Garmin Forerunner 935 quick hits mini review

As always, if you want a real review, read DC Rainmaker's review. This is a quick wrapup of my general impressions of the device and whether its worth the upgrade for the average runner from my last watch, the Forerunner 235.

My view is that if you have a lot of Garmin love - you are the kind of person who doesn't run without it, wears it when not running for things like step counting and 24/hr heart monitoring, the answer is a yes.  I'll run through the biggest pluses:

1) Improved battery life over the Forerunner 235. I have had it set to GPS and Glonass, Bluetooth and 24 hour hr on, alerts for calls and calendars on. I have run 6.5 hours over the last four days. And the battery is at 57%.  I'd estimate 10% drawdown is for the background functions, 47% for running, which means about 5% per hour for running. Garmin says 24 hours on GPS - that may be right if Bluetooth and HR is off. For the full kahuna of settings, I'd feel comfortable that it would have plenty of juice left after a 50 miler or a 12 hour run. And going away for a week of travel no longer means stressing out about whether I pack the cable - it should be good for an hour of running a day for seven days plus background draw and still have 50% left.

2) Better display. I find it to have improved contrast and outdoors readability in bright sunlight.

3) More accurate Elevate wrist HR measurement. This is completely subjective, but I see less unexpected spikes or cadence lock where the module gets stuck measuring your footfall cadence instead of your heart rate. It also seems to be giving more accurate readings when I do things like get up from my desk and run up the stairs - getting to the peak and returning to rest faster than the 235. 

4) A more comfortable strap. I don't have to tighten and loosen it depending before and after each run. It measures HR well with a more lax tension; I think it is a little more rubberized and grips to your wrist better.

5) Barometer. I always felt like I was getting ripped off from the estimated elevation gains on Garmin and Strava. Hopefully this is more accurate.

6) Better looking. Small changes include the metal buttons and the improved case and bezel. It just looks more quality than the 235.

7) Additional running metrics, including readings on aerobic and anaerobic training effect. I find it helpful to see these post run. I'm looking forward to getting training status reads after I've been using it for a month as well.

8) Ability to set alarms using Garmin Connect mobile rather than only on the watch. I often realize after turning off the lights that I haven't set my watch alarm for an early race wake-up. It's nice to set it on the phone - a lot easier than fumbling through several layers of menus on the watch to do so.

9) A nice solid feel on the wrist. The weight is heavier than the 235, but not that noticeable. It is a lot lighter than the Fenix line which just was too uncomfortable for me. Given that it has the most desirable of the Fenix 5/5S functions, the size and weight is a real plus here.

10) Improved activity move bar response. Again, a subjective take, but it seems like the move bar is more consistently cleared with exercise. Sometimes the 235 would take forever to do so.

There you have it. Sorry to push you over the edge if you were wobbling, but I don't think if you are reading this you'll end up regretting it.

Vivosmart HR final wrapup - and some common issues with the Forerunner 235

I've retired my Vivosmart HR (VHR) after several months.  Mostly, its because the Garmin 235 was released, allowing me to measure my resting heart rate (RHR), sleep AND GPS runs on the same device plus having the benefit of Garmin Connect IQ apps.  I would still strongly recommend it as a tracker, with some caveats/misgivings.

• RHR is a little fiddly.  A lot of times it is up to 5 beats on the high side bc it isn't kicking on at the lowest hr part of the day - the hour before wakeup for me.  I would hope Garmin will be fiddling with the algorithm to fix this. Otherwise, its pretty darn close to what I measure with my finger and a second hand.

• Sometimes RHR freaks out, looking like a seismograph when I'm sitting at my desk during the day.  This is a temporary issue that doesn't seem to be resolved by restarts, reconnects, etc.  It's happened two or three times over the last several months with both the VHR and 235, so I suspect it is an issue with the Elevate module. (Note: Garmin just updated the firmware for the 235 which "addressed issue which can cause wrist heart rate to remain on a fixed value."  Not sure whether they've done it for the VHR, but they clearly know it exists, and that its a sensor issue.)

• Intensity Minutes are useless.  A crapshoot as to whether you will be counted or not.  Arm movement seems to help, but doesn't guarantee a brisk walk will be counted.  Bike riding was more missing than hit.

• Steps are also pretty useless.  A wide variation in what's measured - a staircase "up" can show 2 floors, the same one down shows "3".

• Often, there will be a spike at the beginning of the workout that resolves on its own, or if you adjust the placement on your wrist.  Tightening one notch past "normal" comfortable tension definitely improves activity HR monitoring during activities.

The HR issues are pretty similar to what I'm seeing with the Garmin 235. Although they can be annoying, it still works more than good enough for me both in terms of RHR and exercise HR.  And I'm convinced Garmin will work out the kinks if you have some patience - its their MO with other firmwares/devices.

Some non-HR issues:

• I hate the touchscreen.  It activates the backlight at inopportune times.  It messes with HR broadcasting.  There should be a way to by-pass by allowing navigation with the side button.

• I found the quality of the backlight to be second rate.  The lighting was not uniform - it is a minor criticism, but is exactly the kind of build issue that annoyed me on the Vivosmart original (collected a lot of dirt) and the Vivosmart original (dead LEDs).  I guess Garmin views the sub $200 device line as semi-disposable... I don't think most people think like me -- that a device is only good for one product cycle.  If they want to build this brand to be stronger, they need to address hardware issues on fitness bands in the way they have upped their game on mobile software.

Ray Maker covers some of these issues as well in his in-depth VHR review: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/01/garmin-vivosmarthr-review.html

Garmin 920XT - odds and ends feedback

1. Still loving the device.  A worthy upgrade from the 620.

2. The GPS locks on very fast, and I haven't lost a signal yet.

3. Connect ID is a good idea.  I hope they can get enough people writing apps and widgets for the platform.  Garmin should spend money subsidizing app writers to make sure the ecosystem doesn't die on the vine.

4. The Bluetooth implementation is great.  It connects on its own with my Nexus 5 without having to fiddle with on/off or pair.  Woo hoo!

5. The display is very readable while running on trails.

6. The battery life seems good.  It looks like approximately 13 hours with HRM and Bluetooth, Smart Recording on (not every second).  

-55% after about 5 hours of running time, with Bluetooth on the whole time, with widgets, and with a paired HRM.  
-43% after 7.25 hours of running time, with BT, widgets, paired HRM.
-36% after 9 hours...
-13% after 11.5 hours.  I threw in the towel and put it on the charger at that point. 

Update: I think it should be pretty solid for 14 hours with HRM and BT on.