Customer Ratings & Reviews

I purchased the Garmin Forerunner 235 to track my running workouts. While no item is perfect, I have been very happy with this one. Previously, I was using an iPhone app and carrying my phone when running. That served its purpose for a while, but this has been a huge improvement. The watch is very comfortable and doesn't bother my wrist at all, not even on long runs. The watch band has a lot of holes, which makes it really easy to get a good fit. I also wear it for tracking my sleep as well as for my alarm, and I hardly notice that it's there. With each workout segment, you can set your desired intensity target based on pace, speed, cadence, or HR zone (including custom HR zones). And when you establish a target, the watch will give you alerts when you are outside of this range. Now that I know what the alerts sound like, I find myself not looking at the watch nearly as much during runs. When I was researching different options, I had a hard time determining if you could use third party ANT+ heart rate monitors with the 235. But I was happy to see that this can be done. I didn't have any trouble pairing this with the Scosche Rhythm+. You can disable the wrist HR monitor and only use the external device or you can download a data field from the Garmin IQ store that allows you to use both simultaneously. There are a few things about this item that I believe could be better. First, I have not been able to find any available data screen that will give you an interval countdown. The existing timer options start at 0:00 and count up, not the other way around. Not a deal breaker by any means, but this is one improvement I think that could easily be made. Second, I wish there were more variables that could be configured with certain specific workouts. For example, I use GPS+GLONASS when running at the track, as this seems to provide for more accurate location readings. However, it drains the batteries more quickly and doesn't seem to make a discernible difference on street and trail runs, so I haven't been using it for these. So it would be nice to be able to have certain workouts default to a particular GPS setting. But again, not a deal breaker. Another issue is the accuracy of the wrist HR monitor. I've seen this mentioned and even witnessed it myself on one of my earlier runs. It was a really cold day. I was doing an easy (zone 1) warmup, when it started indicating that my heart rate was close to 190. Once I broke a sweat, it settled into a more accurate heart rate reading. To remedy this problem, I've been using a drop of HR monitor gel before each run. This allows it to maintain better contact with the skin, which seems to result in more consistently accurate readings. In fact, I recorded both the Garmin FR 235 and the Scosche Rhythm+ HR readings this morning. As you can see in the picture, other than a minor peak difference early on, the two were very close. The other thing I wasn't particularly thrilled about was the brightness of the screen. Or I should say lack of brightness. But I soon realized the lighting is basically the opposite of my phone or something like the Apple Watch. When there's no light shining on the screen, it's pretty dim and can be difficult to see. But as long as there's good light, it's very easy to see. So outside during the daytime, there's no issue at all. At night or early in the morning, I've just started wearing a head lamp, which I probably should have been doing anyway. With this on, I can see the screen perfectly well. I'm sure it was done this way to preserve batteries. I should add that the wrist HR monitor isn't the best for tracking weight workouts. Neither is the Scosche Rhythm+. I'm not sure why, but the readings are just way off at times. I'll be out of breath, and it will show my HR to be in the 80's or so. For now, I've pretty well just determined not to worry about tracking my HR on these types of workouts. But for running, the 235 is excellent. I'm not sure about the scientific accuracy of the race predictors, recovery advisor, or VO2 max readings, but changes in these areas at least seem to correspond with improvements in conditioning. Anyway, that's about it for now. While not perfect, I've been very happy with the Garmin Forerunner 235. I look forward to using this for years to come and would definitely recommend it to others.

I had high hopes that I finally would have a good tracker for my running. The GPS was great!! But the dimness of the screen was awful. I had to use my phone at times to light up the watchface to read it. It’s very deceptive from marking, they show a bright colorful screen, it is not!! The heart rate monitor was all over the place too. I was running almost full steam and it never went over 111 but my Fitbit and Apple Watch both said 165. I’ve heard there are more expensive models that are better but this one just didn’t cut it for me. I gave it 3 stars because it was comfortable, and the GPS worked great.

Gps is fast to react. Screen could be brighter. Hr is accurate.

This is my first fitness watch and its what i expected. Nice light watch that has good battery life compared to my gear s3. Screen is really dim but that probably extend the battery life.

This is a great watch! Very light, durable, freaking awesome. The only bad thing is the screen is not as bright as claimed on the package.

I’ve been enjoying the 235 since Christmas. Syncing to the phone gives you lots more options. I couldn’t decide between the 235 and Vivo. My don’t got the vivo and I’m kinda jealous because it’s screen is touch sensitive and mine is not. On the 235 when I run on the treadmill the cadence seems to be off. The treadmill has me at 5 miles and the 235 has me at 6 miles. Not sure how it could be so off but am going to see if it needs to be calibrated or something. Overall happy so far. Have yet to take it on the open road but looking forward to it.

I was nervous about buying this version over the upgraded one, but i'm so happy I got this one because it does everything I need, I wear it everyday and I always get compliments on it. One of the complaints I saw was that the screen is too dark, but I live in South Florida and really don't have much of an issue with it. So durable great for in and out of the ocean!

Not a touch screen. Hard to navigate the different apps. Everything has to go thru the side buttons. Ended up returning to store

Purchased this to replace my Forerunner 35. Much easier to sync and set up. Been using for about 3 weeks. Enjoying it so far. Only issue is that the screen is very dark and difficult to read.

I thought this would be an amazing runner watch and it probably is but I ended up returning because the screen was waaayyy to dark. not user if it was just the watch I or not but it was way to hard to see. I tried everything to get it brighter but nothing worked. The only time I could see it was inside, the sun made it hard to see.

I had a FitBit for a couple years and didn't like out it felt wearing it and the smaller screen. I am a new runner and wanted something that tracked running a little better and was easier to read. I felt this would be a good choice for the price. However, I think it's a little overpriced. I feel that a $249 would be a better price range for this watch. With that said, I do not regret paying the $299 for it. Very happy with it. Easy to setup and use, no problems at all with it and you can download apps and different watch faces for it using the Garmin connect app. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that it is not as bright as I would like. Don't let the online pictures fool you, it is not as bright and vivid colors as it looks in the pictures. I wish it had an option to adjust the brightness. I personally just like a bright screen. However, you can still see it just fine and easy to see in daylight. The back light works fine for night time. Overall I am happy I upgraded to this watch.

this watch has a lot of potential because of the many features it offers but doesn't quite deliver. the screen is advertised as bright but is very dim and the one i got had light bleeding at the bottom. my iphone showed i was connected to the watch but the garmin app and watch said i was not. very confusing menu system. really only usefull for runners, cant track any other activities as well