Forerunner 230, 235 and 630: The new Garmin SportWatch for runners
Important news from Garmin for race fans: the company American renews its range of SportWatch for runners also introducing a new heartbeat sensor optical.
Garmin updates its range of SportWatch dedicated specifically for runners announcing two new models of medium-high, Forerunner 230 and Forerunner 235, supported by the proposed flagship Forerunner 630.
The names are, with the traditional approach of the US, the evolution of the range: Forerunner 230 takes the place of the Forerunner 220, while Forerunner 235 is the evolution of the model 230 from which it differs for the integration of the heartbeat sensor optical.
For Forerunner 630, it is the reference model Forerunner 620, top of the range for the avid runner that Garmin replacing after about two years of market presence. We start the analysis of the newness precisely by Forerunner 630, which continues to maintain a screen-type touchscreen with available surface area increased by 42% compared to that of Forerunner 620 even in the face of overall dimensions that are very similar.
Like what was seen in other models introduced over the last 12 months Garmin has implemented support for smart notification from your smartphone and Connect IQ, extending the capabilities of the dynamics of the race with a new more specific guidance (Stride Length, Ground Contact Time Balance, Vertical ratio).
Garmin has significantly increased the autonomy of Forerunner 630 than the 620 model: we spend 16 consecutive hours of use during the racing activities, to which are added 4 weeks using the Forerunner 630 as a clock, personal tracker and management system notifications from smartphones.
A new feature very interesting view of race fans who compete is Estimator Finish: indicating the travel distance provides a real-time estimate of what should be the final time as a function of the step to which you are running.
Another feature of the Forerunner 630 is the estimate of lactate threshold, which is calculated by running a specific workout routine lasting 20-30 minutes, or set to automatically taking into account the type of activity that takes place (on condition that occurs some requirement’s duration and intensity unspecified by Garmin at the time).
Forerunner 630 will be available for sale from November; Garmin today announced the prices for the North American market, which amounted to $ 399, excluding tax, for the standard model and $ 449 plus tax for the band with HRM-run combined bundled.
Forerunner 230 and Forerunner 235 share most of the functionality and the exterior design, except for the integration in the second of the heartbeat sensor of the optical type. Garmin has chosen not to reuse the sensor used in the Forerunner 225 but to make use of a new sensor developed completely in-house and that first debuted on the market.
Both models support to implement Connect IQ and notifications from Smart smartphone via Bluetooth, allowing you to provide an estimate of VO2 Max, the time to complete a racing activities (once the distance), the recovery time. There is no lack of features the ability to record data every second and not only in smart mode, and the ability to manage up to four data fields as a distinct maximum for each screen displayed.
These two models will be on the market from November, with prices amounting to $ 249 for Forerunner 230 and Forerunner 235 to $ 329, excluding tax. Considering the timing of previous launches products Garmin is conceivable that the initial volumes of products will be contained at least in the first month of sales, only to have a better availability in volumes optimistically from December.
