This product has been discontinued by the manufacturer. It's been replaced by the Garmin Forerunner 245, you may want to check out that review instead.
Update! I’ve just published my FR225 In-Depth Review, which can instead be found at this link. It’s got all the detail you’d expect after months of use. Enjoy!
Today Garmin has released their first device with an optical heart rate sensor built into it, the new Forerunner 225. In the simplest possible terms, the FR225 is basically a FR220 running watch with an optical HR sensor stuffed inside and then the Garmin Vivo lineup of activity tracking functionality (i.e. steps) added to it as well.
In doing so though, Garmin focuses on what is likely the widest possible segment of the market. The mid-range GPS running watch is incredibly popular, and it also gives Garmin a bit of an easier proving ground than the higher end watches like a Fenix3 or FR920XT, which would expect optical HR across not just running, but other sports as well such as swimming.
Still, being the first of the three majors (Garmin, Suunto, and Polar), it’ll no doubt kick off a bit of an arms race over the next 6-12 months for the three brands to incorporate what is now becoming commonplace in many other devices. In the meantime, let’s dive into the FR225.
New Features:
When it comes to new features, Garmin kept things pretty ‘focused’ on the FR225. The entirety of these new features are three things:
1) Inclusion of an optical heart rate sensor (ok, that’s a really big new thing)
2) Inclusion of activity tracking (steps/goal/etc…)
3) Addition of a heart rate ‘gauge’ page
And there ya have it…the FR225 in three easy steps.
Now, there are some minor other tweaks; for example – they had to change up the back of the unit thus resulting in a change to the charger. Similarly, it got a bit more plump due to onboarding the optical sensor (see next section). However, at its core, the FR225 is still the FR220.
Those however that were disappointed with the lack of activity tracking in the FR220 will no doubt be happy to see it included in the FR225. However, at the same time it’s a bit of a surprise that Garmin skipped smartphone notifications given that Polar has it in the M400 (for $120 less), and Garmin itself has it in the Vivoactive for $50 less.
To give you a bit of a walk-through of the unit I’ve put together this short video. Note, I’ve got a second video later on in the post where I take it for a short run.
As you can see, the menus and functions are all virtually identical to the FR220 (plus activity tracking). Whereas the size is where you see some slight changes.
Size & Weight Comparisons:
First, let’s start off with how it compares to the FR220 directly. Here’s a full front shot, with the FR225 on the left:
Next, the side profile shot:
If you line it up next to a slew of different optical sensor capable GPS watches though, it’s actually one of the smallest out there (look, I don’t know why the purple GPS-enabled FR15 photo bombed the optical sensor party, it lacks optical HR):
Next, looking at the weight, the optical sensor (and perhaps any extra battery added to assist with the additional drain), prompted a weight gain of 13g over the FR220, coming in at 54g.
For comparison, here’s a few other units per the same scale:
Finally, how does it look on one’s wrist? Well, we’ll start with The Girl, since she’s prettier:
Since I know many will ask, she’s 5’2” tall and has a wrist size of 14cm (or 5.5 inches).
And then, here’s me (6’2” tall) with a wrist size of 17cm (or about 6.5 inches):
Of course, you’ll see my wrists throughout the post and videos, so you’ll likely get bored of them.
The Heart Rate Sensor:
Without question the most important new feature (out of two new features) in the FR225 is the optical heart rate (HR) sensor. This sensor works by shining an LED light into the blood capillaries at your wrist, which it then reads optically using the infrared sensor.
While inclusion of optical sensors in watches is all the rage these days, the inclusion of accurate optical sensors is much less prevalent. One can point at a myriad of smart watch options that have garbage HR data from them when it comes to working out.
There are basically two major players in the sport-specific accurate-data realm: Mio and Valencell. Mio’s sensors come from a partnership with Philips, while Valencell’s are developed in-house. In addition, Epson also develops a highly accurate sport-specific sensor within their lineup of products. However, that sensor is not in any other 3rd party products at the time.
Whereas with Mio and Valencell they have a host of companies that have been using their sensors for years:
Mio: Mio’s own Link/Fuse/Velo/Alpha units, TomTom’s Cardio Runner/Multisport, and Adidas’s Smart Run GPS & Fit Smart products. Valencell: Scosche Rhythm+, Jabra Sport Pulse headphones, and the iRiver On.
Now, we can add Garmin to the list as well with the FR225. Garmin went with the Mio sensor, which is definitely good news (versus developing their own).
That’s promising since the Mio sensor is a pretty well established ‘known’. The sensor used in the FR225 is a slightly newer iteration than those found in existing Mio products, with some minor electronic component changes. You can see below the Mio sensor in other products, such as the Mio Link (grey) and the TomTom Cardio GPS (red)
If we look at Mio’s history with sensors (both in their own products and 3rd party ones), I’d say that on the optical HR portion it’s relatively accurate. Where Mio made one stumble with a product was in their Mio Link/Velo units in using an inferior ANT+ transmitter antenna design, which caused dropouts in connectivity for some users over longer distances. Thankfully, that’s not applicable here.
Now the one caveat to using an optical HR sensor can be that some folks may see issues with weight-lifting related workouts. Or basically workouts where you tighten the wrist muscles enough that it causes the optical sensor to stumble. It doesn’t impact everyone, but it’s something to be aware of. And while tattoos and darker skin can be challenging for some sensors, I haven’t seen too many folks with issues there in Mio’s sensors either (but again, that’ll vary person to person).
Garmin has added one provision to the FR225 in an attempt to minimize issues – which is to supplement the bottom of the watch with a rubber seal of sorts. This little flexible seal reduces the amount of external light getting under the watch (external light is the arch-enemy of optical HR sensors). Think of this like a window-shade:
Interestingly, it’s actually removable, which his kinda smart. In the event this wears over time, replacing it would be trivial. Looking at the materials, it looks durable enough to me – but it’s hard to say how it’d stand up to daily pounding for 2-3 years. Replacement seals are just $5.
Next, Garmin also added a new data page to the unit, which has a graphical heart rate gauge.
This gauge is tied to the heart rate zones that you setup within the watch (you can configure the ranges of five zones).
The gauge will also tell you your exact HR in BPM as well of course (it’d be silly to not include the exact BPM in a watch these days, yet some companies have tried it rather unsuccessfully).
In addition, you also have the existing HR page showing your exact HR as well as your HR zone:
Finally, you’ll maintain the same FR220 data page options that were previously available. Which are:
Data Page 1: Three metrics of your choice Data Page 2: Three metrics of your choice HR Page: Exact BPM, Current Zone HR Gauge: Exact BPM, Colorful Zone Gauge (New) Clock Page: Shows the time and Vivofit related metrics
When it comes to which metrics you can select for the two data pages, your options are:
Metrics to select: Timer, Lap Time, Distance, Lap Distance, Pace, Average Pace, Lap Pace, Speed, Cadence, Calories, Heart Rate, Average Heart Rate, HR Zone, Elevation
These metrics all display just like on any other Garmin GPS watch:
Note that there are no additional sports to configure – only the single running mode. Like the previous FR220, you do get functions such as Auto Lap, Auto Pause, and Auto Scroll, as well as Run/Walk Mode and various alerts that you can configure. Best I can tell, no features were removed from the FR220 – only added (and really only related to the HR piece and activity tracking).
Activity Tracking:
Moving along to new feature #2, Garmin has added activity tracking to the FR225. Activity tracking on the FR225 includes the ability to track your steps throughout the day, and in doing so your progress towards a goal. Additionally, it’ll track your distance walked and calories.
You can see this data below the time on the face of the watch. By pressing the up/down buttons you can iterate through the different metrics (steps, calories, distance, steps to goal):
Additionally, you can also check your resting heart rate via the optical sensor at any time by pressing the up/down buttons on the front, which activates the optical sensor and displays it below the time of day:
A couple seconds later, it’ll show your current heart rate:
When it comes to your progress towards the goal for the day, that’s displayed around the inside of the unit, you can see below it’s all green, indicating that I’ve completed my goal:
Next, like other Garmin activity trackers it has the inactivity bar, which will increase the longer you sit around watching YouTube videos. Eventually it’ll beep/buzz at you to stop watching the 12th consecutive showing of cat fan.
All of this data is uploaded wirelessly via your smart phone to the Garmin Connect Mobile app (iOS/Android) and then onwards to Garmin Connect, the web platform for your daily activity and workout data.
Finally, in the event none of this activity tracker business is of interest to you – you can go ahead and disable that within the options as well.
Accuracy Test Run:
I got to very briefly steal a unit for a few hours so I decided to head out for a short run. During the run, in order to compare HR accuracy I took along its sibling – the FR220 – paired to a traditional Garmin chest strap (HRM3). Thus on the run I had:
A) Garmin FR220 with HR chest strap
B) Garmin FR225 with its internal optical HR sensor
The run was just a meandering flat course around some of the local parks here in Paris, nothing terribly complex. The focus of it was mostly just on heart rate accuracy. So I did a few surges and whatnot as I went along. In order to explain things, I shot this short little video showing before/during/after the run, along with some analysis:
I thought it was both somewhat fitting and ironic that the traditional chest strap seemed to stumble briefly twice. Go figure.
If we dive a bit deeper into heart rate side on some charts here, you’ll see that things largely mirror each other for the majority of the run. You do see a 1-2BPM discrepancy in some cases. Either via just a second or two of lag, or just differences in smoothing. None of which would have made a difference in a workout however (coming from one that trains heavily with HR data).
The one scenario that you see a difference though is around the 20-minute marker. It’s when I stopped at a crosswalk and the traditional HR strap just…well…crapped the bed. No idea why. You can see that when I started running again it was just sitting there at 130BPM pondering life. Whereas the Mio sensor within the FR225 instantly picked up and kept chugging.
You also see an interesting few second gap in the HR strap again a few minutes later for a few seconds. I noticed this on the screen as well. Perhaps the battery is going in the strap – I just picked one at random out of the bin of straps (I’ve mostly stopped using chest straps and instead use the Scosche optical HR band unless I have to test something else).
Of course, this is just a single test on a single relatively short run. So while I’d view the optical HR accuracy as quite acceptable/good here, it’s possible that if I were to test the device for the next 2 months every other run could be bad. Though, given Mio’s history I suspect that’s not terribly likely.
And for those that want to download the raw .FIT files themselves, they’re available here. Note again, the watch I was using is a beta watch, thus things are subject to change.
Frequently Asked Questions:
In an effort to stem the tide of questions, here’s a list of what I suspect will be common questions. Or, areas that I didn’t otherwise touch on in the course of the review:
What are the colors, price and availability?
The FR225 is available only in black/red, and for $299USD. Availability is set for “Q2 2015”, so basically it’ll be out by the end of June 2015.
What is the battery life?
Garmin states 7-10 hours of GPS-on & HR-on. Additionally, it has 4 weeks in watch-on mode (i.e. time of day/activity tracking).
Does the FR225 have Garmin Connect IQ?
No, it does not.
Does the FR225 track steps?
Yes, it does. Along with sleep as well (automatically).
Will the FR225 capture heart rate while underwater?
I wasn’t able to test that yet, however many readers have been using the Mio Link successfully to transmit optical HR data underwater to another watch adjacent to it on their wrist (it has to be directly next to it due to water transmission limitations). Outside of a few very short tests I did with that setup (which generally worked with the Mio Link for me), I haven’t spent significant time testing that configuration.
As for the FR225, since it uses the same sensor family as the Mio Link, I suspect it probably would work. Just keep in mind that you wouldn’t get any stroke/distance type data in the pool since the FR225 lacks a swimming mode. Still, it’s something I’ll dig into in my in-depth review.
Does the FR225 have smartphone notifications?
No, it does not. My guess is that they used 95% the same hardware from the FR220, which didn’t quite have the right internals to do a low-power Bluetooth Smart mode needed for the smartphone notifications.
Does the FR225 continually monitor your HR 24×7?
No, only in workout mode. You can however quickly check your HR by pressing up/down, which enables the HR sensor temporarily to show you your current pulse. But it doesn’t store this in any sort of 24×7 monitoring mode like the Fitbit Charge HR/Surge, or the Basis units.
Would you recommend the FR225 or an Apple Watch?
Well, one is a fair bit cheaper than the other. I’m still working on my Apple Watch review. At first glance, I’d say that the FR225 appears to have a more accurate HR sensor than the Apple Watch. Meanwhile, the Apple Watch is far more versatile as a day to day smart watch, however it lacks GPS by itself (it needs a phone with it). It’ll likely come down to what you’re looking for.
How do you compare the FR225 to the TomTom Cardio lineup?
They’re very similar – so much so that they use the same optical HR sensor. However, they differ a bit under the covers. For example, the FR225 has daily activity tracking, whereas the TomTom Cardio doesn’t. Inversely, the TomTom Cardio Multisport edition can be used for cycling and has a swimming mode – whereas the FR225 doesn’t.
Garmin’s site and app are significantly better than TomTom’s website, however the TomTom Cardio is also $40 cheaper (and semi-frequently goes on sale).
How would you rate the Fitbit Surge to the Garmin FR225?
In general Fitbit makes better daily activity trackers than Garmin (from a web platform standpoint), however, when it comes to GPS watches right now the nod is definitely more towards Garmin. If I look at the optical sensor though, the FR225 can’t do continuous/all day long HR tracking like the Fitbit Surge can. On the flip side, the Fitbit Surge isn’t terribly accurate when it comes to HR while cycling (and is so-so accurate during running).
Would you buy the FR225 or the Polar M400+Scosche optical band?
Now that’s a tricky one. The FR225 would still be more expensive than the Polar/Scosche combo (about $50 more), but it would make for two things to deal with charging wise. However, the M400 has multiple sport modes (the FR225 only has one), and it also has smartphone notifications coming up soon too via a firmware update. Thus, it’s a bit of a tricky question.
Is the FR225 waterproof?
Yes, to 50-meters. And no, I didn’t put it in the waterproof chamber yet, simply because it was a beta unit and I didn’t really want to kill it on them in the few hours I had with it. Don’t worry, as part of my in-depth review I will.
Can the FR225 pair to an existing HR strap?
Yes, it can pair to any ANT+ heart rate strap.
Can the FR225 pair to a running footpod?
Yes, it can pair to an ANT+ running footpod.
Does the FR225 re-transmit your heart rate over ANT+ to other devices?
No, super-disappointingly it does not. This would have been an ideal way for Garmin to potentially lure in Garmin Edge unit owners who might be casual runners, by giving them something they could use with their bike computer as well. I wouldn’t be surprised however if the lack of re-broadcasting/re-transmitting is due to some terms of the licensing agreement with Mio.
Additionally, it does not re-broadcast/re-transmit your HR over standard Bluetooth Smart to any device (i.e. a 3rd party phone app).
Just to be clear through, re-broadcasting does not meant that you can’t view your HR on your phone after the activity is completed using Garmin Connect Mobile. Additionally, you can also view the heart rate on the website in realtime when using Live Tracking with the FR225. But you can’t pair another device to this HR signal.
When will Garmin add optical HR into their FR620, FR920XT, or Fenix3 watchs?
I don’t know, Garmin hasn’t announced any product plans beyond the FR225. However, it would seem pretty obvious to me that eventually all Garmin GPS watches will have optical HR within them. That’s pretty much the technology trend these days. Just like it was to include activity tracking. Nowadays, launching GPS watch without activity tracking would be akin to trying to sell sand in the desert. Similarly, we’ll see that same transition for optical HR over the next 6-12 months (it’s already happening at the low-mid range, but will slowly creep up to higher end units).
Product Comparison Tool:
I’ve added the Garmin FR225 into the product comparison database. This means you can mix and match it against any other product I’ve reviewed. For the purposes of below, I’ve shown just the FR220, FR225, TomTom Cardio Runner, Epson Runsense SF-810, and Fitbit Surge – which seem to be to be the most applicable GPS-enabled competitors.
Remember again that you can mix and match any products you’d like within the product comparison tool.
My Initial Thoughts:
I’d first start out by noting that my time with the FR225 was extremely limited – just a few hours really. And, it’s also a pre-production device (both hardware and software). So while it performed well, I’d caveat that this isn’t an in-depth review (or really any review at all).
In the case of the FR225, by going with the generally proven Mio sensor and combining it with the also generally proven FR220, Garmin is likely able to minimize potential issues and get an optical unit quickly into the marketplace with the least risky device (compared to say trying to stuff it into the Fenix3 or FR920XT). During my test run, I saw just that – it simply worked. It acquired both GPS and heart rate quickly, and displayed/recorded that data accurately too. Easy as pie.
I see the FR225 as really the starting point for what will likely be an influx of optical heart rate sensing watches by the three major GPS sport watch makers (Garmin/Suunto/Polar). No doubt other companies have released very capable products in this space (TomTom, Epson, Adidas), but the volume of shipped units by those organizations just pales in comparison to what Garmin/Suunto/Polar do. For example, in talking with Polar about optical HR earlier in the year – they were keenly aware of where the market is heading and noted that they weren’t ignoring that trend (but also noted they had nothing to share publically at the time).
Regarding the FR225 specifically, overall it’s a good mid-market offering. The only challenge I think Garmin has is the pricing of the unit at $299. That’s $50 more than the Fitbit Surge, which also has GPS and activity tracking (plus phone/text notifications), along with a cycling mode and some indoor modes (i.e. for yoga). On the flip side, the Garmin device has far more running workout capability functions – be it interval & custom workouts, or customization of the data screens. Additionally, based on my history with the Mio sensors, I suspect that the FR225 will work for cycling, whereas even with Fitbit’s latest cycling update – I have approximately zero HR accuracy with the Fitbit Surge (GPS is fine). Of course, I’d still have to validate that on the FR225 as part of my review process.
Speaking of that in-depth review – expect that likely in June sometime, once I’ve got a final production unit in my hands.
Thanks for reading!
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Hopefully you found this review/post useful. At the end of the day, I’m an athlete just like you looking for the most detail possible on a new purchase – so my review is written from the standpoint of how I used the device. The reviews generally take a lot of hours to put together, so it’s a fair bit of work (and labor of love). As you probably noticed by looking below, I also take time to answer all the questions posted in the comments – and there’s quite a bit of detail in there as well.
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Since the Garmin Forerunner 225 is no longer sold, I recommend looking at Garmin Forerunner 245:
And finally, here’s a handy list of accessories that work well with this unit (and some that I showed in the review). Given the unit pairs with ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart sensors, you can use just about anything though.
This wifi-connected scale will track your weight and related metrics both on the scale display and in Garmin Connect (plus 3rd party apps like TrainingPeaks). It'll also then sync your weight to your watch/bike computer, to ensure accurate calorie data.
This is a dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart cycling cadence sensor that you strap to your crank arm, but also does dual Bluetooth Smart, so you can pair it both to Zwift and another Bluetooth Smart app at once if you want.
Seriously, this will change your life. $9 for a two-pack of these puck Garmin chargers that stay put and stay connected. One for the office, one for your bedside, another for your bag, and one for your dog's house. Just in case.
These are one of my favorite power meters, due to both cost and accuracy. These have mostly become my defacto gravel pedals, and also get used on a lot of other comparison testing.
The Garmin Rally series is effectively 3 power meters in one, for three pedal types. I use these often in accuracy testing. While they're a bit more expensive than the Favero pedals, they offer the ability to swap pedal types easily.
The HRM-PRO Plus is Garmin's top-end chest strap. It transmits dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart, but also transmits Running Dynamics & Running Pace/Distance metrics, stores HR data during a swim, and can be used without a watch for other sports. Also, it can transmit XC Skiing Dynamics as well.
And of course – you can always sign-up to be a DCR Supporter! That gets you an ad-free DCR, access to the DCR Shed Talkin' video series packed with behind the scenes tidbits...and it also makes you awesome. And being awesome is what it’s all about!
Thanks for reading! And as always, feel free to post comments or questions in the comments section below, I’ll be happy to try and answer them as quickly as possible. And lastly, if you felt this review was useful – I always appreciate feedback in the comments below. Thanks!
I’m looking forward to this. I have the Garmin chest strap heart rate monitor and I barely use it because it feels constricting. When I do my long runs, I don’t even strap it on. I can’t wait to get my hands on FR 225.
I don’t need the other bells and whistles ie phone notifications. When I run, I just want to switch off from THAT.
Would you wait for this watch to come out or get the 620? Main purpose for either is running & being able to track my HR & calories burned is a definitive plus! Thanks!
For me I am definitely waiting for this one to come out. It has a wrist based heart rate sensor AND GPS AND tracks my steps. I was going to get the vivoactive as a GPS upgrade to my original vivofit but I LOVE that this watch has a wrist based HRM.
As for the 620, I can’t see spending that much money for something that I’m only going to be using on my runs outside. Just a thought of my own.
Does this count calories for the whole day or just during the workout? Does it matter that it doesn’t have a cycling option? Will the calories burnt from cycling still be included thru the increased heart rate?
The tattoo reference was actually reassuing. I’m African American and was wondering what sort of accuracy issues were encountered with “darker skin.”. Penetrating tattoos is a good proxy.
Just wanted to say thanks! Very thorough and answered all of my questions including some I didn’t know I had. Especially like the knowledgeable comparisons to similar products with facts and not emotion or veiled favoritism.
Nice, but the lack of re-broadcasting of the HR is a definite deal-breaker for me.
Too bad, because my old trusty 310XT is slowly dying and would be really cool to replace that (I don’t really need the multisport aspect) and get rid of the HR-belt at the same time. My bike to run ratio is something like 5 to 1, so I would be the ideal candidate to buy this. Hopefully this will be fixed in a later version.
What does “lack of re-broadcasting of the HR” mean? Does your heart rate level over the course of the run get recorded an later uploaded to Garmin Connect?
It means that you can’t pair another device – such as an Edge bike computer, or even your phone – to the FR225 and have it pickup your heart rate from the optical sensor.
Would be great to know battery life. I have a Mio Alpha hr wrist strap that lives in the drawer as the battery goes after two hours. It goes on the ocassional off-season run, but that’s it.
And the battery life with HR off? For most training runs, HR is nice, but for long runs, 12-14 hours would be much better, and I’d happily give up HR data to get it.
My wife has been waiting for ages for Garmin to come up with something like this.. currently using a combo of Mio strap + 310 watch. Do you have any info on Battery Life and what do you think about them possibly releasing one of the higher up Triathlon watches with this sort of feature?
Thanks for the great preview, looking forward to seeing how it performs in a full test :D
bummer that there’s no “all black” version… as a daily activity tracker the red/black doesn’t really fit the business attire which many of us have to work with.
I couldn’t agree more! I frankly don’t understand the need to put any colors on a watch such as this. I currently use the FR 610. While a con is that an accidential brushing of the face with activiate it, a big PRO is that its all back and fits in. GARMIN if you’re listening BLACK should be the default, if you want add colors offer them as an option! At least it looks better than the 220, that thing is downright garish as a daily watch.
I totally agree with the default color being black. Not sure who is designing these watches but they have no sense of the customer preferences. The main reason I didn’t get the 220 was that the colors are horrid. When will they get that many folks want a watch that can be worn all day in a professional setting??
I agree your complaint about the Garmin color scheme. I have always thought that Garmin gave the watches funky colors so that other runners notice the colorful watch and about it.
Personally, I was going to buy a 920, but opted for the Fenix 3, just so I can wear it all of the time and not look like a 12-year old at the office.
The only thing that’s kept me from upgrading from my Mio Alpha to a watch combo, honestly – are the colors. I LOVE the suunto look – the all black thing they have, it’s awesome. But I look at the 225 and it looks like a toy. I wish Suunto had some optical tech, and had better backend software, and were less proprietary. Those things are against Sunnto, and colors/toy like appearance are against Garmin. The best LOOKING one out there is the Adidas SmartRun, but it’s lack-luster in many other ways.
Give the 225 an all black look – with a reveresed white text/black background and I’ll never mention suunto again….but until then, I’ll sit with my 3rd party phone app (icardio) and my Mio Alpha..
I think it might be the fact that this is a sports watch, not a dress watch. If they made it in black it would still look like a sport watch. It is a watch targeted to runners who tend to wear bright colors while running. Have you ever taken a look at running shoes? I am sure you would not wear those in the office either. As for me, I have a collection of dress watches and would not be wearing any sport watch with a suit on.
Long term do you think there will be a 620 (625) or 920xt (925?) version? But can they do they whole v02 max, race predictor and recovery stuff over optical? Thought i’d read it those were chest strap only metrics?
For someone like me, already owning a 620, I think i’d be just a well sourcing a Scosche RHYTHM+
That is, unless they add Connect IQ to a potential 625?
Long term, I’d be surprised if it’s not in every new GPS running watch they release.
As for requirements for HRV, the technology is very close – we’ll see optical HRV-capable (and accurate) units shipping before the end of the yera at the latest.
I don’t think so that Garmin is going to release FR625.
FR225 seems to be a proof of concept for HR lines. We’ll see new forerunners in September or so. It should be FR230, FR235 and FR630. All of them with ConnectIQ. I also suppose a new price tag, so for those who want to save money, FR225 can be a good choice.
Some time ago you mentioned working on an in-depth report about the optical sensor industry and what is to be expected in the next months.
Are you still working on this report? It sounded amazing and I would be extremely interested in getting a deeper look into the industry and the developement.
I think lots of people would be interested in this… There are loads of questions / answers on your main Mio Link preview, and mine works great (that I know of – I’ve not actively compared it to a chest strap, so it could be miles off!). However, your full review and comparison to other options is suspiciously absent. The fact you don’t take marketing/sales $$ from the companies means I don’t worry about bias, but an overall round up would be a very well received post I think.
(as an aside – are you getting tempted by the message board approach yet ? These comments sections are becoming a little crazy!)
RB10 replied
June 6, 2015 at 11:22 pm #5
Would you wait for this watch to come out or get the 620? Main purpose for either is running & being able to track my HR & calories burned is a definitive plus! Thanks!
Reply
DC I recall you saying something along the lines of the optical HRM not being accurate for Garmin especially given their scale of distribution. Has this changed?
Yes, I think Garmin has simply decided that they’ll have to take the hit of optical inaccuracy issues with X% of people (perhaps a few percent at most). Simply because everyone else is doing it (i.e. Apple and Fitbit).
I recalled you mentioning that before and that chest strap HRM is the way to go for accuracy. If that was and still is the case, why have you ditched chest strap HRM for the Scosche Rhythm+ Optical HR band?
I don’t believe I’ve ever said that. I’ve noted that certain sensors are inaccurate, but not all sensors are created equally.
For example, I’d never ditch a HR strap for the Fitbit Surge’s optical sensor, or Apple’s. But I would (and have) for Scosche’s, and Mio’s is perfectly fine too.
I’m guessing the optical HR will show up on the next FR62x with and FR92x models, which already have bike mode/ANT+ support (and swim mode in the case of the 920).
The big thing with 620 over 220 is the HRM-strap, unless they’re able to put that into the watch (not very likely) people buying 62X will still use the HRM-strap.
Oddly enough for many people it tends to be a wash (GPS). It depends a bit on your running style. For me, my wrists are more vertical when I run, so it doesn’t much matter whether it’s inside or outside (since it would be effectively no different than being on the opposite wrist facing the other way).
Of course, individual may vary depending on their body makeup/positioning/etc…
Do you have any info if they’ll update FR220 to match FR225 in software features? I mean, I don’t expect activity tracking as it might be hardware thing but ex. this HR Gauge page is just software.
In such case people would have a choice of basically same watch but with different HRM.
Very cool, I look forward to this trickling over to whatever comes after the 920xt. I may have missed it, but with the HR, does it track throughout the day, and does that data get displayed anywhere on Garmin Connect?
Any word on whether there will be an update to the FR220 to add activity tracking?
On the one hand, I would imagine the coding would be trivial since the FR220 and FR225 use the same base. However, they also might want to leave differentiation to encourage people to upgrade to the FR225.
My understanding is that the FR220/FR620 lacked the low-level power mode required for activity tracking. I suspect if Garmin could have added it in a year ago, they would have (since it would have positioned them far better against competitive units from Polar and Fitbit).
This might have been asked (and answered) before, but do these optical HR sensors work underwater, i.e. would such a watch be suitable for swimmers.
On the 910/920 successors, this would be great…
A number of folks have had fairly good luck using the Mio Link underwater (same sensor family). I’ll certainly test the FR225 in the pool as part of my review process.
I’d love to hear more about the potential rebroadcasting of the HR numbers for cycling use especially.
As a 310xt user, I have been biding my time with optical HR being the one thing that might make me go out and buy a new watch before my current one bites the dust. To be able to replace the 310xt with a 225/625 and an edge where I keep the watch on my wrist during the bike and view its HR data on the EDGE is intriguing.
A “925xt” with HR for the run is intriguing too, but then there is the issue of what to do during the bike.
Thanks again for a very detailed review! When the MIO Link was first released, I pre-ordered and had nothing but trouble with it. I have small wrists and no matter where I wore the Link, light leaked out and the heart rate data was always inaccurate. MIO swapped out my Link with one that had an updated firmware, but that did not solve the problem for me. I have been using a Garmin Forerunner 620 paired with a Scosche Rhythm+ that works great! My only complaint about the Scosche Rhythm+ is that I wear it high up on my forearm and it tends to slide down my arm after an hour or so, but a quick adjustment and it is back in place working fine.
Exciting product! I can see that you’ve had some pretty good HR data so far but I have to wonder how well the FR225 will perform for those who have bony / concave wrists, given that you can’t really move it around to get a reading like you can with the Link/ fuse.
I’m surprised the sensor doesn’t protrude from the device a little more to create a ‘seal’ against the skin like they did with the later versions of the Link. Perhaps the overall size of the watch itself will help prevent light loss?
Rubber seal will obviously help with this but I still have to wonder if it will completely solve the issue for boney people (who form quite a big proportion of the traget market!)
$299 for a running watch. I’d rather spend $99 TomTom runner plus scosche for $70. It doesn’t even do phone notifications. No surprise garmin overpriced their product.
Ray, do you see them doing something with the 620 and doing a 625 version with optical? The 620 has a bit more versatility (to include cycling) and basically would be a tri watch without the swim mode. This kind of setup would be IDEAL for my wife.
Will this watch and optical setup give you the VO2 max and cadence data like the HRM Plus strap does with the 620, 920, and Fenix 2 or 3?
I am not so sure about that.
There are still some issues about adding optical HR to the device itself:
1) multisport watches (ok rebroadcasting + edge unit on bike could fix this)
2) battery life influence
3) unit size (from sensor itself, from extra sealing and from larger battery)
4) what about winter runners? still about 1/3 of runners for about 1/3 of a year cannot wear the watch directly on exposed skin.
so, I am just not sure if build-in optical HR is the future. I think the future is within sthg “more comfortable than a strap”, some kind of wearable HR sensors (that would also cover edge/cycling units)
Re #4. I think are issues with finding HR and cold but it’s a bit silly to say you can’t wear it on the skin. I’ve been a “winter” runner for 25 years both in the midwest and East Coast and have always worm my watch next to my skin.
1) For multisport watches, outside of the FR920XT series, the Fenix3, V800, and Ambit series all are worn on the wrist. So it’s definitely not a show-stopper.
2) Battery life actually isn’t as big of a hit as one might think.
3) Indeed, though in something like the FR920XT or Fenix3, there’s more real estate to work with. I’ve got a few pics showing how it compares there that I can look at getting added in.
4) Yup indeed, that’s a challenge. Though plenty of other watches do that today, so it’s really more of a personal choice. Since you can connect to an external HR strap anyway, it’s really all any company is going to be able to do.
I think it’s more about having to look at the watch while running in the winter. I wear mine OVER my jacket / shirt sleeve in the cold weather so I don’t expose any skin to the cold elements. If I wear a HRM watch, then I have to constantly move my jacket sleeve / glove to see the watch face or keep my wrist exposed to -25-30C winter windy weather.
yes Ray, I do understand the trend as of today is to include optical HR within the device. But I just dont think it’s the real future, the best way to go. I still think that some kind of wearable is better (even like rhytm+).
1) no problem with accuracy
2) no problem with bike computers
3) no problem with winter running
of course it’s still concept of two devices, both needed to be charged separately and so on. But I think I prefer it.
There’s never going to be a single, perfect solution that everyone should adopt. Built-in optical HR will suit some people and won’t suit others. There’s a lot of people out there who want a simple all-in-one device and this fits the bill very neatly.
It definitely looks like Garmin is dabbling with on-board HRM. It doesn’t look like a full-fledged embrace, which makes sense for their perspective. Test the market it with the middle-endish model before deploying in future products.
Personally, I prefer wearing an off-board HRM like the Scosche Rhythm+ as I like wearing my watch somewhat loose on my wrist and also external HRM’s can be used with any watch or device that received BT or ANT+ data.
No connect IQ tells me the hardware guts are identical to the 220 and perhaps that hardware isn’t optimized for it.
There’s some weird formatting thing in the last section, “My Initial Thoughts” wherein the text is appearing inside an “editable” textbox, like the one I am writing in now.
Thanks for the first look! I’m starting to realize I have a bit of a gadget problem- I don’t think I could resist an FR920xt/Fenix3 equivalent with built in HR monitoring!
Yes, I am indeed! On both chrome and IE. It only becomes obvious if you click on the text, and actually, the first paragraph of that section is not in the box. It doesn’t really affect anything, but figured you’d want to know!
I see it in Firefox as well. Didn’t notice it at first, but if I click on that portion of the text, a bunch of red squiggly spellcheck lines appear under certain words. Doesn’t happen elsewhere in the article.
Do you think this acceptance of optical HR from Garmin will mean we are likely to get an update to the current watches (Fenix 3 for example) to allow HR capture in Pool Swim and OWS App modes? And the corresponding updates to Garmin Connect (and fit files I guess) to support it?
I guess that is more likely if they are going to release their own Garmin branded Optical HR strap to use with older watches though…
Pretty bummed out that it has no Connect IQ, as I was holding off my next upgrade more for that than for an integrated optical HR solution from Garmin. I’d have been fine with using a Scosche Rhythm+ and a Garmin FR230. Ray, can you comment on how big a deal Connect IQ is/has become/will become? I feel like it’s a much bigger opportunity than most things lately.
I’m mixed on Connect IQ. I don’t think Garmin is taking the right steps, or doing do fast enough in order to make it a success. Which doesn’t mean they can’t alter direction – but realistically outside of a handful of so-so watch faces, we’re not seeing a ton of mind-altering things coming out of it.
I just went back and read your initial review of the platform and already felt like the answer being something along those lines. Sad, but I guess I’ll go for the FR225 then. I love my TomTom, but I want more flexible Intervals than it offers. I’m tired of manually checking my pace during an interval. Being a programmer/hacker myself, I’d have loved to have had the possibility to create some shenanigans for the watch, but I guess that will have to wait until another upgrade then.
You would think that if Garmin was actually serious about ConnectIQ, they would’ve launched with some viable apps. Maybe set aside a team of internal developers to build out some legitimate apps. Instead? A handful of mediocre watchfaces and an app/watchface that appears to dispense Chuck Norris jokes. Neat?
I don’t know how Garmin expects to keep people from purchasing a competing ‘smart watch’ with such a lackluster collection of ‘apps’ for their own watches. The entire thing seems like an afterthought.
Maybe not mind-altering, but I have a couple of data fields I find very useful: colorized pace and heart rate fields. The background color changes depending on speed and HR. Much easier to spot color changes than small numbers when racing.
It’s a small thing, but I really like the ability to tweak the functionality with Connect IQ.
It’s funny, one Garmin engineer in their free time made the Stargazing app – which is incredibly well made. It looks just as good as any Apple Watch app (actually, better than any I’ve tried thus far).
Wish they’d set him/her aside and just have them create cool apps.
agreed. There is no reason why Garmin doesnt have a small team of developers making apps and widgets. If it stays at its current pace Connect IQ will be useless within a year. I honestly dont know how Garmin can avoid not adopting some form of android platform to run the android wear apps to compete with apple a few years down the road. Its really the only option.
*sigh* I suppose sooner or later someone will come out with a watch that actually does everything and fits a small wrist like mine. Until then it’s pretty frustrating seeing all these “almost-there” options!
I noticed just how large it looked on the girl and wonder how many women won’t be purchasing this just because of the size of it.
What was the girl’s opinion of this device?
She liked it quite a bit up until the point I told her it only came in red/black, and that it had three data fields and not four (per page). She’s a four-data field kinda gal.
But she was good with the size (she uses the FR620 now, but previously used the FR310XT and FR305).
Ray – as The Girl prefers 4 data fields on her watch Garmin needs to devise a data screen which includes the new heart rate zone border graph and in the middle allow 3 other custom data fields. In my opinion this would be a killer screen layout.
i was hoping for an 24×7 heart rate tracking.
but no yet ,so i will stick to my Fitbit Charge HR till garmin creates something similar and hopefully better.
I own an edge 510 for cycling and im happy with it.
i love their quality of hardware but the software still needs improvement…
maybe next year….
How tight do you have to have the strap to keep the HR data accurate, have you found that you have to keep optical devices tighter than non-optical devices?
Can the watch be worn with the unit on the underside of the wrist?
I’m having trouble following Garmin’s plan. They seem all over the map. They haven’t upgraded the foreunner running watches in forever (until this one) they have updated the fenix twice in that time frame. They just introduce a whole series if new watches within 6 months – 920xt, fenix3, vivoactive and Epix. Of course none have wrist HR. Then they drop this.
I don’t know if they are continually segmenting their market but as a mostly runner I find it makes me look at other companies. Not to mention their numbering system
Seems complety random. (Unless you or someone can explain)
Polar seems to stick with what they have and add features -the M400 comes to mind.
Regarding your comments that “Nowadays, launching GPS watch without activity tracking would be akin to trying to sell sand in the desert”:
Looking at the devices being released activity tracking indeed seems like a must-have feature but I honestly couldn’t care less and I know several other runners who feel the same. This (highly inaccurate) step counting business might be of interest for couch potatoes but if you run 5-6 times a week you don’t need to count your steps – it’s pretty obvious that you move enough. There are tons of other feature which I think would be of more value in a running watch and looking at the Garmin forums I’m not alone. So what I’m trying to say is that I think there’s a market for a running watch (for serious runners) without activity tracking, smart notifications and the like. Garmin should rather include some of the feature requests (foot pod pace) by users on their forums. My two cents – you obviously have a better understanding of the market than I have Ray….
+1
I don’t care about activity tracking etc, but would love to see accurate pace from a footpod, alongside gps tracking. Seems like Garmin are really against that now tho… :(
I have to disagree here. I have a deskjob, study when I don’t work, and I run. Which basically means that if I am not out running, I am a couch potato. I’m not a big fan of activity trackers, but I can very well imagine it being useful if you like that kind of thing.
You would be surprised at how many real athletes, Ironmen included, turn steps into a fun game. I would agree it is more beneficial to the couch potato but still is motivating to get a couple extra miles in even when biking or running 6 days a week.
If the watch already has the accelerometer hardware, the activity tracker is basically a zero-cost option. A benefit to those who are looking for it, and also tick-box feature so it compares well with competitive devices, on paper.
I like that heart rate gauge and would love to see it as an option to all the data pages, as in HR ring around the standard 1, 2, and 3 data field pages options. Maybe it could only fit around the 1 and 2 item layouts, but even that would be great.
Time / pace / distance with an HR ring would be a great single data page view!
I used the Mio Link…no worky with my dark skin…..I would have to test it before I believe the optical HR will work for me…I highly doubt it based on my own experience though.
I couldn’t get the Mio to work consistently for any activity. Inside the wrist, outside, further up the arm. nothing. It would give accurate readings for maybe half an activity. Maybe it’s my hairy arms or bad circulation to my hands. I’m a white guy so it wasn’t my skin color.
I had similar problems with the Mio Link, which I ordered when it first became available in the UK. I tried tighter, looser, inside, outside, higher, lower, diy gaskets, and whilst the ANT+ connection was fine on the same arm as the watch, it just could not be relied upon to give accurate data for the full duration activities, worst during any kind of sprint or uphill effort where arms are more likely to be pumping. For ref I have relatively skinny and non-hairy forearms+wrists for a man and am somewhere around medium/olive on the skin colour spectrum, depending upon whether we’ve been lucky enough to see any sunshine over here.
I gave up and my Mio Link has been an expensive paperweight for several months.
Did you speak to Mio? I had similar with my Link. They swapped it for a slightly changed version where the case around the sensor has been altered for improved reliability. It’s been fine since
I get on really well with my 220+mio. I understand why they are adding the sensor into the package to create the 225, but it’s not for me. Cold/rain/wind = wearing a jacket or long sleeves. This makes it essential to be able to wear the 220 on top of clothes, and therefore the mio under and against the skin. This is impossible with the 225, therefore, for me, making it useless for 6 months of the year!
I would love to see the hr gauge page on the 220 though – much nicer to look at than the simple hr zone metrics.
One question… I assume Garmin haven’t added the ability to customize lap screen? This was ‘promised’ in the past, but hasn’t appeared on the 220/620
I’ve enjoyed using the Mio Link under the jacket + FR620 over the jacket last winter. That’s said, I’d upgrade to built-in optical HR if only to avoid wearing double straps for half the year, while continuing with the Mio during the winter.
If true, then that’s pretty disappointing. I don’t see GLONASS mentioned anywhere on Garmin’s website. Maybe Ray can get a definitive response from Garmin?
I was on the cusp of ordering the $80 Scosche HR band for my Edge 500, and based on the fact that the FR225 doesn’t (a) support bike mode which is >90% of my workouts or (b) broadcast the HR over ANT+, I think that’s still going to be the right choice.
That said, I’m excited to see Garmin going down this route, and I’m hoping the optical HR wristbands will either make it to the higher-end Fenix/Forerunner units or that they’ll add ANT+/Bluetooth broadcasting to the Edge bike computers.
I sweat a lot when I run and the TOMTOM Cario Runner stopped displaying the HR after about 8-9 miles because of the sweat. I know you said that you have had very little time with it.
But do you think that the rubber band will prevent the sweat from going on the sensor or is it not “tight” enough?
What other Optical HR sensors would you recommend for people who sweat a lot. I want to get rid of the chest strap ;-) !!
btw, thanks for all the hard work that you put through !
I have intermittent problems with the Garmin chest strap and have tried all the suggested solutions but still find it frustrating.
I have a LifeBeam running cap witch has an optical sensor built in. It broadcasts Ant + Bluetooth and works really well. Having said that, I find wearing a cap gets annoying after a while. Looking at the way the cap is made it shouldn’t be a problem to knock up a DIY Scosche style armband using an iPod shuffle armband / Velcro, and switch between the cap / armband as the fancy takes you.
I saw a post with Ray wearing the Lifebeam cap but I don’t know what his conclusions were.
I have never been a hat guy, but the Florida sun and my Dermatologist and 3 facial skin cancer surgeries have finally got me wearing the LifeBEAM hat. I like it, and it works. I don’t miss the HR strap.
Do you have problems with their “older / thicker rubbery” one? I initially had the soft strap but had a lot of issues but when I switched to the other one, it works every time.
same for me here! I went back to my old HRM1 (thick rubber one) strap.
I got existed when 310xt came with fancy new HRM2 premium strap, but then during winter months it just went completely off. It needed more than 10min to start recording correct HR (once being way below, other time way above). Then it could drop HR during exersice as well for more than 5min or even until end of activity. Also, it was very difficult to make it record proper HR on road bike! I guess it was because of low possition of my body on the bike and strap kind of getting of the body…
None of these happens with good old thick plastic strap! I just replaced elastic back strap for $10 and I enjoy it again. Working perfect during winter and on bike and with minimal drops during the run (none above 2-3s).
Ray…curious to know how the wrist band compared in size to previous 220. I have large wrists and on the 220 I have three holes left only. With the enlarged dial and “gasket”, did they make a slightly larger band to accommodate it?
It seemed pretty similar to me, but there might be some slight difference there technically. Though, the color is really only used to any benefit within the gauge page.
I just ordered a Vivoactive to replace my FR210. Not sure what’s better for me now. I have Edge800 for cycling and like th running functionality of the FR210. Wanting reliable optical HR. Since my FR210 still works (although no Bluetooth upload connectivity is annoying), should I wait for the Vivoactive/opticalHR combo that’s inevitable? Sigh.
Nope, not in this release. See the FAQ section above:
Does the FR225 re-transmit your heart rate over ANT+ to other devices?
No, super-disappointingly it does not. This would have been an ideal way for Garmin to potentially lure in Garmin Edge unit owners who might be casual runners, by giving them something they could use with their Edge device. I wouldn’t be surprised however if the lack of re-broadcasting is due to some terms of the licensing agreement with Mio.
I have noticed the mio Alpha and TomTom MultiSport Cardio both have impacted HR results when your arms and hands drop in temperature. I have been riding with HR 130 and then it drops suddenly to 60-70. The only time I have noticed this is when the temperature is low.
Hopefully Garmin has studied this one, otherwise you are back to chest strap.
Once again, an interesting read. I see you mention that outside light affects the accuracy of the optical sensor. How drastic is this effect? I prefer to wear a fairly loose watch and as a result, I’d be a little hesitant to use a device that requires a snug fit in order to ensure accuracy.
How would one work around this ‘constraint’?
I also have some freckles on my arm. Would this affect the accuracy at all?
I made this comment previously, but it seems like all the manufacturers are differentiating by adding features and trying to keep prices levels about the same (200-300 for low end units, 500 for high). I would really like to see a nice looking, relatively small, low cost, durable unit with a really long battery life. Basically an FR110 but with updated battery technology. The few 100$ units have very short battery life.
Is there no demand for this? Is not not profitable given manufacturing costs? I’m wondering what’s stopping someone from putting this on the market. I hate paying for new features that I don’t really need.
Unfortunately most of the inexpensive GPS unit demand is really centered on non-ultra runners, so people from 10K to perhaps marathon distance. Basically a 6hr battery covers 95% of those folks, so an 8-10hr battery covers 100% of their demands.
The ultra-running crowd is tough because the market demand simply isn’t there. That’s in large part why you see Garmin pushing from the Fenix1 being really an ultra running watch, to it being a combo Ultra/Triathlon watch by the Fenix3.
I know you said the battery life is 7-10 hours with GPS and optical HR enabled, but I was just wondering if I used a heart rate strap (ANT+) with GPS running–any idea what kind of battery life I could expect?
Problem being I love the Fenix3’s features (even though not a multisport athlete at this time) and battery life, but value the simplicity of the 225’s not requiring a HR strap for most training. However for ultras just wondering if I could use a HR strap and extend battery life? Any idea?
Obviously this would be for a later version of the 920xt, but does this open the window to one day being able to track swim HR? Since the biggest obstacle has been HR chest straps not being able to transmit through water, could Garmin eventually open up their swim profiles to recording HR? Are there issues using optical HR monitors under water?
Isn’t it fair to say that once the Apple watch gets a GPS chip it will render Garmin, Polar, FitBit, etc. obsolete given the massive app development that will allow for every minor feature DCR readers ask for? Sorry you’ve probably answered this already Ray.
I think the Apple watch is cute. And I’m sure every night before it goes to bed it wonders what it will become when it grows up, but…it’s just not a sports watch. Not only would it need a *good* GPS, it would also require a *good* optical HR sensor, as I hear the current one really isn’t good enough. It would also need decent water proofing, swim statistics, a decent website for your activities, of course linking to ANT+ as well as bluetooth, and a case that can resist the average or not so average trailrun, ultrarun & mudrun, including being dropped, stepped on and accidentally hit against a tree. So that’s either the Apple watch 15, or the average high end Garmin/Polar/sSuunto. But that’s just my opinion ;)
As I understand it, the Apple Watch requires constant connectivity to your iPhone for 90% of the functionality to work. Unless WTC & other race bodies eliminate the prohibition of phones on the course, I think Garmin is safe. Plus, are you going to go open water swimming with your Apple Watch & iPhone?
I am very cynical about the Apple Watch as it is now, although it is quite nice to look at compared to the Garmins.
There is no point in even attempting to GPS track a run with an iPhone where I live in a city as it will be garbage. I use a Forerunner 920.
Where Garmin will have a problem is when Apple sort out quality GPS and improve battery life, HRM reliability etc. And I think they will in due course. Garmin’s poor software side ( Connect ) will then come home to roost. IMO.
which watch would you recommend, given that:
– it’ll be used for running, cycling (indoor and outdoor)
– it should be compatiblewith speed & cadence sensor and footpod
– it should come with optical HRM
Can we add Local Music Playback to the Ideal Watch too.
If I still have to carry my phone with me for music, then why pay the extra money for a GPS watch, when the phone already has it.
Until The Perfect Watch Comes ( I am hoping Polar comes out with V810 Which Includes Optical 24/7 HR & Local Music), I am using a Polar H7 Strap with Polar Beat or Wahoo Fitness App while wearing the Fitbit Charge HR for 24/7 Activity & HR Tracking
The TT will also not do cycling indoors. Cycling mode requires GPS and even if you can get GPS to start it, it ignores the sensor for distance (uses GPS which is zero since you are on a trainer) so you only get cadence data.
There would be no hardware limitation I could imagine (the ANT+ chipset would support 8 channels, more than enough), and the on-unit storage is well beyond sufficient.
Given the Vivoactive supports it at $50 cheaper, it is a bit of an oddity.
hold on,
before everyone gets excited about the forerunner 925 and fenix 3.5, the main problem with optical HR has been the HRV thingie recording no? For vo2max and recovery estimates?
Since garmin just bolted the sensor Tomtom has been using for a year onto a 220, doesn’t that mean they haven’t gotten any closer to figuring out the HRV thing?
Yes and no. Current generation has that issue, but next generation doesn’t Valencell did some cool demo’s at CES demonstrating HRV-capable functionality.
One thing that’d be great to see in the final review is just how accurate the resting heart rate is, especially for those of us with low resting heart rates. I ultimately went back to a chest strap from the scosche because it could not register my resting hear rate which is generally 31-34bpm. I wonder if this unit will be able to measure that?
Yes! I’m loving my runscribe… I’d love to see them broadcasting various metrics live to a Garmin. Pace to start with, but then maybe foot strike, or pronation data. Having this live thro connect iq integration would be awesome.
Ray – have you got a runscribe to test?
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Just make sure you have no tattoos! ;-)
It traditionally hasn’t been as much of an issue with Mio sensors as with other companies sensors (i.e. Apple).
How many people have tattoos on their wrists…it’s an outlier and a non-factor.
I’m looking forward to this. I have the Garmin chest strap heart rate monitor and I barely use it because it feels constricting. When I do my long runs, I don’t even strap it on. I can’t wait to get my hands on FR 225.
I don’t need the other bells and whistles ie phone notifications. When I run, I just want to switch off from THAT.
Would you wait for this watch to come out or get the 620? Main purpose for either is running & being able to track my HR & calories burned is a definitive plus! Thanks!
Hi,
I was just wondering if the FR 225 still has the feature of distance-alerts, that was included in the 220 ?
Does anyone know ?
Thank you from Germany
Martin
Just got mine from REI. As a smartwatch not very good, as a running tool it’s very nice.
The watch in use and my review video:
link to youtu.be
For me I am definitely waiting for this one to come out. It has a wrist based heart rate sensor AND GPS AND tracks my steps. I was going to get the vivoactive as a GPS upgrade to my original vivofit but I LOVE that this watch has a wrist based HRM.
As for the 620, I can’t see spending that much money for something that I’m only going to be using on my runs outside. Just a thought of my own.
Does this count calories for the whole day or just during the workout? Does it matter that it doesn’t have a cycling option? Will the calories burnt from cycling still be included thru the increased heart rate?
Thank you:)
Hey Darwin!
The tattoo reference was actually reassuing. I’m African American and was wondering what sort of accuracy issues were encountered with “darker skin.”. Penetrating tattoos is a good proxy.
It shows the whole day total when not in a workout mode. When in a workout mode it’ll show you the calorie counts for that specific workout.
Thanks for this. Any news on the full review please?
Just wanted to say thanks! Very thorough and answered all of my questions including some I didn’t know I had. Especially like the knowledgeable comparisons to similar products with facts and not emotion or veiled favoritism.
Nice, but the lack of re-broadcasting of the HR is a definite deal-breaker for me.
Too bad, because my old trusty 310XT is slowly dying and would be really cool to replace that (I don’t really need the multisport aspect) and get rid of the HR-belt at the same time. My bike to run ratio is something like 5 to 1, so I would be the ideal candidate to buy this. Hopefully this will be fixed in a later version.
What does “lack of re-broadcasting of the HR” mean? Does your heart rate level over the course of the run get recorded an later uploaded to Garmin Connect?
It means that you can’t pair another device – such as an Edge bike computer, or even your phone – to the FR225 and have it pickup your heart rate from the optical sensor.
Thanks for the response! After rereading the review I see that this was explained in the FAQs section. So thanks for not calling me out!
Hi, how about the battery life?
7-10 hours with GPS-on/HR-on.
Would be great to know battery life. I have a Mio Alpha hr wrist strap that lives in the drawer as the battery goes after two hours. It goes on the ocassional off-season run, but that’s it.
7-10 hours with GPS-on/HR-on.
Ever get tired of writing the same response over and over again?
7-10 hours with GPS…oh wait, sorry, what’d you ask?
(To be fair, for some reason the code in my table didn’t show the chart for the first few minutes for some reason.)
And the battery life with HR off? For most training runs, HR is nice, but for long runs, 12-14 hours would be much better, and I’d happily give up HR data to get it.
My wife has been waiting for ages for Garmin to come up with something like this.. currently using a combo of Mio strap + 310 watch. Do you have any info on Battery Life and what do you think about them possibly releasing one of the higher up Triathlon watches with this sort of feature?
Thanks for the great preview, looking forward to seeing how it performs in a full test :D
7-10 hours with GPS-on/HR-on.
As for other units, I suspect we’ll eventually see them, but I wouldn’t expect anything short term.
Would it have been that hard to put smart notifications into this device and make the screen size slightly larger? That would have been a winner.
bummer that there’s no “all black” version… as a daily activity tracker the red/black doesn’t really fit the business attire which many of us have to work with.
I couldn’t agree more! I frankly don’t understand the need to put any colors on a watch such as this. I currently use the FR 610. While a con is that an accidential brushing of the face with activiate it, a big PRO is that its all back and fits in. GARMIN if you’re listening BLACK should be the default, if you want add colors offer them as an option! At least it looks better than the 220, that thing is downright garish as a daily watch.
I totally agree with the default color being black. Not sure who is designing these watches but they have no sense of the customer preferences. The main reason I didn’t get the 220 was that the colors are horrid. When will they get that many folks want a watch that can be worn all day in a professional setting??
I agree your complaint about the Garmin color scheme. I have always thought that Garmin gave the watches funky colors so that other runners notice the colorful watch and about it.
Personally, I was going to buy a 920, but opted for the Fenix 3, just so I can wear it all of the time and not look like a 12-year old at the office.
C’mon guys, there’s barely any red on the thing. It’s perfectly acceptable in a business setting
The only thing that’s kept me from upgrading from my Mio Alpha to a watch combo, honestly – are the colors. I LOVE the suunto look – the all black thing they have, it’s awesome. But I look at the 225 and it looks like a toy. I wish Suunto had some optical tech, and had better backend software, and were less proprietary. Those things are against Sunnto, and colors/toy like appearance are against Garmin. The best LOOKING one out there is the Adidas SmartRun, but it’s lack-luster in many other ways.
Give the 225 an all black look – with a reveresed white text/black background and I’ll never mention suunto again….but until then, I’ll sit with my 3rd party phone app (icardio) and my Mio Alpha..
I think it might be the fact that this is a sports watch, not a dress watch. If they made it in black it would still look like a sport watch. It is a watch targeted to runners who tend to wear bright colors while running. Have you ever taken a look at running shoes? I am sure you would not wear those in the office either. As for me, I have a collection of dress watches and would not be wearing any sport watch with a suit on.
Long term do you think there will be a 620 (625) or 920xt (925?) version? But can they do they whole v02 max, race predictor and recovery stuff over optical? Thought i’d read it those were chest strap only metrics?
For someone like me, already owning a 620, I think i’d be just a well sourcing a Scosche RHYTHM+
That is, unless they add Connect IQ to a potential 625?
Long term, I’d be surprised if it’s not in every new GPS running watch they release.
As for requirements for HRV, the technology is very close – we’ll see optical HRV-capable (and accurate) units shipping before the end of the yera at the latest.
Which means they will lose the running dynamics (although I know you think those aren’t of much use anyway).
The FR225 isn’t HRV-capable now and forever, because it would need new hardware?
Is that a hardware upgrade or firmware/software upgrade? And is that just the Mio products or also the Valencell line?
Right now Valencell is working on it, I don’t know where Mio stands on that.
I don’t think so that Garmin is going to release FR625.
FR225 seems to be a proof of concept for HR lines. We’ll see new forerunners in September or so. It should be FR230, FR235 and FR630. All of them with ConnectIQ. I also suppose a new price tag, so for those who want to save money, FR225 can be a good choice.
Some time ago you mentioned working on an in-depth report about the optical sensor industry and what is to be expected in the next months.
Are you still working on this report? It sounded amazing and I would be extremely interested in getting a deeper look into the industry and the developement.
It’s still on my plate. Might even find the light of day soon too!
I think lots of people would be interested in this… There are loads of questions / answers on your main Mio Link preview, and mine works great (that I know of – I’ve not actively compared it to a chest strap, so it could be miles off!). However, your full review and comparison to other options is suspiciously absent. The fact you don’t take marketing/sales $$ from the companies means I don’t worry about bias, but an overall round up would be a very well received post I think.
(as an aside – are you getting tempted by the message board approach yet ? These comments sections are becoming a little crazy!)
Yup, it’s something I’ve been wanting to do (the full post).
There’s nothing about a message board that’s appealing to me at the moment, simply because it’ll be one more place to have to ‘manage’.
RB10 replied
June 6, 2015 at 11:22 pm #5
Would you wait for this watch to come out or get the 620? Main purpose for either is running & being able to track my HR & calories burned is a definitive plus! Thanks!
Reply
Did Garmin jump the gun on the Vivoactive? onboard Optical HR will put the Vivoactive 2 on the top of my must have list.
I think they had to do the Vivoactive to try and compete with certain segments of potential Apple Watch purchasers.
Actually, the extreme thinness of the Vivoactive almost makes more sense in the context of later being able to add in an optical HRM.
This is a direct reaction to Apple Watch by Garmin.
Does it show up as a USB storage device when connected to a computer?
Yes, standard USB enumeration.
Hi,
DC I recall you saying something along the lines of the optical HRM not being accurate for Garmin especially given their scale of distribution. Has this changed?
Thanks!
Yes, I think Garmin has simply decided that they’ll have to take the hit of optical inaccuracy issues with X% of people (perhaps a few percent at most). Simply because everyone else is doing it (i.e. Apple and Fitbit).
I recalled you mentioning that before and that chest strap HRM is the way to go for accuracy. If that was and still is the case, why have you ditched chest strap HRM for the Scosche Rhythm+ Optical HR band?
I don’t believe I’ve ever said that. I’ve noted that certain sensors are inaccurate, but not all sensors are created equally.
For example, I’d never ditch a HR strap for the Fitbit Surge’s optical sensor, or Apple’s. But I would (and have) for Scosche’s, and Mio’s is perfectly fine too.
Will the new HR gauge screen(s) be made available to the rest of their devices for use with ANT+ HRMs?
I would like the HR Gauge screen to – maybe it can be made as a watch face depending on which model you have.
when is Garmin going to learn that people do more than just running? Why not include a lot of sports modes? At least include walking and cycling!
I’m guessing the optical HR will show up on the next FR62x with and FR92x models, which already have bike mode/ANT+ support (and swim mode in the case of the 920).
The big thing with 620 over 220 is the HRM-strap, unless they’re able to put that into the watch (not very likely) people buying 62X will still use the HRM-strap.
Although the rest of the running dynamics could be done from a pod that clips on your shorts, getting rid of the strap altogether…
Any idea if these optical HR monitors work when worn on the inside of the wrist? Thanks!
Generally speaking they do (in fact, generally speaking they work better actually).
Inside of the wrist might be a good idea for HR. But it’s a bad idea for GPS
Oddly enough for many people it tends to be a wash (GPS). It depends a bit on your running style. For me, my wrists are more vertical when I run, so it doesn’t much matter whether it’s inside or outside (since it would be effectively no different than being on the opposite wrist facing the other way).
Of course, individual may vary depending on their body makeup/positioning/etc…
Nope. I tried with Mio Fuse and it did not work on the inside of the wrist. Odd!! Maybe it was too tight
I wear my 910XT on the inside of my wrist, for ergonomic reasons, constantly without issue.
Do you have any info if they’ll update FR220 to match FR225 in software features? I mean, I don’t expect activity tracking as it might be hardware thing but ex. this HR Gauge page is just software.
In such case people would have a choice of basically same watch but with different HRM.
without 1 second recording GPS mode ! … Too bad for me.
Very cool, I look forward to this trickling over to whatever comes after the 920xt. I may have missed it, but with the HR, does it track throughout the day, and does that data get displayed anywhere on Garmin Connect?
As an early backer of the Stryd power meter I was hoping the FR225 would support use of third party power meters for running.
Do you think Garmin will add support for the power meter on the FR225 in the future?
To be honest, approximately zero chance.
Any word on whether there will be an update to the FR220 to add activity tracking?
On the one hand, I would imagine the coding would be trivial since the FR220 and FR225 use the same base. However, they also might want to leave differentiation to encourage people to upgrade to the FR225.
My understanding is that the FR220/FR620 lacked the low-level power mode required for activity tracking. I suspect if Garmin could have added it in a year ago, they would have (since it would have positioned them far better against competitive units from Polar and Fitbit).
Thanks for the response Ray!
This might have been asked (and answered) before, but do these optical HR sensors work underwater, i.e. would such a watch be suitable for swimmers.
On the 910/920 successors, this would be great…
A number of folks have had fairly good luck using the Mio Link underwater (same sensor family). I’ll certainly test the FR225 in the pool as part of my review process.
Ray,
I’d love to hear more about the potential rebroadcasting of the HR numbers for cycling use especially.
As a 310xt user, I have been biding my time with optical HR being the one thing that might make me go out and buy a new watch before my current one bites the dust. To be able to replace the 310xt with a 225/625 and an edge where I keep the watch on my wrist during the bike and view its HR data on the EDGE is intriguing.
A “925xt” with HR for the run is intriguing too, but then there is the issue of what to do during the bike.
Forerunner 625 next?
Thanks again for a very detailed review! When the MIO Link was first released, I pre-ordered and had nothing but trouble with it. I have small wrists and no matter where I wore the Link, light leaked out and the heart rate data was always inaccurate. MIO swapped out my Link with one that had an updated firmware, but that did not solve the problem for me. I have been using a Garmin Forerunner 620 paired with a Scosche Rhythm+ that works great! My only complaint about the Scosche Rhythm+ is that I wear it high up on my forearm and it tends to slide down my arm after an hour or so, but a quick adjustment and it is back in place working fine.
Does it work with Stryd ?
No.
Ray, nitpick – “tattoos” should not have an apostrophe.
Thanks, fixed!
Exciting product! I can see that you’ve had some pretty good HR data so far but I have to wonder how well the FR225 will perform for those who have bony / concave wrists, given that you can’t really move it around to get a reading like you can with the Link/ fuse.
I’m surprised the sensor doesn’t protrude from the device a little more to create a ‘seal’ against the skin like they did with the later versions of the Link. Perhaps the overall size of the watch itself will help prevent light loss?
Rubber seal will obviously help with this but I still have to wonder if it will completely solve the issue for boney people (who form quite a big proportion of the traget market!)
$299 for a running watch. I’d rather spend $99 TomTom runner plus scosche for $70. It doesn’t even do phone notifications. No surprise garmin overpriced their product.
Hello: How does the 225 connect? ANT+ only, or can it also be plugged to a computer and data downloaded as a file? Thanks.
The same as the FR220, so it can upload via Bluetooth Smart to an iOS/Android device – or you can simply plug it in via USB.
and I have been EXTREMELY happy with bluetooth smart uploads lately!
Ray, do you see them doing something with the 620 and doing a 625 version with optical? The 620 has a bit more versatility (to include cycling) and basically would be a tri watch without the swim mode. This kind of setup would be IDEAL for my wife.
Will this watch and optical setup give you the VO2 max and cadence data like the HRM Plus strap does with the 620, 920, and Fenix 2 or 3?
I’d be pretty surprised if medium/long term they don’t do it for all of their units.
I am not so sure about that.
There are still some issues about adding optical HR to the device itself:
1) multisport watches (ok rebroadcasting + edge unit on bike could fix this)
2) battery life influence
3) unit size (from sensor itself, from extra sealing and from larger battery)
4) what about winter runners? still about 1/3 of runners for about 1/3 of a year cannot wear the watch directly on exposed skin.
so, I am just not sure if build-in optical HR is the future. I think the future is within sthg “more comfortable than a strap”, some kind of wearable HR sensors (that would also cover edge/cycling units)
Re #4. I think are issues with finding HR and cold but it’s a bit silly to say you can’t wear it on the skin. I’ve been a “winter” runner for 25 years both in the midwest and East Coast and have always worm my watch next to my skin.
1) For multisport watches, outside of the FR920XT series, the Fenix3, V800, and Ambit series all are worn on the wrist. So it’s definitely not a show-stopper.
2) Battery life actually isn’t as big of a hit as one might think.
3) Indeed, though in something like the FR920XT or Fenix3, there’s more real estate to work with. I’ve got a few pics showing how it compares there that I can look at getting added in.
4) Yup indeed, that’s a challenge. Though plenty of other watches do that today, so it’s really more of a personal choice. Since you can connect to an external HR strap anyway, it’s really all any company is going to be able to do.
I think it’s more about having to look at the watch while running in the winter. I wear mine OVER my jacket / shirt sleeve in the cold weather so I don’t expose any skin to the cold elements. If I wear a HRM watch, then I have to constantly move my jacket sleeve / glove to see the watch face or keep my wrist exposed to -25-30C winter windy weather.
yes Ray, I do understand the trend as of today is to include optical HR within the device. But I just dont think it’s the real future, the best way to go. I still think that some kind of wearable is better (even like rhytm+).
1) no problem with accuracy
2) no problem with bike computers
3) no problem with winter running
of course it’s still concept of two devices, both needed to be charged separately and so on. But I think I prefer it.
I think you’re over-thinking it.
There’s never going to be a single, perfect solution that everyone should adopt. Built-in optical HR will suit some people and won’t suit others. There’s a lot of people out there who want a simple all-in-one device and this fits the bill very neatly.
You can still use your HRM Strap with this watch if optical is a no option
Isn’t it ironic that I just bought my wife a Scosche Rhytm+? It literally arrived in the mail yesterday. This would have been perfect for her.
I have a Basis Peak which actually tracks my HR during running better than my basic Garmin chest strap.
It definitely looks like Garmin is dabbling with on-board HRM. It doesn’t look like a full-fledged embrace, which makes sense for their perspective. Test the market it with the middle-endish model before deploying in future products.
Personally, I prefer wearing an off-board HRM like the Scosche Rhythm+ as I like wearing my watch somewhat loose on my wrist and also external HRM’s can be used with any watch or device that received BT or ANT+ data.
No connect IQ tells me the hardware guts are identical to the 220 and perhaps that hardware isn’t optimized for it.
There’s some weird formatting thing in the last section, “My Initial Thoughts” wherein the text is appearing inside an “editable” textbox, like the one I am writing in now.
Thanks for the first look! I’m starting to realize I have a bit of a gadget problem- I don’t think I could resist an FR920xt/Fenix3 equivalent with built in HR monitoring!
Odd, are you still seeing it?
Yes, I am indeed! On both chrome and IE. It only becomes obvious if you click on the text, and actually, the first paragraph of that section is not in the box. It doesn’t really affect anything, but figured you’d want to know!
I see it in Firefox as well. Didn’t notice it at first, but if I click on that portion of the text, a bunch of red squiggly spellcheck lines appear under certain words. Doesn’t happen elsewhere in the article.
Ahh, I think I see the issue. Fixed it (or I hope I did). Some odd non-closed tags in the HTML. Weird. Thanks!
PS, I’m assuming “Whiterock2” is the internal Garmin codename for the FR225? link to imgur.com
Hi Ray
Do you think this acceptance of optical HR from Garmin will mean we are likely to get an update to the current watches (Fenix 3 for example) to allow HR capture in Pool Swim and OWS App modes? And the corresponding updates to Garmin Connect (and fit files I guess) to support it?
I guess that is more likely if they are going to release their own Garmin branded Optical HR strap to use with older watches though…
Cheers
Ian
Pretty bummed out that it has no Connect IQ, as I was holding off my next upgrade more for that than for an integrated optical HR solution from Garmin. I’d have been fine with using a Scosche Rhythm+ and a Garmin FR230. Ray, can you comment on how big a deal Connect IQ is/has become/will become? I feel like it’s a much bigger opportunity than most things lately.
I’m mixed on Connect IQ. I don’t think Garmin is taking the right steps, or doing do fast enough in order to make it a success. Which doesn’t mean they can’t alter direction – but realistically outside of a handful of so-so watch faces, we’re not seeing a ton of mind-altering things coming out of it.
I just went back and read your initial review of the platform and already felt like the answer being something along those lines. Sad, but I guess I’ll go for the FR225 then. I love my TomTom, but I want more flexible Intervals than it offers. I’m tired of manually checking my pace during an interval. Being a programmer/hacker myself, I’d have loved to have had the possibility to create some shenanigans for the watch, but I guess that will have to wait until another upgrade then.
You would think that if Garmin was actually serious about ConnectIQ, they would’ve launched with some viable apps. Maybe set aside a team of internal developers to build out some legitimate apps. Instead? A handful of mediocre watchfaces and an app/watchface that appears to dispense Chuck Norris jokes. Neat?
I don’t know how Garmin expects to keep people from purchasing a competing ‘smart watch’ with such a lackluster collection of ‘apps’ for their own watches. The entire thing seems like an afterthought.
Maybe not mind-altering, but I have a couple of data fields I find very useful: colorized pace and heart rate fields. The background color changes depending on speed and HR. Much easier to spot color changes than small numbers when racing.
It’s a small thing, but I really like the ability to tweak the functionality with Connect IQ.
It’s funny, one Garmin engineer in their free time made the Stargazing app – which is incredibly well made. It looks just as good as any Apple Watch app (actually, better than any I’ve tried thus far).
Wish they’d set him/her aside and just have them create cool apps.
agreed. There is no reason why Garmin doesnt have a small team of developers making apps and widgets. If it stays at its current pace Connect IQ will be useless within a year. I honestly dont know how Garmin can avoid not adopting some form of android platform to run the android wear apps to compete with apple a few years down the road. Its really the only option.
*sigh* I suppose sooner or later someone will come out with a watch that actually does everything and fits a small wrist like mine. Until then it’s pretty frustrating seeing all these “almost-there” options!
I noticed just how large it looked on the girl and wonder how many women won’t be purchasing this just because of the size of it.
What was the girl’s opinion of this device?
She liked it quite a bit up until the point I told her it only came in red/black, and that it had three data fields and not four (per page). She’s a four-data field kinda gal.
But she was good with the size (she uses the FR620 now, but previously used the FR310XT and FR305).
Ray – as The Girl prefers 4 data fields on her watch Garmin needs to devise a data screen which includes the new heart rate zone border graph and in the middle allow 3 other custom data fields. In my opinion this would be a killer screen layout.
I’d guess she’d be pretty happy with that.
i was hoping for an 24×7 heart rate tracking.
but no yet ,so i will stick to my Fitbit Charge HR till garmin creates something similar and hopefully better.
I own an edge 510 for cycling and im happy with it.
i love their quality of hardware but the software still needs improvement…
maybe next year….
Thanks for the review. I have two questions.
How tight do you have to have the strap to keep the HR data accurate, have you found that you have to keep optical devices tighter than non-optical devices?
Can the watch be worn with the unit on the underside of the wrist?
Thanks,
Josh
Bettendorf, IA
In general you want optical ones a bit snugger (so it shouldn’t be bouncing around loose) – but noting dramatically so.
I’m having trouble following Garmin’s plan. They seem all over the map. They haven’t upgraded the foreunner running watches in forever (until this one) they have updated the fenix twice in that time frame. They just introduce a whole series if new watches within 6 months – 920xt, fenix3, vivoactive and Epix. Of course none have wrist HR. Then they drop this.
I don’t know if they are continually segmenting their market but as a mostly runner I find it makes me look at other companies. Not to mention their numbering system
Seems complety random. (Unless you or someone can explain)
Polar seems to stick with what they have and add features -the M400 comes to mind.
Hi, I have three questions:
1. Can this watch show running cadence without footpod? I understand Vivoactive can this.
2. Does it have silent, weekly alarms?
3. Does it track sleep?
Thanks for a good preview.
1) Yes
2) No, single alarm only.
3) Yes.
So, do you think a footpod will still be needed to get accurate results when running indoors?
Yes
Regarding your comments that “Nowadays, launching GPS watch without activity tracking would be akin to trying to sell sand in the desert”:
Looking at the devices being released activity tracking indeed seems like a must-have feature but I honestly couldn’t care less and I know several other runners who feel the same. This (highly inaccurate) step counting business might be of interest for couch potatoes but if you run 5-6 times a week you don’t need to count your steps – it’s pretty obvious that you move enough. There are tons of other feature which I think would be of more value in a running watch and looking at the Garmin forums I’m not alone. So what I’m trying to say is that I think there’s a market for a running watch (for serious runners) without activity tracking, smart notifications and the like. Garmin should rather include some of the feature requests (foot pod pace) by users on their forums. My two cents – you obviously have a better understanding of the market than I have Ray….
+1
I don’t care about activity tracking etc, but would love to see accurate pace from a footpod, alongside gps tracking. Seems like Garmin are really against that now tho… :(
I have to disagree here. I have a deskjob, study when I don’t work, and I run. Which basically means that if I am not out running, I am a couch potato. I’m not a big fan of activity trackers, but I can very well imagine it being useful if you like that kind of thing.
You would be surprised at how many real athletes, Ironmen included, turn steps into a fun game. I would agree it is more beneficial to the couch potato but still is motivating to get a couple extra miles in even when biking or running 6 days a week.
If the watch already has the accelerometer hardware, the activity tracker is basically a zero-cost option. A benefit to those who are looking for it, and also tick-box feature so it compares well with competitive devices, on paper.
Agreed.
i got my hands on an EPSON 810. i don’t really miss the activity tracker and when I do wear my 920xt I barely even look at the stats.
I was reading online where something like 1/2 of the people who purchase them stop using them within a year. That number is headed down though.
I can’t tell if it’s just a fad yet, but it certainly feels like it.
I like that heart rate gauge and would love to see it as an option to all the data pages, as in HR ring around the standard 1, 2, and 3 data field pages options. Maybe it could only fit around the 1 and 2 item layouts, but even that would be great.
Time / pace / distance with an HR ring would be a great single data page view!
I used the Mio Link…no worky with my dark skin…..I would have to test it before I believe the optical HR will work for me…I highly doubt it based on my own experience though.
I couldn’t get the Mio to work consistently for any activity. Inside the wrist, outside, further up the arm. nothing. It would give accurate readings for maybe half an activity. Maybe it’s my hairy arms or bad circulation to my hands. I’m a white guy so it wasn’t my skin color.
I had similar problems with the Mio Link, which I ordered when it first became available in the UK. I tried tighter, looser, inside, outside, higher, lower, diy gaskets, and whilst the ANT+ connection was fine on the same arm as the watch, it just could not be relied upon to give accurate data for the full duration activities, worst during any kind of sprint or uphill effort where arms are more likely to be pumping. For ref I have relatively skinny and non-hairy forearms+wrists for a man and am somewhere around medium/olive on the skin colour spectrum, depending upon whether we’ve been lucky enough to see any sunshine over here.
I gave up and my Mio Link has been an expensive paperweight for several months.
Did you speak to Mio? I had similar with my Link. They swapped it for a slightly changed version where the case around the sensor has been altered for improved reliability. It’s been fine since
I get on really well with my 220+mio. I understand why they are adding the sensor into the package to create the 225, but it’s not for me. Cold/rain/wind = wearing a jacket or long sleeves. This makes it essential to be able to wear the 220 on top of clothes, and therefore the mio under and against the skin. This is impossible with the 225, therefore, for me, making it useless for 6 months of the year!
I would love to see the hr gauge page on the 220 though – much nicer to look at than the simple hr zone metrics.
One question… I assume Garmin haven’t added the ability to customize lap screen? This was ‘promised’ in the past, but hasn’t appeared on the 220/620
I’ve enjoyed using the Mio Link under the jacket + FR620 over the jacket last winter. That’s said, I’d upgrade to built-in optical HR if only to avoid wearing double straps for half the year, while continuing with the Mio during the winter.
You are saying you wear a jacket 6 months out if the year??? I can’t believe that if so, you are clearly in the minority.
That depends where you live… But if you wear long sleeves even one month a year, it’s still a showstopper.
As a 210 owner who’s looking for an upgrade, I’m disappointed that this is just a bolt-on revision and not a completely new watch.
I suppose that means we shouldn’t be expecting a 230 in Q3/4.
Is it known which GPS chipset is it equipped with?
I would suspect the same as the FR220, though I don’t know.
Good question. The FR225 tech specs page only says “GPS-enabled”. I’m assuming if this also had GLONASS support, the tech specs would call that out.
If true, then that’s pretty disappointing. I don’t see GLONASS mentioned anywhere on Garmin’s website. Maybe Ray can get a definitive response from Garmin?
I’ll check, but I’m 99% sure it doesn’t.
I was on the cusp of ordering the $80 Scosche HR band for my Edge 500, and based on the fact that the FR225 doesn’t (a) support bike mode which is >90% of my workouts or (b) broadcast the HR over ANT+, I think that’s still going to be the right choice.
That said, I’m excited to see Garmin going down this route, and I’m hoping the optical HR wristbands will either make it to the higher-end Fenix/Forerunner units or that they’ll add ANT+/Bluetooth broadcasting to the Edge bike computers.
you can customize lap page in 620. you cannot however in 220.
I sweat a lot when I run and the TOMTOM Cario Runner stopped displaying the HR after about 8-9 miles because of the sweat. I know you said that you have had very little time with it.
But do you think that the rubber band will prevent the sweat from going on the sensor or is it not “tight” enough?
What other Optical HR sensors would you recommend for people who sweat a lot. I want to get rid of the chest strap ;-) !!
btw, thanks for all the hard work that you put through !
I have intermittent problems with the Garmin chest strap and have tried all the suggested solutions but still find it frustrating.
I have a LifeBeam running cap witch has an optical sensor built in. It broadcasts Ant + Bluetooth and works really well. Having said that, I find wearing a cap gets annoying after a while. Looking at the way the cap is made it shouldn’t be a problem to knock up a DIY Scosche style armband using an iPod shuffle armband / Velcro, and switch between the cap / armband as the fancy takes you.
I saw a post with Ray wearing the Lifebeam cap but I don’t know what his conclusions were.
I have never been a hat guy, but the Florida sun and my Dermatologist and 3 facial skin cancer surgeries have finally got me wearing the LifeBEAM hat. I like it, and it works. I don’t miss the HR strap.
Do you have problems with their “older / thicker rubbery” one? I initially had the soft strap but had a lot of issues but when I switched to the other one, it works every time.
same for me here! I went back to my old HRM1 (thick rubber one) strap.
I got existed when 310xt came with fancy new HRM2 premium strap, but then during winter months it just went completely off. It needed more than 10min to start recording correct HR (once being way below, other time way above). Then it could drop HR during exersice as well for more than 5min or even until end of activity. Also, it was very difficult to make it record proper HR on road bike! I guess it was because of low possition of my body on the bike and strap kind of getting of the body…
None of these happens with good old thick plastic strap! I just replaced elastic back strap for $10 and I enjoy it again. Working perfect during winter and on bike and with minimal drops during the run (none above 2-3s).
Ray…curious to know how the wrist band compared in size to previous 220. I have large wrists and on the 220 I have three holes left only. With the enlarged dial and “gasket”, did they make a slightly larger band to accommodate it?
I added a velcro strap to my 220. I assume this would work with the 225 also.
link to forums.garmin.com
Doesn’t that strap run right across the back of the watch?
I can’t help feeling that might compromise the optical HRM slightly.
Lol! Yes, good point! :)
Thanks for the nice preview. Does the 225 have the same color screen as the 220 or has it been improved?
It seemed pretty similar to me, but there might be some slight difference there technically. Though, the color is really only used to any benefit within the gauge page.
I just ordered a Vivoactive to replace my FR210. Not sure what’s better for me now. I have Edge800 for cycling and like th running functionality of the FR210. Wanting reliable optical HR. Since my FR210 still works (although no Bluetooth upload connectivity is annoying), should I wait for the Vivoactive/opticalHR combo that’s inevitable? Sigh.
Can this be used to do for example a gym workout and track heart rate, calories etc?
would one be able to pair this heart rate sensor to their garmin edge device?
i often wear both my watch and garmin but seeing how this is ‘the future’ what does garmin have planned for the Garmin Edge Crowd?
Nope, not in this release. See the FAQ section above:
I have noticed the mio Alpha and TomTom MultiSport Cardio both have impacted HR results when your arms and hands drop in temperature. I have been riding with HR 130 and then it drops suddenly to 60-70. The only time I have noticed this is when the temperature is low.
Hopefully Garmin has studied this one, otherwise you are back to chest strap.
Hi Ray,
Once again, an interesting read. I see you mention that outside light affects the accuracy of the optical sensor. How drastic is this effect? I prefer to wear a fairly loose watch and as a result, I’d be a little hesitant to use a device that requires a snug fit in order to ensure accuracy.
How would one work around this ‘constraint’?
I also have some freckles on my arm. Would this affect the accuracy at all?
It’s reasonably important/significant. There honestly isn’t much you can do other than try it a bit more snug going
I made this comment previously, but it seems like all the manufacturers are differentiating by adding features and trying to keep prices levels about the same (200-300 for low end units, 500 for high). I would really like to see a nice looking, relatively small, low cost, durable unit with a really long battery life. Basically an FR110 but with updated battery technology. The few 100$ units have very short battery life.
Is there no demand for this? Is not not profitable given manufacturing costs? I’m wondering what’s stopping someone from putting this on the market. I hate paying for new features that I don’t really need.
Unfortunately most of the inexpensive GPS unit demand is really centered on non-ultra runners, so people from 10K to perhaps marathon distance. Basically a 6hr battery covers 95% of those folks, so an 8-10hr battery covers 100% of their demands.
The ultra-running crowd is tough because the market demand simply isn’t there. That’s in large part why you see Garmin pushing from the Fenix1 being really an ultra running watch, to it being a combo Ultra/Triathlon watch by the Fenix3.
The Epson 810 has a wrist HR and Boasts 20 hrs of battery like
The Epson 710 has no wrist HR, but does claim a 30-hr battery life.
Both are straightforward running watches with no activity tracking, no smart notifications.
As Ray noted the websites and app is a little clunky.
I have a 810 and I think it looks nice and feels very nice on my wrist. it’s much more comfortable than my 920xt.
Other than the website, the Epson watches seem a little overpriced
Thanks, I did now know about those.
I know you said the battery life is 7-10 hours with GPS and optical HR enabled, but I was just wondering if I used a heart rate strap (ANT+) with GPS running–any idea what kind of battery life I could expect?
Problem being I love the Fenix3’s features (even though not a multisport athlete at this time) and battery life, but value the simplicity of the 225’s not requiring a HR strap for most training. However for ultras just wondering if I could use a HR strap and extend battery life? Any idea?
Obviously this would be for a later version of the 920xt, but does this open the window to one day being able to track swim HR? Since the biggest obstacle has been HR chest straps not being able to transmit through water, could Garmin eventually open up their swim profiles to recording HR? Are there issues using optical HR monitors under water?
Hey there. Thanks for the review. Have you reviewed the use of the Live Tracking available on the 220,620,920xt and now the 225?
Yes, you’ll find it within my FR220, FR620, FR920XT and other device reviews.
Is there a bundle with a kitchen sink?
Well played…I had a line-item in my FAQ for something like that…but at 4:30AM when I wrapped things up I wasn’t quite clever enough.
Isn’t it fair to say that once the Apple watch gets a GPS chip it will render Garmin, Polar, FitBit, etc. obsolete given the massive app development that will allow for every minor feature DCR readers ask for? Sorry you’ve probably answered this already Ray.
I think the Apple watch is cute. And I’m sure every night before it goes to bed it wonders what it will become when it grows up, but…it’s just not a sports watch. Not only would it need a *good* GPS, it would also require a *good* optical HR sensor, as I hear the current one really isn’t good enough. It would also need decent water proofing, swim statistics, a decent website for your activities, of course linking to ANT+ as well as bluetooth, and a case that can resist the average or not so average trailrun, ultrarun & mudrun, including being dropped, stepped on and accidentally hit against a tree. So that’s either the Apple watch 15, or the average high end Garmin/Polar/sSuunto. But that’s just my opinion ;)
Great points Marcel. It will be interesting to see how many of the features you mentioned will be released in the next Apple Watch sport edition.
As I understand it, the Apple Watch requires constant connectivity to your iPhone for 90% of the functionality to work. Unless WTC & other race bodies eliminate the prohibition of phones on the course, I think Garmin is safe. Plus, are you going to go open water swimming with your Apple Watch & iPhone?
I am very cynical about the Apple Watch as it is now, although it is quite nice to look at compared to the Garmins.
There is no point in even attempting to GPS track a run with an iPhone where I live in a city as it will be garbage. I use a Forerunner 920.
Where Garmin will have a problem is when Apple sort out quality GPS and improve battery life, HRM reliability etc. And I think they will in due course. Garmin’s poor software side ( Connect ) will then come home to roost. IMO.
On the contrary, the iPhone does seem to have a better GPS accuracy than most high-end GPS watches.
link to fellrnr.com
it doesn’t look like it’s possible to charge while still using the hr sensor during a long event. or am i missing something?
Nice Work, Ray!
which watch would you recommend, given that:
– it’ll be used for running, cycling (indoor and outdoor)
– it should be compatiblewith speed & cadence sensor and footpod
– it should come with optical HRM
Thanks!
There are currently no watches that meet that criteria. The closest would be the TomTom Cardio Multisport, but it doesn’t support the footpod.
Can we add Local Music Playback to the Ideal Watch too.
If I still have to carry my phone with me for music, then why pay the extra money for a GPS watch, when the phone already has it.
Until The Perfect Watch Comes ( I am hoping Polar comes out with V810 Which Includes Optical 24/7 HR & Local Music), I am using a Polar H7 Strap with Polar Beat or Wahoo Fitness App while wearing the Fitbit Charge HR for 24/7 Activity & HR Tracking
The TT will also not do cycling indoors. Cycling mode requires GPS and even if you can get GPS to start it, it ignores the sensor for distance (uses GPS which is zero since you are on a trainer) so you only get cadence data.
Hey Ray,
Do you think a bike mode/cadence sensor could be in the works as a firmware upgrade or does the 220 hardware make that impossible?
There would be no hardware limitation I could imagine (the ANT+ chipset would support 8 channels, more than enough), and the on-unit storage is well beyond sufficient.
Given the Vivoactive supports it at $50 cheaper, it is a bit of an oddity.
I wish they would have held off on the Fenix 3, fixed the GPS accuracy issues and included the optical HR.
hold on,
before everyone gets excited about the forerunner 925 and fenix 3.5, the main problem with optical HR has been the HRV thingie recording no? For vo2max and recovery estimates?
Since garmin just bolted the sensor Tomtom has been using for a year onto a 220, doesn’t that mean they haven’t gotten any closer to figuring out the HRV thing?
Yes and no. Current generation has that issue, but next generation doesn’t Valencell did some cool demo’s at CES demonstrating HRV-capable functionality.
The next generation would require a hardware upgrade, wouldn’t it? So FR226?
One thing that’d be great to see in the final review is just how accurate the resting heart rate is, especially for those of us with low resting heart rates. I ultimately went back to a chest strap from the scosche because it could not register my resting hear rate which is generally 31-34bpm. I wonder if this unit will be able to measure that?
Maybe Garmin can replace their running dynamics with http://www.runscribe.com.
Yes! I’m loving my runscribe… I’d love to see them broadcasting various metrics live to a Garmin. Pace to start with, but then maybe foot strike, or pronation data. Having this live thro connect iq integration would be awesome.
Ray – have you got a runscribe to test?
I haven’t. I need to poke them again, will dig through my e-mail…