Garmin - Forerunner 210

Currently running with a Garmin Fenix 6S, and have had it for over 5 years now. It does everything (and more than) I need. Works great and holds a charge so I don’t see myself getting a new watch for a while still. My first two I used for 3-4 years each, first one had charging issues and eventually died (forerunner 210), second one (forerunner 220) I wanted to upgrade to something with HR and more features. They brought out a newer model with HR capabilities a month and a half after I got my second one. 🥲 I couldn’t justify upgrading so quickly and kept it for a few years.

You're probably going to get each brand's fans telling you theirs is the best. The Garmin Forerunner 200- or 500-series will give you great coverage of running and cycling. I'm less sure about swimming. I know people do it but I'm not much of a swimmer. I think there are some tricks to setting it up well. It should give you ok coverage of basketball. You'll see how it impacts your overall fitness picture. I found the weightlifting module unusable but people do use it. Must-have accessory - an external heart rate sensor. I think there's a right thing for swimming in particular. It should work fine for the other stuff. The handlebars adapter. If maps are important to you, within Garmin you really need two devices.

I can remember running before GPS running watches came about, but I wore my candybar garmin for years! Wish I wouldn't have given it away, because it was still working great when I decided to downgrade to a smaller/newer model. I usually keep mine until they break or die. I spend enough on shoes every year, I'd hate to have to buy $500 watches more often than I have to. My current Garmin is going on 7 years. Still works great, still wear it as my daily and running watch. Replaced the band a couple of times, but still holds a great charge.

Seems like I am replacing my watch every 2-3 years. Battery is always the reason. Have gone with the base models of the garmin forerunner (35,45,55) then finally upgraded to the 200 series most recently.

If they won't want to charge it daily, a Garmin is a great option. The next question is whether they will go through and select specific activities when they do them (hike, golf, cycling, etc). If so, then go to the Garmin website and confirm which model has what you want. If not, then it really doesn't matter as they'll be using the basic background activity tracking features. The Forerunners in the 200 series are good values with most activities, but maybe not golf.

i second that. wrist HR with F8 is also faulty for me like 30% of the times, could be because of a wrist or a strap. But i did not see any with F8 improvement compared to F6 or older forerunners

I second this. Exact same use case run 3x/week and weight train 3-4x/week. I found the epix pro gen 2 sapphire to be best utility and bang for buck. I tried the FR but was too run focused and I preferred the more tactical look. The fenix 8 was nice but at double the price with same sensor technology it didn’t felt worth it. You do forgo the mic and voice features but I didn’t need it and didn’t want a true smart watch but prioritized a fitness forward watch. 3 months in and I love my Epix pro gen 2 47mm

> there are almost no software bugs That's a laugh. I have a SW or Firmware bug from Feb 2023. It has been reported on Epix, Fenix, and FR series. Never fixed. And I don't expect it to be fixed. Many have reported to Garmin. Garmin's response in my case was to offer replacement (refurbished unit). Same issue on refurbished unit. So it is not isolated to HW but due to SW or Firmware. But if the unit works for you, then great. Congrats and enjoy.

Garmin Forerunnner has several models in that range. Work like a charm.

With gps actively going(most battery intense thing you can do), a forerunner with MIP will last you like 3 to 5 days straight. OLED probably a solid 2 to 3 days straight. If you just want to wear it when not using it for activities, you get like 2 weeks before charges.