Customer Ratings & Reviews

Very simple device but has the core features of GPS and heart rate monitoring. Easy to use. I wish there were a timer or stopwatch that I could use without starting an activity. I wish it were easier to export and analyze raw heart rate data since it is currently provided in a difficult to work with file format.

Bought this Garmin to upgrade from my Forerunner 10. Love the connectivity with Garmin Connect. Able to receive email and text notifications. Heart rate feature is a plus. Really good battery life. Goes a week without recharging.

This watch is amazing and very similar to the Apple Watch. I love that it's waterproof and shows me all the notifications on my phone and it even has a do not disturb setting. This is also awesome for runners because it tracks the run and heart rate

I bought this watch January 2018. I agree with other users that it does not connect right away. I would say it has an average of connecting 65 to 70%. I like the ease of use of this watch. However, my watch band just fell off Today. I wear my watch only when I am running 3 to 4 days a week. And when I work out 3 to 4 days a week. I do not wear it all day long. I believe this watch band is defective. A band should not feel that is made of rubber especially if it is barely worn. Very disappointed and I hope Garmin will stand by their product

I can honestly say this little gadget changed my lifestyle for the better. Not the best looking device but it has all the functionality a beginner/intermediate runner could ask for (GPS, continuous heart rate monitoring, various exercise modes). If it had on device music along with Bluetooth connectivity to headphones, this would be the perfect product. Can’t have everything for $100! The Garmin Connect app is great as well. Keeping track of my workouts motivates me to keep improving my stats. Was a awesome purchase for me.

This watch is awesome. It tracks steps, even logs running on a treadmill, cycling, and has a constant heart rate monitor. What I like best is that i wear it to work everyday, bump into things, and still not one scratch or mark on the watch. I highly recommend this over the vivofit if you're looking for a good fitness watch.

I'm a runner of more than 45 years and didn't think I needed gadgets to tell me how slow and old I am. But I finally broke down to get this GPS/heart rate monitor watch. I got it more for the HR aspect because my goal these days is burning ketones and general fitness through the Meffetone ( method of 180 bpm minus your age (go to philmaffetone.com for more info). For me, that means keeping the HR around 120 (125 if you give yourself an extra five for being relatively fit). Tracking your own HR the old school way of stopping and taking your own pulse isn't practical. And although the chest strap monitors are usually more accurate than wrist-based HR monitors like this one, chest straps are a PIA and you still have to synch them with your watch. So this one being about $100 with GPS seemed a good deal. After a month or so, it's still a good deal. I will say that it tends to be a little inaccurate in the heart rate monitoring department the first half mile or so. Maybe it's like the old chest straps that need a little moisture or sweat on the skin to get a good reading. Either way, the first half mile tends to read inaccurately (too high) for me. After that, everything seems fine. You will notice that if you jump around in pace, the pace reading will also fluctuate greatly. I'm pretty sure I can't run a 4:40 mile pace any more but on some 100-meter striders, it shows that for parts of the sprint. I do like being able to come back from a run and have the phone app sych with the watch to track my weekly/monthly running and cycling, but again, that's not why I got this. I got this mostly for the HR aspect, and for that, it does a decent job. I will say that if you run or bike every day, you will be charging this watch a lot because the GPS eats the battery life big time. The continuous backlight feature (for night runs and rides) also consumes a lot of battery life. And I wish they used a more universal charging cable. This one is unique to Garmin and if you misplace it, you're going to be contacting Garmin for another one. But overall, this is a good value for your money, especially considering it has GPS and HR in one watch.

I spent a lot of time looking for a fitness tracker this second time. I had a few important items that were important to me: 1. Accurate Heart Rate 2. Good software 3. GPS 4. Not huge My research brought me to Garmin's Forerunner 35 and fēnix series 5. The fēnix has a substantially more complete set of tools, but it's at least 3 times the cost. So I went to Best Buy and got the Forerunner 35. I have other tools to measure different parts that this does and I can tell you it is pretty darn accurate. HR is spot on most of the time. Distance tracking while cycling is within 1/10% or better. The software is top notch and inclusive. A little bit of both the web and app to get everything, but I like each for their own use. I like that I don't need my phone to get all the capabilities, it synchs with my computer whenever I'm close enough. I have not, nor will I try the phone app. Before this I owned a higher end Fitbit and pretty much the product and the software is a toy compared to the Garmin. This is comfortable to wear all day and night. The strap does not bind, it is much more flexible than the Fitbit, and it does not slide down my wrist when riding hard on the bike. I would have to reset the Fitbit 10-20 times a ride. The Garmin, maybe once or twice, if at all. My photo shows the Garmin next to a small man's watch on my wrist. I don't have large wrists, and as such I didn't want a large fitness band. It's got good battery life, extremely readable screen, and intuitive controls. Once you get it, it's easy to use. Highly recommended!

I bought the Garmin Forerunner 35 on the recommendation of an experienced trainer and athlete. He was right: the watch does everything it was supposed to do, and it does it well. My main concern was how often I would need to charge the watch. So far the charge has been lasting about 2.5 days. The Forenner 35 is easy to use, and while it doesn’t have the “look” of an Apple watch, it doesn’t have the price nor complexity of the Apple either. Now my new concern: I don’t know if I am allergic to the rubber bracelet or not, but I developed a severe rash on the underside of my wrist. I took off the watch over the week-end and the rash seems to be healing. I am wearing the bracelet loose. Not sure if that will affect the heart rate reader.

Like many consumers nowadays, I researched numerous watches before buying the Forerunner 35. I needed a simple GPS watch that was accurate and durable. I also did not want to spend a fortune, so I thought it was hopeless to get a good quality watch for a affordable price. However, when I came across this watch, I was quite surprised. After looking at other reviews of this watch I decided to give it a chance. NO REGRETS! I wore the watch during a SPARTAN Beast race and it did awesome (even with all the mud and water). If you are looking for a great simple watch, this is the one to get!

I so far have had three smart watches. Moto 360, Zenwatch 2, and this Garmin 35. After owning this watch for over a month I can gladly say this is by far my favorite. The battery lasts a good week on a single charge, which is by far my favorite feature. This is definitely not the flashiest smartwatch so don't expect the best bells and whistles. This is essentially for the bare basics of working out. It will get you through your running and cycling with simple options. Definitely recommend to anyone who is fine with simplicity. Bonus points for when it's on special.

The watch is comfortable. Very light and I don't notice it's there. Having said that, I didn't want a watch, I was replacing a Fitbit One, a clip device. However, there aren't any clip on devices available anymore that do more than just count steps. The GPS seems to be fairly accurate, based on prior measurements of my usual routes via phone apps and my previous tracker device. It takes a few moments to acquire GPS outdoors. I haven't been indoors to determine accuracy of indoor steps/distance. It does not appear that this device adds a lot of steps due to wrist movement. I wore a pedometer for awhile while wearing the Forerunner 35, and the pedometer actually recorded more steps. Thus I don't believe over counting steps is a factor unless you might have extreme wrist movements. As for the heart rate tracking. From what I've read about all wrist trackers in general, heart measurement from wrist trackers is more of an approximation than actual tracking. For workouts, I wear a chest strap heart rate monitor. I've compared the chest strap results to the Forerunner 35. At any given time, the Forerunner can be higher/lower or even the same. In a constant walk/jog, they're pretty close to the same. The average BPM for the Forerunner usually comes within 2 or 3 BPM of the chest strap. But at any given moment, they can be way off. The Forerunner usually has higher highs and lower lows in measuring the heart rate. When not in a constant mode, I find the hear rate measurement to be all over the place. When you press the button, you get an initial reading, but it quickly changes...many times dramatically. If you realize the heart rate tracking is a general guide and not "actual", it is OK. But if you want accurate BPM, use a chest strap. From reading reviews, other watches that have more LED lights for measuring hear rate might be more accurate. This one has 3, some other watches have 6. Overall, I'm satisfied with the device. Will be interested when winter comes and I move indoors for walking/jogging to see how distance is measured. Also, if you wear it while mowing lawn, or other activities where your arms are still, you might have to set it for indoor mode.

Nice fitness tracker and running GPS. I use it mainly for fitness tracking with the added heart rate built in. The watch is great for tracking my steps as well as for when I run or walk, utilizing the GPS. The GPS locks on quickly, the Garmin app for my phone works well and I like the shape and size. It took a little to get used to, the size, but it is easy to read and has larger letters for those people with aging eyes. Overall a good experience thus far and it has been worry and problem free for me.

This was a birthday gift for my daughter. I have one myself and love it. The battery life is great and this color suits her perfectly. The watch allows you to track steps through running walking or you can change to hiking. It even provides miles for the day. Connecting to the app provides even better options!

Nice basic GPS for when my other Garmin broke (Didn't care for being dropped from 15 feet onto a concrete floor). I needed a GPS for my Time Trial I was doing the next morning, and I didn't want to spend a fortune. I mainly use it for the run portion and cardio when I am doing strength. Once I get my next GPS (probably the Forerunner 245) this will be a back up and for use on OCR and other mud runs.

I bought this based upon a recommendation by my son. He was right as usual being an engineer. It is accurate and for the price has great features like text notification. A real strength is the battery life, it seems to last forever. I would give it five stars if the owners manual was actually a manual not a product spec. sheet. Do I really need to know that stuff? Do like the bright green band, gives a little flash. Look for it on sale, I did.

I replaced this Forerunner 35 with another Forerunner 35. I am not a runner but I wanted something to use for walking and other workouts. *It is easy to use for logging other activities *On Garmin Connect you can easily review past workout information. *I really like it that the charge seems to last forever. *I I like that in links with my phone to alert me to phone and message when phone on silent.

I was looking for a GPS fitness trainer that I could use for biking and for cardio exercises in the gym. It works very well. GPS - seems very accurate. Heart rate monitor - works well, but sometimes heart rate is low. It may be due to a lag in the readings. Sleep monitor seems accurate. App - Garmin Connect is excellent and it links seamlessly to My Fitness Pal. The only critical comment - this is a watch. If you want to use it full time, then you probably need to park your watch watch. I have a very nice watch that I have parked in my drawer.

Overall a very good item. I’ve owned three other fitness tracking devices and this one is the best by far. Has great battery life, fits well, very comfortable, not too big, as some fitness devices are more like wearing bricks. GPS works great, heart-rate monitor is accurate, and simple to use. I think Garmin has finally hit the mark with this unit, and if you are a runner, this unit is for you. It also has biking, walking, and cardio modes other than just running. It has a water rating of 5 ATM’s and I swim with this unit. No sure why Garmin did not include a swim mode because you could use it for Triathlon training for sure. When training outdoors, no issues reading the display in direct sunlight. My wish list for this item. Include more sport modes like Swim SUP etc. It has a water rating of 5 ATM’s so why not? Support more customization for stride lengths and additional mechanisms to dial in a more accurate pace with race prediction.

Great watch for outdoor runners. The watch is done through GPS-signaling, so it takes a few seconds to calculate where you are. I connect my runs through the Strava app without a problem. It also notifies you when you receive a text message, call, or other notifications on your phone. You can set a mode to not disturb you with notifications if you prefer.