says the tank is empty! Got to be careful as I keep getting calf muscle spasms (much pain)
Lots of good advice here telling me cadence measurement may not be the way. So I’m going to try running against the little man (which was me yesterday). By the way – I will stick with the watch as I’m sure as I get more used to the 920XT the pain of minus 400 quid and a smaller turkey will be forgotten before the next Great North Run.
Still can’t help thinking data fed to my earphones would be a real bonus.
Thanks
Geoff
Great suggestion – thanks. Reading about the Sportiiii I think it would be a useful partner for me and my 920XT, however, as usual it will probably be obsolete before it hits the UK stores !!
Geoff
Does anyone know if this watch can use the Wahoo TiCKR X (also comes with vertical oscillation, ground contact time etc) as if it’s using Garmin’s HRM-Run strap? Will the real time run metrics shows as well and be able to be recorded into Garmin Connect?
Problem with Wahoo TICKR X appears that you need to use their iphone apps to see run metrics.
Great review. is the 920 easier to read while running than the fenix 2. Love my fenix 2 but I do find it a little hard to read. Pointed out the VIP code to the wife (thanks for the 10%) shipped to the UK in 4 days. Just can’t use it until the 25th
Hi Geoff, at 71 I guess I might qualify as an old codger. Metronome, if you have been running for any amount of time, why would you want to use that? I never have been too concerned with cadence, when I was a young guy in my early 40’s I was running 17-18’s 5K’s36/-37 min 10K’s, etc, I never knew or cared what my cadence was. I figured out the faster I could run, I guess my cadence must have been faster.
I think the screens on the 920 are the best I have experienced. I won’t dare tell you the number of different brand running watches I have used over the years and I don’t recall a screen that is much better, even to my older eyes.
You can arrange the screens to only show 1 data point per screen- if you can’t see that, just be careful out on the roads:(.
I have never run with audio/music. One of the reasons I run is to get away from the “noise”. I guess that not listening for cadence or BPM has allowed me to hear and feel my auto mile alerts. I spent 21 years in the Army( including Vietnam Nam) and heard a lot of loud noises. Guess I am fortunate that I can still hear the alerts.
I mention for street credibility that I have run over 81,000 miles over the last 38 years and love the new devices. Actually I run most of the time with 1 screen. Lap pace/distance and heart rate. I smile when I glance at the data, most times my own intuitiveness from running all those miles has me pretty close in all 3 areas.
Continue to run, enjoy your journey, and remember, there is no finish line( well the cemetery I guess. :(
Thanks for your advice Nick. I spent 30 years in the Royal Navy (Fleet Air Arm) and if I’m honest jet engine noise and gun fire have not helped my cause.
I’ve not been able (yet) to find out how to display 1 item of data per screen. I can see how that would be useful if you got a bigger font in place of the other two items. I have been able to delete screens that I don’t require (laps and calorie). So I’ll keep trying. For a vision issue example – I can just about see the time on the clock screen without specs but the date and steps need the specs and on the run – forget it!
Thanks a lot for your help
Geoff
Quick question on the quick release strap: Can you crack out your callipers and add the thickness of the 920xt with and without the quick release kit please?
would you ware the 920 day to day with the quick release? I commute by bike so would be great to use this but if it makes the watch clunky all day long!
Hmm. I can ask. On the mobile interface, it does show there. On the desktop interface, I suppose one could press the ‘End’ button, which would result in the same. I’ll ask.
So, after a few days and a couple of workouts with my new 920XT I can say that I am happy.
My polar v800 is going onto eBay as soon as I get around to gathering all the bits together.
I do have really only one gripe with the 920XT. As a watch to wear day in day out… It just looks out of place at work. Whereas my colleagues in the office never asked about or stared at my V800, they all notice the 920XT. I am sick of explaining what it is, and what triathlon is etc etc…!
Hello Oisin. Have you found out any more information about using the wahoo RPM with the 920xt? Or maybe DC Rainmaker has? Hope to hear back! Looking for a way to track spinning class sessions with the 920xt
I replaced my 920xt with a Fenix3 many months ago….mostly just because I prefer the look of the Fenix.
The RPM works just fine with my Fenix, so it should be the same with the 920xt.
Here I was about to order the watch but it doesnt have a temperature sensor!? Unfortunately just because its not a big deal for some its a big deal for me. I need it for hiking and swimming. Now i dont know if i should wait for the Fenix 3 or just buy the Fenix 2? I keep hearing problems with the Fenix 2 and the battery life isnt all that great.
So, after a few days and a couple of workouts with my new 920XT I can say that I am happy.
My polar v800 is going onto eBay as soon as I get around to gathering all the bits together.
I do have really only one gripe with the 920XT. As a watch to wear day in day out… It just looks out of place at work. Whereas my colleagues in the office never asked about or stared at my V800, they all notice the 920XT. I am sick of explaining what it is, and what triathlon is etc etc…!
Oisin, flaunt your fitness! Be proud of your fitness. I love it when folks ask about my running and my red/white 920. I find it an opportunity to possibly motivate those people to start moving more. Not sure where you live, but in the US, obesity is a problem that seems to be increasing. If it didn’t effect the cost of medical care and cause me to sometimes be squashed when sitting next to a 300 pounder on a plane I would try to ignore the issue. Wear your 920 with pride. A fit office/ outfit is often more productive and can cut the costs of medical coverage, which may lead to more money in each employees pocket.
Hi Long Run Nick & others
Looks like I managed to post only half my comment, yet multiple times….. err sorry about that.
What I wanted to go on to say in my post above was that I really love the activity tracker & I really really love the smart notifications – therefore I went and ordered a smart watch (LG G Watch R) to wear when I am not training.
I will keep and love my 920XT for all my training use but use the Android Wear watch at work. The data will come together in Google Fit.
Regarding flaunting fitness etc… in my line of work (middle manager in a multinational) it’s sometimes better not to flaunt a very time consuming hobby….
I just got this 1week ago. The Activity Tracker doesn’t seem reliable for counting my steps (eg. when sitting in a moving vehicle / sitting still at a desk, the counter still increases). I understand no HRM-RUN strap required. What is the technology, and how accurate for u?
Also, how do u customise the # data fields per screen? I could do this easily on my Edge 500, but on this, each Screen had a fixed # fields and I can only change each field, instead of increase to say 4.
Great review DC, I’ve recently purchased the 920xt based on this review and on the whole I’m very pleased with it, although the GPS accuracy seems to be out, I was hoping for some help if possible. This weekend I did my usual park run, it is a 3 lap circuit each measuring a mile with an additional bit on final lap to take it to 3.1 miles or 5k.
The device is showing as 2.85 miles total or an 8% discrepancy (which seems a lot to me and effects numbers considerably). I had GLONASS on. The first lap seems correct @ 0.99 miles, then second lap is less and third less still.
Looks like that activity is private. Ray & I ran together for 12 miles yesterday in Central London (see his latest weekend post) and we were only 0.04 miles different with our respective 920s – far closer than the other devices we took out. Without seeing your activity looks like the GPS tracking had some problems after the first lap.
Thanks a lot for your reply Tim. I thought I had opened Garmin Connect settings to allow public visibility or is this a setting per activity that I need to adjust?
Did you both have GLONASS enabled I presume? Central london likely has about as much GPS obstruction as the route I did, as it was moderately forested (albiet winter cover).
From research I done the vast majority of people not having any accuracy issues, so either some user fault of mine or potentially a faulty unit?
I had it enabled on mine, I don’t know if Tim did on his. In general, buildings are far more difficult than trees. Where most people get in trouble with trees and satellite coverage (in general) isn’t actually the trees themselves, but what are usually twisty trails/paths. Especially double-check that you don’t have Smart Recording enabled in that case.
After less than one week with the 920, my 620 heads out to its new owner today via an eBay sale. The 920 is far superior, this review is spot on, and Ray I would be surprised if in fact this watch doesn’t become your primary running watch as you said you are contemplating. Comfort, readability, features, satellite lock time, accuracy, I have found everything to be far superior despite only having run with it once due to Dr ordered rest to repair a compressed nerve in my foot. I wondered why I would want phone notifications on my watch, and it has proven awesome as I’m not whipping my iPhone out every time it buzzes anymore. Looking forward to healing and getting back out there with this new long term companion.
I kind of feel is it like running shoes – same days you want flats for fast running/races. Some days you want more cushioning and/or more grip. Is the 920 is the best “all rounder” – yes probably. Is it the smallest, lightest and easiest to change screens at high speeds – no – the 620 still is. I am wearing both at the moment although admit have hooked the 920, and not now the 620, to the Garmin Connect app so the 920 will tend to make it into Strava. So I would not dismiss the 620 out of hand for all purposes – and indeed some days I have actually had better “accuracy” with my 620.
Tim, I never had better accuracy with the 620 than I have with my 920 ! You’re lucky ! ;-) Never mind, the 620 isn’t mine anymore. I’ve sold it three days ago. I’m just happy with just my 920 .
Any idea how I could get informations coming from my Tacx software (TTS 4 with Tacx Genius) to the 920?
By info I mean km and speed datas or more (like elevation) in case of real videos.
Thanks for the answer
Unfortunately, no method at this point. The Tacx (non-Smart versions) doesn’t rebroadcast any of the ANT+ signals. It’s always said it’d be trivial for them to do that with the TTS4 software itself, and at worst someone would have to buy another $30 USB stick if they were short on channels (most are 8-channel now, so it wouldn’t really be a problem).
If anyone is curious I’ve posted pics of the 920 with the replacement coloured bands (straps) on the forum at link to forums.garmin.com. For some reason the Garmin shop doesn’t show them on the watch. They look good although the colour accent on the watch face kind of messes up the colour scheme.
Thanks, very useful as I’ve just had a Red/White and extra straps delivered to my sister-in-law in Phoenix this week and will be getting them as a Christmas present :) I’d been planning to go for red/white/blue and now definitely think we will.
Ray, you may, or may not, find this interesting. I just moved from a 620 with standard garmin heart rate strap (non-run) to a 920 with the run haert rate strap. I found that the recovery time was much more realistic with my 620. I am a fat guy at 265 lbs so maybe the algorithms are not designed for the obese but i have been working out every day for the past 4months in an attempt to get healthy. the 620 always gave a recovery time of ~20-24 hours. That seemed right because i have been doing it for so long and dont feel like i am pushing myself too hard. The 920 is giving me recovery times over 60 hours! It is like the 920 wants to keep me fat!
Unfortunately, the recovery time on the FR920XT does take a while to normalize. It’s not so much the strap (which are identical in algorithms), as that the 920XT seems to be a much slower learner there.
Although I do like the 920 I find myself missing sport specific alerts. I’d like to pre-configure 400yd swim, 1 mi run, and 1 hr bike alerts for example. I haven’t been able to find this, so I assume it’s not available. But in case I missed something I wanted to throw it out there to see if it’s available on the 920?
It is all there. You just have to go the the specific sport profile and and select “Activity Settings”->”Alerts”->”Add New” There you can add all kinds of alerts, including repeating time/distance alerts as well as one time custom alerts or alternating run/walk alerts, hr and pace zone alerts etc.
Go to the activity:
Activity Settings > Alerts > Add New > Choose alert > Customize alert
The thing I like better about the 920 is that you can have multiple time alerts and name them what you want. You can also have auto lap for distance AND alerts for distance as well.
I have a Quarq Riken and from your review of it you suggest manual calibration before every ride and 20 minutes into a ride. Does the 920 allow you to do this?
Ray – did you notice that if you stop an activity but wait a few minutes before you save it your Recovery Heart Rate is displayed? I found out on accident one day and luckily I did because I was about to try and teach myself to write a program to do it. Not sure how many people track that stat but having the watch do it after stopping the activity helps from throwing off average pace like previous watches. In theory it should work with every activity. I only noticed a few days ago, however I’ve used it on a strength training activity set that I created plus a few runs.
And on a fair number of other Garmins – definitely the 620, and I’m pretty sure the 610 and 310xt did that too. It’s recorded in the FIT file, but annoyingly few programs/websites will pull that stat out for you. (SportTracks on the PC using OMB’s fit file reader instead of the built-in one will).
Well I have had my 920 for six days. Two gym workouts, two runs, one bike and I went for a swim the fist time today. After the swim, my 920 fell out of my gym bag onto the tile floor in the locker room and the screen cracked. It is enough to make a grown man cry! It fell no more than 3 ft! so two questions. 1) Am I correct in assuming that it is no longer water proof so if I do take it in the pool again it will get damaged. 2) How do I get the screen fixed… I’ll call garmin in the morning but just wondering if I am being unreasonable in assuming that the watch should be able to withstand that sort of fall and has anyone else had issues with the screen…. I am so bummed :(
That’s very annoying. I tend to keep mine on my wrist during the day to avoid that happening. Somebody on the Garmin forums said their screen had a crack in it but could not work why and he said he had not dropped it. He managed to get the vendor to replace it. As such you can only ask.
In case anyone was interested. I called garmin. They said it is usually $110 to tepair but because it was only 6 days old the will replace it for free. I even get a new one because it is so new the dont have “recoditioned” ones. That is great customer service!
JUst recieven my Unit yesterday, and was surprised how relative large it is – I guess I have lady-like wrists! (the rest of me sure istn’t).
A question about the recovery/Vo2Max estimations:
Will using my Scosche HRM for some runs throw off the watch completely, or does it recognize that the data is bad? I don’t mind running with the HRM-RUN for my more intensive runs, but for the everyday-easy-runs I am staying with the Scosche for sure.
VO2 Max/Recovery advisor only needs HR and not the running dynamics stuff from the HRM-Run so think that ought to work. Not too sure how well the Scosche now does R-R HR sampling however which certainly did impact calories initially but I think a software update from Scosche largely resolved that.
I’m pretty sure that VO2 max and Recovery is determined by HR variability. The more accurate the R-R sampling, the more accurate these values will be.
As it stands, R-R intervals can’t be very reliable with a peripherally measured pulse. The pulse (measured by these optical monitors) is an increase in blood flow from a heart contraction and this wave of blood is recorded by the monitor as a heart beat. Between the heart and the pulse is literally yards of blood vessels, many of which can change their diameter based on a myriad of factors. In addition the distance the blood has to travel from the heart is dynamic depending on the position of your arm. So even in a perfectly healthy athlete, the wave of blood may get to the sensor milliseconds later even if the actual HR is the same. The faster the HR the harder it is to pick up the HR variability and those milliseconds will make a significant difference. So for intense runs, I think you’ve got it right using the HR-Run (which measures the electrical activity of the heart). During less intense runs, the Scosche may work, but could still produce some abnormal results.
Only thing to do is try and let us know how it works
Yeah suggest give it a go. For sure, if in any doubt, use the supplied HRM-Run (well if you took up that option of course). I think VO2 Max is less dependent on R-R variability and more on actual absolute values as, in simple terms, the algorithm is trying to see what pace you can achieve at a given % of max HR.
The impression I have from using a Rhythm+ with a Forerunner 620 is that the VO2 max values were pretty similar to those from the HRM-RUN, but training effect was way down and recovery times were shorter than they should be.That included workouts from fairly gentle runs up to running a half marathon PB.
@Dom, then recovery times using the Rhythm+ were probably right lol! I find the recovery times to be off. I’ve had it tell me recovery time of xx hours and then do my second workout minutes later and the recovery check given a few minutes in the workout says “Good”.
I take all these numbers with a grain of salt. While interesting, they’ve got a long way to go before they should be used as a true guidelines.
As others have noted, it can vary. Recovery metrics tends to be most impacted by optical sensors, but it really varies by both person and even run. Wearing duplicate devices/straps I’ll see some runs where the two will be virtually identical (within an hour) and yet other runs where they’ll be far off (100+ hours difference).
@Olu, quite possibly so, but I would say that if a half marathon as hard (for me) as this was has a training effect less than 5, then there’s something awry with the scale!
That generated a VO2max of 51, pretty consistent with the VO2max values of 49-50 it’s been giving me with the HRM-RUN.
With you on the grain of salt, though. The Rhythm+ robustly gives me the key things of the relationship between pace and HR, and recovery rate at the end of the workout, and it’s so much nicer to use for me than a chest strap that I’m not at all bothered about losing precision on the other numbers.
One other point: I also use the Rhythm+ with a Suunto Ambit2, and Movescount derives a respiration rate from the R-R data. That matches up pretty well with breathing rates I’ve noted while running (when I’m exhaling on footstrike, that’s easy to get from cadence). I don’t have any data from really hard runs for that yet, though.
Thank you all for your answers.
I decided on sacrificing my chest for a week and used the HRM-RUN for all my runs (all easy), and the watch quite nailed my vo2MAX after a few runs (I apparently have some work to do to get my PRs lined up though …).
One thing I noticed though is that my recovery check at the start of runs is allways “good” (even coming right from a Pool session with my PT which didn´t leave me feeling rested for sure).
I am generally extremely pleased with the watch, the only two gripes I would have currently is
a. Looking at single intervals on the watch after a Pool workout produces 0’s in all the fields (the summaries and the data on GC is all ok)
b. The GPS needs a lot longer to lock in than it admits. If I turn the watch on just as I leave the door the distances will be wonky for a long long time (half an hour or so at least), though the averages usually line up (for example back-to-back kilometers of 3.30 and 6.30 where the cadence, HR, grade and everything else stays put). If I let it aquire sattelites at a window before taking off (like I allways did with the FR410) it works really well though.
Ok – getting used to the 920xt now. So cold here so rejoined gym for winter just for treadmill. I run, indoor row and summer bike. My goal is to get as close to 2 hours for the Great North Run (half marathon) – tall order for me (2:24 last year). I am a bit motivated by the techno toys – so my question is – any advice on which external packages to subscribe to. I know for example Strava is about £40/yr – is it any good or is something else better. I know you might ask me what I want it for – so as a returner to training (after some years off) – I’m not sure – except to be able to monitor and manage my progress. I’d really appreciate some guidance here. Oh by the way I like to do my own thing when training so I’ve not joined a running club.
Thanks
Geoff (920 owner!!!)
I would say Strava is a good choice if you want motivation – for comparing your own runs against yourself and others, both for smaller segments, and for the whole route (something they just released today). And it offers challenges which are crazy addictive. I found myself running 70K in a week a couple of weeks ago, just to get the chance of buying a T-Shirt if I completed it. I did complete it, and I bought the overpriced T-Shirt and paid shipping from the US (I’m in the UK)! Crazy but I really find it get’s me out when I have these sorts of motivations.
Starve doesn’t offer training plans, though it does include some useful tools for monitoring performance, however they are most useful for cycling with a power meter if you have one. Strava is still mostly focussed on cycling I think, though they have good running support, however swimming is definitely a low third.
The main win on Strava though is the social aspect – everyone seems to get on it and you soon start to receive and give out ‘Kudos’ which is also strangely motivational. I sometimes think about the “Kudos” I am going to receive when grinding up a particularly hard hill :)
If you are looking for a more technical type of site then I like Training Peaks too – primarily because of it’s Performance Manager chart – see here link to home.trainingpeaks.com – which is great for monitoring the overall picture and has stats for Run/Swim and Bike and treats them more or less equally.
Finally Garmin Connect is free and is actually pretty good for all sports and is slowly getting better. The way I work things is everything goes into GC first and then I auto-sync them to Strava and TP.
Hope that helps and I am sure Ray and others will have plenty of other opinions too :)
Ian, thanks for taking the time delivering the advice. I will investigate them all. I am a free member of Strava – am I right in thinking you need to pay to have the useful part.
Geoff
Only Garmin Connect as far as I know. There are only a few training plans in GC – but you can edit them (by adding a plan, then editing or adding workouts using the calendar) so you can tune them to your needs.
Hey Geoff, not sure what you meant by mentioning you won’t join a running club because you like to do your own thing. I have found it pretty easy to do both.
Suggest you look into getting a running coach, can be a big help.
You mentioned too cold to train outside, not sure where you live, but unless it is freakishly cold, get on outside, just beware of penal frostbite.
You get plenty of the motivational stuff (comparing rides/runs) etc with the free one. With Premium you get the extra stuff listed here: link to strava.com. If I was to pick the most useful stuff from that list I’d say Suffer Score (sorta fun), Filtered Leaderboards (I don’t feel so bad when I compare myself to other overweight old folks!), the analysis tools, training videos, and trophy case. Which actually seems like a pretty decent list for the money I guess.
I just got both and my assessment is yes. I wrote reviews to compare both watches at Amazon and you can decide for yourself. If you’ve not already invested on lots of BLE devices, I’d go for 920.
Hi likes Yours reviewes an reads them over än over :-)
But i cant find a answer to a question so now i try here and hop for a answer from You :-)
Can fr920xt do this, indoor duathlon mode whit transition there i want to do two workouts that i have created and uploaded to the watch, one for bike and on for running?
Hope You understand my questions.
Not quite – you can create a new Multisport Activity for Duathlon with Indoor Bike, then Indoor Run and turn on transitions and you can create workouts on Garmin Connect for bike and run but you can’t use workouts inside of the multipart activity as far as I can see :(
I wonder if someone could help me with a 920xt issue. I have difficulties connecting with bluetooth. I noticed that I can connect with WiFi but not with both. It seems as if you have WiFi on, the bluetooth will not sync or connect. Does anyone have that issue?? Thus, I have not been able to sync my workouts with the mobile app since. it is not a deal breaker, but I just want to be sure I am doing things right.
Thank you.
Edgar
Reboot your watch if you have Bluetooth issues! I was having Garmin Connect Tracking issues and then I couldn’t connect to my ANT+ sensors. Tried removing and adding all devices (waste of time), but after a quick reboot of the watch everything worked great again.
So any thoughts if Connect IQ is likely to add features like tides, moon phase, etc. found on outdoor-experience watches like the Fenix or Ambit? It looks like in theory it could, but not sure how much they’d allow that kind of duplication. (I’m looking for a great multisport watch that still has some of the outdoor versatility.)
I’d expect we’ll see a diverse set of app, including exactly those. We’re really only talking next month for when it’s scheduled to hit availability, and they just refreshed into Preview 2 of their SDK last week.
Looking at the SDK there doesn’t seem to be any non-technical restriction over the display of a watch face and what you want to do to it – and those fields are available so I don’t see any issue in creating something that looked exactly like the Fenix or Ambit watch display (unless Suunto kicked up a fuss)
Hello Ray, I’ve been using the FR920XT for a few days and am very happy with it. I also decided to let go of the FR620. One question for you, for the first two runs, it appears the HRM-RUN gives higher heart rate reading for the first 10 minutes (20 beats higher than normal), and then falls back to normal. Do you know of any reasons? Is there anything I need to do? I did not notice the same problem with the HRM coming with the FR620. Thanks!
Are you wetting the strap? Perhaps also applying some gel or liquid soap (as I do)? Is the strap snug? Can help to slightly wet your top where you wear the HR strap especially if your clothes can create static.
Cannot seem to find an answer or work this out. I would like to be able to pause an open water swim. E.g. we swim to a beach wait for everyone then swim back, the waiting on the beach I would like to pause. Your article suggests that auto pause is available in all activities but I don’t seem to see it in open water swim. Alternatively I could just arrive at the beach, let the timer run, and just as we leave the beach use the lap function so I can at least record how fast I swam the return leg. Although this means my swim leg on the way there is swim + wait on beach.
Any ideas how to auto pause an open water swim, or even better just pause (like in pool swim). I could set up a new open water swim profile based on the pool swim profile and turn on GPS, would this work?
If you don’t want to/need to time your “rest” on the beach, you could just stop the timer when you want to “pause” and start it again when you get going again.
Thanks Tim. By stop the timer do you mean press ‘Enter’ and then rather than saving / discard the activity I select resume?
I would like to be able to time the return leg of the swim as this is usually a fun race, hence I would have to press Enter to resume, then hit lap and then swim?
Yes Enter then keep it on there until ready to Resume.
It might just be simpler to do the out and back as 2 separate activities however?
As an analogy, I often keep my warm up to a (running) race or track session as a separate activity to the race/session proper.
So I’ve tried the ENTER then leave it on RESUME, albeit by accident, but it seems that it doesn’t restart with the mileage as it was. It’s like you decided not to save it. I did this in the pool, so maybe it doesn’t work when you have it on Pool mode, only when it’s on GPS? If so it would work for running too, I tried the Auto Pause, but usually it doesn’t pause before I start running again, so it’s really useless.
Thanks for your help and the tip. I’ll give it a try.
When the data loaded into Garmin Connect, what did it show?
I believe that if you press Enter, and then Resume in Pool Swim, it automatically makes a lap. And I think the default screen for Pool Swim shows Lap Distance, not Distance.
For the first part, it’s been a while since I “tested” that “feature” (also by accident). But I’m pretty sure that’s what I remember coming out.
I can’t test the second part as I know that on my Pool Swim, I have the distance field as Lap Distance. But I don’t remember if it is the default. But double check if your field is set for Lap distance or Distance.
Does anyone know if its possible to see trainingeffect as you go….. On my Suunto I have an app that does that for me… That way I know I cant stop before I reach TE 4.
Hi Ray,
just got my 920xt and I’m still far to find out all his functions. Anyway a negative thing that I’ve noted is the intensity of the vibration alert! Is it tunable or it’s that soft?? Well, while you run you can feel it (but not as well as the 910 or 310) but if I set an alert during my swimming training I will never be able to fell the vibration!!!
I definitely agree, been using mine or a week and so far love it, vibrations AND beep volumes are weaker than my FR220 though. Would love to see a way to up the volume as well, it would help when running with traffic going by.
Ray,
Almost 0.2mile difference between local treadmill and 920xt over 4 miles (distance ran). Not sure which is correct – although I don’t have a shoe pod yet.
Now for a real rookie question – can I see speed in mph or do I have to stick with pace.
Thanks for all your excellent help
Geoff
Yes you can change the Data Screen field to show Speed instead of pace – with the Data Screen displayed hold down the … button to get the shortcut menu > Edit Data Fields > Select the field to change > Speed Fields > Speed :)
And on the treadmill, that’s actually better than I typically get. I’d trust the treadmill in that case. I generally don’t find the accuracy great on the 920XT for treadmill runs (sans footpod).
Just got into doing Tri’s this year and completed my first sprint Tri in June. I want to move up to an Olympic for next year so I started to look into serious training and training devices. Great review of the 920XT. My wife just purchased the 910XT for me on Black Friday. Is it worth me taking that back and upgrading to the 920XT? I apologize if you’ve already addressed this question. I tried looking through all the comments and didn’t see anything or i just plain missed it if you did. Thanks in advance.
Honestly, if it’s your first tri – I think I’d probably stay where you are with the 910XT and enjoy it for the season before seeing where things stand next year once you get into the sport a bit more. Just my two cents.
It’ll be my second Tri. I finished 53’d out of 169 over all in my first one back in June of this year. My running and swimming need A LOT of work. I haven’t even opened the 910 yet as it’s a X-mass present. I was just trying to gauge if it was worth the extra money to get the 920 as I do plan to wear which ever one I end up getting/keeping as my daily “watch”.
Return the 910XT. :) I used the 910XT in October and promptly returned it when I received my 920XT in November! More customizable, daily step tracking, Smart Notifications, Tracking, screen is MUCH better. Hurry, now!
Just as a heads up to others, Garmin released a beta firmware update today for the FR920XT. This does three key items:
1) They made changes to the way the barometric altimeter, that the believe should alleviate the issues I saw.
2) It adds initial Connect IQ support for data fields and watch faces. This is basically for developers only right now. Some details here: link to forums.garmin.com – Again, this isn’t yet for regular users unless you have compiled code.
3) It adds the Ski/Snowboard mode found on the Garmin Fenix series lineup.
Just a heads up for those thinking of installing the BETA. It seems to break Sleep mode in so much as the option to turn it on is not available in the shortcut menu. You could always sign into GC and add the sleep hours later but that is a bit of a PITA.
Apart from that not seen any other issues as yet. Keep your eye on this forum post though: link to forums.garmin.com
I tried the 2.57 beta firmware last night for skiing as I was planning on backcountry skiing today. We went 5 miles total distance w/approximately 3200 ft elevation gain/drop, however unfortunately the ski mode on 920xt reported only 1.43 miles (likely less than just the downhill portion) and 4k steps, though my buddy’s vivofit on same trip recorded 8k steps. (By the way is there any method to “add” steps to the device to keep a more average activity level?). So it appears the ski/board mode only tracks downhill, ignored the trail/hike up unfortunately. Would be quite nice to have a “backcountry ski/board option” like mapmyrun does as my guess is a higher proportion of the buyers of this watch “earn” their turns by hiking than the general skiiing/boarding population in general. Also, next time I’ll try the “hike” profile I set up, but I presume that will overestimate the downhill activity portion. Also, this could be associated with the beta firmware upgrade, but I’ve now lost my ability to receive notifications from iPhone on the watch, and while the phone shows it is bluetooth connected, the watch says it needs a bluetooth connection. Have tried the turn off both devices and airplane mode toggle on the iPhone to no avail. Will make these comments to forerunner.beta at garmin.com address. Ray thanks for the awesome review, based on this we have now purchased 5 of these 920xt’s, one for the wife and me, two for neighbors and one for a sister!
Hi Ray and others who have helped me,
Still having trouble getting alerted – can i turn up the intensity also don’t seem to get a sound, just mild vibration – what am I doing wrong.
Thanks again
Geoff
Ray, loving my 920 for outdoor runs, I have yet to use it for indoor. Assuming funds aren’t an issue, would you recommend buying a foot pod to get the most out of accuracy for treadmill runs which will most likely be numerous once the weather get nasty.
If i am swimming in a pool that is outside, is it best to swim in pool mode or open water. Thanks DC rainmaker, i ordered this cause of you and will continue to support you through the purchase links you provide. Best reviews around.
So this morning I tried to do two things that apparently didn’t work together. But I don’t know if this is a bug or “by design”.
I configured 3, 2-field screens that I wanted to auto-scroll. I also enabled “Training Target” of distance and time. But when I started my activity (running), the screen did not auto-scroll.
Later today, I will try auto-scroll without training target, to see if that works.
Well on re-test without a training target, and I got the same results. So I changed the auto-scroll from medium to fast. Then it worked. I switched it back to medium, and it is working now.
Ray I know in your review you suggest a footpod is great for the treadmill. Do you have more comprehensive results (with a without it) now that some time has passed? With the weather about to turn and the necessity to run mileage on the treadmill I’d like to know if it’s worth the $50 or so for the footpod, and if I’ll get the data I like on my watch (vo2, cadence, etc). Many thanks.
If you are going to run regularly on a treadmill, a foot pod is definitely the best way to go if you want to record your run similar to what the treadmill says. For best results you will need to calibrate it and ideally at similar pace to the majority of your runs.
Yup, and – for continued testing a treadmill run I did last week continued to show it wasn’t terribly accurate without a footpod. On 2.4 miles (it was designed as a short test), it measured 2.1. And really, that was more dumb luck, since it was highly over in some areas and highly under in others.
Footpod ordered thank you. Now I have two days until it gets here to read your review and instructions if you have one available. I ordered the newest Garmin version
Just got my 920XT, replacing my V800. Got 1 question, for notifications to work do I need to keep the Connect app open and in the background all the time? It just seems to connect only when the app is open.
Hi luyi_pr – I also replaced my V800 with a 920XT.
Regarding the app, when I restart my phone the notifications work without me having to fiddle with the app. I don’t believe you should need to do anything to get the notifications to appear.
Are you using an iPhone or an Android phone?
Does the quick release kit work with the original 920xt blue black red white bands? With the 910xt it had to be used with a black band only that came with the kit.
Ah actually no – I just saw a price and “Processing time is 1–3 business days” and assumed that meant they were wanting to sell you one. Madison link to madison.co.uk are the UK distributors and list it. Suggest sending them a message.
Hi Ray, I bought mine at Clever tTraining and giving thanks to your excelent review. I’ve tried to Sync with WKO+ 3 but the device is no compatible with the software, do you have any information about an update to fix it?
The new beta version includes the ski/board mode from the Fenix (I love this!).
How does this integrate with the virb camera? Does it stop recording when you go on the lift and start when going downhill? Or just record the entire time and you have to start/stop manually?
I’m considering buying an action camera, and if it works automatically the virb is looking pretty good.
What are you guys finding that is a good compatible quick release mount for a mountain bike and TT bike for the 920xt? I would like to have mounts on my bikes to be able to use my watch for all my rides, swim and run with out a lot of hassle.
I’ve noticed an issue in regards to notifications with an iPhone. When the phone has been in your pocket long enough to require pin entry to unlock, you stop getting notifications. And only when you enter the pin you get these notifications.
Does anybody a workaround to this issue? It’s quite annoying as I was expecting a call today and I went on a bike ride and I missed the notification. I think I only got notifications the first 15 minutes of the ride and then after that it went completely quiet.
Are you sure the pairing had not been lost and/or the Garmin Connect app had stop running (even in the background) ? I get notifications when my iPhone is on the lock screen. Indeed I just tried ringing my phone when in this state and the notification of the call appeared on the 920 at the same time that the phone started ringing.
I don’t think so, I think the bluetooth icon was still there. Don’t you ever get some “new” notifications when you unlock your phone with a pin? (even if they are old).
Hi, Ray, and thanks for an exellent review.
I have one question about the smart watch notifications. I think the notifications disappears too fast. Is it possible to have it dispayed until I hit at key?
As long as you haven’t deleted them on your phone, you can still see them after the initial notification that have one. In lower power mode – so on the clock page, just press the down arrow twice and you will find them there.
Thanks Tim! I didn’t understand why some notifications would sometime disappear! I thought the watch would hold them even if I removed it from my phone.
Also, you can just hit the up arrow once to get to the notification screen.
I only use vibration (no sound), and sometimes I miss the notification. After av few seconds it is gone from the screen. I know I can see them later, but I would like the notificatioin to stay on the screen until I press a key.
I have a qusetion regarding 920xt activity versus Garmin Connect “activity” summary for pool swimming. My watch shows a 1:44/100 yard pace but Garmin Connect shows 2:45/100 yard pace. Has anyone noticed these discrepancies or perhaps GC is counting in my rests? When I click on “intervals” it appears that the rests are 0 and not counted other than cumulative time. Thanks for the advice.
I looked and looked but cannot find anything that says you can change the main clock (as watch) home display to non inverted (black background). Is this even possible?
Ray, Have you heard anything from Garmin on BT pairing/sync issues with Android (mostly) and iPhone devices? I see many people complaining on forums (including my watch phone combo) about 920XT & vivofit devices? Using 920XT (2.5) with Nexus 5 Android 5.0 version. Watch keeps asking to be paired every 10-20 secs (crashes the bluetooth process) and doesn’t sync.
Yes, as noted in the review, I saw/see connectivity stability issues with my phone. Though, certainly not crashing every 10-30 seconds. I’d try re-installing the app on Android, else, contacting Garmin support so they can troubleshoot and improve for others.
As others have reported Garmin only support 9 Android phones (6 of those being Samsung). I have a stock android device (Nexus 5) and the phone very rarely transfers workouts via bluetooth or wifi – which is a real shame as that was the reason I upgraded from the 910xt. I am now back to plugging the phone into my laptop everytime I want to upload my workouts. People with iPhones do not seem to have these problems.
It might be worth putting the link below into your review so people planning to use an android phone are aware that they wont get support if they have bluetooth issues with a non-supported phone.
Did you notice that , this watch Total Elevation isn’t quite accurate compare with other current GPS watches especially Trail events. Add that, some weird workout end without 1km recording during the race, i saw my friends each laps ,even he didn’t pause the workouts during the trail race, some route end with 400m ~ 200 consider a new laps , the rest were recorded as usual.
Yes, as noted in my altimeter accuracy section, this is due to the way the FR920XT was handling the initial altimeter acquisition, which can result in overall elevation numbers being off.
That said, they changed this in the most recent beta (which is public), so you can try the new version and see if it improves it for you. In my testing yesterday during a hilly run, it behaved spot-on now.
To metronom function: How easy can you put it on and off while running? Can one manage it without changing speed and rhythm for doing that? One click? Or how many times you have to push the button?
And how easy is it to change from pip to vibr?
Has anyone testet and can tell me about it? I am eager to know!
The metronome is not that easy to change or turn off while running. You can do it on a rest lap, though. It’s 6 (different) button presses to get to the Metronome settings page from the run activity, then lots of button presses to set changes and get back to the activity.
My workouts require some sets of 100+spm, then back down to 90spm. It might be easier to use a clip-on metronome for those workouts. It would be nice if you could pre-configure a workout with specific metronome beats.
6! different button presses ! that´s a pity! and an real dealbreaker!
For me my cadance is 180 no matter what speed. I learned it with help of a Seika Minimetromon costs 20 Euro. I need a metronom on very long distance 100 Km and more
when I get tired at the end, or anytime, rhythm from metronom helps to keep in staying in good technic.
Garmin is kidding to make a metromon function coming in and out with 6 steps!Echt krass! Da kann ich nur den Kopf schütteln!
I’m very glad they at least included the metronome. I was tired of always running with my Seiko Metronome, sometimes forgetting it in the house, sometimes it falling off, and then I would mistakenly change the frequency while trying to change volume. One too many devices just to go for a run! (I don’t know how you do it, Ray!)
Long time follower of your reviews (thanks for all the amazing work). I have searched through the questions and I know you can connect the Kickr to 920 xt, however, since I have the Quarq connected to it, it seems like it can’t find it. I’m sure I can connect it. real question is: can have both connected at the same time, like power from Quarq and cadence and speed from Kickr. I have a feeling the answer is no here, but wanted to hear your input/expertise… (Garmin has nothing on this either).
FYI.: When the 920xt is connected to my phone and the phone is connected to my car (BMW) through bluetooth also, there is some pretty horrible interference when I get or make a phone call.
I’m having GPS accuracy issues, but I’m going to give the 920xt a few more tries in different conditions (i.e. not on trails). But I’m also having to reboot pretty much daily, otherwise the watch won’t pair with either bluetooth or the HRM. Any hope that GPS accuracy issues with improve with firmware updates, or is GPS modular with non-updated firmware? Also, a pitch from me too for restoring the 910xt ability to do pace of the footpod, for trails.
Garmin routinely releases both GPS chipset firmware and watch firmware for units, including the FR920XT.
That said, if you’re having issues you may want to try basic troubleshooting including both resetting the unit, as well as for GPS, try turning GLONASS off (or on, if already off) to see if that assists.
That said, since you can’t pair with anything, I’d just start with a reset first – else, contacting Garmin support.
Do you know if is there any garmin black band that fit into 920xt ? I read that many customers did not like the blue/black one, I want to use as a day to day watch and a full black band will make it more clean. tks !
It’s strong enough for some, but may not be enough for all. It’s one of the core reasons that Garmin didn’t enable the metronome in the pool. They felt the “experience” just wasn’t going to be as reliable there (their words).
Do you know if the satellite caching is dependent on wifi location? The reason I ask is that GPS is locking immediately when I run from home, but takes extremely long when I run from my office — much longer than my FR610 took. My office internet connection is routed through the company headquarters on the other side of the continent. On my computer if I go into google maps it thinks I am at the headquarters. I was wondering if the cache might be loading information for that location and this is actually harming the ability to lock onto GPS.
What interaction is there between your work WiFi and your 920 though? If you don’t use that WiFi then it can’t be a factor. If you do use it then try without and see if any better. Is your work location in a challenging GPS environment however? That could be another factor.
It doesn’t leverage WiFi in terms of using it to find satellites. It only uses it to download the most recent EPO.bin file, which is a precache of satellite data. The cache is applicable globally. For example, I updated my cache last night in South Africa, it’s equally good where I am right now in London, as it will be when I arrive in NYC this afternoon. However, 8 days from now if I didn’t update, it’d be expired and acquisition would take longer.
South Africa last night, London this morning, and NYC this afternoon! You should blog how you plan something like that one day – my mind is spinning just thinking about how and where you would sleep and what the time differences would do to you!
Thank you, Ray. It is very useful to know that this cache is the same globally and not dependent on a specific location.
I found that EPO.bin was missing from the REMOTESW folder. I sync’d using Garmin Express and now it is there. We’ll see if that solves the problem.
I am almost always connected to my cellphone via bluetooth. In your review you said “refreshed each time you connect your FR920XT to your phone, computer, or WiFi”. I was assuming that the frequent “Data transfer complete” messages were an indication that this cache was being retrieved but now I wonder if some action is required on my part to ensure that the file is updated via the phone.
Yes for the magnetless cadence sensors, but typically no for the speed sensor unless the wheel has a place where you can mount it on the hub (some are enclosed, making it difficult).
Great review and based on the early “heads up” review and the fact I have loved the 910 – bought it. Functionally this watch is everything I need.
Question, when I upload an indoor pool activity into Strava (via Garmin connect) the total is always 1 length (25 meters) less than my set. The detail/total laps are correct. This is obviously a Strava issue but just interested if anybody else has had the same issue
Looks like Strava thought you were cycling for the full 1:22:34 whereas GC has the time & moving time pretty much exactly 1:20:00. This ratio is exactly the same as 223/230 ….
On the 920xt, there’s no place to change how zeros are dealt with. All I have is an option to enable/disable “auto zero”. I’m sure that the 920xt is including zeros for power and ignores zeros for cadence. I’m running an Edge 1000 at the same time with that configuration and the 920xt and Edge 1000 are putting out identical numbers.
Strava is averaging power over the time of the activity and not just when riding. So they are including zeros when the timer is paused or stopped. Looking at indoor rides where I didn’t stop to calibrate the computrainer reveals identical numbers across the board.
Looks like Strava thought you were cycling for the full 1:22:34 whereas GC has the time & moving time pretty much exactly 1:20:00. This ratio is exactly the same as 223/230 ….
They should change it back to include only riding time. During long outdoor rides, your power and speed will get penalized for stopping to use the bathroom or god forbid you stop near the end of your ride to have coffee with friends.
Goto the activity profile you want to change, then Activity Settings, Data Screens, select the screen you want to change and then it is the Layout option that determines the number of fields shown.
When Layout is highlighted press Enter and then use the up/down buttons to select the number of fields you want.
1. The “interval” workout facility on the unit is essentially worthless. You can program say 4 x 1 mile, or 4 x 6:00, but not 4 x 1 mile at 6:00. I don’t see how that is useful for any kind of interval workout. On my 310 I can program (and edit) advanced workouts on the watch, or on Garmin Training Center on my Mac if I prefer. With the 920, both options are gone, and I must have a Garmin Connect account, and do it there. To me this is basic functionality that is too inaccessible.
2. It looks like the interface to observe satellite lock-on from the 310 is gone — the only feedback you get is locked on or not locked on?
3. Missing data fields from the 310: GPS accuracy. Also, sort of, time of day. You can add that field, but it doesn’t show seconds. Alternatively you can enable the Clock screen, but that occupies the entire screen.
But my biggest problem is connectivity. The only way to get data off the unit is via Garmin Connect. I shouldn’t need an account on a website to use my running watch.
Still, overall I think it’s a good upgrade from the 310 for me, for battery time if nothing else. I’m hoping it can actually get close to 24 hours. My 310 now dies short of 17, which is inconvenient in a long ultra.
1. IMHO that’s handy though for most purposes especially if you have forgotten to set something more complicated up before. In 30 years of running I only have ever done say “4×1 Mile” without needing to set a pace target per se. If I want to control/see my pace then there is lap and current pace to look at of course.
2/3 True that could be handy sometimes (and Connect IQ may allow something to appear instead) but the fitness Garmins are designed these days to try and take these sort of “worries” away from you. Whether it works all the time is perhaps a different matter!
3. Time of day (with seconds) – can be added to the training pages loop for a quick glance. Again I am almost certain that Connect IQ will allow an hh:mm:ss field to be added if desired.
4. You don’t need a Garmin Connect account. Plug in the 920 to a computer with a USB cable and grab the FIT file and use it in a desktop app like SportTracks or even the Garmin Training Center.
Just as one final stock/shipping update for those that have purchased through Clever Training…
All backordered units have shipped as of yesterday. Additionally, they are now in stock for all FR920XT variants (HR bundle/non-bundle, both red and blue colors).
And finally, if you order prior to 1PM Eastern this Saturday, you’ll get free shipping that’ll arrive by Christmas. Don’t forget of course to use the DCR/CT VIP program to save the 10% as well (link to dcrainmaker.com)
Upgraded my 310XT after the watch was lost recently from a faulty strap. (A known issue with the previous models)
Can’t find it on the blog but the strap of the 920XT appears to be ‘bolted-in’ and a lot more robust. Thought it might be something your readers would like to know.
realized after my last post, this is a non-issue. the ant stick from my old one will pick up HRM and cadence sensor. Users with new watches only may have an issue though.
hi does the 910xt do a Multisport view on connect to see the whole event Strt to finish. As all I see is the triathlon broken down into 5 different events. Swim cycle run t1,t2 etc.
Is this just a 920feature
Did my first treadmill run this morning with the 920XT. Was very happy to see that the treadmill reported 4.01 miles and the 920 reported 4.0 miles. My friend uses the same treadmill and her Forerunner 220 never matches the treadmill’s distance.
Text to that video:
Pour activer le mode HRV :
Entrez dans le menu,
puis répétez 5x la séquence “haut” “bas”
sélectionnez hrv a droite et validez l’activation.
So I don´t understand what there happened. Does it mean one was able to get HRV (R-R) shown on display of FR910xt while running? Is there a special programm/file uploaded on whatch bevor?
And if the answer is “yes”, can you do the same on FR 920xt to see what HRV (R-R) you have as Polar V800 is able to?
It records the time between each beat in the fit file that it records too. There is no processing of the data to show hrv on the watch. The 920 can record the same data.
Garmin records R-R data without activating and no further program which needed installed?
But you can not watch data : neither while running on display nor later on Garmin cloud?
That what I call stupid!
Unfortunately there isn’t a solution at this point. Garmin has confirmed that it would be possible to update the firmware to do so, but at this point they haven’t made a decision on whether to do it. I’d really suggest/encourage sending feedback to Garmin on that, if it’s valuable to you.
I am probably not the first to notice but a new link just appeared under my 920xt device in garmin connect labelled “Connect IQ Store”. If I click it asks for a password and my garmin one won’t work. I guess this is early access for beta users of Connect IQ. But looks like it’s moving forwards. Really interested to see what will be available.
I have a question about the quick-release kit! I just wanted to confirm that the FR920XT does NOT work with the same kit as the 910 model, but the attach mechanism is the same?
Great overwhelmingly informational review for a newbie. Happily, received mine over a week ago….a month earlier than promised. But, it is already on the way back! The heart rate was not discoverable, although the strap was functional. Garmin states there are a “handful” having that issue…. :-(
Fwiw, on the handful of people I’ve seen with that problem – if you turned off and back on the unit, and then went out and received GPS before attempting to search, it tended to find it.
I went through 2 days of troubleshooting with them…including removing the battery and flipping it, holding it, and flipping it back. There is a glitch that they are aware of, and they put aside replacement bundles so that those affected will not have to wait. Shouldn’t the heart rate work despite the GPS?
Thanks.
Found this, but can´t test it, because I havn´t yet got one.
Enable RR recording
“Turn on the FR920XT. Press ‘Menu’ to go into the menu screen. Press UP then DOWN and repeat 10 times. You will enter the “diagnostic menu”. Select and change HRV on the top right hand side. HRV Enabled…cool! This drains the battery a bit faster than normal but does not particularly affect the .FIT file size too much.
How To Analyze HRV Data from The 920XT
For Analyzing.Use SportTracks. Use FirstBeat.”
Now the question is : can one get out that data directly from the watch without going over Garmin cloud .?
Is that First Beat called” Firstbeat Athlete” ?
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Anyone receive a confirmation from Clever Training today on Red/White 920XT bundles? I haven’t heard a thing.
I just chatted with them a bit. The UPS truck arrived super-late today, likely due to delays country-wide with airports*. Usually it arrives mid-morning. Today, it arrived mid-afternoon. They were trying to make the cut-off for outbound delivery, but it didn’t work out after all the inventory/boxing/etc… Everyone is bummed.
That said, they’re ready to go out first thing in the morning. Once folks (such as yourself) have the tracking numbers in hand in the morning, then Clever Training will re-list the remaining red bundle inventory, and update the site ship dates accordingly (for new orders). I appreciate the support!
*Fwiw, I had a bunch of packages go sideways as well in the US over the last 24 hours. Apparently y’all forgot that winter occurs…in the winter. :)
Winter hasn’t hit that much of the US and most airports seem fine: link to fly.faa.gov
link to flightstats.com
Well outside of upstate New York:
link to ups.com
I wonder what happens if Priority Mail 2-Day doesn’t actually get to me in 2 days. (My 920 watch hasn’t arrived yet from CT in Largo, FL :( )
FedEx is still showing service delays, even as of today, due to Northeast issues: link to fedex.com
Unfortunately, it pretty much is what it is when the UPS truck arrives that out of normal late. :( Thankfully, it’s there and everything will easily go out today. Enjoy!
Thanks Ray, good news indeed!
My 920 hasn’t made it to me yet either. I called USPS and they said that priority Mail 2-day doesn’t really mean 2-day it means 2 or 3 days. They said most packages will make it in 2 but some come in 3. That was the stupidest explanation ever but this morning my package shows that it’s at my local post office. I SHOULD get it today.
nothing but crickets so far…. guess I am going to have to call them.
I’m being told you should see the outbound scan notifications in the next couple hours at latest (which is what generates the shipping e-mail). They’re all packed and ready to go.
Once those shipping e-mail hit, I’ll come back here and note how many Red Bundles are left for sale.
I hope so – I’ve got 4 races next week and really want to use my new device!
My other concern, and I contacted them before on this, was other than receiving my initial order confirmation, I haven’t receiving any other communications. Others had indicated seeing weekly updates, etc. and I’m concerned that something’s “not quite right” with my order.
Double check your junk/spam e-mail folder. You would have received weekly Friday afternoon updates since your order date. You can always give them a quick ring to ensure though.
Check your spam folder or log into clever training to check your order?
Might be good to stay calm and work on your patience. Being in a rush to use something new without patience will leave you disappointed when you hit a bug our confusion in using the watch during your races.
Yeah, not a spam folder issue. Not sure why I am not getting updates. Just heard back from them. Apparently the order from Garmin was received today, not yesterday, and they are trying to get orders out today and tomorrow.
My races next week aren’t very serious and a great opportunity to kick the tires before some bigger upcoming races, thus my eagerness to get it sooner rather than later. I see other suppliers have some in stock now as well.
I got it during lunch! I have it all set up. I’ll take it for a spin in the morning.
I had the same question and was informed by CT that you only get update emails if you subscribed to their newsletter emails. I got my shipping label notification less than a minute after I very politely inquired as to the status and absence of notifications. ;-)
Hurrah! Just got the shipping confirmation/tracking number!
I am subscribed to the newsletters and have been since I placed my order. Very odd. Oh well, it’s on the way so my order must have been ok.
Hi Mike/all-
Sorry for the small confusion with what you were told on the phone with the CT folks. You managed to snag one of two new hires this week that weren’t quite fully in the loop. Following your note, they now have a very solid grasp of the loop. ;)
Everyone with Red/White bundles (with the HRM-RUN strap) should have received ship notices this afternoon from Clever Training. If you didn’t, dig around your SPAM folder, and failing that check your order status online.
With all of those shipped, there’s approximately 10-12 leftover Red/White bundles for those that want them. They would ship out tomorrow like normal, first come first served: link to clevertraining.com
Beyond that for other units, expect the usual Friday FR920XT shipping update. They’ll get their unit numbers for next week’s allocations then. At this point, things are looking very good, but as always, no counting chickens yet.
Thanks for the support!
Thank-you Ray.
I was one of those who called CT yesterday and had been told they couldn’t get me one until December, but after reading your post last night, I signed up for VIP and was able to snag a red/white bundle. I called them this morning and was told it should ship later today. They still have a few more in stock for anyone else interested. The VIP membership saved $50 (the coupon code wouldn’t work for me).
So not only are you a great resource for information on the devices themselves – you’re a money saver too ! I’m active in a number of running communities, so I posted a link to your VIP / CT page in several of my forums which will hopefully generate some more love too.
cheers
Thanks for the support through CT – and glad one should be shortly on its way!
My Red/White HR bundle arrived (international FedEx to Dublin, Ireland) early this morning. Well done Clever Training!
Now to sneak off for a lunchtime run :-)
Between Pola 800v and Garmkn fr920xt, which one would you take as a multi sport/overall fitness? Which has better integration (now) with Apple HealthKit or 3rd Party Apps? I do not want to rely on “future updates” much.
Thanks
Ray’s summary above starts with the following comment. “Overall, the FR920XT is the best multisport watch in the market with the most features.” I see Garmin Connect is one of the “Sources” to the Health app on my iPhone so that should be OK.
Thank you. Somehow I just missed that!
What about the recovery functions in both watches? I am currently in the middle of a situation where stress and lack of sleep are high, so I am having trouble finding the right training intensity and recovery time. I sometimes just end up crashing. That is why I am looking at watches with recovery/testing capabilities!
Just found out that Garmin is replacing some early devices over waterproofing and battery performance issues.
link to forums.garmin.com
Although my device is registered with them I haven’t yet received a direct notification.
Unfortunately my serial falls into the range affected. The perils of being an early adopter! (Mine came from Wiggle on 6th October.)
I see Ray was on the ball and reported this yesterday. Sorry for the duplication!
Could someone with the watch please confirm:
I was under the impression that it was possible to get coordinates in different formats from long/lat (specifically in a British OS Map 6 digit grid reference) as per the 310xt as detailed here; link to forums.garmin.com
I just received an email from Garmin however advising that “it is not possible to set this information as a data field.”
Can someone please confirm for me if (whilst you are using the watch) it is possible to get your current position (and that position in British OS Map 6 digit grid reference)?
Many thanks
“Can someone please confirm for me if (whilst you are using the watch) it is possible to get your current position (and that position in British OS Map 6 digit grid reference)? ”
You cannot. Only Lat Long.
I don’t see anything either in connectIQ that would obviously allow that as a customisation though I could be wrong.
Looks like you can (unsurprisingly) access the current “position” in Connect IQ in lat/lon so it seems only a matter of implementing a function that translates that into the BNG. As such I would expect that to be possible.
and also (if not) if this would be expected to be updated through a software update since it is available on the 910xt and 310xt…
Thanks again
Garmin have answered your question correctly. But I suspect the problem was the question you asked.
On the 310 and 910 you couldn’t get the BNG as a data field, so their answer is technically correct for those and I suspect for the 920. What the previous models will do however is display the cords not he map screen (as the link explains) and I expect the 920 is exactly the same.
I have a Suunto Ambit2 and today i used the navigation futures for the first time. I found 200 m zoom to work good. I really Think that Gamin has to fix the navigation/zoom “bugs” on the 920xt. If they do fix it i will buy it. If not, then maybe i´ll go with the Ambit3 instead…
Just did my first run! So far it has worked very well. Although it has advised me to take 72 hours to recover! Elevation seems good too.
In the pool are you doing flip turns? Does that have any effect on your distance?
You can do either flip turns or open turns (non-flip turns). No impact on distance either way. Just ensure you push off with conviction each time. No lazy grandma turns.
You keep saying this, but it’s not the case. The 910xt records turns when there is a significant pause in your stroke pattern. Start an indoor swim while sitting on your couch. Don’t move and mimic swimming a lap, Stop for 5 seconds and start ‘swimming’ again. The unit will record a completed lap. I’ve gone over 900,000 yards with the 910xt and in that time I can count on one hand the number of times a lap was missed during normal swimming. In almost every case it’s during a sprint 50 freestyle where the flip turn is much quicker (less of a pause) and MUCH harder push off (plenty of conviction) then standard laps.
Except that I’ve seen more cases than I can ever begin to count where people reported issues and have gone back and the only thing they’ve changed is pushing off harder.
To counter your argument, if it were pure pauses in a stroke pattern, try stop stroking mid-late but still perhaps lightly kicking – to simulate multiple peoples in a lane that have blocked you. As one who’s often stuck in that situation, it’ll still keep track correctly most of the time.
Obviously there’s elements of both – but the single biggest thing that seems to help when people have issues is to simply push off sharply.
We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one.
I can often get laps counted during drills or kick with no kick board if I keep my hand moving rhythmically (like sculling). I do believe the watch estimates when you should be near the wall and will ‘listen’ towards the end of the lap to record changes as lap changes. I say this because my distance warnings always come right at the middle of the lap no matter what my pace is. With that in mind, I would bet that disruptions in the beginning of your lap will not cause a lap to be recorded (and may also be the reason that my sprint 50s don’t record a turn since they’re much faster then my previous pacing)
For those having lap counting issues these are my suggestions which worked for some folks over in the Garmin thread:
1. Work on technique. I don’t know of any swimmers with good technique that have too many issues.
2. Keep your stroke moving. Pausing during your freestyle stroke is not helpful (especially in open water).
3. (Nod to Ray) On your turns, push off the wall hard and underwater. Hold your streamline a little longer then usual.
4. Put your watch on the hand that takes the 2nd stroke after you push off. This will extend the pause longer.
5. If passing mid-lane, keep your hands moving as rhythmically as possible, avoiding (as best as possible) significant stops or change in the previous pattern.
link to support.garmin.com{e8a56250-f91f-11e0-73d0-000000000000}&kbName=garmin
This link gives the method…
link to support.garmin.com{e8a56250-f91f-11e0-73d0-000000000000}&kbName=garmin
Not sure why it is posting like that but just add https:// and paste the below (if it posts correctly:
Q: How do the Garmin Swim and Forerunner 910XT/920XT and fenix 2 determine swimming distance?
A: The length count is one trip down the pool and is counted by detecting your turn or stop with the motion sensors built-in to each device.
support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId={59fbbca0-fa07-11e0-73d0-000000000000}
I just called Clever Training to see if I could get on the band-wagon and get one from them, instead of waiting for Amazon and my order from early October. The lady was very honest and said realistically – it would be December for me as they had a lot of pre-orders to get through. So I guess I wait and kick myself for not ordering through CT in the first place… ;)
Don’t feel bad. I ordered mine directly through garmin.com on 10/7 and they now estimate a 12/12 ship date. Look at it as a blessing in disguise. Some of the original ones are having waterproofing issues and being replaced not to mention some of the bugs can be worked out in the meantime as well.
Just used the watch for the first time today on the treadmill. Quick question surrounding VO2 max and race predictor – I didn’t get either one of these metrics at the completion of my run. Do they only show up after an activity utilizing GPS? I did get the recovery advisor information however. During the treadmill run I was wearing the HRM-Run strap.
I did my first run today outdoor and all 3 popped up afterwards. So I assume you need to do an outdoor run.
My race predictor says I should be running a faster at all distances than I have done before. Will be interesting to see if it settles down or I just need to go and set better times :)
Thanks. That’s what I figured. It is currently 19 degrees with a 30 mph wind so outside wasn’t an option!
I’m also curious as to how you can go back and access that information? Is in the history for the activity on the watch or on Connect? Or do you just have to make sure you don’t miss it when it pops up?
That’s why Sugio makes firewall tights. (Windproof running tights) which worked well during last year’s polar vortex in dc
There is a new menu called my stats which has all this kind of information in it to look at.
Ah! Didn’t even notice that menu. Good to know. Just an FYI – I went to the VO2 max menu and it tells me I have to run 10:00 outdoors to get my VO2 max (same with the race predictor). It’s supposed to warm up this weekend so my hopes are high!
Please could you ask The Girl (or any petite readers out there!) for a comfort comparison between the 920xt and the 620? i’ve been using a 310xt but can’t bear the discomfort any longer!
Do you agree that comfort will be my major deciding factor between the devices given that i’m a beginner triathlete and marathon runner in training? For the time being, all i’m going to need on the bike is cadence, hr and distance which the 620 seemingly do. I have a Swim i use for pool sessions and adore.
Bike and Run, I train mostly outside but increasing my turbo-time and may get access to a treadmill over the winter. In the summer I usually try to get one open water session a week but have never used data.
Appreciate anyone’s insight!
Thanks
Heather
(apologies for repeat comment as I accidentally posted this in response to someone else’s comment above and can’t see how to delete!)
Hi Heather, did you already pick a watch? Just in case, I thought I’d share my thoughts. I stopped by a Garmin store to try them on. I was all set on the 920 because it had so many more functions over the 620 at only $50 more. I thought if I didn’t go with the 920, I’d rather get the 220 for the lower price. However, after trying all three of them, I went with the 620. The 920 was HUGE, and I found it cumbersome to wear with long sleeves. Maybe if it was short sleeve weather, I wouldn’t have minded the size as much. Despite my initial hesitation to get the 620, I ended up preferring the touch screen and four data fields display, plus it now has Bike and Race profiles as well (I plan on using the Race profile for gym or any non-run/bike workouts). I found one on sale for under $300, so I’m really happy. I still think $400 for the watch is too steep. Hope this helps!
Heather, I’ve always worn a wrist sweatband under all my Garmins, the 305, 310xt, 910xt and soon-to-be 920xt. Otherwise they would hit my wrist bone which I always found annoying. Also, it helps keep the salt/moisture combination away from the recharging electrodes. I won’t even consider going for a run without a sweatband under my Garmin.
Also, for the 310xt I got a Velcro strap from Walmart to replace the one that came with it. Not only is it more convenient, but you can fit it more precisely to your wrist.
i was trying to join the VIP program to get the 10% but it looks that is not working any more ,or just end. please i was counting on it..
It is working. You need to buy the VIP program first – on it’s own.
Then wait about 30 mins. You’ll get an e-mail with your personalized VIP code.
Then go back and buy the watch, using that coupon code, and you get 10% off. This worked for me last night.
It won’t work if you’re trying to buy the VIP package, and the watch in the same cart.
Yup, Richard hit it right on. The link for the VIP program is at the bottom of the post, or here: link to dcrainmaker.com
This is required for a handful of Garmin products (per Garmin), including the FR920XT. Once you sign-up though, you’re good to go. I appreciate the support!
I tried using the code and it made no difference, so I just ordered it with no discount. With a bit of luck it might ship at the end of this week.
Thanks for the support Rich. Just ring up or e-mail Clever Training and they’ll happily refund you the difference for the attempt. It’s no problem at all. Just e-mail me if you have any issues there and I’ll get you taken care of.
Got one in the mail yesterday and so far I have mixed feelings.
My wishlist so far:
1) Being able to connect both the VivoSmart and FR920XT to GarminConnect on the phone at the same time. I understand that only one of them can be used as the activity monitor at a given time but at least allow me to connect both for smart alerts and workout uploads. I’d be using the VivoSmart for activity monitoring but still get text messages and notifications on the FR920XT and I wouldn’t have to turn off the VivoSmart bluetooth to upload my latest workout via the phone.
2) Allow multiple devices to upload activity data and join the two on-line and feed back the result into the devices. Case in point, I might want to wear the 920XT for half the day while I’m out and doing my morning workouts and as a daily watch at the office but I’d liek to wear the VivoSmart for sleep tracking and in the evening when I go out and put on a nicer watch.
3) Vibrate only alerts on the FR90xt for alarm.
4) Have button sounds only during workouts but not during regular time.
5) Connect IQ is in serious preview beta stage, it is long ways away from being useful and the API as implemented is seriously limited. It is a work in progress but as of right now it really isn’t good for much of anything let alone to develop programs that one could monetize on.
What store in the mall were u able to purchase one?
Just finished my first run with the 920XT. Haven’t looked at my data yet but the watch worked like a champ. Love the new screen!
Does anyone know if it is possible to change the name of the custom activity profiles you make? I ask because I just created two Brick profiles, one with outdoor biking and one with indoor biking and it would be nice to be able to name them obviously…
Yes, it is possible. It’s under Settings->Activity Profiles->->Name.
This is not a 920xt issue but seemed a good place to ask:
Just done my first brick with the 920xt. Worked like a charm!
It auto uploaded and looks great in the new layout on garmin connect.
It got auto synced to strava but the run splits are all wrong. It includes all the time on the bike and transition. Has anyone else seen this? I guess I should log a bug with Strava for this.
Here is the run: link to strava.com
Your Strava ones look OK now to me.
Really? Under splits on the main page I see 45 X 1k splits. The first 41 are 0 – 0. I definitley didn’t run 45k!
Maybe you can’t see because of my privacy settings. I have logged a bug with strava now. Thanks for taking a look though.
Could be. For “Splits” I just see 3 splits and 2.2 miles in total – 2 Mile splits and the remaining 0.2 miles in the 3rd. The other 0,3 miles is presumably in your privacy zone.
What is do you mean UltraTrac use for 40 hrs battery ? Is one of Gps recording ? I plan to have to this watch but I need estimate 38 hrs gps time for this watch. As I known 910xt able to charge & still continue the activity without end after charging cable plug in,whish I used to do in ultra race. So this watch soon will release firmware to resolve this issue ? The battery life really can record Gps in 40hrs ? If I using trail running is this suitable regarding the accuracy during the activity ?
Check out the UltraTrac section of the review: link to dcrainmaker.com
As also noted above, the FR920XT doesn’t support charging at the same time as an activity. I have confirmed with Garmin this is NOT a hardware limitation in the FR920XT and could be changed down the road to support charging concurrently. They’re evaluating feedback on this.
I like the Garmin FR920XT, a nice watch with whole lot of features compared to fenix 3 though the looks is a bit plastic but that doesn’t matter the one thing it lacks it the charging on the go. It would be a no 1 watch if Garmin can sort out the charging on the go issue It will be nice as I can record my activity full Brevet of 1230 km on the watch with all the details of cadence and HRM data. Eagerly waiting for the update to remove this only limitation the watch has.
Do you know if garmin is planning a 920xt tri-bundle? Thanks
I suspect at some point, but it doesn’t sound like it’s on the near term radar.
hi dc
i just received my VIP code from clever and i almost ready to order my 920. i just need to clarify something. as you say in the review if i used any other heart rate strap of course ANT+ (i am planning the cycleops heart rate and power meter) , i still have the recovery time and Vo2 displayed correctly . please i need advised i do not want to spend extra money with another heart rate monitor but also i dont want to lose those metric neither.
Yes, that’s correct! Enjoy, and thanks for the support!
hello, is it possible to use the Garmin taing center with the 920xt.
can i send a workouts base on speed zones?
If so, where can i see the Zones on the watch?
Yes you can use GTC for downloading runs (although some come out multi sport when they are not) and downloading/uploading courses and workouts. Not so sure about named speed zones (remember that was an issue with the 620) but custom zones should work fine. Remember of course GTC has not been supported for sometime so if something does not work, it won’t get fixed.
Thank you for the answer,
is there a place in the watch that i can see the “speed zones” like it use to be on the 910xt?
No, can’t see them am afraid. Speed zones seem to have been dropped generally as don’t see them on GC either.
Thanks for review Ray. I currently have the 910 and looking to upgrade to the 920. Re OWS mode – why is it when I do an open water swim, the distance for the Activity will be one number, but when I save that swim as a Course, the distance for the Course will be invariably quite a lot (>20%) longer (and more accurate) than the distance of the Activity, even though both you’d think would be based on exactly the same data?
This same thing happens on all of my swims, with the Course distance always being the greater/more correct of the two.
I understand it may have something to do with the distance on the Activity excluding the parts of the swim where the GPS signal has been lost? – whereas the Course distance joins up the dots so to speak and provides a true total distance? Your reviews indicate however that the Activity distance should also be estimating the distance covered during lost signals in which case it should be the same/similar to the Course distance?
It leaves me with a misleading Activity file as the time recorded is the total elapsed time, i.e total time taken regardless of whether the GPS signal is there or not; and therefore the overall swim pace looks slow as you have the total time but not the true total distance covered.
Maybe there is a setting which I have wrong? Does the 920XT handle this any better? Thanks!
Hmm, I’m not sure there. Using courses with swim isn’t something I’ve done previously. Sorry!
UPDATE on early production problems and product returns. CAUTION: Garmin customer service on this issue is very poor!
Bought my FR920XT with HRM-Run a week ago here in Australia. I had high expectations for a $600 watch. Worked fine, liked the features. A couple of days later received an email from Garmin stating my serial number was subject to recall, but no further details, except that would be “replaced AT NO COST”.
Yesterday went for my first swim and afterwards bluetooth connection to phone lost and wouldn’t sync to my HR strap.
Today (coincidentally) received another email from Garmin asking me to ship the product back to them. No further detail, except to say that the email wasn’t being monitored and if I had further questions contact Garmin, no telephone number provided.
Frustration set in…who would pay for shipping (note Garmin correspondence “a new replacement 920XT AT NO COST”)!? Once they received my faulty unit when/if would I get a new one?! Would Garmin compensate me if by the time I receive a new one retail prices had fallen? Correspondence sorely lacking so a phone call followed.
Will spare the full details of the call (needless to say it was not a great experience) but the outcome was a visit back to retailer, emails in hand for a full refund, which retailer gladly did. I couldn’t take the risk of not getting a new unit back soon due to upcoming travel – and Garmin couldn’t give me an estimate on when this would be. In fact Garmin support mentioned they didn’t know “as we need to check that the new one we send you isn’t also faulty”. Hardly confidence inspiring.
Fortunately national retailer has offered to contact me when a new shipment of unaffected units arrives. Local store manager had no idea of the product recall, unsure if this a result of Garmin not informing the retailer’s head office or head office not passing the information onto local stores. If it’s the former it’s inexcusable that Garmin would let retailers continue to stock a faulty product without informing them.
Will be interesting to see how long the turn-around time is for those who return 920 to Garmin, especially as production/distribution seems patchy. IMHO Garmin should have a) covered all shipping costs, b) guaranteed a 5 day turn around time from receipt of faulty unit to replacement, even if this means the expense of overnight courier and c) offered compensation for inconvenience. To date Garmin has done none of this to my knowledge.
Unfortunately, one of the challenges is Garmin Support in AUS, is generally horrible. I’d agree given that going back to the retailer (if in AUS) makes the most sense.
As for retailer notifications, they typically all receive a retailer bulletin for these types of things. It’s fairly standard boilerplate for Garmin and is sent out for all sorts of random things, so I suspect that may just be a retailer not passing it down (pretty common for a larger company since the notifications come out for all products and everything from new accessories to new firmware).
Hello,
I’m waiting on a 920xt from Wiggle in the UK. They’ve given me four failed delivery dates so far. Anybody else in the same situation? I ordered the watch at the start of October.
Thanks,
Alan
I ordered mine on the 5th Oct and got it last Monday. I’d check with Wiggle as my understanding was that they’d fulfilled all their pre-orders and were showing some in stock mid last week
I recently ordered from CT, and the ETA says “mid-December.” Is this a conservative time frame or true to expectation?
Thanks in advance
Very conservative. If you ordered prior to Friday night, you would have also received a Friday evening status update on the shipments expected for arrival this week from Garmin to Clever Training. The expectation is that they might get enough to clear out all backlog. They’ve been turning around those units same-day out of the warehouse, baring the one day where UPS arrived extremely late.
The only fuzzy one is the Blue/Black base unit (non-bundle), where those won’t ship out from Garmin till this week (could be today, could be Friday) for likely arrival next week. Just depends on exactly when Garmin sends them.
Could you keep us updated on the shipments? I ordered the Blue/Black base unit on Oct 1st. If orders of the bundle become available before the stand alone, I would probably switch my order and sell the HRM-Run strap. Thanks again!
Yup, right now it looks like two shipments will arrive Tues/Weds, with plans for same-day turn (again, assuming no super-late UPS arrivals), which should catch up everyone except the base Blue/Black. I’ll post here once they’ve arrived and have been scanned into inventory.
Clever Training will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving, but will be open on both Friday and Saturday getting shipments out the door as well.
Thanks for the support!
I was late ordering from CT. I ordered the blue/black bundle on Nov 14th and I received an update that my order will be shipping out this week.
Any updates on their status with the blue/black bundles? I ordered pretty late and was hoping that they’d get enough to cover everything :) I see the red/white is back in stock so I assume they got at least one shipment but I don’t know if the red/white comes separate from the blue/black.
Per the Friday status, blue/black bundles are expected to be fully fulfilled this week (they come in different shipments depending on bundle). Many of the blue/black came in yesterday (and went back out already). Another massive chunk came in today, and is being worked through at this very moment for shipment back out today for hopefully all remaining bundle orders. In the event they aren’t able to get through all of the units today for shipment back out, they’ll ship on Friday.
Either way, for all but the black/blue base, they’ll be fully caught up and back in stock this week. Thanks for the support!
The UK Garmin customer services help line and email service is also extremely poor, when I have had to get help on other Garmin products before. That is why I probably have more chance of getting a better more accurate answer to my question from you DC R ! Do you know a date in the UK that Garmin Will have the 920 available for sale again? other than 4th quarter of 2014.
Thanks
It’ll depend fully on which retailer you’ve ordered with. Each week they get different allocations based on both what they pre-ordered (before announcement back in September), as well as what they’ve sold but are unfulfilled. There isn’t an easy answer there unfortunately.
I was going to order direct from Garmin web shop as I get a discount having a British triathlon membership.
Thanks and keep up the grand work.
@James – Wiggle have 2 weeks exclusivity in the UK starting from 17/11/14. That means that Garmin will be in a position to sell direct to the public from a week today (24/11/14). Whether they will start selling directly straight away is yet to be seen. I’m waiting to use the same 25% discount as you but may well bite the bullet and order from Wiggle with a 12% discount when they have their stocks replenished.
Hi All,
Just out of curiosity, I noticed that the 920xt doesn’t have an option for the “heart rate graph” like the 910xt…
That happened to be one of my favorite fields, because a quick glance showed my HR over time (trend) and what zone.
Any idea why they didn’t include it, and if it might be added in an update?
Got mine in the recently from Clever and so far I’m digging it, but miss that data field.
I’m sure there will be one written for it in Connect IQ, one of the sample codes for a custom display field does just that along with speed. So it’s just a matter of time until it shows up in the Connect IQ market.
hi , is there a way to turn off notifications as I don’t really want to get them from FB or Twitter ? I’m really loving 920XT other wise.
You can turn them off entirely, but on iOS you can’t single out specific apps from the FR920XT (just through the notifications center but it also impacts general phone screen notifications).
If you are using Android, the Garmin Connect app has the option to select which apps it notifies you about. Inside the app, just got to Settings -> Smart Notifications and turn on/off whatever you prefer.
Ordered last Thursday from CT, arrived today.
Ray – I realize you called this out in your review, but WOW – the altimeter sucks !! I live in Denver, and know that my house is at 5,370 feet. Since the watch doesn’t calibrate with the GPS – my first run had me at about 4,800 feet. I do several races in the mountains, and so altitude is one metric I use a lot. I’ll try that trick of entering a waypoint in tomorrow, but hopefully Garmin can come up with a fix for this. If there’s any dev/support e-mail that I can write to to ‘encourage’ them to investigate this further – I’m happy to do that. As it stands now – it’s a definite step back from the GPS altimeter on my 610.
Other than that – I like the watch.
Yeah, you’re best bet is to leave it outside for a bit today and let it stabilize (ensure it’s on in a regular GPS-on mode, just recording a blank/empty file). next time i’ll be a bit better since it’ll be closer.
As for a fix, I’d really encourage opening a support ticket – especially by phone. Those have the biggest impact.
Any update from Garmin on allowing the use of the footpod as the primary speed source as it cannot be selected on the 920XT but can on the 910XT?
They say they aware of the demand there and are looking at feedback, but no commitment to it.
I ordered my blue/black bundle (and VIP membership) from CT on Oct 21. No word yet. Hoping I get it soon. I just had my 4th 910XT fail due to a defective altimeter.
Anyway, wondering if anyone can tell me if there is an option for backing up or storing profiles and preferences for data field displays so that if a hard reset is needed, these could be restored rather than re-entering. I have spent so much time re-entering this each time I have had to reset my 910XTs.
Thanks!
Hi Anthony-
You would have received weekly e-mails each week on each Friday. Double check your junk e-mail folder though, just in case it got stuck there. Either way, they expect to ship all remaining Blue/Black bundles this week. Thanks for the support!
As for the profiles, sometimes you can backup/restore the settings files on the USB connected Garmin’s, but that doesn’t quite always work 100% of the time.
Hmmm. No emails since the order confirmation. I did get a lovely Thanksgiving card through the USPS mail :)
Will send them an email to see if I can find out anything. Order status has been showing “processing” ever since I placed it.
link to support.garmin.com (although not for a 920 specifically) explains how you can save some settings. BTW VO2 Max is held in memory so that is one that can’t be saved.
***Moved to the right spot ***
Quick question around training programs from the Garmin training plans.
I downloaded one of the running plans to try and see how it all works out. The run went just fine and all, except the 920’s alerts I had configured were overridden by the program’s alerts.
I have an alert set for 30 minutes, 5 miles, and auto-lap set to On at 1 mile.
None of those alerts in the Run profile happened while I got HR alerts when I pushed up and out of the desired zone / range.
Any idea how to modify the workout calendar’s alerts?
Thanks for the in-depth review, fantastic as always.
Those alerts and auto lap are only relevant in “normal” training mode – i.e. not a workout.
The point of a workout is that you run for a specific time/distance maybe rest for a bit and then do another one. As such each step becomes the laps.
I guess it would depend on the workout. For marathon training, there’s lots of long easy runs. I want to know my 1 mile splits as well as get an alert when it’s timer for nutrition.
Those are part of my workout.
It’s one of the drawbacks of the calendar in that all the activities are “workouts”. For easy/steady state runs, it might be best to use the calendar just as a reminder and use a “normal” run for the actual run.
Thank you for the great review!
I have two questions about everyday watch functionality:
1) Does it support non-latin symbols in notifications? I speak russian, without this support the smartwatch functianality is useless for me. Why I ask? I know, that Garmin Fenix 2 still doesn’t have support of unicode.
2) Is there a possibility to set simple alert timers like “ring in 25 minutes”?
The manual says don’t press buttons underwater.
Is this really no good for the watch? I can’t believe that you have to watch out with pressing buttons underwater.
I wan’t to use the ‘lap’ button without being affraid that the watch is to wet…
There’s no issues with pressing buttons underwater. That warning has randomly shown up in various Garmin user manuals over the years.
Hi Ray,
How it is working with the basic version of VIRB? can I put the watch on cycling and start the activity and on the same time it will record the video which allow to add the sensors data later (e.g. power, speed etc)?
Yup, it’ll work great with the base VIRB. Then, afterwards you can take the .FIT file from the FR920XT and use it within the VIRB Edit software to get all the sensor data noted above. Solid deal at $99 these days.
Thanks Ray . just ordered one from Clever
Just to update on expected delivery of my order from Amazon. I ordered 12 October. I just got email stating that I will receive next week, on 5 December at the latest. This order is a blue bundle. Cheers!
Ooops… just got notice that my order was delayed a week…
So, I cancelled my order from Amazon, joined CT, and ordered the black-blue bundle, and its already shipping. Once I got my account set up, the process was as easy as I know. Additional thanks to Ray for introducing me to CT.
Thanks Raul! The Clever Training warehouse worked extra hard today to get everything out today, with a special emphasis on the FR920XT orders knowing how badly everyone wants them.
Appreciate the support!
Hey! just a quick question. Can you customize your display so you can view your heart rate in both BPM and % at he same time?
Yes!
Ordered red/white watch only(have the HRM Run from my 620) on 10/1/14 from Clever Training. Just received shipping notification.
Next time I may just wait. I have noticed recently that some folks just ordered and within a day or 2 receive their 920 from other sources. 57 days + shipping is a long time to wait for a guy like me who suffers from the horrible affliction of desiring immediate gratification of wants.
It depended on which version. Garmin sent out the base units last, hence why your just getting them now. There were actually red/white bundles available last week.
I have my 920xt since a week and I like it a lot!
I thought I use Garmin Connect from now on. But it is driving me crazy! I like the interface so far but the import and export functions are incomplete and mostly not documented. For people who want to know how GC does not import the data it exports read this. I also have trouble importing my old history from Sporttracks 2 and you can read about it here.
Anyway I would be interested to know who is using what kind of methods to keep all their data (and I am talking about years of running … and some swimming and biking) in one place and not have to manually edit stuff on several sites/software.
I thought I go with Garmin Connect because of the new feature to auto sync with several sites but I start to mistrust Garmin with my data because I keep stumbling over issues. But I also do not want to loose the function to simply upload the data from the watch over Wifi.
I would invest in Sporttracks.mobi but I am hesitant. If I do not know how to get my data from them to another system at some point I have to pay the annual fee … forever! :) But maybe that would solve all my issues. I hope I can import my old data from Sporttracks 2 into Sporttracks.mobi and I have to use Garmin Connect only as a communication tool and write my notes and stuff all in Sporttracks.mobi.
Other ideas are welcome!
Just as a heads up for those curious on FR920XT unit availability through Clever Training, here’s the rundown as of about 5 minutes ago.
Shipping for backorders:
Red/White Bundles: All units shipped
Red/White Base: All units shipped
Black/Blue Bundle: Majority of units shipped today before truck came, rest will go out Friday (closed Thursday for Thanksgiving holiday)
Black/Blue Base: Pending Garmin shipment for arrival next week, should cover about 95% of backordered units. Might get lucky and they’ll send enough to cover everything.
Stock Availability:
Red/White Bundles: In stock
Red/White Base: In Stock
Black/Blue Bundle: In Stock
Black/Blue Base: Backordered
You can see real-time status here: link to clevertraining.com
K eep in mind the available units will go fast so please be sure to check the availability listed at checkout. All in-stock products would ship out on Friday (like any other US company), due to the holiday tomorrow.
Finally, as usual, the FR920XT does qualify for the DCR/CT VIP program 10% savings. I appreciate the support. And for those in the US, have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!
Ray,
Any update on the Blue/Black base availability through CT? Sorry for asking as I know this isn’t your job you just seem to have all the info. I noticed since all the other pre-orders have been filled I did not receive the typical Friday update so I was just curious.
Thanks for all your updates and reviews.
Hi Clint.
Yup, I just posted an update an hour or two ago, here: link to dcrainmaker.com
Sorry, it kinda gets swamped in all the comments.
Thanks. Sorry I missed it.
Stopped into my local running shop today and they had the 920XT in stock and 10% off. Had NO intention of buying one but it kept nagging me the rest of the day so I stopped by in the evening and picked one up. Can’t wait to use it. So far love the looks of it while it’s charging in its base. :) Thanks Ray for the review.
I ordered one this morning from clevertraining with a garmin virb. It has already shipped. Should be to me Saturday. Thanks for all you do.
Awesome, thanks for the support Stephen!
Hello,
After using the watch for 5 days and training it with swim, bike and run I have to say that this device rocks!
The swimming features of rest and drill makes a long swimming session easier as the watch do the counting for you. just a shame that there isn’t a data field for the interval counter (e.g. how many interval done till now) so you don’t need to calculate it in your head based on the total distance.
Wireless sync works well and fast and it is big benefit just to come home and click one button to upload your activities.
Some items to comment:
1. Power meter
– Unlike the 910xt now you can see the battery status and the status of each pedal (for Vector)
– If you need to calibrate it just long press long on the 3 dots button and the calibration is available in the menu .
2. Data issues
– When swimming 25 FS /25 BS x20 on 80% of the cases it shows that I have done 50 BS
link to connect.garmin.com
– Only one time that I have change the interval pace it jumped the pool size, this is big improvement from the 910xt
– On 45 min ride (inside) it lost the cadence and power 5 times , compared with EDGE 800 data and haven’t seen those drop (both set to use to include 0 counts)
3. Settings from Garmin connect:
– You can adjust your steps size from the device setting and also set your own Zones (HR+ Power).
– As using windows phone I can only sync 920xt using the phone internet sharing, I have try to add it yet the application do see the network even if the computer showing it in the available networks. even when manually adding it the watch wasn’t able to connect to the phone.
Summary – no way I go back to any other stone age device :-)
Black/Blue base ordered earlier this week from CT. No need to change to bundle since I already have 620 bundle, correct? Just wondering the merits of having a second HRM-RUN strap on hand.
Correct. If you have a FR620 strap, in theory the FR920XT with the most recent firmware will actually send a firmware update to the HRM-RUN strap (also just released last week). Though, I haven’t tried it myself yet. The update merely adds some battery life improvements.
Just un update and a question…….
I’ve received my FedEx shipping label notice (must have missed the truck) so mine’s ready to go on Friday I assume (International Standard Delivery)……. Happy Thanksgiving all.
Querstion: My order includes the Quick Release Kit so they must now be available? Has anyone got one yet…..pics etc?
I’ll double check if quick release kits have come in. They (Clever Training) were separating out deliveries (watch without QR kit) to ensure folks got watches quicker – but I thought international one were being held since the QR kits were expected any day now.
In any case, I’ll post some pictures here later tonight. The sample QR unit from Garmin came in on Friday.
Any pics of it actually attached to the watch yet Ray??
Thanks
Mark
Any chance that you can do a demo video of it like u did with the 910?
Here ya go, a slew of FR920XT with the quick release photos, just scroll slightly down from the start of the ‘Cycling’ section. I’ll re-order it later on, but running out the door, so just a simple 10-12 photo gallery of everything from unboxing it to on bike and wrist: link to dcrainmaker.com
Thanks for the detailed pics. I could see using it on race day for an easy transition but it seems to the raise the watch up a bit on your wrist. I’m not sure if I would want to wear it around like that all the time. Whats your opinion on the generic watch mount vs quick release for daily use?
For daily use, the quick release mount makes it a bit higher than I’d prefer. Having had the quick release on it for the last few days, I’ll be switching it back this week I think to the regular mount.
So how will you be using it on the Bike Ray?
I must admit having gone from a QR 910 to the 920 I love how much smaller it is, but I love the quater turn bike mount and obviously for an actual triathlon it great.
But day to day use for me is sometimes cycling sometimes running.
I guess I see 2 options:
1) Use the strap mount on bike which I never much liked the look of and it won’t mount in as many useful places.
2) Get a Garmin edge for bike rides. ;)
It’s somewhat a individual decision. If I was using it day to day as a activity tracker, I’d probably go sans-QR kit. But, if i was mostly using it as a sport training tool, then I’d go with the QR kit and then a Barfly TT mount.
Of course, I sorta just split the difference. ;) I use the FR620 for running and the Edge for cycling. And the pool, the good ol’ Garmin Swim.
I wondered if that might be the answer ;)
I will need the QR kit for triathlons anyway so when I get it I will see if I can cope with wearing it all the time otherwise I may consider getting and edge for cycling. I already use a Garmin out front style mount.
Ray, I’m currently using the 910xt linked with SRM on my bike, unfortunately, the 910xt does not support the left/right power ‘only’ total power. Does the 920xt has this functionality? As far as I uderstand the SRM does send the left/right power data. Thanks & best regards, Jürgen (from Germany)
Hi Jürgen-
SRM does not send left/right information from any of their power meters via ANT+. On the flip side, the FR910XT does support left right (you’ll need to ensure you’re on firmware 2.50 or higher), as does the FR920XT. Enjoy!
A Couple of questions:
1) In the 920 manual it says that naps can be added to your sleep time but that has to be done on Garmin Connect. I’ve gone into Garmin Connect but the only thing I can find is to change your start and stop sleep times. That doesn’t work because I want to see my movement levels during sleep so need to be able to enter nap start and stop times (maybe more than 1?).
2) Garmin connect seems to double count steps for calorie purposes, sort of. When I go into “Reports”, “All Activities” and “Active Calories”, I see my calories burned through walking, running, swimming etc. But, I noticed on days where I ran that my walking calories would be higher than on days where I just swam (by about 60 calories for a 5Km run). So, on the screen the total calories for the day includes the calories from running plus the calories from walking but with walking includes the running steps!
3) To make things even more confusing, I connect to “myfitnessplus” and sync Garmin connect to that. Garmin connect feeds myfitnessplus with your activities so that you can see total calorie consumption and usage. Sounds great. But, the calories “Earned from exercise today” on myfitnessplus are more than the total calories from Garmin Connect (shown in #2 above). Part of this is because there is a Garmin Correction that gets passed through – I think it is attempting to calculate your metabolism rate and let myfitnessplus know. But, I also suspect that it is feeding the inflated walking calorie consumption number through. And while that number is less than a chocolate chip cookie for a 5 Km run, a longer run would be different.
Anyway, thanks for the write up and the device has made me more aware of calories BUT, if it isn’t at least close I’ll quickly loose interest in that component.
Great Review Ray thanks
a couple of questions:
a- when I set the wifi network with garmin express, no problem , but then i try directly from the watch and it dosen´t recognize any familiar wifi network.
b- is it possible to pair the watch with de HRM & cell phone? both at same time? so i can use live tracking with my HRM connected?
c- also I use metric, so my pace is in kilometers, but the watch send me alerts of pace in miles… I try to change it.. and switch it to kilometers, but I can only change units… do you know how to change the units from alerts?
thank you very much, sorry for my English…
Alerts already fixed, thanks
A) Hmm, I’d try setting it again via Garmin Express and see if it sticks.
B) Yes, no problem. You can see that in the review with my screenshots of live tracking with the HRM
C) Good to hear you’re all set there.
Cheers.
I ordered from garmin and I still have not received it. I’d like to cancel my order and get it from CT but apparently my order cannot be cancelled at this point. lesson learned, never ever order from garmin!
Try calling Garmin to cancel the order. I was able to cancel mine about a week ago.
Does the 920XT recovery time play well with other garmin devices? For example, if I use my old 910XT or Edge unit to complete a workout, will the 920XT sync with Connect / recognize that I’ve performed a workout? If not, it seems like I would need to carry both devices and then not sync my Edge.
No, it’s within the device only.
which is exactly a huge BS from Garmin.
Recovery time feature is based on recorded fit file (or any other with HR data) and is completely device independent! It should be within garmin connect service not single devices. This would allow to handle things properly for owners of multiple devices and open the feature also for any older.
But garmin prefers to use it as selling point of new devices. sad
Perhaps, but it’s not a feature of any device of any company actually. Recovery time on every device I’ve seen is specific to that device (even if shown online). Be it Garmin, Polar, Suunto or anyone else. It’s never been transmitted back to other devices you may own.
as I understand it, it’s an algorithm, that takes HR data recorded during exercise as input and generates hours of recommended recovery as output. Is this algorithm different on each device – I dont know. I would assume Garmin actually bought something from external fitness company, so I dont understand why is it calculated and presented only on specific devices (models), why not on their service – then could be synced with any device. How different is strava’s suffer score? It’s same idea, just different algorithm and different presentation (points instead of hours). I just like strava’s idea better :-D where it doesnot metter with which device I did my exercise.
A good use case for something like Google Fit. Someone could do a site / app to look at your data from all devices and work out a simple stat like this. Unfortunately Google Fit has no HRV support that I have seen even though it wants you to upload everything with nanosecond accuracy even though the default website of course can not display a most of this data.
Hi,
I would like to ask for recovery advisor. Does it work for all sports? Do I get single recovery time graph like on Polar personal trainer for all sports? Or is it separated by sport? Will it work correctly if I will do some cross-country skiing training on weekend and than I will train on bike rollers in working week days?
Just tried to order with the 10%discount code. It wouldn’t work online, so I called directly and they couldn’t get it to work either. I did join the VIP club. The lady on the line sent the inquiry to management and got this response,
Dear Clever Training Customer,
Thank you for your inquiry. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reason the coupon cannot be applied with the provided information. Please be advised that the code cannot be combined with any current sale prices and certain manufacturers may have placed restrictions on the usability of codes. I am sorry for any inconvenience.
Regards,
Kat
Flat rejected. How are people getting the discount to work?
Didn’t work for me either (placed my order Wednesday). I just assumed that it was excluded and I signed up for the VIP membership to get it. Still a net savings (especially when you consider the lightening fast order fulfillment and no sales tax outside of Florida) and I’ve been nothing but pleased with the customer service. So I didn’t mind the $4.99 outlay.
For the FR920XT (and about 6-7 other Garmin products), you’ll need to use the DCR/CT VIP program, per requirement from Garmin. But, you’ll still save the same 10%.
For sale items, like some of the Black Friday deals when things are discounted 30% percent, those fall into the deepsale/clearance category – so no additional savings there.
When you sign-up for the VIP program, 30 minutes later you’ll get your personalized coupon code and that’s good on the FR920XT. That’s the one you’ll want to use. If you have any issues, simply shoot me a note using the contact form and I can usually get you all sorted out in a few hours.
Thanks for the support, I appreciate it!
OK, I tried a different call to Clever Training. Here’s what I found out.
To get the 10% discount, you must join the VIP program. They will email you a code which you may use throughout the year for 10% discounts and priority shipping on orders. It is THAT CODE which you must enter in the discount code box. NOT the DCR10JKW code!
This worked for me doing a website purchase of the 920XT.
Andy
Exactly. Worked for me. Ordered last night. Got message today that it will arrive Tuesday… less than 3 business days… FREE and with a 10% discount.
I just received a 920XT from Garmin as a replacement for my 910XT which had a problem they couldn’t solve. Anyways, I took it for my first open water swim, and the GPS track is horrendous. I know you have posted many, and they were all fine. So I doubt it is a systematic problem with the 920XT. But what can I do to try and “fix” the problem? I’ve e-mailed Garmin. But it’s obviously the holiday, so I don’t expect anything for a while.
Oh, I did a run shortly after in the same area and its GPS track was fine, so I don’t think there was anything local/weather/interference wise.
Thanks
David
The first being to ensure you’re on the latest firmware, as there were some fixes there. The second is to ensure that before you start the swim you’ve got a solid GPS lock. So let it find satellites and then give it a few seconds extra before pressing start. Also, always press start ABOVE water, and even then – for all watches by various companies I find I get better results if I give it about 2-3 seconds after pressing start above water before I swim. Seems to ensure the first data point is set.
It says that I’m on the latest firmware (2.50).
I’m pretty certain that I had GPS lock long enough. (I actually had to prevent power save once, so however long the default for that is).
I probably pressed start just before actually starting to swim. So that might be the only thing I did “wrong”. I waded out into the water until waist deep, pressed start, then “dove in”.
Thanks for the help.
David
Hmm, definitely odd.
The other thing I should mention I virtually always do is upon exiting the water at the end give it 2-5 seconds to ensure it has a final GPS lock before pressing stop. It’s just a habit I developed a few years ago that seems to help across all brands.
Got this response from Garmin support:
Please turn off GLONASS when doing the open water swim and test it again. I think the track will be smooth if the additional satellites are turned off.
So I’ll give that a try this weekend. But Ray, was GLONASS on or off on your open water swims? I’m just kind of curious.
Thanks for all you do.
David
Mine would have been on.
Yesterday, I ordered from clevertraining 920xt white/red(watch only), and being shipped.
This serial number is not a problem? (falls within? or not?)
It’s really only the units shipped/bought from Garmin the first week of October. These were almost all exclusively at races (such as Kona), and a very small handful of small retail stores internationally. The waterproofing issue was caught near immediately, hence the stoppage in production.
The ones bought from Clever are outside the range.
thanks DC! worry is gone!
Did anybody change from the RCX5 to the FR920XT and could write something about his impressions?
Thanks a lot.
Karl
Hi Ray. My first post even I follow blog for years.
I have ordered 920xt through CT. It has been shipped and I expect to get it for Christmas as it still need to be brought to Europe for me. ;-)
I have one basic question. I understand you can not charge it when it is used but If you leave the watch charging overnight will alarm work in the morning?
Hmm, I’ve never quite tried that to be honest. I don’t think it will, but someone might be able to confirm trying.
I put mine on the charger overnight and the alarm went off this morning. There’s a field test for ya. :)
Thanks. I appreciate it.
Well, the first run with the 920xt was an epic fail in my opinion. On a course measured as 30.31 miles by my 310xt, the 920xt showed 10.07 miles. I’ve run this course many times and know the 310xt to be accurate. My 910xt is usually off by 0.06 to 0.08 miles, but the 920xt is off by 3 to 4 times even that. That is over a half mile for a marathon distance. It seemed to be progressive. It kept losing distance rather evenly across the entire run.
Link to GarminConnect for the 920: link to connect.garmin.com
Link to GarminConnect for the 310: link to connect.garmin.com
This was on a greenway which is tree lined, but with probably 2/3 of the leaves off by this time of year. I have a 16 mile run scheduled for tomorrow on a different Rails to Trails type path and I’ll wear both of them again. (Maybe I should also wear my 910xt and FR305.)
I don’t have a track run scheduled until Tuesday, but I don’t want to trust pacing an intervals workout to the 920. I’ll try the 920 on the track on Wednesday when I just have an easy 6 miles scheduled.
Garmin may have left off the GPS precision screen intentionally, so that people couldn’t see that the precision is worse than their other devices.
Garmin said that they moved the antenna in the 920. Any idea where? Would it be of advantage to move the face to the inner portion of the wrist so that the other edge is facing up? What about wearing the device with the face on the edge of my wrist which would make it face up when running?
This device does some nice things, but if it can’t handle basic GPS measurement I’ll have to get rid of it.
Might be easier to continue the discussion on this over on the Garmin Forums
link to forums.garmin.com
I also have an issue with the removal the ability to change backlight intensity. At this time of year I usually start my runs during the week in daylight and finish them in the dark. On both my 310xt and 910xt I have “Backlight Stays On” set, and keep the intensity (Press of the start/stop button and then arrow keys) at zero.
When running, when it starts getting dark, I can just press the start/stop button, and then the up arrow key 2 or 3 times for the intensity I want. After the run I can just set that intensity to zero again.
That is certainly more convenient that what is available on the 920xt. Also, if one just sets the backlight on the 920 to always stay on, even when it is not needed then one will have to recharge more often than otherwise. The more one recharges a battery the more the lifetime of the battery is decreased.
I don’t think the backlight is a huge battery drain. Remember testing with a 620 (which has a similar on/off backlight) and only seemed to be about 20% drain at most. With the 920, even on the “Always On” setting, you can still press the power button to turn it off again.
Ah thanks, hadn’t realized that. Ok, that makes all the difference. I’ll change mine to always on.
Why did they not build a heart rate monitor inside the watch like the TomTom Cardio ?
Because at the time development for the unit started (well over 18+ months ago), Garmin didn’t see optical HR technology as accurate enough. To a large degree, that’s still relatively tree.
The challenge is that Garmin can’t get away with typical 95% optical HR accuracy (95% of people working). Companies like TomTom can get away with it a bit more, but as you’ll often see here, even when 1-2% of people have an issue, they’ll throttle Garmin for it. Kinda funny double standard, but hopefully it results in higher levels of accuracy down the road. Eventually, Garmin will have to come out with a unit. No question about that.
(Note: Let’s not let this topic diverge too much here though….)
Hi.
I tried to check not just this in-depth review and the other earlier one, but also all the posts of the others before posting my questions. But there are still some:
1) if I understand well, no battery life test were made w/o GPS and notifications, so as a real everyday watch. But it must be less than 15 days, pr let’s say a month instead of 4 months claimed by Garmin.
2) Is it possible to upload a New Lead calorie burning profile as it is with 910XT and 310XT?
3) I can’t see Last Lap HR in the data field list. It is strange. 310XT does miss it, but 910XT has it. Can somebody double-check it, please?
And a comment. It is a big shame that Garmin almost always makes some stupidity related to elevation. Either in the elevation calibration process or with the resolution of logged and/or displayed elevation.
Thanks God, at least the elevation resolution is OK, Ray you reported it as to be at least 1ft, so I guess it is the same 0.2m as it is with 910XT, but why the heck Garmin gave up to simply use the pretty good (let me say, almost perfect) method they introduced with the barometric outdoor units like 60CSx.
Just for fun
link to google.com
link to google.com
and the very best link to freepatentsonline.com
1) I did some in days where notifications didn’t work and just used it as a day watch. Battery still burned pretty highly, but my unit was also within the ‘affected units’ recall notice, so perhaps that changes things since it specifically called out battery.
2) No
3) The data fields just as presented in teh data fields section.
I know not many people uploaded their personal calorie profile including fat calorie to their Garmin 910/310XT, but I guess it was bigger effort to remove this option that it would have been to keep it intact.
So I will stick to my 910XT.
Have only used my 920xt for two activities – both on the treadmill to avoid the ice and snow here in Minnesota. One run using just the watch to measure pace, etc.; very inaccurate as Ray reported. The other run I used my foot pod which has been calibrated all summer long paired with my FR15. This run also appeared to be inaccurate, reporting a pace almost 10% faster than the treadmill and at least somewhat faster than I *think I was running. Do I need to recalibrate my footpod against the 920? Or am I faster than I think I am?
For the non-footpod one, it does take a number of outside runs to get somewhat close, and even then as I noted, it’s not super close.
As for calibration, you need to enter the calibration value on the FR920XT. The calibration value isn’t stored on the footpod, but rather on the watch.
Alas, just as slow as ever. I guess I’ll need to venture out onto the frozen trails to calibrate. Very early winter here. Thanks!
You don’t have to go outside, just calibrate it on the treadmill. There’s an option to calibrate it to a known distance. Also if you’re doing mostly treadmill runs, it’ll be more accurate if you calibrate it on the treadmill you usually run on
Thanks for the insight, Olu, although I don’t see how to do what you suggest. I’m still working through all the menus. I didn’t find it in the manual.
On the treadmill you would have to do some maths and then enter the value manually. Run on the treadmill for a set distance according to the treadmill and note what the default calibration of the foot pod gives for the distance on the 920. Then divide the two and multiply by 100 and round to nearest 0.1. So if the 920 gave 1000 metres but the treadmill 950 then it would be 950/1000*100 = 95.0
So if I have access to an indoor track then I could use the exact distance run. Is tha right? Then I could ignore the distance reported by the treadmill like I always do.
Tim?????
On the 910xt all you did was calibrate the footpod. Set a specific distance to calibrate, start running on the treadmill until you hit that distance and then press stop.
I used to do this, but determined that
1) Most treadmills are not very accurate
2) I hate running on the treadmill
3) That HR and perceived effort were the best measure for me to use for treadmill running, not the distance numbers on the watch or the treadmill.
Yeah I think that feature on the 910 was largely doing as i described. I don’t think anybody really prefers running on treadmills over outdoors but needs must sometimes (and it is better than nothing!) and if you want your Garmin to match the treadmill (right or wrong) best to calibrate your foot pod on the treadmill.
Calibrate the footpod? The 920XT owner’s manual says: “the foot pod is self-calibrating.” Am I missing something?
Sorry if this has already been covered but I haven’t seen it anywhere. Does anyone know the impact/benefit on battery life from disabling activity tracking when you are training with GPS on. Judging by posts about general battery life it seems that “officially” the difference between “watch only” and “watch with activity tracking” is 4 months -> 33 days. Im just wondering how much of a difference the activity tracking has on training battery life with GPS on. I presume it must have some impact. I hadn’t thought about it until yesterday when I ran 65km and then at the end back in watch mode it popped up showing 78,000 steps. I was then reading the manual which states to save battery life you should disable activity tracking.
It might be nice if there was an option to have activity tracking auto-disable when you start training if it actually does make a difference.
Ray: When you did your “watch on the roof battery life test” was activity tracking totally disabled?
I might throw mine out on the balcony and see how long I get out of it.
It is nice that, judging from other comments, they seem to have fixed the annoying issue in the 910 that if the battery ran out mid-trainig it would lose all your data though.
Doubt it would be very much – as the activity tracker is, by design, a “low power” activity. Of course if you want to squeeze every last minute out of the battery then best to turn off anything that you don’t actually want or could live without. How much battery did the 65km run consume and how long were you were running for?
Well, that’s the bit I’m not sure of. I ran for about 9 hours but for the first hour or 2 I had it in ultratrac and then switched it to 1 second GPS. When I stopped I thought to myself “there must be plenty of battery life left” and didn’t check. I came home and syched via wifi and then this morning after about another 12 hours in watch only mode it was down to 35% (I could only check by plugging it in. Is there another way to get a %?). Given it should have lasted 24 hours with GPS and I had it in ultratrac for 2 hours I would have expected it to have more juice after 9 hours, a wifi synch and 12 hours in watch mode but maybe the wifi synch drains it more than I realise.
The only reason I questioned activity tracking is that according to garmin numbers it cuts watch only mode by ~75% (4 months to 33 days) so I wondered how that translates into gps mode. Garmin numbers look high but like I said the wifi could drain the battery more than I thought. This was my first use of the watch so I will pay more attention next time.
I don’t think there’s any battery life impact with activity tracking on during GPS mode. The reason is that the accelerometer is already being leveraged in GPS on mode for internal cadence/pace calculations there anyway.
Oh, and just to clarify…in my roof test, activity tracking was not disabled, but because it was in running mode, the sensors would have been enabled for internal cadence monitoring.
i cant find data fit on my laptop.
It stays on the device, when you plug it into your computer, it’ll show up as a USB drive.
First, thanks for another great review.
Second, I totally agree whit you about the zoom feature, somebody at Garmin must have entered a 0 there it should have been a 1 and reversed the function to give less help when you need it the most.
This I think (hope) will be fixed in one of the first updates because they simply have to.
One more thing (as Steve J said) any clue of when the shipment of this start in europe?
I can’t find anything about it…
Keep up the good work
/M
Thanks.
It’s already been shipping in Europe, for quite some time actually. It’s available for example in many countries and stores (including one behind my house in France), albeit sometimes hard to find. It’s really up to your specific local retailer and how many pre-orders they made way back in September, as well as local Garmin country managers ability to snag more shipments for their country.
Thanks
On Garmin’s website, they have postponed the delivery from October to November o now we are in December, then I probably not have to wait much more before it reaches Sweden:-)
In general, Garmin ships to Garmin.com folks last (for reasons I don’t really understand).
Hello,
Thanks so much Ray for this great review! I bought a 920xt 2 weeks ago (no luck, it’s concerned with the replacement program). I’m looking for a carrying cover for my 920xt in order to carry the watch, the strap and the usb charging cable. Any suggestion please?
Thanks (I’m french, sorry for my english !)
Hmm, you might want to look for a ski goggle bag. It might be a bit large, but you can fold it up nicely and it’s fairly soft.
Haha, ironically I use an old Polar Zip Bag that came with my late lamented Polar S625X to store my Garmin 910XT, charger cable, USB stick, Viiiiva HR bridge strap and ANT+ footpod if I want to take it off my shoe when I travel. It’s well made, about the size of a small toiletry bag, has a waterproof divider compartment, is very convenient, and smartly decorated with the Polar logo :)
Hi Ray, did you test the accuracy of 920 in terms of distance measured ? 910 was normally 1% generous at least. What about 920 ? Thanks
You can see the results of every activity I did and the distance within my Satellite Accuracy Section: link to dcrainmaker.com
Hey Ray, wondering if there is any way to create advanced workouts for the 920xt with custom step names like Garmin Training Center allowed. Or if this is an option that Garmin might be planning to implement down the road in Garmin Connect?
Currently, in Garmin Connect you can only choose the step type (i.e. Warmup, Interval, Recovery, etc.) and target (i.e. heart rate, pace, cadence, power, etc.)… it does not allow you to create custom step names. So if I’m doing a workout based on something other than the preset targets such as perceived exertion (easy, steady, hard, harder) or strides/buildups/fartleks I have no way of indicating that in the workout via Garmin Connect.
In Garmin Training Center with my 910xt I could specify a custom name for the step and that’s the message that would pop up on my screen during the workout (i.e. 5min Easy, 10min Steady, 5min Hard, 10min Easy w/strides). My easy/steady/hard paces vary quite a bit based on sleep, training recovery, weather, etc so putting a pace range in Garmin Connect wouldn’t work. When I have a complex interval workouts now with the 920xt I have to carry a piece of paper with my workout on it so I know what I should be doing for each step.
It’s my understanding that I can’t use Garmin Training Center to develop the advanced workout and send it to my 920 since I had to get rid of ANT Agent in order to download Garmin Express. Otherwise I absolutely love my 920xt but not being able to custom name my workout steps is a huge negative for me as I’ve heavily relied on that function in all of my previous devices (405, 310, & 910). Awesome review by the way, I keep referring to it to learn the various functions as I’m still getting used to my new toy :)
You can certainly still use GTC with the 920 and send courses/workouts to/from the device as well as download your activities (except pool swims).
Some things aren’t currently supported however. Afraid custom step names is one of them (if you name a step it does not appear when you transfer it) and also course points. Not so sure about named pace ranges either. Just tried and the “name” comes over but I haven’t yet tested if it understands what it means in pace range terms. It will however definitely work with explicit custom ones like say 7:30-8:00 rather than just “Run” (or whatever).
Sounds like GTC won’t fix the issue then. Sucks that I have to carry a piece of paper with my workout on it when I never had to do that for any of my other devices… what a step backwards.
Hi. Let me make a question. How do I set the watch if I have 2 bikes with different wheel sizes?. Thanks a lot.
You’ll set the wheelsize on each sensor attached to that specific bike.
Thank you for your quick answer. But I am yet confused. I have other devices (Polar) where I can set different values (wheel size) on Bike1, Bike2…but I can not find that on Garmin 920xt’s manual (I still do not have the watch). Is there something like this so: Menu->Bike->Settings->
Bike Profiles?, I have seen this in Edge 800 manual.
.
The FR920XT adopts the same model as the Edge 1000 (but not the Edge 800/810 and other Garmin devices). It does away with the bike profile concept, and instead just goes to a sensor pool. You can still configure settings on a given sensor, but this way you don’t have to change bike profiles.
Instead, you have activity profiles, which you can customize different display screens for as well.
So if I follow this correctly, I’d have two activity profiles, say “TT Bike” and “CX Bike” with different sensors chosen from the sensor pool?
Just comparing to my Fenix2 which has the activity profiles but supports only one sensor per type.
Almost.
You have different activity profiles – but there’s actually no tie to sensors. Sensors on the Edge/FR920XT just automatically light up (enable) when they are turned on. You can name the sensors as well common names (like PowerTap). Then, if you happen to have two sensors of the same type get enabled at the same time, it’ll just ask you if you want to change to the other sensor.
Works really well, and quite honestly is my most favorite feature Garmin has released in the last 8 months.
Do you think they will ever do a software update to the 910xt to allow this??
i.e. for an ironman, I use an optical HR strap and switch it from bike to run bc only lasts 8 hr each…
No, I think the FR910XT’s has seen the last of it’s updates at this point.
I appreciate your answer.
Just got my 920 eight days ago….
Turned on, and it had around 60-75% of battery life…
Turned activity monitor and alerts (bluetooth) on and during those 8 days I’ve swam indoors for 1h16m (3.3 Km) and did a 1h hiking (5.0 Km) with GLONASS on… also I messed around alot with configurations…
Today, 8 and half days after turning it on for the first time, it still has 15% battery life… so I was pretty impressed with that, and got much better results than reported on Ray’s review…
Hello, very thorough review as always. I have a few questions:
1. You mentioned that the elevation profile can be off, but is the overall amount of elevation gained off, or just what the actual elevation at each step was during the run/ride?
2. I’m not 100% clear about how easy it is to take off the watch after running and put it on the bike. I don’t have to unscrew the screws in the picture do I?
1) Once it finds the correct elevation, then you’re good. On some of my flat runs, it’s not that big of a deal. And, even some of my hillier runs, because the initial difference isn’t huge. But if the initial difference were huge, then it’d matter.
2) With the quick release kit, you just turn the watch 90* and it pops off and attaches to the bike. Sorry, I had added those pics quickly over the weekend and still need to go back in and add more context and probably a quick video explaining it.
I’ve found that the actual elevation tracing on my 920 is perfect. If I run a hill that is 20 feet, my elevation raises 20 feet. When I run over a bridge I get credit for it (whereas the “elevation correction” on my 620 always had me running at ground level.
That said (and this is SLOWLY improving) the starting elevation is way off. I live on an island and start runs MAYBE 20 feet above the water, and starting elevations have been as high as 300 feet. Last night was 80. Hopefully it’ll be lower soon.
Love reading your reviews – do you know if it is compatible with the Cycleops Powerbeam Pro? I don’t believe the 910 was.
Thansk
Yup (the FR910XT was as well). Though, there was about a 4-6 month period where CycleOps stopped shipping PowerBeam Pro’s that weren’t transmitting the power on open ANT+. They since fixed that though, and you can ring them up and they’ll get you sorted out if so.
just ordered the black/blue bundle from CT. Do you have any info. about the next incoming shipment?
Hi New (and others), here’s the update on 920XT’s from Clever Training:
Red/White Base: Fully in stock
Red/White Bundle: Fully in stock
Black/Blue Base: A shipment left Garmin yesterday that will cover 95% of the existing backorders, it’s scheduled to arrive no later than early next week. They’re expecting an additional shipment as well next week there.
Black/Blue Bundle: Was completely caught up until yesterday-ish on pre-orders (that shipped yesterday as well), now backordered a few units. Likely have that cleared out next week.
As always, with backorders, they go out in the order they were received. Thanks for the support, I appreciate it!
Thanks for the update Ray!
I ordered one from CT a couple of days back to support your work and will have it shipped to Europe. It is less expensive and complex than struggling to find one here…
Cheers
Thanks, Ray, for the update. I’ve got the shipping notification from CT today, expecting to receive it later this week. Thank you for the awesome review!
Hi Ray,
Do you think if I order one today I can get it before december 22nd? A friend of mine in US is bringing it to me
Hi Bruno-
For the ones showing ‘in-stock’, then definitely. They ship same day as long as it’s before I think 1PM (can’t remember the exact time cutoff offhand).
For the the others, I’d expect everything should be caught up and cleared out by next week, which still would easily clear the 22nd for anywhere within the US.
Cheers, and thanks for the support!
Thank you so much. I’m ordering one right now!
Hi Ray,
I was wondering if you had some updated information from the CT guys.
I ordered a unit last week but it looks like the Garmin shipments are delayed (at least for the B&B bundle version)
Thanks
I can double check. Keep in mind though that the site is only showing for new orders, not backordered items.
FWIW, I received shipment notification from CT for a black/blue without HRM this afternoon. Sounds like that shipment sent last week arrived.
Ordered an HRM Bundle on December 4th, can’t wait to receive the shipment notification! My old Forerunner 410 is with a loose button and I just started my macro series for my first 70.3 on april!
Thanks for the insight.
It does’nt look so good for the B&B bundle though as they were not able to fill backorders with the last shipment and are not sure when the next one will arrive…
They had fulfilled backorders up until the new ones in the last 5-7 days I believe. Additionally, I just got a note saying they’re expecting Garmin to ship them all four unit types (bundles/non-bundles, both colors) to be fully caught up with extra stock. That shipment is scheduled to go out Thurs or Friday, for arrival early next week into Clever Training.
Once they get tracking numbers from Garmin, I’ll drop back by with confirmation that all is well there. So, one way or another everyone wanting a FR920XT via Clever Training should have it by the end of next week (assuming a gazillion of you don’t go order this very second). As always, first come first serve – and thanks for the support via CT!
Hey Ray, sorry to bother once again. Any news on the stocks for the Blue HRM bundle pre orders? I’m really anxious about it, cause if I miss this opportunity I’ll only be able to buy it again in February.
Enough units were shipped on Thurs/Friday to fulfill all outstanding orders. Those units will arrive early this upcoming week and then ship back out the same day.
Cheers!
Thank you so much!
I have a question for others with a 920XT using notifications. For me, I get notifications for personal e-mail to my GMail account accessed via IMAP using the iOS Mail application. However, I do NOT get notifications from my work e-mail Exchange account using the iOS Mail application. Is anyone receiving e-mail notifications on their watch from an Exchange server? (Strangely, or maybe not, but work meeting notices received (from Exchange) do come up. But I believe that is actually the notification from the Calendar application.)
I am running iOS 8.1.0, and version 2.50.0 for the 920XT.
Thank you for any insight.
As garmin is just using the notifications ios gives it this i something Apple needs to fix add it seems to be a known issue: link to discussions.apple.com
Thanks Eli. But that discussion seems to be for a different feature. I get notification center messages on my phone for the Exchange e-mails, they just don’t also show up on the 920XT. (It may still be an iOS issue). I’d take it up with Apple, if I knew of other smart watch platforms having the same problem. So I figured I would ask here first. Any Vivosmart owners have it working?
Is the 910XT at $240 with HRM a better deal than full price 920XT or should you just put down the extra money for the new model. I would love to save the money if possible.
Actually you might want to consider the 310xt which should be even less expensive. I think it provides better GPS accuracy, but the 910xt’s form factor is nicer.
Just a quick one. Is it possible that the first series to have issues that will be fixed in later releases? I.e. Should I wait for a few months or should order right now?
It’s always possible, but fairly rare actually that there’s any hardware changes except in cases like the waterproofing that we saw in the first week
Anyone else have an issue with speed when a cadence/speed sensor is connected? With my 920xt the speed jumps around and I get almost 7km less reading on a 60km ride.
But when I disable the sensor the speed reading is fine and it tracks corectly.
What gives?
You have be having connectivity issues with the sensor, the sensor battery might be going (despite being brand new, it can happen), or the sensor might be having issues. In any case, I’d ring up Garmin support to have them troubleshoot it.
Make sure your wheel magnet (if it’s that type of sensor) is properly located on the spoke and doesn’t slide or turn while you’re riding; also make sure that you don’t accidentally kick the sensor out of position so it can’t read the magnet going by.
Last thing is that you can force a ‘manual’ or ‘custom’ wheel circumference, which is then not dependent on a GPS based calibration of the wheel circumference.
Been looking through different sources fro 920XT and availability in EU is, well, what it is still… Any tips from anyone where could one even order the device with some sort of a decent timeline? (decent here being few weeks max rather than months)
Order through Clever Training here. Shipping to EU (Ireland anyway) was $30 (around €24) and the 920xt cost less than I’d of paid over here with the VIP discount. Shipped last week and arrived in Ireland yesterday for €410 with HRM-Run and a cadence sensor!
Is there a way to make a profile for runs that I don’t want to include in the VO2 calculations?
I run pushing my toddler in a pram sometimes and I assume that runs in deep snow wont be good for the VO2 statistics either.
I recall you asked this (or very similar) on the Garmin forums
link to forums.garmin.com
Were the answers there no good? Either way you don’t seem to come back with any follow ups.
A profile based on the bike one should do it. Just don’t attach a power meter to the pram :)
I asked the question there, and before posting this questions there wasn’t really any answers there. Now there are and I will continue the thread at the Garmin forum.
@Thounee:
Got mine last Friday (Switzerland). The shop told me they only received 4 of them (Black/Blue Edition) and none of them went to the shop/display. They handed all out to preorder customers (and I was one of them :-)).
Where in EU do you live?
Firstly, thanks AR11S for the CT tip, thought shipping to EU would be even more expensive.
And for Sibylle -> I live in the land of Polar and Suunto (to be precise, about 7km from Polar HQ), hence garming products are not the first to be stocked in shops… Going to check the CT anyways if not finding anything locally or online in EU ready to ship.
I have my 920 since last weekend and im really not impressed at all more than the few new color on the watch. I have done a few race and some mountain bike together with my old 610 and really I don’t see much improvement to the GPS accuracy with glonass activated. I still saw me running on the grass and the opposite side of the road. so maybe is my 920 with old system inside or really I run on the grass but I don’t realize.
Re GPS accuracy there is an “interesting” thread to wade through with some comments from Ray as well.
link to forums.garmin.com
Thank you for the Quick Release update pics! Having donated a 910XT to Poseidon, is the 920XT kit any “stiffer” to turn than the old 910XT kit, which seemed just a tad too loose.
Hmm, it doesn’t seem all that different to me.
Hi Ray,
first of all, great great review!
I was in Alpe D’Huez this summer during the triathlon (court version) but at that time i didn’t know anything about you, otherwise i’ll talk to you.
Anyway, i was wondering to buy the 920 xt, but the code for the 10% (DCR10JKW or DCR10WHP) discount seems no more available.
Is there anything wrong in what i’m doing?
Thanks.
Marco
Hi Marco-
For the FR920XT, you’ll need to use the DCR/Clever Training VIP program (per requirement of Garmin). Don’t worry, it only takes a second and you’ll still save 10%. You can sign-up here and then you’ll get your unique coupon code: link to dcrainmaker.com
Thanks for the support! And hope you enjoyed Alpe d’Huez, it was a great day there!
it appears that the UK date has been pushed back a second time with some places now saying 17th december. This is very disappointing from Garmin, especially the fact that they are not notifying suppliers of the delay until the day it was supposed to be available.
There is a thread on the Garmin 920 forum saying Wiggle have a good stock right now.
Hi Ray/all,
I was quite convinced I was going to buy the 920XT but after reading all the issues…not sure anymore.
Is it still the best multi-sport watch at the moment in the market? And most important, is it worth?
Thanks for your reviews!
It’s still the same, the best unit on the market is the FR920XT. Any GPS device out there is capable of having a bad GPS track, I can pull up ones from all of them. But overwhelmingly you’re just not seeing that with the FR920XT. With tens of thousands of units out there, you’ve got what amounts to 2-3 folks that have had a bad run (one of which was only 2% off, which is generally considered normal).
Your’re right. Sometimes we just focussed on the errors and forget the overall picture. So I understand you also made the upgrade from 910XT. Thanks again for your work here.
Impossible to say if it’s worth it, as that’s an entirely individual issue. The 310xt is a great value that still checks most of the really important boxes (great accuracy, custom workouts, fully waterproof, power meter support). There aren’t many brand new devices that can do all that. Personally, while I like all of the extra features of the 920 (which I’ve been using for about a week), the one thing that would’ve made me stick with the 310 is precaching of satellites. It’s probably just where I live, but I wasn’t willing to wait 5-10 minutes to start every run. If the 310 had gotten a lock in 60 seconds or less for me, I would’ve been happy with it.
Hi Ray/all,
Thanks for all your reviews
I want to buy one gps watch and I need good opinion. I rarely run and for cycling I already use an Edge 800, but I swim quite a lot ( specially openwater),and I also hike a bit. I’m wondering which is the best watch regarding the openwater accuracy. I understand that none is perfect, but I don’t like the swimcap method, so do you think there is a real difference between ambit2/ambit3/ fenix2/920xt ? In this review it seems that the ambit 3 is better than 920xt, but what about the other two. Could we say that ambit 3 is below the 10% you usually specify for openwater? On the other hand, can you tell me which watch is more comfortable for swimming.
Many thanks,
Xavi
I’ve never used a quick release kit before. However, I have to say, the QR kit for the 920XT makes the watch almost unusable on a day to day basis. It lifts the watch up off the wrist about 14 feet (kidding but it’s extremely noticeable and almost ridiculous). With the kit installed, I am no longer able to use the watch for sleep tracking. It also causes the watch to rotate badly on my wrist during runs because the center of gravity is now higher.
Maybe there’s another option out there to use this watch on and off the bike. If only Garmin could make the kit a bit more low profile by using different materials. I know that won’t happen but I wanted to at least makes sure folks knew what they were getting into. The pictures don’t really do it justice. It completely transform the look and feel of the watch to something akin to a skyscraper on my wrist.
Uh oh… my QR kit is scheduled for delivered from CT on Monday. I was really afraid of the additional height- I’m already hitting the watch face very frequently as I wear it all day & track my steps!
Might have to exchange it for the Garmin Forerunner Bicycle Bike Mount and just connect it to my bike via wrist strap.
Great work as usual, Ray.
By the way, if you ever come to this side of the world… and want to swim at that “crazy big pool in Chile”, let me know. I can arrange that.
It’s only 90 min away of the capital city of Santiago.
Ray, a quick note to thank you for the info and effort you put into your site. Love my CT delivered 920. Having steps, notifications and IMO, a better screen. GPS seems right on, only 4 runs(31 miles) no issues.
I kinda smile when some folks get their panties in a wad over the tracking issues. Age sometimes adds a perspective to things. When I got serious about running(38 1/2 years ago) there was nothing like the devices we have today. Most old timers either drove their cars over the routes they ran or used a bike. Looking back I probably overestimated the distance on some of my runs, but I am not going to change my current total of 81,112 miles. GPS measured since my first Garmin- 101?-“the brick”. Keep up the great work. Closing in on 72, and though slower, I love being fortunate enough to be able to run. I appreciate it even more as I age. Nick
thanks, Nick, for sharing your perspective. it’s very helpful to younger generation.
Quick, easy question for you all… Do I have to power down each time to get from standby mode to sport mode?
No, you just have to hit the lower let button (the one with the three dots) then the ENTER button to unlock and you will be in sport mode or you can keep pushing the menu (three dot) button to go to settings or other menus.
Have to give a big thumbs up to Garmin. Bought my Red/White 920XT at the Noosa Tri at the start of Nov, and used it in the tri with no problems. Have been very happy with the unit, then got advised by Garmin that mine was one of the early models. Had to send mine back, which worried me a little (I hadn’t had any of the waterproofing or battery issues they were suggesting). Being this close to Xmas I thought I wouldn’t hear back from them till the New Year, but was surprised to get my shiny new one today.
The process took exactly two weeks from their initial contact by email, and only about a week turnaround once I posted the original back. I read on here how people are still waiting for original orders around the world, so it’s great that Garmin are able to have a high level of customer service even while backfilling these orders. I am glad I have stuck with them. Now to get back to using this awesome watch.
Hi Ray,
so I took the plunge with the 920xt and took back the fenix2. I couldn’t get over the visibility of the fenix2 screen when running.
anyways I wanted to know if the 920xt could show the temperature if we use the temp pod?
Thanks!
It doesn’t support the temperature pod at this time. however, it’s one of the 9 explicitly exposed ANT+ Profiles within Connect IQ. Thus, I suspect we’ll see an app for it as one of the first few apps released once that goes live (supposedly in January).
920 arrived yesterday. Fits and feels quite a bit better than my 620 which may head over to ebay. I’ve done updates to show versions 2.50 for software and 2.60 GPS. can anyone confirm these are in fact the most up to date?
Also re wifi it says use Garmin connect to set up however garmin connect didn’t detect my wifi. I’m a bit confused as to why wifi is needed when syncing is done with my smartphone nearby. Sorry not a technology guru so my apologies for the elementary question.
Finally GLONASS I’ve set to be on vs factory setting of off. Opinions?
For WiFi, the main reason is just offering another avenue. For me, it tends to be slightly faster in that I walk into the home or office after a run/ride, and it’s just done it automatically, often before I’m fully in the door near my phone. You’ll use the Garmin Express software to configure it.
For the firmware, yup, that’s the latest.
And finally, for GLONASS, I prefer to leave it enabled. You’ll get about a 20% hit on battery, but for most people that’s not a huge deal versus the increased accuracy. For a very small handful of people (a couple percent at most), due to environmental items they sometimes see oddities with GLONASS (for example, on the Edge 510 and other devices). But, I’d really leave it on unless you have a specific repeatable case where it’s having issues.
Thanks Ray. Now I just need to figure out why garmin express isn’t allowing wifi to configure, set up my data screens and give this watch a test run. Have a great day!
Wifi issue resolved
hi dc
what you think about these track that my new 920 are recording every day.the glonass is on at every second as well.i think that i have a fail unit.please.
here is a pdf of one of the segment
link to dropbox.com
here is the activity at garmin connect
link to connect.garmin.com
Are you sure that you have 1-second recording on? Can you triple check? It really looks like it’s recording in smart recording mode. If that, along with being on a mountain bike at high speed on trails, you’re going to get some slight variance. If you had 1-second mode on you’d see more points.
yes, at least the watch say Data recording every second.how to know is the watch is really recording at that interval of 1/second. the trail is in mountain bike but not to much speed. i just call garmin and they just told me that i need to use an speed sensor. that it should look better is the watch use the speed from sensor. what you think about this men. is weird that is not much difference respect to my old 610 and galaxy s5. im a litter disapointed.
If you can upload the file to Dropbox, it might help – though, it’s probably better to continue the conversation over on the Garmin Forum post thread that I believe you’re on. The speed sensor won’t really help the GPS track. The challenge is what speed and how big those corners really are. The track per se isn’t bad for smart recording. You might consider that if it says it’s on 1-second, then switch it to Smart (Save), and then go back into that menu option and set it back to 1-second.
ok thank for your time
here is the dropbox file
link to dropbox.com
if you can check minute 19:22 to see a easy picture.
i going to post in garmin forun too.
thank
Ahh, I see the issue. You’re running up against the limitations of Garmin Connect’s map display.
Go head and upload your TCX file here: link to mygpsfiles.com
Then look at the track, it looks super-clean, and doesn’t look like it’s missing segments. Probably a good lesson for other folks as well on winding/twisting tracks, since GC is basically showing every few seconds worth of data points. Previously they only did that on the playback tool, but now it looks like they do it site-wide.
yes it looks much beter but still the straight line instead of the loop the segment than i want you to see in the activity
is close to bottom on top of the water or lake, all the way to the left bottom to see the segment
i just did i round loop and it show like two straight lines back and forwar. any way thank for your time.
tomorrow im going to run or maybe just walk those litter segment to see what happen in gps track.
Hi Ray, do you know if it does exist any heart rate sensor which can support simultaneously both Garmin and Polar watch ? I’d like to put one wrist 920XT and other wrist Polar RS or RC series and watch hearth rate on both.. Thanks
Yup, any of the dual ANT+/BLE ones will work. Such as the Scosche, Wahoo TICKR, or 4iiii’s Viiiiva. You can use the product comparison tool and look for the ones that are dual: link to dcrainmaker.com
Careful there Ray, Paolo wants to use an older RS/RC watch which means he’d need an ANT+/WIND or ANT+/5KHz HR sensor neither of which exists to my knowledge. If you’d like to use a Garmin with the newest V800 then Ray’s recommendation stands, any dual ANT+/BLE sensor would work. For older Polar you’re out of luck, sorry.
Oops, good catch. Indeed, there are no Polar WIND/ANT+ straps out there. Nor any ANT+/analog straps out there. Sorry!
finally got my 920 and generally like it however the bluetooth pairing is a mess (on android at least).
seems to need you to pair at the OS level and then in garmin connect. ok, more complicated than it should be but done. however whenever the device goes out of range, you have to re-pair it to get it to connect again. seems to change passcode which i assume is what prevents the phone from automatically re-establishing the connection as happens with any other bluetooth device. seems like this is a well known recurring problem and nothing is being done about it. i’d email garmin support to complain but they don’t seem to provide any ability to do so!
only other gripe so far is that there is no last lap average HR display option (for running, assume also cycling) which seems like something obvious you want to see after an interval.
ah, i can email them, just their website doesn’t work properly in chrome – reassuring as to their ability to make things work in android!
I am having the same issue with the phone pairing on my LG G3. Every time they are “away” from each other, the connection is lost and then I have to re-enter a password to connect again. Somewhat frustrating from an otherwise great watch. If you figure out a cure, let us know.
Is it compatible with the QR cycling mount / wrist strap used by the 910xt?
Mount yes, but not the strap. Slight differences in the pinouts.
Hi Ray,
Do you know how to set the alarm to vibrate only. I’ve turned alerts to vibrate only but the alarm chirps still as well as vibrating. I run early morning and the wife gets annoyed……..
Hmm, that’s odd. I’d try restarting the watch, and then failing that try setting it to virbrate/beep, save it, and then set it back to vibrate only.
I was pretty sure the vibrate only option just vibrated when I tested the alarms way back when.
I just tested it, again, and there is no way to have a vibrate only silent wake-up alarm. It is one of my wish-list items for a future firmware.
It’s on the fenix 2 so certainly something that exists in Garmin already. Do you think they’ll include separate alarms seems silly only to be able to program one alarm sometimes I want a lie in!
Hi all,
I know the Garmin Forum should be the place to ask the following… but I thought that some of the most advanced users of these kind of gadgets are on DCRainmaker’s page… so, here I am.
Just did my first swimming workout with the 920XT and there’s something that bothers me.
The watch (or just Garmin Connect, I don’t know) adds the rest time between intervals to calculate the average pace…
Is this normal? (I have the rest screen disabled, by the way… I don’t know if it matters, just info)
Thank you all!
If I look at “avg pace” on my swim session I see the correct pace while swimming — excluding rest time.
I do however notice that Strava parses the avg pace differently with the 920xt than the Garmin Swim. In this case Strava is including the rest time (where it did not on the Garmin Swim).
Thank you, Tim.
Do you have the Rest Screen enabled?
Hi Ray,
Awesome, very thorough review thank you! I’m a stand up paddle board racer looking to upgrade my Forerunner 205. Many of us will take the watch and mount it to a Go Pro mount on to our boards(this way to be able to see it without breaking paddle stroke). My question is, in the Multi-sport mode or “other” as I currently use, will the 920 be able to give me accurate metrics like Vo2 Max and more importantly stroke rate and or cadence? Would swim or bike mode work better for stand up paddle? Although I do occasionally run and swim and certainly do gym workouts, SUP training would be my primary use for this unit. Having said that, the primary data I want are:
speed
stroke rate
cadence
V02 max
heart rate
So, do you think this watch would perform well for SUP? Thanks again!
Had to Google what that sport is. Speed & heart rate certainly OK. Cadence from the watch in running mode comes from detecting arm movements when worn on wrist so I would have thought wearing on wrist would be best for some chance of getting something there. Not sure what difference is between cadence & stroke rate in this instance. VO2 Max algorithm in running mode essentially correlates % of your HR max with running speed so any VO2 reading you might get would not be the same as for your sport. It might give you an idea relatively but equally what speeds do you achieve? If they are more than elite runners then the algorithm is likely to throw it out. Cycling mode would be no good as need a power meter and VO2 Max is not computable for swimming.
Ray, not sure if this question belongs here but since my 920xt just arrived today this is the best place I can think of. Do you see the ‘Badges’ section of Garmin Connect ever being expanded to include achievements from activities other than basic steps walked (i.e. runs under a certain time, distance cycled, etc)? Thanks!
do you guys use a screen protector? would you guys mind linking one here – thanks
I do not use a screen protector
Wow, thanks for the incredibly detailed review! Bought my wife a 920XT for Christmas based on it.
Given your attention to detail (and mine), I should point put a typo:
“This means that unlike some older multisport units, it’s highly **unlike** the band pins will break on the unit.”
Thanks for the best review I’ve ever read.
Thanks Rob, fixed!
Two quick questions:
1. Can you load courses via WIFI? It doesn’t seem to work for me. I have a course in GarminConnect, I choose SendToDevice and pick my 920. It seems to imply that wifi connection will work but it isn’t clear and then if I synch via wifi it transfers and then gives me a transfer complete (1 file error) and I can see my outbox on my garminconnect still has the course on it. I tried a few times and then eventually connected via USB and it worked fine. The manual actually seems to say you have to do it via USB (at least that is how the describe loading a course from garminconnect) but I wasn’t sure as you could synch courses via ANT before on 910. I notice that your original first look post stated that only “some” of the bluetooth features were available via wifi as well. Has anyone managed to load a course from garminconnect just by synching their watch using wifi? If it worked did you have to do anything special? As I say, works fine for USB
2. Is there a way to get the battery % remaining without plugging it into the charger?
1. You can load courses onto the 920 (that have been synched from those setup in your Garmin Connect account) from the Garmin Connect mobile app over Bluetooth. Not aware you can do over WiFi.
2. No afraid not – well apart of the battery gauge on the clock page of course.
Ah sorry on (1) as you misunderstood what you meant. Seems from Erik’s post that this should work using Garmin Connect.
1. I managed to upload courses via wifi. I did the course in GC and clicked on the “Send to Device” button and let the browser start Garmin Express. Then I pressed the wifi-sync button on the watch and after that I found the course on the watch. Bluetooth was disabled.
Interesting. For me it definitely claimed to be “transferring” something but then came up and said “transfer complete” but said there was 1 file error, which was the course. The course was one I created a few months ago for my 910 but I don’t see why that would matter.
I will try again tomorrow.
Tks!
Hello all,
Have my 920XT for three days now and did my first bike ride today.
For longer ascents I liked to use the data field “30s avg vertical speed” on my 910XT for estimating my actual power.
So I setup my 920XT also with the data fields “30s avg vertical speed” and “grade” which are both working almost perfect on the 910.
What I noticed on my ride today is that the data field “30s avg vertical speed” wasn’t showing any data at all, only “—.-“ for the complete 2h ride. The data field “grade” showed only nonsense. The grade was jumping from negative to positive values without any correlation to reality.
Anyone tried these data fields already or noticed the same strange behavior?
Am I missing something?
I did my ride with both the 910 and 920 and uploaded the activities to garmin connect:
920XT: link to connect.garmin.com
910XT: link to connect.garmin.com
(Glonass = off and intelligent recording)
Both tracks and elevation graph are looking good.
Greetings
Daniel
I was just going to make a similar comment. I wanted to use grade for an upcoming road race that I know is hilly, but I don’t have its exact elevation profile. So I was planning on running particular paces based on the grade. I did a test run today and the only grade numbers I ever saw were (-7, -8, 0, 7, 8, 12, 16). Now generally the signs were correct. But I don’t know if I was dreaming, hoping that I’d be able to see 1,2,3,4 on hills while running. Which I understand is trickier to do than cycling.
Ray, is it unrealistic to expect grade to work while running?
Thanks
David
Yeah, I noticed it as well a week or two ago on a hill run when I had the grade there – all over the map like yours when showing realtime grade.
I’ve got it on my list to bring up. Took a ton of photos along the way, and others have seen it as well.
Not unrealistic in my mind.
I’ve got the same issue with random grade indications. I’ve only checked for cycling, but it happens all the time. Feels like it is at 0 most of the time but every second jumps around like crazy. It might be possible that the average could be correct, but jumping around like -5, 0, 11, 0, 28, 0, -2, 0, 7, 0, 15,… every second is just useless and unacceptable.
I’m running the latest firmware upgrades (as of August 2015). This behavior is independent of location, weather and steepness of the road.
Maye the calculations are done with the most recent, unsmoothed GPS data instead of barometric data…
Anyways, I’ve sent more or less the same description to Garmin Support, specifying that I run the latest firmware. Answer from Garmin: please update your device… WOW thanks.
Anyone got more insights on the issue in the meantime?
Greetings,
Antoine
Ray, I know it’s already more than one year, but did you have a chance do bring it up with Garmin? I have the same problem with grade field, it affects cycling, running, cycling and probably all other possible activities. I contacted Garmin and they told me to reset the device, which of course didn’t help. I found few similar posts on Garmin’s forum about the exact same problem, people are getting RMAs and getting new units with the same bug.
Trying to read all the comments and find my question and answer but I’m not having luck.
This is yet another watch doing the live tracking and the smart notification but in each previous watch there were always some catch. Like you couldn’t do live tracking if you were doing something else (cant remember) and you couldn’t do smart notifications if you were doing something else. There always seems to be limits either with bluetooth connections or something.
Does the 920 actually work as we would hope and expect? If I’m using it to track a run, HR monitor and live tracking will smart notifications also work?
Yes they all work together.
Just a quick battery test report in case anyone is interested. I have been seeing battery drain during use that seemed higher than what I thought it should be. Yesterday, I ran for 5 hours from 100% battery in 1s GPS mode/1s recording mode (GLONASS disabled) with no bluetooth enabled and just with an ANT HR strap. I had activity tracking enabled. After 5 hours the battery showed that I had used about 35% (which seems a bit high for a 24 hour battery life).
Anyway, I charged it back up to 100% and put it out on the balcony. The temp was reasonably mild (about 15 degrees I guess) and it had a reasonable view of the cloudy sky. Probably not the perfect spot but it seemed to have a signal no problem. Below are the settings I used.
1s GPS mode
1s Recording mode
GLONASS Disabled
Activity Tracking totally disabled
No Sensors (HR strap deleted from sensor list)
Bluetooth disabled
Audible/Vibration alert every 25 mins
Backlight set to 8sec delay
Total Time: 20 hours 00 minutes 15 seconds
This is still a few hours short of 24 but seems a lot better than the performance I have had before which has pointed towards a 15-18 hours total battery life. I am going to try a few more tests with Smart recording and then with activity tracking enabled again and also with ultratrac. Would seem strange if Smart recording makes as big a difference as other people have seen but perhaps there is some reason that writing out a data point every second causes much higher battery drain than Smart mode. The manual does state to use Smart recording to maximize battery. I guess I will find out in about 20-24 hours :).
Just in watch/activity tracking mode (no bluetooth) I seemed to be getting roughly inline with what Garmin claim. I seemed to use about 20% of the battery in 6 days just wearing it as a watch, including me getting move alerts when sitting at my desk and me using the menus a bit during the day. That would come out to around 30 days total which isn’t too far shy of their suggested performance in that setup.
If anyone else has any other battery numbers to share it would be interesting to get an idea of how different settings are affecting battery life.
Just finished running with Smart Recording mode:
1s GPS mode
Smart Recording mode
GLONASS Disabled
Activity Tracking totally disabled
No Sensors (HR strap deleted from sensor list)
Bluetooth disabled
Audible/Vibration alert every 25 mins
Backlight set to 8sec delay
Total Time: 22 hours 40 minutes
Not too far away from their maximum and Im guessing the 25 minute alerts use a bit and perhaps the GPS signal is not perfectly strong given location with surrounding buildings and cloudy sky.
Good test! Turn off those alerts and sounds like will get virtually there. Interesting then that it seems Smart Recording is a must for a maximum battery life.
Yeah, I think the 55 vibrating alerts with 8 seconds of backlighting will get you closer to 24 hours. @Tim: While the smart recording is probably not the best bang for the buck, I could see how it could add a 10-20 minutes over such a long period of time.
Hi! Thanks for your time putting together another great review!
Can you confirm my understanding that the 920xt includes all the functionalities of the Garmin 510 especially in relation to the pairing with the Garmin Vector pedals (in terms of recording, calibration, display)? I’m essentially focused on cycling but also training for occasional tri and love the option to have all in one device.
Yup, the same as of today.
Oh dear! the 920XT at 400 quid! Beware senior users.
My opinion (FWIW) Intro:-
If you are a “young” Triathlete – I’m sure this is the watch for you! But myself and two friends are 56, 58 and yours truly 62.
We are not elite runners although many years ago – not bad. We don’t do much swimming and bike mostly in the summer. We “Park Run” the 5K at about 25+. So my key area is running improvement.
I’ve only had the watch for a couple of weeks so its still under experimental conditions. The reason I mention my two colleagues is to offer x3 evidence, perhaps as a slightly better sample than just my own opinion.
Issues (that are probably of interest to older runners) :-
Metronome
I was hoping that this would be useful to tweak the beat /cadence towards gradual improvement.
Vedict – impossible to hear and almost impossible to feel the beat (regardless of how you have it beat or where you wear the watch). This is especially difficult when applied to northern winter distractions of wind, rain and traffic – absobloodylootlyuseless!
Dual use
Very occassionaly I could feel the beat of the metronome (usually) whilst stood still waiting for traffic. The beat feeling is the same as that from an alert – so I wasn’t sure if it was a beat or that I’d reached the mile marker. If the mile marker visual stayed on screen a bit longer I may have been able to deduce the answer. But that alert is gone in a flash (perhaps that’s tweakable).
I also had set up to run against yesterdays run. My little man would not appear on any screen, so I’m thinking that you cant have that and metronome at the same time.
Alerts on their own
These were poor for us codgers – The alert was short and easy to miss. For example I set a vibrate alert for mile markers and over 5 miles I missed two of them and (as I knew the distance measured from my cheap Nike sportswatch) I was anticipating, and therefore over-vigilant when it arrived. I doubt that I’d be as attentive when it whispered the 22 mile marker of a marathon to me. – verdict – very poor!
Readability
This is the ability of an older athlete to see and read the data on the screen without running wearing reading spectacles!. Now here, to be fair, it is not possible to single out the 920XT with the task of creating a wrist mounted ipad, but as a new state of the art device costing £400 I do think a better effort could have been made. Perhaps the younger athletes currently make up the lions share of the customer base, but I cant help thinking that some designer might benefit from offering a prototype with bigger fonts to someone over 40 as a start. Maybe even 1 piece of info per screen might be a start. Verdict – no better than previous models and some cheaper watches available that are easier to see.
Plus
I like the way it downloads data to PC automatically – although this is a also a feature of less expensive watches
Summary
Firstly this is only a first impression and the watch is only a few weeks old. So there are many untested features. Although I fail to see how these shortcomings can be improved.
It’s a nice looking watch and keeps very good time (I’m struggling here!!)
If I had the chance to get my £400 back – I would do that in a heartbeat – this is too much money for a watch that falls well short of my requirements.
I have downloaded a free app that beats BPM as loud as I like in my ears – impossible to miss. I can also have my playlist played at my BPM. This is where us aged runners gain over the elite athletes. This is because some favourite tunes are still distinguishable at 160 BPM although I concede difficult to sing along with. (The 1812 overture sounds a bit more like Gunfight at the OK Corral !). So my metronome is now unrequired as well as useless.
So I would suggest:-
Buy a cheap or second hand watch from Ebay
Download free audio stuff for your phone
Get a bigger turkey for Christmas
To think that for the last few months we were all jumping up and down awaiting the arrival of this bummer (“coming to an ebay near you next year for about 150 quid!”).
Only my (our) opinion
Regards
Geoff & 2 seniors
@Geoff.
I haven’t used the metronome feature, so can’t comment on that.
Alerts: Exactly how long do you want them to stay? I often get annoyed with the alerts because they’re on for too long.
Visibility: You’re kidding right? Name one sport watch that has a better display. I find the e-ink quality of the 920xt to be so clear that I feel it’s looks like a fake sticker. You can also set as many fields if you like. If you can’t see just the information with just 1 field, then I can’t believe anything other then a smart phone sized screen will work.
I know many triathletes your age and older who can use devices much harder to see and use then the 920.
Thanks Olu,
I was careful not to blame 920XT for the vision issues and highlighted the fact that it was a global thing. Most older people have age relation vision issues – for example those that reading glasses fix. I’m lucky to have some expensive progressive lens Oakleys which help. But I have observed older athletes almost coming to a halt or bumping into things whilst trying to read a watch. My joke about the iPad mirrors you smart phone alternative.
It’s just an observation about vision v older people issues that in my opinion could be addressed better and if it means a smart phone sized watch – bring it on!
Geoff
@Geoff: I’m 66, so I empathise with your visibility issues. I am an experienced runner, and in the last few years I have become attuned to increasing my running cadence to improving my running efficiency. I find the metronome idea useless (unlike in swimming, where it very effectively sets a pre-arranged tempo) in running, likely due to micro terrain and other footing related issues that throws off foot strikes. Far better is to set a close approximation in your intended running, and have the footpod send back your actual cadence averaged over the last few footstrikes. With this set-up I have successfully trained and modified my running mechanics to achieve consistently higher cadence which I can now maintain, and which I can approximate on my own, with the foot-pod to confirm in real time. This has really paid off in competition.
Now, how to display or register the cadence information? The Garmin watches do a decent job of displaying cadence information, just as they do for HR and speed etc. However, this information is a little awkward to read while running, especially for those with vision issues. I can do it well enough to get by, and it’s not that I need to look at it constantly. However, there is a brilliant product, the Sportiiii made by 4iiiis Innovations that addresses this. Ray has reviewed this product thoroughly, but the short story is that it is a module mounted on your sunglasses that displays a linear array of 7 LED’s in front of one eye that you have previously calibrated to convey information about HR, pace, cadence etc., each LED in the array corresponding to a specific range in your set-up. In addition, there is also an audio update in your ear repeating this information at regular intervals. Might be worth your consideration.
Thanks sclim, I’m going to investigate that LED gismo.
Many years ago when I was in the Royal Navy (Rugby) we just put shoes on and ran! My heart tells me I’m still great, but my body says the tank is empty! Got to be careful as I keep getting calf muscle spasms (much pain)
Lots of good advice here telling me cadence measurement may not be the way. So I’m going to try running against the little man (which was me yesterday). By the way – I will stick with the watch as I’m sure as I get more used to the 920XT the pain of minus 400 quid and a smaller turkey will be forgotten before the next Great North Run.
Still can’t help thinking data fed to my earphones would be a real bonus.
Thanks
Geoff
Great suggestion – thanks. Reading about the Sportiiii I think it would be a useful partner for me and my 920XT, however, as usual it will probably be obsolete before it hits the UK stores !!
Geoff
Does anyone know if this watch can use the Wahoo TiCKR X (also comes with vertical oscillation, ground contact time etc) as if it’s using Garmin’s HRM-Run strap? Will the real time run metrics shows as well and be able to be recorded into Garmin Connect?
Problem with Wahoo TICKR X appears that you need to use their iphone apps to see run metrics.
No, it’s not compatible with the TICK for those metrics. Just HR.
Great review. is the 920 easier to read while running than the fenix 2. Love my fenix 2 but I do find it a little hard to read. Pointed out the VIP code to the wife (thanks for the 10%) shipped to the UK in 4 days. Just can’t use it until the 25th
Thanks for the support Shane, and enjoy it on Christmas!
Hi Geoff, at 71 I guess I might qualify as an old codger. Metronome, if you have been running for any amount of time, why would you want to use that? I never have been too concerned with cadence, when I was a young guy in my early 40’s I was running 17-18’s 5K’s36/-37 min 10K’s, etc, I never knew or cared what my cadence was. I figured out the faster I could run, I guess my cadence must have been faster.
I think the screens on the 920 are the best I have experienced. I won’t dare tell you the number of different brand running watches I have used over the years and I don’t recall a screen that is much better, even to my older eyes.
You can arrange the screens to only show 1 data point per screen- if you can’t see that, just be careful out on the roads:(.
I have never run with audio/music. One of the reasons I run is to get away from the “noise”. I guess that not listening for cadence or BPM has allowed me to hear and feel my auto mile alerts. I spent 21 years in the Army( including Vietnam Nam) and heard a lot of loud noises. Guess I am fortunate that I can still hear the alerts.
I mention for street credibility that I have run over 81,000 miles over the last 38 years and love the new devices. Actually I run most of the time with 1 screen. Lap pace/distance and heart rate. I smile when I glance at the data, most times my own intuitiveness from running all those miles has me pretty close in all 3 areas.
Continue to run, enjoy your journey, and remember, there is no finish line( well the cemetery I guess. :(
Thanks for your advice Nick. I spent 30 years in the Royal Navy (Fleet Air Arm) and if I’m honest jet engine noise and gun fire have not helped my cause.
I’ve not been able (yet) to find out how to display 1 item of data per screen. I can see how that would be useful if you got a bigger font in place of the other two items. I have been able to delete screens that I don’t require (laps and calorie). So I’ll keep trying. For a vision issue example – I can just about see the time on the clock screen without specs but the date and steps need the specs and on the run – forget it!
Thanks a lot for your help
Geoff
Thanks to Olu’s explanation below I got to tweak the data screens .
Will try with 1 or 2 items per screen
Thanks
Geoff
Quick question on the quick release strap: Can you crack out your callipers and add the thickness of the 920xt with and without the quick release kit please?
would you ware the 920 day to day with the quick release? I commute by bike so would be great to use this but if it makes the watch clunky all day long!
Unfortunately I’m travelling at the moment, and did not take calipers with me. If you remind me late Wednesday or Friday, I’ll be happy to. :)
Personally, I find the 920XT with the QR kit a bit thick for day to day use. I’d probably get used to it, but it loses some of the slimness appeal.
Is it possible and safe to charge the 920xt with the iPhone/iPad USB power adapters?
Thanks in advance!
Yup, no problem at all there.
Ray, can developers add a link next to “comments” that says “last comment”?
Hmm. I can ask. On the mobile interface, it does show there. On the desktop interface, I suppose one could press the ‘End’ button, which would result in the same. I’ll ask.
So, after a few days and a couple of workouts with my new 920XT I can say that I am happy.
My polar v800 is going onto eBay as soon as I get around to gathering all the bits together.
I do have really only one gripe with the 920XT. As a watch to wear day in day out… It just looks out of place at work. Whereas my colleagues in the office never asked about or stared at my V800, they all notice the 920XT. I am sick of explaining what it is, and what triathlon is etc etc…!
Anyone using the wahoo RPM with the 920XT, especially shoe mounted for a spin bike?
Working okay?
Hello Oisin. Have you found out any more information about using the wahoo RPM with the 920xt? Or maybe DC Rainmaker has? Hope to hear back! Looking for a way to track spinning class sessions with the 920xt
Hi Greg,
I replaced my 920xt with a Fenix3 many months ago….mostly just because I prefer the look of the Fenix.
The RPM works just fine with my Fenix, so it should be the same with the 920xt.
Oisín
Here I was about to order the watch but it doesnt have a temperature sensor!? Unfortunately just because its not a big deal for some its a big deal for me. I need it for hiking and swimming. Now i dont know if i should wait for the Fenix 3 or just buy the Fenix 2? I keep hearing problems with the Fenix 2 and the battery life isnt all that great.
No, it does not display it.
So, after a few days and a couple of workouts with my new 920XT I can say that I am happy.
My polar v800 is going onto eBay as soon as I get around to gathering all the bits together.
I do have really only one gripe with the 920XT. As a watch to wear day in day out… It just looks out of place at work. Whereas my colleagues in the office never asked about or stared at my V800, they all notice the 920XT. I am sick of explaining what it is, and what triathlon is etc etc…!
Oisin, flaunt your fitness! Be proud of your fitness. I love it when folks ask about my running and my red/white 920. I find it an opportunity to possibly motivate those people to start moving more. Not sure where you live, but in the US, obesity is a problem that seems to be increasing. If it didn’t effect the cost of medical care and cause me to sometimes be squashed when sitting next to a 300 pounder on a plane I would try to ignore the issue. Wear your 920 with pride. A fit office/ outfit is often more productive and can cut the costs of medical coverage, which may lead to more money in each employees pocket.
Hi Long Run Nick & others
Looks like I managed to post only half my comment, yet multiple times….. err sorry about that.
What I wanted to go on to say in my post above was that I really love the activity tracker & I really really love the smart notifications – therefore I went and ordered a smart watch (LG G Watch R) to wear when I am not training.
I will keep and love my 920XT for all my training use but use the Android Wear watch at work. The data will come together in Google Fit.
Regarding flaunting fitness etc… in my line of work (middle manager in a multinational) it’s sometimes better not to flaunt a very time consuming hobby….
I just got this 1week ago. The Activity Tracker doesn’t seem reliable for counting my steps (eg. when sitting in a moving vehicle / sitting still at a desk, the counter still increases). I understand no HRM-RUN strap required. What is the technology, and how accurate for u?
Also, how do u customise the # data fields per screen? I could do this easily on my Edge 500, but on this, each Screen had a fixed # fields and I can only change each field, instead of increase to say 4.
Activity Settings > Data Screens > Screen “x” > Layout >
Then Arrow up for less fields and Arrow down for more fields. There’s a scrollbar on the right that makes the whole process make sense
Hi all,
Great review DC, I’ve recently purchased the 920xt based on this review and on the whole I’m very pleased with it, although the GPS accuracy seems to be out, I was hoping for some help if possible. This weekend I did my usual park run, it is a 3 lap circuit each measuring a mile with an additional bit on final lap to take it to 3.1 miles or 5k.
The device is showing as 2.85 miles total or an 8% discrepancy (which seems a lot to me and effects numbers considerably). I had GLONASS on. The first lap seems correct @ 0.99 miles, then second lap is less and third less still.
GC file is as below:
link to connect.garmin.com
Any help/guidance is much appreciated.
Thanks,
Damian
Looks like that activity is private. Ray & I ran together for 12 miles yesterday in Central London (see his latest weekend post) and we were only 0.04 miles different with our respective 920s – far closer than the other devices we took out. Without seeing your activity looks like the GPS tracking had some problems after the first lap.
Thanks a lot for your reply Tim. I thought I had opened Garmin Connect settings to allow public visibility or is this a setting per activity that I need to adjust?
Did you both have GLONASS enabled I presume? Central london likely has about as much GPS obstruction as the route I did, as it was moderately forested (albiet winter cover).
From research I done the vast majority of people not having any accuracy issues, so either some user fault of mine or potentially a faulty unit?
Damian
I had it enabled on mine, I don’t know if Tim did on his. In general, buildings are far more difficult than trees. Where most people get in trouble with trees and satellite coverage (in general) isn’t actually the trees themselves, but what are usually twisty trails/paths. Especially double-check that you don’t have Smart Recording enabled in that case.
After less than one week with the 920, my 620 heads out to its new owner today via an eBay sale. The 920 is far superior, this review is spot on, and Ray I would be surprised if in fact this watch doesn’t become your primary running watch as you said you are contemplating. Comfort, readability, features, satellite lock time, accuracy, I have found everything to be far superior despite only having run with it once due to Dr ordered rest to repair a compressed nerve in my foot. I wondered why I would want phone notifications on my watch, and it has proven awesome as I’m not whipping my iPhone out every time it buzzes anymore. Looking forward to healing and getting back out there with this new long term companion.
I kind of feel is it like running shoes – same days you want flats for fast running/races. Some days you want more cushioning and/or more grip. Is the 920 is the best “all rounder” – yes probably. Is it the smallest, lightest and easiest to change screens at high speeds – no – the 620 still is. I am wearing both at the moment although admit have hooked the 920, and not now the 620, to the Garmin Connect app so the 920 will tend to make it into Strava. So I would not dismiss the 620 out of hand for all purposes – and indeed some days I have actually had better “accuracy” with my 620.
Tim, I never had better accuracy with the 620 than I have with my 920 ! You’re lucky ! ;-) Never mind, the 620 isn’t mine anymore. I’ve sold it three days ago. I’m just happy with just my 920 .
Hi Ray,
Any idea how I could get informations coming from my Tacx software (TTS 4 with Tacx Genius) to the 920?
By info I mean km and speed datas or more (like elevation) in case of real videos.
Thanks for the answer
Unfortunately, no method at this point. The Tacx (non-Smart versions) doesn’t rebroadcast any of the ANT+ signals. It’s always said it’d be trivial for them to do that with the TTS4 software itself, and at worst someone would have to buy another $30 USB stick if they were short on channels (most are 8-channel now, so it wouldn’t really be a problem).
If anyone is curious I’ve posted pics of the 920 with the replacement coloured bands (straps) on the forum at link to forums.garmin.com. For some reason the Garmin shop doesn’t show them on the watch. They look good although the colour accent on the watch face kind of messes up the colour scheme.
The green/blue band will likely best match the black/blue watchface.
Red/white/blue looks good!
Thanks, very useful as I’ve just had a Red/White and extra straps delivered to my sister-in-law in Phoenix this week and will be getting them as a Christmas present :) I’d been planning to go for red/white/blue and now definitely think we will.
Ray,
Superb review! Quick question: Training Peaks Device Agent doesn’t have FR 920XT as a supported device. How would you upload activities to TP?
Just select the FR620 instead, it’ll work just fine. The only thing that dropdown does is basically tell it what directory to look in. Cheers.
Ray, you may, or may not, find this interesting. I just moved from a 620 with standard garmin heart rate strap (non-run) to a 920 with the run haert rate strap. I found that the recovery time was much more realistic with my 620. I am a fat guy at 265 lbs so maybe the algorithms are not designed for the obese but i have been working out every day for the past 4months in an attempt to get healthy. the 620 always gave a recovery time of ~20-24 hours. That seemed right because i have been doing it for so long and dont feel like i am pushing myself too hard. The 920 is giving me recovery times over 60 hours! It is like the 920 wants to keep me fat!
Unfortunately, the recovery time on the FR920XT does take a while to normalize. It’s not so much the strap (which are identical in algorithms), as that the 920XT seems to be a much slower learner there.
Although I do like the 920 I find myself missing sport specific alerts. I’d like to pre-configure 400yd swim, 1 mi run, and 1 hr bike alerts for example. I haven’t been able to find this, so I assume it’s not available. But in case I missed something I wanted to throw it out there to see if it’s available on the 920?
It is all there. You just have to go the the specific sport profile and and select “Activity Settings”->”Alerts”->”Add New” There you can add all kinds of alerts, including repeating time/distance alerts as well as one time custom alerts or alternating run/walk alerts, hr and pace zone alerts etc.
Go to the activity:
Activity Settings > Alerts > Add New > Choose alert > Customize alert
The thing I like better about the 920 is that you can have multiple time alerts and name them what you want. You can also have auto lap for distance AND alerts for distance as well.
Ha! Beat Olu to it! :-)
@Greg nice. I think Ray needs to check the seconds column to see if this was a true win or an alphabetical ordering by the system ;)
Hmm, the system does indeed order by exact first posted.
That said – I do very much appreciate both of you jumping in to answer questions, no matter the winner. :)
I have a Quarq Riken and from your review of it you suggest manual calibration before every ride and 20 minutes into a ride. Does the 920 allow you to do this?
Yes, you can manually calibrate at any point with the 920XT.
Having trouble finding this item in stock in the US from a reputable source, got any recommendations?
Clever training not good enough?
Ray – did you notice that if you stop an activity but wait a few minutes before you save it your Recovery Heart Rate is displayed? I found out on accident one day and luckily I did because I was about to try and teach myself to write a program to do it. Not sure how many people track that stat but having the watch do it after stopping the activity helps from throwing off average pace like previous watches. In theory it should work with every activity. I only noticed a few days ago, however I’ve used it on a strength training activity set that I created plus a few runs.
This was available on the 910xt (and I think my Edge 800 as well)
And on a fair number of other Garmins – definitely the 620, and I’m pretty sure the 610 and 310xt did that too. It’s recorded in the FIT file, but annoyingly few programs/websites will pull that stat out for you. (SportTracks on the PC using OMB’s fit file reader instead of the built-in one will).
Well I have had my 920 for six days. Two gym workouts, two runs, one bike and I went for a swim the fist time today. After the swim, my 920 fell out of my gym bag onto the tile floor in the locker room and the screen cracked. It is enough to make a grown man cry! It fell no more than 3 ft! so two questions. 1) Am I correct in assuming that it is no longer water proof so if I do take it in the pool again it will get damaged. 2) How do I get the screen fixed… I’ll call garmin in the morning but just wondering if I am being unreasonable in assuming that the watch should be able to withstand that sort of fall and has anyone else had issues with the screen…. I am so bummed :(
That’s very annoying. I tend to keep mine on my wrist during the day to avoid that happening. Somebody on the Garmin forums said their screen had a crack in it but could not work why and he said he had not dropped it. He managed to get the vendor to replace it. As such you can only ask.
In case anyone was interested. I called garmin. They said it is usually $110 to tepair but because it was only 6 days old the will replace it for free. I even get a new one because it is so new the dont have “recoditioned” ones. That is great customer service!
Wow – that’s good to hear!
JUst recieven my Unit yesterday, and was surprised how relative large it is – I guess I have lady-like wrists! (the rest of me sure istn’t).
A question about the recovery/Vo2Max estimations:
Will using my Scosche HRM for some runs throw off the watch completely, or does it recognize that the data is bad? I don’t mind running with the HRM-RUN for my more intensive runs, but for the everyday-easy-runs I am staying with the Scosche for sure.
VO2 Max/Recovery advisor only needs HR and not the running dynamics stuff from the HRM-Run so think that ought to work. Not too sure how well the Scosche now does R-R HR sampling however which certainly did impact calories initially but I think a software update from Scosche largely resolved that.
I’m pretty sure that VO2 max and Recovery is determined by HR variability. The more accurate the R-R sampling, the more accurate these values will be.
As it stands, R-R intervals can’t be very reliable with a peripherally measured pulse. The pulse (measured by these optical monitors) is an increase in blood flow from a heart contraction and this wave of blood is recorded by the monitor as a heart beat. Between the heart and the pulse is literally yards of blood vessels, many of which can change their diameter based on a myriad of factors. In addition the distance the blood has to travel from the heart is dynamic depending on the position of your arm. So even in a perfectly healthy athlete, the wave of blood may get to the sensor milliseconds later even if the actual HR is the same. The faster the HR the harder it is to pick up the HR variability and those milliseconds will make a significant difference. So for intense runs, I think you’ve got it right using the HR-Run (which measures the electrical activity of the heart). During less intense runs, the Scosche may work, but could still produce some abnormal results.
Only thing to do is try and let us know how it works
Yeah suggest give it a go. For sure, if in any doubt, use the supplied HRM-Run (well if you took up that option of course). I think VO2 Max is less dependent on R-R variability and more on actual absolute values as, in simple terms, the algorithm is trying to see what pace you can achieve at a given % of max HR.
The impression I have from using a Rhythm+ with a Forerunner 620 is that the VO2 max values were pretty similar to those from the HRM-RUN, but training effect was way down and recovery times were shorter than they should be.That included workouts from fairly gentle runs up to running a half marathon PB.
@Dom, then recovery times using the Rhythm+ were probably right lol! I find the recovery times to be off. I’ve had it tell me recovery time of xx hours and then do my second workout minutes later and the recovery check given a few minutes in the workout says “Good”.
I take all these numbers with a grain of salt. While interesting, they’ve got a long way to go before they should be used as a true guidelines.
As others have noted, it can vary. Recovery metrics tends to be most impacted by optical sensors, but it really varies by both person and even run. Wearing duplicate devices/straps I’ll see some runs where the two will be virtually identical (within an hour) and yet other runs where they’ll be far off (100+ hours difference).
@Olu, quite possibly so, but I would say that if a half marathon as hard (for me) as this was has a training effect less than 5, then there’s something awry with the scale!
That generated a VO2max of 51, pretty consistent with the VO2max values of 49-50 it’s been giving me with the HRM-RUN.
With you on the grain of salt, though. The Rhythm+ robustly gives me the key things of the relationship between pace and HR, and recovery rate at the end of the workout, and it’s so much nicer to use for me than a chest strap that I’m not at all bothered about losing precision on the other numbers.
One other point: I also use the Rhythm+ with a Suunto Ambit2, and Movescount derives a respiration rate from the R-R data. That matches up pretty well with breathing rates I’ve noted while running (when I’m exhaling on footstrike, that’s easy to get from cadence). I don’t have any data from really hard runs for that yet, though.
Thank you all for your answers.
I decided on sacrificing my chest for a week and used the HRM-RUN for all my runs (all easy), and the watch quite nailed my vo2MAX after a few runs (I apparently have some work to do to get my PRs lined up though …).
One thing I noticed though is that my recovery check at the start of runs is allways “good” (even coming right from a Pool session with my PT which didn´t leave me feeling rested for sure).
I am generally extremely pleased with the watch, the only two gripes I would have currently is
a. Looking at single intervals on the watch after a Pool workout produces 0’s in all the fields (the summaries and the data on GC is all ok)
b. The GPS needs a lot longer to lock in than it admits. If I turn the watch on just as I leave the door the distances will be wonky for a long long time (half an hour or so at least), though the averages usually line up (for example back-to-back kilometers of 3.30 and 6.30 where the cadence, HR, grade and everything else stays put). If I let it aquire sattelites at a window before taking off (like I allways did with the FR410) it works really well though.
Ok – getting used to the 920xt now. So cold here so rejoined gym for winter just for treadmill. I run, indoor row and summer bike. My goal is to get as close to 2 hours for the Great North Run (half marathon) – tall order for me (2:24 last year). I am a bit motivated by the techno toys – so my question is – any advice on which external packages to subscribe to. I know for example Strava is about £40/yr – is it any good or is something else better. I know you might ask me what I want it for – so as a returner to training (after some years off) – I’m not sure – except to be able to monitor and manage my progress. I’d really appreciate some guidance here. Oh by the way I like to do my own thing when training so I’ve not joined a running club.
Thanks
Geoff (920 owner!!!)
Hi Geoff,
I would say Strava is a good choice if you want motivation – for comparing your own runs against yourself and others, both for smaller segments, and for the whole route (something they just released today). And it offers challenges which are crazy addictive. I found myself running 70K in a week a couple of weeks ago, just to get the chance of buying a T-Shirt if I completed it. I did complete it, and I bought the overpriced T-Shirt and paid shipping from the US (I’m in the UK)! Crazy but I really find it get’s me out when I have these sorts of motivations.
Starve doesn’t offer training plans, though it does include some useful tools for monitoring performance, however they are most useful for cycling with a power meter if you have one. Strava is still mostly focussed on cycling I think, though they have good running support, however swimming is definitely a low third.
The main win on Strava though is the social aspect – everyone seems to get on it and you soon start to receive and give out ‘Kudos’ which is also strangely motivational. I sometimes think about the “Kudos” I am going to receive when grinding up a particularly hard hill :)
If you are looking for a more technical type of site then I like Training Peaks too – primarily because of it’s Performance Manager chart – see here link to home.trainingpeaks.com – which is great for monitoring the overall picture and has stats for Run/Swim and Bike and treats them more or less equally.
Finally Garmin Connect is free and is actually pretty good for all sports and is slowly getting better. The way I work things is everything goes into GC first and then I auto-sync them to Strava and TP.
Hope that helps and I am sure Ray and others will have plenty of other opinions too :)
Cheers
Ian
Ian, thanks for taking the time delivering the advice. I will investigate them all. I am a free member of Strava – am I right in thinking you need to pay to have the useful part.
Geoff
Do any of the packages upload planned workouts to the 920xt
Geoff
Only Garmin Connect as far as I know. There are only a few training plans in GC – but you can edit them (by adding a plan, then editing or adding workouts using the calendar) so you can tune them to your needs.
Hey Geoff, not sure what you meant by mentioning you won’t join a running club because you like to do your own thing. I have found it pretty easy to do both.
Suggest you look into getting a running coach, can be a big help.
You mentioned too cold to train outside, not sure where you live, but unless it is freakishly cold, get on outside, just beware of penal frostbite.
Thanks once again for your advice Nick – will investigate
Geoff
Hi Geoff,
You get plenty of the motivational stuff (comparing rides/runs) etc with the free one. With Premium you get the extra stuff listed here: link to strava.com. If I was to pick the most useful stuff from that list I’d say Suffer Score (sorta fun), Filtered Leaderboards (I don’t feel so bad when I compare myself to other overweight old folks!), the analysis tools, training videos, and trophy case. Which actually seems like a pretty decent list for the money I guess.
Garmin 920XT is better Polar V800?
I just got both and my assessment is yes. I wrote reviews to compare both watches at Amazon and you can decide for yourself. If you’ve not already invested on lots of BLE devices, I’d go for 920.
Hi likes Yours reviewes an reads them over än over :-)
But i cant find a answer to a question so now i try here and hop for a answer from You :-)
Can fr920xt do this, indoor duathlon mode whit transition there i want to do two workouts that i have created and uploaded to the watch, one for bike and on for running?
Hope You understand my questions.
Not quite – you can create a new Multisport Activity for Duathlon with Indoor Bike, then Indoor Run and turn on transitions and you can create workouts on Garmin Connect for bike and run but you can’t use workouts inside of the multipart activity as far as I can see :(
Thanks for your answer, now I know.
Even if it did not was what i wanted ;-)
Do you need to turn off the activity tracker prior to going for a run or will it measure distance twice?
No need to turn of the activity tracker when doing an actual timed run.
Sorry wrong reply first time.
I wonder if someone could help me with a 920xt issue. I have difficulties connecting with bluetooth. I noticed that I can connect with WiFi but not with both. It seems as if you have WiFi on, the bluetooth will not sync or connect. Does anyone have that issue?? Thus, I have not been able to sync my workouts with the mobile app since. it is not a deal breaker, but I just want to be sure I am doing things right.
Thank you.
Edgar
Reboot your watch if you have Bluetooth issues! I was having Garmin Connect Tracking issues and then I couldn’t connect to my ANT+ sensors. Tried removing and adding all devices (waste of time), but after a quick reboot of the watch everything worked great again.
So any thoughts if Connect IQ is likely to add features like tides, moon phase, etc. found on outdoor-experience watches like the Fenix or Ambit? It looks like in theory it could, but not sure how much they’d allow that kind of duplication. (I’m looking for a great multisport watch that still has some of the outdoor versatility.)
I’d expect we’ll see a diverse set of app, including exactly those. We’re really only talking next month for when it’s scheduled to hit availability, and they just refreshed into Preview 2 of their SDK last week.
Looking at the SDK there doesn’t seem to be any non-technical restriction over the display of a watch face and what you want to do to it – and those fields are available so I don’t see any issue in creating something that looked exactly like the Fenix or Ambit watch display (unless Suunto kicked up a fuss)
Hello Ray, I’ve been using the FR920XT for a few days and am very happy with it. I also decided to let go of the FR620. One question for you, for the first two runs, it appears the HRM-RUN gives higher heart rate reading for the first 10 minutes (20 beats higher than normal), and then falls back to normal. Do you know of any reasons? Is there anything I need to do? I did not notice the same problem with the HRM coming with the FR620. Thanks!
Are you wetting the strap? Perhaps also applying some gel or liquid soap (as I do)? Is the strap snug? Can help to slightly wet your top where you wear the HR strap especially if your clothes can create static.
Thank you, Tim, for your help. Static might be the problem. I took your advice and slightly wet my top and the problem seems gone.
Cannot seem to find an answer or work this out. I would like to be able to pause an open water swim. E.g. we swim to a beach wait for everyone then swim back, the waiting on the beach I would like to pause. Your article suggests that auto pause is available in all activities but I don’t seem to see it in open water swim. Alternatively I could just arrive at the beach, let the timer run, and just as we leave the beach use the lap function so I can at least record how fast I swam the return leg. Although this means my swim leg on the way there is swim + wait on beach.
Any ideas how to auto pause an open water swim, or even better just pause (like in pool swim). I could set up a new open water swim profile based on the pool swim profile and turn on GPS, would this work?
Appreciate the help.
If you don’t want to/need to time your “rest” on the beach, you could just stop the timer when you want to “pause” and start it again when you get going again.
Thanks Tim. By stop the timer do you mean press ‘Enter’ and then rather than saving / discard the activity I select resume?
I would like to be able to time the return leg of the swim as this is usually a fun race, hence I would have to press Enter to resume, then hit lap and then swim?
Is there a better way. Cheers
Yes Enter then keep it on there until ready to Resume.
It might just be simpler to do the out and back as 2 separate activities however?
As an analogy, I often keep my warm up to a (running) race or track session as a separate activity to the race/session proper.
So I’ve tried the ENTER then leave it on RESUME, albeit by accident, but it seems that it doesn’t restart with the mileage as it was. It’s like you decided not to save it. I did this in the pool, so maybe it doesn’t work when you have it on Pool mode, only when it’s on GPS? If so it would work for running too, I tried the Auto Pause, but usually it doesn’t pause before I start running again, so it’s really useless.
Thanks for your help and the tip. I’ll give it a try.
When the data loaded into Garmin Connect, what did it show?
I believe that if you press Enter, and then Resume in Pool Swim, it automatically makes a lap. And I think the default screen for Pool Swim shows Lap Distance, not Distance.
For the first part, it’s been a while since I “tested” that “feature” (also by accident). But I’m pretty sure that’s what I remember coming out.
I can’t test the second part as I know that on my Pool Swim, I have the distance field as Lap Distance. But I don’t remember if it is the default. But double check if your field is set for Lap distance or Distance.
does 920xt bundle hrm monitor function same as old units(HRM3)?
Does anyone know if its possible to see trainingeffect as you go….. On my Suunto I have an app that does that for me… That way I know I cant stop before I reach TE 4.
Thx
Peter
@Peter,
Yes there is a field called Training Effect under “Heart Rate Fields”. So as long as you wear a heart rate strap you can get TE during the run.
Thanks Greg.
Guess it´s settled then! I have to by one :-)
Hi Ray,
just got my 920xt and I’m still far to find out all his functions. Anyway a negative thing that I’ve noted is the intensity of the vibration alert! Is it tunable or it’s that soft?? Well, while you run you can feel it (but not as well as the 910 or 310) but if I set an alert during my swimming training I will never be able to fell the vibration!!!
I definitely agree, been using mine or a week and so far love it, vibrations AND beep volumes are weaker than my FR220 though. Would love to see a way to up the volume as well, it would help when running with traffic going by.
Ray,
Almost 0.2mile difference between local treadmill and 920xt over 4 miles (distance ran). Not sure which is correct – although I don’t have a shoe pod yet.
Now for a real rookie question – can I see speed in mph or do I have to stick with pace.
Thanks for all your excellent help
Geoff
Yes you can change the Data Screen field to show Speed instead of pace – with the Data Screen displayed hold down the … button to get the shortcut menu > Edit Data Fields > Select the field to change > Speed Fields > Speed :)
And on the treadmill, that’s actually better than I typically get. I’d trust the treadmill in that case. I generally don’t find the accuracy great on the 920XT for treadmill runs (sans footpod).
Just got into doing Tri’s this year and completed my first sprint Tri in June. I want to move up to an Olympic for next year so I started to look into serious training and training devices. Great review of the 920XT. My wife just purchased the 910XT for me on Black Friday. Is it worth me taking that back and upgrading to the 920XT? I apologize if you’ve already addressed this question. I tried looking through all the comments and didn’t see anything or i just plain missed it if you did. Thanks in advance.
Honestly, if it’s your first tri – I think I’d probably stay where you are with the 910XT and enjoy it for the season before seeing where things stand next year once you get into the sport a bit more. Just my two cents.
It’ll be my second Tri. I finished 53’d out of 169 over all in my first one back in June of this year. My running and swimming need A LOT of work. I haven’t even opened the 910 yet as it’s a X-mass present. I was just trying to gauge if it was worth the extra money to get the 920 as I do plan to wear which ever one I end up getting/keeping as my daily “watch”.
Thanks for your opinion! Greatly appreciated!
Return the 910XT. :) I used the 910XT in October and promptly returned it when I received my 920XT in November! More customizable, daily step tracking, Smart Notifications, Tracking, screen is MUCH better. Hurry, now!
Just as a heads up to others, Garmin released a beta firmware update today for the FR920XT. This does three key items:
1) They made changes to the way the barometric altimeter, that the believe should alleviate the issues I saw.
2) It adds initial Connect IQ support for data fields and watch faces. This is basically for developers only right now. Some details here: link to forums.garmin.com – Again, this isn’t yet for regular users unless you have compiled code.
3) It adds the Ski/Snowboard mode found on the Garmin Fenix series lineup.
Oh, and it has some WiFi improvements.
Firmware here: link to www8.garmin.com
Just a heads up for those thinking of installing the BETA. It seems to break Sleep mode in so much as the option to turn it on is not available in the shortcut menu. You could always sign into GC and add the sleep hours later but that is a bit of a PITA.
Apart from that not seen any other issues as yet. Keep your eye on this forum post though: link to forums.garmin.com
Did you read the thread you linked too? Page 2, sleep is available from the activity monitor page. No different then I’ve always accessed it.
link to forums.garmin.com
Yes mate of course I read it – that comment wasn’t there then !
Good to know there is an option though ( though a tiny bit less convenient than the shortcut menu, but not much)
Cheers
Ian
I tried the 2.57 beta firmware last night for skiing as I was planning on backcountry skiing today. We went 5 miles total distance w/approximately 3200 ft elevation gain/drop, however unfortunately the ski mode on 920xt reported only 1.43 miles (likely less than just the downhill portion) and 4k steps, though my buddy’s vivofit on same trip recorded 8k steps. (By the way is there any method to “add” steps to the device to keep a more average activity level?). So it appears the ski/board mode only tracks downhill, ignored the trail/hike up unfortunately. Would be quite nice to have a “backcountry ski/board option” like mapmyrun does as my guess is a higher proportion of the buyers of this watch “earn” their turns by hiking than the general skiiing/boarding population in general. Also, next time I’ll try the “hike” profile I set up, but I presume that will overestimate the downhill activity portion. Also, this could be associated with the beta firmware upgrade, but I’ve now lost my ability to receive notifications from iPhone on the watch, and while the phone shows it is bluetooth connected, the watch says it needs a bluetooth connection. Have tried the turn off both devices and airplane mode toggle on the iPhone to no avail. Will make these comments to forerunner.beta at garmin.com address. Ray thanks for the awesome review, based on this we have now purchased 5 of these 920xt’s, one for the wife and me, two for neighbors and one for a sister!
I may be missing something but the ski/snowboard mode still seems to be missing. Currently running 5.20 firmware
Any suggestions as to pair my iPhone 4 with the 920xt? They aren’t recognizing one another.
Unfortunately, iPhone 4 is not BLE/Bluetooth Smart compatible. You need iPhone 4s or higher to be able to establish connection with the 920xt.
Hi Ray and others who have helped me,
Still having trouble getting alerted – can i turn up the intensity also don’t seem to get a sound, just mild vibration – what am I doing wrong.
Thanks again
Geoff
Ray, loving my 920 for outdoor runs, I have yet to use it for indoor. Assuming funds aren’t an issue, would you recommend buying a foot pod to get the most out of accuracy for treadmill runs which will most likely be numerous once the weather get nasty.
Yes, definitely recommend footpod while indoors.
If i am swimming in a pool that is outside, is it best to swim in pool mode or open water. Thanks DC rainmaker, i ordered this cause of you and will continue to support you through the purchase links you provide. Best reviews around.
Pool mode would be best.
Indeed, always pool mode, regardless of indoors or outdoors (the only exception being the crazy big pool in Chile).
Thanks for the support Justin!
So this morning I tried to do two things that apparently didn’t work together. But I don’t know if this is a bug or “by design”.
I configured 3, 2-field screens that I wanted to auto-scroll. I also enabled “Training Target” of distance and time. But when I started my activity (running), the screen did not auto-scroll.
Later today, I will try auto-scroll without training target, to see if that works.
Well on re-test without a training target, and I got the same results. So I changed the auto-scroll from medium to fast. Then it worked. I switched it back to medium, and it is working now.
Ray I know in your review you suggest a footpod is great for the treadmill. Do you have more comprehensive results (with a without it) now that some time has passed? With the weather about to turn and the necessity to run mileage on the treadmill I’d like to know if it’s worth the $50 or so for the footpod, and if I’ll get the data I like on my watch (vo2, cadence, etc). Many thanks.
If you are going to run regularly on a treadmill, a foot pod is definitely the best way to go if you want to record your run similar to what the treadmill says. For best results you will need to calibrate it and ideally at similar pace to the majority of your runs.
Yup, and – for continued testing a treadmill run I did last week continued to show it wasn’t terribly accurate without a footpod. On 2.4 miles (it was designed as a short test), it measured 2.1. And really, that was more dumb luck, since it was highly over in some areas and highly under in others.
Footpod ordered thank you. Now I have two days until it gets here to read your review and instructions if you have one available. I ordered the newest Garmin version
Just got my 920XT, replacing my V800. Got 1 question, for notifications to work do I need to keep the Connect app open and in the background all the time? It just seems to connect only when the app is open.
Yes – the app needs to be running.
Hi luyi_pr – I also replaced my V800 with a 920XT.
Regarding the app, when I restart my phone the notifications work without me having to fiddle with the app. I don’t believe you should need to do anything to get the notifications to appear.
Are you using an iPhone or an Android phone?
iPhone. If I “kill” the app the notification section says Bluetooth Connection Required. If I reopen the app they come back.
This is exactly the behaviour I get (which would fine for me and us far more stable than the Fenuc 2 and Edge 1000 in this regard)
Does the quick release kit work with the original 920xt blue black red white bands? With the 910xt it had to be used with a black band only that came with the kit.
Yes, the quick release kit (see within the cycling section photos of it and how it works) takes your existing bands and uses those.
Still trying to find a UK source for the QR kit. Anyone got a heads up on one? Or am I looking at the new year.
Garmin’s own UK site seems to have them link to buy.garmin.com
I only see a “Find a Dealer” option there Tim – are you seeing an option to buy direct from Garmin?
Same here. “Find a dealer” which just lists a load of shops that mostly don’t sell anything :)
Ah actually no – I just saw a price and “Processing time is 1–3 business days” and assumed that meant they were wanting to sell you one. Madison link to madison.co.uk are the UK distributors and list it. Suggest sending them a message.
For those interested you CAN now order the 920xt QR kit direct from garmin UK. lead time is 3 weeks though.
Hi Ray, I bought mine at Clever tTraining and giving thanks to your excelent review. I’ve tried to Sync with WKO+ 3 but the device is no compatible with the software, do you have any information about an update to fix it?
Just figured it out … pick 620 as the device, and it’ll recognize the 920. I just imported to wko+ 3.0.
+1 … can’t get my workouts into WKO. I figure a new version of Device Agent will come out soon. Any word? or a workaround maybe?
Sorry not familiar with Training Peaks but it seems at link to help.trainingpeaks.com you can raise a support request with them.
HI Michael – as noted in the comment directly above yours, simply pick the FR620 from the list instead.
The new beta version includes the ski/board mode from the Fenix (I love this!).
How does this integrate with the virb camera? Does it stop recording when you go on the lift and start when going downhill? Or just record the entire time and you have to start/stop manually?
I’m considering buying an action camera, and if it works automatically the virb is looking pretty good.
What are you guys finding that is a good compatible quick release mount for a mountain bike and TT bike for the 920xt? I would like to have mounts on my bikes to be able to use my watch for all my rides, swim and run with out a lot of hassle.
Any Garmin Edge style mount is compatible. I like the Barfly for TT bikes, but like the dual GoPro/Edge mounts from K-Edge for road bikes.
I’ve noticed an issue in regards to notifications with an iPhone. When the phone has been in your pocket long enough to require pin entry to unlock, you stop getting notifications. And only when you enter the pin you get these notifications.
Does anybody a workaround to this issue? It’s quite annoying as I was expecting a call today and I went on a bike ride and I missed the notification. I think I only got notifications the first 15 minutes of the ride and then after that it went completely quiet.
Are you sure the pairing had not been lost and/or the Garmin Connect app had stop running (even in the background) ? I get notifications when my iPhone is on the lock screen. Indeed I just tried ringing my phone when in this state and the notification of the call appeared on the 920 at the same time that the phone started ringing.
I don’t think so, I think the bluetooth icon was still there. Don’t you ever get some “new” notifications when you unlock your phone with a pin? (even if they are old).
Is your phone set up to receive visible notifications when the screen is locked?
Yes, it is.
Hi, Ray, and thanks for an exellent review.
I have one question about the smart watch notifications. I think the notifications disappears too fast. Is it possible to have it dispayed until I hit at key?
As long as you haven’t deleted them on your phone, you can still see them after the initial notification that have one. In lower power mode – so on the clock page, just press the down arrow twice and you will find them there.
Thanks Tim! I didn’t understand why some notifications would sometime disappear! I thought the watch would hold them even if I removed it from my phone.
Also, you can just hit the up arrow once to get to the notification screen.
I only use vibration (no sound), and sometimes I miss the notification. After av few seconds it is gone from the screen. I know I can see them later, but I would like the notificatioin to stay on the screen until I press a key.
Trying to find link on using a footpod, pls advise link if available.
Any news on fixes for navigation & elevation?
Yes, the FR920XT got a firmware update last week for the elevation piece (beta firmware). Up a few comments is a link.
great new they are making some progress.
Thanks for the reply on the band. That is an important thing for me.
I have a qusetion regarding 920xt activity versus Garmin Connect “activity” summary for pool swimming. My watch shows a 1:44/100 yard pace but Garmin Connect shows 2:45/100 yard pace. Has anyone noticed these discrepancies or perhaps GC is counting in my rests? When I click on “intervals” it appears that the rests are 0 and not counted other than cumulative time. Thanks for the advice.
Mine too, I think it is a GC problem.
I looked and looked but cannot find anything that says you can change the main clock (as watch) home display to non inverted (black background). Is this even possible?
Ray, Have you heard anything from Garmin on BT pairing/sync issues with Android (mostly) and iPhone devices? I see many people complaining on forums (including my watch phone combo) about 920XT & vivofit devices? Using 920XT (2.5) with Nexus 5 Android 5.0 version. Watch keeps asking to be paired every 10-20 secs (crashes the bluetooth process) and doesn’t sync.
Yes, as noted in the review, I saw/see connectivity stability issues with my phone. Though, certainly not crashing every 10-30 seconds. I’d try re-installing the app on Android, else, contacting Garmin support so they can troubleshoot and improve for others.
As others have reported Garmin only support 9 Android phones (6 of those being Samsung). I have a stock android device (Nexus 5) and the phone very rarely transfers workouts via bluetooth or wifi – which is a real shame as that was the reason I upgraded from the 910xt. I am now back to plugging the phone into my laptop everytime I want to upload my workouts. People with iPhones do not seem to have these problems.
It might be worth putting the link below into your review so people planning to use an android phone are aware that they wont get support if they have bluetooth issues with a non-supported phone.
Link to garmins support page link to support.garmin.com
Thanks for all your hard work and reviews,
James
Good call, I’ve added a link in. Thanks!
Ray,
Did you notice that , this watch Total Elevation isn’t quite accurate compare with other current GPS watches especially Trail events. Add that, some weird workout end without 1km recording during the race, i saw my friends each laps ,even he didn’t pause the workouts during the trail race, some route end with 400m ~ 200 consider a new laps , the rest were recorded as usual.
Any comment or problem facing currently ?
thank
Hi Keik-
Yes, as noted in my altimeter accuracy section, this is due to the way the FR920XT was handling the initial altimeter acquisition, which can result in overall elevation numbers being off.
That said, they changed this in the most recent beta (which is public), so you can try the new version and see if it improves it for you. In my testing yesterday during a hilly run, it behaved spot-on now.
Hallo Ray,
Thank´s a lot for the great review. Hut ab!
To metronom function: How easy can you put it on and off while running? Can one manage it without changing speed and rhythm for doing that? One click? Or how many times you have to push the button?
And how easy is it to change from pip to vibr?
Has anyone testet and can tell me about it? I am eager to know!
Herzallerliebste Grüße! Naomi
The metronome is not that easy to change or turn off while running. You can do it on a rest lap, though. It’s 6 (different) button presses to get to the Metronome settings page from the run activity, then lots of button presses to set changes and get back to the activity.
My workouts require some sets of 100+spm, then back down to 90spm. It might be easier to use a clip-on metronome for those workouts. It would be nice if you could pre-configure a workout with specific metronome beats.
Steve thank you very much for you answer!
6! different button presses ! that´s a pity! and an real dealbreaker!
For me my cadance is 180 no matter what speed. I learned it with help of a Seika Minimetromon costs 20 Euro. I need a metronom on very long distance 100 Km and more
when I get tired at the end, or anytime, rhythm from metronom helps to keep in staying in good technic.
Garmin is kidding to make a metromon function coming in and out with 6 steps!Echt krass! Da kann ich nur den Kopf schütteln!
Herzliche Grüße! Naomi
I’m very glad they at least included the metronome. I was tired of always running with my Seiko Metronome, sometimes forgetting it in the house, sometimes it falling off, and then I would mistakenly change the frequency while trying to change volume. One too many devices just to go for a run! (I don’t know how you do it, Ray!)
No need for six button presses.
If the Metronome screen is enabled, it’s a single button press on the mute option. :)
Thanks Ray ,
That sounds much better! :-) :-) :-)
`n Lachen und `n Knuff!
Naomi
Hey Ray,
Long time follower of your reviews (thanks for all the amazing work). I have searched through the questions and I know you can connect the Kickr to 920 xt, however, since I have the Quarq connected to it, it seems like it can’t find it. I’m sure I can connect it. real question is: can have both connected at the same time, like power from Quarq and cadence and speed from Kickr. I have a feeling the answer is no here, but wanted to hear your input/expertise… (Garmin has nothing on this either).
FYI.: When the 920xt is connected to my phone and the phone is connected to my car (BMW) through bluetooth also, there is some pretty horrible interference when I get or make a phone call.
Correct, only one concurrent power meter at once.
Wahoo has long stated they were looking to separately broadcast speed as a unique channel on ANT+, which would solve this…but, it hasn’t yet happened.
I’m having GPS accuracy issues, but I’m going to give the 920xt a few more tries in different conditions (i.e. not on trails). But I’m also having to reboot pretty much daily, otherwise the watch won’t pair with either bluetooth or the HRM. Any hope that GPS accuracy issues with improve with firmware updates, or is GPS modular with non-updated firmware? Also, a pitch from me too for restoring the 910xt ability to do pace of the footpod, for trails.
Garmin routinely releases both GPS chipset firmware and watch firmware for units, including the FR920XT.
That said, if you’re having issues you may want to try basic troubleshooting including both resetting the unit, as well as for GPS, try turning GLONASS off (or on, if already off) to see if that assists.
That said, since you can’t pair with anything, I’d just start with a reset first – else, contacting Garmin support.
Do you know if is there any garmin black band that fit into 920xt ? I read that many customers did not like the blue/black one, I want to use as a day to day watch and a full black band will make it more clean. tks !
Don’t think so although I believe the velcro one is all black.
I’ve got the black/blue one and wear it as an everyday watch. By all accounts very many people do too.
Hi Ray, everybody…
anyone may help me about the vibration alert? It seems to be not enough strong to be felt while swimming!!!
Any possibility to turn it on?
Thanks
It’s strong enough for some, but may not be enough for all. It’s one of the core reasons that Garmin didn’t enable the metronome in the pool. They felt the “experience” just wasn’t going to be as reliable there (their words).
Thanks, this leaves me a bit disappointed. I’ve found very useful the vibration alert during long swims at the pool or in open water.
Ray,
Do you know if the satellite caching is dependent on wifi location? The reason I ask is that GPS is locking immediately when I run from home, but takes extremely long when I run from my office — much longer than my FR610 took. My office internet connection is routed through the company headquarters on the other side of the continent. On my computer if I go into google maps it thinks I am at the headquarters. I was wondering if the cache might be loading information for that location and this is actually harming the ability to lock onto GPS.
Thanks,
John
What interaction is there between your work WiFi and your 920 though? If you don’t use that WiFi then it can’t be a factor. If you do use it then try without and see if any better. Is your work location in a challenging GPS environment however? That could be another factor.
It doesn’t leverage WiFi in terms of using it to find satellites. It only uses it to download the most recent EPO.bin file, which is a precache of satellite data. The cache is applicable globally. For example, I updated my cache last night in South Africa, it’s equally good where I am right now in London, as it will be when I arrive in NYC this afternoon. However, 8 days from now if I didn’t update, it’d be expired and acquisition would take longer.
South Africa last night, London this morning, and NYC this afternoon! You should blog how you plan something like that one day – my mind is spinning just thinking about how and where you would sleep and what the time differences would do to you!
Thank you, Ray. It is very useful to know that this cache is the same globally and not dependent on a specific location.
I found that EPO.bin was missing from the REMOTESW folder. I sync’d using Garmin Express and now it is there. We’ll see if that solves the problem.
I am almost always connected to my cellphone via bluetooth. In your review you said “refreshed each time you connect your FR920XT to your phone, computer, or WiFi”. I was assuming that the frequent “Data transfer complete” messages were an indication that this cache was being retrieved but now I wonder if some action is required on my part to ensure that the file is updated via the phone.
John
I wonder if the GARMIN speed/cadence sensors will work on normal stationary bikes, like those sold for home gyms…
Yes for the magnetless cadence sensors, but typically no for the speed sensor unless the wheel has a place where you can mount it on the hub (some are enclosed, making it difficult).
Great review and based on the early “heads up” review and the fact I have loved the 910 – bought it. Functionally this watch is everything I need.
Question, when I upload an indoor pool activity into Strava (via Garmin connect) the total is always 1 length (25 meters) less than my set. The detail/total laps are correct. This is obviously a Strava issue but just interested if anybody else has had the same issue
@Philip, I’m seeing this in Strava too. It’s also cutting my avg power on the bike by 5-10% too.
Any chance on your FR920XT that you have ‘Record Zero’s for power set to ‘No’? That would likely produce this.
I’m on a computrainer using trainer road so no zeros. Here’s today’s ride:
Garmin Connect: 230 watts
link to connect.garmin.com
Training Peaks 230 watts
link to tpks.ws
Strava 223 watts
link to app.strava.com
I believe they are averaging the minute it takes to calibrate the computrainer.
If you have zero averaging set to off, then I suspect Strava is including Zero’s in the averages (a common practice).
Looks like Strava thought you were cycling for the full 1:22:34 whereas GC has the time & moving time pretty much exactly 1:20:00. This ratio is exactly the same as 223/230 ….
On the 920xt, there’s no place to change how zeros are dealt with. All I have is an option to enable/disable “auto zero”. I’m sure that the 920xt is including zeros for power and ignores zeros for cadence. I’m running an Edge 1000 at the same time with that configuration and the 920xt and Edge 1000 are putting out identical numbers.
Strava is averaging power over the time of the activity and not just when riding. So they are including zeros when the timer is paused or stopped. Looking at indoor rides where I didn’t stop to calibrate the computrainer reveals identical numbers across the board.
Garmin Connect: 190 watts
link to connect.garmin.com
Training Peaks 190 watts
link to tpks.ws
Strava 190 watts
link to app.strava.com
They should change it back to include only riding time. During long outdoor rides, your power and speed will get penalized for stopping to use the bathroom or god forbid you stop near the end of your ride to have coffee with friends.
This a really excellent writeup. I read it several times before purchasing. My 310xt just died.
Question: How do you change the # of data fields in an activity screen? They seem to be preset already.
Thanks!
Goto the activity profile you want to change, then Activity Settings, Data Screens, select the screen you want to change and then it is the Layout option that determines the number of fields shown.
When Layout is highlighted press Enter and then use the up/down buttons to select the number of fields you want.
Thank you Tim. Got it figured out. I also noticed that the field that used to be called “time” is now called “timer” vs. elapsed time. Interesting.
Great review, thanks. A few points:
1. The “interval” workout facility on the unit is essentially worthless. You can program say 4 x 1 mile, or 4 x 6:00, but not 4 x 1 mile at 6:00. I don’t see how that is useful for any kind of interval workout. On my 310 I can program (and edit) advanced workouts on the watch, or on Garmin Training Center on my Mac if I prefer. With the 920, both options are gone, and I must have a Garmin Connect account, and do it there. To me this is basic functionality that is too inaccessible.
2. It looks like the interface to observe satellite lock-on from the 310 is gone — the only feedback you get is locked on or not locked on?
3. Missing data fields from the 310: GPS accuracy. Also, sort of, time of day. You can add that field, but it doesn’t show seconds. Alternatively you can enable the Clock screen, but that occupies the entire screen.
But my biggest problem is connectivity. The only way to get data off the unit is via Garmin Connect. I shouldn’t need an account on a website to use my running watch.
Still, overall I think it’s a good upgrade from the 310 for me, for battery time if nothing else. I’m hoping it can actually get close to 24 hours. My 310 now dies short of 17, which is inconvenient in a long ultra.
1. IMHO that’s handy though for most purposes especially if you have forgotten to set something more complicated up before. In 30 years of running I only have ever done say “4×1 Mile” without needing to set a pace target per se. If I want to control/see my pace then there is lap and current pace to look at of course.
2/3 True that could be handy sometimes (and Connect IQ may allow something to appear instead) but the fitness Garmins are designed these days to try and take these sort of “worries” away from you. Whether it works all the time is perhaps a different matter!
3. Time of day (with seconds) – can be added to the training pages loop for a quick glance. Again I am almost certain that Connect IQ will allow an hh:mm:ss field to be added if desired.
4. You don’t need a Garmin Connect account. Plug in the 920 to a computer with a USB cable and grab the FIT file and use it in a desktop app like SportTracks or even the Garmin Training Center.
Hi folks,
Does metronom stop vibr.and piep during autopause? Please!
´n Lachen und `n Knuff!
Naomi
Just as one final stock/shipping update for those that have purchased through Clever Training…
All backordered units have shipped as of yesterday. Additionally, they are now in stock for all FR920XT variants (HR bundle/non-bundle, both red and blue colors).
And finally, if you order prior to 1PM Eastern this Saturday, you’ll get free shipping that’ll arrive by Christmas. Don’t forget of course to use the DCR/CT VIP program to save the 10% as well (link to dcrainmaker.com)
Enjoy!
Great thorough unbiased review as usual.
Upgraded my 310XT after the watch was lost recently from a faulty strap. (A known issue with the previous models)
Can’t find it on the blog but the strap of the 920XT appears to be ‘bolted-in’ and a lot more robust. Thought it might be something your readers would like to know.
Thanks for the blog.
Anyone know how I can hook my 920xt up to traineroad? No ANT and from what I can tell, Trainerroad can’t use the PC based bluetooth.
realized after my last post, this is a non-issue. the ant stick from my old one will pick up HRM and cadence sensor. Users with new watches only may have an issue though.
Yup, correct. And, the FR920XT will pick up TrainerRoad’s Power Relay option, if you enable it.
hi does the 910xt do a Multisport view on connect to see the whole event Strt to finish. As all I see is the triathlon broken down into 5 different events. Swim cycle run t1,t2 etc.
Is this just a 920feature
It works with the 910XT, for new multisport activities uploaded after early October.
Did my first treadmill run this morning with the 920XT. Was very happy to see that the treadmill reported 4.01 miles and the 920 reported 4.0 miles. My friend uses the same treadmill and her Forerunner 220 never matches the treadmill’s distance.
Did you use a footpod or just the WDR (wrist based detection) function?
No foot-pod. Just the watch. Funny, I have been thinking about getting the foot-pod, but this is an argument against doing so.
That’s good but sometimes the distance can be close “by chance” but the pace be all over the place. Was the pace OK as well?
Pace was spot on. And I checked it against what my HR should have been for that pace and it aligned as expected.
Hi folks,
to get (?) HRV on Fr 910xt I found this:
link to youtube.com
Text to that video:
Pour activer le mode HRV :
Entrez dans le menu,
puis répétez 5x la séquence “haut” “bas”
sélectionnez hrv a droite et validez l’activation.
So I don´t understand what there happened. Does it mean one was able to get HRV (R-R) shown on display of FR910xt while running? Is there a special programm/file uploaded on whatch bevor?
And if the answer is “yes”, can you do the same on FR 920xt to see what HRV (R-R) you have as Polar V800 is able to?
Anybody there who does understand this?
`n Lachen und `n Knuff!
Naomi
It records the time between each beat in the fit file that it records too. There is no processing of the data to show hrv on the watch. The 920 can record the same data.
Eli thanks for your answer!
Do I understand it right:
Garmin records R-R data without activating and no further program which needed installed?
But you can not watch data : neither while running on display nor later on Garmin cloud?
That what I call stupid!
so long!
Naomi
Thanks for another great review Ray.
Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with the recharge on the run issue?
Is there a work around or will it be fixed by a software update?
We are looking for the best solution for 30 to 40 hour races. Is the Fenix 2 a better option?
Thanks again
Unfortunately there isn’t a solution at this point. Garmin has confirmed that it would be possible to update the firmware to do so, but at this point they haven’t made a decision on whether to do it. I’d really suggest/encourage sending feedback to Garmin on that, if it’s valuable to you.
I am probably not the first to notice but a new link just appeared under my 920xt device in garmin connect labelled “Connect IQ Store”. If I click it asks for a password and my garmin one won’t work. I guess this is early access for beta users of Connect IQ. But looks like it’s moving forwards. Really interested to see what will be available.
Great review -thanks. Do you know if the 920 has the run/walk countdown screen which is new on the 620? link to jeffgalloway.com?
I know the 920 does run/walk, but does it count you down or does it just give you an alert?
Thanks!
I have a question about the quick-release kit! I just wanted to confirm that the FR920XT does NOT work with the same kit as the 910 model, but the attach mechanism is the same?
Correct, it does not.
Great overwhelmingly informational review for a newbie. Happily, received mine over a week ago….a month earlier than promised. But, it is already on the way back! The heart rate was not discoverable, although the strap was functional. Garmin states there are a “handful” having that issue…. :-(
Fwiw, on the handful of people I’ve seen with that problem – if you turned off and back on the unit, and then went out and received GPS before attempting to search, it tended to find it.
I went through 2 days of troubleshooting with them…including removing the battery and flipping it, holding it, and flipping it back. There is a glitch that they are aware of, and they put aside replacement bundles so that those affected will not have to wait. Shouldn’t the heart rate work despite the GPS?
Thanks.
Hi folks,
Found this, but can´t test it, because I havn´t yet got one.
Enable RR recording
“Turn on the FR920XT. Press ‘Menu’ to go into the menu screen. Press UP then DOWN and repeat 10 times. You will enter the “diagnostic menu”. Select and change HRV on the top right hand side. HRV Enabled…cool! This drains the battery a bit faster than normal but does not particularly affect the .FIT file size too much.
How To Analyze HRV Data from The 920XT
For Analyzing.Use SportTracks. Use FirstBeat.”
Now the question is : can one get out that data directly from the watch without going over Garmin cloud .?
Is that First Beat called” Firstbeat Athlete” ?
p.s: and get you in such a “diagnostic menu” anyway. :-)
Anybody ? Thanks!
Naomi
Auf der Suche nach einer Uhr die R-R anzeigen kann:
” Einmal mehr aufstehen, als man umgeworfen wird.” ;-)