GPS watch for my dad?

And in particular, there are some lower-end Garmins like the 25 and 35, and some slightly higher-end models like the 235. Again, don't care much about extra features, but do the 25/35 perform as well as the 235?

I recently upgraded from the Garmin Forerunner 15 to the 235 and I'm extremely happy with the new watch. I don't know exactly how accurate the heart rate monitor function is but I enjoy getting a sense of my relative workload at various paces, my VO2Max, my recovery based on resting heart rate, etc. For me, though, the major pluses are auto-synching to my phone instead of having to manually connect to my laptop to upload; and much improved connectivity to start my runs. I'm not in a densely urban area but I still used to have trouble with the 15 getting connected to start a run--sometimes walking for up to five or ten minutes or starting without GPS out of frustration. The 235 connects almost immediately. Great watch but a little spendy. I paid $250 but I think there are deals around at sometimes 10-15% lower than that.

I had a Garmin Fenix for the last couple of years that I got tired of. I wanted to replace it with something cheap, simple, useable. I bought the FR35 and have been happy with it. Grabs signal quickly, HR without strap, does the basics without fuss, long battery life. Can't comment on signal tracking around tall buildings in urban core areas, although I've never had a GPS that did well in those spaces. The upper-end Garmins are overstuffed with junk I don't want or need, the Apple watch is useless for running. Entry level Garmin seems just about right to me at this time.

Does he care about setting up intervals or pre-planned workouts or anything like that? Or just hit start and run, hit stop at the end, then automatically upload when he's done and near his phone? If the latter, pretty much any remotely modern garmin is what you want

dcrainmaker.com has the best gps watch reviews in the business if you want to do a lot of research yourself.

;asdkfj wrote:

Does he care about setting up intervals or pre-planned workouts or anything like that? Or just hit start and run, hit stop at the end, then automatically upload when he's done and near his phone? If the latter, pretty much any remotely modern garmin is what you want

dcrainmaker.com has the best gps watch reviews in the business if you want to do a lot of research yourself.

Just hit start and run, I'd say.

Yeah, I kind of think the 35 would be ideal. Don't see much need for the 235, but I just want to make sure the 235 isn't any better at picking up or holding signal first.

And dcrainmaker is great! I've been looking at his reviews already--glad to have someone else validate their helpfulness.