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ForeRunner 735XT vibration is weak and noisy

Former Member
Former Member over 8 years ago
I upgraded from a FitBit Charge HR to a ForeRunner 735XT (called "ForeAthlete 735XT J" in Japan to confuse us) and I have one big problem: the vibration-only mode is weak and terribly noisy.

The ForeRunner 735XT's vibration-only mode is so noisy it cannot be called a "silent alarm". And it's not even strong at all.
I'm forced to enable the "do not disturb" mode when I'm at work to not annoy my colleagues, making that feature pretty useless (luckily, there's a Do Not Disturb mode, but we shouldn't need that mode).

The FitBit Charge HR's vibration was stronger (strong enough to wake me up) and much less noisy (inaudible for my partner next to me or my colleagues at work).

Can it be fixed with a software/firmware update?
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    This is probably subjective, but my vibration alert is not noisy, but I would say it is not silent. It certainly would not annoy anyone in a work environment, unless I worked in a library or a sound recording studio. It is definitely strong enough to wake me, as I use it for this and does not wake my wife. Might be the particular watch you have, have you tried a different one? This will not change with any firmware update, it is a mechanical system.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 8 years ago
    I work in a "normal" office environment and people up to 2 seats around me can hear the vibration.
    When I'm on a meeting, everyone in the room can hear it too and look at me.
    Considering I was hoping to use it as a reminder to go for a walk in the office every hour, it's a great deception (as annoying people around me every hour is not possible).

    Yes for sleeping it's OK as it would be terribly noisy if it also woke up my partner.
    But for daytime use it's definitely too noisy.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    Sounds like yours might be louder than mine. Suggest you check another watch to see if they are the same.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    I tried this with time of day alarms earlier and had not realised that, at least with those, vibration only does actually make a sound albeit somewhat quieter than tone of course.

    Maybe the fact I had never really noticed this, suggests it is not too loud.

    I have had notifications and move alerts go off in meetings both with a 735 and 630 at same time and had not detected annoyance from my fellow workers. They do note with amusement however that I often wear 2 watches !
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    I tried this with time of day alarms earlier and had not realised that, at least with those, vibration only does actually make a sound albeit somewhat quieter than tone of course.

    Maybe the fact I had never really noticed this, suggests it is not too loud.

    I have had notifications and move alerts go off in meetings both with a 735 and 630 at same time and had not detected annoyance from my fellow workers. They do note with amusement however that I often wear 2 watches !
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    I moved from 235 to 735 and yes, the vibration is wat too annoying...I have to turn it off during meetings or other situation in which I can't disturb other people and this really is a non sense...since the vibration is supposed to be a discrete way of notifying calls or messages without disturbing anyone....my idea is Garmin replaced some component insided the watch using cheapest one...and this is the result...unfortunately I don't have any other watch to check but my idea is all watches have same problem.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 8 years ago
    I moved from 235 to 735 and yes, the vibration is wat too annoying...I have to turn it off during meetings or other situation in which I can't disturb other people and this really is a non sense...since the vibration is supposed to be a discrete way of notifying calls or messages without disturbing anyone....my idea is Garmin replaced some component insided the watch using cheapest one...and this is the result...unfortunately I don't have any other watch to check but my idea is all watches have same problem.


    Thanks for confirming my fears...
    I returned mine already, the noise was unacceptable.
    So the lower-end FR235 doesn't have that problem?
    I might try that one.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    Thanks for confirming my fears...
    I returned mine already, the noise was unacceptable.
    So the lower-end FR235 doesn't have that problem?
    I might try that one.


    I confirm, my old 235 was very quiet...but of course it's a different watch...so you'll miss all the advanced features of the 735...I'm gonna stay with this but really missing the old vibration of 235...
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    I was in a meeting just now with my 735 and got some Smart Notifications. Nobody seemed to notice. It makes a brief "sound" but not too loud IMHO. Have got a 235 as well but can't say have noticed any different behaviour in this regard but then again I don't seem to have a problem with my "vibration" on a 735.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 8 years ago
    Same to me, sometimes I couldn't feel it in the morning, but it's not noisy.