I have a forerunner 30, which I love ( sadly mainly because of the turquoise strap🤣) and have been perfectly happy with. My daughter has a forerunner 235 ( too dear for me and at the time unnecessary stuff on it).
Today she said “ there’s a spring sale on them do you fancy a 235 like mine? One with a turquoise strap too now). Oooh I thought gleefully YES PLEASE!!
Then she threw a spanner in the work by also showing me the Vivoactive that has Garmin Pay and Music in it which negates the need for a running belt and taking my phone. Very tempting!!!
But I have a fear of the unknown - don’t like new tech when I’ve got to grips with what I know already....
So I thought I’d ask if any of you have experience of the Vivoactive 3 with Garmin Pay and Music and your thoughts on it?
Written by
limberlou
Graduate
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No experience of anything more advanced than my 35, but wouldn't you want to take your phone with you anyway, in case, say, you need to call for a recovery vehicle?
I did think that too. I just hate it banging around in a pocket and get I sweaty under a running belt. ( plus the belt cuts my rolls in half and makes more of them ) 🤣
I’ve been thinking about the best way to carry a phone and have all your issues - especially the ‘rolls’ issue 🤣. I’m thinking of getting a Freetrain F1. (Google it).
At the same time I’m thinking of investing in a watch so this is a great post 👍🏻🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽♀️ Thanks.
I have the 235 and my partner has the vivoactive..... they were a very similar price. The vivoactive doesn’t have the coloured strap though! It’s a much more “all round” watch and tracker whereas the 235 is more focused on running. The vivoactive counts the number of flights of stairs that you climb but does not tell you your recovery time after a run. The Garmin Pay doesn’t support all banks (def doesn’t work with Halifax) as for the music, I always take my phone anyway in case of an emergency. The other main big difference is the touch screen. The vivoactive has touchscreen, the 235 is button controls. So if you want to look at your heart rate instead of your pace while you are actually running I can just press a button on mine, easy enough when you have learned which button, trying to operate a small touchscreen while bobbing up and down..... almost impossible! I would def vote for the 235.
Haha iPhone 7?? I only bought my refurbed iPhone SE this year. My grandson laughs at me cos I only like little phones and still mourn my 3GS. It used to just snuggle in the palm of my hand.
Yeah I think I’ll carry on with my wireless headphones and phone. But my daughter HAS offered to buy me the new 235 😬
Although v grateful .....il have to learn new tech 😥😫 only just got used to stabbing at the right button on this one with no contacts in !!!
Dexy5 tells me to say she swears by her Lycra flip belt which is more like a waistband than an actual belt ……. but I'm sure your rolls are on the way out anyway!
You’ve never tried syncing a playlist to a running watch, then 😀 There are some things in life worth spending time on (like a tax return). Pratting around with music formats and copying track-by-track to a running watch will take longer than the actual run. Whereas the phone syncs your playlist without you thinking about it too much.
Buy the FR235 and take your phone with you. When did you ever wish that you could buy your shopping on the way home from a run with your watch??
No, I'm not, apart from the hands and wrists 🤣🤣🤣, it just covered too much surface area for my taste, and I would have had to have cut the strap down to size. I am having a go with the Fitbit Versa Lite, not such good features but a bit more dainty. I have to get used to the fact that a Fitbit km is further, and slower than a Strava km.
But I pretty much know my route and times by now so I will know I haven't slowed down ( or if I have 🤣)
Ahh I started with a Withings watch which I loved. So much so I wore it as a day to day watch quite happily. Then Withings was bought out by Nokia and the app became glitchy, customer service non existent and it kept losing signal.
Hence the change to a Garmin.
My FR30 was bought for me by colleagues as a retirement present ( and very nice too) and I’m quite happy with it but my daughter always wants me to have more and more spec on gadgets. I like basic.
I have a Withings watch. Beautiful to wear, ok as a tracker but just not enough features. I liked the Garmin features so bought the 235 just to wear while running. It’s too big for everyday wear........ I’ve got used to the size and wear it all the time. The poor Withings one only comes out on special occasions now!!
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