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From Fellrnr.com, Running tips
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The {{Garmin 620}} is an intriguing device, adding some cool advanced features but it has appalling [[GPS Accuracy]] that prevents me recommending it. This is a real shame as other than the accuracy problems I love using the 620. However, I've had the 620 record only 12 miles on a 13 mile run, something that I consider unacceptable.[[File:Garmin620.jpg|thumb|noneright|200px|The {{Garmin 620}}, showing the display of Cadence, Vertical Oscillation and Ground Contact Time. Note that the display is color, but I found the colors muted and not always easy to distinguish. ]]There's a lot to like in the {{Garmin 620}}; it's smaller than many [[Best Running Watch| comparable watches]] and its interface is nice to use. How well the 620 will suit you will depend a long on your needs, so for a simple evaluation of a GPS watch, I look at how well it can answer some basic questions:* '''How far did I run?''' This is the most basic question, and the 620 has somewhat reasonable, but not great GPS accuracy, so its estimate of how far you've run needs to be treated with a little caution. * '''How fast am I running?''' Knowing how fast you're running can be a nice to know, or it can be vital for your training or race performance. Because of the nature of GPS, watches that rely on GPS signal alone tend to have serious problems with current pace. Without the ability to display current [[Pace From A Footpod]] while getting all other data from GPS, the 620 can't answer this question. The mediocre GPS accuracy exacerbates this issue, and I've seen the pace estimate wildly wrong on the 620. The 620 would be my top pick for marathon runners, but I firmly believe that this is a killer feature, as accurate pacing is essential for a good marathon performance.* '''Where am I? '''The 620 has no navigation features. If you're lost, the 620 won't be much help. * '''What's my cadence? '''[[Cadence]]''' '''is one of the most critical and often overlooked aspects of running. If you get your Cadence right, many other things naturally fall into place. Not only does the 620 get [[Cadence]] from a [[Footpod]], it will also get it from the Garmin Run Heart Rate monitor. There is also support for Cadence from the internal accelerometer, though I find that's not as accurate. The Cadence alerts are especially useful for keeping you on track. The 620 is not a good choice for ultrarunners, as its battery life is too short. See [[Best Running Watch#Watches for Ultrarunning| Watches for Ultrarunning]] for more details. {{BuyAmazon|AZID=B00FBYYC90|AZN=Garmin 620}}
* The 620 will cache the locations of the GPS satellites for the next few days, which will reduce the satellite acquisition time when travelling to a new location. In my usage the satellite acquisition was very rapid.
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Garmin 620 Review}}
=Garmin 620 Pros=
* With the updated firmware, the GPS accuracy is reasonable. It's not as good as the [[Polar V800]] or some of the other watches, but it's okay for most usage. * The 620 is small and light, but the display is quite legible for its size. I find it much easier to read than either the [[Garmin 610 ]], [[Suunto Ambit2]] or the [[Garmin 10]]. (It's a lot better than the [[Garmin Fenix 2]].
* Like the Fenix 2, the 620 will show and record [[Cadence]], Vertical Oscillation (VO) and Ground Contact Time (GCT). The 620 has a nice display of Cadence, VO, and GCT that gives a color coded indication of how well you're doing.
* The 620 will provide alerts when a metric is out of range. The alert for [[Cadence]] is really useful and one of my favorite features of the 620. Before the firmware fix for GPS accuracy I'd wear the 620 just for the Cadence alert and use another watch for tracking distance.
* Like several other devices, the 620 displays [[Firstbeat| Training Effect]], an indicator of how hard or effective a training session is.
* The 620 includes an estimation of the [[Firstbeat| Recovery Time]] before the next workout, just like the Fenix 2.
* The touchscreen works better than any other I've tried while running.
* There is a prediction of your [[VO2max|V̇O<sub>2</sub>max]], which worked well for me, but I would not rely on its accuracy.
* The 620 will not display [[Heart Rate Variability]] but it is possible for it to record [[Heart Rate Variability]] for later analysis. To enable this recording, you need to download a special FIT file from the firstbeat.com web site.
=Garmin 620 Cons=
* The [[GPS Accuracy]] of the 620 is grim. I found the 620 consistently worse than the 610 or the 310XT when I ran with multiple devices. The 620 would sometimes be over a mile out on a 13 mile run!* To make the poor GPS accuracy even more annoying, there There is no way of displaying your current pace from the [[Footpod]] while using GPS for overall distance and course. While the 620 now has good GPS accuracy, it is not sufficient to give useful current pace information. For situations where pacing is critical, such as running a marathon, a Footpod works better. (Earlier versions of the firmware would always display the pace and distance from the Footpod when it's connected, but this was fixed in a recent update.)
* The 620 includes an internal accelerometer to give you an idea of pace and distance while running on a treadmill without a footpod. While firmware updates have improved the accuracy, I found it was too far out to be of any use, giving a display that was off by 1-3 minutes/mile. A lot will depend on your running style and how you use a treadmill.
* There is no map display or navigation, but on a device this small it would be hard to make that useful anyway.
* The battery life is a little short for ultramarathons, but it is fine for the most runners.
* You need to have the new HRM for the new features. It will display Heart Rate and calculate [[Firstbeat| Training Effect]] with the older Garmin HRM, but not Ground Contact Time or Vertical Oscillation.
=GPS Accuracy Issues=The Garmin 620 has had some well-known [[GPS Accuracy]] issues , but this has been resolved with a firmware update. * The 620 does surprisingly well going under the bridge, an indication that are mostly shared it is not having excessive problems with reacquisition. * On the [[Garmin Fenix 2]]out-and-back turnaround the 620 does a little better than I'd expect for its overall rating. * Running in a straight line is a fairly easy task for most GPS watches, which both use and the MediaTek GPS chipset620 does well, beating many watches that have higher overall accuracy. * I've seen two types of problem not had any issues with the 620acquiring or maintaining the GPS signal, unlike some other devices. {| class="wikitable" |- valign="top"|[[File:# Generally mediocre performance, though this obviously variesBridgeGarmin 620 (3.30). Occasionally jpg|none|thumb|x300px| You can see the Fenix 2 will be quite good, as you'd expect from 620 does a random level reasonable job most of errorthe time. # The There are a number of tracks where it gets a little lost, and there are some very minor issues with the 620 records reacquiring the signal after the bridge. It does poorly around the right shape tracktwisty section, but offset by some distancecutting the corners too much due to smoothing. This Interestingly, it does not look like a typical better with the sharp turn seen on the right side of the diagram. The lap markers in blue are more widely dispersed than they would be with a better device. (This diagram has tracks color coded with green indicating good accuracy through to read indicating poor accuracy problem that would manifest itself randomly, and the lap markers as blue dots. )]]Note that |[[File:BridgeGarmin 620 (pre-v3.30).jpg|none|thumb|x300px| The earlier version of the 620 firmware does not have rather horribly. The tracks are widely spaced and the Fenix 2 problem of reporting "620 often gets rather lost satellite reception". (This diagram has tracks color coded with green indicating good accuracy through to read indicating poor accuracy, and the lap markers as blue dots.)]]|- valign==Is It Just Some Watches?=="top"Some people |[[File:AccuracyGarmin 620 (3.30).jpg|none|thumb|x300px| This close up section of a zigzag shows the 620 tracking okay, though here again we see the wide spacing of the tracks. There are quite happy more green lines than red, and the 620 is coping reasonably well. (This diagram has tracks color coded with green indicating good accuracy through to read indicating poor accuracy, and the accuracy of their 620 or lap markers as blue dots.)]]|[[Garmin Fenix 2File:AccuracyGarmin 620 (pre-v3.30).jpg|none|thumb|x300px| The earlier firmware shows how badly the 620 was doing. The lines are almost noise and the lap markers are widely scattered. (This diagram has tracks color coded with green indicating good accuracy through to read indicating poor accuracy, and the lap markers as blue dots.)]]|- valign="top"|[[File:ZigZagGarmin 620 (3.30).jpg|none|thumb|x300px| Here you can see the 620 displaying the typical GPS behavior with the tracks that have the green lines shifted slightly down and to the left, prompting speculation that this is a quality control issue blue up and to the problems only effect some right. This is less marked that other devices, but you can see the pattern. I don't believe this is You can also see the lap markers shifted. (This image has the case tracks color-coded for a number of reasonsdirection, with green coming from the right, blue from the left. )]]# I've tested 5 devices |[[File:ZigZagGarmin 620 (2x Fenix 2,3x 620pre-v3.30) that exhibit .jpg|none|thumb|x300px| With the earlier version of the firmware the behavior is pretty much lost in the problemnoise. It seems remarkably unlikely that 5 out of 5 devices would have does seem like the green tracks are closer to the problemtrail, but it's hard to be sure. The problems (This image has the tracks color-coded for direction, with these devices seem remarkably similargreen coming from the right, blue from the left.)]]|}=Resolving GPS Accuracy =If you are having GPS accuracy issues, though only then the Fenix 2 following suggestions may help.# Make sure your firmware is up to date. The 620 actually has two firmware installations, one for the catastrophic 'lost satellite reception' problemwatch functionality, and one for the GPS. The GPS firmware needs to be at 3.30 or above. # The severity of Synchronize the 620 with the problem depends on Garmin software to update the situationEPO data which is used to improve GPS startup time. Running a fairly straight course # Leave the 620 in "ready to go" mode with a wide open good view of the sky for at least 20 minutes. There is likely information (the almanac) that can take 12.5 minutes under ideal conditions to give pretty good resultsdownload from the satellites. In theory the 620 should get all of the satellite data from the EPO file, but the almanac might help. # Awareness If none of these steps work, do a factory reset.=What's Missing=While I don't consider these missing features as 'cons', it's worth understanding the problem will depend on testing methodologyfeatures that are missing compared with other watches. * '''Altimeter. '''GPS is far less accurate vertically than horizontally, so a barometric altimeter can provide a much better idea of your ascent and descent. It can also be useful for navigation if you're ascending or descending a mountain. Few users gather enough data In some races I've been far more interested in how much ascent is left rather than the distance to be statistically significantthe top.* '''Navigation.''' The navigation capabilities are useful if there is a risk of getting lost. I've made good use of this feature when running in an unfamiliar city, or run on when running remote trails.* '''Downloadable Apps'''. Smart watches have got is used to the idea of a course device thatcan be extended with new functionality, and this concept is being introduced to running watches.* '''s certifiedExtended battery life'''. Some porches can extend the battery life by turning the GPS reception off for short periods. Even running on a certified courseThis can dramatically reduce GPS accuracy, but it's tough to hit a useful trade-off for some ultramarathons.* '''Graphs'''. Instead of simply displaying a numeric value for things like heart rate, some watches will display a graph of the tangents perfectly unless value over time, giving youa sense of how things are progressing.* '''Web Configuration'''re . Some watches allow you to setup the configuration via a front runnerweb site, and then download your changes. This is vastly easier than fiddling with the watch. =Visual Comparison={| class="wikitable"|- valign="top"|[[File:Garmin 620-top.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Garmin 620 top]]|[[File:Garmin 620-side.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Garmin 620 side]]|[[File:Suunto Ambit2-top.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Suunto Ambit2 top]]|[[File:Suunto Ambit2-side.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Suunto Ambit2 side]]|- valign="top"|[[File:Suunto Ambit3-top.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Suunto Ambit3 top]]|[[File:Suunto Ambit3-side.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Suunto Ambit3 side]]|[[File:Polar V800-top.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Polar V800 top]]|[[File:Polar V800-side.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Polar V800 side]]|- valign="top"|[[File:TomTom Cardio Runner-top.JPG|none|thumb|150px|TomTom Cardio Runner top]]|[[File:TomTom Cardio Runner-side.JPG|none|thumb|150px|TomTom Cardio Runner side]]|[[File:Garmin Epix-top.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Garmin Epix top]]|[[File:Garmin Epix-side.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Garmin Epix side]]|- valign="top"|[[File:Garmin 920XT-top.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Garmin 920XT top]]|[[File:Garmin 920XT-side.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Garmin 920XT side]]|[[File:Leikr 1-top.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Leikr 1 top]]|[[File:Leikr 1-side.JPG|none|thumb|150px|Leikr 1 side]]|}
=Comparison Table=
{{:Best Running Watch-table}}
=Teardown=
There's a nice teardown of the Garmin 220 (the lower end 620) on [http://www.microcontrollertips.com/teardown-garmin-forerunner-220-sport-watch-heart-monitor/ microcontrollertips.com].
