Can a near 10-year old Garmin running watch still cut it today? That’s precisely what we wanted to find out after discovering that according to Strava’s most recent Year in Sport report, the Forerunner 235 was named as one of the most popular upload devices to the app.
Tester Mike managed to track down a 235 (thanks to Garmin) and used it for a month to track all of his runs and everything in between that running time to see if he’d miss the newer features that now reside on more modern Garmin running watches.
Here’s how he got on.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Intro
02:23 – What we missed from a modern Garmin running watch
09:04 –We we didn’t miss from a modern Garmin running watch
13:13 – Could we live with a 10-year old Garmin watch?
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Hey this is Mike from the Run testers now in this
video I'm going to be talking about a pretty old Running watch I imagine a watch that people a lot
of people are still using um but it was you know To put this into context back in June it was a
pretty quiet um you know kind of period in terms Of launches for running watches sports watches
smart watches so I didn't actually have a lot New to test now I did think well I could throw
on something that I have had in more recently And do some longer term testing though I
thought about maybe throwing on an older Watch a watch that actually you know was one of
the first watches that I tested and tested out For running um and that watch is the Gin FR a
235 now there was another reason why I decided To pick this watch despite being one of the
first watches that I've used now last year in Strava's kind of trending year report the ging
235 was one of the or was named as one of the Top three upload devices which you know for me
feels amazing considering that watch is near 10 Years old now and there's been different you know
newer generations of the 200 series 4 Series so What I wanted to do is I managed to track down
a 4un 235 thanks to Gman I think one of their Product team managed to find one for me so what
I decided to do in that month was throw on the 235 throughout that month I used a 235 for all of
my runs I raced with it as well too um generally It outside of running you know use it as a
smartwatch as well and really get a sense of Whether you know in this day and age when so
much has happened particularly on the Garment Front but in general in terms of sports watches
and running watches whether I would get on with The 235 and I wouldn't miss a new a watch like the
265 or the 965 which are generally the watches I Would tend to use and also the Apple watch Ultra
too so yeah in this video what I'm basic going to Do is take you through my experiences of what
I really liked about my time of the 235 what I didn't really miss from a kind of modern
running watch and actually the flip side of What I did actually miss and whether I think
you know ultimately I could live with a with A watch like a Garmin 4 and a 235 or whether
I was desperate to get back to a more modern Smarter running watch so yeah this is basically
a month living with a gin for a 235 a watch that Strawber kind of named as one of its top upload
devices in its kind of yearly report last year And ultimately see if it still holds up against
other running watches that are out there [Music] Today so I'm going to start with the things that I
would say I missed from my time using the G in for A 235 and I think one thing I wasn't expecting to
say about my experience was but I really actually Missed the kind of morning reports that Garmin
has introduced to its newest watches now the Gin FR 235 is too old to support these kind of
new morning reports and the morning reports is Essentially pulling together collating some
information that you can look over when you First wake up and it'll give you a sense of
you know what's coming up in your day also look At things like the weather but also look at you
know metrics like your training readiness whether
You're in good shape you've had good sleep now it
doesn't seem like a big thing to not have on that Watch but ultimately I feel like well I initially
thought it was a bit of a gimmicky thing when Garmin introduced it I have found it more useful
to look at my day or have something to kind of Give me a glance over at my kind of metrics from
the kind of evening sleep my training readiness But also those weather reports and also anything
that's coming up and I felt like when I woke up In the morning and I looked at the 235 I kind of
was so used to kind of seeing that information And whether information is always useful or not
I did quite like the idea of being able to have That put in front of me every morning so that
was definitely one thing I didn't think I was Going to miss from my time using the Garment for
a 235 but I think it's actually a feature that I've grown to really like on the newer 4 watches
which I think you know it's a bit more of a kind Of SmartWatches feature but I think ultimately
in terms of being useful and as I said pulling In that collection of data whether it's about your
day or whether it's about your training and about Your sleep I do think it's actually quite a nice
feature to have now the next one's a pretty big One and it is around heart rate monitoring and GPS
accuracy now we have to keep in mind that this is A device that is near 10 years old so obviously
older technology a lot has happened in this space Particularly on you know the Garmin front in terms
of it sense of Technology but we should add that The 235 was the first watch uh in garage range to
uh include its Elevate Optical sensor technology To improve or offer improved heart rate monitoring
performance it is also a watch that does allow you To pair external heart rate monitor sensors as
well too so that is a massive plus and generally We talk about the monitoring performance the
heart rate monitor performance on watches today We do still advise on using external heart rate
monitor and you are able to do that here on the Uh grman 4 235 now in terms that performance
pretty much as expected it wasn't fantastic and When you and you look at it up against you know
newer Garmin fora watches I think of things like The 4o 265 which is the latest version of the
200 series there really is a step up in terms Of performance particularly from that kind of
risk-based heart rate monitoring and you know It really was you know a big step for Garmin
to have that new sensor in there but ultimately It's a very old generation of that elevate sensor
which still isn't spotless in its kind of latest Generation but definitely is much better than it
was 10 years ago when I first tested the 4235 and Even in my test over that month now the other
one is GPS performance and accuracy now you're Not getting the latest kind of multiband GPS mode
which we've kind of talked about being you know a Real kind of push in terms of innovation of
GPS performance particularly in those areas Where it can be challenging whether it's near
tall buildings whether it's kind of densely Forested areas garmin's multiband mode has really
push things in terms of that performance and it's Probably one of the best you know examples of
that multiband dual band mode we're seeing in
Watches now you obviously don't have that on a
235 and unsurprisingly I think you know for a Lot of runs it was generally okay when I got to
that extreme stress testing you could definitely See the differences now I used it for a race I had
the 965 and the two 2 35 on a looped race a looped Course and ultimately you can see the differences
in the tracks ultimately so the last thing I want To talk about is around kind of interacting with
the 4235 and how it compares to interacting with A newer 4A watch I think that's really around
kind of not having a touchscreen display here Now I think I missed the touchcreen display more
so than the color displays that we're seeing on Newer Gins I think it's really about you know
I'm all for physical buttons on running watches I think I would happily take more physical buttons
over a growing kind of you know emphasis on using The touchscreen display but I think having a
combination of two does work really nicely I Think particularly it can be during runs but also
outside of running as well now I think biggest Examples I can kind of um talk about here in
terms of missing that touchcreen display is kind Of where notifications would pop up if there were
screens I wanted to kind of quickly swipe through My natural reaction was to swipe on the screen
you know forgetting that it didn't support that Kind of touch screen functionality and I do think
it shows that moving towards kind of a little bit More like SmartWatches and have that touchcreen
functionality does actually improve and enhance Experience I think the software in General on the
235 you know definitely looks very different to What we are used to now on your four runners But
ultimately it's pretty easy to get to grips with But you could see where it could benefit from
having that typ screen support which obviously Wasn't you know prominent on G's watches just yet
having that support now on new for on watches I Think is a big plus and I'm now seeing that more
having gone back to a watch which doesn't have It and really could benefit from having it now
another thing I missed from using a more modern And newer 4 and watch words when it came to kind
of tracking non-running uh focused activities now OB the 4235 is a very much running Focus watch
but it does track um cycling as well too but then Outside of that it's pretty Limited in terms of
the number of profiles and it really you know for Reminded me that we maybe take for granted that
you do have that kind of extensive kind of uh Range of profiles that are supported on your
4 watches so yeah while it's not like kind of Running specific one I think you know for a lot
of people who aren't just using their 4Runner To track their runs I think that kind of more
basic kind of support in terms of the sports Profiles that are on the 235 that was definitely
something that I noticed in my time as I said it Wasn't a massive issue but it is something that
I definitely noticed in my experience of you know How I use my newer 4Runner watch compared to
the older [Music] 235 okay so into the things That I didn't actually miss during my time using
the gun 4un 235 and I'll start with you know not Having all of the Smartwatch features it can kind
of display notifications can control your kind of
Music playing on your phone you can't see weather
forecast I think what my time kind of really kind Of taught me was that actually those are the types
of features generally that I think I make most Use of in or on newer 4Runner watches those very
kind of I would say probably right look now look Like basic features at that time were very good
features to have on a running watch and generally Those were the features that I feel that I use
and I didn't feel like I missed those other kind Of richer Smartwatch um features that you do get
on your 4Runners you know I like the idea of being Able to see my notifications and the support on
the 235 is pretty good you're not going be able To respond to them you're not going to be able to
act on them but in terms of looking at them taking Them in absolutely fine I like the fact the music
controls are there as well and I generally will Run with my phone so that's not a big issue and I
kind of find that useful to have and I think for Me yeah the the basic Smartwatch features on the
235 worked well enough for me and I didn't feel Like I missed the bigger ones that you do get on
the newer four runners so the next thing I didn't Miss and I would say I didn't think I'd be talking
about is battery life now with the gar in front of 235 you are getting you know in terms of promised
at battery life you're getting less than when you Compare it to you know the newer G FR 265 by a
good few days and kind of that General Smartwatch Mode you're getting Less in terms of GPS battery
life as well too for me you know battery life Which is something I thought was going to be an
issue you know wasn't really when you know you put It into context with other watches and actually
the new kind of Forerunner watches how I would Expect to use those watches and for those watches
to perform one thing I would say is obiously you Are dealing with an older kind of charging cable
it's kind of this Clos Peg style which I don't Absolutely love and you know ultimately Garmin
have moved away from that kind of setup um so That's a minor thing I think you know not ideal
in terms of child setup and you know I did miss The kind of simpler one that you get on newer
garments but in terms of that overall battery Life performance I didn't feel like I was getting
massively let down in my time and I think also What I like about it is that you know if you are
running low it will'll let you know it's running Low it will capture that run if you've kind of
got caught out kind of mid-run and you you still Got that data there from the watch and I think you
know there's newer watches from other brands that Aren't capable of doing that so you know Garmin
was doing that you know very early days and there Watches that will literally not capturing any it
or not store any of your data if it kind of you Know kind of runs out of battery mid run so yeah
battery life you know it was you know and if if I Thought about how I wanted it to kind of you know
perform that's kind of I was pretty happy I didn't Feel like I was getting massively short changed
with the 235 which is something I wasn't expecting To see uh in my time with it okay so the last
thing that I want to talk about here that I didn't Really miss in my time with 235 and I really kind
of alluded to it already in this video is that I
Didn't massively miss having a color display now
the color displays I think are welcome additions To gin's watches and ultimately getting those
color displays on those watches Without You Know M Having a massive impact on battery life was really
important for gar and they have managed to do that Across its watches that now include it but I think
ultimately what my time of the 235 taught me and Reminded me I think more so than anything is that
transfect displays are still very good they're Still very good reasons to have them on running
watches and I think in terms of the way I use that Watch in terms of the features that are available
to me and the kind of visibility that I've got Across different conditions mainly Outdoors where
that's really where you know really matters for Me it was all very good I think in terms of
like looking at my running metrics in real time In terms of looking at the kind of Smartwatch
features that you have there and the display That you've got there you know it was
absolutely fine I didn't feel like I was Getting an inferior experience having a watch
that didn't have a color display on [Music] It so after a month of living with the Gin fora
235 was I desperate to get that off my wrist and Get a newer running watch on it I would say
my time has been interesting and actually it Wasn't as as you know I wasn't that desperate to
throw a new running watch on when I did you know I did there was absolutely some features that I
missed I'm glad to have back but I think in terms My 235 I think you know it wasn't a you know I
didn't feel like I was getting a poorer design Despite it not having that touchcreen or color
display you know the screen is pretty good on It you know would like a little less bezel there
but ultimately I think you know using it dayto Day was absolutely fine I didn't feel like I was
missing out massively from a battery point of view As well which I think was really important for
me and actually having a little bit of a strip Backed experience and actually a lot of the data
being generally pretty good meant it was still a Very solid performing running watch I think where
things changed for me not necessarily changed but I think you know I can see the benefits of having
a new watch is really on the the innovations that Have happened particularly on the tracking point
of view you know having those you know newer Gins Having kind that dual band multiband GPS mode
improvements in the kind of optical you know Risk-based heart rate monitor the additional
kind of training analysis I think generally I Could absolutely get on with that watch and I
think for a lot of instances a lot of runs it Was absolutely fine I think it's when you know
what you can get but I think particularly on An accuracy point of view I think particularly
on a kind of training analysis uh point of view And what you can get at that 200 the 4 and 200
series range you can kind of see when actually I would benefit or would like to have that you
know additional or those additional features so Yeah actually you know it wasn't a horrible
experience watch but actually going for an older Watch just shows you that you know they a lot can
still hold up today in you know in a space where
Watches are getting smarter offering more features
but actually having quite a strip B experience was Quite nice in a lot of ways and yeah you know my
experience with 235 wasn't terrible and I think A lot of things I liked about it as I said was I
desperate to get a new watch on not necessarily But when I did I did appreciate things that I
talked about that I did kind of Miss in my time But you know it wasn't as bad as I thought and
I think you know living with the 25 for a month Wasn't as bad as expected okay so there you have
it a slightly different running watch video for You hopefully you enjoyed it hopefully you enjoy
the insights if there are any other videos around Running watches that you'd like to see from us
do let us know as always like And subscribe hit That little bell to find out about our latest
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