Garmin Forerunner 310XT Review
You all know Garmin right? THE market leader in portable GPS devices for athletes (runners / cyclists / swimmers / triathletes). Late last year they released their latest and greatest version of the watch sized product, the Garmin Forerunner 310XT.
It is widely seen as not simply an upgrade in previous models, but a step change. It seems like they have looked closely at all of their other products and how people use them, taken a load of feedback and given it to the design boffins who have gone back to the lab and created a masterpiece.
From what it records to how it displays it, the 310XT is superb. Ok, enough of the superlatives, what does it actually do?
Major Improvements of the Garmin Forerunner 310XT (over previous versions)
- Higher sensitivity GPS and HotFix satellite prediction means it picks up the satellites faster and works better in built up areas and in trees.
- ie you’re not pointing your hand at the sky for 5 minutes at the start of a session to try and get a signal (or at least not as often!)
- Fantastic display and display options – customisable and clearer
- If you’re anything like me, not being able to put what you want on the screen is very annoying.
- Large easy push buttons
- You don’t have to look down to see what you are doing – you can keep focussed on where your feet are landing.
- Vibrating alerts – know how you’re doing by touch alone (rather than just sound alerts)
Seen enough already? Amazon have a great deal on the moment – just press the button below to go to the Garmin Forerunner 310XT page.
As with most of the previous watches, setup is simple and you can pretty much start using it straight away, although to get most efficient use of the battery you should give it a full charge first! There’s a great battery meter that lets you know how much power is left in it so you can work out how long it will last for on the current charge. Garmin claim that the battery will last for 20 hours on a single charge!
You can get a heart rate monitor or footpod as accessories, or you can synch it up with most monitors on the market pretty simply. And as previous versions, it wirelessly hooks up to the PC and then uploads your data to Garmin Connect for you to have a play around with!
The major change for me is in the display. The 310XT allows you to customize the display with 4 data fields of your choice and also swap between multiple preset screens so you can have everything you want to see. And what can you see? Well, power, speed, distance, calories, elevation (heart rate if applicable).
One final thing is the vibrating alerts. These can be setup for distance, heart rate zones etc and just like the beep, the watch will also vibrate. This is especially great when you are listening to music or otherwise distracted and miss a mile marker or something – you now get a second prod!
Anyone out there using one and got any comments? Leave them below.
Cheers
Andrew
PS – want to see what the Garmin Forerunner 310XT looks like on Amazon – click the big red button!
Garmin Forerunner 310XT Full Feature List:
| Heart rate monitor: | yes (optional) |
| Bike speed/cadence sensor: | yes (optional) |
| Foot pod: | yes (optional) |
| Automatic sync (automatically transfers data to your computer): | yes |
| Garmin Connect™ compatible (online community where you analyze, categorize and share data): | yes |
| Garmin Training Center® software compatible: | yes |
| Virtual Partner® (train against a digital person): | yes |
| Courses (compete against previous activities): | yes |
| Auto Pause® (pauses and resumes timer based on speed): | yes |
| Auto Lap® (automatically starts a new lap): | yes |
| Auto Scroll (cycles through data pages during workout): | yes |
| Multi-sport (changes sport mode with a press of a button): | yes |
| Advanced workouts (create custom, goal-oriented workouts): | yes |
| Simple workouts (input time, distance and calorie goals): | no |
| Pace alert (triggers alarm if you vary from preset pace): | yes (for advanced workouts only) |
| Time/distance alert (triggers alarm when you reach goal): | yes |
| Vibration alert: (choose between alert tones and/or vibration alert): | yes |
| Interval training (set up exercise and rest intervals): | yes |
| Heart rate-based calorie computation: | yes |
| Customizable screen(s): | yes |
| Barometric altimeter: | no |
| Unit-to-unit transfer (shares data wirelessly with similar units): | no |
| Power meter compatible (displays power data from compatible 3rd party ANT+™-enabled power meters): | yes (records data approx. 1 per second) |
| Sport watch: | no |
| Additional: |
Garmin Connect and Garmin Training Center are compatible with Windows® XP or newer and PowerPC and Intel-based Mac running OS 10.4 or later with Safari. |
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