Garmin 010-01689-00 Forerunner 35; Easy-to-Use GPS Running Watch, Black

While I was in the military from 1895 till 2005 I was in excellent shape. I was doing about 4 hrs of progressive weight training/week and getting 7.5 hrs/week of very high intensity cardio. When I retired, I was probably in the best physical condition of my life, at 6% body fat. I was 51, then. After I retired, for the first few of years, I maintained a gym membership and kept up my training. By 2010, I was working in my consulting business, and I began teaching part time at a local university. More time on my ass and less time in the gym. In 2013, I began teaching full time, and I became almost totally sedentary. About the only exercise I was getting was walking across campus between classes. Just before Christmas, I calculated my body fat percentage using the Navy method. At 5'8" and 178 lbs I found myself to be 29% body fat and obese! That did it for me. I realized I had to start to get back into shape, and I realized that it would be a lot harder now at 65 than it was when I was in my 20s. I have never been much of a distance runner/jogger. In the Navy, I ran my 3 miles a year for my two physical readiness tests, and that was about all the running I actually did (even though I was a sprinter in college). It also occurred to me that I probably just couldn't jump on a Stairmaster, and workout at 175 bpm heart rate for 90 min, either. So, with the recommendation of my internist, I decided to start increasing my activity by walking. We live in a subdivision on a street that is an oval of exactly 1/2 mile in length (I drove around it eight times and it really is exactly 1/2 mile). I started walking around my street on Dec 26. I started going around twice (i mile), then I increased the distance by a lap a day, until I was up to 10 laps on Jan 3 (I took Jan 1 off). Since then I had been walking between 8 and 10 laps daily, trying to increase my pace as I went. Somehow, I knew I wasn't getting enough feedback from just the mileage/time calculations. Back when I was working out in gyms, I always wore a chest strap, with one of the more advanced Polar watches. Now that it is over 10 years later, I explored more modern technology, in the age of FitBit and Apple Watches. Actual review starts here: One of the first decisions I made about getting an exercise watch, was that it would need to have GPS, since I have resigned myself to a walking regimen until I get my weight under control, and I regain some of my cardiovascular endurance. I also wanted a watch that used ANT + as its transmission system, because I knew that at some time I would want to add a chest strap for more accurate heart rate measurements (I purchased a Powr Labs strap that arrived today, more about that coming up). I also wanted the watch to be water resistant enough to allow me to swim (This is south Florida, and in the summer, it is a lot easier to do laps in a pool than it is to even walk, and by Summer, I will probably need to change to an activity that will allow me to increase my heart rate above the aerobic zone). The final thing was that the watch needed to be easy to read in a number of different lighting conditions. As I was purusing the various devices here at Amazon, I was immediately struck by the Garmin watch. Ergonomically it appeared to fit exactly the way I would want a watch to fit (I haven't worn a watch in over 20 years), and the way the contrast is set to make the LCD display easier to read with more intense light, it appeared to be perfect for outdoor use in Florida. After reading a number of reviews, that suggested it was a good watch (but not great) at $200, I figured that for under $100 it was probably more than enough to satisfy my needs. The watch came the other day, and I spent about two hours reading the manual and playing with the features. I took the watch outside, selected the "Walk" activity and the watch set the time and date through the GPS signal (None of the Polars I had previously owned did anything like that, and the most annoying thing about those watches was setting date and time). Yesterday was my first day actually using the watch. Before I left for school, I did four laps around my street, and sure enough, the watch registered 4.1 miles ( I stopped it after walking up my driveway). It also had my HR average at 122 bpm, which seemed reasonable to me. At school, the class I taught yesterday was in the library, which is about a half mile from the building in which I have an office. Since "walking" is to be my fitness thing, I walked to and from class from my office building. After I got home, I walked another two laps around my street. After dinner, I synched the watch to my iPhone. After the synch, all of the activities I did since I began wearing the watch were displayed. I guess I'm still fascinated by the GPS thing, and when I tapped each of the saved exercises, I was treated to a GPS map of my actual walking path. The repeated oval around my street wasn't too interesting, but at school I took two different paths to and from the library, and it was very cool to see them clearly defined on the map display. Today is my day off from school, so this morning I set out walk my 10 laps around my street oval. Just before I left the house, the Amazon Prime truck arrived dropping off Powr Labs ANT + chest strap. I took some time to synch the strap to the watch, and then set out on my walk. I walked eight laps, then paused to remove the strap so that I could proceed with just the watch measuring my HR, so I could make some "in the ballpark" comparisons. After two more laps, I went into the house and synched the watch to the iPhone. Of course, I got the same boring GPS map of the "circle" on which I live, but the thing I was most interested in was how close the average HR measurements were between the watch and the chest strap. For the chest strap, the eight lap HR average was 130 bpm (I try to walk at a little over 3.5 mph pace), and the two lap average for the watch alone was 132 bpm. As far as I can tell, the physiological variables were probably more noisy than the actual differences between the measurements, and, at least for my wrist physiology, the watch is probably "close enough for Government work". So, in conclusion, all I can say is that I really love this watch. It does way more than I really need it to, and things I need it to do it does exceptionally well. If you are a competing tri-athlete, you may need something more powerful and complicated, but for me, and I'm sure the many people who want to invest in a product that will help get them off there asses, for the cost, there really isn't a lot that competes well with the Garmin Forerunner 35.

I've had this watch for about a month and a half now, and I love it!!! I had the Forerunner 15 (which is also a great watch) before this, and I like the 35 even better! It is definitely slimmer than the 15 and looks more like a smart watch than just a GPS watch. It is not touch screen - it has the same 4 buttons as the 15, and the interface is similar. The 35 has a bigger face and the time is displayed in white with the background black which makes it easier to read in the dark (it does still have a backlight button like the 15). I wear my watch all day, but not at night. It's supposed to do sleep tracking if you wear it while you sleep, but it bothers me to have something on my wrist while I sleep, so I haven't tested that feature. I think the step tracking is accurate - it seems comparable to what my 15 was calculating. The GPS is very accurate - within .05 of a mile I would say. If I'm running on a measured course, it usually is a bit under what the course is supposed to be, but that's probably because I'm running as close to the inside as possible making the distance I actually ran a bit shorter than what the course is supposed to be. The 35 offers several features that the 15 does not have: smartphone notifications, bluetooth connectivity, displaying the weather, and heart rate. Starting with the smartphone notifications: it is pretty simple to set this us - just connect via bluetooth through the garmin connect app (I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 and it was easy to set up and works well). There is a setting where you can set which apps you get notifications from and you can set it to beep or vibrate or both. I have mine set to vibrate and it works perfectly. You can NOT send messages from the watch - it ONLY READS notifications. If you want to send messages or make calls from your watch, this is not the watch for you. However, you can answer/reject a phone call from your watch. This has been surprisingly useful - if my phone is in my bag, across the room, or somewhere else, I can answer the call from my wrist then look for the phone so I don't miss the call. Also, I keep my phone on silent all the time, so its nice to know when I get a message and not disturb others. There is a do not disturb mode - the watch won't vibrate/beep which comes in handy sometimes. On to bluetooth connectivity: You don't have to plug in your watch to sync it with garmin connect! It will automatically sync with your phone when bluetooth is enabled! I didn't think that this would be a big deal, but now that I have it, I don't think I'll buy another watch without it - its just so convenient. Weather: It will display the weather, but you have to have the GPS on your phone turned on (I don't leave the GPS on my phone on, so I don't use the weather feature). I set it up at first and turned on the GPS just to see what it looked like, and its pretty nice - it gives you hourly temperatures and rain chances. Heart rate monitor: I think I like the idea that it has a hr monitor more than I actually look at it. There is an option to turn the hr monitor off if you want (I assume it would save battery). It calculates your average resting hr which is nice (I haven't tested its accuracy, but the numbers seem right). It also gets your hr during a run/workout which is nice, but I rarely look at it. One final feature that may be the best thing about this watch - it does "find my phone." You have to have it connected up by bluetooth and be in range (which is surprisingly far and can even go through a wall/door). When you select find my phone on the watch, it makes your phone ring (even if its on silent), vibrate, and the flash for the camera blinks. I haven't tried it with my phone turned off, but I don't think that would work since it has to be bluetooth connected. I almost forgot about music control! This is a great feature that lets you play/pause/skip. I don't use it because I don't listen to music when I run, but it works well - I played with it when I first go it. Overall, I love this watch and highly recommend it! Pros: Accurate GPS HR Monitor Phone notifications/answer calls Bluetooth connectivity - automatically syncs "find my phone" control music from it Interface and overall look of the watch is much sleeker than the previous forerunner models which have a very sporty look Cons: Can't send a text from the watch Have to have your phone's GPS turned on the use the weather feature There is nothing that the watch does poorly, the cons are just features that would be nice if it had them. Another quick note: Battery Life - It has not been an issue for me. I charge my watch every night, but it usually still has 2/3 bars of battery when I plug it in. I run every morning for 30-75 minutes with the GPS on which is the primary loss of battery. If I don't run, it stays at 3 bars the whole day. I think the HR Monitor can drain the battery too, so if you wanted you could turn that off.

Another good Garmin product, but with several issues: Issue #1 : Heart rate monitoring accuracy is unfortunately hit or Miss. Running with my Forerunner 35 my heart rate is not accurate, it is usually 15-20 BPM low. Compared to my Forerunner 25 with a Garmin chest strap my history on my regular 5-8 mile run is quite different. On a Treadmill my Forerunner 25 + Chest Strap compares closely to a professional heart rate monitor with a cuff, the difference is nearly always less than 3 BPM, the model 35 difference is 8-15 BPM lower than the professional HRM. I have also run wearing both the 25 (with Garmin chest strap) and the 35 on the same runs and have seen those same differences. Issue #2: battery life is quite short, usually about 3 days with an hour run each day is about the limit before it’s recharge time. This is in sharp contrast to My Forerunner 25 which can easily go 8-10 days with a one hour run each day and 3-4 weeks with no running. The best I can get from the 35 with no runs is maybe 5-6 days. Issue #3 : the Forerunner 35 is far more fragile than the 25. The first day I wore it I somehow chipped the side of the case, two weeks later while running I caught my toe on a raised piece of sidewalk and took a tumble; while I wasn’t hurt, the band snapped and the Watch face was damaged, suffering a crack across the screen and a chunk broken out of the corner of the display when it landed about 20 feet away. It still functions but the GPS uptake time has greatly increased. So in summary, the 35 is good but the screen is easily damaged. The model 25 has a wide bezel to protect the screen while the model 35 does not, this leaves the model 35 screen completely unprotected if you take a fall, the heart rate is inaccurate by at least 10%. But it does have a wide range of functions and the gps seams accurate. A What I won’t do is wear it as my day-to-day watch, as I do with my older model 25. The 35 is pretty expensive and just too easy to damage for daily use. Update: May 20, my Garmin 35 has pretty much given up. Today, during my morning run I noticed that the screen is now only half visible, the other half is completely black, and both the GPS and Bluetooth seem to have quit as well. I can only assume that the fall I had in late January caused severe damage internally and now the watch is done. I’ve reverted to using my Garmin 25 with chest strap, the model 35 is now wiped out, I won’t replace it. This review needs an update. Like some others I had some issues, most were caused by a fall that chipped the screen and caused functional problems. I called Garmin and explained I had damaged the watch and Garmin replaced it at no charge. The replacement looked new and Functioned properly. During my conversation it’s the Garmin representative he gave me some hints to get the best from it, i detail these below because I had never seen them elsewhere. 1. Heart rate monitor responds poorly, often “sticking” at some obviously wrong count. I.e. showing 8 bpm when I’m running an 8 min pace and my hr should be about 160+. 2. Slow/incorrect response doing intervals and other similar response problems. There were problems with the initial GPS uptake at new locations as well so I called Garmin support and talked with a very helpful tech savvy guy who was able to cure all of the complaints in just a few minutes. First, make sure the “Garmin Connect” app is on your phone, Bluetooth is enabled and the FR35 and phone are paired. Wait until they sync. Next fully charge the watch then shutdown the watch by holding the top left button on the watch until “Shutdown” is displayed then select yes and the watch will shutdown and the screen will blank. Shutdown fully powers off the watch. Now leave it powered off for at least 12 hours then take it outside where you have a clear view of the Eastern sky and press the same button used to shutdown the watch briefly, this and the 12 hour shutdown will have the watch restart all of its OS components, reconnect all GPS components and reset clocking as well as doing some internal house keeping by clearing out stale files and freeing up operating memory. All this is kind of like rebooting Windows, cures a bunch of problems. Now that the watch has been restarted and settled down, go wash you’re hands, especially the place on your wrist where the back of the watch will be, also clean the back of the watch as well. Now go for a run, you’ll probably find that the problems you had before are gone. That’s how it was with my watch. Now it’s my habit to reboot before every run and the last six months have been completely trouble free.

I did a good amount of research on other devices before buying this product. I initially wanted a sleek smartwatch that also had great fitness tracking modes, but apparently you either get a pretty smartwatch/OK fitness tracker, or a decent fitness tracker/outdated looking smartwatch. In the end I decided I wanted mainly a fitness tracker that has some smartwatch features, and that I wouldn't use most of the features on an actual smartwatch. PROS The app is awesome! My husband is a software developer so I learn a lot about what makes good apps good and what makes bad apps bad. This app is free and user friendly. It has mostly accurate measurements and you can easily track your progress and areas of improvement. It also has a feature that allows whoever you send the link to to track your location, in case you are concerned about getting kidnapped on your run. Very good stuff. The steps I get seem to be pretty consistent as well as the distance traveled. The heartrate tracker seems to be mostly accurate (checked with manual pulse check). The battery life is pretty good. Obviously I would use more battery if I am using the fitness modes. Depending on your activity level and use of the fitness modes, the battery could last you all week plus some. The battery charges to full in about 30 minutes. I like the rectangular watch face and the light green band. I also like that you can change the bands. Apparently for some of the expensive FitBit models the band is not changeable so some people just buy a whole new watch. Like whaaat? CONS I like being able to see the texts I get on the watch, but I don't really care for receiving phone calls (I get so many spam calls that I don't even answer my phone lol). I don't think there is a way to say 'no' to having phone calls, so I get frequent notifications to enable phone call permissions. It's not too much of a problem but it's kind of annoying sometimes. I think the sleep tracker is interesting, but I don't think it is accurate. I think that as long as you are "resting" during the hours that you put as your sleeping hours under Settings, that it considers this as sleep. Sometimes I can't sleep but the device considers this as light sleep. I think this would be an interesting addition, that perhaps it could be integrated: I am a night shift worker and I switch between day/night sleep, so I have to manually enter my bedtimes in the app's User Settings to sleep. I think that if there was an activity button, like when you choose walk/run/cardio on the watch itself, for sleep, it would be easier for me personally. I am not sure if that could be done with a software update or if this is a hardware type thing. FINAL THOUGHTS I wear this watch almost 24/7 and I think it has helped me consider and evaluate my activity levels as well as track my improvement. I think that if Garmin made a watch that had the aesthetics and watch interface comparable to the Apple watch but kept the good fitness aspect, I would definitely purchase as an upgrade.

Synopsis: Overall, this is a good, basic running/ fitness watch that makes a nod at also being a smart watch. There is nothing flashy here. The watch doesn't do color, just back and silver/white on the display. For those who have used or who remember the traditional Kindles, this is actually pretty nice in terms of contrast as it is easy to ready in low light and high light conditions. In the dark, you still need the light from the lighting button. Unless you are a pro/ elite level runner who will use the advanced features of the higher end watch offerings from Garmin or their competitors, or are someone who doesn't mind paying an absurd amount for a the latest tech gadget, this watch is more than adequate when paired with external sensors such as the HRM Run. As you read this, please bear in mind that I haven't had the opportunity to run the higher end models, so my only points of comparison are the spec sheets and the price points. I will try to avoid providing second hand anecdotal evidence for or against them. What's Good: -- The weight. This watch is very light. Unlike my dive watches and other larger, necessarily robust watches, this guy is light enough that I don't feel a need to take it off to type or when doing wood work (both activities that involve repetitive motions that become annoying with larger watches on. For those who mind having something heavy on your wrist during a run, that won't be an issue with this watch. -- The Band. The silicon band that comes with the watch seems to be robust and is stretchy and comfortable. I have had sport watches in the past that became uncomfortable in hot conditions after a while as moisture built up under the bands making them itchy or painful. To date, I have had no such problems with this watch. I also like the securing ring on the band which has a tooth on the inside to lock it into one of the fitment holes. The stretchiness is important as you need the watch snug/tight to adequately place the optical heart rate monitor. -- The Smartwatch functions. I don't own an apple watch (which wouldn't work with my phone anyway) or a Gear S3, so I don't have a basis for first hand comparison. However, I have observed the frustration of my friends and family with such devices when trying to use them for input tasks (two way communications with the cellular device.) This watch passes on notifications from your phone, but you have no ability to respond with it. For me, this is the best of both worlds. I get to keep situational awareness while avoiding getting caught up in the minutia of responding with a yet smaller computer interface. This is a personal preference, but I do like the way it works. It is also nice that notifications turn off during a run. -- The interface. The UI (User Interface) is menu driven. It took me only a few minutes to get used to it, so it has to be fairly simple. Overall, it is intuitive once you absorb the designer's logic, you just have to be patient. It does not have a touch screen, so you have to use the buttons. This isn't a problem for me. -- The GPS. Because this is a lower end offering, the watch only uses the GPS constellation and not the GLONASS constellation (Russian GPS). As a result link up times are a little slower and accuracy can be degraded as the US places a mandatory limit on how accurate civilian GPS instruments can be (its a strategic thing.) Overall, this watch isn't too bad. At the end of my recent runs, the watch is generally off by about .03 to .05 miles from my phone which uses both locating systems and you can see the differences in the map. Part of this is, I am sure, due to the frequency of updates which is not user changeable unlike on the higher end devices (I would love to minimize the time between fixes.) -- External Sensors. You can still use external sensors with this watch. I love this feature as I prefer the HRM Run over the watch which has its own accelerometer. This becomes very nice when I'm pushing my daughter in a running stroller. For bikers, you could also use a cadence sensor. -- Movement Tracker. I like to track steps. As a teacher though, I take everything out of my pockets when I get in front of a class so I don't fidget with it, so its nice that the phone will continue tracking for me. Its also nice that it will tell me if I've been sitting too long. This is good for two reasons. Research shows that you start to lose focus and effectiveness after about 50 minutes of continuous concentration, so its a reminder to take a break (the movement bar seems to ping after about 45 to 50 minutes). Its also a great reminder to remain active instead of just sitting there like a lump on a log. -- Battery life. The phone is advertised as having up to a 13 day battery life. I haven't seen it. However, it does seem to last about 5 days with workouts which draw significantly more power than standard operation. -- Charging. The charging of this device is impressive. My first forerunner, the venerable F405, had to charge on a cradle that was poorly designed and didn't positively engage the device. Over time, the connections would degrade and eventually stop working. The new version uses a clip that actively clamps onto the watch. Even with oxidation, it should last a long time. The other part of the equation is the speed of charging. In this aspect, the watch charges very quickly. My personal experience is that a full charge takes less than 1 hour. So if I'm at my desk and notice that my watch is low, I can put it on to charge and have it back on my wrist in time for my next break. What's not? -- User control. The sacrifice you make to get a robust watch is that you sacrifice control. You can still adjust view fields on the exercise screens, but can't change how often the watch takes position fixes which would affect accuracy. There are some other little niggly bits of control that are sacrificed as well, but they are well hidden. Now, that having been said, how much control does the average user really need? If you ask the fruit company, they will tell you not much. -- Accuracy. As mentioned with the pros, the watch is not quite as accurate as I have come to expect from my phone. However, it is within the tolerance of the system so really, how much are you missing? -- User feedback. The watch does not provide the same level of feedback as the higher level watches. Such esoteric values as VO2, Lactate threshold, expected recover time, and foot contact time simply are not measured. Now, here's the thing. If you are an elite level athlete or a professional, or have a personal coach that actually cares about this stuff, you might care. If you are an every day runner or biker out for fitness and fun or a weekend warrior out to train for your local half, do you really need that extra information and will it be of benefit to you? This is a question you have to ask yourself. My answer was clearly no. Now that having been said, the higher end watches all rely on the chest strap sensor to develop those metrics. Would it be possible for Garmin to move the calculation muscle to your paired analysis device (computer or smart phone)? Well, the answer is that there is nothing technically in the way, so clearly it is a selling point for their higher end lines. Will it show up on Garmin Connect in the future? Who knows. -- Limited activities. The watch has limited workout options: Run outdoor, Run indoor, Bike, Cardio, and Walk. If you are looking for something that will track your cross fit WOD, this may not be your baby. Nor is it really designed to track golf, basketball, Frisbee golf, ultimate Frisbee or weight lifting as separate activities. Of course, most of the devices that are built around that desired capability are not reported to work well in that application. If you really want something that has specialized tracking capabilities for a wide variety of sports, by all means, pay for the higher end models. -- Garmin Connect. Perhaps I'm just getting used to it, but Garmin Connect has some issues in the way that it appears on my phone. It tends to be difficult to navigate and can be hard to get it to sync. -- Only two potential watch faces. There are two built in watch faces and there are no options to be able to create your own. This would be worse if I cared more, but I personally like the simple, in your face faces that are standard with the watch. The higher end watches have infinitely adjustable faces. Wrap up. Over all, I am very happy with this watch. It is the rare blend of having most of the features that I wanted and all of the capabilities that I need, while maintaining a reasonable price point without having to turn to the factory reconditioned items that may have been a lemon to begin with. I highly recommend this watch/ fitness tracker. If you don't believe me, check out the consumer reports review of this watch.

I was browsing through the countless wearable fitness technologies available on the market, and finally decided on the Garmin Forerunner 35. I was looking for three qualities: Reliable heart rate tracking, waterproof (I love to swim), and affordability. This was the most affordable option, and the reviews were pretty good, so I gave it a go. I've had this tracker for just short of a year now, and I absolutely LOVE it. The heart rate tracking is great, it's super waterproof, the band does not smell after hours of sweat, and the smart notifications are amazing. The notifications are bare bones, and not always perfect, but I actually prefer it. I can get a quick glance at incoming notifications, and decide if it's worth pulling my phone out. I'm trying to spend less time on my phone, and I love that it enables me to dismiss notifications that are non urgent so I don't get sucked into using my phone throughout the day. I was using a heart rate monitor for a certain class of workouts, and the Garmin integrated automatically and easily with my HR Monitor for even easier tracking. The integration with MyFitnessPal is also exceptional. Most importantly, and the reason I've come back to Amazon to write a review, is because of the support experience I just had. I noticed today that the "band keeper" (keeps excess watch band slack from flopping in the wind) ripped off. I went onto the Garmin website, and was able to ask for a replacement by simply filling out a form with the product's serial number. The band keeper was FREE, I didn't have to advocate for myself with a support worker, didn't need proof of purchase, etc. It was EXTREMELY easy, and has automatically built a lot of brand loyalty with Garmin. I respect their trust in their customers, and value how easy they made it for me to keep using their product. That support experience has made me want to buy even more Garmin products to better track my fitness - amazing!

This is my 4th Forerunner in 20 years…the last one bit the dust during a bike crash. I considered upgrading to a fancier model, with music and an auto pause maybe, and just decided that simpler is better for me. This watch is idiot proof. You’re only using 4 buttons (and really only 2 mostly). It’s super easy to start, does a great job of tracking mileage and routes and you can easily view your workouts afterwards. Love the breakdown of HR zones and ESPECIALLY love than an accurate HR is viewable with one touch of a button throughout my day. I always encourage my personal training clients to buy a Garmin versus an Apple Watch when specifically needing a FITNESS watch. No unnecessary junk. I find it comfortable enough to wear at night, but it took a few days initially to get used to. Very accurate on runs and bike rides but I find it’s not QUITE as accurate in the “Cardio” mode if I’m on the stair master, for example. Other than that, highly recommend!

I bought my first FR35 in January 2020 and it lasted about 2 years before I was having to charge it every 48 hours. If you use the GPS a lot it will deplete the battery a bit quicker. When I am just using the treadmill and working out indoors it was still lasting four days. I am now on my 2nd FR35, and just bought its replacement (see reason below). What I really like: It is pretty simple to use and the Garmin Connect website is great to help you see your results and plan your workout. It syncs with MyFitnessPal, which is excellent for meal planning. I use it to plan my Keto friendly meals. And it is a WATCH. I grew up wearing watches and never adjusted to using my phone as a watch. I just automatically look to my wrist when I want to know the time. If you are planning some serious and specific training process and want a lot of stats this may not be your watch, but for most of us it is going to cover your needs. The connect website provides personal records, badges and challenges that help keep me motivated. About the only thing that I don't love is the sleep monitoring. The auto feature is very basic and it will not track naps. If you sleep outside of an 8 hour period during the night, you will need to manually record those hours (if you care). I don't really care that much so it is a little annoying but not a deal breaker. Update Oct. 2024. I bought a replacement Forerunner 35 about two years after the first in 2020. My crystal cracked recently on the replacement but it appears to still be water tight and while noticeable from a side angle, the crack does not really impact viewing. I just bought a 2nd replacement if and when the current one either becomes a charging problem or does go kaput because of water. I tried the Forerunner 55 but it was way too complicated to operate and for whatever reason, was giving wildly low estimates of my distance. I was losing a quarter of a mile in a 20 minute run on a treadmill. Actually reporting I did less distance than the treadmill indicated. The display font is also much smaller so not recommended if you have old eyes like me. So I returned that one. It was $10 cheaper but the complication of using it and accuracy problems led me back to the FR 35. That is the best thing about the FR35 watch IMO, it just keeps track for you and does not become a nuisance.