Find the latest reviews on Garmin Running Watches to help you make the best decision to purchase your favourite Garmin Forerunner GPS Watches at fantastic prices!
Running and its benefits and how Garmin Running Watches can help you improve your run! Everybody knows that running has many benefits, but most people only know about the physical benefits that it brings, such …
How can Garmin Running Watches (Forerunner Series – with GPS) improve your run? You may be asking yourself, OK, I know that running is good for me as it brings many benefits to us …
Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610 Product Review This newly launched product from Garmin provides users with a sleek black colored Garmin Running Watch with various new features, either not found in previous models or …
Garmin Running Watches – Forerunner Series Product Comparison The following table compares the various models of Garmin Running Watches – Forerunner Series: Garmin Forerunner 305 Garmin Forerunner 405CX Garmin Forerunner 610 Physical Attributes Unit …
Customer Review for Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610 Have a look at what other users have to say about their experience in using the Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610. Greatest GPS …
Running and its benefits and how Garmin Running Watches can help you improve your run!
Everybody knows that running has many benefits, but most people only know about the physical benefits that it brings, such as improved general health, better cardiovascular endurance, slowing down the ageing process, etc, but do you know that running can make you:
Happy (Improving your mood with the release of endorphins, a.k.a. runner’s high!)
Helps retain your memory (running helps promote neuron growth in your hippocampus (yes, its part of our brain), so that you are less likely to contract diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Boost your confidence and self esteem!!!
You may ask, how can running boost my confidence? Well, for starters, some of you may be running regularly and each time you run, you may have set a specific target or goal, eg., what is the distance that I’m going to run today, can I better my personal best, how many calories am I targeting to burn? Once the run is completed, you will reflect back on your initial target or goal to see whether your initial target has been achieved or not. Should you achieve it, the feeling you will get is a greater sense of empowerment and achievement and also feeling like you’re on top of the world!
Now imagine, if you can have a piece of equipment that can help you to monitor these targets that you have set, now wouldn’t that be awesome?
The following product reviews are showcasing such products or equipments that will help you to monitor and record your running data and results and leave you to concentrate on what you do best, enjoying your run!
You just do the running and leave the monitoring and recording of your running performance to the Garmin Running Watches (Forerunner series – with GPS) as reviewed below.
How can Garmin Running Watches (Forerunner Series – with GPS) improve your run?
You may be asking yourself, OK, I know that running is good for me as it brings many benefits to us physically and mentally, but why should I get a Garmin Running Watch? How will the Garmin Running Watches help me in my running and what’s so special about it that I should have it?
Well, here are a few reasons and benefits of owning a Garmin Running Watch (Forerunner Series – with GPS):
Never get lost again! (License to roam uncharted routes)
With its Global Positioning System (GPS) function, the Garmin Running Watch will be able to record the route that you have taken including your starting point and should you navigate away from your original path, all you need to do is follow the GPS signal and navigate back to your start point. No more worries about getting lost anymore! Now you can try out different routes to make your run more interesting, knowing full well that you can definitely get back to your original start point.
Having a virtual Fitness Coach to track and monitor your running performance.
Most Garmin Running Watches will have these features to help you take your mind off keeping track of the distance you covered, the time taken to complete the run and even throw in valueable information to help you improve your run. Some of the features are as follow:
Accurate Distance Tracking
Speed, Pace and Altitude is recorded and retrievable after your run.
Lap Time Recording
Record Multiple Run Session History
Interval Based Training
With the features as highlighted above, you will be well equipped to understand your current performance and you can adjust your training to bring your run to the next level! It’s just like having a fitness coach by your side, letting you know how you did in your run, and it even comes with alarms and gentle vibrations to let you know once you have reached your targets that you set initially.
Having your own Heart Doctor (Free Consultation anytime, anywhere!)
Combining the Garmin Running Watches with a Heart Rate Monitor will let you track your heart rate as you run. This feature is particularly useful to let you know whether you have had an effective workout or not. This feature will help you to determine whether you are performing below your target heart rate (under training) or over exerting yourself (by going way beyond your target heart rate).
This newly launched product from Garmin provides users with a sleek black colored Garmin Running Watch with various new features, either not found in previous models or an upgrade to previous models. This review highlights the features for the Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610 so that you get an idea of what this Running Watch has to offer.
Star Feature 1 – Touchscreen Capability
Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610 comes with a touch screen capability to enable easier and more intuitive navigation to get the data that you want, all the control, at your fingertips! The Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610’s touchscreen is not only functional, but rugged as well, being able to withstand rain, sweat and splashes yet at the same time, being sensitive enough for you operate with your gloves on.
Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610’s touch screen enables quick access to data that matters most to you.
Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610’s touch screen makes customizing the screens much more intuitive and user-friendly.
Here’s a video on the touch capability found in the Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610:
Star Feature 2 – Virtual RacerTM
The Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610 also comes with a new feature known as Virtual RacerTM that lets you race against previous bests or any activity uploaded to Garmin ConnectTM from another user. This feature accounts for varying speeds and real-time conditions, thus giving you a more accurate picture on your performance against your target or “opponent”.
Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610’s Virtual RacerTM lets you compete with against your previous best or an activity from another user, that takes into account varying speeds and real-time conditions.
Here’s a video that shows you how the Virtual RacerTM actually works:
Another new feature to be incorporated into the Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610 is the Training Effect capability from Firstbeat. Training Effect measures the accumulated load during a workout and tells its impact on your aerobic fitness, and with this feature, it will help you train more efficiently, ie., train smarter, not harder! Now, you will know whether the run you just had, is maintaining, improving or highly improving your fitness level. The Training Effect is calculated based on your user profile, heart rate and difficulty of the activity.
Heart Rate monitoring is very commonly available with most Garmin Running Watches but heart rate only tells us the intensity of the training. With Training Effect, now you can know how each workout or run, affects your endurance and fitness level. The Training Effect is categorized into 5 different levels. The 5 different levels of Training Effect are as shown below:
Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610’s Training Effect to improve training efficiency.
The training effect is particular useful to tell whether your time spent on exercising is well worth it or not. Sometimes, you may be under-training (not pushing yourself to train harder) and that workout session or run may be considered a lost effort because it has not helped to improve your fitness level. In order for your workout session or run to be effective and well worth the time, these workouts should result in a high enough training load to disturb the body’s homeostatic balance. Regular workouts with correctly dimensioned workload cause our body to respond by increasing its maximal performance level. Every workout produces some sort of effect on the body and it is this effect that the Garmin Forerunner 610 helps to monitor. Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) is a physiological measure of the training load. EPOC will accumulate or increase during the entire workout session. The longer and more intense the workout is, the higher the EPOC will be. EPOC is directly related to the Training Effect Level and an example of this is as shown below:
The EPOC level (at the left side of the table) will increase as the workout session progresses and you can see that the Training Effect Level (at the right side of the table) also increases as more strenuous activity is being done.
Have a look at this video that explains the advanced heart rate training feature as well as the Training Effect feature that is found in Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610:
Star Feature 4 – Health Monitoring Add On Capability
The Garmin Forerunner 610 also allows you to track weight, body fat, body water and 6 other measurements when using with a Tanita BC-1000 or Tanita BC-1500 body composition scale. This is ideal for those who are very health conscious.
The Garmin Forerunner 610 comes with the Virtual Partner® that is similar to the one found in Garmin Forerunner 405CX. This features lets you compete against a static pace that you have set, to let you know whether you are lagging behind or faster than the target that you have set.
Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610’s Virtual Partner® lets you compete with against a static time that you have set.
Star Feature 6 – Vibration Alerts
Garmin Forerunner 610 allows you to set vibration alerts for time, distance, heart rate, calories and also for run/walk breaks as well as cadence. This feature lets you focus on your running and once you have reached your target, the Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610 will vibrate and let you know, without having to lift your hand to eye level.
Star Feature 7 – GPS Guidance – License to venture into unchartered territories!
With the GPS function that comes with the Garmin Running Watch Forerunner 610, you now have the license to try new tracks and routes, without having the fear of not finding your way back! Thanks to the GPS navigation function which Garmin is famous for, you can now try out new routes whenever you are feeling adventurous! No more boring runs anymore!
Have a look at this video that explains in more detail regarding the back to start feature found in Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610:
Star Feature 8 – Custom Workout Creation
Garmin Running Watch Forerunner 610 comes with the ability to create custom workouts that matches your running needs.
Star Feature 9 – Interval Workouts
Use your Garmin Running Watch Forerunner 610 to set interval workouts based on time or distance so that you get to train according to your own terms.
Star Feature 10 – Auto Lap
Set a distance or position with your Garmin Running Watch Forerunner 610 with the Auto Lap and it will let you know the time taken to complete each lap so that you can analyze your performance after your run.
Star Feature 11 – Auto Pause
The Auto Pause function comes in handy when you would like to know the time taken for your actual run – minus all the breaks and stops that you have taken along the run. The Garmin Running Watch Forerunner 610 will pause the timer when you stop or drop below a specified speed.
Star Feature 12 – Cycling Compatible
Are you an avid cyclist as well? Well then, you’ll be glad to know that the Garmin Running Watch Forerunner 610 can be mounted on your bicycle using the Forerunner Bicycle Mount Kit and you can monitor your cycling performance as well!
Star Feature 13 – Getting data from Indoor Fitness Equipment
Don’t feel like running outdoors today? Well, fret not, you can run on the treadmill in your gym and still be able to record and store your running data with the Garmin Running Watch Forerunner 610 thanks to the ANT+ wireless technology that allows your Garmin Running Watch Forerunner 610 to communicate with the Gym Equipement that you are using and store valuable workout data.
Treadmill with ANT+ Technology Ready
Look out for the ANT+ symbol and you are ready to record your training data.
How the ANT+ wireless technology works.
Star Feature 14 – Record, Store and Analyze Training Data with Garmin ConnectTM
With the usage of ANT+ Wireless Technology, you can now transfer the data that is stored in the Garmin Forerunner 610 and transfer it wirelessly to your computer for easy and feature-packed analysis of your training session with the help of Garmin ConnectTM.
Get an in depth analysis of your health status by using your Garmin Running Watch Forerunner 610, Garmin Connect and either a Tanita BC-1000 or Tanita BC-1500 monitoring scales and you can generate a report as shown above for your health monitoring purposes.
Here’s a video on how to use Garmin Connect to get the best out of your run!
Note:
Should you decide to get one of the Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610 series, please take note that there are 2 versions of the Garmin Running Watch Forerunner 610:
Simple workouts (input time, distance and calorie goals)
Yes
Yes
No
Pace Alert (triggers alarm if you vary from preset pace)
Yes
Yes (for Advanced Workouts only)
Yes (for Advanced Workouts only)
Time/Distance Alert (triggers alarm when you reach goal)
Yes
Yes (for Advanced Workouts only)
Yes
Vibration Alert: (choose between alert tones and/or vibration alert)
No
No
Yes
Interval Training (set up exercise and rest intervals)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Garmin ConnectTM compatible (online community where you analyze, categorize and share data)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Interval Training (set up exercise and rest intervals)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Garmin Training Center® software compatible
Yes
Yes
Yes
Automatic Sync (Auto data transfer to your computer)
No
Yes
Yes
Customizable Screen
Yes
Yes
Yes
Bike Speed/Cadance Sensor
Yes (Some versions)
Yes (Optional)
Yes (Optional)
Foot Pod
Yes (Optional)
Yes (Optional)
Yes (Optional)
Sport Watch
No
Yes
Yes
Additional
NA
Watch functions include dual time, date and alarm.
Garmin Connect is compatible with Windows®XP or newer and Intel-based Mac running OS10.4 or later with Safari.
NEW: Training Effect:NEW: Virtual RacerTM:Watch functions include date and alarm.Garmin Connect and Garmin Training Center are compatible with Windows®XP or newer and Intel-based Mac running OS10.4.11 or later with Safari.
Customer Review for Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610
Have a look at what other users have to say about their experience in using the Garmin Running Watch – Forerunner 610.
Greatest GPS Watch Ever Owned!
Rating: 5/5
Date: June 7th, 2011
I have had Garmin Forerunner models in the past but nothing beats this. My old watch would take forever to get the signal. Also if i ran the same route, the distances would always be off. First time using the 610, got signal in less than a minute. 2nd time, less than 30 sec. It even comes on in my house now. I also went to a track and the signal took less than a minute. I have mapped out my runs to test the accuracy. 99-100%. Amazing. Can’t ask for much more than that. Touch screen takes sometime to get used to, but after a couple of uses it is really easy to use. Vibration alerts are great. With my old watch I sometimes missed the beep, but this one vibrates and beeps so I always know when I have reached a mile or when I am starting up again. All I have to do is plug in the USB and my data is synced online. Less bulky then other models and I can wear it around. Long battery life, you can turn it off or it goes into power save mode after a while. So much great things to say about this watch, haven’t had a problem yet. Highly recommend!
By John C
Great Upgrade
Rating: 5/5
Date: July 10th, 2011
I bought this Garmin 610 after reaching the end of the frustration line with my Garmin 305. First I worked through several software upgrades trying to get the 305 compatible with my MAC then missed an entire run because of no satellite acquisition on a clear day. The final straw was when the 305 would only power on while attached to the charger. I ran the first 5 miles of a 14 mile run in the rain and the Garmin 610 was flawless throughout! The watch is so easy to use that I set up the watch without reading one word of the user guide. I used my HR monitor from the Garmin 305 without any issues.
By R. Thomas
Best GPS Watch. No Battery issues here.
Rating: 5/5
Date: December 9th, 2011
I bought my 610 the first week it was out. I have loved every run with it. I can review my performance and even share with Facebook for friends and family to see. This can help those who might need help with accountability during the winter months. I liked the watch so much in fact that I purchased my wife one for Christmas. Neither of us have had any issues with charging. We use the US adapter and charge it from the wall. We have completed our first half marathon and are looking forward to more. We have fallen in love with running! Thanks to this watch we can watch our performance. We both use the heart rate monitors and they work very well. If you are running without a monitor you can’t see your true cariovascular performance. There have been days where I felt I was dying and was able to look at my heart rate monitor only to see I was just being a baby. This really helps you push yourself. The touchscreen works best if you use your fingernail. Mine are short and i still manage. The vibration alerts work very well. I was shocked at how powerful the vibration was on this little watch. This watch was worth every cent!
By M. Vaughan
Really happy with this watch
Rating: 5/5
Date: July 23rd, 2011
I’m a small woman with small wrists, and find this watch works very well for me. It is easy to use and very accurate. And it looks good enough to wear when I’m not running or cycling, too. The Garmin Connect feature is a real plus, too. It is nice to check out your results on line. As heart monitors go, this one is pretty comfortable, too.
By Bearwife
What an upgrade!
Rating: 5/5
Date: Jan 18th, 2012
I had the forerunner 405cx which was a great watch. The only complaint was when it got wet the bevel did not respond. The 610 does not have that problem…in fact I cant really find any problems. You can load courses and race others or create your own course and try to beat it again and again. It is pretty straight forward and I have had no issues with watch. No charging issues, no hardware issues. I would say it is one of the best running watches out there. Takes less then a minute to get gps signal and you are ready to run. You can customize the screens you see and change what is being shown up to four windows! Awesome watch from Garmin..what did you expect!
Everybody knows that running has many benefits, but most people only know about the physical benefits that it brings, such as improved general health, better cardiovascular endurance, slowing down the ageing process, etc, but do you know that running can make you:
.
I liked the watch so much in fact that I purchased my wife one for Christmas. Neither of us have had any issues with charging. We use the US adapter and charge it from the wall. We have completed our first half marathon and are looking forward to more. We have fallen in love with running! Thanks to this watch we can watch our performance. We both use the heart rate monitors and they work very well. If you are running without a monitor you can’t see your true cariovascular performance. There have been days where I felt I was dying and was able to look at my heart rate monitor only to see I was just being a baby. This really helps you push yourself. The touchscreen works best if you use your fingernail. Mine are short and i still manage. The vibration alerts work very well. I was shocked at how powerful the vibration was on this little watch. This watch was worth every cent!