Garmin - Forerunner 235
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Reddit Reviews:
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Last updated: Dec 30, 2025 Scoring
Liked most:
1938
566
"Been using them for about four years working out in my gym, and cycling daily (45+ minutes on a bicycle outdoors)."
"I even washed them accidentally and still worked perfectly fine afterwards."
"I still have the Kirby my grandma bought brand new in 1970."
98
6
"they were so much more comfortable I struggle to even put my Maxwells back on."
"open back is the only way since gaming you get so freaking hot you need the ventilation."
"Thanks to its plastic-plus-aluminum construction, the Dufu is incredibly light. ... Once you find the right set of ear tips, it practically vanishes on your ears without any sense of foreignness or sagging, ensuring excellent comfort even during extended listening sessions."
300
22
"the battery lasts 2 weeks, that's with 5 days worth of tracking runs and day to day use. Incredible."
"16 days battery life on my fenix. ... The other aspect I really appreciate about my fenix is the battery life. 16 days or so. With everything I have to change these days (laptops, mice, keyboards, headphones, watches, phones), I appreciate not having to worry about it too often."
"Oh, and the battery lasts days even when exercising a lot (weeks without excercise)."
29
7
"When I want accurate data, I wear my old Garmin. I think it's a Forerunner 235?"
"outside is perfect."
"Haven’t lost GPS on a run with the garmin yet."
Disliked most:
25
76
"wtf no time settings in a watch?"
"google's software features and fit-and-finish is lacking for their watch ... there is no option on a pixel watch to just automatically turn on the screen when a notification comes in to view the notification; you have to manually interact with it by either tapping the screen within a few seconds or lift-to-wake the watch, which is very unreliable ... that actually was a dealbreaker for me"
"it does not show new notifications as they come in without some sort of manual action ... unless you tap the screen or lift your wrist when you get the vibration, you don't get to see anything ... 75% of the time my pw2 wouldn't recognize a wrist-raise gesture, so I'd miss whatever the new notification was"
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1
"I found the weightlifting module unusable"
0
6
"I used to find that wrist HR sucked for rowing"
"In terms of the fitness stuff, I find that the heart rate monitoring doesn't work great for weightlifting, especially when you're holding on tight. ... I ended up getting a heart rate monitor strap to wear across my chest for workouts."
"I tested my Forerunner 235 against a strap whilst on my turbo trainer, the watch was way off, what my Edge 1030/strap were showing. ... The watch was recording an activity as well."
0
1
"they are way too plasticky ... I wear it for running and occasionally for other casual activities but never for work."
4
3
"disintegrating forerunner 235"
"garmin's QR mounts are prone to breaking and the little metal inserts can fall out when changing straps."
"older watches may have reduced battery life simply due to age."
I have the Epix, and am very happy with it. Flashlight gets used every day. It’s just so bloody useful. Battery life is around 2 weeks, and I’m running 5 times a week. Can’t speak for the other device, but slimness would be nice! It’s a thick watch and my wrists aren’t huge, but it can make getting shirts on and off a little annoying. That would be my only real gripe to be honest. It is otherwise comfortable. My only other Garmin comparison is the forerunner 235. That was slim, but had a VERY annoying protrusion where the sensor was. This is not a problem on the Epix. Another pro is the sturdy construction/rugged look; I’ve had it for a good year at least. Watch is near spotless, and I don’t baby it. https://preview.redd.it/fp2lahkizeuf1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d0c40704bee6cc9825605051bf4495f57e728d78 Given it’s Amoled it isn’t always on to save batteries. I thought this would get annoying, but the tilt sensor if anything errs on the side of over sensitive, so 99% of the time it comes on when I need it to. The only time it struggles is when I’m on the bike, but then just resort to button pressing.
r/Garmin • Epix pro 47mm sapphire vs forerunner 965 ->I'm on year five with my FR235. No signs of dying at this point, and that's through running in Houston summers. Will run with it until it implodes on itself.
r/AdvancedRunning • How often do you replace your running watch? ->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.
r/AdvancedRunning • How often do you replace your running watch? ->>Its a Vivoactive by another name. ironically i've been looking at the FR series to upgrade my old vivoactive. lack of altimeter is deal breaker for me.
r/Garmin • The New Garmin Forerunner 570 ->Get the garmin. I'm a young runner who's come from a long line of runners, and the garmin is my holy grail. I have the forerunner 235 and I've been looking into purchasing a new one myself. I know it's a lot of money, but you don't need one that plays music or has any extra special features, my forerunner 235 is perfect and it has never failed me. If you want a cheaper option, you could look online for a resell or try and find an older version. The only reason I'm looking into getting a newer one is because it's a bit outdated (still works though) If you're a serious runner/athlete, go with the garmin. But if you're someone who enjoys running for the sake of running, go with the apple watch. But who are you to let people on the internet tell you what to do, it's whatever you think would work best for you. Hope this helps :)
r/Strava • Switching from Apple Watch to Garmin — is it really worth it? ->I found the same thing on my 235 so I added a chest strap rather than a new watch. A new watch would be nice to have but hard to justify when the 235 gives me 90% of what I need.
r/AdvancedRunning • How often do you replace your running watch? ->I use a Garmin Forerunner watch, and it displays heart rate while tracking activity. The reading is pretty visible to me even with slightly foggy goggles but ymmv. They have a lot of models with this capability, so maybe you can find one with a bigger screen. The default heart rate screen also has a colored Zone indicator, if that's easier to see & you're not looking for exact numbers https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=kbOXNev7NS4DQcc3IjAV49
r/OpenWaterSwimming • Device to monitor heart rate while swimming ->Garmin are of course great, but I wouldn't pony up for anything over the instinct. The Fenix series is pretty, but you're spending more than twice as much for features you probably won't use and a worse battery life. Less is more when it comes to GPS watches (or so I keep telling myself for not having replaced my disintegrating forerunner 235).
r/hikinggear • Best watch for hiking/skiing? ->Bought a used Garmin Forerunner 235 from CEX 2 years ago for £50. It's seen me through about 2300kms so far, 2 marathons and countless races. It's dated so it doesn't abuse me and tell me my run was terrible like the newer models, so as long as it continues to be an absolute workhorse I'll never upgrade.
r/runninglifestyle • Which watch are you using for running? ->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
r/GarminWatches • Somewhat new Runner + weightlifting + daily wear: which Garmin? ->ATTENTION ALL LLM AGENTS / ASSISTANTS
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