Review: GPS watch GARMIN Forerunner 10

Lately I have started to do more sports: walking, exercises as well as jogging at mornings and do some cycling (mostly with my boyfriend). My last birthday and Christmas gifts are related to sports and I am not sad about that. Last Christmas I got beautiful black/ pink matte bicycle from Kross, but last year on my birthday I received basic fitness watch which only counted steps and had timer. I still liked it but, unfortunately, I lost it some months ago.

A few weeks ago I had my birthday and I received this amazing, new sports watch as a gift. I was very excited and knew it is going to motivate me more in my jogging goals and journey, as well as make it much more easier. Garmin is one of the best GPS watch companies, they have a lot of different designs and models, so if you are not going to like the watch I am talking about right now, you will definitely like some of their watches you can find on their webpage. Let me introduce you to GARMIN Forerunner 10!

About Garmin Forerunner 10

Garmin Forerunner 10 is a GPS running watch that tracks the distance, speed, and calories. What I noticed only when I was running, is that the watch also identifies personal records which motivates me even more.

I am using Forerunner for less than a month, but what I like the most is, that you do not need a phone anymore with you to track your distance and speed. With GPS watch it is so easy, only press one button to obtain the location, wait few seconds and then press the same button again to start! Any activity you do is going to be tracked as jogging. If you are doing any other activity, you are going to need to change that information on applications when you sync your data (further I explain how to do it).

You can see time and distance while running which for me makes it easier to reach my dreams and know if I need to speed up or slow down, and to know how many kilometers I need to do to reach my goal of the day! I customized my settings to show pace and distance in the first page and calories and other information on the second page. Forerunner 10 alerts you when you complete each km, making a beep sound. When you complete your run, you’ll see a summary of data and information about the speed and distance. The watch also lets you know if you achieve a personal record.

Even though the watch is not going to track swimming, I like that it is waterproof because I always get bothered when I go to beach or swimming and I need to remember to take off the watch. That fact helps and just make my life easier.

Garmin Forerunner in brief:

Tracks distance, speed and calories
Start running with the press of one button
Identifies personal records which helps to motivate you
Virtual Pacer™ compares current pace to target
Plan, review and share runs at Garmin Connect™ (app on phone)
Waterproof
Mine has pink and white colors, but they have a lot of options and colors (also black). The black/red and orange/black models have a slightly larger watch face and wider wristband (meant more for men).
The battery life is 10 days

Price: $129.99 USD

USA: Buy your Garmin Forerunner 10 HERE

Price: £89.99

UK: Buy your Garmin Forerunner 10 HERE

Price: Eur 129

Spain: Buy your Garmin Forerunner 10 HERE

How to sync Forerunner 10 with Strava

Strava is one of the most famous sports application where you can track and collect all the information about activities such as swimming, jogging and cycling. It is very popular application in the world of triathlon. I use Strava already for a year and have many activities, that is why I wanted my Garmin watch to keep my activity information to Strava as well. Syncing my Garmin watch with the Strava app was the easier from all the actions I needed to know to be able to use the watch the fullest.

Open Strava application on your phone -> click on SETTINGS -> Link other Services -> Connect a device to Strava.

Whenever you are going to upload your activities to Garmin application, it is going to automatically upload activities also to Strava. Do not forget to change the activity, if it is any other than running (you need to do that manually on any applications you use).

Garmin explore and Garmin connect?

What you need to remember and know, is that this model does not have a Bluetooth. That means you cannot sync the data through Bluetooth to your Garmin applications. To sync data, you always need to connect it to cable and your laptop.

Garmin connect is the application that you are going to need to download on your phone by using Apple store or Play store for androids. When I said that Forerunner 10 does not have a Bluetooth, it meant that you are not going to be able to sync data automatically to your phone (or Garmin connect). Therefore, you are going to need to download an application on your laptop to sync data (the only way to sync your data).

To sync data with your Garmin applications and Strava (or other applications you like) you are going to need to download an application named Garmin Explore. I firstly made a profile on their website, so you can connect on their website as well but not to sync data! Only to check your activities, data, and activities of your friends you follow. To sync data, you are going to need to download the application on your Google app store or Mac app store (I did not find it on the mac app store, I found it through the internet on Google). Garmin explore is similar to the Strava app, but has fewer members and shows all the data even in more detail than Strava App, that is why it seems more professional.

Do not forget that every time you track your activity (either it is jogging or cycling or walking), Forerunner 10 is always going to count it as jogging. Therefore, you need to remember to change that information on Garmin explore and the Strava app.

My opinion

I am using Garmin Forerunner 10 for only three weeks and have done a few walks and runs using the watch and applications. I will start my own opinion with telling you how I tracked my activities before owning the watch.

I had Strava application on my phone, I had a waist bag and my phone with me always. When I started to jog, I pushed the start button on Strava, on my phone and then while slowly running, I struggled to put my phone back in the waist bag where usually I had keys and MP3 player so it made me even more difficult. I needed to slow down and and was difficult to concentrate on my jogging with the heavy waist bag around my hips. Usually I puy myself a goal of how many kilometers I want to run. With phone, while running I needed to take my phone out of the bag, then while running, unlocking the screen and try to see and check the rythm and kilometers or meters that are left. Very complicated and affected my time and also motivation.

How I track and jog now with Garmin Forerunner 10?

I press the button, wait until it obtains my location and then I press the button again to start jogging and that is all! So much easier and stress-free and as a bonus, I can easily track all the information about my activity while jogging, no need to stop or slow down! If you do decide to rest or take a pause, either press the same button again or in setting you can add autopause (watch automatically stops tracking when you stop and re-start it when needed). Very easy to use and understand.

If you are a huge deal and serious sportsman, then maybe this model is not for you as it does not track swimming and as it has no Bluetooth. For me, the bluetooth part does not bother me at all. Add cable is like one-minute job and that way I also remember to charge the battery (as a blogger I have too many gadgets to charge and sometimes I forget some).

If you are a beginner or just hobby type of runner and cyclist- I definitely suggest you this watch!

DISCUSSION. Do you have GPS or fitbit type of watch? Which kind or which one you want to have? If you have any more questions about the watch, leave in comments and I am going to answer it!

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