End of life?

Not trying to stir anything up here, but I have to ask. What do those of you looking for more updates expect to be fixed aside from the 72bpm and user selectable sampling rate? Because really I don't see where the core functionality that was promised is lacking since the last firmware release that got the interval alerts working.

The spikey data that the HRM had during runs initially has been fixed, I don't see much in the way of activity in the 66bpm bug threads any more, the broken intervals are fixed, problems with GPS being active in profiles where it was turned off was fixed, GPS and timing functions were fine from the start, and it seems that the problems with step counts and calories being way off were a problem from GC side of things.

As of the latest firmware update this watch does everything I was expecting it to do. All of my problems are on the GC Mobile side where it does double or sometimes triple entries to Apple Health, but an update to the watch isn't going to help that.

66bpm bug (got that today)
Data loss upon synching (Doesn't seem too common but happened to me a few times)
Cadence lock (Is this fixable?)
General OHR accuracy (Again may not be fixable)
OHR locking on a false high reading and causing a activity spike. This can really screw up you calories burn readings and is probably one of the most annoying things for me.
Occasional (for me) sleep time recording errors. (I.e. recorded as asleep while doing an activity!)
Battery drain while powered off
Activities sometimes recording a very low calorie burn (has happened to me a few times)

HR monitor accuracy is better than fitbit but worse than mio. I have all three. Falls somewhere in between. Not as slow to catch up as fitbit (especially blaze) but def slower than mio fuse.

So I don't think there is any problems as far as the HR accuracy goes. It's the technology at this point, not garmin. Not to mention spikes here and there won't make much of a difference when it comes to calorie calculations. Most of these devices use the average, not second to second data.

I use it for weightlifting, running and biking. HR accuracy is good. Not the best but good. It's the least of 235s problems.

What do those of you looking for more updates expect to be fixed aside from the 72bpm and user selectable sampling rate?

24-hour heart rate monitoring along with advertised battery life.
Accurate calorie estimates from workouts and daily activity.
Calorie readings on my watch that match Garmin Connect.
Resolution on the cadence lock bug.
Resolution on the cold-weather low-heart-rate bug.

I understand with the latter two that folks will say that other manufacturers have the same problem. I will counter that I have used other devices and did not experience those problems nearly as much (really not at all.) Every run where my heart rate breaks 160 locks onto my cadence (about 185.) Every outdoor run when the temperature is below 35 yields heat rate readings in the 110s regardless of effort.

As far as Garmin Connect... is it so much to ask that the sum quantity of calories for my activities equals the total? How in the heck can Garmin not get this right. 770 + 140 = 910. Not 870, not 835, not 1070! Today I have burned 490 calories from walking 1.5 miles. Yesterday I burned 260 walking 4.59 miles. Even a $20 Xiaomi Mi Band does a better job estimating calories.

I find it unbelievable that people forgive Garmin about the 24-hour heart rate issue. When I bought my watch it sampled all day and the battery did not last as long as advertised. To fix it, they basically broke 24-hour heart rate monitoring. This is the equivalent of a dealership throttling your engine to give you better gas mileage weeks after you bought the car. Garmin lied to me and to anyone else that was an early adopter of this product.

What is the HR sampling rate right now ? Looks like every time I move, 235 starts sampling.

What is the HR sampling rate right now ? Looks like every time I move, 235 starts sampling.

True, however there is a major issue with this in that if there is a bad data point (say it reads your heart rate at 150 for some reason) and then you stay still for the next hour, Garmin will report your heart rate at 150 for the whole hour. Sampling while detecting movement is not a bad idea, but that must be combined with some sort of reasonable regular sampling.

The Forerunner 235 is a product that is still being developed and there are software updates that are being actively being worked on. I am not able to provide a specific release date at this time, but updates for the device will be released in the near future.

The Forerunner 235 is a product that is still being developed and there are software updates that are being actively being worked on. I am not able to provide a specific release date at this time, but updates for the device will be released in the near future.

Happy to hear that, and I sure hope it's true... And I hope near future means just that and is not again the default answer meaning nothing at all (as it usually is unfortunately).

Appreciate the response though, at least a response is given.

The Forerunner 235 is a product that is still being developed and there are software updates that are being actively being worked on. I am not able to provide a specific release date at this time, but updates for the device will be released in the near future.

Thank you for defusing all the FUD around here. The 235 was just widely available Q4 2015, and it seems like all I read is from people upset their devices won't be fixed/updated. It's absurd.

I had an Apple Watch until recently, and even after the better part of a year the health and fitness features of that thing were profoundly weak. The fact they even marketed it as a fitness device was eye rolling at best, and the third party running app integration with iPhone is still awful. The 235, even in its launch state, was far better suited for purpose than AW is today.

True, however there is a major issue with this in that if there is a bad data point (say it reads your heart rate at 150 for some reason) and then you stay still for the next hour, Garmin will report your heart rate at 150 for the whole hour. Sampling while detecting movement is not a bad idea, but that must be combined with some sort of reasonable regular sampling.

That's exactly what I was talking about. I don't agree that it will average out. E,g, yesterday I had a HR reading of 193 and a second one 30 mins later with the same value. I was just walking around at the time. This added around 600c to my daily total which was nearly as much as my morning cycle ride for an hour. Note my max HR is 172!! Sometimes the watch just seems to latch onto a value and stick there for a while. Its glitches like this that start to make you think what's the point and definitely still need to be ironed out.