Should I buy one tomorrow? Any GOOD experiences??!

Thanks for taking the time to respond all, there's some really useful information on there :)

To be honest, i find even with the mio link that i can get cadence lock quite easily so that won't be anything particularly new to me, i think i must swing my arms alot which causes it!

When people say the sleep tracking is poor... my vivoactive just records when i fall asleep/wake up and how much light/deep sleep i've had... i assume this is the same on the 235?

Thanks again all, i'm being swayed towards it :)

Another satisfied user here, having arrived from a TomTom via a Sony Smartwatch.

Not had a single mishap tracking runs...convenience of hrm being 'just there' rather than something you have to decide to put on is a bonus...figures seem believable to me...all day heart rate tracking again seems mostly believable of i look back and rationalise against what i was doing. I dont understand why anyone would need instamt 'what is my heart rate now'...so i dont really look at the widget, just look back at the data on connect.

Step counter is accurate, although I dont wear it 24x7 so all that activity and sleep tracking is just an occasional thing of interest.

Battery life is better than I expected...i charge on Sunday night....track a 12k on a Tuesday and Thursday, a 5k on a Saturday, followed by a 10k every few Sundays (and sometimes an occasional 2 hour bike ride). Theres always sufficient charge to get me through to Sunday evening (or Monday if I forget).

Screen visibility is good. 4 stats on screen for me typically, although i have a 2 stat screen for dark night time runs.

Syncing isnt quite as robust as I'd like, probably due to being out of range of my phone for typically 5 mins, often ten mins or longer at the end of a run (drink/chat etc), plus I often switch data off on phone. But I can 'force' it relatively easily if required. I've never lost any data.

Connect seems to represent activity data in a useful manner, although I use Strava mainly due to having built a sizeable social network of fellow runners. sync to Strava is automatic amd flawless.

Notifications are useful if phone is buried in an inner jacket pocket...I can glance at a text message or a football score update, without even having to put my beer down!

And it looks like a normal watch that you can get away with wearing in a work environment.

Good luck and hope you'll enjoy it :)

Ok, so i've ordered one! Black/red and should be here tomorrow morning. You've all convinced me ;)

Thanks again all!!!

That's the one I have - it's a very nice watch. Enjoy the piece!

I got my 235 a few weeks ago. It has been great thus far. Only disappointment is the lack of a lap swim feature. Have contemplated returning it for the vivoactive to add this feature. But not sure how the vivoactive compares to the 235.

I got my 235 a few weeks ago. It has been great thus far. Only disappointment is the lack of a lap swim feature. Have contemplated returning it for the vivoactive to add this feature. But not sure how the vivoactive compares to the 235.

I use a 230 and have also had a va since they came out, (disclaimer: I'm not a swimmer.) One term I've heard used about the va is "Jack of all trades, but master of none". In other words, it does a whole bunch of stuff, but not great at any. (it's the high end "fitness Tracker" in the vivo series)

The 23x is MUCH more running focused than the va and does running stuff far better than the va. (Forerunner is for running)

While Connect IQ apps can add some activities, they basically requires that the device FW itself has a basic understanding of the activity. For example, the 23x supports "Outdoor running", and doing an app for "Outdoor walking" or "Outdoor hiking" can be done. (Disclaimer: I'm the guy that wrote "Hike"!).

"swimming" is a bit different, in that the FW might not expose the info to CIQ needed for a swimming app.

There are no perfect devices. What is the compromise you're looking for?

Only disappointment is the lack of a lap swim feature. Have contemplated returning it for the vivoactive to add this feature. But not sure how the vivoactive compares to the 235.

There are no perfect devices, and in all likelihood there will never be. As consumers, our responsibility to ourselves is to decide on the best compromise out of the available offerings in the market, instead of trying to ‘make’ the perfect device eventuate. I certainly wouldn't expect the Vivoactive (or soon-to-be-released Vivoactive HR) to be equally good in all other respects as the FR235; Garmin would be stupid to let that happen, and to be frank, personally as a FR235 owner I don't want it to happen either.

It's here :) now all setup and on charge! Arrived with 43% and now on 60%, taking a while!! Can't wait to wear it.

Feel kind of sad taking the vivoactive off though!

Thanks for the replies!

It's here :) now all setup and on charge! Arrived with 43% and now on 60%, taking a while!! Can't wait to wear it.

Feel kind of sad taking the vivoactive off though!

Let me know what you think of the 235 vs the vivoactive. Interested in what you have to say between the two.