Customer Reviews

Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS-Enabled Device with Heart Rate Monitor

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::::SCROLL ALL THE WAY TO BOTTOM OF REVIEW FOR UPDATES:::::

As of 02/12/2012---Detailed Analysis
Ok. I will try to make this review as detailed as I can for the limited amount of time that I have had the watch. So here it goes!

-From what I can tell, most people are only having luck being able to buy the watch from small running stores. Everyone that I know of that is buying online is EXTREMELY backordered. However, I have heard from DCRainmaker.com that Garmin is putting together a bigger team to meet the outstanding demand from this watch and will hopefully be on a standard production time frame by the time the Tri season really starts.

----My previous experiences with Garmin watches are as follows:

'I own a Forerunner 110 (and now the 910xt). My father owns a Forerunner 305. My mother owns a Forerunner 405. Their neighbor owns the Forerunner 310xt. As I am a college student, I have had to personally set up both of my parents' watches due to the tech being kind of over their heads so I have quite a bit of experience with those watches. I have only very shortly messed with the 310xt.

'In my opinion, the 910xt is far superior to any of these watches. The 305 is definitely bulkier and doesn't sit on the wrist nearly as comfortably. Furthermore, it is only water RESISTANT and not waterproof like the 910xt. The 405 that my mother has, as many of you already know, is basically a huge flop on Garmin's side due to the finicky touch bezel so the 910xt well outranks that watch on a plethora of accounts. The 310xt is the closest in comparison obviously as it is waterproof like the 910xt but it lacks any of the true swimming capabilities that is making the 910xt such a hit. It is also a tad bit bulkier on the wrist and has bright orange accents. I don't mind orange at all as I am in the Auburn University Doctor of Pharmacy program! However, the black color of the 910xt definitely looks very sleek and will go well with anything. I have already had quite a few compliments from my friends on how nice the watch looks.

----Now about the 910xt specifically:
==the watch turns on and off very quickly and gives you a battery logo on the shutdown to show you how much battery is left which is a nice feature.

==My ONLY gripe with the watch so far is that some of the buttons on the sides of the watch (not the start or lap buttons) can be a little difficult to press at times. It just takes a little more effort to press them in than it took on my previous fr110. Maybe this is a good feature to prevent accidental button pushes? I don't know. But I have noticed it taking SLIGHTLY more effort to press the buttons in. However, I will state that it is STILL possible to press the side buttons during a run (to change screens perhaps) without having to put forth too much effort and sacrifice any type of energy during the run.

==the screen is very easy to navigate once you understand it. You do have to change the sport mode to alter the settings for that sport. For example, if you want to change your bike data fields, you first need to hold mode to change sport modes and THEN go to the settings menu to be able to access the bike settings. Other than that, everything is pretty straight forward.

==The watch itself is spectacular. As far as I have been able to stress the watch, I have not come up with any type of software problem. That is not to say that there are not any in the system somewhere, but I have not had the opportunity to use every single feature of the watch (as there are ENDLESS features) and thus have not found one yet. I don't want to jinx it already but thus far it seems like Garmin did an outstanding job of getting this watch out there without any major flaws.

==I have used the interval capability of the watch and that worked flawlessly for me. I went to the track after having made up a workout on Garmin connect to upload onto the watch. However, once I arrived at the track I realized that I never actually sent the workout to the device! I was pissed. BUT, I went into the menu of the watch and was able to recreate my ENTIRE interval workout in less than 1 minute. It was awesome. The function worked very well for creating interval workouts. It asks how many times you want to repeat the interval and how far the interval should be (it also gives the option for time rather than distance for the interval as well). Then it asks about the rest period and whether it should be distance or time also. Furthermore, it lets you specify your "targets" for each interval such as Heart Rate, Pace, etc. I did not use the feature this time around so cannot comment on that specifically.

===The screen of the watch is more inset than on the 310xt which is a nice feature to minimize scratching on the screen.

Now for the interval workout, if you decide to have a warm up or cool down, you must hit lap at the end of your workout to start the actual interval sequence and it starts immediately when you hit lap. My interval was set up as a quarter mile on the track. As you get close to your marker, the watch actually gives you warning beeps that you are about to switch into your rest period. It typically beeped 5 times before one final (different) beep and vibration signaled the end of the lap. It did the same for the rest periods as well (mine were 200m recovery jogs). The one thing that I did not expect, however, is that the watch backlight comes on each time you finished one interval/rest period. This REALLY came in handy as I was running at night on a track with only one light fixture.

As a side note, there was one extra feature that I found to be QUITE handy that night on the track. The watch has a special feature during running mode only (and only once a workout has begun) that allows you to "tap" the screen of the watch twice to turn on the backlight. I say "tap" because in actuality you kind of have to slap your wrist. Not to say that you are really hitting your watch or that it's difficult to activate the backlight, moreso just that a simple "tap" doesn't quite do the trick. This feature was far superior to the idea of trying to hit the enter button on the side of the watch whilst running to turn on the backlight.

----Swimming Capabilities:

==for the most part, I haven't been able to try out most of the features of the swim portion of the watch. I did one short swim workout just to see exactly how it all worked and to assure it was functioning smoothly. The watch, again, did exactly as promised. I set up my watch to a 25m pool and proceeded to swim laps. During a flip turn I tried glancing at the watch for distance but it wasn't the easiest thing in the world. Definitely something that im going to have to practice. However, I did notice that if you look at the watch during a flip turn, you will actually only see your distance MINUS the last 25m. This is because the watch does not register the last lap until the entire flip turn/streamline process is over. In other words, if you are doing a long workout and don't want to stop to look at the watch and try to glance at it during a flip-turn, if you have JUST completed the 1000m mark at that wall then when you look at your watch during the flip-turn it will only say 975m rather than the actual 1000m. This is not a glitch in the watch. It is just how the algorithm works for computing your laps and distance.
For any of you wondering, I did press a few of the buttons under the water such as the front start/stop and lap/reset buttons without any problems. I know sometimes it seems counterintuitive to press buttons on something while underwater for fear of letting in any water but I have not had any problems with it and the watch continued to work great.

Another side note on the swimming capability is that I realized that the strokes per lap feature actually only calculates the one arm stroke calculations. Basically if it says that you averaged 11 strokes per lap, then that means that it's really around 22 if you count each arm as a stroke. Just thought I would throw that in there.

----Size:

==yes the watch is big. Much bigger than my previous forerunner 110. However, it is still without a doubt smaller than the 305 and 310xt. In fact, with the quick release kit installed on the watch whilst hooked up to the wrist strap, the 910xt is still about .05 inches shallower than the 310xt as is. The watch will probably still give most triathletes a problem when removing a wetsuit with sleeves but as mine is sleeveless I can't say for sure but it does give me a few problems with just a standard jacket removal.

---Quick release kit:

==BUY IT. one of the smartest things that you can buy to accompany this watch is the quick release kit. The kit functions beautifully between bike and wrist. The 90 degree turn is very easy. I have noticed on my kit that the watch goes in and removes easier from the bike mount than the wrist mount actually. This is a pro and a con. I like that it's stiffer on the wrist to avoid it being accidentally dislodged if it is hit during a triathlon mass start but it also adds some extra stress onto the wrist strap screws. When you twist it off, you have to twist pretty hard and it seems like this would eventually wear down the wrist strap pin and screws. However, I am talking more like years rather than mere months so honestly not too much to worry about.

==another plus of the quick release kit, however, is the ability to just pop the watch off before taking off a jacket or wetsuit. It is easy enough to pop off right after the swim and hold in your hand while taking off the wetsuit and popping it back on after that sleeve is done.

----Heart Rate Monitor

==upgrading from the old plastic hr monitor, this strap is great. Very comfortable and stays in place well. Tightens down quite a bit for even very petite persons as well (I tried it on my girlfriend who has problems fitting into the plastic one). It should be noted that Garmin has supplied the NEW version of the Premium HR strap that was just released this past summer. Yes, there are TWO premium hr straps, the earlier version having problems with spikes in data and such. So far, I have not had any problems with spikes in the data and the strap works very well!

Final Consensus:

Overall this is a spectacular watch with unlimited features. Any true triathlete or ultradistance runner (for the 20hr battery life and barometric altimeter) really has no other choice but to get this watch as an all-inclusive feature watch. It has everything you could possible need and want.

And again, I will state that so far I have not found any problems or software quirks in the watch and I have been messing with the history, data fields, workouts, etc continuously to make it the way I want it. This watch is nothing short of spectacular.

If I happen to discover any particularly cool features in the future then I will come back here and update this review. I will also update if I ever find a glitch in the system of any type. So until I update this review, you can safely assume that I have yet to find any glitch or problems with the watch. I am adamant about keeping updated.

I know this is long but I hope it helps you decide in whether this watch is really worth it to you. Any other information can be found by going to Garmin's website and downloading the owner's manual and reading it. It gives you all the features and how to execute them. And like I said, they all work (so far).

Good luck in your training and races this year and many years to come with this watch!!

::::UPDATE INFO as of 02/23/2012::::
-just to keep with being updated like i promised, garmin has just issued a software update today (2/23/12) to fix the following issues:

Changes made from version 2.30 to 2.40:

Improved calculation of instantaneous pace.
Fixed occasional watch freeze issue during pool swim.
Fixed potential dropout of speed/cadence data when using speed/cadence sensor and particular power meters when GPS off.
Fixed occasional problem of multisport activities containing pool swim not uploading to Garmin Connect.
Made improvement to reduce elevation spikes at beginning of activities.

-I have not personally experienced any of these particular problems in my watch but the update is still a welcome sight to see Garmin working hard to keep their software running smoothly!
also, just to let you know how the update process went:
---everything ran very smoothly without me having to intervene.
---once the ant agent sent the update to the watch, it did take between 5 and 10 mins for the watch to fully download the update so for those of you wishing to do this before your next workout, I would reconsider.
---however, once it was downloaded onto the watch, the actual software update on the watch took only a minute or two
---no personal data was changed/deleted during the update that I have been able to find which is definitely a positive as I know other 310xt owners have had this problem with previous software updates
NOTE: if you are still having problems with instant pace not being smooth after this update as others have mentioned, @Doug Bishop (another reviewer here on Amazon) mentioned that changing the data recording from "Smart Recording" to "Every Second" has helped him! Worth a shot for those of you out there who are still having problems with instantaneous pace! Furthermore, "Every Second" recording gives a more accurate data curve anyway. If it works for you then kudos to @Doug!

:::Feature Update and Problems Update as of 04/03/2012:::
--not much has changed with the watch since my last update
--however, I have noticed a few times that the screen on the watch has fogged up just a slight bit when it was cooler outside. I havent noticed the problem during really hot days at all but rather cooler days with direct sunlight. I have researched this problem and it does NOT denote a waterproofing issue in the watch but rather a failed attempt at putting the device together in a humid-less environment like it should have been causing minimal amounts of humidity to get trapped under the screen. Garmin does state this on their FAQs page regarding all of their watches.
--Also, I have had 1 instance in which I was cycling down a hill at approx 30mph and the watch randomly went into Auto Pause and then immediately Auto Resume right afterward. it didnt really affect the data since it happened so quickly but i just thought that i'd mention it. (as a side note i DO have my watch set to Auto Pause when stopped so more than likely this will not happen if this feature is disabled)
--the other point to this update on my review is to point out a feature of the watch that I have noticed after my workouts that Garmin does not mention on the product page or in the Owner's Manual but that i find very nice and handy!
---->the watch has a feature called "Recovery Heart Rate" that comes up about a minute or two after a workout is STOPPED. When you are done with a workout, if you just leave the watch alone after pressing the Start/Stop button then in about 1 or 2 minutes(not sure which as i've never actually timed the delay) after pushing the button the watch will beep again and a screen with a "Recovery Heart Rate [BPM]" denotation will appear. Next to this message it will give you your exact heart rate when it beeped (i.e. 147bpm) and the change in beats per minute that occurred when you stopped the activity. For example, you might see: "Recovery Heart Rate [147]--[30bpm]" Basically what this screen is telling you is that from the moment you pressed stop on the activity, the watch has been counting down to approximately 60 seconds later and states your current heart rate and the change in heart rate that you have experienced (effectively showing you how in shape you are or how hard your workout was because a wider recovery parameter (i.e. 60bpm rather than 30bpm) denotes higher fitness). In other words, when you stopped the activity, your heart rate was at 177 bpm (not sure if this number is the exact number EXACTLY WHEN you press stop or if it is the Average heart rate from the activity) and in 60 seconds it fell to 147bpm.
--the trick to being able to utilize this feature is to NOT save/reset your activity immediately when you are done as this will void the algorithm to calculate the recovery heart rate but rather just leave the watch alone for a minute or two
--I just thought I would share this information because (as far as I have been able to look) Garmin does not mention this feature in any of their manuals nor on their product page but I think that this feature is really quite useful and should be shared!

I sold my 310XT knowing this watch would be great. I heard a lot of people state they would wait for the next gen. That isn't how it works as the hardware isn't' really changed there's just a firmware update offered to fix any bugs. I've used this watch for the swim, bike, and run multiple times now and have to say that it's well worth the money. First, the swim.... The information it gives you is insanely accurate. I found the fact that it knows when you're taking a rest and when your working is great along with the fact it gives the lengths, stroke count, efficiency rating and much more. All great stuff that isn't really offered on a GPS unit. As it is winter I have yet to use it in open water. The only downside that I can see in the water is that if you're doing kick sets without using your arms it doesn't count it as I think that the gyroscope or whatever they use recognizes the motion of your arms. Maybe there will be a fix for this, maybe not. Either way that's not a big deal. The bike is about the same features it's always had and it all works great. The problem is the run. For me on the run the most important things are the pace, hr, distance, time, and cadence. The time, distance, and hr all work great. However, the pace is horrible. It's all over the place. For whatever reason Garmin didn't put the normal smoothing in so it reads 4:50 per mile then 10:15 per mile 2 seconds later. It jumps all over like this constantly and is quite annoying. You can put it on average and that works fine but that doesn't give a up to the minute readout and doesn't help very much especially the longer you get into your run. The footpod helps but you have to calibrate and then remember to always put it on your shoe which is annoying. Plus the footpod is super slow in updating your cadence and that's a down side too.

All in all I would still recommend the watch even as is. The swim information alone makes it worth it. I would like to see a firmware update fix the foot pod issues and the pace issues but other than that this which is about as solid as it comes.

Have been using the watch for a week now, found that the Chicago Garmin store had a few in stock (they always sell out when they get them, so call ahead).

Have owned the 305, 310, and now the 910. I used the 310 for triathlons, actually found the 310 was pretty good with the latest update for mapping a swim. That said, the 910 rocks! Here's what I've found useful so far with it:

* Size is not just significantly smaller than the 305 and 310, it really has some measure of style as well. Also, it just feels like a solid watch and I think the black looks excellent.

* The watch band is much easier to use than the 310. There are a larger number of slots to use to fasten the band, so it feels like it fits better to me. They also provide a watchband extension if you need to wear it over some sort of bulky garment.

* Can't tell on battery life yet, but over the week of regular workouts as well as leaving it on overnight only depleted 23% of the battery.

* For swimming, the watch is amazing! It counts laps/intervals/strokes/distance per stroke/SWOLF score/efficiency (normalized value to make various types of swim workouts comparable)/stroke type with what for me has been complete accuracy. I had the Finis Swimsense watch and ended up returning it due to fogging and hard to read screen. The Garmin screen is easy to read, either out of or in the water. For swimming, it has both a lap pool and open water setting.

* It as a barometric altimeter built-in, so does elevation correction as well.

* A number of other software enhancements are nice: Virtual racer/training effect/run-walk setting.

* I use a Garmin Footpod and Speed/Cadence sensor as well.

* Immediately paired up with the Ant receiver I already had plugged into my computer, simple to set that up.

I'm quite pleased with the watch and so far it looks like they've done a very good job with the initial version of software. I was impressed by the software updates they did with the 310, so be interested to see what they do with the 910.

Excellent watch, highly recommended.

Tom

I bought this GPS watch for use on trail running. I am really dissapointed with it. The barometric elevation system is a crap (even with firmware v2.4). I tested it on hills and during a moutain race (42 Km). It gives me about 5 to 10% of more distance than others GPS watches. Even the elevation stopped working after 30 minutes (see [...])
I do not recomend this watch for trail running. Buy the Suunto AMBIT instead.

Amazing piece of equipment in many ways. However, I simply cannot recommend it until they add smoothing to the pace field in running mode. I can be on a run, and my pace will change from 6 min miles to 8 min miles in the course of a second. A smoothing option in the software is honestly something that should have been a given during development. Until they release firmware that incorporates this option, I would have to suggest people hold of buying this product. I made the mistake of paying for something that is still in beta phase. If companies who release unfinished products continue to be rewarded by high customer demand, they will continue to release unfinished products.

The only problem I had with this watch was the pace just like others described. But there is a update that is very easy to instal on the garmin website. Now the watch is perfect. I have owned several Garmin GPS watches and this one rules them all. to many features to review them all but my favorite is the custom workouts. from Garmin connect I can create a custom workout and send it wirelessly to my watch... example: the last workout I made came from a training plane that called for me to run a 2 mile warm-up then 8x400m repeats at 3k pace with 400m recoveries and finish with a 2 mile cool down... entered everything into the computer (very easy to do) and it goes wirelessly to the watch and the watch guides you through the workout. It tells you when to speed up, slowdown rest, ect... I love this watch and would give it 6 stars if I could.

I purchased this watch in mid-February to improve my performance at both mountain and road biking, as well as at swimming.

During the first three weeks of riding, the watch performed well. However, during recent road bike rides, the watch has been powering off multiple times during my rides--very frustrating. Additionally, the barometer has occasionally registered excessively high numbers.

When I spoke with Garmin customer service today, I was told that they have received other complaints of the watch powering off when mounted to a bike and that they are working to solve the problem. In the meantime, they told me to wear the watch on my wrist, rather than mounted to the bike.

I was also told the excessive elevation gain numbers could be due to the powering off issue or to rapid changes in altitude.

I very much like the watch, at least in concept, but unless Garmin can solve these issues, I will return it.

I am a hard-core weekend warrior. I love to race mountain bikes and run. I've been getting in to Triathlons over the last five years. I've been watching Garmin develop sport watches for several years, but i always felt the price didn't justify the technology they were putting in them. One would be good for this sport and one would do well with that. I could never find a watch that did it all. The Garmin 910XT seemed to finally meet my basic criteria. One watch that can do it all. I want a watch that i can train with and race with. As a triathlete, I've been most intrigued by the Swimming features.

Swimming:
From a training stand point, the 910XT can support lap-swimming and record distance, speed, strokes. Again, for years, no Garmin product has had the ability to gather lap data while inside a pool. But, the FR910XT does exactly that. That's some forward thinking. In practice, i'm still getting used to all the buttons and all the different screens. Again, I've never owned a Garmin. So far my favorite swim feature is the lap keeper, you just set the length of the pool and off you go. The swimming mode supports a number of different strokes depending on how you swim. It also features an open water mode. Unfortunately, it's still to cold to try it out. I'll update during my first race or open water swim.

Biking:
The 910XT has made a number of small improvements over previous watches that i've looked at. It offers the ability to now set up multiple bikes. I have three bikes, one mountain, one road, and one tri-bike. I can store different saved parameters, such as ANT+ sensor details (power/speed/cadence) and wheel size/bike weight. I ride a 29er mountain bike for run 700cc on both my road and tri bikes. Again, one watch to run them all. The 910XT is designed to be either worn or mounted on the bike. I've found i really like wearing over messing around with mounting it. The display is fully customizable. It will show up to four fields of data. I use time, distance, speed, and cadence, but i recall that you can toggle through eight measures in all.

Running:
The 910XT comes pretty well stacked for my running needs. Garmin has proven that can make awesome running watches in the past. Many of the same feature that i use for biking are the same for running. I've been trying to use the HR monitor during my running and biking training days. It seems be accurate. It has a Run/Walk feature which i've found is pretty cool for interval training. I use the distance and pace features the most. It's so much information, that i've tried to keep it simple.

Conclusion:
Over all, there is so much to learn about this watch. It's a bit like drinking from a fire hose. How does the watch work, the HR monitor, and then how do you download everything to your compute? The data it collects is endless. If you're a triathlete, then this is the watch, a single device that does it all and that's why i bought it. It should be 5 star for all the features, but for now just 4 because it's taking me a lot of time to figure everything out. It's a bit complicated, but well worth the time investment to learn how to use it.

Pro's:

Indoor lap swimming mode, recording distance/speed/strokes
Run/Walk feature
Virtual Racer feature, ability to race past performances/others
The back of the unit can twist/lock onto a traditional Garmin bike computer mount (slick)
Accurately tracks distance, heart rate, pace and a ton of other metrics
Wirelessly downloads workouts via ANT+ to computer or cell phone
Supports Training Peaks Metrics also pedal based power meters

Con's:

Doesn't record/display heart rate while underwater
Short battery life on 20 hours so it doesn't work as a normal day to day non-sports watch
Can't split between two people(husband/wife) it will only support one person at a time on watch
No touch screen. I've seen Garmin do it on other devices, so why not this one?

I purchased this watch at a local running store on January 29th, 2012. It worked well for the first couple of months. Then, without warning and without firmware updates, it began to experience difficulty in keeping the correct date and time when powered off. It does update the time correctly when linked with GPS and will maintain correct date and time when satellites are lost. This means that all of my indoor workouts (which are many given the 100+ temperatures in Arizona this time of year), wherein the watch is turned on at the gym indoors, show the wrong date. The watch likes to think that it is December 13th, 2009. Clearly, as this watch just hit the market recently, there are no December 2009 workouts to be had.

A review of the Garmin forums indicates that it was a known problem with the 310XT. I called tech support and they identified that this was not a known problem with the 910XT, but as it is essentially the same watch, and is new to the market, this is certainly a possibility. I asked for a replacement and was told that since it is a software problem, the new unit would simply have the same problem. Now, which is it, you've never heard of this problem with the 910XT, or all of them have it? I was also told I would receive a refurb, despite the fact that this watch was $500 and is less than 90 days old. I was informed that I should simply pair up my device with satellites each time before use (not really convenient for indoor use, now is it?) I was told that they are on the verge of a firmware fix for this. I informed the rep that since the issue has been noted in the 310 since 2009 without a fix as of yet, I did not place much stock in that statement.

Other than this issue, I have a love/hate relationship with this watch. I bought it because I do triathlons. Stroke recognition is poor, and while there are comments that such is supposedly related to technique, I can attest, as a former competitive swimmer, that while my technique may not be perfect, years of coaching and swimming lead me to believe that my strokes are outwardly recognizable. There are also issues with the watch adding additional 25yd lengths here and there, so while sometimes reliable, stats/pace/distance need to be taken with a grain of salt, particulary with regard to indoor swimming. Outdoor swimming appears to work quite well, though if satellite link is dicey, the link is easily lost and not recovered, and you have no idea how far you have gone. I used this during a recent 2000m open water swim and it worked like a charm. A trip to a different more remote lake led to very poor GPS link and dropped satellite connections. Regardless, this is easier than counting laps in a 25yd pool while swimming extended distances. I used the multisport option with 2 transitions programmed in for a sprint distance triathlon and it was fabulous.

With regard to bike, I have a cadence sensor that is not yet set up. I can update when I am up and running. The autopause feature is fairly good. It is easier to use when set to a stop rather than to a certain MPH speed. Read, traffic lights in the city.

Works fine for the run, with instant pace very jumpy. Newest firmware update is supposed to address this. Haven't been outside for a run with it since upgrading, so can't comment. Pairs quite well with the heart rate monitor. Have a foot pod, but haven't used it. I know, I need to learn to use the accesories I pay all of this money for.

Overall, this watch is a decent watch with several notable issues. Clearly, quality control at Garmin is subpar, if they re-released a watch platform with known issues i.e., date problem. Very frustrating. For the price, please be aware of this issue, and purchase according to your required level of convenience. As I am very limited in terms of my options, I will probably bite the bullet and just be sure to link it with GPS each time before indoor use. Less than ideal, but I guess that's the way it's going to go. Buyer beware.

I also strongly suggest buying with AMEX, so that the warranty is effectively doubled. They have been fantastic with replacement issues for me on the one occasion that my dog ate my Forerunner 4 days after purchase.

I just want to say "I am in love!" and this is only after 1 use. I ordered the 910xt November 25th, 2011 after googling it several hundred times over the prior 2 weeks. It finally arrived February 29th, 2012 (it is my understanding these types of delay are not unusual for Garmin when releasing new products). My husband stayed home all day to be sure he didn't miss the UPS truck while I was at work, bless his heart!

I didn't have high expectations when deciding to purchase the watch. I am an age group triathlete that just enjoys the journey (and the excuse to cross train for variety). Previously, I used a cat eye bike computer, a basic water proof sports watch, and my iPhone to track my workouts. For a long time the iPhone served my needs just fine for biking and running with the TrainingPeaks app, but then for some reason (after an iPhone OS update) my TrainingPeaks app stopped recording GPS data well and I wasn't getting good data and often my routes didn't get recorded. Hence, I started looking for other GPS solutions and fell in love with the idea of a watch that could do it all from entering the water to finishing a run. That is when I got it stuck in my mind the new Garmin 910xt was what I needed and would add a lot of new fun data to track. Again, I am not a serious athlete, but I do have fun watching improvements in my fitness data and I believe the data helps in understanding my body better as an athletic adult entering her 40's this year.

During my persistent googling of the Garmin 910xt to read every review I could before pulling the trigger on a $449 watch with a heart rate strap (plus another $75 or so for the quick release and bike speed/cadence sensor I wanted), I came across DCRainmaker who did an extensive review on it. That website is the greatest site for all sporty tech things you want reviewed, including the 910xt. There is one extensive review on the 910xt, including a video of a wetsuit removal with the watch on and another article on the comparison to the swimsense. I suggested if you want detailed review information, you check out DCRainmaker's website.

I haven't yet used the bike or run features yet, but I did buy the quick release kit and the bike speed/cadence sensor. They were both very easy to set up and I look forward to having new bike data (cadence) that I have never captured before. Also the ANT+ stick for the computer installed easy and data transfer was not a problem. The only thing to note is at first I thought the watch wasn't reading the heart rate strap or ANT+ stick, but it was settings on the watch that needed to be changed to allow for it to pair. After I found those settings everything worked great. The quick release system seems to be sturdy, yet also easy to transfer from wrist to bike with a quarter turn.

What is really awesome, but also really time consuming, is setting the watch up. For example, lap swimming mode has 35 some different data fields that are captured and you can set the watch up to display 4 fields at a time and you can have upto 4 different screens (16 maximum fields displayed). Trying to determine what is most important to you and how you want to be able to scroll through those items can send your head spinning. Then you factor in that you can set each activity's data screens differently, you have 5 modes (lap swimming, open water swimming, biking, running, and other) all with the ability to customize upto 4 screens of data with upto 4 items on each screen ... It is like a restaurant menu that just has toooooo many choices and you want to eat it all. I have already re-organized every possible data screen at least twice, and sure I will do it again. It will take me awhile to determine what data is most important to me and probably will even change as my training goals change. So much to choose from, especially now that I can see open water swim distances, swim efficiencies, bike cadence, heart rate, along with the usual distance, time, pace choices (and more) ... so much new data for me to collect and I can do it with one device the 910xt.

My first (and so far only activity use) was lap swimming this morning. Hey, I only got the watch yesterday after getting home from work and had to go to work today (okay, I did think about calling in so I could do a brick workout in all three disciplines, but didn't). I was a swimmer from the time I learned to swim through high school, so lap swimming is very natural to me. This being said, it means I have very good swimming form; therefore, had very few issues with the watch having inaccuracies. It did record two of my freestyle laps as backstroke, but it did record every lap. Everyone needs to remember that it will never be perfect in the water, especially if you break swimming form (ie to adjust goggle straps, stop mid length, make quick accelerations, or do other funny actions). Newer swimmers will probably experience more inaccuracies due to poor form, slow awkward turns, ect, but this is not the fault of the watch as much as the limitations of how an accelerometer works. Also it does not really handle a workout with timed intervals (like 10x100 on 1:45) well, but if you remember to push the stop/start and also the lap button, you can get some good interval data to dissect later on while still using the lap timer (or clock) at most pools.

All I already know is this one device will capture lots of training information. I used to have to wear a water proof watch to capture swimming time data, had to write down lap workout data (after keeping it in my memory during the swim), had to estimate open water swimming distances, had a bike computer coupled with my iPhone for my bike workouts, and again my iPhone for run workouts (which if you remember correctly, stopped working well). In addition, when the GPS feature works on an iPhone, it wears down the battery life down very quickly, so workouts can not be very long and still be accurately captured. Now one device captures it all and uploads it nicely to the computer for easy dissection. No more manual entries for swimming, no more estimating open water swim distances, no more recharging the iPhone between long brick sets, ect ... While the $449 w/heart rate strap may seem like a high price, for me I love that I now have one device to capture all my workout data and track my routes and don't have much to manually record anymore.

This watch is a Jack of All Trades, but you do have to remember it is a Master of None.

If Garmin representatives come across this review, the only thing I ask is that future updates consider the ability to create workouts for swimming based on the option of yards or meters that include the ability to do timed interval sets. For now, I will continue to plan my swim workouts like I used to, but am glad that I will be able to easily upload the result of my workout without relying on my memory so much, and I can now enjoy a bunch of new data to analyze.

I want to also add for those of you commenting about it not being a "sports watch". It does have a 20 hr GPS battery life, so would run through the day and just need to be plugged in every night (like an iPhone). Additionally, I took the "other mode" which I don't have a use for and set the main screen to 3 fields (time of day - big and on top) and sunrise and sunset (smaller and on the bottom). If I wore it daily, this makes it like any other watch and has the great inclusion of sunrise and sunset times. It is too big for my small wrists to wear daily, even at that, in the business world I function in, I would never be wearing a sports watch all day anyways. I still can go to a workout location using it like a regular watch (primary screen of other mode) and then I can change modes for whatever my workout will be. Additionally, I have read that if you turn off the GPS (set watch to indoors) you would have over 50 hours battery life. So those who knock this great cross training device based on it not being a watch I think are just being a little crabby and unbending, because you can make adjustments to make it function like a regular sports watch.