Is anyone happy with their 235??

I used an early Scosche forearm band with my phone a couple of years ago and it worked quite well, but it was a pain to hit the buttons when under a long sleeve shirt when it was cold and left an extra odd tan line when it was warm.

With the 235 I use a chest strap and the "Other" profile when I do my body weight workouts due to the problems with WHRM when wrists/forearms are being flexed. The one bike ride I've done with it the WHRM tracked pretty well, but it was a short easy ride.

Before the 225 came out I was using a Mio Fuse paired to a 220 and that worked quite well, and as I said above I got great results with the 225 which uses the same sensor as the Mio products.

I'm hoping that Garmin can get their in-house sensor firmware sorted to the point where it's as good as the Mio solution. They're making progress but it's still a bit frustration for me at this point.

Have done a few runs with the FR235 and pleased with accuracy. Also did a cycle and it seemed for 95% of the time to be roughly what I would expect when paired to my Edge 1000.

Just did a 7.5km run with the FR235 tight on the right hand wrist and the FR225 paired to a Garmin Heart Rate Monitor Strap (to override the optical monitor) to see how the optical compared to a strap. Pretty much bang on.

Attached is the image of the result.

I also have a comparison of the FR225 optical vs FR235 optical from another run of people want to see that.

I am definitely not happy with mine. After the 3.20 update the 24/7 and RHR features became unusable because of the low sampling rate. Moreover, the OHR is really inaccurate in the beginning of runs and I cannot rely on it on intervals either. I have stopped wearing my 235 and started using my 630 more until the next firmware hits.

My experience with the 24/7 HRM is pretty much the same. It is practically unusable:
- Several times during the day the watch records a very low HR. Typically around 40 - which is 18 BPM below my RHR! 1-2 times during the day a very HIGH heart rate is measured, e.g. 140. That can happen while I watch Tv or drive my car - which of course makes no sense. In effect, both the low and high values of the day/last four hours are spoiled.
- The HRM often locks itself at a certain level - typically 84 or 95 - when the watch is in "stand by" (when you haven't pressed any buttons for a while). A few seconds after a button is pressed it adjusts to what seems to be the correct level (I'm typically at around 67-70 BPM when not doing anything physical). However, the watch might have recorded 84/95 for hours by then.. . Which makes 24/7 monitoring useless.. .
- Last night the watch for some reason missed all sleep and HR tracking. There was a spike at around 5.30 in the morning - besides that, no data.. .
- It does not work at all for work-outs/strength training. If you get a response it will be long after you would expect it. This morning I made a series of squats. No reaction at all. I put my chest strap and did the same series. Immediate reaction.

For running, I should say, I have had no problems. Seems to work fine. The readings I get are more or less identical to what I get from my old (chest strap based) watch.


It's a shame. The watch is extremely comfortable to wear. Lightweight and with a nice band. And the user interface is (mostly) intuitive and with a good feature set. But it really flunks when it comes to what should set it apart from the 230.

The 235 seems to be good for running and mediocre at everything else. This is coming from owning/using a Fitbit ChargeHR and a Surge... which is mediocre for running and good at everything else. During the winter, for those of us to don't have gym memberships or own treadmills, running isn't always on the menu because of foul weather. And because the HRM doesn't function very well except for pace and tempo running, it leaves some of us to do heart rate running and cross training in a strange place. I'm sure future firmware updates will improve things, but that's my impression for now.


As an aside, I wanted to mention that as of this posting, my complaints with this watch are no more because I've started using a heart rate strap. You can buy Garmin's premium soft strap heart rate monitor from Amazon for a big discount (40% off) right now. I've used it twice now and the difference is amazing. This is actually my first time using a heart strap and I'm officially a convert. I was able to consistently chug along at 140 to 150 bpm for an entire hour on my Bowflex Max Trainer without wondering if I was in my target zone. Had I used the integrated HRM on the 235, it would have locked onto the cadence of the Max Trainer and report back 40 to 50bpm. Because of the steady and consistent bpm reporting, I was able to go longer aerobically and get a higher "training effect" without feeling sore the next day. This is the first time I've been able to knowingly and consistently stay in my target zone for an extended time period. I'm feeling notably better today as a result. As an added bonus, it doesn't ding your battery. So my advice to some of the folks out there is pair your 235 with a strap and only use the integrated HRM for secondary monitoring.

You've illuminated what is (for me) one of the biggest draws of the 235. I'm a runner first and foremost. I've used chest straps for ten years. They get tiresome after a while, particularly on really long hot runs when the pod starts digging in and rubbing your skin raw. In winter they can get flaky with dry air and static build up; recent HRM3 or HRM4 based models are better but still susceptible to issues. Not to mention the fun of wetting the strap and putting on the now-cold-and-wet strap as you get ready for a run!

So for me if the 235 gets the HR right most of the time and only flakes out on HR in predictable circumstances, or has known situations where it's just not going to work well, I can just use my HR chest strap that I'd have been using with prior watches anyway. I still win by getting to do steady runs or other stuff free of a chest strap in cases where the OHRM works well.

At the same time, 24/7 HR is a curiosity and if they get it right fine, if it remains so-so, no big deal for me though I know others have different priorities.

You've illuminated what is (for me) one of the biggest draws of the 235. I'm a runner first and foremost. I've used chest straps for ten years. They get tiresome after a while, particularly on really long hot runs when the pod starts digging in and rubbing your skin raw. In winter they can get flaky with dry air and static build up; recent HRM3 or HRM4 based models are better but still susceptible to issues. Not to mention the fun of wetting the strap and putting on the now-cold-and-wet strap as you get ready for a run!

So for me if the 235 gets the HR right most of the time and only flakes out on HR in predictable circumstances, or has known situations where it's just not going to work well, I can just use my HR chest strap that I'd have been using with prior watches anyway. I still win by getting to do steady runs or other stuff free of a chest strap in cases where the OHRM works well.

At the same time, 24/7 HR is a curiosity and if they get it right fine, if it remains so-so, no big deal for me though I know others have different priorities.

gpb11. +1. Been running for 40 years. HR training for 20 years, or whenever Polar got in the game with running watches w/HRM. I have had my 235 for 1 month. Have run over 200 miles with it. It has been spot on. I have never been into 24/7 HR monitoring. I never cared what my HR was when I did push-ups, etc.
One of the great things of having run over 83,000 miles I rarely do much interval work. I have used my HRM Run chest strap with my 920 comparing to the 235. Always has been close enough for me.
With all the comments about HR and actual pace I wonder how I ever ran sub 18 5 K's without all the data. I admit I like the numbers, but it can lead some folks to analysis paralysis.
I have coached a lot of runners over the years and have found that folks who make a commitment to run,and have fun running,may make it a lifetime activity. Always been my goal, and have been very fortunate to still love running at age 72. Nick

Still, we who come from the running side of the fence would do well to recognize that Garmin is also marketing this seemingly to the activity tracker focused segment as well as runners and casual cyclists. If they end up unable to make it work well in those circumstances, especially in terms of stuff like the 24/7 HR monitoring, they should be clear about the devices limitations. It's no fun to save up and buy an expensive device thinking it will do what you need it to do only to struggle with it and end up disappointed.

Personally I suspect they'll get it sorted out (mostly) in time, the only question will be whether thats weeks, months, or the next model. Time is the only thing that will provide that out.

Re the marketing front, I reread the Garmin "buy" page https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/sports-recreation/running/forerunner-235/prod529988.html (well the UK one at least) and I'm left with the belief that this is a "GPS Running Watch" and little else.

Casual cyclists or any other sports not mentioned at all in the overview and only passing mention to activity tracking and 24x7 monitoring.

I couldn't find a mention about managing arrhythmia either...