It’s been almost exactly a month since Garmin announced their lineup of fall running watches, including three new units: The Forerunner 230, 235, and 630. Each of those units replacing previous iterations of the FR220, 225, and 620. The FR230 and FR235 were unique though in that this time around they got pretty significant feature updates, bringing them far more in line with the FR620 of yesteryear, than other mid-range watches. Meanwhile, the FR235 also got a new optical sensor – this one developed fully in-house by Garmin.
This review will focus on the FR230 & FR235. While next week I’ll publish a review of the FR630. The only difference between the FR230 and FR235 is the optical sensor in the FR235 – that’s it. All other baseline features are the same.
For this review I was sent both a FR230 and FR235 to borrow from Garmin. Both are final production units, and this review is based on final production firmware (3.10+). After this review, I’ll be sending back all the demo units as usual to Garmin and getting my own – just the way I roll.
With that intro out of the way, let’s dive into things.
Unboxing:
Since this is a dual FR230 & FR235 product review, it would mean I have two boxes and thus two unboxing sections. However, in this case I’m temporarily going to provide you with a FR230 unboxing, and then follow-up with the official FR235 unboxing photos at a slightly later date (a week or so). The reason being simple: The FR230 arrived boxed, while the FR235 (final production unit) arrived naked in order to get it to me quicker. Don’t worry, it’s the same unit you have.
As for the differences between the two – well, one includes a HR strap (if on bundle) and one doesn’t…and the end. But let’s start at the beginning, with the box:
Once we crack it open we’ll find this small assortment of goodness worth of parts:
Removing the plastic, we get this:
Ultimately, that comes down to four things: The FR230, the FR230 charger, the HRM4 heart rate strap, and some paper manual stuff.
The charging cable used on the FR230 is the same as on the FR235 and FR630. It is not compatible with any other Garmin units (I tried, really, don’t do it – bad things happen due to the pins being different).
For the HR strap, note that it’s only included on the FR230 bundle including the heart rate strap. If you buy a FR235 you won’t get one (you’ll get an optical sensor). And if you buy just the base FR230 – again, no strap. In any case, here’s the strap (HRM4):
The above strap does NOT have Running Dynamics (that’s the HRM-RUN & HRM-TRI). It doesn’t matter though what strap you pair to the FR230/FR235, it won’t read Running Dynamics data from it.
Next we’ve got the unit itself, first the FR230:
Then the FR235 with it. The easiest way to tell my two units apart is that the black FR230 has a white trim, whereas the black FR235 lacks such trim.
With everything unboxed, let’s compare sizes.
Weight & Size Comparisons:
Next, let’s take a look at the weight. The FR230 & FR235 are very similar in weight, only 1g apart! The FR230 weighs 41g, and the FR235 weighs 42g.
If you compare that to the TomTom Spark, it weighs in at 47g (depending on band):
Next, here’s a side-profile view of many modern GPS running watches on the market. From left to right we’ve got:
From left to right: Garmin Epix, Garmin FR920XT, Suunto Traverse, Suunto Ambit3 Peak, Polar V800, Garmin FR225, Garmin FR630, Garmin FR235, TomTom Spark, Garmin FR25.
So basically, I’ve pretty much showed what we already knew – the FR235 is a super-slim GPS running watch that doesn’t weigh much.
Running:
To start a run, you’ll press the power button once, which triggers a screen enabling you to select an activity profile (note though, in this most recent public beta, this behavior changes slightly to minimize one of these steps). It’s here that you’ll select to Run outdoors or indoors:
Note that on the FR230/235, you get four activity profiles: Run Indoors, Run Outdoors, Bike Outdoors, and ‘Other’. On the FR230/235 you cannot rename these profiles, or create new ones. On the FR630 however, you can create your own.
Once you’ve selected one, the unit goes off and finds satellite coverage. In most cases, if you’ve been in the same spot as previous and downloaded the satellite cache (happens automatically with the Garmin Connect and Garmin Express apps), this usually takes under 15 seconds.
Once that’s done, it’ll bring you to the main data page (you can still see satellite status up top until you start).
These data pages are totally customizable, with up to four data fields each.
You get a bunch of pages, some tweakable, some not. Here’s the rundown:
Customizable Data Page 1 (1-4 fields)
Customizable Data Page 2 (1-4 fields)
Heart Rate Screen (Split: HR bpm & HR zone)
HR Zone Gauge (a little gauge of your HR)
Clock Page (current date/time)
Each of these can be enabled/disabled as you see fit. Here’s what they all look like:
As far as sensors goes, the FR230 & FR235 both support connecting to ANT+ heart rate sensors, ANT+ footpods, and ANT+ cycling speed/cadence sensors (more on the bike stuff later). For the FR235, you can choose whether to use the internal sensor, or an external HR sensor. Note however, that at present the footpod is really only useful for indoors, and not outdoors – since you can’t select to use it for pace outdoors.
With that all set, let’s start the run. At this point, the unit will show you current pace from GPS as well as distance and any other metrics you choose.
The unit includes basics like Auto Pause (which pauses the watch recording when you stop at a traffic light), Auto Lap (to automatically create laps at a distance of your choosing), and alerts. Standard alerts can be configured for Time, Pace, Distance, Calories, Heart Rate, or Run/Walk. Additionally, you can create custom alerts to remind you to Drink, Eat, Turn Around, or ‘Go Home’. These custom ones essentially work on a time/distance parameter – such as ‘every 10 minutes drink’, or ‘go home after 30 mins’.
In the event you want to do a custom workout, you’ve got a few options. One way is to create a workout on Garmin Connect (using a desktop computer), and then transfer it to the watch using either USB or your phone. In this case, you can create complex custom workouts like the below:
Additionally, you can also create an interval workout using a more simplified interval option on the unit itself. This allows you to program various steps in without too much complexity:
Now for the most part all of this stuff I’ve talked about to date is standard stuff for Garmin running units.
Where it starts to get interesting is new features like the ‘Finish Time’ estimator. This feature will automatically estimate how much time you have remaining until you hit a goal distance (such as 5K, 10K, etc…). You can enter a custom distance in as well as standard ones, using miles or kilometers. It’ll simply figure out what your estimated time of completion is based on how fast you’re running thus far.
Next, we’ve got some post-run metrics. The FR230 & FR235 both support VO2Max, even using the optical sensor (a rarity in the industry). In this case, the unit will give you a VO2Max value after each run (if it changes). It’ll also plot this online. Right now the FR235 estimates my VO2Max at 55, which is a touch bit below where I’ve had it measured previously. However, at the same time, the FR630 is measuring it also at 55 right now. Note though that historically these features can take many weeks – specifically of harder runs – to even out on the watch as it learns from you.
Similarly, I’ve been doing tests using a FR230 and FR630 with HR straps, while also using the FR235 with the optical sensor – looking at recovery time. IN most cases, they’re within an hour of each other (even if I think they’re a bit high overall).
Additionally, post-workout you’ll also get a TE (Training Effect) score too, if you look at the summary information:
Again, this is also listed online too on the Garmin Connect page (different run below):
So what about GPS accuracy? So far so good. You’ve got two options when it comes to GPS, one is to use just the default GPS option, and the second is to enable GLONASS. Doing so would take a slight hit on battery (usually about 20%). For me, I’m OK with that. I’ve been doing a bunch of runs in/around the city (and in snowy weather), without seeing any real issues. For example, here’s going right along buildings without any GPS variance:
Here’s an example from actually earlier tonight where four GPS watches all slightly struggled through just one 100m section of the run – though the FR235 and Ambit3 tracked the least problematic until the turn, though then temporarily seemed offset for another 100m across the bridge before joining back up. To be fair, this is one of the hardest little sections of roadway I have around my home, since it’s a tiny road between two sets of tall buildings.
The rest of the run was largely spot-on between the units, or within a meter or two of each other.
If you’d like to look at a few different GPS track comparisons, I’ve made a small table to allow you to dive into them below, using comparisons as well:
(Table to be uploaded Thursday Nov 27th, though files available now here)
Again, I’m not seeing anything that sticks out as concerning here (I’m also not doing a lot of trail running either right now, so if that’s more your thing you may need to wait and see what others say).
Finally, note one exciting feature on both the FR230 & FR235 is the ability to enable 1-second recording, as opposed to smart recording. That’ll help make your tracks look smoother (even if the distance under the hood is still theoretically the same). You can enable that in the settings menu.
Cycling:
Next, the Garmin FR230 & FR235 has a cycling mode that supports ANT+ Speed/Cadence sensors. This means that you can pair it to any ANT+ Speed-only, Cadence-only, or Speed/Cadence combo sensor. It does not support Bluetooth Smart sensors (of any type).
I’m not going to spend a huge amount of time in this section because it’s primarily a running watch, not a cycling watch.
The main use for a cycling mode on the FR230/235 is simply that it categorizes your rides correctly for upload to Garmin Connect. This ensures things like PR’s (Personal Records) aren’t all dorked up on the running front, from cycling activities (such as fastest 5K times).
In my riding with the FR235, it works just fine as a record-keeper of where you rode. Both it and the multiple Edge units came up with near identical GPS results:
FR235: 25.61mi
Edge 520 #1: 25.66mi
Edge 520 #2: 25.63mi
Edge 520 #3: 25.68mi
Edge 810: 25.54mi
And afterwards, if you look on Garmin Connect, you’ll get speed/cadence data as you’d expect from any other Garmin device. This also includes speed, heart rate, distance and a map of where you went (here’s a link to one of my activities):
Note that for HR accuracy on the FR235 using the optical sensor, see my optical sensor accuracy section a bit a later in the post.
Finally, note that there’s a wee bit of confusion regarding whether or not there is or is not an Indoor Cycling mode on the FR230/235. I’ve discussed this in my ‘Bugs, Quirks & Tidbits’ section at the end of the review. If things change there – I’ll note that here as well. Failing changes there, you can always just turn off the GPS to use the unit indoors.
The FR235 Optical Sensor – Background & Rebroadcasting:
Without question the most important difference between the FR230 and FR235 is the optical heart rate sensor stuffed into the back of the FR235. This would mark Garmin’s 3rd product with an optical sensor, following the Forerunner 225 earlier this summer, and the Vivosmart HR (announced just a few days from the FR235).
In the case of the FR225, it leveraged an optical sensor package licensed from Mio. Whereas for the FR235 and Vivosmart HR, Garmin decided to make their own optical sensor, which they’ve branded ‘Elevate’. While the sensors between the FR235 and Vivosmart HR are similar, there are subtle differences to the surrounding units – making performance quite different.
Anytime a company introduces their own optical HR sensor, I shudder. Because the vast majority of companies screw it up, or don’t spend sufficient time testing. This is even more true in the athletic space (versus just resting HR sensors). Thus, it’s probably the most important thing I tested in the FR235, and where I spent the majority of my time digging into results.
The sensor includes three green LED’s, which record not just workouts but 24×7 HR as well. In that mode, the unit samples at a variable rate dependent on what you’re doing. More activity means more HR data, while less activity means it reduces the HR sampling to save battery life. Meanwhile, in workout mode it records data at industry standard once per second (1s).
This HR is displayed just like it would be from a HR strap. Once you’re in an activity, there’s no difference there:
Further, outside of the workout mode as noted the unit is continually sampling your HR dependent on activity. But I dive into this more during the ‘Activity Tracker’ section a bit later.
Lastly, the FR235 can have its HR signal ‘rebroadcasted’ to other ANT+ capable devices. The unit rebroadcasts the HR over ANT+, identically to that of a heart rate strap. In effect, it turns your FR235 into a HR sensor for other devices – such as a Garmin Edge or a Recon Jet HUD unit. It does NOT broadcast your HR over Bluetooth Smart.
To enable this, you’ll start from the main time page and press down till you see this HR page:
Then, you’ll HOLD the up button down for a few seconds, which gives you this little nugget:
After selecting it, you’ll see your HR and time broadcast for all the world to pickup:
If you wander to another device – like an Edge series one, you can search for the HR signal and find it. And then boom – HR on the Edge, from the FR235:
Note that in this mode you cannot start an activity. It’s only offered as a standalone option, which kinda makes sense. It’s sorta silly to record two activities of the same type to Garmin Connect. Though, I’m sure there’s edge cases that make sense too – such as the Recon Jet example where you want to record your bike ride on the FR235, while also getting HR up to the Recon Platform. Hopefully they’ll look at allowing/enabling a broadcast mode during a recorded workout as well.
As for signal strength, I haven’t seen any dropouts when using it on my wrist, paired to an Edge cycling computer on my bike (a relatively short distance). Additionally, in looking at signal strength as measured by a NPE WASP unit, things look on-par with a Garmin HRM4 Both were at the same distance from the WASP (which was on my handlebars), with one measuring –32db (HRM4) and one at –28db (FR235). The numbers are displayed negative, the closer to zero the better. Of course, even just moving an inch or two causes the numbers to fluctuate a bit – so don’t overthink the slight difference there – it’s just where the pic was taken.
For fun, I then put the WASP module outside the room and half-way up the stairs, to see how well it’d pick up things. Sure enough, no problems with either displaying (now at –52 & –46):
I haven’t done as much with re-broadcasting as just native recording though in my testing, so it’s possible there’s some edge case I haven’t hit yet. Still, things look positive there from a functionality perspective. Of course, whether or not the data is terribly useful (i.e. accurate) in cycling is a totally different matter.
The FR235 Optical Sensor – Workout Accuracy:
Now that we’ve got the optical sensor background pieces out of the way, let’s dive straight into accuracy testing. Because honestly, that’s all most of you care about anyway. For accuracy testing I’ve been using a production unit on production firmware for the past 2-3 weeks, with near-daily workouts of both cycling and running. I have not yet tried it swimming (since it’s not a swimming watch).
In my case, my testing setup is pretty straightforward, I’ve got the following on most activities:
A) Garmin FR235 (Optical HR Sensor) – Right Wrist
B) TomTom Spark or Polar A360 (Optical HR Sensors) – Left Wrist
C) Garmin HRM-TRI & HRM-RUNv2 HR Chest Straps (Upper chest)
D) Stryd Power & HR Chest Strap (Lower Chest)
E) Scosche Rhythm+ Optical HR Sensor (Upper right arm)
Note, in the above test I’m careful to not put two optical HR sensors on the same wrist area. This can impact accuracy adversely for some sensors – so I don’t want to impact results adversely that wouldn’t otherwise be normal.
For data collection, the three non-wrist-worn units were funneled to a variety of FR920XT, Suunto Ambit3, and FR630 units that I usually wore in a SPIBELT. These were purely there for HR data collection, and not GPS accuracy data. In the case of cycling, most of the data was instead funneled to Garmin Edge units for record-keeping. Finally, all of this data is available at the end of the post for your own poking.
Ok, enough talk – let’s walk through results. First up is a hill repeat session I did back a few weeks ago.
Below is the key for the above. Note, those are not averages, but just wherever my curser was at that time. What you see above is that things track very well for Mr. Purple (the FR235). The brief issue you see at the start with the Scosche is because the strap caught/pulled loose on my clothing and I had to fix it while running – so it was flapping around.
The only issue you see on the Garmin FR235 side is some delay on the HR recovery as I ran down a hill. You see a small hint of this again later in the run too. But otherwise, it’s pretty much locked on the other units.
Next, let’s look at another hill repeat session I did – this one up in northern Finland in the snow. I’ll let you take this in for a second.
So yeah. Basically, what you see is that things are all good on the Garmin FR235 front until the recovery of each hill repeat (the part where I run downhill). So the FR235 nails the plot on the rise, but stumbles on the recovery. This particular hill was steep, and I was running in YakTraxs on ice, which meant that my stride rate actually increased a bit. What do we see then? The FR235 locks onto that instead of HR. In order to ‘reset’ it I basically stopped walking before starting my next repeat, which you see does the trick.
Now for fun, I then did a 10-minute sustained tempo portion after that. The unit tracks beautifully there – really nailing it.
So, to test my theory about the hill, the short hill from the main road down to our little snowy cabin was also equally steep. Sure enough, it did the exact same thing there when I ran the same way down it.
Now what’s interesting, is that in a later run down the same hill (you’ll see it two examples from now), I ran down the hill faster – so with a longer stride. That’s because I wasn’t in the recovery portion of an interval. When I had that longer/more natural stride – it had no problems. Just like it didn’t really have any major problems on my other hill repeats before in Paris.
Next, let’s look at a ‘simple’ run. This was basically just me wandering along at an easy Z2 pace, with a clean build. I finished with some short sprints. As you see here, the FR235 is kinda really ‘sharp’, as in, jagged.
Here, let me zoom in a bit to explain. See how generally smooth the red & green lines are? Then look at the teal FR235 line (or the TomTom Spark line) – they’re much more variable.
Still, despite that – it’s generally quite close most of the time – so for the above run, I’m content with the results, even if a tiny bit more variable (which they likely can easily address).
Next, let’s look at a run I did tonight. If I had to give this run a name, it’d basically be a “Let’s Hose It Up” test run. Essentially, optical sensors usually have issues with hard and fast pace changes. So after a short warm-up, I basically did some all-out chunks for 1-2 minutes. The average pace for these sections was about 5:35/mile (3:28/km).
During the warm-up, all four units tracked fairly well. However, what you see is the first and second intervals throw the Scosche for a loop, but also confused the Garmin FR235 too. The HRM4 and HRM-TRI had no problems tracking identically.
The third interval though the Scosche got the plot, but the FR235 struggled until about half-way through. Then finally, after that it got all happy and tracked the rest of the run quite nice. This could be simply because it took that long to get blood-flow up enough on a cooler evening for the optical sensors to catch-up. Yet, I didn’t tend to see such issues in the Arctic. The question is how often you do all-out intervals, and would it matter? As you’ll see in a moment, when I did those all-out sprint sections later in the run after more warm-up, it handled quite nicely.
Here’s my final Arctic run. In this case I basically warmed up nice and easy and kept it steady for about 30 minutes. Then I made for a hard run up a steep hill, before recovering briefly. From there, I did 30×30’s (30-seconds hard sprint, 30 seconds walk). A great way to test/look at recovery.
The guide for this in blue is actually both Scosche & FR235 (colors were auto-picked unfortunately), though thankfully it didn’t matter on this graph. The green is the Polar A360, and the red is the HRM-RUNv2 strap. Not that the colors matter, the FR235 nailed this easily. Not sure what the A360 was doing.
Here’s a closer look at the 30/30 portion. Again, green is the Polar A360, the others are the HRM-RUN HR strap, the Garmin FR235, and the Scosche Rhythm+ optical.
Very solid on that, despite the cold weather and the watch being partially exposed.
Next, on cycling. It’s outdoors that’s challenging for optical sensors on the wrist. This is because you’re ‘straining’ your wrist gripping the handlebars, and then any road vibrations nail the watch. And sure enough, it’s hard on the FR235 (sorta like I saw on the TomTom Spark sensor). It did better than the TomTom, but it’s super-jumpy. For example, in the below data plot I even added a 3s smoothing to it, just to make it easier to find the two lines given how jumpy it was. Here, compare before and after smoothing:
Before graph smoothing:
After smoothing:
What you notice is that while it gets the general concept if you’re looking at it from 50,000ft. But as you zoom in you realize there’s just a lot of cases where it doesn’t track quite as fast, or is much more variable, for example these sprints (this is showing some 12 minutes of time too!). That’s examples where things are dramatically different for 20-30 seconds at a time.
So where does that leave things overall? First off, keep in mind I usually use these sections to highlight ‘problem children’ sections, yet the vast majority of the run was otherwise fine.
So for the running side I’m giving it a very similar grade right now to that of the TomTom Spark: B+. There are cases where both units trip-up a bit. In most cases, those aren’t deal breakers, but I expect/hope that Garmin can tweak them over the coming months as they get more familiar with their own tech and the nuances. Some of the issues I had weren’t totally reproducible (for example, the downhill section on one of those hill repeats – but not other hill repeats). I probably wouldn’t use the FR235 as my primary HR sensor for cycling right now though – that’s just a bit too rough.
(Note: All of the charts in these accuracy sections were created using the DCR Analyzer tool. It allows you to compare power meters/trainers, heart rate, cadence, speed/pace, GPS tracks and plenty more. You can use it as well, more details here.)
Activity Tracker:
Like all recent Garmin wearables, the FR230/FR235 acts as an activity tracker as well. This means it’ll track your steps, calories, distance walked, and sleep. The functionality on the FR230/FR235 in these core areas is basically the same as other Garmin devices. So for example, you can tap down twice to get to the activity tracker widget page:
This shows your total steps for the day, progress towards a goal, as well as distance and calories.
Additionally, see the red bar above? That’s the move bar – or basically the lazy bar. If that bar is filled up it means that you haven’t moved in an hour. Your goal in life is to keep that move bar from chirping at you at the end of the hour. You’ll do this by walking approximately 100m over the course of that time period. You can turn off the inactivity alerts if you’d like.
Next, you’ve got sleep metrics, which occur automatically with the FR230/235. You fall asleep, it records it. Garmin has made good strides over the past year in this area, adding much more depth than it did in the past. The only thing you’ll need to set (which happens automatically when you pair the watch to your phone) is the estimated sleep times. I just set mine randomly to 2AM-7AM, but from what I’ve seen it has no impact on the unit’s ability to estimate sleep. You don’t manually trigger it on the watch anymore. Instead, afterwards on Garmin Connect you’ll see sleep metrics:
Finally, on the FR235-only, you’ve got the ability to display and record 24×7 heart rate – more commonly called continuous HR. The main benefit of this (aside from geek factor) is to track resting HR.
You can access your instant/continuous HR anytime you’d like by just tapping the down button once, which shows this page:
On the upper left you’ll see your current HR, while on the upper right you’ve got your resting HR for the day. Along the bottom is a graph for the last four hours, plus the high/lows during that time period.
The unit doesn’t sample or record this data at a straight rate of X times per minute/hour/etc, but rather does so variably, based on activity. You’ll notice that if you’re sitting still, it’ll sample far less often than if you’re up walking around. You can see this below where this morning I was sitting uninterrupted from roughly 8:45AM till 10:25AM (after riding cross-town round 8:25AM), so much so that there’s a few gaps in there where it didn’t sample at all. Yet as soon as I moved about – such as going for a short break/walk at 10:25AM, or my pedal home at 12:15PM, it shows more variability:
Back on the watch, you can also show your 7-day resting HR averages, which is (in my opinion) one of the best ways to see if you’re about to struggle in training.
For example, I know my resting HR numbers well enough to know that if they rise above about 44-46bpm, I’m probably about to get sick – or having trouble recovering from travel. In the 50-52bpm range, I start to see my workouts diminish. Though oddly, some days appear to be missing from GC, despite showing up on the watch.
Of course, every person is different here. My resting HR is very low – 39-41BPM is the norm for me, and these numbers align quite nicely with what multiple other devices have shown for me in the past (including just simple HR straps for testing these values).
Again, the continuous HR options are only found on the FR235 and not on the FR230. You CANNOT pair another HR sensor to the FR230 to try and get the same features – no such pairing option exists. It’s only with the optical sensor.
Oh – one final interesting tidbit, you can indeed wear the watch while charging it at the same time, such as this:
It might be a bit finicky to do this while running since the clamp design isn’t super-secure, but it would probably work if you were careful about how you arranged it. The unit DOES record during GPS activities while plugged into a USB battery pack. It does NOT record if plugged into a computer. Additionally, it does NOT record continuous HR while plugged in (likely because that lets in too much light).
Smartphone Notifications & Connect IQ Support:
Like activity tracking, smartphone notifications and Connect IQ support is present on most Garmin wearables these days – and the FR230 & FR235 is no exception. In fact, this is probably one of the biggest changes from the FR220/FR225 – since it lacks these features.
To start, on smartphone notifications the unit uses the standard notification control panels from iOS and Android. So any notifications you setup on those devices are piped to the FR230/FR235. They’ll show up instantly on your watch, vibrating or beeping depending on what you’ve selected.
You can dismiss these notifications or open them up for more detail.
Further, you can access existing notifications through the widgets menu, in case you want to catch-up on previously displayed ones.
Notifications do NOT require the Garmin Connect app be open. However, for some other smartphone features like accessing your calendar, showing the weather, finding your phone, or syncing data, that does require the Garmin Connect app be open somewhere in the background of your phone. Here’s shots from all of those pages:
On the notifications front, I haven’t had any problems with the unit ‘forgetting’ my phone – it’s been working great the last few weeks for me. I’m not sure if that’s improvements in the Bluetooth stack on the iPhone, improvements from the Garmin side on the device, or just plain luck. But either way – I’m happy.
Next, we’ve got Connect IQ. This allows you to download various widgets, watch faces, data fields, and apps to your FR230/235. This in turn enables 3rd party developers to create things/apps for your watch that can extend/replace functionality of the device. I talk a ton more about that in these posts here.
In my testing, I tend to keep things fairly vanilla during the initial period (sans-Connect IQ), so in the event something goes wrong, I know it’s definitely a Garmin problem versus an app problem.
Backlight and Display:
[New Section] There’s been a few questions and comments on the backlight and the display, both here after posting the review and on the Garmin Forums. So, I figured I’d take a few photos and give my thoughts.
First, remember that anytime you see photos of watch backlights – the exact luminosity of that display really comes down to the photographer. I can make any display look as bright or poor as I want merely by changing settings on the camera. That said, typically I just leave the settings largely on automatic. In this case, the only thing I tweaked after the fact in Lightroom was the white balance of the photo (in total) to get rid of the yellow glow. That’s it.
First, the photo you see above is all three watches (FR230, FR235, FR630), simply with their backlights enabled. On one of the units I put it at the pending/watch display screen. This means that it has white text on a black background. The other two are on usual mid-run screens with data fields.
Below is the same three watches, this time all lined up and all in running mode. From left to right they are: FR235, FR630, FR230
Note, I’ve seen some photos/videos of folks posting pictures of a backlight of various units during daylight – I’m not sure I totally understand the point there to be honest. Said differently: Try it in the dark, you know, where the light is for.
Finally, I zoomed back and took another photo, this time adding in a Garmin Fenix3 for comparison. As you can see, it’s brighter – so much so that it ‘blows out’ from a brightness standpoint. The rest of the photo is brighter than the others because there’s simply more light in the photo for the sensor to capture.
So is it bright enough to run with? Yes, absolutely. Approximately 80-90% of my runs with the unit were in the dark. It’s just that time of year for running.
Is it as bright as the Fenix3, or even the FR620? No. But it also doesn’t matter. It’s perfectly readable, and those watches are what I’d describe as ‘excessively bright’. Yes, it can be nice to have such a bright display if you’re trying to use it as a flashlight, but when I’m running, there’s no tangible benefit to that extra brightness. I can see the display just fine with the current brightness state. Some would even argue it makes it harder to see the text.
Of course, any brightness comparisons can be a personal thing and differ from person to person, but it’s not really something that bothers me on any of these units.
Bugs, Quirks, and Oddities
The FR230 & FR235 aren’t without their oddities. Most of these are fairly subtle, yet others are more concerning. Here’s a round-up of where things stand. If/when these get addressed, I’ll note it accordingly:
– FR235 Battery Life: It’s bad. Really bad. It’s about 2-2.5 days for me, using the optical HR sensor on its usual continuous mode (24×7). It’s supposed to be 9-11 days. Garmin says they’re aware of the issues and are working on it, with hopes to issue a firmware update in a few weeks. I’m sorta realistic though that something will have to give here – such as reduced sampling rates. Perhaps I’ll be proven wrong, but it’s a pretty big jump to increase battery life 4x over what’s there today without any negative impacts. Note: For some users, they are seeing more like 5-7 days.
– FR235 optical HR is a bit…jaggy: For lack of better term, perhaps spikey, the optical HR signal seems to be a bit non-smoothed. It’s rare that I ask for something to have more smoothing, but it seems like that might be called for here. I’m sure there are other ways they can address it, but it’s just a touch bit too variable. This isn’t a deal breaker right now, but is something they should address.
– FR235 optical HR quirks with fast pace shifts and some hill sections: As noted in the accuracy section.
– Currently within structured workouts (those that you create online and download to your watch), the unit fails to alert on pace based sections of a custom workout (high/low alerts). Fixed in firmware update on Feb 25th, 2016
– A few minor quirks, such as if you power off the unit temporarily (i.e. to reboot), it’ll actually fail to show the 4hr continuous HR graph upon powering back up (such as faintly seen in the background of the bug photo above).
Next, is the curious case of the indoor bike mode. This appears to be available on some people’s units, yet not other units. When I asked Garmin about this yesterday, they said it wasn’t a feature they planned on offering – yet it’s clearly on existing production units shipped to real customers. Oddly enough, my unit doesn’t have it as an activity profile I can enable (simply missing). I’ve re-checked in again today asking them to provide some clarification.
This mode was simply just like the outdoor cycling mode, but indoors. The only real purpose here is to automatically categorize the workouts on Garmin Connect as indoor cycling. You can otherwise replicate the same functionality by just turning off the GPS in cycling mode. Still, it has some benefit (and matches functionality seen on cheaper watches from TomTom and Polar).
Finally, we get to one particularly sore point – which is Garmin’s inability to get their specifications correct on their own website. Since announcement, the Garmin has listed Virtual Racer as a feature on the FR230/235. Yet, it’s not present. When I asked Garmin about this yesterday morning, they noted it was a mistake and would be removed shortly. As of this morning, it was still present.
Now, you may think this would be a minor mistake if not for the fact that it’s been there a month! Further, if this had been the first instance of it occurring, I’d be less concerned. But almost every product Garmin has released in the last year has had Garmin.com specifications errors that takes days to weeks to clean up. Quite honestly, this isn’t very hard. All they have to do is have a short meeting in a conference room with the web content folks and the product team folks and just scroll down the page and triple-check everything. It would take perhaps 10-15 mins to go through all 3-4 pages.
So yes, this is a clear ‘calling them out’ moment on repeated errors that are so easy to fix, yet significantly impact the consumer if they’re looking for that feature after purchase. In this case, Garmin says there are no plans to include the feature in the FR230/235.
Product Comparisons:
Like all products I’ve reviewed, you’ll find the FR230 & FR235 in the product comparison tool/database. This means you can mix and match features against other products I’ve reviewed or used. In the case of below, I’ve placed the FR225, FR230, FR235, and TomTom Spark all on the table for comparison. But you can easily mix and match your own comparison table right here.
| Function/Feature | Garmin Forerunner 225 | Garmin Forerunner 230 | Garmin Forerunner 235 | TomTom Spark |
|---|
| Copyright DC Rainmaker - Updated May 14th, 2021 @ 3:18 pm New Window |
| Price | $299 | $249 | $249 | $149-$199 (Features Vary) |
| Product Announcement Date | May 12th, 2015 | Oct 21st, 2015 | Oct 21st, 2015 | Sept 3rd, 2015 |
| Actual Availability/Shipping Date | July 2015 | November 2015 | November 2015 | October 1st, 2015 |
| GPS Recording Functionality | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Data Transfer | USB, Bluetooth Smart | USB, Bluetooth Smart | USB, Bluetooth Smart | USB/Bluetooth Smart |
| Waterproofing | 50 Meters | 50 Meters | 50 Meters | 50m |
| Battery Life (GPS) | 7-10 hours | 16 hours | Up to 16 hours | Up to 11 hours (varies) |
| Recording Interval | SMART RECORDING (VARIABLE) | 1-second & Smart | 1-second & Smart | 1s |
| Alerts | VIBRATE/SOUND/VISUAL | VIBRATE/SOUND/VISUAL | VIBRATE/SOUND/VISUAL | VIBRATE/SOUND/VISUAL |
| Backlight Greatness | Great | Good | Good | Great |
| Ability to download custom apps to unit/device | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Acts as daily activity monitor (steps, etc...) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Music | Garmin Forerunner 225 | Garmin Forerunner 230 | Garmin Forerunner 235 | TomTom Spark | | Can control phone music | | Yes | Yes | No |
| Has music storage and playback | | No | No | Yes |
Connectivity | Garmin Forerunner 225 | Garmin Forerunner 230 | Garmin Forerunner 235 | TomTom Spark | | Bluetooth Smart to Phone Uploading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Phone Notifications to unit (i.e. texts/calls/etc...) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Live Tracking (streaming location to website) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Group tracking | | | | No |
| Emergency/SOS Message Notification (from watch to contacts) | No | No | No | No |
| Built-in cellular chip (no phone required) | No | No | No | No |
Cycling | Garmin Forerunner 225 | Garmin Forerunner 230 | Garmin Forerunner 235 | TomTom Spark | | Designed for cycling | Barely (Speed mode only) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Power Meter Capable | No | WITH SOME CONNECT IQ APPS (BUT CANNOT RECORD DATA) | WITH SOME CONNECT IQ APPS (BUT CANNOT RECORD DATA) | No |
| Speed/Cadence Sensor Capable | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Strava segments live on device | No | No | No | No |
| Crash detection | | | | No |
Running | Garmin Forerunner 225 | Garmin Forerunner 230 | Garmin Forerunner 235 | TomTom Spark | | Designed for running | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Footpod Capable (For treadmills) | Yes (also has internal accelerometer) | YES (Also has INTERNAL ACCELEROMETER) | YES (Also has INTERNAL ACCELEROMETER) | No (Can use internal accelerometer) |
| Running Dynamics (vertical oscillation, ground contact time, etc...) | No | No | No | No |
| VO2Max Estimation | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Race Predictor | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Recovery Advisor | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Run/Walk Mode | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Swimming | Garmin Forerunner 225 | Garmin Forerunner 230 | Garmin Forerunner 235 | TomTom Spark | | Designed for swimming | No (protected though just fine) | No (protected though just fine) | No (protected though just fine) | Yes |
| Openwater swimming mode | N/A | N/A | N/A | No |
| Lap/Indoor Distance Tracking | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| Record HR underwater | N/A | N/A | N/A | NO (NOT ENABLED IN SWIM MODE) |
| Openwater Metrics (Stroke/etc.) | N/A | N/A | N/A | No |
| Indoor Metrics (Stroke/etc.) | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| Indoor Drill Mode | N/A | N/A | N/A | No |
| Indoor auto-pause feature | N/A | N/A | N/A | No |
| Change pool size | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| Indoor Min/Max Pool Lengths | N/A | N/A | N/A | 15m-50m |
| Ability to customize data fields | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| Captures per length data - indoors | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| Indoor Alerts | N/A | N/A | N/A | Goals only |
Triathlon | Garmin Forerunner 225 | Garmin Forerunner 230 | Garmin Forerunner 235 | TomTom Spark | | Designed for triathlon | No | No | No | Sorta |
| Multisport mode | No | No | No | No |
Workouts | Garmin Forerunner 225 | Garmin Forerunner 230 | Garmin Forerunner 235 | TomTom Spark | | Create/Follow custom workouts | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| On-unit interval Feature | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Training Calendar Functionality | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Functions | Garmin Forerunner 225 | Garmin Forerunner 230 | Garmin Forerunner 235 | TomTom Spark | | Auto Start/Stop | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Virtual Partner Feature | No | No | No | Yes |
| Virtual Racer Feature | No | No | No | Yes |
| Records PR's - Personal Records (diff than history) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tidal Tables (Tide Information) | No | No | No | No |
| Weather Display (live data) | No | Yes | YEs | No |
Navigate | Garmin Forerunner 225 | Garmin Forerunner 230 | Garmin Forerunner 235 | TomTom Spark | | Follow GPS Track (Courses/Waypoints) | No | No | No | No |
| Markers/Waypoint Direction | No | No | No | No |
| Routable/Visual Maps (like car GPS) | No | No | No | No |
| Back to start | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Impromptu Round Trip Route Creation | No | No | No | No |
| Download courses/routes from phone to unit | No | No | No | No |
Sensors | Garmin Forerunner 225 | Garmin Forerunner 230 | Garmin Forerunner 235 | TomTom Spark | | Altimeter Type | GPS | GPS | GPS | GPS |
| Compass Type | N/A | N/A | N/A | None |
| Optical Heart Rate Sensor internally | Yes | No | YEs | Yes |
| Heart Rate Strap Compatible | YES (ALSO INTERNAL OPTICAL HR SENSOR) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ANT+ Heart Rate Strap Capable | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| ANT+ Speed/Cadence Capable | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| ANT+ Footpod Capable | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| ANT+ Power Meter Capable | No | No | No | No |
| ANT+ Lighting Control | No | No | NO | No |
| ANT+ Bike Radar Integration | No | No | NO | No |
| ANT+ Trainer Control (FE-C) | No | No | NO | No |
| ANT+ Remote Control | No | YES FOR GARMIN VIRB | YES FOR GARMIN VIRB | No |
| ANT+ eBike Compatibility | No | No | NO | No |
| ANT+ Gear Shifting (i.e. SRAM ETAP) | | | No | No |
| Shimano Di2 Shifting | nO | No | NO | No |
| Bluetooth Smart HR Strap Capable | No | No | NO | Yes |
| Bluetooth Smart Speed/Cadence Capable | No | No | NO | Yes |
| Bluetooth Smart Footpod Capable | No | No | NO | No, has internal accelerometer |
| Bluetooth Smart Power Meter Capable | No | No | NO | No |
| Temp Recording (internal sensor) | No | No | NO | No |
| Temp Recording (external sensor) | No | YES (TEMPE) | YES (TEMPE) | No |
Software | Garmin Forerunner 225 | Garmin Forerunner 230 | Garmin Forerunner 235 | TomTom Spark | | PC Application | Garmin Express | Garmin Express | Garmin Express | MySports Connect |
| Web Application | Garmin Connect | Garmin Connect | Garmin Connect | TomTom MySports |
| Phone App | iOS/Android | iOS/Android/Windows Phone | iOS/Android/Windows Phone | iOS/Android |
| Ability to Export Settings | No | No | No | No |
Purchase | Garmin Forerunner 225 | Garmin Forerunner 230 | Garmin Forerunner 235 | TomTom Spark | | Amazon | Link | Link | Link | Link |
DCRainmaker | Garmin Forerunner 225 | Garmin Forerunner 230 | Garmin Forerunner 235 | TomTom Spark | | Review Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
Remember, you can mix and match your own comparison table here in the product comparison database.
Summary:
Overall I think the FR230 & FR235 may be the best bang for your buck running-specific watches that Garmin has released to date – even if there are still some minor kinks to work out on the optical HR pieces. If you look at the FR230 for example, it’s taking almost everything the FR620 had (except Running Dynamics) and porting it into a product slightly more than half the price of the higher end watches. And while Running Dynamics may be geeky-interesting, I don’t find them that interesting long term.
When it comes to the optical sensor on the FR235, from my testing it generally works quite well in normal runs, though there were a few edge cases where I managed to trick it briefly (such as the snowy hill descent, and the ‘Hose it up’ test run). Even when befuddled, it does seem to realize it, and snap back onto the right track. I suspect like most optical sensors it may be a bit of time before it’s 100% spot-on. Having seen the progression at various points over the past two months, I’m pretty optimistic about how much progress they’ve made on that front.
As for whether or not the FR235 will become my daily running watch? Hard to say, I think if they can work out some of the optical HR kinks, then it probably will. I don’t think I’d have any problems using it for long runs, and tempo runs – it worked well there. Even if they didn’t work out the kinks, then the FR230 would most definitely fit my bill. I tend to like lighter running watches over bigger ones (i.e. FR920XT/Fenix3), but that’s more a personal preference. And as nice as the FR630 may be, I’ve gotta say the buttons on the FR230/235 are just easier for me going into winter (than a touch screen).
With that – thanks for reading!
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Hopefully you found this review/post 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.
If you're shopping for the Garmin Forerunner 235 or any other accessory items, please consider using the affiliate links below! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot.
Since the Garmin Forerunner 235 is no longer sold, I recommend looking at
Garmin Forerunner 245:
Here's a few other variants or sibling products that are worth considering:
And finally, here’s a handy list of accessories that work well with this unit (and some that I showed in the review). Given the unit pairs with ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart sensors, you can use just about anything though.
This is a dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart cycling cadence sensor that you strap to your crank arm, but also does dual Bluetooth Smart, so you can pair it both to Zwift and another Bluetooth Smart app at once if you want.
This is one of the top straps I use daily for accuracy comparisons (the others being the Polar H9/H10). It's dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart, and in fact dual-Bluetooth Smart too, in case you need multiple connectons.
Seriously, this will change your life. $9 for a two-pack of these puck Garmin chargers that stay put and stay connected. One for the office, one for your bedside, another for your bag, and one for your dog's house. Just in case.
This speed sensor is unique in that it can record offline (sans-watch), making it perfect for a commuter bike quietly recording your rides. But it's also a standard ANT+/BLE sensor that pairs to your device. It's become my go-to speed sensor.
This wifi-connected scale will track your weight and related metrics both on the scale display and in Garmin Connect (plus 3rd party apps like TrainingPeaks). It'll also then sync your weight to your watch/bike computer, to ensure accurate calorie data.
The HRM-PRO Plus is Garmin's top-end chest strap. It transmits dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart, but also transmits Running Dynamics & Running Pace/Distance metrics, stores HR data during a swim, and can be used without a watch for other sports. Also, it can transmit XC Skiing Dynamics as well.
And of course – you can always sign-up to be a DCR Supporter! That gets you an ad-free DCR, access to the DCR Quarantine Corner video series packed with behind the scenes tidbits...and it also makes you awesome. And being awesome is what it’s all about!
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. And lastly, if you felt this review was useful – I always appreciate feedback in the comments below. Thanks!
Wonderful review, as always.
I think I would love the FR235 in replacement for my FR610.
I’m just a little bit frustrated with the only 2 customizables pages…
(the FR630 has 4 but does not have the optical HR sensor that I want)
I also wonder if the FR23x has the same “power save” mode than the FR610.
It’s very annoying as it cannot be disabled and it can be quite long for the watch to catch GPS again after that…
(I had twice the problem just before the start of a race… makes my HR go up ;) )
I also hope the FR235 is quicker to catch GPS (it sometimes take more than 5 minutes with my FR610).
There is a Power Save Timeout feature which is normally 5 mins but on “Extended” I believe it is 25 mins so you will be OK there. You sort of get a 3rd customisable page as you change the 2 fields on the HR page to something else.
These most recent devices will be way quicker to get a GPS fix than the 610 can sometimes be.
just to point: the HR page can only be edited from within the activity! So first, in ‘activity settings’ just turn it on (no way to edit it from there), then go to activity itself, scroll to HR page, press and hold ‘up’ (which is also ||| button) and from there You can edit the page from HR / HR zone to anything You like (it will stay with only 2 data though)
aaa, and of course there is always the IQ connect data pages available. I am using one with 7 data! Time of day, HR, pace, cadence, timer, distance, battery level (+small GPS indicator on the bottom). It;s pretty much everything You need for longer steady runs. HR and cadence are also colored based on your zone settings.
Hi
have you had any issues with instant pace on 230 or 235? I have been using FR 630 for the last two weeks and the instant pace is consistently off the average pace (both lap average and run average) by 5 – 20 sec/km (meaning that during a lap the instant pace would all the time be displayed e.g. in the 5.30 .5.40 mn/km range and then the lap average pace would be recorded as 5.24 mn/km) . Based on total time/total distance recorded and other readings from other devices used during same runs I know that the average pace data are correct, so the issue is with instant pace. I know it is really difficult to catch the instant pace accurately but I have never had this kind of issue on other device like TomTom Cardio.
Garmin recommended factory reset – this has not changed anything. Then they said to return the device to them for servicing – I am reluctant to do this, it would be odd if this would be an issue with hardware rather than software (which they should be able to fix through a firmware update).
This is actually a known issue so returning the device is unlikely to help. The 3.13 beta had some improvements to current pace so suggest, if you haven’t already, try that but as far as I know the issue is still being looked into.
thanks, I thought so that this probably is not a hardware issue. Thank you for the hint about 3.13 beta – Garmin Connect tells me that software on my 630 is up to date but I see 3.13 beta was made available on Nov 24 and I am sure I have not downloaded it yet.
See my post above. Was running this evening. Watch showed 9:10/mile. Strava said I was doing 7:10 at the same point. Happened a few times.
Dear all,
I am looking for a new running watch. I had a polar rc3 hrm and a tomtom runner cardio. I ve just returned the tomtom because of all the new devices out there.
I was first thinking about the Spark but it lacks a lot of futures of garmin and the HR accuracy looks not the best.
Now i am looking at Garmin i am interested in the 225, 230 and 235.
Of course the 235 has the built in hr sensor, but i read more than once the tests from DC and the only thing i see is that it’s not really accurate. I see a lot of fluctuations. Of couse for most runners (also me) we don’t need 100% accuracy but if i see the chats it’s absolutly less that 100%. We can ask ourselfs if the hr is ussable when it’s accurate like this?
The 225 looks more accurate but it’s older en lacks some nice features like VO2MAX. It’s also not really a watch for using the whole day because of its tickness. The 230 and 235 are watches that can be easier wear 24/7 in my opionion.
The most accurate is in my opinion the 230, but we need a chest trap. But that’s the only negative against the 225/235.
It’s a difucult choice, wich i am not made yet. I hope to see more reviews by customers.
On the FR235, you can also add an external HR strap.
So, whatever you can with the FR230 is possible with the FR235.
Imho, the optical sensor can be helpful for the additional data (24/7 HR recording, for example), and for “standard” runs (without quick pace changes).
Of course, the price difference between the FR230 and the FR235 is quite high…
get the FR230 and for the money saved (over 235 it should be ~$80/100E), if You dont want chest strap, get the scosche rhythm+ (exactly $80/85-90E), which to date is probably the most accurate optical HR monitor.
Thanks.
If i use a Scosche, do i have all the features on the 230?
An is the scosche more comfortable than a chest trap?
The 230 is 250€ so it’s reallt an option.
I looking for some info about it :)
Of course the tradeoff then is that for the same money you now have a *second* device to remember to keep charged up and you lose any potential benefit from the 24×7 HR monitoring.
There’s no single best-choice for everyone simply because we all have different needs and preferences. In comparing the 22x to the 23x watches be sure to consider all the differences including display size, connect-IQ capability, and smart-watch type stuff.
In my case I’m going to give the 235 a try in order to free myself of the chest strap for most of my workouts, as well as gain the 24×7 monitoring. Assuming it’s in the ballpark I should be satisfied, we’ll see. When I do need greater accuracy / consistency I will use my chest strap HRM.
Adam, any idea if the Scosche Rhythm+ can be used to transmit HR data to the Garmin 230?
@Thierry: yes it’s more comfortable, and can be worn in many places (lower arm, upper arm, wrist, I guess even on a leg if You wish…). I am pretty sure You will get all the features of FR230… it might be that recovery time is off, but this is the case of most (if not all) optical monitors (also the built in one in FR235). What You loose is 24×7 hr monitoring that 235 has.
@George: yes, this is the trade off, both: lack of 24×7 monitoring and having second device. As You mention it’s a matter of choice/priorities. But if accuracy is the priority, the 230+scosche combo is way better.
@Robert: yes. Scosche is dual (BT and ANT+) so can be used with any Garmin device, and also any Suunto, Polar, and BT4.0 capable smartphone.
It’s ANT+ so it’s supposed to work with Garmin watches.
There’s an excellent review here ;) :
link to dcrainmaker.com
@Adam; yes indeed. The true question becomes how much HR accuracy one needs. Prospective buyers need to consider what they’re gathering the data for, in what way will they use it. That helps define how accurate it needs to be. I’m assuming here that Garmin will sort out the most egregious of the reported troubles in due time.
If budget allows, it seems the 235+Scosche would be the better choice overall as you then have the best of all worlds. Higher accuracy OHRM in the Scosche for when needed, plus internal OHRM for 24×7 monitoring and the occasions where you’ve forgotten to bring (or charge) the Scosche. :)
Great – Thanks!
I’ve had the Scosche for a few weeks now. I had tried attaching it on my forearm but it slipped off during one run. I now strap it to the inside of my arm above the elbow and haven’t had any problems with it slipping.
I have it pretty snug on my arm and don’t even notice it when running. So I’d say it’s much more comfortable and convenient than a chest strap.
I don’t think you can go wrong with the Scosche Rhythm+. It’s comfortable, reliable and accurate.
I bought the 230 w/o the chest hrm strap and purchased the MIo Link wrist hrm. Works perfect! Super comfortable.
First, thanks for the helpful reviews. The depth of inquiry about what actually does and doesn’t work is very helpful.
Background for a couple of questions: I’m generally not geeking out when I’m working out. I have an old Forerunner 205, which is bulky, but does its job. I’ve tended to shy away from chest strap HR sensors for comfort and convenience reasons — and because I’m not really serious enough to care (though maybe I should be, and I’m starting to rethink that a bit).
Now, tracking more data is getting less intrusive, the watches are dramatically smaller, and they do more. Having recently bought and Edge 520 (thanks for that review as well), the 235 is intriguing: 1) updated run watch; 2) activity/sleep tracker; 3) Ant + HR for the 520 ???
My impression from the review is that radial/distal HR monitors like this are regarded as a tad less accurate in general (I could live with that) and that the failure of the 235 to track the hard intervals might get better with software tweaks.
There seem to be problems with a stressed wrist and vibration on the bike (the latter also a problem with action cams on a stiff bike, as I recently learned), and the review notes that using the 235 as a biking HR sensor may not be ideal at present.
Questions:
1. Might this also get better with software tweaks, or is this a more like a basic physics problem? Being 20bpm off for extended periods (see interval training problems) wouldn’t be so great, but the bike issues look more like a smoothing issue — the 235 isn’t way off the mark in the graph — it’s just jumpy. Am I right in thinking that might be fixable on the existing hardware?
2. How good or bad are folks finding it in actual use? I really appreciate the torture tests (I do want to know about these things), but in the end I’m not likely to be all that critical. Basically, if I’m not training for the Olympics, is this likely to be “good enough” on the bike? Or is it going to drive me nuts?
3. I’m assuming if it does drive me nuts, I can buy my way out of the error later with the Scosche Rhythm+. It looks as if the 235 would talk to that via Ant+, yes?
Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
1. I think the “jumpiness” has a high likelihood of being able to be smoothed in software and Garmin is likely to do it if the user base demands it. I doubt the Mio/Scoche is less jumpy, just they smooth the results better.
2. I find it more than accurate enough for not having to wear a HR strap or even a 3rd part optical HR when running. It isn’t perfect but it is plenty good. For sports other than running it is lacking. I would likely wear a strap when lifting and perhaps a scoche when biking if I wanted more accuracy.
3. You can buy your way out with the 235. Use a scoche, a Mio link, a HRM strap anything you want. Then you can leave the internal optical for 24/7 monitoring.
Thanks David, that’s good to know. The biggest potential issue for me is the bike. I’m probably not going to hit the interval workout edge case anytime soon.
I looked at picking up the earlier version, (now at $250) and the scoshe for the same total price, but there are a couple of additional features on the new model you’d lose. So I think it may be a case of take the plunge, live with good enough, and hope, or of taking a wait and see attitude in the short term.
Regret that Garmin didn’t stick with Mio HR unit until their HR hardware was really ready for prime time — but they seem to be pretty active about getting these things fixed. And if this is all about software issues, this could be a very nice package as Ray points out in the reviews. Nothing here looks insurmountable. But you never know.
have anyone experience their 235 freeze at the Garmin screen. It works after I master reset it, but after a few hours it freeze itself again. I am suspecting it the Apps from the Connect IQ.. going to try to run it without any apps. let’s see how it goes.
Attached is a comparison of three identical workouts featuring three different HRM configurations with combinations of 235, Vivosmart, and Scosche Rhythm+. Observations also contained in the attachment..
Mark… thanks for the info. I don’t think its as easy as Garmin choosing to “ignore” cadence. The problem is the physical impact of your body hitting the ground actually vibrates through your body and actually causes a bit of movement in your blood flow, movement that is seen in the reflected light from the LEDs and actually looks like a heart beat. It takes significant effort and very smart software to help distinguish between the movement of light due to blood flow and the constant banging around of the body with footfalls and flexing of the wrist etc. No optical has quite solved this yet but clearly for example Mio still does it better than Garmin.
Reading more about the challenges of optical HRM’s, the crossover effect of cadence is what I think you are refering to and that does make sense. But in situations where cadence isn’t even close to the rhythm of the heartbeat, that’s where I would hope software can make some strides in seeing two ‘signals’ and using some common sense about which ‘signal’ is most likely to be the heartbeat.
Hi Ray. Thanks for the reviews.
Some days ago I bought the garmin 630. This is my first garmin because normally I use a suunto ambit.
Yerstaday I did my first run but I noticed that when I stay standing in front of the traffic light the gps show a speed of 1 or 2 km/h (although I stay still for about 50 seconds) . The signal power indicator show 4 line out 5. I really don’t know why. Do you think it is normal? Or somebody has the same problem?
Thanks you
Arg. I joined the Clever Training VIP program and placed an order for the Garmin Forerunner 235 on November 25, 2015. Order status is still processing. Depending of how you count it could still be in the “5-7 Business Days” shipping window… I am just a sad panda (but glad it was cheeper and that it supports the site). Guess I’ll go for another heart-rate-monitorless run!
Noooooo! Clever Training is out of stock:
“Thank you for your recent order for the Garmin Forerunner 235. Due to overwhelming popularity this item sold out very quickly and has been delayed through the manufacturer. Based on information available from Garmin, our next shipment is estimated to arrive to our warehouse the middle of December. Once this shipment arrives we will begin processing as many orders as possible, based on the order date and notify you with tracking details once available.
We will continue to work with Garmin and keep you up to date on the most accurate availability regarding your recent order. We apologize for the unforeseen delay.
If you have any specific questions regarding your pre-order please feel free to email our customer support team directly at sales@clevertraining.com.”
Wish CT store would have stopped selling them when they ran out of stock instead of continuing to taking orders and advertise shipping of 5-7 days. Now I have missed all the other sales (fēnix 3 etc…). Will cancel order once I find it else where… Amazon is out, maybe REI.
Try heartratemonitorsusa.com I believe they have them in stock. Put order in shopping cart with vip membership order but didn’t order next day received an email offering free vip code if placed order. Also sent an email to customer service to verify they had watches in stock before ordering.
Black and Blue models show in-stock at REI.com
Use Ray’s REI affiliate link so he gets credit: link to avantlink.com
Remember REI members get 10% back as dividend, plus another 5% if using the REI MasterCard.
(no I don’t work for REI, but I am a member)
Of course they will still hold on to your $$ during the whole process and gladly do so. My biggest beef with CT and why I won’t renew my “membership”
Just to close this thread, CT did refund my money for the watch but not for joining the VIP program, they say membership is non-refundable. Kind of lame as that is the only reason I joined, but only $5.
Sweet. Just check REI and they have the black/gray (the one I wanted) and the black/blue in stock. Black/red was not in stock. Ordered mine and delivery estimate is 12/15.
Thanks for your great review!
Can I see real time cadence data during running from 235?
Because I didn’t see it on any of photos. Can anyone kindly confirm this feature?
Thanks!
Yes, there is a Cadence data field which displays real time if you add it to one of your two data pages. There are also the Average Cadence, Lap Cadence, and Last Lap Cadence fields available for both running and cycling.
If you haven’t yet read the manual I recommend doing so. The above information is in the Data Fields section. Link to the manual: link to static.garmin.com
(Note that there is NOT a Running Dynamics data page like on the devices that support Running Dynamics)
thank you so much for your kindly reply, George!
I didn’t buy it at the moment. according to runnersworld, there is a bug on heart rate function, I’m waiting for garmin to fix it.
link to community.runnersworld.com
Hi, I have bought 2 of the 235’s,one for me and one for my wife, we’re having trouble keeping their seeing to metric, it appears after every sync is bouncing back to miles. Yes this is a”down under ” issue, had any one else ever experienced this before and what was the fix?
Thanks.
USA! USA!
But are you syncing to your phone? Check your user settings in Garmin Connect to make sure you have metric.
Brenton,
do NOT go to the place in the app or on their website where it allows you to chose the units you wish to use (km or miles).
You will see that there it will say “miles” every time. If you try and adjust that to “km” (even if your watch is already using km), and then sync, your watch will be reverted to miles.
In my experience, just stay away from there and it will work fine.
P.S.: I don’t know why some Patriots here shout “USA USA” as like being proud to still be using miles. The miles introduced in their country by their former colonial oppressor ;-).
Hi Peter,
Yes thank for that, I did notice on GC on the PC that every time it reverts back to miles. So far it’s now behaved it self but it’s sad that everytime before I run I have to check first!! #noconfidenceyet. What is bizarre is that distance, pace, height and weight all go imperial yet temperature stayed metric.
Thanks again.
same issue for me here. I have everywhere ‘metrics’ set (on garmin connect and on the app, and on the watch before sync) and after the sync, the watch goes imperial for distance, pace/speed, height and weight (stays cellcius for temp). I will scan forum for this issue… if not I will create ticket to garmin’s support
ok, just found it. user settings are not enough, You need to set it also on device settings on garmin connect.
I have just bought the FR235 and generally finding that it is a great upgrade of my old FR405cx. Something is cannot figure out is how to add cadence to the custom screens – I’ve looked through all of the menus and cannot find it. What am I doing wrong?
How do I charge the 235?
Maybe read the manual? link to www8.garmin.com
Plug charging cable into a USB power source, clip other end to the watch over the charging contacts.
It simple, just connect the charger to a power-outlet then you connect the clip to your dick.
Haha, thanks :-)
What I obviously mean is that the watch doesn’t charge when connecting it to an iPhone or iPad charger (not the cable, just the thing you put in the outlet). It only charges when plugged in to the Usb outlet of a computer. Unfortunately, I’ve transitioned to smartphone/tablet…
Any solutions so I can just charge it in any power outlet in my house?
I also thought my 235 wasn’t charging other than through the computer’s USB. I discovered that it actually is charging. It just doesn’t show a progress screen to indicate that it is.
Is there any way to create/edit complex workouts directly from the watch?
For me menu titles are too small to be read well especially in dark condition even with the back light on.
I wonder if it will be possible to create an app to have them bigger.
no. not even on the app. only on garmin connect.
got my 230 yesterday and after setting up the watch and sending my workout to it, I went for the first run.
The instant pace issue mentioned by many users was not so obvious for me. It was off a bit (:05-:10) for most of the tempo part of the run (I was comparing with my ambit of the other wrist), but it was anywhere close to :30 as reported by many. And averages were fine (also on garmin connect later on).
What I liked was that ‘workout’ extra page contains pace (as this was the target), time and distance! In past units it was only time or distance depending on step’s settings.
One thing I missed, were alarms when out of target! I had vibration alerts on (no sounds) and never got any notification that Iam out of target pace??? strange… am I missing sthg?
I have the same issue with no alarms when out of of target during workouts. Not sure what the deal is there, but it really sucks. Negates much of the value of a workout if if don’t know if I’m within my target range.
I scanned through garmin forums. It has sthg about that on 235’s forum. It’s stated there as ‘known bug’, but I dont know if there’s a support ticket for that created? Really sucks, but I hope they will fix that in next fw…
Does the Forerunner 230 have a stopwatch function and countdown timer like the Fenix 3?
Nope.
you can download the stopwatch app from connect IQ. Not perfect, but it is working.
There is no countdown timer,yet
for timer, there is a grate IQ app, GymTimer
Thanks.
Hi can anyone tell me if the Nike exclusive 235 is available to buy in the UK? Or from a website that delivers to the UK? Love the colour of the Nike one, quite gutted it wasn’t an original version from Garmin for sale!
Hey Mike, a possible workaround. You can order the power yellow watch strap for the 235 from Garmin. I also wanted to order the 235 with that color. I am waiting arrival of the strap.
I am of the same opinion Mike, prefer the look of the Nike version. Managed to hijack a friends trip to NY to send them shopping for me. Hopefully should have it this weekend
Hi,
somebody knows how to show the buttery percentage?
Thanks!
You will need to download a connect IQ watch face that includes it.
Thanks JD.
I already knew it but I hoped I could do it with the default face (that I like it).
Well, I’ll download the IQ faces.
Get the battery monitor widget instead. I like the default face as well, so now I just have to hit the up arrow once and I see not only the percentage but also a graph of the battery depletion since its last charge.
Great!
Many thanks
Thanks, this is crazy helpful – but do you know when you’ll have a full in-depth review out for the Epix and 630 models? Can’t make an informed decision between all the new models without your meticulous reviews!
Hi
Any developments on FR 235 battery problems from Garmin? I will buy one if this issue is solved.
The HR recovery problem can be solved with strap.
Best regards
Is it correct that the 235 doesn’t recognize sleep outside the predefined estimated sleep times? I did a 1-hour nap yesterday afternoon, and he didn’t recognize it as sleep. My sleep times are set between 11pm and 7am…
I also had the problem with the heart rate freezing at 66 BPM, the 3.13 Beta update seemed to do the trick. I am noticing that the sleep data is hit or miss though. I’m coming from a fitbit and it was always spot on. I purchased this watch for the GPS capability in addition to the every day activity tracking, hopefully future software updates will smooth everything out. No buyers remorse yet but definitely a product that was released too soon.
Thanks for the reviews as always, ordered through your site and got about 10 days ago. Everything so far so good. One question, I went for a run Friday afternoon and ended the day about 12k steps, which shows on the watch, however GC only shows 9400 steps for the day, I have synced several times since then but still showing the 9400. Do I need to delete that day (if possible) and re-sync. Am I missing something
Thanks
Hi Mark,
I have the vivofit, first gen, wich is tracking sleep, steps etc., and probably using the same software for this. Over 18 month I’ve lost around 15 days of activities and see no steps for those particular days, no sleep, no nothing, looks like the data were lost even if I’ve sync many times. That made me lost the record of doing xx days in a row with 100% steps. I don’t know if you can delete it and re-sync, I would be afraid to loose de steps you had already done that day….but you post is a few weeks old, maybe you solved it already !
Ray – Would you consider actually rating the products you review on a scale?
Clearly this watch has issues. It could be a rating that changes over time with updates.
I just dont find it clear to users here that you provide a link to purchasing the watch when the HRM doesn’t work well.
You seem surprised that a newly introduced Garmin watch has problems. :) A cursory reading of the Garmin forums suggests the HRM does work well for a number of people while being problematic for others. Tough to guess the real scale of one vs the other from voluntary Internet postings.
I’d say folks ought to try it out themselves, returning the watch if it doesn’t suit their needs.
I’m not sure I see any point in Ray providing/updating some subjective numeric rating. For it to be of any value presupposes the reader has the exact same needs and priorities as the person doing the rating. Given that these devices are bought by a wide array of people, it seems many might be put off of a particular device that might otherwise be worth investigating.
ratings/grades are provided by most major consumer product reviews.
Would you find the same argument if Consumer Reports stopped rating their products? lol
No it’s not logical for a consumer to ‘test the watch themselves’
That’s why we have reviews in the 1st place.
I’ll cite another review that could have used an F – 4iii’s power meter. The product did not work for most people. There shouldn’t be links to buy the product. This was a do not buy at the time of the release. There were many readers hosed on that product.
SO yes a grading system would be helpful.
Also, for those of us who already have a chest strap HRM, it is worth remembering we have options. We can use the chest strap with a 235 when higher accuracy is needed while retaining the 24×7 HR monitoring capability built into the watch.
I think it’s unfair to ask Ray to provide ratings – if you read through his reviews you end up with a pretty good idea of what a product is and isn’t capable of doing, and if you’ve read enough of his reviews you’d know that there isn’t a single wrist-worn optical HRM device that totally nails it. And in fact it’s unlikely to ever be the case.
I think offering a rating/grading system would be lazy – people would just skip reading the actual review and base decisions on a grading system that would be entirely subjective in any case.
I’ve had the watch for less than a week and so far I’m happy. This year I’ve spent time using the Fitbit Surge and the Tomtom Spark Cardio/Music. This watch is superior to both of those, especially in tracking heart rate during my high-impact gym workouts. Is it perfect? Of course not, but it is doing a better job than either of those watches ever did. Part of that may come down to the trial and error I’ve already done working out the best position for an optical HRM on my arm though.
I already laugh at Consumer Resports numeric ratings. I’ve lost count over the years of how often their reviewers have been clueless about how real people use complex devices. They’re okay for stuff like dishwashers and clothes dryers where the usage models are pretty simple and unvaried. Even then they do stupid stuff like this: currently highest rated dishwasher is from their 2nd least reliable brand and everyone I looked at in stores had a loose handle.
At present it seems Ray reports his data and objective findings, allowing the consumer to review the information and see which things matter to them. I’m surprised at your dismissal of the advice of a consumer trying out a device themselves when there are differing end-user reports for a particular feature such as the 235’s HRM or the Fenix3’s GPS accuracy. How else do you suggest someone sort through a myriad of conflicting reports? Especially when Ray’s experience differs from that of my other users?
Perhaps you need to be spoonfed your gear information in the form of a grading or rating. That’s fine. I’ve voiced my opinion just as you’ve voiced yours.
George some of us are more techy than others.
While you and I would just deal with the frustrations of waiting for firmware updates I don’t agree that others should ‘just deal with it’
I have a fenix 3 – i told others to hold off until the GPS issue was fixed. it was a 7 out of 10 as it shipped. and now it’s an 8/10 post updates.
This 235 garmin watch? 6/10 – HRM terrible, old hardware, decent battery life, etc.
I think the nice thing about a DCR review is that it resists the temptation to reduce all of the pros and cons, from the perspective of different use cases, to a single number.
For instance, I want rough HR zones and never to have to wear a strap and a watch I can wear all day. Other people want highly accurate HR and GPS in all conditions. The 235 feels right to me; those people probably want an Ambit3 and a strap. There isn’t a way of assigning a single number to each that represents this.
If you want to do the work of reading the in-depth reviews and synthesizing them, DCR is great. If not, there are plenty of places to find single numbers.
Gabe, I get what you’re looking for, I just don’t think these devices are sufficiently similar between models and brands to gain anything meaningful from an overall rating like 6/10 or 8/10. Given the wide variety of users needs and preferences, I think such a summation is inherently misinformative. No not everyone is techy like you or I are, but thats what friends, running store employees, the comments section, various forums, facebook groups, etc. are helpful with.
As to your complaint about the buy-it links; I believe Ray has those on everything he reviews. (if he doesn’t, then I’ve missed the ones he hasn’t published them for) I’m not sure I’ve ever seen where those links are stated to be indicative of an endorsement. Better to link to everything possible than to get into the morass of playing favorites IMHO.
A long time ago I used to have ratings, but then quickly realized they were a mess – for a lot of reasons.
A) Everyone values things differently. Even take the FR235’s battery oddities. For those comparing against an Apple Watch, the FR235 at 2.5 days is double that of the Apple Watch – so that might be a non-factor to them.
B) How do I compare a FR235 to a FR630? Let’s say both are great – does the FR235 get knocked down because it’s not $150 more with a few features?
C) Firmware changes ratings. That’s a reality. I quickly realized it was impossible to update and re-test every watch with every firmware update. And that was years ago with far fewer companies and updates. Garmin alone has released 20+ products this year, each with on average 1 firmware update per month. Let alone the products from last year and everyone else. I’d never write anything else except trying to keep up with ratings updates.
D) I found that as products aged, ratings should also age. But how? Let’s look at the Fenix1 – I gave it a horrible review upon release. Yet they updated craptons of features. In theory it would increase rating. But then came the Fenix2 a short bit later, so does the Fenix1 get immediately demoted, even though it should be increasing in ratings? And what happens when a watch is perfectly fine but is just older? Does the FR910XT get demoted from what might have been a 9/10, to a 4/10 because it’s old?
There are so many more variations on this. I know it’s the easy button to just want a rating with pros and cons, but that’s not really my style.
As for buy-it links, they’re on pretty much everything I talk about. You’ll find them there on products I explicitly say not to buy, as well as those that I think are good. If you want to use them, great. If not, ok. They’re also there on pre-release products, again, I’m pretty painfully clear as to how much time I have with a product and the things you’d want to consider. Heck, there’s even warning banners on product pages that I’ve experienced issues with. They’re bright orange and at the top of each page – totally unmissable.
In support of detailed commentary over a ratings number, note the impact a user has on experience. Something as simple as a watch face choice in Connect IQ can significantly impact battery life. If you want the dancing eskimo watch face with multiple checks on step progress and battery percentage per hour, you will have a different battery life experience over the default face. If you try to use the built in HRM for weight lifting and cross-training, when the watch is marketed and sold primarily as a runners watch, then again your experience will be different.
I can sell the best coffee beans in the world, and if someone stores them, roasts them, grinds them, and/or brews them outside of the growers specifications, then I guess the bean gets a 2/10 score. Is that fair? I wouldn’t think so. Therefore I prefer Ray’s commentary that says, in tremendous detail, “This is how I have used the product, this is how it compares in experience and performance with would-be competing products, and these are my objective and subjective findings.”
KUDOS TO CLEVER TRAINING
I bought a 235 from Clever Training to help support the site. There was a problem with shipping. Fed Ex seemed to have lost the order. I called Clever Training, spoke to Barbara, who could see there was a problem. She offered to send me out a replacement immediately. Naturally, the original showed up. No problem. I called Barbara, and she issued a return mailing e-stamp.
Problems happen with all companies. Clever Training really stepped up in the best way anyone could ask. I originally bought from them to support this site, but I will buy from them because they do a great job of customer support.
Just wanted to share one man’s experience.
Adam Rodman
What’s the downside to using the “Other” activity profile as a second running profile?
I’m coming from a Fenix 2 which has custom activities. I set my road running profile to auto-lap every .25 miles and my metrics are mostly last lap values. My trail running profile is more focused on averaged values for the entire run.
I’m kinda hoping to do the same with the 235. Perhaps I should use the “Run Indoor” profile instead? Thanks!
Thanks for your in depth review. I appreciated the plethora of information that you provided. I currently run with a more basic Garmin GPS watch. I’m looking to upgrade to a watch that can also track HR. I don’t like running with a chest strap, so I’m considering either the 225 or 235. Would you recommend the 235 even though the optical HR sensor isn’t as good as the one in the 225? I’d like to use it occasionally for cycling as well. But running is my primary sport, so that’s what I’ll be using it for most often.
Thanks!
Hi Todd,
I have both the 225 and 235 and my pick would be the 235 even though it has a few minor issues. As far as putting on a watch and going for a run the 235 tracks HR very well and I do love the considerably larger screen, IQ ability, narrower strap and lower profile. Others have said it’s not good for interval based work, both my wife and I have used it on run/walk and it’s been brilliant but I haven’t done bursts of sprints. I will say the HR tracking in a gym is currently an epic fail, a 500 sprint on the “rower” with a HR starting in the 70’s, nudges up to 80 then drops down in the 60’s. With a HR strap on it goes up into the 140/150 pretty quickly and stays up there in comparison. It’s been good on the bike also, so my suggestion would be the 235.
Thanks very much for your input!
I recently purchased the 235 to replace my old 210. I had a HRM strap for the 210 but never wore it. So the 235’s built-in HRM was a huge bonus for me. As a result, for the first time I’m actively monitoring my HR, and I’m seeing some possibly weird results. Here’s my question: is an Avg. RHR of 46 bpm and Max HR of 201 bpm (based on a long run with some intense sprinting at the end) feasible for a 34-year-old/210 lb. guy who’s in moderately OK shape but is far from an elite athlete? (The 235 also gives me a VO2Max estimate of 48.) Based on my armchair research—i.e., a “good” RHR is around 60 bpm and and my Max HR should be in the mid-to-high 180s—those numbers seem really good. Too good to be true? Maybe a problem with the 235? I’d appreciate any insights from the forum. Many thanks!
That sounds ok, Eric. My RHR is about 55, I’m 45 year old, 78kg. Sure, your RHR is pretty low, compared to mine, but it doesn’t look extreme to me. The max HR of 201 is fine; mine’s 189, but my sister has that HR on an easy run, and easily gets to a 200HR on a tempo run; she’s a bit heavier than me (hope she’ll forgive me saying it, and never reads this ;) ) You may want to look into how to run based on your heartrate/ HR zones; most people, when they start monitoring HR, find out they are running way too fast (basically as fast as they can, as they seem to think if you’re not exhausted at the end, your training was no good).
Hi Ray,
Will an external footpod override the GPS for distance/pace outdoors on the FR230/235 like with the FR220?
Same Question here, but wait a minute.
Doesn’t a footpod have an accelerometer inside? We already have one in FR230/235.
What would one benefit from a footpod ?
The internal accelerometer in Forerunner watches might get thrown off when you grab a bottle, a gel, etc. Any movement that changes the rhythm of your wrist might have an impact.
I like to use a footpod to monitor my cadence when running outdoors, but if using a footpod gives the wrong pace, I’ll stop running with it.
The FR230/235 doesn’t utilize footpod pace outdoors at this time (not sure if that’ll change, but the general trend for Garmin products seems to be sliding towards changing that with recent FR920XT/Fenix3/Epix changes).
Guys I have the fr230. There seems to be a problem with the calcualtion of the calories I burn during running or cycling sessions. They are 60-70% less than the calories I usually burn. Anyone with the same problem here or someone who has a solution?
Why would anyone ever care about calorie calculations? They’re not accurate anyway because a watch, heart rate pod, foot pod, or anything else that is attached to a watch can’t possibly get an accurate measure of metabolic rate. If you want to use it to look at effort and make comparisons, the relative comparison between runs on the same watch might have some utility – it might be the only thing that can integrate heart rate, number of steps, and pace in order to take into account the impact of wind and weather, but that’s where the utility ends. If you’re using calories for any other purpose, you’re really just lost and truly have little understanding of physiology.
@Samuel – You must be an engineer. Your post is factually correct, yet was utterly useless in answering the question while displaying arrogance at others’ ignorance.
@Lens – There are multiple possible reasons for the difference. First off, ensure you’ve used the same setup numbers for RHR, MaxHR, age, weight, etc. MaxHR is a particular culprit especially if your fr230 auto-detects that and saw a spike from your HRM (I don’t remember if the 230 does auto-MaxHR, but if it does ensure it’s turned off). Next, be sure to use the FR230 a bunch of times before paying any attention to the numbers; most Garmin devices I’ve owned needed a few sessions to “learn” me before they’d settle in. Lastly, if your previous device was NOT a Garmin, throw any comparison numbers out the window as the underlying algorithms are likely pretty different. As Samuel notes, these are rough guesses anyway and even if you have all the underlying metrics setup correctly they should be considered as approximate figures at best.
Hi Lens, Totally agree with George. My 2 cents, calorie burn calcs are plentiful, I myself have a spreadsheet that I can enter all the guff into, including BMR, Body Fat%, Lean Mass and Met values, The sheet uses 4 different calc methods and guess what, yep they’ll all quite different ~20%. You could go by comparison the the good old 100 calories per mile (based on avg body weight/height). I find the values from my watch are incredibly close the the average I produce manually so as a global avg, I think you can be assured what you’re seeing is correct providing you have given the correct input data. One more thing, please don’t compare to Strava calories burned, man if I burned that many I’d be a wafer by now!! Enjoy your watch. :-)
I want to know if the language shows on fr235 can change into chinese?
Gah…. add me to the list of 235 users who have the cadence conflicting with the heart rate. (Crossover problem). My cadence is usually low 180’s regardless of my pace, so I guess I’m in that perfect area for the watch to get confused. Watch placement or tightness doesn’t seem to matter. I’m hoping Garmin can weed out the cadence noise via firmware.
FWIW, I’m running the new 3.13 beta firmware at the moment.
Does it throw off the optical HRM if you wear the watch on the top of your wrist versus on the bottom?
Thanks.
It generally doesn’t matter too much, though some find better results with optical sensor on inside of wrist.
I’m curious if you had any issues with the current pace. I have tried with smart tracking and 1 second tracking, with both gps and gps+ Glonass but current pace lags behind lap pace by up to 20-30 seconds per mile…. it’s basically unacceptable and I’m considering returning the watch but am hoping for a firmware update. I usually use Lap Pace anyway, but its not even close on current pace.
Yes, it has been discussed here before (please look at the conversation under my previous comment) and also on Garmin Forum. I’ve been pretty convinced that it wad a software rather than hardware issue, but I picked up from Garmin a replacement device yesterday. I have not had a chance to take it for a run yet but I did a long walk today and with the new device it is the same – the current pace is much lower than the eventual lap pace. So it looks as it is a definitely a common software issue.
Interestingly, Garmin Support told me it was the first time they heard about it, despite the fact I indicated to them it is quite widely discussed on fora…
how does the 235 (and the Spark for that matter) compare to the 225 and the Mio Alpha 2? I do intervals, and that’s more important to me to be accurate — it seems like the 235 stumbles a bit here vs. the 225? Any info/input you have on this would be great.
FR 230 vs FR 620.
The FR 620 is now going for around $200 on Clever Training, while the FR 230 for around $250. I don’t plan on buying a HRM for now and will mainly use the watch for running, though I do like the idea of tracking steps & sleep.
(1) Is it worth paying an extra $50 for the 230?
(2) Does the 230 track sleep well even without an HRM?
(3) Are there any issues with updates and ongoing use for the FR 620 due to the fact that it’s now 2 years old?
Hi, Daniel,
Answering to your questions
1. I think yes (or no, depending on what you need)
2. Yes, sleep phases are tracked according to the review above
3. I see no issues even with FR 210 and FR 610 that are 4 years old.
The only reason to go with 620, I think is advanced dynamics – ground contact time and vert. oscillation. Not sure though if you have those without HRM-Run strap (not sure where it takes data from – hrm run or internal accelerometer).
No other points.
Toughscreen is not worth it (and while running if you need to do anything more complicated then changing screens – it is _harder_ to use)
Having not used any of these yet I was choosing between 220 and 230 and 610.
I decided not to go with 220 due to tracking accuracy issues (many reports on Garmin forum), although I could get it etremely cheap. 620 has same issues (or even worse). They improved it, but some issues are still there.
Sold 610 and decided I want new 230, not 610 and not 220.
Reasons for 230.
– much longer battery (16 vs 8 in GPS).
– much bigger screen (1,3 vs 1″), which means 4 fields/ screen will be more usable
– voice notifications (happy with ones I had when I used SportsTracking app – very handy)
– GPS+GLONASS (which I think means better acuracy)
– activity tracking and sleep
Any of these reasons is enough ,except activity trackign (which is not requred for me)
For 620 I have only two
– touchscreen
– advanced running dynamics
neither of those is serious for me. But i’d be happy with 220 with better reception as well
So make your own list – and that’s it.
230 got many functions from 620 – so it is a good choise I think
the presence of connectIQ alone, is a major reason to go for 230.
Just connected my 235 to Garmin Express and was prompted for a firmware upgrade from 3.13 (beta) to 3.2, and an upgrade to 2.3 (I think) sensor hub. Have installed both and will let you know if I experience and changes to the 235’s performance, particularly HRM.
I’m told today’s firmware update should improve battery items as well as HR oddities. That said, officially the list is below. Why on earth they hide the battery improvements is sorta beyond me.
Changes made from version 3.10 to 3.20:
Improved how activity profiles are selected. The activity profile can now be changed by pressing the up key on the home page and the menu can be accessed by pressing the down key.
Various Connect IQ improvements.
Various stability improvements.
Other fixes and improvements.
Actually, it looks like they listed the improvements within the sub-component of the sensor firmware portion (two different updates):
Changes from version 2.20 to version 2.30:
Improved heart rate accuracy(spikes, noise)
Increased battery life in 24/7 mode
Have you (or anyone else) done this update on the 235, yet? I’m wondering if it has fixed one problem and cause another. I just unboxed my 235 today charged it up and look forward to taking it for a spin later.
If you’ve only just unboxed your 235 then you’ll have to update to 3.20 regardless. Mine had firmware 2.40 on it and that appears to be crippled pre-release firmware. It didn’t support Connect IQ properly for example.
@Carl – maybe, maybe not.
Mine arrived today from REI with 3.2 already loaded. It did update the WHRM portion though.
Still a wise idea to hook up to GE and check for updates.
3.20 firmware out of the box is pretty impressive considering they only released it today!
I was under the impression you had to use Garmin Express to update but I was wrong – my watch has now updated itself to 3.20 through the Garmin Connect app on my phone.
I updated to 3.2 today, but I’m not sure how to check if I got the sensor firmware portion too.
I’ll be interested to see how improved the heart rate accuracy is for my workouts. I’ve noticed the 235 HR sensor really struggles with treadmill intervals. Run/walks are the worst but run/jogs up to this point also have problems.
when do you expect to publish you in-depth-review of Garmin FR 630?
+1, been waiting for this one as well since you mentioned it would be up last week. Trying to decide between 235 and 630 for Christmas.
Friday sometime.
Wonderful! Looking forward to it!
great! thanks in advance…..
Has anyone noticed a significant difference with the addition of glonass on this series?
How does the accuracy compare for example to that of the FR620?
I haven’t used previous Garmin devices, but I have used a Fitbit Surge and a Tomtom Spark. The accuracy is on par if not better than either of those devices, but it’s no contest in terms of speed to lock onto GPS – the 235 does it in seconds, the Spark could take minutes (like more than 5 minutes in a couple of cases) and the Fitbit Surge would take about a minute.
In general, if any of those three devices is taking more than a few seconds to lock on satellite, then something is askew. All of those (including last generation TomTom units) support satellite pre-cache downloads, which makes things generally instant.
I kept the Spark for less than a month, and given my haphazard running schedule I didn’t use it that much. It should have been pre-caching GPS co-ordinates when syncing with my phone but it appears that wasn’t happening, as it wasn’t that slow picking up GPS when I first got it but did get progressively worse over time.
My Surge usually claims its locked on (standing outside with a clear view of the sky) in seconds. However in practice I’ve found if I don’t give it at least a minute more the first mile or so of my run is way off for both elevation and location (I believe it thinks I start by flying so the triangulation is off).
Is anyone else getting unusual HR dropouts with the 235? This is happening to me repeatedly, with the past two days happening at about 0.3 miles and then coming back in again at 0.9 miles. Today I also ran with my 620 and HR strap but didn’t see any such dropout. I updated with today’s latest firmware but I can’t figure out what’s causing it. Thanks.
link to connect.garmin.com
Cadence Lock Issues
I made a post in the Garmin forums with the below, but this comments section appears to be just as if not more frequented than the official forum so I may find better/quicker answers here.
So I’ve now done 3 runs with my Forerunner 235 – once with firmware 3.10, once with firmware 3.13b and once with firmware 3.13b but with a Wahoo TICKR Run chest strap HRM attached.
Run 1 link to connect.garmin.com (3.10 firmware and 235 optical HRM)
Run 2 link to connect.garmin.com (3.13b firmware and 235 optical HRM)
Run 3 link to connect.garmin.com (3.13b firmware and Wahoo TICKR Run chest HRM)
If you expand out the Heart Rate graph and then add an overlay for Cadence you’ll better see the cadence lock issue.
For all intents and purposes it has been the same run – though you’ll see that I had to stop on the last two runs and re-route due to exhaustion – I’m not a runner and I’m pushing the limits of my current ability trying to improve my cadence and pace, which may or may not be working lol
The second run (the first with 3.13b) clearly demonstrates the cadence lock problem – my BPM and SPM are the same almost the whole way through.
The run I did today with the HR strap shows a clear difference between BPM and SPM.
The HR is a lot less spiky too – but that is to be expected with a chest strap vs. a wrist based HRM, and is still less spiky than the first run with 3.10 shows.
Anyway – does anyone know if there is a way to fix this? Has anyone tried the latest firmware release (3.20) to see if that helps? Or does anyone know if Garmin are aware of the issue and if they’re working on it?
Hi Carl:
I have noticed very similar results using the 225 (I am waiting for the 235 that I have ordered to arrive) where clearly the watch is picking up my cadence rather than my heart rate. My cadence is nearly always at 180, but my heart rate is always in the 135 to 165 range. What has worked with the 225 for me was moving the watch a little further away from my wrist and tightening the strap (snug, but not so tight that it is uncomfortable). By preventing the watch from moving on my arm I have had consistent heart rate results. Hope this helps.
Thanks for that dpmohr.
I in the past yeah I have used a Fitbit Surge (for 9 months) and a Tomtom Spark (for only a month) and because I like to track my HR during crossfit style workouts I’ve done a lot of trial and error work on proper watch placement to get consistent and reliable results.
Admittedly I’ve been far more careful about where the watch sits for those work-outs vs. going for a run, so I’ll pay more attention to how the watch is placed before my next run.
For what it’s worth, the 235 does a much better job of tracking heart rate during workouts versus the Fitbit (which was okay) and the Spark (which was terrible).
Hi Carl, I use both the 225 and 235 and have had it happen on the 225 but not on the 235. I do make sure that the watch has a consistent HR reading before running, not just whip it on and go and I also now just run 30-50 mtrs before swicthing on, this just gets the HR going and it’s worked well for me. I had this also happen a lot with a HR Run strap and my 920xt. Key fix in my opinion, get a lock on your HR and quick warm up.
I am thinking of buying the TKCR Run HRM. How has your experience been with it?
I’ve only had it for a week, and I haven’t used and of the phone based apps for it but so far I don’t have any complaints – it tracks my heart-rate much more accurately than the 235 optical HRM does.
I’m currently having cadence lock issues when I run with the HRM which is not something I ever noticed with my Fitbit Surge or Tomtom Spark, but then again neither of those watches gave me cadence information.
I haven’t used the “running dynamics” portion of the strap yet, as that requires me using the actual mobile app.
The lack of virtual partner or virtual pacer is just plain lousy. I guess it makes the 620 a good buy now that it is cheaper and has the VP feature.
Typical shoddy garmin behaviour.
I understand that’s an important feature to many, but just as an alternate point of view I’ve had it on prior watches and never used it. Tried it a couple times and just didn’t care for it. So I guess how lousy its non-inclusion is depends on the user.
What IS lousy is Garmin’s incompetence at marketing the appropriate specs. I do sympathize with those who read the marketing from Garmin only to find out the info was grossly wrong. That’d suck.
Totally agree. I’ve had it on several watches and never once been interested in trying it.
you can get what you want with connectIQ
Are there any Garmin watches yet/coming with optical heart rate and Virtual Partner?
(link to garmin.blogs.com)
Hi, does anyone know if scars will cause an issue for optical HRMs? I have some scars exactly where the 235 would sit so am concerned this would be a problem. Thanks.
When you create your own custom workout and transfer it to the Garmin watch, does it warn you when to start your next interval within this workout (by vibrating of sounds)? And does it tell you what to do next, for example ‘now run for 1km with pace X’?
yes! it informs You (whole screen for ~5s) about details of the step that just started, this includes the duration of step (distance or time or lap button press) and target (hr or pace or power or cadence range if any). If You have sound alerts on, it will start alerting You 5s before end of current step, but if You use vibration only alerts, it will inform You only at the end once.
Important thing to note is that currently (v3.10 had it, didnt try with 3.20 yet, but it’s not listed as fixed) the watch seems to have a bug: it does not alarm You when You are out of target (at least for pace I have experienced it). I assume it’s obvious it will be fixed, but as of today it’s not working.
it’s really terrible the out of target pace is broken. Doesn’t Garmin run tests on products before releasing stuff? Did anyone try already on 3.20?
I’m using two data screens on the 230 – pace, HR, etc. Is there a way to quick view the clock/time without having it on all the time? On my 410 I could simply select date/time and then go back to my activity as needed.
I just bought the Garmin Forerunner 235 from your affiliate link to Clever Training for $330. Then I bought the Clever Training VIP program for $20, and received $33 off the Garmin Forerunner 235. Sweet! The 235 is due in by mid-December, and I am looking forward to it. Thanks for all your hard work Ray. We really appreciate it.
If people are interested in one day of new firmware/battery data. I have had the 3.2 update for about 24 hours, tracking hr & steps, and two bike commutes totaling about 45 minutes. My battery has dropped from 56% to 33%.
Your text and a picture show four data fields on Data Page 1 & 2. My 235 only allows three data fields. How do you get four?
(English terms translated from Dutch so might be a bit different)
Press start -> press down -> select “activity settings” -> select “data screens” -> select “screen 1” -> select “layout” -> you’ll now see 1/2/3 fields -> press down REPEATEDLY to scroll between 1/2/3 or 4 fields -> press select when you see 4 data fields appear
Pater has it.
Read the manual, particularly the “Customizing the Data Screens” section.
link to www8.garmin.com
Sigh, sorry for typo on your name Peter!
Thanks everyone for your help.
How many laps can you manually record (stopwatch)? I like to track my marathon mile by mile, without having to go into menus.
Hi Ray,
I asked you on twitter about the benefit of constant HR tracking just before Black Friday and decided it’s really not something I was desperate for. I did however want accurate HR readings and I’m happy enough wearing an HR strap while running/cycling. I got the Vivoactive for £120 and I am so happy with it. It’s kinda good at everything, but fairly basic when you look into the features (fine by me 99% of the time). I love the idea of optical HR and the benefits that come with it, but I need it to get closer to wearing an HR strap for accuracy and that’ll be a couple of years away…just enough time to enjoy my Vivoactive! To be fair, I’ll then probably go high end run watch and keep the VA for pool swimming and golf etc. For the money I paid, best value product I’ve bought in years!
3.2 firmware upgrade observations:
1) Battery life not noticeably better, but it’s a small sample size thus far.
2) HRM readings are less frequent according to the HR graph that has no fluctuation at rest compared to 3.10/3.13 beta HR graphs.
3) To bypass 3.2 less frequent (assumed) sampling, change the Data Recording setting from Smart to Every Second.
4) All this talk of firmware upgrades made me wonder why we aren’t pursuing Scosche Rhythm+ HRM firmware upgrades. I emailed them today, since plugging the R+ into the computer does not reveal a directory to check firmware version, and there is no software update section on the Scosche website.
Did a workout (not a run, but a xtrain) with both the 3.2 firmware 235 and the R+ linked to Runkeeper. Most of the 30 minute workout the HR’s tracked pretty close. They both misread at times.
It looks like the firmware update basically tried to extend the battery life by severely reducing the sampling rate for the heart rate monitor. Now I have long period (hours) where my heart rate has supposedly not changed at all.
I much, much prefered the previous version. I could get a few days of battery life while also getting reasonable heart rate tracking. Now I don’t even have the option to select whether to sample higher or lower (outside of an activity). Garmin just decided to arbitrarily force the far lower rate on everybody.
If that turns out to be the case, that takes away a lot of the incentive to buy the 235. What makes it attractive over the 230 is the 24/7 tracking, and if that’s been disabled, then the 230 with my current strap or the Scosche if I want to go strapless seems to be the way to go. Am I missing something with that reasoning?
Unless your Rhythm+ is physically different from mine, it only has two of the four USB lines, which are the +5V and 0V lines; it can’t make a data connection to the computer via the cable. Mine is not user updatable. Apparently the most recent firmware releases allow user upgrades, but I think that’s via Bluetooth.
The R+ firmware can be checked/upgraded with Scosche’s mobile app, via bluetooth. It’s called “Fitness Utility” on IOS…
I just do not know how to get Virtual Pacer app to work on my FR235, i.e., how to get the display screen as is shown in the app store. Does anyone have a nice easy understandable list of steps?
Thanks, Roger
So I have bought the FR 235 based on Ray’s magnificent review (as always) and very glad I did. And I have an idea: It knows when I go to sleep and when I wake up. It has poor battery autonomy. Wouldn’t it be good if the watch would automatically switch off unnecessary functions such as the screen itself, Bluetooth etc while I’m asleep?
Hi,
Maybe you know how finish time is estimated by the watch.
Due to current pace , average pace or maybe lap pace?
It’s important because for example if i run 10k and first 7 km in 5.30/km and from that point I start running 5.00/ km and i’m going to run till the end in this pace…
The best way it would calculate due to current pace, it would be most helpful I think?
Thanks for the answer?
Ray,
Thanks for the great review. AS soon as I saw Garmin had come out with something similar to my 225 that measures VO2-Max, I was going to jump on it. (I’ve been upgrading my garmins regularly for about two decades) However after your review, I think I will wait. My issue is the HR. As it is, I’m continuously frustrated with my current 225 HR issues. I do wear the watch correctly, yet early in virtually all my runs it records a number close to my Max … even if during a warm up. Also, during a workout … let’s say a Tempo run, it will frequently spike up for no reason. If my Tempo is 162 for example it will be purring along there, yet all of a sudden get stuck at 175. Having trained via HR for decades, I know that is a false number, but it screws up my stats for that mile and the entire workout. Bottom line, from what you said, the 235 is even worse, my guess is they haven’t ironed out the simplest of fluctuation issues. Thanks again, but keep me posted. I’m chomping on the bit.
Well, it seems in an effort to improve battery life, the 3.20 update is causing the HR sample rate to be almost non existent. My HR history shows tons of flat line sample rates, meaning the sampling is being done less often than 3.10. If I peak under the watch, no green lights can be seen, meaning no HR recording. I have data recording set to every second still like before when I was getting constant sampling. Instead of constant, it looks like maybe every 20 to 30 minutes. This is bad, as 24×7 HR was one of the main features that now seems to be disabled without any way to increase. I would trade pre 3.20 sampling over the battery improvement. It’s like Garmin took away a main feature that was there at time of purchase to meet it’s promised battery life. Very disappointed.
I can confirm the extremely low sample rate for 24×7 HR in 3.20 (or rather the sensor firmware WHR 2.30); my HR recording during the night is just a long series of flat 30 minute sections, i.e. despite movements during the night it samples just twice an hour. Also very disappointed as continuous HR was my main reason for choosing 235 over 630, and now 24×7 HR is practically disabled..
Helllooo Ray,
Further question to my previous,
I tried on a garmin hrm strap and didnt really like it. Although I have not ran in one and it is purely subjective. It works out the same price here to buy a scosche rhythm+ with the 230 on its own.
Is there anything i cannot do with a R+ with 230 that i can with a strap and 230?
Same for either of above vs the 235
Im referring to a purely analytical/data point of view
thanks to anyone who responds!
Michael
Purely on an analytical/data level.
Also,
You can’t do 24/7 HR on the FR230, regardless of which strap you choose. You must have the optical sensor on the FR235 if you want that.
Outside of that, there’s no technical reason why you can’t do all the same features on the FR230 with a Scosche vs regular Garmin strap. However, the Scosche (like all optical sensors) can be a bit more finicky when it comes to Heart Rate Variability (HRV), which can/might impact Recovery Times and VO2Max times.
Thanks for reply and removing the double post Ray.
It was suggested to me to go ahead and get the 235 because of the strap situation and for the 24×7 sampling. However, I have been seeing reports on here from other users of massively reduced sampling rates making the feature almost void?
Secondly, You said HRV and VO2 max are both questionable for optical. This being true would also apply to the 235 and thus suggesting I could be best place trying to perserve with a strap and 230? As I have not really used one other than trying it on and pretending to breathe heavily in a shop. Lol.
Thanks again
Michael
Bought 235 on strength of this review. thinking it is mistake. Sound from watch is must too quite (no mention in review). The user manual is incomplete particularly on alerts, sounds – what do 2 vertical bars that appear along with a vibrate when (guessing) I am running a bit slower than target pace. ‘cos its not in the bl…y manual
I didn’t mention anything about sounds, because honestly they sound pretty normal level to me. As for the sounds, it depends. In most cases, during a run it won’t give you any regular buzzes by default except for auto-lap.
Outside of a run, what you’re describing is for the activity tracker (red bar on side). I talked about it a bit in the activity tracker section here: link to dcrainmaker.com
Ray, can you see what the plans are for the HR monitor after firmware 3.20? It appears they have increased the time between sampling which has made the 24/7 HR monitoring more random than anything. Many of us would sacrifice battery for accuracy and I’d like that choice. Unfortunately I don’t know how to rollback to the previous firmware or I would in a second.
I posted this on the garmin forum. Temporary workaround until garmin fixes this (hoping they do):
Seems like i may have found a way to get hr sampling more often, like prior to sensor hub 2.30 update. If you leave the screen on the hr widget (down arrow from the clock) it samples just like before. Confirmed by looking at the graph and not having the same reading for up to an hour, and by looking under the watch to see the green lights on. Not a great solution, but it works. Can leave it on the hr widget over night and get an accurate resting heart rate. If garmin could get this functionality back to when it’s on the normal watch screen we’ll be back in business. Would rather have more hr sampling with less battery performance.
good tip. but how do you stop screen automatically changing back to clock from HR screen?
It stayed on there for several hours at first, now it won’t stay for more than a few minutes.
Ray, could you possibly ask garmin if they plan on fixing this? This trade off makes 24×7 hr monitoring useless which makes numbers such as resting heart rate unreliable. They should make an option for the every 30 to 60 minute sampling after the last update for better battery life, and an option for pre 3.20 update sampling.
Anybody know if there has been an update released by Garmin that solves this infrequent sampling issue?
How would you describe battery life of the 230? Is it much better than the battery life of the 235?
I consider bying speed/cadense-sensor for my 630, but I’m wandering if the speed sensor is really needed?Shouldn’t the GPS in the 630 tell you the speed?
GPS will tell you speed, but the sensor will kick in if there’s poor or no reception such as from heavy trees or a tunnel.
Hey. Is it worth spending the extra $ to get the garmin forerunner 235 over the the TOMTOM spark cardio + music
Depends what you’re after of course. Read the reviews, decide what’s important to you, and then pick a choice. You can’t expect others here to do that for you…
Can you mix two Garmin devices in terms of HR, step count, calories etc, or will it only take this data from one of them?
So if I wear a FR235 most of the time for HR and steps, but then for a workout change to a Fenix3 for advanced running metrics or because I am heading to the pool, will it combine the data from both? Or would I have to keep the 235 to get complete readings?
Not positive, but I think can have 2 devices (or more) paired and upload activities from each, but you have to designate 1 as your activity tracker for steps. I guess you could even go to settings and change the activity tracker designation back and forth depending on which you’re using..
I know there is much talk about less then advertised battery life for daily use HR monitoring.
However, I’m on day 3 since I last charged and I’m at 75% battery. I haven’t done any activities (meaning GPS hasn’t been on) but I do have notifications on.
Sure Garmin screwed up with their claim on time between charges, but is it really that big a deal to throw your watch on a charger every 3-4 days?
What I’m getting at is, something will have to give to get more battery life and I like my 235 as it is. So please Garmin, don’t worry about the battery life.
I agree with you about it not being a big problem charging it every three or so days.
BUT. We can expect a company like Garmin to state correct specs on their sites. They were wrong with the battery life. They “forgot” the Virtual Runner and similar feats they announced.
If they put a device up for sale, they should at least present correct specs. No more, no less.
Short question here: Does anyone have any experience with the battery life of the 235 without 24/7 HR turned on and no notifications? I’d like to use the 235 for HR only during runs (2-3 hours per week) and not have to charge more than weekly.
Thanks for any help.
Have had my 235 for 3 weeks. On my 1 day a week I don’t run, the battery goes down less than 5%. This with notifications on/ BT on light when changing screens.
I usually run 1 1/2 hours with HR on and GPS. Eats battery about 15-20% with each run. No complaints.
Thanks :).
Tanks for the great review – I’ld like to know how you compare the 230 and polar m400. I don’t really see a big evolution (in terms of functionality) between the 220 and 230 – and i’m still keen to prefer the m400 (considering also the latest m400 firm. Update and the price difference). What is you position ?
Br.
The big differences are:
– the autonomy : 6-8h for the m400, 12-15h for the 230
– the vibration which is missing on the M400.
For myself, to prepare and run the Saintelyon, the autonomy is crucial.
Hi Ray, thanks for great work with this review!
Would you be able to write something more about HRV measurement from optical sensors.It is related to some functions in Garmin 230/235: V02 Max and Recovery Advisor.I wonder about buying this watch and I’m very interested in this functionality.Once you wrote that the measurements from optical sensors(Scosche,Mio..) in terms of HRV were unreliable and automatically those values(VO2 Max,Recovery Advisor) were wrong too.
Has anything changed in this case or maybe the only option is still using chest strap(which is not comfortable for me)
Generally, if you could bring more about this functionality.Is it something really useful or it’s only marketing trick?
Thanks!
According to this topic in the Garmin forums link to forums.garmin.com the HRV data coming out of the FR235 isn’t any better than what’s provided by the Mio sensor.
Thanks a lot for that link,
It’s very complicated issue as I see and from I’ve read so far it looks like the only proper way to use this functionality (VO2MAX,Recovery Advisor) is by using chest strap(unfortunately :)
Battery life is an issue for me, and it seems that issue is really muddled with the 235 in particular with all the updates. Here are the questions for anyone who knows.
With the current updates:
1. How long a race can you do with the 235 before it needs charging?
2. Similarly, how long a race can you do with the 230 before it needs charging?
I understand you can charge on the run, but that may not always be easy or practical. With all the reported problems with the 235 battery life, I want to know what the parameters are going in. We already know that Garmin’s published specs are unreliable, so what is happening in actual usage? What if you ran an ultra? Or did an Ironman? I do both but don’t need a tri-specific watch yet. Would either watch last the duration without needing a charge?
Thanks in advance.
BTW, after visiting the Garmin forums, I was struck by how much more discussion is taking place here. It could easily be 5-10x. This seems to be the site to go to if you want to know about Garmin from users. Garmin should just like everybody over here!
*link everybody over here.
Hi. I’ve been lurking through the comments – is like to support Ray as I value these reviews. I’d like to order the 235, Marsala, but CT only says “expected mid December. I should add, trying for a delivery of 12/23. Is there somewhere that has them & I can still support this site?
Thanks link to i-love-advertising.blogspot.com
Could someone please estimate for me how long would the battery last if I’m:
– jogging every day for 60 min, HRM on and GPS on
– bluetooth and notifications – OFF
– 24/7 HRM and avtivity tracker – on ?
Two to two and a half days.
Thank you! But this sounds dissapointing ;] 2,5 days is really short for a watch :/
Had my first run with the new FR235 – my previous one got stuck on 66bpm before I had chance to get a run into it.
I wore the FR235 on the left arm and on the right arm the FR225 and FR610 with strap. First thing was to make sure the FR235 was not using the strap as it automatically pairs so I went in to settings to turn it off.
Did a 4.6 mile run and all three devices were more or less within 1 or 2 bpm of each other all the way around. I would probably say the FR235 was closer to the heart rate strap than the FR225 but there was never much in it.
I had tested the FR225 with the strap when I got that in the summer and I am one of the lucky ones where these optical heart rate monitors seem to work really well.
The GPS tracked the run within 0.01 miles of each other on the 235 and 225. The 610 seems to log it about 0.08 longer. I had GPS and Glonass put on the 235.
The only minor thing which may be software related is that after I finished the FR235 took longer to drop when heart rate was recovering compared to the FR225 and the strap.
This is the data for the FR235 run link to fetcheveryone.com and the data for the FR225 link to fetcheveryone.com. You will see more or less identical.
Both times mine’s stuck on 66bpm I just power-cycled the watch and it was fine. Did power cycling your watch not do the same?
Is anyone wearing the 235 all the time as a 24/7 activity tracker? How accurate is the resting heart rate? I’m looking at replacing my 220 as I’ve just had heart surgery and looking for accurate HR information as I transition back into running in the New Year.
It appeared to be fine until the latest firmware update where they drastically reduced the HR sampling rate in order to preserve battery life. Now the all day activity tracking and resting heart rate information is next to useless.
If (and to be fair at this stage unless Ray tells us any differently it seems unlikely) they update the firmware to allow users to chose between more frequent HR sampling or longer battery life I wouldn’t recommend the 235 for all-day tracking.
Has anybody run a very long run or a marathon with the FR 235? how is battery life in this case? I’ve just jog with my daughter for 5K, around 35 minutes, and battery lost 14% (1sec recording, glonass on). In this case the watch would be useless for anybody running a marathon slower than 4 hour. Am I missing something?
This was with the new 3.2 firmware
First of all – awesome review!!
But I have some questions to find the right product.
I am a cyclist (cyclocross, offroad, gravel) and don’t like these new edges. If I need a map I pick out my Xperia Z3.
What I want is a long lasting monitor which shows me the most important informations, notofications and gives me an acoustic advice. Low level navigation could be done with dwmap app if I am right so I do not need the Fenix 3. Power meter is not interesting for me so another argument against Fenix 3.
The Vivoactive would support all my reqirements but has poor battery life with gps. And I like long rides at about 8-10 h in the saddle.
So I think the 230 is the perfect watch for me (I have got Garmin HR strap).
Is it possible to set bike profile per default as first choice or must I navigate through the menue first?
Kind regards,
Armin
Hi Armin,
there actually is no default activity profile in a sense that whatever was Your last/previous activity, is becoming ‘the default’/first choice one next time You hit the little runner’s button.
As for 8-10h of battery life: well, I would be carrefull with FR230! With BT (notifications) on, GPS+GLONASS, some sound alarms, dwmap app running and some fair use of backlight, I sincerely doubt You will get anywhere near 8h…
My so far experience with running is: BT off! vibration+sound every 1k, backlight always on ( I run at night), GPS+GLONASS -> ~18% battery life per hour!! This would drain the whole battery in less than 6h. Of course it might be that backlight hits the battery the most, but what I’m trying to say is that 10h is just not feasible in my opinion.
Hi Adam,
thanks for your answers. I think that permanent backlight and Glonass will steal a lot of battery power. dwmap is just one option – I will also use Locus Map Pro on my Xperia Z3 with earplug. It is just nice to have but not the must important feature.
KR
Armin
GLONASS off and not permanent backlight is sthg I’m planning to test. If I will get down to ~10% battery drain per hour I will be perfectly happy (of course if accuracy stays on acceptable level -> now with GPS+GLONASS is spot on! I easy see which side of the road I was running, where I crossed the street etc -> this is what is more-than-acceptable accuracy for me)
yesterday I finally tried ‘minimum’ settings: GPS only, backlight always off, only 1km autolap alarm (vibration+sound). I did ~70′ run. Accuracy was spot on, absolutely no difference from GPS+GLONASS setting, and I did run some part on trail in the forest.
Battery drain was 9%, so about a half of previous experience (GPS+GLONASS, backlight always on). Conclusion would be that backlight drains 7-8% of battery per hour. Over weekend I will try 3 following battery tests (the roof method of Ray):
1) GPS+GLONASS, backlight on
2) GPS only, backlight on
3) GPS only, backlight off
until battery dies.
As always fantastic review Ray, decided to order one and see how it goes.
Currently using a Vivoactive which I love due to the size and weight but I do wish I had access to the HR features (Previously had the MS Band V1 then Fitbit Surge) and the 235 seems (Fingers crossed) to be what I’m looking for a more “serious” activity tracker.
I always found the Surge problematic and the MS Band always felt more of a smartwatch then an activity tracker.
What I do like about the Vivoactive is the ANT+ ability and that’s the appeal with the 235 HR built in but the option for ANT+ HR if I require perfect HR monitoring.
I have a Edge 1000 for the bike with speed, power meter so that covers all cycling aspects its more filling the gaps for me.
Like many other the RHR is important metric, And I hope the HR sampling is given an option as id rather charge more but have accurate data.
As I and many others know taking on any NEW Garmin product usually means you get all the hassle of things not working for a few months and then its becomes my favourite piece of tech… The Edge 1000 was near useless when I got it, Now I would leave home on the bike without it!
Once again thanks Ray :)
Please forgive the dumb question – but – when buying on CT, how do you know if item is in stock? All three colors state it will ship in 5-7 days – but I saw on the link to the REI site that the Marsala was out of stock.
Thank you, and thank you for a very informative review Ray.
In the past, I’ve found picking up the telephone and calling Clever Training has worked pretty well.
Also, REI is conservative in the “Ships within 30 days” boilerplate for out of stock items. I ordered my gray 235 a week ago when it said that and they shipped it the next day out of the stock that came in. If you do go with REI be sure to use Ray’s referral link, I think it’s still posted on his Christmas deals page.
I also order the gray 235 last Thursday. Current shipping estimate is it should be here tomorrow. Guess what I’ll be running with first thing Wednesday morning.
Well, I did as you asked/suggested – but they were closed and the answering service left them a message. (This was on Monday). On Tuesday, I pulled the trigger and ordered (through this site) without hearing from them. Confirmation email says the time/date of order is: December 15, 2015 9:40:26 AM EST
I selected two day shipping. 29 hours later, no email stating it has shipped, and on the CT page under ‘my account’ – it states that my order is still processing. Two emails to CT in the interim have yielded zero responses. Not sure what to think at this point.
Hi Ray,
After reading this thorough review about the FR235 I can’t help myself to compare the HR Optical sensor mounted on the FR235 and the activity tracking functions with the ones offered on an Apple Watch. More specifically, I ask myself, between the Apple Watch and the FR235 :
– Which one has the better optical HR sensor ?
– Is there on the Apple Watch the equivalent of the HR Rest function (24×7 heart rate tracking), new on the FR235, useful in term of health monitoring and time rest ?
– Which one provide the most interesting infos in terms of sleep tracking ?
And last but not least : the optical HR sensor on the FR235 is the same than the one on the new Garmin Vivosmart HR, but this last one is thinner than the FR235. Is that is advserly affecting the performance of the optical HR sensor on the Vivosmart, because of the lesser light isolation ?
Thank you.
Stieg.
I see there are a lot of people interested in the battery life of the 235, so here’s some personal data after two weeks:
– I’ve worn it one week as an activity tracker only but all the time (includes sleeping). Optical heart-rate was always on, bluetooth notifications were off: it lasted the whole week on one charge.
– The second week I’ve worn it only when jogging. Every day one hour with GPS (no Glonass) and optical heart rate. This lasted also a whole week on one charge.
Important: this is all on the old firmware. I’m afraid to upgrade because battery-life is good enough for me (not what Garmin specified but it’s fair for the functionality it gives) and I find 24/7 heart rate VERY important. So Garmin made a bad decision with their latest update to lower the polling rate so drastically.
Hi Jasper
Out of curiosity what firmware version are you using?
Thanks for the details on the battery life
Hi Parker,
My watch is on 2.40.
I’ve heard that bike indoor is not officially supported, but I’ve got it on mine. Is this true, or just some people who disabled the activity by accident? I wouldn’t like to lose that too.
@Jasper – my 235 arrived last week with 3.20 already installed and it did not have the Bike Indoor activity loaded. I even looked in the filesystem on the watch and there was no 3CBIKE_.FIT file listed.
If you make a backup copy of your activity files you should be good in case it disappears in the future. Look for the above file and copy it off the watch. I had a copy of that file someone had posted on the Garmin forums that I copied over to the watch and now have Bike Indoor. :)
Thanks George! Will do this as soon as possible.
I’ve had something strange today. I’ve turned my watch off this morning and when I turned it back on a couple of hours later there was all of sudden 20% battery gone.
I wonder if the battery-life problems aren’t related to some (unfound) bug and not the optical heart rate. Because with optical heart-rate 24/7 I can get a week of battery life. Hopefully there’s something else wrong and they can correct the polling rate of the optical sensor.
The optical sensor can’t be using much battery. It’s not on 24×7, it only comes on every so often at random times. It comes on even less often than at first in an effort to compensate for the over promised battery life.
To be clear, Garmin has been fairly clear that the optical HR sensor is a major battery drawing thing in the device (probably just behind GPS enablement with GLONASS).
I am trying to decide between this and a fitbit surge. I use strava daily and run/cycle with my phone. I am looking for a heart rate feature to see how my suffer score comes up (strava premium) I do a lot of indoor workouts on elliptical and also stationary bike as well, so to be able to add my heart rate to the activity in strava would be nice. Is this doable? I have been reading your reviews and am trying to avoid wearing a belt. Perhaps the Scocshe Rhythm Plus would be a better addition instead of buying a watch.
Sure you can connect via Garmin connect to Strava. It’s mentioned in the Strava support FAQs.
Hi! Does Garmin provide a worldwide waranty (or any waranty for that matter) if the product was bought from a random on-line store (Which is not Garmin)? I want to order the device, but it’s still not available in Garmin Bulgaria, so I’m considering to buy the device from an online store other than Garmin. So is there going to be any waranty? Thank you!
Hi,
I’m not sure how it is in your country, in my country (Poland) it looks like that: if I buy garmin device from a reseller in my country I have 2 years manufacturer warranty and some of the resellers offer 1 year warranty in addition.If I buy in other country I have only 1 year manufacturer warranty in my country – I can send it to garmin authorised service in Poland in my case.Always I should have a proof of purchase.
To be sure contact your local garmin service center.
Thank you, Peter!
Any status update on quality of 235 HR data and battery life? Like the idea of optical HR but need to be sure 235 can provide decent HR data and battery can last for at least 6 hours of continuous use with GPS, GLONASS, etc enabled.
On my 220, when I synced a workout from my Garmin Connect (Let’s say 4 Intervals of 3 km each) I was given in the end the time for each interval + average pace for each interval. Now, with my 235, I am getting 1 km laps in the end instead (12 laps of 1 km each instead of 4 laps with 3 km each). any way of fixing it?
my guess would be that You have autolap of 1km active…
I am not sure how 235 behaves exactly, but it could be that autolap has priority over workout. I am pretty sure older units behaved opposite though.
That’s my guess as well. But this means that I have to cancel auto lap each workout? on long and easy runs I still want an auto lap of 1 km…
Is it true the 235 no longer does Indoor Runs as an option? Ive heard that since the firmware update the option is no longer available.
Can someone confirm this for me? Thanks
Still there – my guess is that someone’s unit simply had the setting set to ‘Not visible’.
Thanks mate.
I currently have a FR220, and am looking to upgrade. I am quite interested in the FR 235, but also enjoy my Fitbit Charge HR. In your opinion, can the Fitbit Surge function well as a running watch? Was thinking of combining all the stats/data into one unit.
For me, the lack of auto-pause, the inability to create custom workouts, and the lack of an interval capability serve to immediately eliminates the Surge from consideration as a running watch. I suppose its fine for casual use, but if run in a a semi-urban environment autopause is key, and if you ever follow any training plans that involve intervals / threshholds / ranges you’d be SOL in getting assistance from the watch.
I’ve used a surge for the last year as a running watch and activity tracker. Before that I used the garmin 220 and fitbit flex. I would say that the surge is very much a watch geared toward beginning runners, if you expect to use the watch during your run for advice/coaching (e.g. for pacing in farlek/intervals) don’t get the surge. Similarly there is no ability to plan your workouts and upload them to the watch with the surge.
That being said over this year I’ve come to really value the 24/7 heart rate, smartwatch notifications, and the daily tracking all contained within my gps running watch. Today I wouldn’t even consider buying a gps running watch that doesn’t also provide those items as well – thus I am considering the switch to the garmin from my surge.
Hi Ray,
I have small question about finish time estimator functionality.
You wrote:
“Where it starts to get interesting is new features like the ‘Finish Time’ estimator. This feature will automatically estimate how much time you have remaining until you hit a goal distance (such as 5K, 10K, etc…). You can enter a custom distance in as well as standard ones, using miles or kilometers. It’ll simply figure out what your estimated time of completion is based on how fast you’re running thus far.”
So I understand that it is based on the average pace of the whole race?
It’s a pity that the watch doesn’t count the predicted finish time according to current pace or lap pace at least.
It would be very helpful. I could then learn what pace I should keep to obtain a specific time.
For example: I run 10km, after 7 km a I have the average pace 5min/km,my goal time is 47min.
So it would be great the watch when I run 4min/km suggests me that my predicted time is just 47min(based on my 4min/km pace).
I understand from your description that it doesn’t work that way?
Hi Peter,
I tried out the predicted finish time feature two nights ago on a 10km run just to see what it did. I know it’s only one run but thus far I’d say next to useless, at the 5km mark I was avg 5:05km pace (25:28) yet the watch was predicting “still” had me at sub 50 min finish time. How on earth can it have an estimated finish of sub 50 when the first 5 splits are 5:06, 07, 02, 07 & 06.
What I would highly recommend is the “Virtual Pacer” by Teumo IQ app, i used that in a 10km race last week and it was good.
Hi,
Thanks for the answer!
Maybe it just works in a way I would like!It means that: the watch doesn’t predict the finish time due to the average pace (how fast you have run so far) but due to your current pace.So if you for example started running faster in your race and your current pace was 4.50/km when looking at your watch it would be good result I think?
What does the watch say your VO2max is?
My understanding of the predicted finish times is it’s based on that as well as your average pace, so in theory it thinks you had capacity to pace the last 5km @ 4:50 min/k?
Hi Carl,
Not sure whether your question is directed to me or Peter N, anyway, my Vo2max is sitting at 50. I like your theory on the capacity for completion and in my ‘one off’ test, it was only a standard training pace for me, so yes to pace it up was more than capable to achieve it’s proposed time. Maybe the watch thinks we’re all world record holders and always run negative splits….. hahahaha
Does anyone have an update about whether Garmin plans to fix the 24/7 HR monitoring on the 235? I ordered one for Christmas but will return it if they aren’t going to fix this. Thanks in advance.
Doubt it. This is the response I got after sending files and explaining what was happening with the poor sample rates:
“The heart rate will be taken consistently through out the day. From looking at the screenshots the heart rate data look normal. If you would like to record an activity all day that would make the device record the full days heart rate.”
So to them, these random sample times are OK and if you want true 24×7 monitoring then run an activity all day.
Thanks Mike!
I have a quick question for owners. Do you think it would be reasonably safe to wear the watch while playing Ultimate Frisbee or Flag Football? I would like to see how much distance it says I cover during a game and also my heart rate. However, I’m worried that contact with other players or the ground might break the watch.
Thanks!
Likely safe to do both of these activities. I have had a 225 for several months and do not have a scratch on it, despite wearing it constantly (including for strength training — I do flip it around to protect the face of the watch when working with kettle balls). HTH.
Difficult to find a straight answer here so i’ll try to ask again :-)
Which one is best, the Tomtom spark cardio or the Forerunner 235 (ignoring price)?
The reason you’ve not received a “straight answer” is that there isn’t one. There isn’t a clear “best” between the two that applies to every individual person. Needs, preferences, tastes, history, training goals and so forth are all different for everyone.
Your question is akin to asking whether a turkey supper or a ham supper is best.
Hi Jamie,
As much as i agree with George I’ll offer my 2 cents worth. i had a TT Cardio Multisport, yeah it was good, screen was very small in comparison, I hated the 4 way nav control and even more of a pi$$ off was the fact it didn’t have auto pause. Now I don’t use auto pause on my Garmins, that’s because they don’t have a dumb 4 way switch that’s not as easy as a simple button. No where have I been able to read that the new Spark has auto pause, my other beef about TT was that they continually promised to fix and add things (like auto pause) but it never ever happened and again they are making a lot of promises for “future” feature additions. I love my 235 to the point of selling my 920xt. The 235 for me is a great running watch, yes it fails dismally in a gym workout, even last night for instance, HR 76bpm, jump on the rowing machine and my HR drops to 50!!! WTF (Other mode, no gps). Activity tracking…. whoop de woo, I’d get a Vivo HR if I wanted that, the 235 for me is a great run daily watch and with IQ suppport, that’s why I’d give it the thumbs up.
Hi Jamie – while I agree with the sentiment of George’s comment I’ll offer my 2 cents worth just like Barney did.
I had a Tomtom Spark Cardio for a month before selling it and buying a Forerunner 235.
Prior to these I had a Fitbit Surge for 9 months, and in all fairness I was happy with the experience that Fitbit gave me, but after replacing the watch 3 times (3 times!) in that timespan I decided their build quality wasn’t up to scratch.
My observation is that the Spark was okay as a running watch, terrible as a workout tracker, and useless as a daily activity tracker. The mobile software that you used for Tomtom was also terrible, and I missed the all day heart rate tracking (and associated calorie burn information) that the Surge gave me.
Another frustration – I used my fitbit for “silent” vibration alarms, and I had a lot of options in terms of the number of alarms, frequency (daily/weekdays/weekends/specified weekday). On the Tomtom I could set one alarm only – it was really basic. This bothered me a lot more than it should have.
So I figured the Forerunner would give me a better experience, and so far I’d have to say it has, but it isn’t without it’s own quirks and frustrations. It is somewhat better as a running watch as it gives you cadence and VO2max information, and it tracks workout heart rate much better than the Tomtom would (though none of these wrist based optical HR trackers has been all that accurate)
The software platform is miles ahead of Tomtom but still it has to be said well behind Fitbit.
Also I kind of miss having the freedom to listen to music without having to take my phone.
So how to sum it up? If music is important to you then get the Spark. If all-day activity tracking is important then get the Forerunner 235. Tomtom say they will eventually enable all day heart-rate tracking, but if you check out their forums you’ll see their track record on updates post launch of a product isn’t great.
Also if you have any semi decent programming skills then the Forerunner would make sense as you have the option to create your own custom apps for it as well.
Thanks guys, very helpful.
I basically need a good running watch (no all-day activity tracking) that does gps tracking fast and well (which they both do i guess) and HRM fast and well (which they both don’t ?). I’m even doubting getting a previous version (225 or cardio 1) because of the mio sensor, but sadly the prices aren’t that much lower.
And i want to see pace without scrolling or pushing buttons.
Music is very important to me, so spark music definitely sounds great, but i read about bluetooth issues… I can still drag along my trusty ipod if needed.
I guess it comes down to how much money you’re willing to spend then.
At the moment I’m using the Forerunner 235 with a Wahoo TICKR run chest strap. If you do any type of interval training or HIIT then none of the optical sensors seem capable of tracking your heart rate properly. But the 235 then gives you the ability to still do all day heart rate tracking (important for afterburn calories if you do intense exercising).
This compromise seems to be working quite well for me. The chest strap doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would while exercising but I still have “one device” to track my daily activities. Sort of.
As for music – I have a terrible track record with bluetooth headphones (6 or 7 in the last year!!) but once I inevitably break my current cheap pair I think I’m going to grab a pair of Sony Walkman WS613 because they are both bluetooth (for when I feel like streaming music from my phone) and a 4gb music player (for when I feel like running without my phone). Pricey but the best of both worlds. I think.
Of course – if Tomtom do roll out the promised all-day heart rate tracking update then it might be the better watch for you. I think I’d still stick with what I currently have though because I just find the overall user experience on the 235 to be better.
For music I have the Sansa clip MP3. Lightweight, cheap and real good sound quality. Perfect companion for the 235.
First, music. If you use iTunes, a recent nano with bluetooth will work very seamlessly for updating podcasts, playlists, and music. Thats what I use. I’d imagine there’s stuff for non-itunes users that’d work with TomTom but I don’t know the platform. I have had great success with mpow brand Cheetah headphones; cheap, super comfortable, sweat proof (supposedly), and the sound pretty decent.
For what you describe the 235 should work fine. I’ve had good success with the optical HRM on my runs, but I know some here report having had problems. Seems to be random as to who it works for and who it doesn’t. So be sure to buy from a place with a good return policy. One thing to consider is the 235 can use the optical HRM *or* you can pair a chest strap HRM for use in situations where the optical might not work well enough for you. Sort of a best of both worlds scenario. I’m unsure if the TomTom allows that, so look into that part.
The other thing is to check out the web interfaces for each platform. Which looks/feels better to you? Does integration to an employers wellness program matter? If so, see who partners with whom. My work uses Vitality, which Garmin syncs up with, and I get “wellness” credits for every workout as well as for step tracking. Woohoo I hear you say as you roll your eyes, which is fair, I would too, but the linkup has resulted in real Amazon gift cards. Thats NOT something that’d sway me away from an otherwise good fit, but if it’s a toss up otherwise it’s something to consider.
Carl, would you mind elaborating a bit about your experience with the Surge and the Garmin? I’ve had the surge now (well 2 you are right build quality is awful but at least fitbit gives you replacements for free) for a year. I’m thinking about switching when my current surge breaks. How would you say the heart rate and battery life compare? Are there any other differences besides platform and build quality?
I’ve had my FR235 for two weeks now and I really like it, HR works fine for me and I ran into the cadence lock only once or twice and it didn’t hold for long.
The main issues I have are the following, and I hope they will be sorted with updates:
a) GPS is recording even when using a profile where Gps is turned off
b) 24/7 HR sampling as of FW3.20 / WHR 2.30: It looks like sampling frequency has been decreased. However I checked the monitor fit files after three nights. The longest difference between readings seems to be 15 minutes. So far so good. But there are always 2-6 consecutive readings with the same HR value. Seems too much of a coincidence even when sleeping. I have the feeling that the updated smoothing algorythm as of WHR 2.30 kicks in here. Might make sense for running, but in 24/7 HR i want to see even a 1 bpm change.
c) The calories (and sometimes distance) for daily steps in GC are just rubbish (go to steps in GC and then click on the activities tab). Lately I had two days with the same steps and distance (2000, 1.5Km), once it gave me 55 active calories, then 220! Also it can’t be that with less daily steps I’m burning as much as active calories as when running three times the steps and distance. Sometimes also distance for daily steps are wrong, giving me a stride length of ober 1m where it is only 0,8m.
I’ve setup some HR alerts on the outdoor running profile so I can keep my HR within a predefined range. I used custom numbers, which I manually entered, and it works fine.
Is there a quick way to enable/disable these alerts for the next run? I went with a friend who is a bit slower and it just beeped at me the whole way round. Surely there must be a quick way to enable/disable these quickly before etting off, as I had to delete the alert completely, which means next time I have to manually set them up again.
Or should I be creating training runs and downloading them to the watch for stuff like this?
I’d go with custom workouts for any of those alerts that you want sometimes and not other times. You don’t have to schedule the workout to the calendar, just transfer it to the watch and keep it there for when you want it. You can even set up multiple different ones for different training goal ranges.
Added benefit to custom workouts vs. setting up static alerts is you can set up a “warm up” period (I set duration as until lap button press) and cool-down period so it doesn’t fuss at you while warming up or cooling down.
Thanks, I’d better take a look at the training stuff then. Not even looked at it yet, but that makes more sense. I thought there must be a way.
I’ve had the 235 for six runs now. So far, I am really unhappy with the inaccurate optical HRM. My easy run HR normally is 125-140. The 235 recorded the last 2 runs at 180+. Three previous runs started out normal, then dropped down to 90-100. I was walking through the airport yesterday, and the 235 consistently showed my rate at 140-145. Was I missing the flight and running? No. I have a pretty low RHR as I am a marathon runner, but not as low as 45, which the 235 consistently records it. I have other issues with the watch, but just wanted to point out the main problem with thee optical HRM for anyone interested. Seriously thinking of sending it back.
Hi Ray,
Was super excited to get the 235 – close to what I considered my dream device. Smart connected, optical, 24hr monitoring.
Used the 235 for a couple weeks now with mixed feelings. Issues:
1. HR accuracy ranges from ‘pretty OK’ to poor. BTW: I’m white and hairless – to the point of translucency. Bike rides are complete messes, randomly 100 to 180, when I know I’m at 180bpm the whole time. Runs ~mostly~ good, but seeing screw ups with: downhills, if holding anything in hand on the side with garmin on wrist and cold temps.
2. Connectivity is sketch. Sometimes it seems to take hours to get it to reconnect with my phone (iphone 5s). Leave phone downstairs and lose connection if I go upstairs, then go back down – now the two won’t talk to each other anymore. Fixing seems random, fiddle and try over and over for a period of a couple hours and then it suddenly connects again.
3. Back light in non workout mode won’t stay on for more than about 5 seconds. I check my HR at night in bed and the light turns off before it catches the rate solidly. Light button push only buys another 5 seconds, and moves it a little, often making the rate unsure again. System menu light setting only effects light in workout mode.
4. Move bar sometimes yells at me ‘move!’ when I’ve been on my feet for hours. Maybe only a very specific walking motion can satisfy the sensor?
Lastly – I don’t want to burden the thread with comments/questions that have been said/answered. In these threads with 700+ posts, it happens. I know you have a crap-tonne of projects, but wonder if there is an easy way to search the thread before posting something?
Thanks for all your great work!
Hi matt,
if you are on windows you could try ctrl + f to bring up the find on page tool. Then you type in words or Keywords etc and hopefully find what you are looking for?
As for the insights you have provided. I appreciate reading it before i decide on which of the new garmin devices to purchase.
sorry for any typos and/or errors sent this on my phone.
regards
michael
Cheers, Michael.
Forgot to add one last minor issue:
System menu gives almost no options for the HR settings, only:
1. Auto
2. Off
On the Auto/on setting, sampling at night occurs very infrequently, once every hour or two. Mine often shows random spikes that are quite low, 50 down to 40. With such infrequent data it’s difficult to tell if its an artifact or real. I would also like more routine HR sampling recording in the day.
Wonder if it’s in the realm of possibility to add an option for more frequent HR data sampling, like q 15 minutes? ..or at least some other shorter time interval than the current very infrequent samples. Maybe via a widget or IQ app? Would trade a bit battery life, but well worth it IMHO.
Hi matt,
No problem. Regarding your comment i remember seeing a post a bit further up(not far). It is by rex 6, but it is the response thata of interest. Something about a reply from garmin on the hr sampling and the need to run an activity all day.
Regards
michael
Anyone else having issues pairing HR monitor after the latest update for the Forerunner 230 (12/15)? I’ve tried it with two different Garmin HR monitors, and there is simply nothing showing up when I go into settings/sensors and accessories. It simply says “no sensors paired.” Doesn’t give the option to pair. I was on the phone with Garmin trying to fix this…they said to put the HR monitor a “centimeter or closer” to pair and put your thumbs on the contacts. I’ve replaced batteries, tried it with two different HR monitors. Still nothing. Is this an issue with the software or hardware of the watch possibly?
Help! I’m ready to give up and go to Suunto.
I had my HR paired on older software (3.10), so after upgrading to 3.20 it;s there already. But even on 3.10 I had minor issues. I was holding the watch exactly next to the pod (Scosche) for at least 5min, turning on/off the monitor and going back and forth to running app in the watch.
Also, there is no dedicated menu destination for pairing ANT+ sensors (strange?!). You just go to activity app and wait until it finds any sensors (I guess it;s hardcoded what kind of sensor’a it looks for. For running should be HR and footpod).
But just 2 days ago I went for my first ride with FR230 and I do have magnetless cadence only sensor. I rode for 2h and nothing! Sensor was never found :-/ I will try some day now to ‘stick’ the watch to the sensor and just spin the crank in the air!
Anyway, I agree with Ray: the pairing process is a puzzle for me! They had it solved perfectly on other devices and not sure what they are trying to invent on FR23x ???
Hi
My first post on a public forum :)
I am using a FR225 and really wanted to upgrade to FR235 mainly because of ConnectIQ and notifications, but recently read a lot of issues with FR235 especially related to HRM, the watch basic functionality is to report HR data (approximately close to chest wrap) consistently, 235 seems to fail on this, any advise if I should get an upgrade and hope all these issues will be taken care of by Firmware updates or maybe wait for 245 or a Fenix4 with Optical HRM.
Thanks DCRainmaker and everyone else for sharing their views, this website and discussions here are really helpful.
I have the 225 and have upgraded to the 235. Wore them both and a chest strap with my 610 on a run last week and all more or less identical.
Done another run with the 235 and it looked fine.
If you read the Garmin forum on the 225 there are plenty of people saying that is inaccurate for them so it’s a bit hit and miss.
If the 225 works for you then I would say the 235 is more likely to be fine for you as well.
No doubt the firmware will improve the 235 even more. But from my observations I am really pleased with it. But you only need to read the comments here and the Garmin forum to know there are many who are not. But that is also the case for the 225 and you seem to be getting on OK with that.
Welcome to the wonderful world of the interactive internet. First thing to remember is unhappy people FAR more frequently seek a public outlet to vent their frustration than do people happy with their purchase. For every complaint you read there may be five, ten, a hundred, or a thousand happy owners of a device. It’s difficult to know the actual reality beyond recognizing the disparate tendency to post experiences using a product.
So yes, there are a number of people experiencing issues with their FR235s. There are also a lot of (less vocal) people who are happy with theirs.
You could certainly wait for a 245 or a Fenix4 with OHRM (if such a beast should ever exist), but all you’ll likely accomplish is getting more usage out of your 225. You’d be in the same situation of reading some complaint of some sort and wondering if you should buy or not.
Optical HRM by its very nature works well for some people and not so well for others. It works well for some activities and conditions, and not so well for others. The best way to be truly sure of whether the 235 will work for your situation is to buy one from a retailer with a good return policy if you find it doesn’t work for you. If that is not possible, spend a couple of months reading posts and perhaps asking questions to see if your usage would more closely align with those having troubles or those happy with their device, while at the same time giving Garmin a while to sort out the initial bugs that they seem to usually have with any new device.
Here’s my experience: On the runs where I’ve worn both my 920xt & HRM-RUN as well as my 235, the resulting average HR and maximum HR reported have been either the same or within 1bpm. Every time I’d glance at the watches during the run they’d report the %HRR either the same or within 1%. I’ve not yet experienced cadence lock. RHR figures in the mornings have been off what they ought to be, they’d usually end up approximately correct later in the morning after working at my desk a while. I anticipate Garmin will address/fix that. Battery life could be better but it’s not unlivable; I am at 24% right now at 114 hours since coming off the charger at 100% and I’ve done 110min of GPS activity time. All in all I’m happy with my 235 so far.
Thanks a lot for detailed explanation George and Jamie.
You made a good point there, higher percentage of irate consumers will resort to forums with issues.
Sadly in Asian market there is no return policy… so will stick to 225 for a bit longer (maybe a month or two) and will keep on checking for the performance here and in Garmin forums.
(Initially planned to gift 225 to any of the closed ones and acquire 235 :) )
Thanks once again for the time and effort made to answer my queries :)
It did not took long for Garmin to get the Beast out……. :)
Fenix 3 with OHRM….But very expensive unit….
I have had my Garmin FR 235 for 4 days now, and I really like it. The only downside is the dreaded 66 bpm bug. For me, I am running version 3.2 of the software, and I was hit with the 66 bpm bug after charging last night (but I only noticed it this morning). Trying to troubleshoot it in 32 degree weather was annoying. It took 2 reboots of the Garmin FR 235 to get my heart rate back.
Happy with the FR235 so far. And I was very happy with the ‘alarm on weekdays’ option that woke me at the right time, but did not wake my wife who could sleep out … until today. I’m not sure if I in some weird Pavlov way acknowledged the alarm and continued to sleep, or if it didn’t work (the alarm is set though). Anyone else experienced alarms that didn’t activate yet?
I get missed alarms often. If I wipe out all alarms and set them fresh they seem to work the first time. Once they get in a few days or I’ve changed the times on them at all they start missing a lot. I’ve reported it to Garmin and they claim they can’t reproduce and want me to exchange my watch. I fully believe this is a software bug.
Thanks for the interesting conversations, nice to read. Everybody is talking about the FR235, what about the FR230? I want to buy a new sportswatch , the fenix 3 looks good. But the 230 is mutch cheaper. Does anyone have experiance with the new FR230?
I’ve got a FR230, my first GPS watch, so not a lot of comparison material (I’ve got an Edge 500 for cycling). Seems to be working great for me! Very quick and accurate on the GPS front. Do you have any specific questions?
Well, take everything discussed about the 235 and eliminate all optical HRM references as well as battery life complaints, and you’ll have a good assessment of the 230.
Having owned (and returned) a Fenix3 I can tell you there’s a substantial difference between the two, basically comparing apples and oranges. Both are fruit and both are great for a snack, but there are substantial differences. Same for Fenix3 vs 230; many differences in features, capabilities, size, display, etc. You need to sit down and really think about what features you truly need and will use. How many data pages do you need? Do you swim and need to track strokes/etc? Do you hike or do other sports where you need custom activities and screens? Do you need a lot of data pages within an activity, or are the choices of Run / Run Indoor / Cycle / Other adequate for your needs?
As you should gather from the above, choosing which is better suited for you is VERY dependent on YOUR specific needs/preferences/usage and there’s no clear-cut guidance strangers could realistically give you without a deeper understanding of your needs.
Hello Key, at the moment i have a M400 from Polar. I run marathon’s and thinking to buy a garmin watch because they can give you more information for your workouts. I don’t like the optical HRM so the FR230 would be ok for me. At the other hand there is the Fenix3, with my family we do some hiking, so this would be also interesting to have both possibility’s in one watch. But i think this watch is too huge to go running.
does the FR230 has got a good gps? my main sport is running and from time to time mountainbiking. I also have no experience with Garmin so this is new for me. I have read all the comments here and Garmin looks great for me.
The GPS in the FR230 is the same as in the FR235, and like I said, I think it’s great. In DC Rainmaker review there is a section on the GPS, and he thinks it’s pretty good as well. You can use the FR230 for hiking as well, you just don’t get mapping and barometric altitude and all that stuff. Garmin has got a great reputation when it comes to GPS devices, so I think the FR230 will be good for you as well!
GPS on the 235 is solid so far, no issues with wonky tracks or bizarre results like I had with my Fenix3. I’ve owned a GPS running watch of one form or another since 2011 so I’m not new to this. I have zero complaints about the 23x GPS. :)
That said, wooded trails with many switchbacks or turns are a nightmare for any GPS device regardless of price. Set your mountainbiking expectations accordingly.
Hey Key,
Thanks for helping me to decide what watch to buy. I think i will go for the FR 230. hope this has got a good price,quality ratio.
Hi Ray,
I’m trying to decide if I should upgrade my current FR220 to the FR235. I would like to start HR training (I don’t currently have a strap or another way to measure it), but I’m willing to wait another year for wrist-based monitoring to improve. Do you think the FR235 is accurate, light-weight, and bug-free enough or should I wait another year or so for the technology to improve? I’d like to keep my next watch for years (5 would be ideal), so I want to invest in one that will work well and not immediately get outdone by the next version.
Thanks!
Mandy
Hi Mandy, I know you addressed this to Ray, but I will volunteer my opinion. I have been using HR monitors since Polar got started years ago. Currently I have the Garmin Vivoactive, the 920 XT and the 235 that I have used on runs totaling over 150 miles over the last 4 weeks. I am pleased with the 235 and really like running without the chest strap. It works for me.
I suggest you get the 235. Your comment about using a running watch for 5 years leads me to believe you,are not a gadget geek. If you look back over the history of Garmin Forerunner watches since the 101 you will see that 5 years in technology is like several lifetimes.
Good luck with your HR training.
Mandy, I have used the Garmin FR 225, and really liked it. I then upgraded to the Garmin FR 235, and I like it even better – with one caveat. On occasion the HR sensor gets pegged to 66 bpm. Toggling the optical HR off and back on again fixes the problem. Garmin is aware of the problem (case number 1184674) and is working on a fix to the problem.
Hi Nick, Thanks for your response! It kills me to get rid of a watch that still works, but I’d love to upgrade to one with HR and sleep tracking.
Thanks Paul. Looks like I might be getting a new watch in January : )
Mandy, you can always give your “old” watch to someone less fortunate. I always find a home for my “older” running watches. You know, most of the time I have gotten more enjoyment to giving them away than I did running with them.:)
Version 2.4 of the firmware just came out. It fixes the following:
• Fixed potential heart rate lock to 66 beats per minute.
• Increased battery life in 24/7 mode
• Improved heart rate accuracy (spikes/noise)
To be more technically correct, it is the Forerunner 235 Sensor Hub software that was updated to version 2.40. The operating system software for the FR235 is still at 3.2. If it is a bit confusing, then go to Menu–>Settings–>System–>About. On the first page it will list the operating system software for the FR235 as 3.2. On the second page it will list the Sensor Hub Software (called WHR) as 2.4. Just use the down arrow to get to the second page. Use Gamin express, and it will handle the updating to version 2.4 for you.
Thus far, no 66 bpm bug. I am cautiously optimistic.
Thank you George, i agree with you. With my M400 i was also happy, a good watch for his price.
Great Review.
I have the 225 and am wondering wether to upgrade to the 235.
Does anyone know what the battery life is like in bike mode with gps on? Is an 8 hr ride possible?
Freek
What material is used for the device face? If plastic, is a screen protector available? Have users noticed scratching?
Seems to be plastic. I ordered Savvies brand screen protectors from protectionfilms24.com and received them in a few days. I’ve used the same ones before on other watches and liked them.
I’m sure someone will post their experience in going years without ever scratching a display screen. I wish I were that coordinated, but instead I tend to clumsily hit my watches into doorknobs and door frames often enough that $5 for a layer of protection is worthwhile IMHO. :)
BoxWave also makes a few different screen protectors, including a tempered glass model.
Yes boxware 225 screen protector the 225 and 235 are physically identical for the watch face. I have this on mine link to amazon.com
Hi anyone kind enough to answer,
Can anyone provide me with a link or information on the guarantee for the fr235 please?
i live in Belgium and they have terrible returns policies. However if the 235 doesnt work as advertised or I am unfortunate to get a ‘bum’ device….i would like to know i can get the 235 over 230 without this worry.
Regards
michael
Hi Michael,
I’ve bought mine through the webshop from A.S. Adventure. I’ve picked it up at a store, but when you buy it online you’ve got 14 days to return it without giving a reason. And you can return at a store for free (no delivery fees).
My 14 days are gone, but I’m happy with the watch. There are some software quirks I’ve like to see changed, but it’s a good buy so far.
Regards,
Jasper
Hi jasper,
Thank you for your comment. I looked at a.s.adventure and i read that it must not be used in order to return it. I then emailed webshop coolblue and they said that i can rely on garmins guarantee should the device not work as planned. I however decided on the 230. Now they release new firmware the day i received it ! Typical!
Thank you again
Michael
My 235 is not picking up my cadence/speed sensor (the one that comes with the Edge) I had no issues with my 620 or even my 405. Is there anything especific I need to do to pair?
Footpod failure — user errors or garmin 235 problems?
I used my footpod for the second time indoors today. The first time I used it, the watch clocked me a bit faster than the treadmill. So I did a few outdoor runs with it. Today, it was a disaster inside.
It immediately paired when I selected indoor workout. I ran (approximately a 10/min mile pace) — yet it was showing 30-45min pace. Then on a walk interval of 15min pace, it showed 28min pace. It thought my walking was faster than running. I turned the watch off and tried again. Same results. I turned off footpod and tried using the accelerometer. Same problem I think. So that makes me think it’s the watch. It was on indoor mode. GPS was turned off in this setting. Could it still have been grabbing GPS anyway?
It did track activity/steps the whole time – consistent with a 4 mile run. I am perplexed. I searched your site and the garmin forums, but so far come up empty on what the issue could be. I can call Garmin monday, but I am hoping you or someone else here can get me some info even sooner.
I eventually just used the treadmill as this got distracting.
Any ideas, thoughts, etc are welcome and appreciated!
Jodi
I should add that I am a new runner (since august). I do 2-4 min run intervals and 1 min walk. And for this run I did 4 miles in 43 minutes according to the treadmill. :) This is consistent with my outdoor runs (more or less).
Jodi, I believe there is currently a bug on indoor running where the GPS stays on. (You should be able to see the “route” on Garmin Connect). From the Garmin Forum:
Thanks a known issue that should be fixed in the next release.
For now you need to first activate the normal Run (outdoor) profile and then go into the Run Indoor one before your treadmill run.
Thanks
Paul
Thank you – I thought I was losing it :).
So I actually start running with the outdoor mode? I just go there in that order?
Thanks – I will try this tonight. How often do they update and fix issues? It’s winter now so outdoor runs are less, and treadmill runs more frequent.
Jodi
Any update on how this is working indoors?
Have done a few runs with the FR235 and pleased with accuracy. Also did a cycle and it seemed for 95% of the time to be roughly what I would expect when paired to my Edge 1000.
Just did a 7.5km run with the FR235 tight on the right hand wrist and the FR225 paired to a Garmin Heart Rate Monitor Strap (to override the optical monitor) to see how the optical compared to a strap. Pretty much bang on.
Attached is the image of the result.
I also have a comparison of the FR225 optical vs FR235 optical from another run of people want to see that.
This is what I’ve experienced as well.
After a little over a week with the 235 in my experience it tracks very well compared to other watches when running at a fairly steady pace whether that be easy, tempo or very hard. The HR does lack though with sudden changes like during an interval set. Seems to be about 30 seconds on the front and back end of each interval. But, the overall HR average ends up being the same.
One run I did with the 235 reading optically on one arm, a 910 with a Mio on the other arm, and a 210 reading a HR strap on the arm with the 235. The 235 and and the 910 read a 137 HR avg and the 210 read 138 avg.
Overall I’m happy with the results, including the HR lag during intervals. When running intervals HR is irrelevant to me as I do them by pace.
I’d love to see that comparison of the 225 and 235. Thanks!
Here you go. I think on this run the 235 was better than the 225. I did have a 610 with a chest strap on as well but did not save the activity. Where you see the big differences between the 225 and 235 here, the 235 was closer to the strap.
Please, do you know whether it is possible to use Quick Release Kit with Forerunner 230 watch?
It still worked with Fenix 3, as shown on this video:
link to youtube.com
Thank you.
That adapter won’t fit a 230 or 235; the sizing is all wrong.
(and next time please do a favor and say how far to skip forward into the video before it shows something other than logos and advertising graphics)
Hello Ray
Can you please let me know if it’s possible to charge the battery of Garmin 230/235 from a power back during a running in order to increase the battery life time ?
Best regards
Ray explicitly discussed this in the review above, even displaying a picture of the watch attached to a power pack while he’s wearing it. Perhaps you missed it when you read the review? It’s located just before the “SMARTPHONE NOTIFICATIONS & CONNECT IQ SUPPORT” section.
Thank you George
Yes, I have missed this picture :) best regards
Can someone provide a quick link or instructions on enabling four data fields on a training page? I know how to alter which training fields are shown, but have not found how to go from 3 to 4 training fields in the manual or online. Thanks in advance.
Scratch that. Found out how to do it. For those that haven’t yet, you need to go into the specific page that you want to alter and then scroll through the options for that page.
I struggled with that for a bit as well. It’s very counterintuitive and frustrating. I was contemplating sending the watch back if I couldn’t get 4 fields. Finally figured it out by searching the Garmin forums.
Disappointed!! completely inaccurate pulse readings when going up and down hills/trails. Gave the 235 to my wife n kids and they had the same resting pulse as me (which is impossible, kids have higher bpm, I´m also a doc for reference). Footpod connection on treadmill runs drifts in and out (on my 920xt it´s still fine). Screen is as bad as the fenix1, hopeless in lowlight dusk/dawn runs without spending battery light.
Lets be honest in the reviews ! This is as bad as Garmin gets !! What a waste of money.
Over-exaggerate much? Hyperbole tends to make it difficult to take concerns seriously.
However, I recommend you first try the new firmware for the HRM portion that came out today and see if that help. Then consider exchanging the watch as it’s possible you’ve received an individual faulty unit.
Does today’s update fix the indoor issue with footpods and pace?
I’m going to update now. Just wondering if there’s a place that lists what the changes and fixes are.
Jodi, this page gives the information on the update. Some of the changes you are asking about are in the 3.25 Beta. If the beta passes, then it’ll be in the next full release. It’s your call about if you want to try the beta or wait for the full release. link to www8.garmin.com
Traildog80 – I’m confused. I included all my HR exact data from multiple devices in multiple runs. I showed where it worked well for me, and where it didn’t. What’s not honest about that? Oh, that’s right – you didn’t apparently read that section, since I talk explicitly about going down hills and oddities there.
Oddly enough, I also talked about backlight too, again, in that section.
Nevermind, I’m not confused anymore. I must have misunderstood initially in assuming you read the review before saying it wasn’t honest. My mistake.
+1. Review is spot on. Very happy with the FR 235 and I can live with it’s limitations – it isn’t an instrument to train astronauts. It’s a running/cycling watch, and a good one (for me).
You’re the man. As always, thanks for the honest review!
Hi all,
Does anyone know if it is possible to pair a Heart rate strab to the 235. I am doing a lot of interval running trainings and the optical sensor in the watch is not as accurate there.
Thanks.
Regards,
Roel
Yes, you can.
Do you need a special one or can you pair any Garmin strab? I have one from my old 310XT
Any of Garmin’s ANT+ straps should work fine, though you’ll find the newer HRM3 or HRM4 based straps seem to give a better (less spiky, less sensitive to dry air/static) result than the older HRM2 based straps.
I’m just the opposite. When I use a hr strap (not often) I’m still using the original one from my first 305 and it works really well for me. All others since then have been spotty for me. Everyone is different.
The 305 came with the even older “hard” strap with the long rubbery piece and shorter fabric strap. I was referring to the HRM2 based premium strap the 310xt came with; different units.
What you have is a pretty reliable strap, if not that comfortable at times; I actually have one that I’d used during winter in lieu of the HRM2 that came with my 610.
I am unable to sync the 235. I have garmin connect and desktop software express. I get a failed message each time in both when trying to sync. I can’t install apps fails to sync. I am running latest SW 3.2. Need help!
Had a similar problem after HRM sensor upgrade to 2.4. Device name on my iPhone under Bluetooth settings went from Forerunner 235 to nrf51822. Deleted the connection in iPhone, restored defaults on watch, did a fresh pairing, and that fixed the connection.
Any info on how it would fit a girl’s wrist? I have a 5.8-inch wrist circumference, if that helps.
Got mine for Xmas last night. My wrist is 5.5″ and it fits… the watch itself is pretty much the exact width of my wrist and there’s a lot of extra strap, but there’s a “keeper” on the strap to keep the end from flopping around (although it’s weirdly difficult to thread the end of the strap through the grippy rubber). I haven’t had it long enough to say much except that it fits but looks pretty huge. My concern at this point is that it will be annoying to wear daily as a fitness/step tracker not because it feels bad but because of all the conversations I’ll have about “Jesus, what’s that on your wrist”… :P
That’s good to know. I’ve always fit issues with watches because of my wrists, but it looks like I won’t run into that with this watch. Thanks a lot for this!
I have the same size wrist as you. It fits fine. The watch part covers pretty much the whole top of my wrist but it doesn’t bother me. I figure all sports watches are slightly big. It fits me fine. The straps are stretchy so you can get it right enough for the HRM
Thanks for this perfect review, little question to help achieve my decision : is the battery similar in the two versions? (If you switch off the HR on the 235, both have same autonomy?)
thanks
Hi’
Great review. Perhaps i missed it, but is it possible to turn off the 24/7 heart rate activity mode? for better battery performance..
Thanks!!
Hi DCRainMaker,
Great review on the Garmin Foerrunner watches. Appreciate the time you’ve put in this for all the readers.
My question may sound silly; but the optical sensor in the the Forerunner 235, can it sustain sweat during intense running sessions (half marathons etc). Is the sensor well protected to prevent leakage?
I usually have used heart rate monitors with chest straps and this would be my first device with optical sensors.
Please advise.
No problems there. The unit is waterproofed to 50m deep, so it’s well situated against water/sweat.
Has anybody figured out how to control a Virb (XE) with the 235? I’ve tried and tried to pair the two with no success. I can get the heartrate sensor broadcasting to the Virb but that’s it. There’s very little documentation on this. It was one of the selling points for me because I had a Virb already. thanks.
Merry Christmas
Well I have had this watch since the 16th. Unfortunately the HR feature is all over the place. When selecting to view HR it always reads high then counts down to HR actual. Which is still high and I have updated to SW 3.2. The watch has sync problems with my HTC one M8. Has synced twice since I have had it. Spoke to Garmin support beware they have only tested on a limited # of android phone models for functionality. My is one they haven’t and may not work. Or may have a faulty watch. So be fore warned.
Merry Christmas! I’ve been following these comments for quite some time, and both my Wife and I got 235s today for Christmas. I noticed there was a new firmware release (3.20) earlier this week (on the 22nd) and am interested in feedback, especially from those who were dissatisfied with 3.10. We are rocking firmware 2.40 and WHR 2.20. Thanks!
Frank
For a casual runner who is mostly interested in an accurate GPS measurement of distance (and ideally connecting to the GPS satellite quickly) and doesn’t really need anything fancy, should I just buy the FR 220 for $179 instead of the FR 230 for $250?
I’ve looked at FR 15, but I’ve read that they still take 30 seconds to find the satellite, so I would pay more for a quicker start.
Thank you!!
Hi,
I have had the same dillema.I wanted to replace my old watch on something newer.I need it just for running, I am not interested in additional functionality so much, maybe if it was cheaper.
I’ve decided to buy Garmin 220 and I think this was good choice after a few days of testing it.
It has everything I need to my training and was 2 times cheaper than Garmin 230(I shot a good promotion).Gps unit in this watch uses precaching so getting fix is very fast.
I’m wondering the same thing… What’s the big difference between the 220 and the 230 for the CASUAL runner… Is the battery life that much better? Does it find the GPS satellite that much faster? Could someone more knowledgable about these two units give some feedback? Thanks!
Louis, the 230 has a 44% bigger screen and can do smartphone notifications and control music on your phone. Battery life is supposedly better, I can’t say because I don’t have both watches. I don’t know if it gets GPS satellite faster, they are both pretty fast. Also use the DCRainmaker’s comparison tool to look at other differences.
Firstly, very good review!
I think that FR235 may be tricky to use during winter season, because of running clothing. During winter, I usually run with sweatshirts and gloves, covering the wrist area. I wear my watch over my sweatshirt, indeed!
What do you think about it?
Thanks for the review! Does the FR235 Optical Sensor work if you wear the watch face under your wrist as opposed to with it facing out on the top of the wrist?
I wear my running watch facing down on my wrist and don’t know if it reads HR or not?
Any feedback?
Thanks!
Just tested it on the lounge and yes it does. I also stood up and did a little jogging on the spot and it seemed to spike as I would expect.
Yes
I want a forerunner with a built in hrm but despite your excellent review, people still have mixed experiences with the reliability of the optical sensor. I already own a Mio Link hrm which I know works great, and I’m tempted to pass on the 235 and just get the 230 until Garmin gets a couple generations of the 235 under their belt.
Will the Mio Link pair well with the 230 or does it only work well with a Garmin hrm? Thanks.
If you read the Amazon reviews for the Mio Link, it’s clear that it works well for many people and not so well for some people. Thus it’s fair to say people have mixed experiences with the Mio Link, just as people have mixed experiences with the 235… and any other optical HRM.
To your question: the 230 and 235 will pair with any ANT+ compatible HRM regardless of whether it’s an optical such as the Scoshe or Mio, or chest strap such as Garmin’s or a third party ANT+ strap.
My suggestion is try the 235 from a shop with a good return policy and see if it works for you.
Got it from Rebel Australia, failed to sync data. No useful tips. Please help.
You’ve not provided enough info for anyone to do anything but make wild guesses.
Perhaps post in the 235 forum at forums.gamin.com with specifics of the trouble and what you’ve tried. Probably also be worthwhile to call Garmin Support.
Thanks for your exellent review
This was one of my info-sources when I decided to buy my 235
And – nearly everything is as expected
But
The bluetooth-connection to my SamsungNote4 is unstabile :(
It seems like the phone seek and find my 235,
I register the pairing-code from the 235
And the phone says it is connected
But
The 235 is not! :(
Anyone who has this problem?
Or know what to do??
(the BT-connection was a importen dealbreaker for me…)
I have the same issue it won’t sync data from the connect app to the phone. Last sync was the 23rd and have had the watch since the 16th. I have spoken with Garmin support for 1 hour the person checked with mobile tech support. Verdict they have only tested Bluetooth compatibility on certain Android phones. The connection may not be supported on your phone. I have the HTC one M8 and they hadn’t tested it with the 235 for Bluetooth compatible. My thoughts they have tested with newer Android and iPhone models first.Trying syncing via Garmin express and updating watch software and firmware. Current is 3.2 SW and 2.4 HR. Make sure under system settings you have the most current. They will have you attempt to sync via desktop if it does most likely SOL at the current time for Bluetooth sync. If you can’t watch maybe a defective unit per support.
I have to mention
the BT connection (with sync and notifications) worked well the first 3 weeks
but
for a few days ago, it was disconnected
and I can’t get it connected again (see my description in my first post)
Xmas time was a bit less running and more eating, so more time to do the balcony battery tests. Here are the results for FR230 (fw 3.20):
1. GPS+GLONASS, backlight always ON => 6h06m
2. GPS only, backlight always ON => 6h50m
3. GPS+GLONASS, backlight OFF => 11h44m
4. GPS only, backlight OFF => 16h49m
so main conclusions are:
– backlight is a real battery killer for this watch! It seems to consume about half of the battery when set to stay on. I find it a bit surprizing, considering how weak it actually is. It’s fine for me (34y old, not real eye problems yet), but I can imagine older athlets to have hard time reading it.
– GLONASS reduces battery life even up to 25%. But what is important in my case is that it does not add anything to accuracy! GPS only gives me super accurate reasults and I can see no difference.
– overall numbers are very close to what Garmin states which is rarity recently! Bravo Garmin. My Suunto Ambit2 (that claims 16h of battery life) does not get close to 13h (with minimal settings of course).
All tests done without any ANT+ sensor, though if I understand technology, it should not influence the results anyway.
Very nice tests! Thanks for sharing!
(And yup, your assumption on ANT+ battery draw is correct, it’s negligible.)
DC Rainmaker Says: “There are currently two ways to save 10% on everything that Clever Training sells (except sale/clearance/deep-sale stuff).”
So I go to support this site by buying from Clever Training even though I could pick up the FR230 locally today and…
Clever Training says: “Oops! This item is not valid with coupon codes.”
Nice… So much for being good on on 99.9999% of their items as stated elsewhere on this site.
Are you just being p:ssy or did you really NOT read the directions following “The first is to use Clever Training with either the coupon code (DCR10MHD) or the VIP program. Both save 10%, see details by clicking below”?
For recent Garmin releases you have to use the VIP program. Its been that way for ages, thanks to Garmin’s restrictions in their agreements with their retailers. Not DCR or CT’s fault that Garmin doesn’t allow coupon codes.
If it’s been that way for years, perhaps DCR needs to update his site because it would be easy to include “and all Garmin products” in the list of exclusions for the coupon. Not having updated that text when this has apparently been the case for years is disingenuous to say the least.
The Garmin exclusion is NOT mentioned at all on the VIP page:
link to dcrainmaker.com
The page just says:
“The first is the DCR reader coupon code for 10% off your cart, which is DCR10MHD. That’s good for 99.99% of things Clever Training sells today…”
All the section about the VIP program says is:
“The second method is via the VIP program. This covers the other .01% of items that Clever Training sells, excluding clearance/sale items.”
Nowhere on the page does it say you have to pay for the VIP program to get the discount on Garmin products.
Also, that .01% estimate is pretty generous. I just scanned their site by product and Garmin probably makes up at least 5% of their products when you exclude clearance and sale items.
I get it, DCR runs this site full time and CT pay him a lot of money to plug their site, but he should be a little less deceitful with his advertising.
Just my 2 cents.
Also, George, I did seriously consider the VIP program after you informed me that the Garmin products have always been excluded from the coupon code (even though DCR doesn’t note this), but then I went to the VIP product page on CT’s website and actually read the reviews… they seem to have a nasty habit of taking people’s money and not shipping the product in a timely fashion or at all.
Read the reviews for yourself, just go to the product page and sort the review by Lowest first:
link to clevertraining.com
This doesn’t seem to be a reputable company.
“Deceitful” is a strong accusation. It, and the rest of your comment, is so ridiculously hyperbolic that it doesn’t merit a response. Especially given that you have all the benefit of the information here and ZERO obligation to help pay Ray’s bills.
One factual correction to your post: the DCR10MHD coupon does appear to work on many Garmin items, primarily the accessories. It is the flagship high-dollar devices that tend to be excluded. That is not specific to Clever Training, you will see this at most Garmin retailers.
You may wish to get your facts straight before slinging mud at others.
My experience with Clever Training was exactly the opposite of what you are saying. There was a mixup with Fed Ex (not their fault). Worried that I wouldn’t receive my watch in time, they sent out a replacement — the same day I called. Despite the Fed Ex screw up, the original order arrived a day or so after the replacement. Clever raining sent me a prepaid postage and RMA number. They charged my card fr only one watch even though for about a week I had two in my possession. I couldn’t have asked for better service. In my book, they are A-1.
Just one man’s .02
Adam Rodman
+1. CT does a superb superb job with customer service and I would venture a guess that this is one reason why Ray too loves to support them.
George, I might be a little jaded because I work for a large e-tailer and one of the core rules that came down from above is that ANY exceptions or loopholes need to be noted in promotions. There are laws that apply to this sort of thing, but mostly we’ve found we have happier customers when we are clear about how deals work.
I want to support what DCR does here because his reviews are AWESOME, I just think a little clarity for those of us who don’t follow the site as frequently would help. You clearly know your stuff about how things work!
To the others who have had good service from CT, I’m very glad to hear that. Those 1 star reviews on the VIP program are worrisome, but I guess for $4.99, it’s worth a shot the next time I have something to buy that I can’t get locally!
Thanks for the feedback!
I can’t be more explicit that the VIP program should specifically be used for new MAP-based Garmin products, because Garmin doesn’t allow it and gets upset about it. Simple as that.
(Trust me, I’d much rather be far more concise about it if I was allowed to, but those be the rules we have to play by. There’s virtually no benefit for me, or CT, in getting you to sign-up for the VIP program – since it goes to Girls On The Run anyway. But, that’s a great reason to sign-up for it.)
I guess I’m jaded in the opposite direction; I fully expect marketing stuff to not have every detail and that it’s up to the consumer to figure it out. It’d be nice if it were spelled out more clearly, I’m just not surprised when it isn’t. Caveat Emptor and all that.
Saw a great example recently: major regional supermarket chain had boxed Italian style Christmas cookies. On the label there was an Italian flag and the words “Prodotto da Italiani” leading one to think these were imported from Italy… Google translate revealed the truth; the words mean “produced by Italians”… at a bakery in Florida as the back of the label confirmed. :)
Looks like Ray’s cleared up the specifics of why there’s nothing explicitly explaining Garmin’s restrictions. Can’t say it surprised me. I’ve only seen companies (anyone not just T) offer % discounts on current Garmin stuff in error.
What’s the big difference between the 220 and the 230 for the CASUAL runner… Is the battery life that much better? Does it find the GPS satellite that much faster? Could someone more knowledgable about these two units give some feedback? Thanks!
Screen size, data fields, and smart watch capabilities to begin with. Have you tried the comparison tool?
My question, George, is this… If screen size, data fields, and smart watch capabilities do not matter to you, is it worth $70 to $100 more for the 230 over the 220?
Probably not, but again you’re asking others to make a value judgement for you, which is inherently subjective and others opinions may not map to your situation. If I say yes and another person says no, whom will you believe?
In the end it boils down to the functionality/features you will use vs the value of the price difference. Does that $70-100 mean you’re eating Raman noodles for the next month or does it mean you don’t go out to lunch two days next week?
Many people have been very happy with their 220. Personally I’d buy the 235 (which I did), as I can use my existing HR strap when I need greater HRM accuracy, plus I get the smart watch benefits and the inbuilt optical HRM for steady runs and not fuss with the strap.
Oh, as to your commentary on Clever Training, I’ve never taken delivery from them. I usually just buy from REI.com via Ray’s referral link and use my REI credit card. Nets out about the same in terms of my savings, though I have to wait for dividends to be posted.
Thanks for the feedback, George! I decided to look at the 220 and the 230 in person at my local running store to get a better feel for them. I ended up with the 230, even though the 220 would have done everything I needed, because the store had a “$50 off $200 or more purchase” coupon in the local sales/coupon junk mailer. Even though I didn’t know about that deal, they offered me the discount anyway, so the 230 was an easy decision at $200.
Cool. The 230 is a good choice IMHO. Enjoy!
Got the 235 for Christmas. So far I’ve run intervals, a steady run and a long run. Firstly HR was all over the place during the interval session. A distant 3rd to my mio link and HR strap. I was surprised because my mio performed quite well during intervals. Secondly have the same problem as someone else above wrt heart rate when resting. It’s at least 20 bpm above what it should be when resting and then counts down to the correct heart rate. Have checked it using the mio and the HR monitor on my phone and also with the old fashioned manual pulse check. Lastly had a nice issue today with instantaneous pace. Decided to do a few pick ups at the end of a long run. Felt like I was pushing it but the watch said I was doing easy pace. Uploaded the run and Garmin Connect agreed with the watch, but my HR said otherwise. Uploaded the run to Strava and Strava said my pace at the same point was 2min/mile faster. In this case I believe Strava. Will do a test run soon with both the 235 and my old reliable 310xt. I think there’s a serious issue with instantaneous pace and HR monitoring during workouts with quick pace changes. Am tempted to send it back. I can live with the HR issue but under estimating the pace by 2min/mile is a deal breaker – imagine the trouble you’d get into during a race with that.
Mark, same issue here. Instant pace is just wrong. I’ve double-checked with my Forerunner 305. However, when I uploaded the running data in Sporttracks, everything was fine, pace correct again.
Garmin connect and the watch display a wrong instant pace, but the lap pace is correct, and also the recorded data. I hope they’ll fix it soon or I’ll return the watch… sad.
If lap pace is correct, isn’t this just a software thing they can easily fix?
I hope so because I’d love for this watch to work well. Strangely enough, it had no problem tracking the pace during an interval workout. The pace inaccuracies came at the end of a 2 hour long run. Could this be related to Glonass being enabled? Or the internal accelerometer taking over? I’m going to contact Garmin about it to see what they say. Also so a couple of instance’s of the heart rate locking to the cadence but it corrected itself.
Regarding the Connect IQ watchfaces/widgets & apps – is there a forum where you can make suggestions for one? I’d love to be able to enter a couple of race date & times, and have a countdown run on a watchface, e.g. it saying: 104 days to the Rotterdam Marathon!
There is a forum for suggestions: link to forums.garmin.com
Hello,
I currently have the garmin forerunner 610 but hoping to get either the forerunner 230 or 620…for the 230 do you have to have your mobile phone with you during your run in order to receive text messages? Would be great to just have the watch during marathons for finding my family on the course instead of having my phone in an arm band! Thanks x
Having owned a 610 for many years, the 230 or 235 is a good next step. IMHO the 630 is overkill if the 610’s been satisfying your needs. Your existing HRM chest strap from the 610 will work with the 230 or 235; and with the latter you get best of both worlds, optical for easy / steady runs (if it works well for you) and chest strap for gym workouts or heavy intervals if you need the greater accuracy.
As to texting, NONE of the Garmins have cellular chips built into them, all must be within bluetooth range of your cell phone to receive text messages (20-30ft).
I can’t find any information about the main default watch face in the quick start guide or the instruction booklet online. (Insert Garmin-directed eyeroll.) The main watch face has the time with the first number (like the 11 in 11:28) in either red or green. It also has the “move bar” that DCR shows in the photo of the step counter above. Okay, the move bar is the move bar, but what does the red or green number indicate? At first I thought it was step progress, but mine has now been pretty consistently red since I got the watch on Xmas Eve. I’m now thinking that corresponds to the recovery advisor (because it’s been warm here and I’ve been doing a lot of back-to-back days just because it’s nice out, but I don’t feel recovered!).
The color of the hour is the color of your current “Activity” (e.g. Run, Bike, Run Indoors, Bike Indoors, Other) You can change the color of the activity in the settings, which would then also change the color of the Hour when that is the current activity.
You can also turn this feature off and just have a basic white hour display.
Hi Ray,
Nice review, as always. I got one question, and i would like to have your opinion on this. I have a Garmin Forerunner 210, i know it is a little bit old, but still working fine. I know technology advances at a fast pace (faster than my running pace), but i’ve consider myself a technology addict, and there are some thing in my current forerunner that i clearly dislike, mainly: the charging connector is really bad and GPS signal is also really bad.
I’m really interested in buying the Forerunner 235, but i’m not quite sure if it worthy, since i already have the 210. Would you recommend me buying this watch or rather go for another one like the 225? I would like to have the wrist based HR monitor, because i have the chest strap (i really don’t use it, i couldn’t get used to it).
Looking forward for your help
Regards,
Orlando
235 over 225 any day of the week. Smartwatch capabilities, larger screen, connectIQ capabilities, more data fields, etc.
Buy from a place with a good return policy of course, as optical HRM works well for some people and not so well for others. Plus it’s a newer Garmin product and some people have had a couple issues. Mine’s been fine, but that’s a sample size of one. :)
George, I appreciate your comments and insights that have appeared throughout the nearly 900 comments. Keep posting.
Note to Ray: I recommend George to be your understudy:) Nick
I agree. Thanks for the help Ray and George! I bought a 235 and have been loving it for the most part so far.
Thanks for the kind words. Just trying to add a bit of signal to all the noise… :)
I just got the Garmin 235 for Christmas. A huge upgrade from my Garmin 10! My question is this… I can’t figure out how to set a run with certain goal pace. On the 10 I can set say 7:50 and will beep if I go over or under that. Does the 235 have that option? If so where/how do I set that. I’m having fun figuring this out but don’t want to be trying to figure it out as I’m headed out the door for a run. Thank you !
Menu — Activity Settings — Alerts — Add New — Pace — then set your desired pace.
That should work.
THANK YOU!!
I got a 235 recently and one thing I see has been overlooked is a touch screen. It would be nice to see this implemented in the next Forerunner.
The 630 has a touch screen. From what I have been hearing, most people who have the touch screen would prefer to have physical buttons.
“Overlooked” implies that something should have been there; instead this was clearly a feature/price decision made intentionally.
IMHO touch screens aren’t always the best interface. I used the 610’s touchscreen for a long time, it was okay but clumsy for getting through the menus at times. I was faster at stuff on my Fenix3 (returned) and 920xt without touch screens. From what I’ve read of experiences with the 630 screen so far it seems Garmin took a step backwards and I’m very glad the 235 does NOT have one.
Is the 630 the only unit that has the metronome feature? I’m most interested in that as a way to help improve my turnover and form, but not sure I want to pony up the extra $$$ just for that feature alone
Metronome is not a reason to buy one watch rather than another; just download one of the many free metronome apps on your phone and use that instead. After a few runs you’ll be fed up with hearing it anyway (although it certainly helped me to improve my cadence).
I think the 920xt and Fenix3 also have that feature, again that’s a lot of cash. You can buy a standalone metronome on Amazon for a few bucks, so not really a feature I’d spend $$$ on if there was no other reason to change.
First of all great review, like others, got the watch for Christmas and am still getting the hang of it. Huge upgrade vs my old much loved 305!
Two things I thought worth mentioning, one positive, one negative.
Positive- was delighted to see there’s an app now that allows you to plot a breadcrumb trail type for a run on most of the usual sites, then follow it. I occasionally do trail / new place type runs and this was one of my favourite features in the 305. I think Garmin moved all that sort of stuff over to the Fenix range, but even for a casual runner this is a big advantage to have available as an option. Has anyobe got any tips or feedback on the integration of this app?
The negative is that I seem to be getting ludicrously high Calorie counts. Today, a recovery day, it’s telling me I’ve used over 6,000 calories, by 8pm, 5000 of them through activity. I wish this was true, but it isn’t!
I don’t see an obvious cause, (hr looks a little jumpy/high, but not ludicrously so) so wondered if maybe it was down to linking my apple health app/fitness pal app to the garmin? Has anyone else had this problem?
I have not had the same problem, my calories are currently at 2200 after shoveling a 8-12 inches of snow here in Wisconsin this morning. Do you have your weight and age metrics entered correctly?
Hi guys,
Does anyone know what the pace accuracy is like on the FR 235?
I’m currently using the Tom Tom Runner 2 Cardio abs the pace accuracy is laughable.
For me, pace is one of the important parts to a watch and am looking to make a change from the TT.
Depends on what you mean by “pace.”
Instant pace is virtually meaningless as it is on all GPS watches in my experience.
However, lap pace is more accurate. I have mine set to avg pace based on the current mile. At the beginning of each mile it’s a bit wonky but it settles down after about 30 seconds.
So, you set your FR to lap pace?
The TT only has pace and avg.pace…both I’ve found to be pretty useless.
Why do you think instant pace is meaningless out of interest?
Would you recommend the FR over the TT?
Cheers
I can’t comment on the TT as I’ve got no experience with it.
I do however have tons of experience with many different Garmin running watches. It my experience going back 8-9 years or so instant pace is way to jumpy to be reliable. One second it might read 7:50 per mile and the next without any change in effort it might read 9:20 or 7:10. Who knows.
Lap pace however displays the avg pace for the current lap to me is more reliable/consistent.
Yes, standard ones for me – double checked after started getting such odd readings (yesterday ended up at 8174 calories, 2000 rest, 6000 activity, on a rest day!)
Hey Ray…if cycling is my primary sport but I do occasional running/walking/hiking, would you recommend me the FR230?
If you’re going to primarily use it for cycling, then no, I’d go with something that’s a bit more cycling focused (i.e. an Edge device). But, if you’re going to primarily use it for non-wheeled activities, then it’s definitely a good option. However, if you do mostly cycling and just want a cheaper GPS running/walking watch – then I’d look at something like the FR15 or FR25.
Thank you for this review. I did pick up the watch (bought myself a Christmas present) I’ve been trying to learn the ins and outs of the apps as this is the first watch I’ve had that can use them. Can I pair bluetooth headphones and the watch to a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 at the same time? I don’t own any bluetooth headphones and don’t want to make a pricey experiment. Thank you.
Duane
Yes.
Thanks Ray. Best wishes in the New Year.
Great review. Got the Frosty Blue 235. I want to also use it for my HIIT workouts for Heart rate and calorie estimates. If I use other or Run Indoors can it be set so the GPS is not enabled or do I have to turn GPS off each time? Garmin people couldn’t answer that one.
Yes. That’s a known bug, and supposedly fixed in the newest firmware which just came out.
Change Log – Changes made from version 3.20 to 3.30:
Improved pace accuracy.
Fixed issues with pace and distance for indoor activities.
Improves step and stride length calculations.
Fixed an issue with estimated time to finish for indoor activities.
Fixed an issue where some Activity Profiles weren’t visible after a Software Update.
Includes various bug fixes and stability improvements.
Hi Ray,
I see the Garmin 235 or any other GPS watch doesn’t integrate Strava Segments in the device. In such case, If I wear the watch and use my phone (strava) while cycling. Will the data from both devices merge into one once I uploaded in Strava?
The FR235 can send data to Strava, wirelessly, after the workout is completed. Only 4 devices (+phone) today can show live Strava segments in realtime (Edge 510/520/810/1000). That’s due to a Garmin/Strava exclusivity agreement that ends on January 1st.
Still, for something like the FR235, it’ll send that data automatically to Strava upon completion of the activity, and do segment scoring there automatically. If you use your phone, then typically it’ll only allow you to save one identical ride at once (unless one is marked as private).
Thanks for the review but this watch is surely a NO BUY !
Went from a Garmin 620 to a 920XT and was now thinking I was “upgrading” to a 235 =(
My new 235 has footpad issues, software freeze, HR completely off, not to mention a screen that is inferior to all my previous Garmins…
After reading your reviews I knew the 235 had issues but not that it was that bad, lost faith.
Returned the 235 and will keep using my 920XT but won’t buy another Garmin again
Hi Ray,
So if I understand correctly. The FR235 will upload the strava segments upon completion of activity but no live. Sorry, I got confused when I read NO STRAVA SEGMENTS INTEGRATED ON DEVICE under your cycling review.
I could see how that might be confusing. I’ve just renamed to: “Strava segments live on device”
The heart rate monitor on the 235 is really bad during interval sessions. I did a session this morning and it didn’t even pickup the heart rate rise during the last two intervals. Previously, I wore a mio link paired to a 310xt and it worked perfectly – almost as good as a chest strap imo, but without the discomfort. I got the 235 so I’d only have to wear one thing on my arm before heading out for a run. I’m now considering exchanging it for a 230, and pairing it with the mio link again, or maybe buying a scosche rhythm+ – I had to wear the mio really close to the 310xt to get it to work.
Just for clarity, here’s a pick of a similar session done with the 310xt and Mio link. No problems as far as I can see.
Totally agree that it’s horrible during interval sets. But, it works well for other runs and it’s nice not having to wear a chest strap or the Mio strap for every run.
If I were concerned about accurate HR data during intervals – which I’m not as I focus on pace – I’d keep the 235 and pair it with my Mio for those sessions. That’s jus me though. I prefer the convenience of the 235 for most of my runs vs the inconvenience of having to wear a strap for all my runs using something else.
That’s a fair point Mike. I’m just a bit disappointed because I had hoped the all-in-one unit would work as well as the Mio- after all Garmin used the Mio sensor in the 225. Surely not tracking the HR accurately during these sessions leads to further discrepancies in other features such as the Recovery Advisor and the VO2 max calculation? Anyway, like I said, I’m a bit disappointed – to be fair I still reckon the 310xt is a great watch, but like you I just wanted the convenience of wearing just one thing during my runs. I’ll probably dig out my old chest strap at this rate.
Those are other features that also don’t interest me.
The reality is that I only desire a very simple watch that has distance, pace, time, HR and uploads seamlessly to my computer/strava. All of the other features such as activity tracker, VO2 max calc, recovery advisor, etc are meaningless to me.
If they ever make a stripped down watch with just those features plus a few other minor one’s I’m not recalling at the moment with optical HR and 4 data screen I’ll be all over it. I’d love it if I could get something in the form factor of the 235 stripped down to the very basics of running for $100-$125 less than the current price.
Again a fair point. However I paid €350 for this watch and its just not good enough. I’m not getting what I paid for. Had I paid less for this watch and known in advance that it wasn’t suitable for the type of training I do I wouldn’t be on here complaining.. I like all the other features on the watch and was willing to pay to get them. I wouldn’t pay full price for a watch that had numerous features that didn’t interest me. I do expect any item I buy to work properly – and the HRM on this watch just doesn’t do that. At least they’ve sorted out the pace issues somewhat. I’m hoping that a fix can be found for the HRM issue.
Minus the 4 fields you described the the 225. They’re selling on ebay for well under $200 now. The 235 works ok for me but I’m considering “downgrading” to a 225 for the same reason, I don’t need smartwatch features and wouldn’t mind saving the money.
I said I’d do a comparison and here its is. The spiky track is the FR235+optical HRM worn higher up on the inside of my wrist. The other track is a 310t with a premium soft strap. This was a session of 12 x 90 second intervals with 1 min recovery. The 235 flakes out a bit after the 6th interval when I stopped to tie my lace (wrist flexion maybe?), but other than I’m happier than I was. Maybe a bit more smoothing by the software and it would be nearly there.
I used mygpsfiles.com for the graph above. One more thing I noticed when comparing speed was that the 235 was also way more “spiky” than the 310t. Both were set to 1 sec recording, GPS+GLONASS enabled on the 235. Not sure if it means anything, but it may interest some. Again is there an issue with smoothing in the software?
I bought my wife an FR235 for Christmas (Ray thanks a lot for the great review!) – so far she really liked it – no heart rate strap, 24/7 monitoring and very light.
Today the watch totally froze – just showing the Garmin logo on the watch face. A 15s reset shuts down the watch, but after a power on it is again only Garmin on the display.
The watch has sufficient battery and is not recognized either by Garmin Express or Connect…
Any other ideas what I could do? Seems to be a complete hardware crash?!
Thanks
Erik
I am a nurse so have a pulse ox with me pretty much all the time. I have checked my HR periodically throughout the day with the 2 and resting heart rate is spot on. I am on with a hip injury so can’t run yet but I’m hoping I’m not disappointed in the accuracy of the pace. That’s a horrible flaw if that happens. I have high expextaions based on DC reviews that all will be good!
Ray, I’ve got a question that only you or Garmin can answer, and it involves what seems to be a wide variability of experience with the 235 most particularly, although it applies to them all. The issue is that there appears to be a problem with the quality of the end product. The reports people post here range from what I’d describe as tempered enthusiasm to “this watch is a DO NOT BUY!”. It seems almost as if there are two different versions out there, one that works very well and one that doesn’t, and it’s the luck of the draw as to which one you get. Since it’s just one version of the 235 being sold, though, it’s almost as if there are two different makers – one that has high quality control and one that doesn’t; either that or there’s a qc problem at the sole supplier.
This is one thing I haven’t heard discussed: how manufacturing considerations effect end products. Although Garmin may well have all of its watches come from one source, it is a common practice in manufacturing to outsource some components to subcontractors. It could well be that a single component is provided by more than one subcontractor; subcontractors sometimes are swamped and do some subbing out themselves. It could be that one of their subcontractors is producing a faulty product.
Have you ever discussed this with Garmin? If they are getting watches from more than one manufacturer, then it would be relatively easy for them to identify which supplier is delivering the problem product. If they are getting it all from one manufacturer, though, then they have to get their supplier to determine which subcontractor is messing up.
Just a thought. It’s one that makes sense to me regarding both the variability of reported GPS accuracy and the variability of optical HR accuracy people are reporting. Certainly there could be other factors, including the tolerance of the owner, but what if it was as easy as figuring out which one of the subcontractors’ quality control is lacking and fixing the problem at the source? Or if it’s not the subcontractor, then upgrading the maker’s own qc?It seems that Garmin’s current solution is to just replace the watch. I would think it would be cheaper for them to fix the problem.
Have you ever had this kind of conversation with them? Why is the variability of experience so wide and what are they doing to fix that?
Hope this was helpful.
Very interesting Bill, and it’s something I’d love to know as well. FYI, I think the pace issue has been sorted by the latest software update, so I’m guessing Garmin are just running one big field test. I just hope the HR issue can be resolved too.
A couple of random thoughts:
A) Garmin is one of the rare companies in the space that owns their own factories (in Taiwan). So they control all manufacturing within those facilities. It’s one of the core reasons they are able to do what they do in terms of hardware and speed to market (where other smaller companies struggle). You can read some tidbits about that here: link to dcrainmaker.com
B) I don’t actually think we’re seeing much/any differences in units. Sure, there might be the odd lemon here or there (totally common in manufacturing, but I suspect we’re talking under a few percent). Add to the fact that by and large, only folks having issues tend to complain – it makes things look than they really are.
C) Outside the handful of identified software bugs (noted above, and/or introduced since review) – I think the majority of issues people are seeing don’t have anything to do with faulty hardware, but just the realities of optical sensors. And more importantly, optical sensors in winter. Seriously, it’s the absolute worst time for a company to introduce such technology. Companies that introduce devices in summer will by default get an easier review process because the technology just works better when warmer. And yes, that suck, but that’s the way it is (I don’t have a budget line item for far Arctic trips each year to find snow in July). Next, there’s the reality that a certain percentage of those people having issues aren’t following instructions (wearing it on wrist bone for example), or haven’t tried other positions (inside wrist for example). Not that it’s an excuse, but just pointing out the reality there.
D) Finally, there’s the reality that the Garmin Elevate sensor package (software/hardware/whatever it may be) at this time just isn’t as good as some on the market. It’s not bad, but there are better systems as I showed.
That’s all for now.
Thanks for that. I suspect you’re right with your B, C, and D.
Regarding A, that’s cool to know they have their own factories (whether that means they own them outright or control them) but “manufacturers” often are just assembling parts that come from various sources. Just because they have their own plant doesn’t necessarily mean they make everything in the watch. It wouldn’t make sense for them to make absolutely everything in-house; someone else probably makes the straps, for instance. I have a some background manufacturing in Taiwan in the 80s, and have experience with suppliers subcontracting part of the order I placed with them. So, that part of my question still stands. The link you intended to leave may have addressed this issue, but it’s not live so I can’t tell. Thanks!
RE: Link – Sorry, had re-copied my response and lost my link. Here it is: link to dcrainmaker.com
RE: Factories – They own it end to end (built as theirs). Like you noted, very rare.
RE: Subcontractors – No doubt they have suppliers from all over the world for various parts. But it’s fairly rare for us to see specific part-defect issues with Garmin products. The last one was about 14 months ago for the Garmin FR920XT initial production run having a waterproofing defect. It’s unclear if that was a part issue, or a manufacturing issue on that run (previous prototype runs didn’t have the issue).
Ultimately though, I don’t think we’re seeing that here. Meaning, the problems people are seeing don’t appear HW to me, but rather SW related to either bugs, or just the somewhat finicky nature of certain optical sensor brands.
For completeness I have to say that both times I have done intervals with this watch its been cold and windy with driving rain – in fact nearly all my runs with this watch have been in the rain. I also wear it a bit lower than where I used to wear the Mio link, but not right down on the wrist bone. I’ll try wearing it a bit higher the next time I do intervals. I also wear it quite tight when running. Can you wear this watch too tight? I don’t mean to come across as snarky or anything – I really appreciate all the work you do on this site Ray. I suppose where I’m coming from is I just want an definite answer so I can make an informed decision as to whether or not to keep the watch, rather then having some knee jerk reaction and sending it back. It’s also worth saying that last winter I had a strap which performed badly in the cold until I bought some conductive gel. I also had problems with the Mio during a couple of races this summer where it rained so much it literally slid down my wrist and totally drop out for about 15 minutes during a marathon. So all HRMs have their issues I suppose. But if this is just a cold weather issue that’s going to effect the one set of intervals I do a week – well maybe I can live with pairing it to the Mio or even the old chest strap for that one session. After all, I used to wear it for every run until now.
Technically you can wear it too tight, but it’s pretty rare.
Ultimately, I think if you’ve tried a few different positions (inside wrist, outside wrist, other wrist), and are wearing it at least 2-3cm from the wrist bone, then you’ve probably tried all there is to try to be honest (for this specific sensor). I think it’s generally agreed that the Mio & Valencell sensors are among the best out there, and thus will perform better in edge cases.
Like you, I had some (very cold) interval runs were it worked perfectly. And yet others in certain situations where it wasn’t as perfect. Afraid that’s really the nature of the beast at this stage.
Thanks for the feedback Ray. I still have a couple of more things to try out – but I tired them all before with the Mio, so I was just using the same rational for the placing of this sensor. I started to find the Mio a bit uncomfortable as well which is why is went for the 235 – i had to wear the Mio quite tightly for it to work and right next to my watch too. Is the Scosche unit more comfortable to wear? And one final question – can I pair the HRM in the 235 to the 310xt and still allow both watches to collect data, and is there any point? I’d like to see if the software in the 235 is interpreting the data differently. Likewise can I pair the Mio to both the 310xt and the 235 at the same time? And finally, is there anyway I can collect HR data from the optical sensor on the 235 and from an ANT+ sensor at the same time? Its all just for curiosities sake at this stage.
I like the Scosche from a wearability standpoint, since it just hides under the edge of your t-shirt/jersey/etc…
It can pair to both the FR235 and FR310XT – concurrently if you’d like too. Same goes for the Mio. ANT+ is able to pair to unlimited devices at once.
To collect data from two ANT+ sensors, you’d need two watches/devices. For example, when I’m doing testing I have multiple devices to record, basically one for each ANT+ sensor. So one for the HR strap, one for an optical sensor, and so on.
Right – no comparisons to report but did a sort of tempo effort today with warm up and cool down miles and the watch tracked pace very well – much much better with the new software update. I’m also very happy with the HRM today. It was pretty much spot on – heart rate corresponds to the effort I was putting in. There’s even a spike to max HR at a point where I felt like I had to stop for a sec ( a sneaky hill). Sorry I can’t provide graphs on this computer. So I’m getting happier with it it.
Need some help with this site.
First, apologies for the double post. The first time I tried posting, it told me I couldn’t as it looked like the post had already been done. It had not, of course; I only clicked submit the one time. I waited some time, didn’t get an email showing the post although I got emails of other people’s comments. Logged out and went back into the site several times to confirm no earlier post had been made. Some 20 minutes later, I posted the question again. Still no earlier post showing. Now, I discover essentially the same post showing up twice. Confused how this happened. It’s possible I double clicked the submit button to get the response I did, but does it take longer than 20 minutes for a post to show up? I had evidence by the time stamps that it did in this case. Just wanting to know the parameters on the site.
Second, is there a way to edit posts once made? In this case, I could delete one, but other times I could fix typos, etc.
Third, is there a way to unsubscribe from a page? I have no interest in the posts I’m seeing from a page I subscribed to once before, thinking I was only subscribing to responses to my post.
Fourth, is there a way to only be notified of the responses to questions I leave and not receive all the other comments on the page?
Thank you, and Happy New Year!
I can’t help with the first question, but as to #2 unfortunately there’s no way to edit a post one made. Best to proofread thoroughly before clicking the Submit Now button. Every email notification about a new comment I receive has unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of the email. It’s always worked for me when I was done following comments on prior reviews/posts, but haven’t tried it for this one. Unfortunately I’m unaware of any way to be notified only of replies to your own comments, seems to be an all or nothing.
Thanks, George. That answers 3 of the questions, and we’ll just take it that the double post issue was an anomaly. WP can act up sometimes. (this is Word Press, isn’t it?)
Hi Bill-
RE: Doubles – No worries on the double-post. I usually clean them up at the end of the day (as much as WordPress allows me to anyway). Done for that double.
Sometimes it’s a caching issue – either on the site itself, or on your service provider. I do some caching to cut down on server load, but the entry of a comment on a post does reset the cache (with the exception of giveaways which have a longer timeout). So it’s odd it wasn’t showing – which looks like it may be upstream on your ISP instead.
RE: Editing – There’s no editing capability today, though let me poke into that a bit. Now that there’s the ability to create accounts for folks, it should be much easier for me to enable/allow that for those members.
RE: Unsubscribe – As George notes, it’s all or nothing. I’m not sure of the options there, so I’ll have to ask the dev folks on that one. It gets a bit messy, because about 20% of the time folks don’t use the ‘reply’ option, so it wouldn’t capture a reply correctly if you only subscribed to a given thread portion. The good news is it’s super-easy to unsubscribe.
Cheers!
(And thanks George for all the answers as of late!)
Thanks! Yes, even I have noticed George has been helping a lot of people out on this thread, including some that were pretty heated until he stepped in.
Hi Ray,
Happy New Year!!
Thanks so much for your review. I’m new to the training/running watch world and your reviews are SO helpful!!
Id like to ask your recommendation of which watch to buy. I have a bit of a different purpose behind my watch search and yet I’ve stumbled onto this watch – specifically the Garmin forerunner 235 – over and over.
I’m really getting into the fitness aspect of life but am also an athlete and competitive with a goal to do another race this year so
My purpose is to a.) primarily – track calories burned for running, biking and crossfit through the HR monitor b.) get clear picture of peak/ideal heart rate in workout and and make sure I’m hitting that in all my training/workouts c.) track/improve my pace for running and biking as I’m looking to do my second tri (Olympic) this year but I’m not yet hard core in that area so don’t need all the gear.
i like the 235 for the wrist HR monitor and through your review it seems it would probably be adequate for all activities and if I wanted a more accurate reading I could get a chest HR strap and sync it up.
I liked the 630 because it could track and compare my runs for improving my pace and performance but I don’t even know what all the other run metrics mean so it seems like I don’t need that level of sophistication.
Do you have any further recommendations of watches for that purpose or do you think the 235 would fulfill that?
Thanks for any help you can give!
Most gratefully,
Betsy
I have the Garmin 235. I got it for Christmas. I haven’t been able to run with it due to an injury but have used it at the gym for other workouts(eliptical, cardio machines, and weightlifting) the HRM is accurate but my calorie burn seems low. I have a low resting heart beat( 40’s). Could this be why the low estimate? Or does the watch take time to “learn” an individual and will adjust accordingly. Or maybe I don’t have as high calorie burn as I think or feel I do. I am 5’4 and weigh 112-115 lbs (if that matters) thank you!
My calorie count seems really low too.
20 miles yesterday – 1,009 calories link to connect.garmin.com
8 miles this morning – 512 calories link to connect.garmin.com
Current weight approx 137 lbs. Resting HR 40 or slightly below. What algorithm are Garmin using to calculate “calories”? Seems way off.
I believe Garmin uses the Firstbeat algorithms.
What do you have set as your maxHR in the watch settings, and how did you determine that number? My first guess is you’ve overestimated the figure and thereby the watch thinks you’re working at much less of your capacity than you really are.
My 235 is in line with the calorie figures I’ve had from my 920xt, fenix3 (returned), and 610 (retired) as I’ve maintained the same maxHR across those watches. I determined maxHR by using the maximum observed HR at the end of different max-effort sprint finishes at 5Ks and adding a few bpm to compensate for fatigue.
Thanks for the reply, George. Max HR now set at 170 bpm (determined by a recent 5K race effort). It was originally set at 178 bpm (not sure where that pulled from), so hopefully calorie estimates will be more accurate going forward. Thanks again!
I need a little bit of help if you don’t mind. I feel like my HR is consistently low during my workouts. I have only had this about a week and have been using it quite a bit. With my 220 and HR strap my HR would get all the way up to 180-190 and I felt it. This watch has not put my HR above 150 with the same workouts and feelings. Is it the max HR that I need to change? I guess I just let it figure that automatically. If so how do I change that?! Thank you so much, so far I am in love with this watch!
I got the 235 a couple weeks ago and have been pleased with most features. Definitely a big upgrade over my aging 610. However, the issues with the HRM are beginning to annoy me…
During runs, it inevitably locks onto my cadence (usually during a downhill stretch) and then stays there for the remainder of the run. This makes the watch’s HRM useless during actual running. It also seems to me that the frequency in which this “lockup” occurs has increased with the latest firmware release (3.30), but this may be a function of my route choices in the few days since 3.30 was released. My HR basically locks up on every run now… eventually reporting values of 175-180, no matter how easy my effort is. I’ve tried changing strap tightness/location, but it just doesn’t help to an acceptable degree.
Seems surprising to me that the engineers at Garmin haven’t figured out how to resolve HR from Cadence via signal processing and common sense (both signals are likely picked up at all times, with cadence becoming a stronger signal on downhill, resulting in some confusion… but why the lock persists AFTER the downhill is making this engineer scratch his head).
Other than this, the watch is fantastic. I’m a little annoyed I spent the extra $ for the HRM version, but I’m hoping Garmin can improve the cadence-lock issues over time. I’m not sure yet if I’m angry enough to return it… but Garmin is testing my resolve by marketing this feature when it clearly fails in real-world use. Email queries to Garmin remain unanswered to date. Bummer. Might eventually decide to return simply out of spite if they don’t address this problem.
-A
(currently logging about 85 miles/week on my 235 at paces between 6:00-7:45/mile)
Deconflicting signal vs BPM is unfortunately really hard. Everyone in the industry struggles with it in certain edge cases, from Apple to Garmin to Polar. It’d be easier if everyone as a human was the same, but regrettably some people can run at 190+rpm at a 130bpm effort, while others at 130bpm will be 176rpm. You can run down a hill and reduce RPM, or increase RPM (increasing is better btw, but some will resistance, causing a decrease). And so on…
I’ve had a few issues with this watch but cadence lock is not one them. Well, once or twice on a long run, but other than its not happened. I’ve never really paid attention to cadence before I got this watch, so i’ve been trying to keep my cadence high (180spm) even at easy pace with low heart rate (130-147bpm). I wonder if by trying to keep my cadence more or less constant I’ve avoided this issue. I’m getting happier with this watch as time goes on, but I’m still tempted to exchange it for a 230 and spend the savings on a Scosche armband.
Ray, thank you for awesome reviews, I have been reading your site over the last few months as I have gotten bit by the running “bug.”
One question I have for you is regarding a first-time watch buyer. Do you think there is enough that sets the 235 apart from the 225 to warrant buying it or should I look for a discounted 225 now that it’s being replaced? I am more concerned with run performance than what it could do as a day-to-day tracker although those a nice features.
Thank you in advance for any further insight you can provide!
I own both the 225 and 235 and would definitely go for the 235. The connect iq and smartphone enhancements are great but I could never wear the 225 all day every day. It was just too big. The 235 on the other hand only ever comes off when I have a bath and then I use that time to give it a charge.
Performance wise I have seen very little difference in the 225 and 235 in terms of distance on runs where I have worn both and on the heart rate measurement.
If I want to share the FR235 with my daugher, would I be able to have 2 profiles so we could each track out runs and upload them to Strava?
Jerry, be a sport and spring for a 235 for your daughter.:)
Nick’s excellent idea aside… ;)
The answer is sorta. Things to consider:
A) There’s no way to define multiple users on the Garmin devices.
B) Which doesn’t mean multiple people can’t use it, it just means that things like calorie calculations, PR’s, etc… will be sorta wonky.
C) When you sync, if done automatically via Bluetooth Smart or Garmin Express, then you might get each others runs in your accounts. You can easily just delete the non-selfie run.
D) Alternatively, if manually uploading, then it’s easier since you just pick which run you want to sync.
For example, The Girl regularly uses various devices of mine when she forgets to charge her FR620 (half the time). So doesn’t much care about the calorie/PR data, just the pace/etc data. So for her she manually uploads the file and then I just delete her file off my account. Works well enough.
I am wondering if it is worth to jump from the ambit2 to the fr230.
Hate simply hate Movescount and the support ist outstanding bad!!!
The fr620 looks nice too (because of the discount), sadly no trackback. Also no multi sport on both but i probably wont miss that.
Anyone in the same position?
Hi Jo,
I am a happy owner of both, so can comment a bit. Is it worth to jump? well, as Ray would say “it depends”. I will try to categorize the answer:
1) if You are looking for flat/asphalt running watch than I would give am edge to Garmin because:
a) it’s light weight
b) it supports advanced workouts natively (Suunto does it via quite complicated apps)
c) it’s more flexible
2) if You are looking for everyday watch/activity tracker than it’s only Garmin, because Suunto does not track steps (You know that) and it’s twice the weight, and Garmin via IQ connect is very nicely configurable with tons of options (faces, widgets)
3) if You are looking for trail running / hiking watch than it’s only Suunto, bacause it has barometric altimeter, full navigation and it’s robust (none of those are true for Garmin)
4) if You do other stuff than just running, I would also go with Suunto, because of full sensor support for cycling (not just speed/cadence), multi sport and all kind of configurable sport profiles (which Garmin misses)
hope that helps…
and a note: I did not want to replace my Ambit – I love the watch! But I wanted sthg that tracks steps, has BT and is lightweight enough to wear it all day (couldn’t do that with Suunto)
Hi
I just wanted to say thank you for such a thorough explanation of the FR230, looking over your review and web pages, it obviously takes much of your time to do – shame Garmin dont explain the intricacies of their products so well. This is my first gps watch and through a combination of playing around with it, looking at what you have written here and the garmin instruction manual, I think I have it set up as I want now. Im really pleased with it. I also do orienteering and like the alarm function that buzzes on my wrist as I cover a specific distance – I note the shortest distance I can achieve is 250m – Id like to make that shorter, Id like to be able to set the alarm at 100m (Im no good at counting steps!) – do you know if this is possible? Im ‘old school’ and work better in miles and appreciate that I can set laps at 1600 something metres to be aware of each mile I cover. Neat little features for a novice!
Hello,
I’ve been using Forerunner 235 for few weeks, and now I have some comments/questions regarding it. I’ve been basically using it exclusively for outdoor cycling, but I am planning to use it for spinning class 2-3 times per week. During and after my first ride I was very disappointed with HRM function, deeming it unusable. I was riding on a steep hill, up on my legs, my heart pounding out my chest, and Forerunner showed my HR as 40-50. On subsequent rides, I’ve tried not getting up on my legs much and not to lean on my arms much and HR results were much closer to expected. Since I go to spinning classes two times a week and we are getting up on our legs a lot, I think I’ll get very inconsistent results.
My questions are as follows:
1. What Garmin HRM chest strap do you recommend for my usage scenarios and are there any better solutions for me than Garmin ones?
2. I don’t really get how to force sync between mobile device and Forerunner. Sometimes when I turn on Bluetooth on Frerunner and open app on mobile phone, I have to wait a few seconds before syncing starts, and sometimes I have to wait minute or two. If I pull down on mobile phone screen, I see that mobile app is trying to refresh screen, but syncing bar does not appear. All that time, Bluetooth status on Forerunner is connected. Don’t get me wrong, apart from inability to force manual sync, syncing has been working perfectly. Still, I would like to know how to force it.
3. I don’t like having Bluetooth running on Forerunner during night, so I turn it off before going to sleep. I am unsure if I got the whole logic right though. If I understood correctly, Bluetooth status is system wide setting and I cannot configure it on activity level? If that is the case, I probably don’t have any other choice than to manually turn it off every evening? It would be better for me if it was activity related setting, so I could change its status by changing activity (like clock face color changes with different activities).
4. I would like to get my cadence information during spinning classes, but our spinning bikes don’t have onboard computers. I read article on this site regarding using Wahoo RPM Cadence sensor on shoe. Is it still viable option and are there any better options?
Best regards.
Mio hr sensor vs new Garmin? I use a alpha 2 and I do interval work. The mio has no problems. How does the 235 compare?
Unfortunately the 235 can’t cope well with interval… It doesn’t adjust well and has a hard time keeping track of changes. At this moment I wouldn’t advice the FR235 if you do a lot of intervalling (at least, not when you want to keep trakc of your HR)
Flip – thanks. Makes me a bit sad – The mio for intervals is outstanding, but it does nothing else, and the software is “eh” at best. I do HIIT and I need the device to keep up – the mio does. I’m hearing that none of the newest ones can.
I was eagerly awaiting the Spark – but that one is “eh”, and then this one – and it does quite a bit, but can’t do the one thing I really need it for.
Your mileage may vary of course, some people are quite happy with the FR… But yeah, I know what you mean. You might want to give the TomTom Cardio a look. It’s the Spark predecessor (no activity tracking and all though) but I feel like it’s pretty much the same as the spark in the big lines…
Have used the Cardio without issues in the past, also with intervals, and the price is going down rapidly as well now. Then again, a friend of mine also had tons of issues with the Cardio (while I didn’t with his watch) so agian… your mileage may vary ;)
But many people seem to have issues with the FR235 in combination with intervals, then again… Mainly people not happy are heard on the interwebs right? ;)
Question on smart notifications. I am currently getting notifications from my phone for calls, texts, emails and other calendar items. I would like to limit this to just calls and texts only. Is there a way to do this? When I go into the Smart notifications settings, I only see options for ‘Off’, ‘Show Calls Only’, and ‘All’.
With iOS devices (iphones) this is managed from the Notifications settings in the phone. If I remember correctly, things that are setup to provide “Banner” notifications will be conveyed to the watch, things without banner notifications won’t. It’s been a while since I changed anything though so I may be wrong.
I think the Android notifications are configured from the Android app; I don’t have an Android phone though so have no direct knowledge.
Thanks George! I already checked the settings on my iPhone and I don’t see a way within Notification settings to change which notifications (i.e. calls vs texts vs emails) are pushed to the phone. Anyone else dealt with this or have any insights?
As far as I know there’s not anything that allows differentiating what goes to the watch and what doesn’t. It’s a matter of riding on top of another setting, it may be Banners or Notification Center, I don’t remember. Should be easy enough to experiment to validate which one it is.
Looks like it’s Notification Center according to the 230/235 manual PDF on page 5 where it says “if you are using an Apple device, use the notification center settings on your smartphone to select the items to show on the device.”
Link: link to static.garmin.com
Yes, I agree this could be documented much better than it is currently.
To eliminate calendar items and E-Mail messages from the notifications, you need to go to Settings, then Notifications. From there, you’ll hopefully see two headings – Notifications View and Notification Style. Under the Notification Style heading various apps should be listed. If you select Mail, then you can turn off all mail notifications OR you can select a specific mail account to make changes to that account only.
You can’t do what you’re looking for Brent – I’ve tried.
Your watch will receive any notification that pops up in your phone’s notification center.
So the only way to get only phone calls and text messages on your watch is to change your phone’s notifications to only show phone calls and texts, which just isn’t an option for me.
It’s something that Fitbit do with their Surge watch, so in theory it should be possible for Garmin to implement, but I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting.
I’m on an Android phone and I’m not sure how different the Garmin app is between Android and iOS, but I’m able to pick and choose which notifications go to the watch from within the Garmin Connect app itself. In the side menu bar, go to “Settings” and then tap ” Smart Notifications”. Within this sub-menu, you can see all of the apps that can notify your watch and each one has an on/off toggle. There’s also a menu button at the top right that will allow you to add and remove apps that you want to send notifications. I didn’t do anything different within my phone’s settings…this was all done within the Garmin App.
Interesting – iOS doesn’t appear to have anything even close. Under Settings, there isn’t any mention of notifications at all! Best I can tell, all the notification settings have to be managed in the iOS settings – which do allow one to turn them on/off by app, similar to what is sounds like you’re seeing in the Android version of GC.
Quick question after reading all this helpful notes. If I use the FR235 with a Scosche Rhythm there shouldn’t be a problem with intervals or HR accuracy either running or cycling right?
That’ll be entirely up to the accuracy of the Scosche Rhythm.
No, but why then buying the 235, then you are better of with the 230.
I want a single watch to combine running and cycling. I thought the 235 would do it, but after reading all the reviews I’m not sure if there’s something better out there.
Not necessarily; there’s a lot to be said for the convenience of using the built in HRM in the applications where it works well for an individual, then resorting to an ANT+ capable HRM (chest strap or Scosche) for the instances where the built in HRM doesn’t do as well for a given individual.
Whether that convenience is worth the cost differential is an individual assessment. For some people that means eating mac&cheese for a month, for others that means skipping going out for dinner and drinks for ONE single night.
Also, depending on one’s training, one might not do intervals much at all. I haven’t done any with mine, I’ll need to give it a try sometime, I’m not yet in serious training for anything; that’ll be in a few weeks. When I do incorporate intervals sessions it’s typically once a week and it’s more pace-range based than HR based so I’m still unsure exactly what negative effects I’ll experience if the HRM isn’t up to snuff.
I think where the crosstalk defense of the 235 gets weak is on something as simple as a plank position in the middle of a cross-training workout. I won’t bore folks with a graph of my morning workout. Just paint a picture of being 8 minutes into the workout (sufficient warmup time as suggested by users), clean above-the-wrist contact point, strap is tight but not cutting off circulation, fair-skin, not working out in a blizzard. I’ve completed some interval punches for 60 seconds, which I guess is fooling the OHRM with cadence/crosstalk. My OHRM was tracking properly to that point, then drops from the 140’s to 100 bpm. Then its 60 seconds of pushups. Much less cadence-like motion, but to satisfy the Garmin apologists, maybe my wrist is letting in light (it’s not, but lets pretend it is). I can feel 160 bpm in my head, but OHRM still hovering +/- 100. Now it’s on to 60 seconds of plank. I am literally motionless but actively engaged for 60 seconds. Here, with no crosstalk, the 235 won’t dislodge from prior ‘crosstalks.’
Garmin’s customer service solution is to return the watch. Prior posts indicate I might ship a black watch back, and get a turquoise one in return, and still get 100 bpm on a plank following 60 seconds of pushups.
This is a running watch, and best I can tell, OHRM works as intended in my half-dozen or so runs. So my beef isn’t with the 235 as it pertains to its running-centric mission. I just won’t extend a crosstalk mulligan to Garmin when the 235 chokes on an interval where the body is static. I do think they released a beta product when it comes to issues such as sampling rate and the stuck-on-66 issue. It’s Apple Maps V1.0.
@Mark Quick question – when you’re doing a plank, is your wrist all tensed up? I’d kind of expect that would interfere with the oHRM’s ability to sense heartbeat accurately since it depends on light reflectivity changes due to variation of blood volume in the skin. That’s not so much crosstalk as a case where optical HRM is likely to struggle simply due to physics/physiology. See link to en.wikipedia.org
If the watch isn’t working for you and you’re within your return period, I’d suggest exchanging it with your retailer or just returning it and trying again in a few weeks. I’m always leary of a support swap out if I might return a device as I don’t want the serial number to not match my invoice.
Yes, Garmin does tend to have a number of issue with newly release devices. Go do some research and you’ll find this is nothing new. If you buy a newly release Garmin watch you take your chances; maybe you won’t have any real issue or maybe you will. Yep, it sucks, but thats what it is.
I’ve never heard of Garmin sending back a different color than what someone sent in; where have you read of that happening? No mention of it in comments here that I can see.
BTW there was no reason to take an insulting swipe at others with your “Garmin apologists” comment.
Thanks George. Let me work bottom to top, since I’d prefer to end with a compliment of your comments. I’m not taking swipes. I am instead allowing for dissent, and yes, maybe getting the attention of some fanboys earlier in these 235 threads. Every time I see the response of “your mileage may vary” to someone who legitimately says, “Hey, this behavior seems counter to Garmin’s quoted specs,” I regret that this questioning of performance based on legitimate observations by a user is marginalized. Just like a previous comment by a poster who mocked calorie counters for wanting the calorie burn feature to be reliable. Calories are a metric to gauge relative performance on specific workouts. I routinely try to compete with a previous calorie record on a similar workout. No different than trying to beat your last round of golf. Again, Garmin can and should be held accountable to quoted specs. There are many examples of Garmin/Apple/Adroid/VW fanboys who excuse a manufacturer’s routine failure to meet specific specs (iPhone battery performance, VW emissions) by changing the subject or mocking a fair observation. That’s fine for them, but far from an impartial assessment of the issues in play. Screen brightness is a subjective determination per user. Stuck on 66 bpm is not.
I just went for an afternoon run, and as has been consistent with my other half dozen runs, my 235 has performed excellent in that activity. So while cross training failures in the OHRM realm are disappointing to me, I am not wearing a Garmin XTrainer 235. It’s a running watch. That’s why when I reference a beta aspect of the 235’s release, I (now) confine it to core performance issues, and try to leave my disappointment about it’s broader/non-core struggles as just observations. If I’m lucky, some of those non-core capabilities will show up in future software releases.
The different color swap experience can be found on the Garmin 235 Forum.
link to forums.garmin.com
The blood volume in skin during a plank is a thoughtful observation on your part, and possibly what could be at play. Looking back at similar plank spots along similar 30 minute cross training regimens using the Rhythm+, that unit seemed less susceptible to ‘blood volume,’ though it could struggle in its own right (dumbbell curls).
@Mark,
So it seems that I’d misunderstood your intent in your apologists comment. I’m sorry for that. There certainly are individuals who seem to attach some portion of their identity to a particular brand (echos of the Mac vs Windows wars spanning decades) and excuse stupid design and other decisions by their favored manufacturer. There are also others who will dismiss dissenting arguments with an ad hominem derogatory label in lieu of form their own reasoned counter-arguments. But I digress as we are neither. :)
As to calories; personally I don’t expect “accuracy” in that I have no reasonable way to validate a claim, but I do expect consistency in calorie burn estimates for the very reasons you mention. With my 235 my results have been consistent with what I’ve had on other Garmin devices and my calorie-burn per running mile is consistent (roughly) with reasonable expectations given my size/weight/etc. Because different companies use algorithms, results can be substantially different across platforms; those comparisons aren’t really valid. (again just rattling on, I realize that’s not what you’re doing).
Thanks for the link on that Garmin Support color swap. Wow. I’d be livid. Having owned Garmin devices for five years, that’s the first I’ve heard of such a thing so my first instinct is to consider it a one-off bit of stupidity followed by a bad CS rep. Barring multiple reports of this happening I’d not be concerned… If they do start doing that as a matter of policy I won’t be buying any further Garmin devices. I wonder which support organization was involved, as the poster spelled colour in a non-US manner.
Thanks George. It’s just weird in my application that the caloric burn read is consistently inconsistent. I currently follow a DVD workout because I need to get in and out of workouts quickly these days. It’s a seven-day regimen that I repeat each week, with supplemental gym workouts and the occasional run. I’ve been on this routine pre original Vivosmart. I started data tracking in Spring 2015 with Vivosmart paired with Scosche Rhythm+. I briefly experimented with Vivosmart HR in November as a combined unit, and sent it back after eight days of “wonkyness.” The 235 is thus my third tracking system. I can’t stress enough that the only variables to these DVD workouts are household/outdoor temp (I’m in Houston, so no harsh winters) and whatever energy I bring each session. The 235 was spot on with a lower body workout last Wednesday, with all the OHRM challenges of cranked wrists and crosstalk cadence confusion (CCC). I can do the very same workout today, and the 235 locks/misreads/chokes on heart rate in places it was totally fine seven days ago. What’s the variable creating such inconsistent results? At first I wondered if it was third party watch faces, so I went back to Garmin native Digital watch face. Then I changed data recording to every second. Then I did underside of wrist. Nothing I’ve tried represents a pattern of success or failure.
Let’s be honest. Interval training failures of an OHRM fall squarely in the category of 1st-world problems. Because the 235 does running, smart notifications, screen legibility, and battery life well-enough, the ‘issues’ I have with crosstalk are really just a curiosity hobby that costs me nothing in the way of time nor money. Garmin (and technology companies in general) are in a tough spot. Be first to market with newest/best features vs. be first to market with properly-tested features. The 235 came to market with two or three core-functionality bugs that are head scratchers. During product testing, does Garmin actually hit the start button on an activity and go for a run, or do they run simulations with a 235 strapped to a gas pump hose? Maybe if I had 93 octane in my veins the OHRM would be spot on. Who knows. Bottom line: I’ve come to appreciate the 235 more than I am frustrated by it, and a look into alternatives (including today’s CES announcements) suggests that I’ve got the right device on my wrist, especially when I can always strap on a chest HRM and make that the HRM for my 235 if I need medical-grade data.
SIgning off as I sense I am becoming an apologist :).
Looks like there’s a new beta just released to address (again) the 66BPM bug some are still seeing even after the prior fix was released.
See link to www8.garmin.com
Hello, I have a FR230 and I’ve done a few runs on the treadmill with it and the distances that it has calculated have been way off! Last week I did a five mile run and it clocked me at 6 miles! I’m a run/walk/runner so I’m not sure if that has anything to do with it. Does anyone know if it’s possible to edit the distance of the runs? I’ve tried poking around on Garmin Connect but can’t find a way to change the distance. Thank you!
How many times / how far did you run outdoors with GPS on before those treadmill runs?
The watch needs at least some outdoor GPS running time in order to figure out your stride and get close to estimating indoor treadmill distances.
Also remember that treadmills are notorious for reporting inaccurate distances. Especially gym and hotel units.
I’ve done 3 runs on the treadmill as of today. It has been too cold to run outside so I haven’t yet. I am a little worried that since I won’t be running outside with the watch until spring that it won’t figure out my stride.
Do you know how I can change the reported info? I can’t find a way to edit it in Garmin Connect.
There’s an automatic calibration based on doing several outdoor GPS runs and different speeds. Until you do that the indoor running distances will be WAY off.
Does anyone know if there is or will be a protector available for the 230/235, similar to something like the Apple Watch case? My husband wears his to work and is concerned about it getting scratched or damaged. He would like something more than a screen protector, if possible. But may have to settle for that if that’s all that’s available.
Thanks!
Hi, I found screen protectors in Amazon. When I searched the first time, not many specifically for 230/235, and I think there was one brand, but a little bit expensive. I ended buying a 6-pack for a 220, only CAD$0.01 + CAD$5.99 shipping, hahaha. They cover the screen pretty well, not a great quality, but do the work to at least not be afraid to scratch the screen (I believe the screen itself is pretty durable and anti-scratch, but you “feel” better with the protector). I imagine in Amazon USA there will be more choices.
I have read almost all the comments from this post, but I haven’t found the answer for my question. I know that the battery life for 235 is still bad even with the new version; what is the difference between 235 and 230 when the optical sensor is not used?
Define “bad”… What does that mean to you and what has your experience been with your device?
Now that it’s had a handful of charge cycles, I’m finding I need to charge my 235 about twice a week, though it’s trending closer to three times per two weeks.
Although I’ve had better battery life with other devices, I’ve also had worse battery life as well. I certainly don’t find this to be a problem.
I have only forerunner 210 and 610 (both of them with button problems) and I have read in this review that the battery life is not so good “FR235 Battery Life: It’s bad. Really bad. It’s about 2-2.5 days for me, using the optical HR sensor on its usual continuous mode (24×7).”
I just want to know if there is any difference regarding battery life between 230 and 235 when the optical sensor is turned off.
Ray, much like comment #682 posted by Justin, after a month of use I find the alert tone volume on the Forerunner 235 is much lower than my previous Forerunner 220. Not talking about music here, just the built-in alert tones. Almost inaudible on a road run, the countdown tones are difficult to hear even during a relatively quiet am track workout. Never had this problem with the 220, even when covering the watch with long sleeves. Is this the new “normal” for the 235, or a bug/defect with my unit?
I run with a friend who has the 220. When we reach the mile markers his Garmin is much louder than mine. Was much louder than the 225 I had as well.
I haven’t had any issues with the volume on mine being too low. I can hear it fine while using headphones. Now if there’s heavy vehicle traffic it’s difficult but it’s no different than when I was using a 910.
I’ve been using the 235 for daily wear and a run for a few weeks now and I really like it, which is a step up from my previous vivosmart HR. However I’ve noticed that the 235 does not appear to record any floors climbed? (which is illustrated in the connect app). I thought the watch monitored elevation?
Is this correct, or is there a fault with my watch?
Thank you.
Here is an image just to be clear.
I never had a Garmin watch before my FR235. I don’t have the Floors Climbed, or the Intensity Minutes that you have on your screen. Maybe a hold over from your vivosmart?
The 235 will acquire elevation from GPS during an outdoor activity, though GPS elevation tends to have a lot of inaccuracy due to the physics of how GPS works. I don’t believe the 235 has a stairs feature in the current software however.
If I add Intensity Minutes on Garmin Connect (website) it tells me none of my devices support that. I have neither Intensity Minutes or Stairs on my Garmin Connect Mobile screen.
Yes, maybe it did carry over from the vivosmart. The intensity minutes are accurate on mine and I enjoy the extra challenge having this.
It just would be nice to see how many floors I’ve climbed each day.
I’ve written Garmin to seek their feedback and will share info if I get a reply.
I had the “stairs” field initially as well (previously I had a vivosmart). At some point the field disappeared. I don’t recall doing anything to make that happen though.
Is there anyway to turn the backlight on for night runs? Can’t figure it out. Thanks!
Assuming you’re asking how to get the light to stay on constantly here’s how to do it:
Settings
System
Backlight
Timeout
Stays On
Thank you for your really informative and objective review. This is helpful.
How do you avoid to get influenced by the industry? I assume you get the articles for free in order to test them. Do you send them all back?
As noted in the first few paragraphs, I send all products back to companies after I’m done testing. For example, this week while at CES I’m giving them a big box of recent test products (easier than me shipping them back from France).
Additionally, I don’t accept any advertising from any of the segments I review. So Garmin’t can’t advertise here for example, they’re blocked.
Does anyone know how to change the watch face. I put the watch face on my phone, synced my phone but I don’t know where to get it off my watch. It not under apps but Garmin connect says its on my watch
If you’ve downloaded the watch face:
Settings
System
Clock
Watch Face – Connect IQ
(Choose your watch face) enter then then return.
Thank you so much!! That worked
I recently received the forerunner 230 for Christmas and was unsure whether or not I should shower with it. It says that it is resesitant to 50m but I am just afraid something will go wrong.
Thanks,
Griffith
Showering is going to be fine.
The 230 and 235 are rated to 5 ATM. According to Garmin that is suitable for showering and anything except high-speed watersports and SCUBA diving. link to garmin.com
Hi,
Very tempted by the 235 – has everything I wished the 225 had when that came out…
The only thing holding me back is the issue of 24/7 HR sampling being infrequent since a recent firmware ‘upgrade’ from Garmin, rendering the feature less useful than it might otherwise be/once was.
Can anyone confirm/deny that this problem has been addressed in a subsequent software update?
Cheers,
Craig
P.S. top reviews Ray – excellent rigour!
Anyone?
come on somebody must know!
Hi Craig,
I’d say I don’t think its got any better, I don’t use that feature but even when looking at the past 4 hrs it looks as though it only activates ocassionally, most likelt when it senses movement, based on the numbers I get from that, my resting HR is way off (shows higher). I’ve just turned on my 24/7 tracker and I’ll have a look to see how it goes for you. I’ll let you know.
Hi Barney,
Thanks for that – much appreciated. I was under the impression that the 24/7 tracker had to be on for it to monitor resting hr, is that not the case?
Will be interested to hear the results of your test anyway, I’m still pretty tempted to buy one!
You do need the optical HR sensor in order to get the resting HR feature. However, it’s really best to ensure you wear the device for a full day before you start analyzing the RHR number too much, since it’s meant to be a value for a given day.
Hi,
I understand that the optical sensor is required to get RHR, I was just a bit confused about the availability of the previous 4 hours’ HR data despite 24/7 tracking being turned off as Barney said.
I take it then Ray that there has been no firmware update to undo the seemingly detrimental (to RHR accuracy) reduction in HR sampling rate? If not does the 235 still give an accurate enough picture of RHR to still be worth buying if I consider this an important measure?
Hi Craig, Having both the 225 and 235 (and plenty others :-), let me first say, I’d take a 235 over the 225 any day and not just for the additional features but for comfort, so much more comfortable. In short I 24/7 tracked for you and as much as I’m not a guru in Activity trackers I found the sampling rate fair & reasonable. Yeah sure it has plenty of flat lines where it assumes your sedentary so it just sticks with the one figure until you get up and move and yes this does introduce variables and may not detect an absolute lowest HR but overall I’d say fair, like someone else said if you want absolute, just record an activity all day and watch your battery go. I’ve attached the links to GC for you to view.. (not a good night sleep, HOT and restless legs!) Sleep tracking on dated link 13th Jan.
link to connect.garmin.com
link to connect.garmin.com
Hi Barney,
Thanks very much for the links. So HR points aren’t recorded as part of 24/7 tracking then? (they don’t seem to appear in the links unless I’m missing something)
Hi Craig, yes they are recorded but you do need to be signed into GC to see, a non signed in viewer only sees minimal info. Here’s a screen capture of the days HR starting at 12 noon yesterday, then finishing at today around 9.30am. It includes a 10km run yesterday at 5pm and sleep graph.
Hi Barney,
Ah I see that makes sense. The HR data looks reasonable I suppose, seems to give a rough guide as to where RHR settles and how it might fluctuate at different points of the day, without looking like there’s too much erroneous data?
Thanks again for the time you’ve taken to answer my questions and share your graphs, it really is appreciated. I feel I can make a more informed decision now, I think I’ll just take the plunge and buy one!
I’ve had the 235 for two weeks. I had the Apple Watch but wanted something that worked without a phone and has gps. After 2 weeks of constant wear I’ve got a pretty good sore on my wrist from the whrm. Why it sticks out so far is beyond me. Anybody else have problems with it?
I got sore the first day, but then learned to adjust the strap a bit more. Good ‘n Tight when running or something that is very bouncy. A little bit looser other times. Especially at night. Seems my wrist gets a little bigger overnight, so I need to loosen it up another notch or so, otherwise I’ll wake up needing to loosen it.
I’ve been wearing mine almost continuously (except for when charging – usually while I shower) since it arrived in the mail on 12/15 and have not any issues like this.
Same here; nearly 24×7 wear and no irritation or sores. If you’re getting a sore you may be wearing it too tight for too long and not allowing the skin to dry after showering. I loosen mine up a little before sleep, also during the day. Not enough so it flops around, but such that it does shift around a little.
I’ve had the Forerunner 230 for a week and a half now. I cannot complain about the watch at this stage. The traditional chest HR monitor and GPS is fairly accurate compared to previous models. I just have one question regarding the charging of the device. Whilst being charged, it displays a 100% charge but once the charger is disconnected, it only displays a 97% charge. Is this normal for the Forerunner 230?
Seems to be, several have reported seeing similar behavior. I don’t often look at battery % so I’ve not noticed it one way or the other on my watch.
This should answer your question: link to forums.garmin.com
Do anyone else av trouble with the music control? Nothing happens for me when I push next/prev/play/pause, even though the music was playing on mye phone. I have tried to have both the music app on my iPhone and the Garmin app open while pressing the buttons. I also did a factory reset and updated the SW, but nothing helped.
I am kind of torn on the 235. I have had mine since the first of the year and have had some issues pairing to sensors. I have successfully paired to a Wahoo TICKR heart rate strap, which works fine and takes over HR duties on the watch when paired and on, as expected. But I have not been able to pair to a Garmin cadence sensor, or my Wahoo BlueSC speed cadence sensor (dual ANT+ and Bluetooth), which is disappointing. The watch sees the sensor and pairs to it, but never displays the cadence (on the Garmin sensor), or the speed or cadence on the Wahoo sensor (actually, I don’t think the watch ever paired to the sensor). Again, disappointing for such an expensive watch.
I also don’t like how the watch times out from any of the widget screens (like the built in HR widget) back to the clock. Seems like you should be able to keep it where you want it until you purposely tell it to go elsewhere.
Finally, I have to wear it on my right wrist when skate skiing, since if I wear it on my left wrist, it is constantly pressing buttons as it works against my pole strap/glove. It probably does it on my right wrist as well, we will see. A lock feature would be nice, where you have to press the power button for a second or more to reactivate the buttons.
Last thing first – there’s a Lock Device feature on my 235 both within an Activity and at the Watch face. Does yours not have that? Press&hold the Up button to get to the menu containing the Lock Device function. It’s in the manual under “Locking and Unlocking the Device Keys”. See the online manual here: link to www8.garmin.com
Yeah, the widget timeouts are too short, I’d like to see them stay live a lot longer. Presumably that will be fixed in later firmware updates, hopefully configurable.
I haven’t tried pairing my 235 with my bike’s speed/cadence sensor yet (DuoTrap), but it did fine pairing with my SDM4 footpod and my TEMPE sensor. I get data from both without issue. I’ll have to remember to give the bike sensors a try.
Thank you George! I found the lock screen feature and will try it soon during a workout. Missed that in the manual, thanks for pointing it out!
Where do “events” pull from? I have events listed on my Garmin Connect Calendar, but on the 235, only see the current date and “No Upcoming Events” message.
That’s the calendar from your phone. Anything there?
Garmin workouts would appear under Menu > Training > Training Calendar
Thanks, George. I’ve been using the Google Calendar app lately. I’ll add an event to the iOS calendar instead.
Thanks for providing all of this info, it’s so much more than I have been able to glean directly from Garmin online or off. I purchased the Forerunner 235 as it seemed to be the best of breed among its competitors when keeping track of activity in general.
I’ve been using MapMyRun with my iPhone5 for runs and biking and I’ve liked it quite a bit. I didn’t intend to replace it with the Forerunner (along with my Polar heart monitor/chest strap) as I only was looking for a general activity tracker outside of my workouts but it would be nice to store everything in one place at some point.
The interfaces for the Forerunner and its mobile companion Mobile Connect are not very intuitive but I’m making progress in learning to use them. Perhaps you can answer a question regarding Health Stats on the Connect. Is either the Forerunner or the Connect app able to track daily weight data on a manual basis or does Health Stats only work this way with an external scale? I cannot find any documentation about Health Stats anywhere online so assuming this must be regarding tracking from optional equipment.
Does the 235 record flights of stairs climbed? I see the stat on Garmin Connect but it never seems to populate.
I don’t think so – that you see it on GC is likely an artifact of a prior device that supported that feature. (I don’t see it, but I’ve never had a vivosmart or vivoactive)
Got this reply from Garmin:
Thank-you for your Garmin product support enquiry. The Forerunner 235 doesn’t have the functionality to record steps climbed.
If you wish to read the full breakdown of the specification for the forerunner 235, please click on the link below & select the “ Specs ” tab.
link to buy.garmin.com
I see in the user guid how to set an alert ( ex:each mile) but I can’t figure out how to do it on my watch. I have the 235 and its like I’m missing a screen the instructions say. Any help here? Thanks!
Enter
If Run is not displayed press Up and scroll to it, then press Enter.
When Run is displayed, click Down
Press Enter to go into Activity Settings
Press Down until it shows Alerts
Press Enter on Add New
Press Down until you see Distance
Press Enter
Press Up or Down to set the whole Miles
Press Enter
Press Up or Down to set the fractional miles
Press Enter and it shows the check mark
Press Enter to save
You’re done. Press Back until at the clock screen
Note this is different from Auto Lap. That’s also in Activity Settings but within Laps not Alerts.
Thank you so much!! It worked!
I’m interested to know how the HRM scanner of the FR225 compares to the FR235. I know the Mio’s optical sensors are the best (own a Mio Fuse). Now I see quite some complains about the FR235 on Garmins forum so I wonder if the new sensors on the FR235 are a step down compared to the FR225.
DCRainmaker, what is your view on this? Any chance for you to test them together? I love your graphs but I’m missing this one.
I’m coming from a FitBit Surge, and I know both will be doing better than it, but now I’m in a struggle with which one I should replace the Surge with. I want to say the 235 but if the HRM is way worse than I have to rethink it over.
Cheers!
Hmmm….. Looks like the HRM is more than a bit wonky.
That’s definitely not normal. Either a faulty unit or some issue with how you’re wearing it.
Here’s a recent run (auto paused at crosswalks, hilly route).
Any word on the 235 battery?
At CES did anyone here any information? Or are any users getting that week+ battery?
The 235 would be great if I could charge once a week and run 2-3 times with constant heart and activity monitoring.
I can’t comment on anything from CES but I can give you my experience.
I find I lose about 15% battery life per day with HR monitoring and activity monitoring wearing it 24/7. Throw in a run and it’s even worse.
For me I find that if I throw it on the charger while I’m in the shower and getting dressed, it’s enough to keep it at 80% or above at all times. I haven’t tried it yet but my guess is I could go about 3 days without charging including some runs. Longer without doing any runs.
Same as Mike. On a normal week I can go about four days including 3-4 runs and everything turned on. Easy enough to toss it on the charger when I’m at my desk working on stuff. I’d be confident in going for a weekend away without bringing the charger if I topped it up the day before.
I’m okay with that as I’m more concerned with what it does in real world usage rather than whether or not it matches up to a marketing claim.
Here’s some more details about the battery life I’m seeing based on the last 24 hours.
Took off charger at about 8am yesterday with 100% battery. Worn all day long (including during sleep) and used as a general activity tracker. I do NOT have notifications turned on. I do use one of the ConnectIQ watch faces. Not sure how that impact’s battery life/draw. The only use of the GPS was a 30 min dog walk last night using the ConnectIQ Hike app.
Woke up this morning at about 5am with 85% battery life. This morning I did another 30 min dog walk with the Hike app as well as a 30 min run using the standard run mode. While in run mode I have the watch set so that the backlight is on constantly. When I placed the watch on the charger just before my shower at about 8am the battery life was at 65%.
This is pretty consistent with what I’ve experienced over the last few weeks.
On receiving my 235 I noticed that the glass face appeared not to be centred. I contacted Garmin and was asked to email a picture. Garmin agreed that there was a manufacture problem and offered me a replacement. However, I have to pay to have the watch shipped to Garmin. Meaning that a watch that should not have been sold is costing me more than a quality checked watch. I have also been informed that the replacement might be a refurbished watch. All in all I am not quite so happy with my 235.
Do you think I have the same issue? Same colour watch too.
I’ve got the Grey and Black and mine is definitely of center, fortunately the more subtle color disguises it so I’m able to put up with it. (My wife’s frost blue version is good though) I know I shouldn’t, but I’ve had to succumb to putting up with sub standard produced rubbish supplied in Australia as what was once called “Customer Service” seemed to go out of fashion in the 90’s and now every-one just likes to ‘pass the buck’.
It does look like it but I think the best thing to do would be to contact Garmin and your picture. I guess if there is enough evidence that something is not right Garmin might help out.
OH NO!!! I would NOT go for that. Talk to someone else. There is no way I would exchange a brand new watch that they sent me that was broken and be ok with a refurbished one. No way. I can’t even believe they are saying that. And you should not have to pay for shipping. That is horrible customer service and I am shocked they would offer that.
I purchased the watch from a Garmin Authorised seller in Italy and it is difficult to send it back. Under UK trading standards Garmin does not have to cover postage as they are the manufacture not the seller. I have argued with Garmin that this is a manufacture issue and not a repair. But they are still saying I have to cover post cost. Had I purchased the watch direct from Garmin then I guess they would have had to cover postage.
I am disappointed that Garmin could have let the watch be sold or that there is such bad quality checking going on that right now I do not feel inclined to purchase anymore Garmin products.
At the end of the day Garmin have said yes it is our fault and yes you are going to take the financial hit, and we might just send you a refurbished watch not a new watch, even through in the end it was our mistake to release a badly manufactured watch for sale.
This really is not great customer service.
Yeah, I’d call back and push back. While it’s true that typically Garmin doesn’t cover shipping to them (but do cover shipping back), it’s also true that in exception cases they’ll take care of folks (usually more so in the US than elsewhere though).
Given this seems reasonably exceptional, I’d give it a another whirl.
Garmin UK were adamant and would not accept my argument and as sending it back to Italy was not a great option I am stuck with Garmin. It might be worth pointing out that Garmin was very quick to offer a replacement. Just wish they were as quick to see me paying for postage was not the right thing to do, given that the placement of the glass was not my fault.
Garmin sent a replacement watch, and it was a new watch not refurbished. However, even through all the labelling and notes that came with the watch said Black/Red, I was sent a Black/Grey.
Hi Ray,
I’ve had the forerunner 10 for a few years now and am looking to “upgrade” so to speak. I’m almost entirely a runner (do the odd bit of cycling, but nothing excessive).
I was wondering what the major differences are between the 225 and 235 are? I’m trying to decide if it’s worth spending almost twice as much on the newer 235 or not.
Many thanks, your posts are excellent.
Ps. Looking at the 225 and 235 due to their integrated heart rate monitors, if Suunto, Polar, etc. do similar models then I’d certainly consider them too
Ray,
What a fantastic review, highly informative and some of the detail you go into is fantastic. I have had the 235 for two weeks now, and I must say it has worked perfectly straight out the box, even in the ever changeable conditions of a scottish winter. Heart Rate Monitor has been perfect, and the data the watch offers is first class.
However the huge let down for me is the display. It’s so dull, that I struggle to see it in daylight and thats coming from a fit healthy 29 year old with perfect eye sight. I cant believe a nearly £300 watch has such a poor display and such a poor backlight, and sadly for that reason its going back.
George, thanks for your comments and feedback on peoples comments too, they were very helpful in making my decision.
Does anyone have any experience in how the fenix 3 display compares to the 235? No shops here in Scotland stock them to go and see first hand sadly.
Regards
Chris
First, thanks for another great review. I bought the 230 and have used it twice. I like a lot of things about it, especially the wrist-turn feature for the backlight.
But about that backlight…it’s nearly a dealbreaker. It’s dimmer than the 220’s backlight, and that’s a problem for a lot of us who do a lot of running at night and don’t see as well without a light source (for example, those of us who have permanent lenses).
Anyway, I was just in a running store, and one of the salespeople insisted that there was a way to increase or decrease brightness by going into settings through the firmware (or through your computer). I’ve seen no mention of this online, but he insisted that if I brought my watch in, he’d be able to do it in a half hour. I’m reluctant to do this (especially since I bought my watch at Clever Training, not at this store), and in all honesty, I don’t believe him since I see no mention of this anywhere on the net.
Does anybody know anything about this? I know that backlight brightness was adjustable on some older models.
Dear Ray, thanks for the smashing reviews as usual!
Ray/dear readers,
I’ve tried to find my answer on the web as well as in the above posts, but without any luck or being blind….
The watch data fields of the FR230 do obviously include “Elevation”.
Could someone please let me know whether (accumulated) “Ascent” and/or “Descent” of an activity is also available to be displayed on the watch itself (not later in Garmin Connect). Would consider this as very useful for biking.
Thanks
No. Only elevation is available as native data. But there could be field added via IQ connect.
Hi, I have found a great app that also has Total Ascent data field as well as maps. I use it for all my trail runs. Download dwMap from Garmin IQ ( link to dynamic.watch ) and it will do the trick. (No, I am not the developer)
Thank you for the review. Can you please test the 235 hrm after the 3.30 update. I am looking to get within the next few days, and I would like to know if they fix it for cycling and running intervals.
From both my and my wifes 235’s our experience to date with 3.30, there’s not been much improvement with HR recording since the initial release for H.I.T. based work. Once us Guinea Pigs have done all their beta testing it may get there, if only the firmware update would center the glass fascia as well :-).
Is there anyway to distinguish a refurbished garmin 235 from a brand new one.?
I would think that Garmin would need say if a 235 is refurbished when sent back.
The issue I think is that Garmin will see both refurbished and new as both new. In my case I returned a 235 because Garmin asked me to. But as I had used the watch for a week, is it now “new”, and should I expect Garmin to send me back a new watch, when I did not send them a new watch.
My problem is of course with Garmin who cannot sell a refurbished watch as new and therefore cannot sell it for full price, so if I receive a refurbished watch I am getting a watch that would cost less then the original watch that I bought.
Then again, if I was to resell my original watch I could not sell it as new.
The clearest indication that Garmin will send me a refurbished replacement is that they only wanted me to send the watch, not the box, cable, or manual.
Pretty much any Garmin product you receive back from support will be a refurb. On the flip side, they are basically like brand new products – they go back to the factory and get completely re-done with a new outer case, etc…
Details here: link to dcrainmaker.com
Thanks Ray, one thing that I cannot quite understand is why Garmin UK have said I will need to wait between 10 to 14 working days before a replacement watch is sent back. Garmin asked me to send the watch back for a replacement but since Monday there has been no up date on the RMA status.
Hmm, that’s odd. Typically there’s two ways RMA’s can be handled:
A) You send yours in, and then wait for them to receive it, and then they send you the replacement unit (not yours)
B) You provide a credit card to support, which in turn will immediately ship you a replacement. Once they receive yours, they’ll ‘unlock’ those funds being held for the extra unit out there.
I don’t know if it works the same in the UK however. I also don’t know why they’d say 10-14 days, that’s kinda crazy. My only thought is if they’ve somehow run out of support stock.
It does appear that the 10/14 days is standard in the UK for Garmin, (reading what other have said). I would have thought that option B would have made more sense. But the delay could also be due to the size of the organisation in the UK, I cannot see it being a large operation.
Is there a way to enable the battery status/% to appear in the Notification Center on my phone (iOS 9)? My Jaybirds, etc. show up but no Garmin, despite it being connected.
I don’t believe that’s supported.
Thanks for the reviews!
I currently use a 310xt. Is it worth the jump to the 230?
I run with the occasional bike ride. Mostly trails. How does the speed of acquiring satellites compare? And how does accuracy compare?
Hi Kevin,
these two are completely different watches, so answer to Your question is standard: it depends:
– if You care for: everyday watch, activity tracking, color screen, IQ connect support and size, size, size… then go for 230
– but if You care for battery life, multisport support, much wider variety of data fields available natively, visibility/readability at night, advanced workouts editable in the watch, power meter support fof cycling and navigation, navigation, navigation… then keep Your 310.
The way I see it (~1month), the accuracy is equal (and GLONASS does not add anything for me so I keep it off and save battery). FR230 acquires satellites much faster for 90% of time, but once per week it gives me a hard time and it takes same as it was with 310: ~1-2′.
Thanks Adam.
I knew it was somewhat comparing apples to oranges so was hoping somebody had used both to could offer some insight, which you did.
I’m glad you mentioned GLONASS. Had been wondering how much of a difference that made (especially in relation to the extra battery it consumes).
Both seem to be viable options for me…no clear cut winner just yet.
Hi Ray,
Great review, between FR 230 and 235 what would be an ideal choice for a long distance marathon runner, also for HR chest strap what would you recommend? thanks.
But for the built in HR they are essentially the same watch. The 230 will have better battery life due to not having the built in HR function. But, that shouldn’t be an issue either way over a marathon.
[Dumb] question of the day:
On the Bluetooth Controls screen (see image), I understand the bottom left icon (phone) is supposed to activate the “find my phone feature”. Which button do I press to activate the feature? If I press the down arrow it takes me back to the time of day screen. If I press the up arrow it takes me to the weather widget screen.
On the same screen, the two-arrow icon is supposed to activate a sync with the Garmin Connect mobile app. If I press the bottom right button that corresponds with the icon, I’m just taken back to the time of day screen.
What am I missing? Thanks in advance!
Press Enter to display the Controls menu, then press Down two times to display Find My Phone, then press Enter to activate.
Got it! Thanks, George.
I’ve had a hard time finding this for sale? When will the mass availability be?
Several colors/versions showing in-stock today at Clever Training and at REI.com
Yup, it’s been pretty easily and widely available for about 30-45 days now. Most specialty running shops also have them.
I am not a runner anymore but am trying to get healthy and have an accurate hr and activity tracking mechanism to achieve goals. I walk, bike, lift and swim but due to gallbladder surgery and bulging discs can no longer push the envelope. I like the Garmin 225 and 235 and feel like while Fitbit is ok they are cookie cutter trying to appeal to the masses. I saw the vivosmart hr too but want something I can grow with. Any suggestions?
January 12, 2016
I am not a runner anymore but am trying to get healthy and have an accurate hr and activity tracking mechanism to achieve goals. I walk, bike, lift and swim but due to gallbladder surgery and bulging discs can no longer push the envelope. I like the Garmin 225 and 235 and feel like while Fitbit is ok they are cookie cutter trying to appeal to the masses. I saw the vivosmart hr too but want something I can grow with. Any suggestions?
I was recently introduced to this site and have enjoyed reading all of the wonderful reviews. I was thinking of buying the Garmin 235, but am a little confused. I have owned various Garmin watches for running, and am currently using a FR205. I’ve had nicer ones, but never used all of the technology. I use a Vivofit 2 on a daily basis to mainly count my steps and to also use as a watch. While the sleep information would be great in theory, I wore it during three sleep studies and it couldn’t have been more inaccurate. I spend a lot of time on the elliptical at the gym along with lifting weights or taking classes. I also play a fair amount of soccer. Technically, I should not wear the Vivofit 2 while playing soccer, but I usually get away with it in the adult league. When I run, I use my 205 when it has been charged or not left at home. Unfortunately, those two scenarios occur often. I want an every day watch that has a battery life that will allow me to work and then go for a long run or go to the gym. I also want one that will not overpower my small wrist or one that will still have battery left by the time my turtle self finishes a marathon. I really like one that has the optical heart rate sensor, counts steps, works inside at the gym, has GPS, and works with interval training. Is it still the 235 that I should be considering? My other question is can I still use my Vivofit 2 for soccer and make an adjustment through Connect? Thanks so much in advance!
I have been using the 235 for about three weeks now. I have absolutely no issues with it. I do have a question about battery life between charges though. I have all of the activity tracking, sleep tracking, and daily heart rate tracking turned off. I only use the watch to run, and do have all of the metrics turned on when I run, and turn the watch off after my runs once I download data. I am averaging around 5 hours of use between charges…..is this in the range of what other users are seeing? thanks tom
I don’t have any problem with the 235 battery life. I wear mine all day and night, have constant HR on, and use it to track steps and typically train at least an hour a day where I have many data fields active. At the end of the day when I recharge, I am usually sitting at 85% – 87% battery remaining. I feel that is really good. I would contact Garmin support and see if they have any ideas.