Garmin Forerunner 35 Product Review
One of the newest technologies in the running world are GPS-tracking smart watches. Gone are the days of simple timing and running routes you mark out on the odometer in your car. These new watches have the ability to calculate time, distance, pace, heart rate, and so much more!
Price, Purchase Options & Alternatives
The forerunner 35 sells for $169.99 on the Garmin Website. This likely is the best option to buy through as Garmin guarantees a working watch. There is additionally a 90-day warranty should the watch have any malfunctions that are then fixed for free.
Other various sources online that one can find this watch MAY include: Fleet Feet Sports, Olympia Sports, Rei, PcMag, Walmart & Best Buy.
There are several other alternatives to this watch however, most of which are more high-tech than the forerunner 35. Beyond the multiple versions of watches Garmin has created, here is a small list of other watch companies that have come out with a GPS watch: Polar, Amazfit, FitBit, Apple Watch, TomTom & Suunto. Before purchasing your watch, take a look at a few of these other brands to ensure you are getting all the features you want in the watch.
Features of the Watch:
- Time/Date (w/ automatic daylight saving time)
- Alarm clock
- Stopwatch
- Wrist heart rate monitor
- Multi-Activity tracking: Running indoor & outdoor, biking, cardio & walking
- Smart notifications
- Weather
- Find My Phone
- Smartphone compatibility
- Step counter
- Sleep monitor
- Calories burned
- Distance traveled
- Intensity minutes
- Auto Lap/Manual Lap
- V02 Max
- Cadence
- Battery Life: Smart watch mode- Up to 9 days, GPS mode: Up to 13 hours (charging accessory comes with watch)
Major Pros of the Watch:
- One of the least expensive GPS watch on the market
- Light-weight compared to other watches
- Durable
- Has most functions that all other GPS watches have
- Bright watch display
- Smart notifications
Cons of the Watch:
- Though its the cheapest, it’s still not cheap!
- Lower battery life than most watches
- Cannot download music to the watch (but you can control the music from your phone on the watch!)
- Can’t look at the time during any GPS mode activity
- Has trouble connecting to satellites at times
Recommendation & User experience
I have had this watch for nearly 2 years and have had little to no problems. It is one of the most basic GPS watches you can get and a really good introduction to the smartwatch world- without breaking the budget. The watch is slim and unlike most of the other GPS watches which tend to be a bit bulky.
I have been able to track all of my runs and sync them to my various fitness apps (Garmin Connect, Strava, MyFitnessPal, Training Peaks, etc.) to see my activities for the week on one screen. The service to connect to these apps is free unless the app itself has a membership involved.
For example, Strava is a free website that you can connect to your Garmin Connect so that your runs automatically upload to Strava and can see your full week of running, compare runs, see heart rate throughout the run, etc. There is also a Strava Premium that allows you to do more on the website but this does not have anything to do with syncing the runs from your Garmin to Strava.
Above is a photo of a sample run on Strava in which it shows distance, pace, time, a loop, heart rate (if you click on the post), and a picture if you choose to upload one. You also have the ability to like and comment on other’s posts and comment, much like Instagram.
There are absolutely no other fees with this Garmin watch other than just buying it in the first place which is quite nice as you don’t find yourself spending more money than you intended. Other free features of the watch that I have also enjoyed include: the ability to track my sleep, heart rate and most frequent running routes to determine whether my runs have progressed in a faster way.
The only thing I have consistently struggled with is getting the GPS to track quickly. Be prepared to start the satellite calculation 5–10 minutes before you actually start running or you’ll be sitting around with your arm up to the sky trying to get something to work. I have found that many of the other watches find satellites much faster, however, so take this into consideration when you purchase your watch.
