Forerunner 235 VS new Vivoactive HR

On paper, the Vivoactive HR looks fantastic, and dcrainmaker thinks very highly of it..

But personally, I can't do another touchscreen watch. I got out of an Apple Watch to go to this Forerunner 235, and one of my favorite parts is my sleeve/jacket not accidentally killing a run, or doing something else on the watch when it's not in activity mode. Drove me nuts. It's actually one of the reasons I didn't entertain the idea of moving up to a 630.

A lot of people in my run group have the original white Vivoactive watch and they love it, so clearly it's a decent watch, but for this year at least I'm sticking with this 235.

Thanks for sharing your experience.
I'm quite used to the touch screen. Both the 610 and my vivoactive has this. My lack of experience with only button based operating device is one argument for me to get the vivoactive HR over the forerunner 235 :)
But maybe this will not be any challenge for me to get used to interact with the 235 only by buttons.

Funny/scary, but this guy lost his first Boston Marathon on a 630, perhaps due to the touch screen.

https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?348712-FR630-lost-my-Boston-Marathon-*please*-help

There's just no way I'd trust a touchscreen watch, especially when doing a major race.

Why I chose the 235

I love that you can create custom workouts and upload them to the 235.
From what I've read, the vivoactive can't download custom workouts.

If I want to run a 5K, out and back, I create a workout with a warm-up of 5 minutes, a 2.5K run - repeated 2x -and a cool down of 5 minutes.
Takes me out and right back to the start.

Really wanted the vivoactive, but the lack of custom workouts killed it for me.

It really depends on what you want to track and which style you prefer.

If you are a runner or cyclist who doesn't really do any other activities (like swimming, or strength training for example) that you want to record then the FR235 is a great option. It connects to GPS very fast and provides a good amount of data during your run and afterwards in GC. Accuracy for running and cycling seems to be pretty good and probably satisfactory for most users.
The FR235 does not have options to track additional activities unless you want to record them under the "Other" activity profile and edit in GC later. It also does not have a barometer so it does not track stairs as part of your daily activity while on outdoor runs it will use the GPS to measure elevation.
As you're already aware, all interaction with the menus of the FR235 is done using the buttons which works well for the most part but could do with some tweaking. (For example Garmin could change the back button to return to home screen with double tap)

On the other hand, if you are a fairly active person who does various types of exercises and would also like to track stairs and other daily activity, then the Vivoactive HR is a better option because you have various activity profiles that you can choose from, which are then saved to GC accordingly without the need to edit later. Running and cycling activity data is quite generic, not as in-depth as the FR235.
The VAHR uses touch navigation in the menus with only two physical buttons.

There are ConnectIQ apps available for both trackers but you might not find an app to fill a missing function if you pick one over the other so do your research beforehand. For example, I bought the FR235 because the VAHR is not available in my country however, I'm not entirely happy because I want to track strength training and haven't been able to find a suitable app to do so. I also only realized after purchase that there is no barometer so I can't track the stairs that I climb multiple times a day at the office.

Finally, the FR235 is round while the VAHR is rectangular. You may have a preference for the design style of one over the other, especially if you plan to wear it 24/7.

I was in the same boat as you. In fact as was going to get the VAHR but saw the 235 on offer and it was actually a little cheaper.

As others have said it depends on what you'll use it for. I just want it for running, I don't wear it when I'm not running. I'm not interested in the number of stairs I climb a day or the amount of activity I do.

Also, as far as I know it doesn't beep every mile/km, just vibrates. I wanted both in case I wouldn't notice the vibration.

I had the 620 and thought I wouldn't like going back to buttons, but it hasn't been a problem at all.