Garmin reviews and discussion

The Garmin Fenix 8 is a true do-it-all flagship watch. Swap to a stainless steel band and it doubles as a sleek lifestyle piece; switch to silicone and it's trail-ready. Instead of buying separate watches for different occasions, this one covers everything. I prefer the 43 mm for its more lifestyle-friendly size, though you do sacrifice some battery life compared to the larger options. It's on the pricier side, but given how versatile it is, the value is there. The interface was a little laggy out of the box, but Garmin has since pushed several over-the-air updates that noticeably improved performance. That kind of post-purchase support goes a long way and keeps me coming back to the Fenix line.

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.

I love my Garmin Lily and it has been an every day wear since it came in the mail! Game-ifying my fitness has been a game changer to get in steps and hydration to improve my lifestyle. Tracking seems accurate enough for sleep and distances. Only complaint would be it having a unique charger when most devices are usb-c these days.

I have been using gamin products for over 10 years now. I run, hike, backpack and cycle and I love it for tracking all my activities as well as how I am recovering. I have the fenix 6S sapphire, previously had a forerunner 235 and love them both. Sometimes the HR isn't perfect but that is the nature of a wrist HR monitor. The battery life is generally good - lasting about 3 days depending on the activity.

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.

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.

Have had Garmin since the first Vivoactive, and I love them. I have the Forerunner 255. Will continue to use this brand for my fitness activitiy.

I have & love the Fenix 7S Sapphire Solar Edition -- love this watch. Watch/App UI is not as good as Apple Watch, but performance is better.

I have the Garmin Venu which replaced my Apple Watch. I absolutely love it! It's versatile on how to use it and all the different capabilities - many more options than most smart watches. It can be difficult to use from time to time but gets easier as you use it.

Had a GPS device by Garmin. It was accurate and worked well.

I bought a Garmin Swim2 for what I consider a substantial amount of money. I bought it in part because it was advertised as allowing you to customize the size of the pool you use. That turns out to be true only if your pool is one of the set sizes and otherwise only if it does not include any half units. The pool where I mostly swim is 18.5m, 20.2 yards. But it's not possible to set any decimal points. For the amount it charges, Garmin could make this truly customizable. I would not recommend this. You can probably find something less expensive.

I've used 3 Garmin GPS units over the past 20 years or so, and have upgraded each time to a more useful product each time. I find them each easy to use with a good support structure and good range of choices for each use. I will continue to buy Garmin products as I find a need for them.