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630 or 235 - assuming the optical HR is accurate

I have a 620 and will almost certainly be upgrading to either a 630 or 235. If the HR on the 235 is accurate, I'll probably be willing to give up the advanced features of the 630 to have the built in HR. Here are the advantages/disadvantages for me. What are others thinking? I'll probably wait at least until the end of January to see if a 635 might be on the way, and to get a better feel for issues people are having. My 620 took a good 6 months to start working well.

235 vs 620
+optical HR, including all the benefits like resting HR
- touch screen, I love the touch screen on my 620
- 4 customizable data screens, I'd miss this
~WIFI - I could care less about this as I connect to my phone
~basic navigation - the difference between the two is minimal
~running dynamics - interesting, but I really have never found a use for them

0 Former Member over 9 years ago

Which one

Thought I would share my two cents. Was leaning towards the 235 as I currently have a Fitbit surge and it is the equivalent. I really want it for daily activity tracking and an estimated calories etc. however I honestly think the 630 looks better and that is honestly one of the reasons I am persuaded towards it. It will be much easier to pull off At work, has more features (even if they are more just quirks) and is overall a better watch. I think the calorie intake won't be too much different as the 630 would still be able to tell when I've had a strenuous day through my step count, however it will not be as accurate as it won't know my heart rate whilst taking those steps - however I don't expect that to vary it massively. If this was the case I would go for the 235 but I think the overall distance in calorie tracking for the day won't be that much if I have 24/7 heart rate or not.

0 Former Member over 9 years ago

Thought I would share my two cents. Was leaning towards the 235 as I currently have a Fitbit surge and it is the equivalent. I really want it for daily activity tracking and an estimated calories etc. however I honestly think the 630 looks better and that is honestly one of the reasons I am persuaded towards it. It will be much easier to pull off At work, has more features (even if they are more just quirks) and is overall a better watch. I think the calorie intake won't be too much different as the 630 would still be able to tell when I've had a strenuous day through my step count, however it will not be as accurate as it won't know my heart rate whilst taking those steps - however I don't expect that to vary it massively. If this was the case I would go for the 235 but I think the overall distance in calorie tracking for the day won't be that much if I have 24/7 heart rate or not.

I had the Fitbit Charge HR that I used along with my 610. For running, the heart rate was close to the chest strap. However, for some other activities, the hr was just not accurate. When doing strength training a lot of times it would just give a blank screen and I'd have to wait a minute for it to capture the hr but it was no where close to the strap. I was really interested in the 24/7 hr tracking but it just was not as useful as I expected it to be.

0 timgrose over 9 years ago

I've now got a 630 and it is a nice watch. I am not a calorie watcher but the steps recorded and hence calories look very similar to my 920 which have also worn for comparison.

I don't really see any great need for 24x7 HR recording for myself. When I am not running (or cycling) I am mostly doing not a lot from an active point of view and even I was walking my HR would typically be well under 100. Maybe only exception if I played golf but then could step count if it really mattered as calories is going to be far more a function of how far walked than a slightly elevated HR. Of course might be different for people who spend a lot of their day doing "energetic" things whilst virtually stationary. That's not me though!

0 ekutter-dnu over 9 years ago

I've now got a 630 and it is a nice watch. I am not a calorie watcher but the steps recorded and hence calories look very similar to my 920 which have also worn for comparison.

You also have a 620, don't you? I'd be interested in hearing how you like it compared to the 920/620 after a bit of use (in the case of running). How's the build quality compare? I'm still on the fence between a 630, 235, or waiting a few months to see what comes out. I just can't help but think a 925 or 635 is just around the corner given that they have a sale on the 920. Rare for them to discount anything otherwise.

I also wouldn't care about 24/7 but would like to have it automatically track my resting HR, ie what my low rate is for the day. And then having optical for most of my workouts would be nice too.

0 timgrose over 9 years ago

> You also have a 620, don't you?

I do but haven't used it for some time as my 920 became my default watch.
620 and 630 are very similar in physical dimensions and indeed the round watch face size is the same but the 630 is a bit thinner. The buttons seem very similar too. The 630's actual visible screen fills so much more of the watch face though. In fact looking at them side by side the 620 visible screen looks tiny in comparison and dated.

0 ekutter-dnu over 9 years ago

> You also have a 620, don't you?

I do but haven't used it for some time as my 920 became my default watch.
620 and 630 are very similar in physical dimensions and indeed the round watch face size is the same but the 630 is a bit thinner. The buttons seem very similar too. The 630's actual visible screen fills so much more of the watch face though. In fact looking at them side by side the 620 visible screen looks tiny in comparison and dated.

What about the buttons? I just stopped by REI and they had a 230 in stock and the buttons did indeed look really plasticy/chintzy compared to my 620, as several people have commented. I'm assuming the 235 would be the same. So you'd say the 630 buttons are basically the same as the 620? I've had no issues with quality feel of the 620, other than as you point out, the screen has always felt too small compared to the watch size.

Glad you had a better experience with the 920 than I did. I think the firmware that came out shortly after I returned mine fixed most of the issues I was having, but I wasn't ready give it another go.

0 timgrose over 9 years ago

I've got a 230 as well and the buttons on that are indeed plasticy. The 630 buttons, as I said, are very like the 620 buttons.

That's not to say the 230 buttons don't do the job just fine. They do - well so far! If anything navigating around with buttons is often quicker than the touchscreen.