Garmin
4.4 • 13 Reviews
Garmin produces a range of products engineered on the inside but for life on the outside.
4.4
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Great watches for running. I really like their programs and the feedback during the run. They sync well with Strava and other services. I also own a Garmin scale which breaks down your weight by fat, muscle and bone, and I appreciate that extra detail.
Bought a super basic Garmin watch as I was looking for a basic option without a lot of ‘frills.’ The watch works well and has all the basic functions I need it to have. Not uncomfortable to wear either!
I think that Garmin is a great product. I have their GPS devices and watches and they've held up over the years. They can be expensive but the great quality is worth it in my opinion. I would recommend it to others.
1y ago
I recently purchased a Garmin Venu 2S, refurbished from ebay for around $225 (the newer 3S version goes for over $400). After using it for about 5 weeks for fitness tracking only (I do not use it currently for music or phone-like uses), here are my pros and cons: PROS: - I like that I actually know what heart rate zone I should be in to be getting the most effective workouts. By checking the watch during a workout, I know whether I can let up or should go harder. - Definitely tracks my steps better than my phone - I consistently have more ~20-30% more steps on the Garmin than Apple Health (and based on distance traveled even with my phone, I know it's right). - Auto-step goal feature based on activity is cool - GPS works! - Shows more accurate calories burned than something without the HRM - "Body battery" can be validating when I feel tired (i.e. the watch confirms to me that I am tired and not simply being lazy!) CONS: - Huge learning curve. I've been using it for 5 weeks and I still don't understand how a lot of it works. - Useless customer service (general sentiment of many Garmin users). - Sleep Score may be useless. My post-sleep wake time is almost never accurate for me. Possibly because I stay in bed for a bit after I wake up, but I have to edit the wake time consistently. Not sure why they can't figure that out, considering my Sleep Cycle iPhone app knows when I am awake better than the Garmin, which is attached to my wrist. Since the sleep time on the Garmin is always wrong, I can't imagine how the overnight score is accurate. - Awful interface for many of the features, namely, Menstrual Cycle. - "Intensity minutes" concept can feel bullying / unattainable - sometimes I do a really hard workout where I'm pushing myself a lot, but I don't get intensity minutes, and then feel bad about myself. I think this can encourage unhealthy habits. Same thing with "fitness age." My watch for example says that it doesn't have a requirement for the 10-minute-minimum consecutive minutes of aerobic activity to achieve intensity minutes, but I still don't get intensity minutes sometimes, even when my heart rate zones show that I was in Zone 3 or 4 for several minutes at a time. I contacted customer service about this and they told me to reset the watch...but many users on Reddit confirmed to me I just needed to have more consecutive minutes. THEREFORE, my intensity minutes are not accurate. - "Reps" and "laps" during workouts make no sense. Have to manually delete those after. I encourage anyone using a tracker like this one to take it with a grain of salt, and make sure to connect with other users to get your feelings validated with it's shortcomings (like the Garmin subreddit, where people often say "Garmin is their biggest bully"). Overall I wish it had more intuitive features like push notifications during workouts to go harder or less hard. It would also be nice if they could invest more in making the interface better and the standard features more accurate rather than adding random things like pulse ox which just isn't necessary for the average person.
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What is Garmin?
Garmin produces a range of products engineered on the inside but for life on the outside.
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Delivering innovative GPS-enabled technology across diverse markets, including sports and fitness, outdoor recreation, marine, automotive, and aviation.
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