The newest Forerunners all end in 35 - 235, 735, 935. But there is no 635. Is any of these considered the next in the line of evolution from the 620? I do not care about multi-sport function or "fitness" tracking. But guessing the 235 would be lacking some functions compared to the 620.
The Forerunner 630 was the successor to the 620. I think it is discontinued now. The 735 is probably the closest feature wise.
The 735xt is more of a tri watch than a running watch and is over a year old. There's got to be something coming down the pipeline soon.
735 is a great watch! I done use the swim function.
Best reviews of these types of things come from dcrainmaker. The Garmin 630 specifically - https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/12/garmin-forerunner-630-depth-review.html
What's the best garmin watch for basic GPS features, ability to current pace or avg split pace, and easy manual laps for interval workouts? Cheaper the better. I'm afraid of getting the entry level watch and having issues with the lap function. I have a tomtom and literally cannot take manual laps/splits because it's a piece of garbage.
I have the 620. It is my first Garmin GPS watch and I really don't like it. Mostly, the touch screen is harder to use than buttons. I would recommend that whatever you choose, avoid the touch screen. The reviews said the screen scratched easily so I bought a glass protector, but then the touch screen became very difficult to use so I had to remove it.
The screen is a little hard to see it full daylight. The history shows nine data points for each lap with five to the screen, so the font is really tiny. Of course, if you upload it, you get a lot of charts.
I don't know what is the next model up, but my friend who is a lot more Garmin knowledgeable than me suggested I avoid the 600 series and go to one of the other series.
230 IMO is the best Garmin for GPS without all the unnecessary functions of some of the more expensive watches.
Karl Hungus wrote:
The 735xt is more of a tri watch than a running watch and is over a year old. There's got to be something coming down the pipeline soon.
It's still more like a running watch. All the function of the 630 plus the wrist heart rate monitor. Plus it's lighter as well. I've never used the swim function but use the run and bike often.
The 935 released this year is a cross between the fenix 5 and 735...
I like the 235. Maybe look at the Garmin FR 10 or 15?
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/08/garmin-forerunner-watch.html
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/06/garmin-forerunner-15-depth-review.html
I like the FR235. The screens are customizable, so it can show whatever you want. You can also set it to auto-scroll, thru multiple screens so you can see additional data w/o having the digits too small on any one screen.For intervals, you can create workouts on your PC and download it to the watch. I only started using that function the other day and haven't yet worked out how I want the watch to perform. OTOH, on the track one can just run each repeat as an individual workout too. I'm sure the other models have the same features.
heyyo wrote:
What's the best garmin watch for basic GPS features, ability to current pace or avg split pace, and easy manual laps for interval workouts? Cheaper the better. I'm afraid of getting the entry level watch and having issues with the lap function. I have a tomtom and literally cannot take manual laps/splits because it's a piece of garbage.
I have the 935 and love it!!!! It's the newest Garmin and has all the features for running AND triathlon training! Does indoor pool, open water, running, biking, indoor biking, etc. Links to Strava and Garmin Connect like most of the others. Love it!!!
Is there anything the 630 has that the 235 does not?
orphan wrote:
Is there anything the 630 has that the 235 does not?
"Advanced Running Dynamics," ie, a lot of junk about your ground contact time, vertical oscillation, left/right balance.
Touch screen (finicky, and not really good during activity, but good for setup)
Wifi (actually pretty nice, in that it uploads way, way faster than via bluetooth).
4 fields of data per screen and no limit on the number of screens. (Also more useful than you might think).
Anyway, the 630 is almost 2 years old, and is still pretty expensive. I wouldn't buy it.
heyyo wrote:What's the best garmin watch for basic GPS features, ability to current pace or avg split pace, and easy manual laps for interval workouts? Cheaper the better. I'm afraid of getting the entry level watch and having issues with the lap function. I have a tomtom and literally cannot take manual laps/splits because it's a piece of garbage.
I had the same experience with the TomTom watch. The manual lap function was pretty much defective. Fortunately, all the Garmins do manual lap just fine. If cheap is all that matters, then the Forerunner 15 will do, but at that level, I would get a Polar M400. It's a vastly superior watch, and you can get it for just over $100. The only issue with the M400s is that some of them have had issues with corrosion in the micro usb charging port. Just make sure you wear it in the shower after you run (it's the salt, not the water, that causes the problem), and it'll be fine.
The newest garmin running watch (triathlon watch) is the 935. Garmin typically releases a new forerunner every 2 years. This October/November should be a new release. Right now, you can get a Garmin 230 on ebay manufactured refurbished (will come in like new condition) for around $120-130. I would go that route.
As someone else pointed out the 620 has a lot of fancy bells and whistles like "ground contact time" that I really don't use. If you really want to get into the weeds on GPS accuracy Fellrnr (http://fellrnr.com/wiki/GPS_Accuracy) did some pretty deep test that showed the 220 was more accurate than the 620 which is odd because they were in theory the same generation.
At this point I'd wait for the next generation of Garmin watches to roll out. I'd go for the 235 but the cadence/HR lock are a show stopper for me, I'm assuming the next generation will have that sorted out.