Garmin Forerunner 235 – Is It Really Worth It? (Honest Review)
My honest review of the Garmin Forerunner 235 GPS running watch and its features, including all of the reasons that I really like it. Note – I did receive this watch for free years ago.
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Garmin Forerunner 235 – Is It Worth It?
Good morning friends! Today, I am going to share my honest review of the Garmin Forerunner 235 running watch. I received this watch for free years ago, and it has been a nice upgrade from the Garmin Forerunner 15 watch that I purchased shortly before I went to college in 2015. The goal of this article is to share some of the features of the Garmin Forerunner 235 that I really love. I will also discuss my personal experience using this specific GPS watch for running, so I hope you find it informative in some way.
I also want to preface this article by saying that I have used the Garmin Forerunner 235 running watch for years now. It helped me track the miles that I ran and workouts that I completed while I was a collegiate cross-country and track runner for years. So, I have used this watch pretty extensively. I continue to use this watch even now that I have transitioned out of competition, as I still run daily.
By the end of this post, I hope that you will learn a little bit more about the Garmin Forerunner 235 and what it has to offer. It is not the priciest GPS watch out there, but it isn’t dirt cheap either. I think a thorough review of this watch could be helpful in learning some of the features that it has to offer. So, without further ado, let’s go ahead and discuss some of the key features of this watch like battery life, waterproof capabilities, price point, and much more.
Garmin Forerunner 235 – Is It Waterproof?
This is the question that many people want an answer to. I think this is partially because a lot of runners also like to cross-train in the pool, and some people like to use Garmin watches for triathlon training as well. Thus, a waterproof watch could come in very handy. Here’s what I know based on the specs for the Garmin Forerunner 235 watch – it has a rating of 5 ATM. What does that mean exactly? Well, according to Garmin’s website, a 5 ATM water rating means the watch can withstand 50 meters depth of pressure, and it is suitable for splashes, rain, swimming, snorkeling, etc.
So, is it waterproof? No, not technically. I would call it water resistant, because Garmin does have a maximum depth of pressure the watch can withstand. But, as you can see from the definition they provide on their website, it is suitable for swimming to a certain depth.
I have swam with my watch on before with no issues. But then again, I have only swam above (or slightly under) water. I have also ran with my watch on in the light rain with no issues. However, I have hardly used my watch for swimmig, so I can’t really say how well it holds up with repeated use in the pool.
Garmin Forerunner 235 – Battery Life
Ok, now let’s get into battery life. No matter what sort of electronic you purchase, battery life is probably at the top of your list of features to know about. After all, you don’t want your watch dying on you midway through a run, and you probably don’t want to be charging it all the time either.
Well, the Garmin website provides two different battery life estimates based on the mode you have the watch in. These estimates are as follows: nine days for smartwatch mode and 11 hours for GPS mode.
Yes, you read that right – 9 DAYS of battery life in traditional smartwatch mode. That is actually pretty insane for me to wrap my head around, but I have never actually tested it. This is because I do indeed use my Garmin Forerunner 235 for running almost every single day, so it is often in GPS mode (at least) once per day.
One of the biggest reasons people purchase GPS watches is because they want to log mileage and workouts. Obviously, if you plan to track your mileage on a daily run around your neighborhood, or in any other unmeasured area, you will probably be using the GPS mode for the duration of your run. Still, 11 hours is a pretty good amount of time. The only way I could see you needing more than 11 hours of battery life without time in between for your watch to charge would be if you compete in ultramarathon races or something like that.
In that case, you might find that your watch can’t withstand the entire duration of the race. However, I charge my watch each night while I sleep, so I never really run into the issue of my Forerunner 235 dying on me during a run.
Other Key Watch Features
There are a number of other key watch features that I wanted to mention. Some of them include health monitoring, smart features, a step counter, a wrist-based heart rate monitor, and sleep tracking. There is a long list of specs for the Garmin Forerunner 235, which you can read even more about on their website if you are interested.
Some of the features I have personally used and find most helpful in my daily life are the step counter and the “move” notification. The step counter allows me to see how many steps I have taken throughout the day. I wear my watch when I am running and when I am walking around during the day, so it gives me a pretty good measure of my daily steps.
The “move” feature reminds me to get up and get moving when I have been sitting around for a long time, which I find helpful for my personal lifestyle. It vibrates and makes a noise, so it is hard to miss. I work from home and I spend a lot of time at my desk on my computer, so I like the reminder to get up and take a short walk every so often. The Garmin Forerunner 235 “move” feature helps me work more movement into my lifestyle in an easy way, so I definitely see it as a nice perk.
My Personal User Experience
For me personally, the Garmin Forerunner 235 is the perfect running watch. When I first went off to college in 2015, I had a Garmin Forerunner 15, which I had used all summer to track my mileage. I received the Forerunner 235 a couple years later, and I have only positive things to say about Garmin as a company and brand.
I have actually had both my Forerunner 15 and my Forerunner 235 watch bands break on me. Both times I got on the phone with customer support and they promptly sent me a new watch band free of charge.
The only issue I have found with the Garmin Forerunner is that it has issues tracking mileage accurately in heavily wooded areas and around tall skyscraper buildings. However, these issues pop up with other GPS watches that I have tried as well. The watch also seems to overestimate the distance you have run when you are running around a track. However, this is a non-issue for me, since I already know that each lap on a standard track is 400m. So, I really don’t need my Garmin to track my pace or mileage around a track. If I’m doing repeats, I simply use the split feature to get my splits.
Whenever I had track workouts to complete in college, I would simply turn off the auto split feature and take my own splits (using the split button on the watch) for whatever repeat distance I was doing. This worked perfectly since I knew the distance I was going for each repetition. So, I was able to get quick and accurate splits on my watch.
It’s actually one of my favorite simple features that the Garmin Forerunner 235 has. It is one that I used quite often when training for endurance races like the 5k and 10k in college. If you also do a lot of track workouts, you will likely enjoy having a simple split button on your watch.
The Price Point
Finally, we have reached the cost discussion. This is certainly a huge determining factor that most people consider when buying any new piece of technology. I certainly took price into account when I bought my very first Garmin, the Forerunner 15. I received the Garmin Forerunner 235 for free, so the price wasn’t a factor for me.
Anyway, let’s talk retail cost for the Garmin Forerunner 235. If you purchase through Garmin’s website directly, the Forerunner 235 currently retails for $249.99 (as of today, April 21, 2021). I’m not sure if this watch ever goes on sale, but maybe during a big shopping day like Black Friday, Garmin (or another retailer) offers some sort of special deal on the watch. While $250 is definitely a lot of money, the cost is in-line with other similar running watches on the market today.
Garmin Forerunner 235 – Final Thoughts
Overall, I love my Garmin Forerunner 235 GPS watch. I think it is great for people like myself who want a GPS watch that can track mileage, workout splits, paces, heart rate, etc.
My Garmin Forerunner 235 has held up well for the past few years, and I hope it continues to do so for many years to come. I don’t see a need to upgrade to at this time. As far as Garmin itself, I give the brand two thumbs up. I have only had positive experiences with my Garmin products thus far. Anyway, that’s it for this post. As per usual, I will be back with more content very soon.
-Alyssa 🙂
