Garmin Forerunner 235 review: Venerable but all too capable and relevant

danmerry

8 months ago

This watch was released in late 2015, and I received it for Christmas. Back then, I was heavily into cycling and running, so this watch was a great gift, as its level of functionality was without parallel. That is the integration with the entire Garmin ecosystem, including the power of GPS, Garmin Edge and Connect linked to Strava. A very digital watch, a harbinger of the smartwatch era (Apple released its first watch around the same time). We even had watch faces; funny enough, I went for an analogue one; go figure.

The proportions come at a chunky 45 mm diameter fit for legibility (not the office, sorry people, I was one of those). I can't remember the exact battery autonomy, but I think I had one or two days or more. Today I wear it on one or two hours bike rides or the odd gym session.

Function-wise, you cover more or less the most significant sports, swimming, running, cycling, and step counting. Then you have people developing mini-apps for any imaginable stuff. My last software update happened in late 2020, and since then no more support but there have been little to no issues except for an occasional lag in acquiring a GPS signal.

In the design world, we use like to state our intentions at the design stage and in this case, I think Garmin went for longevity, comfort and functionality. Many bugs got fixed, and some upgrades Garmin has all my respect. They have been bucking the throw-away trend for a long time.

This watch has a special place within my collection (digital, quartz, hand-wound, automatic, still we are missing a spring drive and a few hi-beat...), as this is the watch I wear when I fool around, play sports, run or cycle. Bonus, I get to see all those fancy data.