have had my garmin 235 since December - have always thought the HR was playing up especially when im doing HIIT - anyhow 1st time i went thru to garmin support they said it was the firmware - so i stuck with the watch for a bit longer - had my suspicion as when out of breath the HR was saying i was like 100 - so i set up my HR belt and stuck the bike computer on - the results were shocking - the belt was up at 140 150 - the 235 was still at 100 110... so a final call was made to support and the watch will be replaced - i swear the watch is not fit for purpose when made but i will now await the new watch and make tests again..
The difference between the 2 platforms is cost I bet. Licensing a sensor from someone else will cost more than making your own. The real 'cost' is in software, and this is where buying in a solution gets you to a finished product quicker.
It's just getting weirder and weirder. At first, it just the oHR thingy that kinda bug me.
Then I find out that sleeping tracking is very stupid. For example; it tracked that I was slept from 16:44 to 0:47 with 62 minutes awake time. All this recorded on the day that I was in business meeting from 15:30 to 18:30.
Lastly (so far, hopefully no more) last Saturday I was in a van traveling 300KM to another city. My genius FR235 tracked that I was walking for 12xxx steps during 3 hours on my ride.
Honestly Garmin...it's like we paid USD 330 to be in your beta test. Last update (which doing more harm than fix) was a month ago already. If you really do not know what to do or how to fix these issues, can't you just recall all FR235 at least to protect your company dignity?
Sincerely yours,
From the owner of Edge 510, Vivosmart and FR235 - a.k.a Garmin Fanboy
The thing that worries me is that with as quickly as companies are coming out with new devices these days, the Forerunner 235 may never leave the "beta test" stage before it stops getting support.
A good example would be my last running watch. I have the Forerunner 620 which had a legendary "negative charging bug". Basically, for some reason you would plug it in and instead of charging it would slowly drain. Just like the HRM on the 235, the internet suggested several options and workarounds. What worked best for me was charging the watch in the freezer.
The point is, years went by and Garmin never fixed the issue. Heck, they barely acknowledged it.
Customer service would just replace the watch for those that complained enough but the replacement device had the same bug.
I'm pretty sure the support and updates are already over for this watch.
As noted earlier in this thread, there was supposedly an update coming soon. That was weeks agoa. It never came, and we haven't heard a peep since. This watch is now old news.
I have to agree with Steve on this one Jim. The 72 HR default was fixed with the VSHR in mid January. Nothing for the 235 when it comes to a WHR sensor update. Same old story from support; one is coming "very soon". If you look back at all the firmware updates, each one caused just as many new problems as it did fixes for old ones. I hope it isn't true, but I think the FR235 has hit a plateau. I'm taking my loses with this device and waiting on someone to come out with something similar. The only difference this time is I'm going to wait and make sure it works well before I buy it.
The only difference this time is I'm going to wait and make sure it works well before I buy it.
That's a great idea. There's a price to be paid being an early adopter, and not just in the sense that products tend not to be offered at significantly discounted prices shortly after their release to the market.
That's a great idea. There's a price to be paid being an early adopter, and not just in the sense that products tend not to be offered at significantly discounted prices shortly after their release to the market.
I agree that there's a price for early adopter. But from well-settled-high-reputation like Garmin, we expect that price to be minimized. That's why we ran off and buy this very promising FR235 on day 1. Look what we've got...a prototype product with beta software and zero support.
Garmin, my dear, are you turning into startup company? Are you throwing away all trustworthy you've built over decade? Or do you still think that we'll buy everything with Garmin logo because we have no other choice?
I have to agree with Steve on this one Jim. The 72 HR default was fixed with the VSHR in mid January. Nothing for the 235 when it comes to a WHR sensor update. Same old story from support; one is coming "very soon". If you look back at all the firmware updates, each one caused just as many new problems as it did fixes for old ones. I hope it isn't true, but I think the FR235 has hit a plateau. I'm taking my loses with this device and waiting on someone to come out with something similar. The only difference this time is I'm going to wait and make sure it works well before I buy it.
Yeah, I bought this watch knowing there would be some issues but expecting they would be fixed (mostly)... Thing is there aren't too many options just yet so kinda limited with your choices.
Sure hoping support isn't all over yet but by now I already notice my expectations are getting lower and lower which isn't a good sign. Good lesson for the next purchase and a hard lesson wrt (this) Garmin product(s).
Good lesson for the next purchase and a hard lesson wrt (this) Garmin product(s).
Even though I've long since returned my TomTom Spark Cardio+Music, I'm still quite active on the TomTom discussion forums and maintain an interest in the product. To be fair, I'm not seeing TomTom being any better or more responsive with regard to fixing defects, let alone implement additional features requested by customers that weren't already promised in marketing collateral prior to product release, by way of firmware updates.
I also looked quite closely at then Suunto Ambit3 Run, after returning the TomTom and before settling on buying the Garmin Forerunner 235, but it looks to me its Android app is in perpetual beta and unable to get to a stable, fit-for-purpose release to date.
While I don't think it is unreasonable to want to buy (and gladly pay an above-market-average premium for) something that just works out-of-the-box as advertised, and get incremental performance tweaks and minor improvements in usability from time to time afterwards, I think it is unrealistic in today's commercial landscape. (As for getting additional features that increases the utility and hence value of the product functionally, forget about it.)
Or do you still think that we'll buy everything with Garmin logo because we have no other choice?
Oh, I had other choices, but on the balance of everything, Garmin still won my custom. That's what being competitive in the marketplace is all about, isn't it? The intended primary beneficiaries of market competition are the industry players vying for profitable revenue and market share, not consumers who hope to sit back and be well served while prices got lower and features got fancier. Aspirations, quality-of-life and satisfaction of the individual are not the concern of for-profit commercial enterprise.
