Garmin - Forerunner 35 GPS Watch - Limelight

A number of useful features, most work well, some don’t. I primarily bought it for the heart rate without the need of a chest strap however that feature just doesn’t work very well, it is consistently 10 to 15 BPM slow as compared with my Garmin Forrunner 25 with a Garmin chest strap, and a full cuff BPM when running on a treadmill. The second problem I found is that it is very fragile. Within two weeks of purchasing it I took a fall while trail running (Roots) and the band snapped and the watch went flying, when I retrieved it I found that in addition to the broken strap the screen was cracked. The next day the GPS now took forever to come on line, what used to be instant now took several minutes minutes to link up. It is also no longer as accurate, my standard 5 mile run now shows up as a 4.4 mile run. I liked the Forunner 35 well enough but the fall I took seems to have damaged it too much to rely on anymore so i’m Back to my older Forunner 25, I don’t believe I will replace the 35, its too easy to break it, I only got about 2 weeks out of it.

I love being able to view my run in map form, so that feature is really cool! One suggestion though: In addition to using my Garmin Forerunner 35 to track my running, walking & other cardio exercise, I use it on days when I'm working outside (such as to rake & box leaves, and cart them to the woods, or to shovel snow). It would be great if in addition to having the walking categories of "casual walking" and "speed walking", you had something like "work walking". Because I'm usually doing these jobs for 2-4 hours per day, I wear my Garmin watch and count them as my exercise for the day (which usually adds up to around 1-3 miles of walking). You just need a better way to categorize them . . .

I just bought this recently and have only used it a few times so far but it works very well. My main purpose is the heart monitor (without needing a chest strap) but is has some other really cool features. The set up was a little complicated and I had to reload the app several times before I was able to get everything synced up but now it works great. Exactly what I wanted!

I received the Garmin Forerunner 35 from my son for Christmas and even though this review is only covering a few days, I love it so far. I wanted it mainly for the heart monitor for when I work out, since this past year I found out that I was born with a defective heart valve and had a defibrillator implanted. I know it is not a medical devise, but it helps to monitor things, right? I have found out that the other items (steps, calories burned, notifications and of course the watch) seem work great too. I would recommend this watch to others.

I bought the Forerunner 35 expecting a steep learning curve since this was my first fitness watch but I was pleasently surprised to find the navigation and set up a breeze. If you’ve never owned anything like this, I feel this would be a great starting point to get a clear understanding of your fitness and fitness goals without all the extra stuff that may intimidate you and keep you from getting fit