Customer Ratings & Reviews

I love this watch! The best part is not having to wear a chest strap to track my heart rate. I run 3+ times a week and cross train 3 times a week and use my watch to track all of my workouts. You can set it up for interval training and it also has settings for running indoors, biking outdoors and indoors. I use the other setting for cross training. It's very comfortable. I thought it would seem big at first but I have no problem wearing it. It's very light. The gps syncs up really fast and as long as it is tracking your heart rate before you start your workout it is pretty accurate. If you start your workout without your heart rate recognized, it normally won't pick it up. The only issue I've had is that occasionally when I interval train it doesn't track my heart rate accurately. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. I don't know if I'm moving too much but I'll be totally out of breath and it says my heart rate is 80 or 90 bpm. It will eventually find it, but for a while I know it isn't right.

I like this Garmin watch. It pairs nicely with my Garmin Ant+ heart rate chest strap. I bought it in Manhattan, New York City while on vacation in December. I got it on sale for $130. The watch has quite a few features that I still need to discover. It has great battery life too. I just wish the screen was brighter like the Samsung Gear S3. Overall a great watch. I would definitely recommend buying this watch.

The 235 is a really good watch for running. I bought it when my Vivoactive HR quit working after less than a years use. In the month have had he Forerunner, I have enjoyed using it for running and everyday fitness tracking. That being said it lacks some of the features people wanting a fitness tracker might look for. Also there is no barometric altimeter, so for hiking and trail runs that info is not readily available.

I traded in my Apple Watch Series 1 to purchase this item. I had exclusively used my AW as my fitness tracker for two years. I was pleasantly surprised with its fitness functionality and durability. After the first year I began running in OCRs and in no way felt comfortable wearing my AW for such demanding events. In turn I began searching for a more durable replacement. After hours of research as well as a recommendation from a fellow OCR racer (and coworker) I settled on the Forerunner 235. At first glance the 235 is nothing fancy. It reminds me of my first digital wrist watch I had in the 90s. Once you put the 235 on its apparently that this is a durable device. The 235 requires you download an app to sync to your smart device. I have an iPhone. The software was easy to find and downloaded quickly. Setting up a Garmin account was simple and so was synching and configuring the watch/device. I wore the watch to work every day as well as multiple workouts. The 235 is very comfortable to workout with weather it is while running or lifting weights (both activities were tried multiple times). My only complaint was I did not like was maneuvering amongst workouts and other settings within the watch. It was not difficult but it required a number of button clicks to get there. After a while I began to realize that I missed my AW and its smart features more than I appreciated having a rugged fitness tracker I really only needed 5 to 10 times a year. For that reason I returned the 235. Being a bit of a techy, had I not previously had a smart watch, I probably would not have second guessed this purchase at all. I highly recommend the 235, or any other Garmin product for that matter. I would encourage anyone considering this to really weight the options on how frequently you will being using the 235 to its highest ability and frankly most people don’t go anywhere without their phone anyone so a dedicated GPS is not necessary.

Love the Forerunner 235. GPS connects quickly, and is accurate. Battery seems pretty long lasting when not in GPS mode. Love that the HRM is part of the watch, and not a chest strap. Easy to use. Only problem is that it is very big on small wrists, and the optic sensor is uncomfortable against my wrist bones. But if I wear the face against my inner wrist, it is fine. Love the fount of information that is at my fingertips.

Before purchasing the FR235, I had a FR15 as my starting out GPS watch. It worked well for what I wanted it to do (track distance). The downside for the FR15 was that the distance wasn't always accurate (I ran a marathon recently and it said I did 26.6 miles), GPS took forever to sync, and it didn't track HR. To supplement the HR I had bought a HR monitor online, but lost it within 3-4 months (I tend to lose things once in a while). After getting the FR235, it was a major, major improvement. The GPS synced within seconds, distance was near accurate (~ +/- .02mi, which is great, 1-2x have gotten a slip up where it cuts a big corner), and it had built in HR. Added perks were bluetooth syncing, watch interfaces (Back to the Future is the best one!), continuous HR, HR zones timing (how long you've been in which zone, and phone notifications (i.e. calls [can answer from watch], texts, emails, etc), I could even find my phone if I'm within range, and it has a great battery life (including several runs, it can last at least a week or two!). The only downsides to the watch are: HR takes some time to catch up at the beginning of a run, hard to find a good positioning on wrist for the HR to check properly (I have mine tight for runs to get better accuracy), and watch will randomly dis/connect from phone even when phone is 10-20 feet away (beeping can be annoying especially during work). I understand that HR won't always be accurate so it isn't a complete letdown; it's still a good estimation of heart rate. Haven't tried wearing it to sleep as it feels uncomfortable to wear and makes it harder to fall asleep for me. And don't know how I feel about it swimming (heard it is a possibility). Again this is a great watch if you're at least an intermediate runner and want to look at more statistics for running and need more accuracy from GPS tracking. If not interested in lots of statistics, then I would recommend a less expensive watch with less features (like Vivosmart HR).

This is my fourth Garmin running GPS device over the course of 12 years. This appears to be the best yet. I haven't spent a whole lot of time with it as it is still cold out in the Midwest. However, the few times I have used it the satellites/GPS calibrates almost instantly. My last device from 7 years ago could take several minutes to find a signal. This one has a heart rate monitor which used your wrist instead of a chest strap. It works pretty well. A strap would be better. It's easy to sync to your Garmin online profile. I haven't tested any of the cell phone features as I have no plans to carry my cell phone with me while running. Best Buy did a price match so I got it at a very good price. It's primarily focused on running so if you want something for biking, swimming, etc. you might want to look at the higher end models. This is a great size and is nice and lightweight. I like it.

Battery life, GPS accuracy and lock time, Heart Rate monitor and last but not the least Garmin Connect App is great. I can get away with one charge for the entire week that includes 3 5k run tracking. Smart notifications are basic, has lot of room for improvement - but that is not what I bought this for

This is my second Garmin. I really like the GPS and pace tracker. I like the built in heart rate monitor. I wish it had a traditional stop watch. It's still a bit troublesome to navigate some of the features.

Overall great product. The charge lasts a week easily and recharges quickly. The heart rate is about as accurate as you can get for a wrist based HR monitor. The band is comfortable. The sensor may get irritating sometimes if the watch is too tight.

This is the first GPS watch I have owned, and made the decision to go with the Garmin 235 based on reviews here, REI, and what friends were using. Prior to getting the watch, I was using my phone to track runs, and rides on Strava, and started to be a pain running with my phone all the time. I have been using this watch for about a month now, and am really happy with the purchase. It was simple to set it up through the Garmin app, and syncs with my phone without any issues. It took a little bit of time to understand how the widgets, and different watch faces, etc work, but pretty easy once you go through a couple of trials. I also appreciate how simple this watch is, and seems function focused. Gives you just what you need to track your exercise - no music, games, apps, colors, etc. I have owned a bunch of Timex Ironman watches, and this is kind of modern version of that classic. I like that you can get set notifications for texts, emails, when paired with a phone - which is not something I wanted, but happy to have that function to avoid looking at my phone all the time. On runs, the watch finds GPS signal almost immediately. Its super helpful to have different data reporting while running like avg pace, lap pace splits, HR avg, distance, time, etc. Makes it very easy to adjust pace on the run, and vary your workout. Also, syncs with Strava app immediately - no issues loading activities. Garmin also has their own app that allows you so see all your exercise/living data. Garmin's app seems a little bit much, with sleep info, and all kinds of health metrics, but interesting to see what its analyzing and your overall living stats. From what I have read the chest strap heart rate monitors are more accurate then the wrist, but I can't really say. I have a had a few runs where I was going very easy and the HR was reading as near my max. I adjusted the tightness of the band and moved around on my wrist, and reading varied. Battery life is good, and I go a few days between charging. Really nice to be able to track with the watch when outside of cell range and not kill the phone battery... Really happy I bought this watch, and imagine I would buy this version again in the future when its time to replace it.

Love the Forerunner 235. It's got all the features you need in a running watch (HRM, GPS, VO2 max) as well as some great "smart watch" features such as notification mirroring. The battery last for ~4 days with daily workouts and Bluetooth enabled. I highly recommed this watch but will say newer models 7xx and 9xx series offer a few more features for not too much more money. My only gripe with the 235 is the plastic construction. It definitely does not feel cheap and I have yet to have any breakage issues but I can't help be wary with something that gets knocked around as much as a watch.

This watch is pretty sweet. PROS: ease of use, great for running, ability to personalize, constant HR monitor, app is light years ahead of the competition, when connected to my phone it would show all my texts and alerts, EXTREMELY Comfortable. This is hands down the most comfortable watch in the history of the world CONS: no MP3 storage - must be connected to blu-tooth for music, bad for PT - during workouts the buttons would automatically press up against my wrist and switch the timer or turn off the timer entirely- this is no good when trying to maintain certain time requirements This is a great watch for a tech savy person and also a runner. As far as an "all around" fitness watch I believe it to be below the competition. It feels very delicate and that it could break at any minute. I loved this watch but needed something a little more durable. If you are a runner GET THIS WATCH! If you are a crossfitter or spartan racer or whatever the TomTom might be a better route.

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

The strap fits great and is comfortable. The presets are convenient for cycling and running. The fact that it turns off GPS for indoor settings without me having to do it manually each time is great. I only have to choose the type of workout and everything is set for indoor or outdoor. The recovery advisor and VO2Max are features that made this watch a worthy buy. The HR monitor seems pretty accurate and shows 4hrs of HR data on the watch. Battery life is better than I expect. With all the data being tracked and the syncing to the GarminConnect app on my phone (my old watch only synced 2 times a day), I expected a much shorter battery life. but, it last longer that my 225. Upgrading from the Forerunner 225, which has simple and easy navigation, the navigation on the 235 was a bit awkward. Not the smoothest navigation in my opinion, but I am comparing it to the 225. Overall, great watch. I dont use most of the advanced features yet (downloads, watch faces, and IQ apps) but my favorite features are the Race predictor, recovery advisor, HR accuracy, calendar on the watch, and VO2Max.

For the price it’s a great smart watch overall. It’s comfortable and lightweight, the functionality and GPS work well, and it’s surprisingly durable for being all plastic. I’m not a fan of the os or the Garmin IQ process that you have to use for watch faces and all that. There’s a fine line between well priced and cheap though, and if you’re not easily impressed, I would recommend getting a higher model.

The Garmin 235, in particular, with its heart rate monitoring capability really is the best watch of its kind on the market right now. We read the reviews and have had 2 previous generations of Garmin watches. This is far lighter, easier to use, easier to see than anything we've know and loved before.

So far i love this watch. I upgraded from a fitbit surge. It picks up gps signal much faster than the surge did and seems to do a better job at reading heart rate and not missing it like my surge would every time i sweated

I’ve had 2 prior Garmin watches before. I run a lot so I buy them for the GPS function. I had the forerunner 610 (bought in 2013, had until 2018) and the vivo HR active (rectangular face). The 235 is great for the running features. It tracks my runs just fine. It monitors my HR, steps taken, and calories burned. I think the steps is slightly off but which watch isn’t. Biggest con is that you can’t lock the watch. I’ve accidentally started ‘runs’ without knowing because I’ve hit the button on the side during work. In comparison to the other two I had, it’s decent. I might upgrade to the 400 level one soon because the lack of locking is an issue for me since it drains the battery if I’m not on a run and it runs for 13 hours when I’m working.

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.