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[[File:Garmin620.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The {{Garmin 620}} , showing the display of Cadence, Vertical Oscillation and Ground Contact Time. Note that the display is wonderful running watchcolor, but I found the colors muted and not always easy to distinguish. It]]There's a lot to like in the {{Garmin 620}}; it's much 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 it packs in more features while retaining not great usabilityGPS accuracy, so its estimate of how far you've run needs to be treated with a little caution. It* '''How fast am I running?''s my top pick for most runners, though if ' Knowing how fast you're on running can be a tight budgetnice to know, there are other contender's such as 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 [[Garmin 310XTPace From A Footpod]] or 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 [[Suunto Ambit2 R]] that offer better value for money620. The 620 would be my top pick for marathon runners, but it lacks the ability to show your current pace from a Footpod while using GPS for everything else. Having run many marathons, 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 [[File:Garmin620Best Running Watch#Watches for Ultrarunning| Watches for Ultrarunning]] for more details.jpg|thumb|none{{BuyAmazon|200pxAZID=B00FBYYC90|The {{AZN=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. ]]

* 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 R]] or the [[Garmin 10]]. (It's a lot better than the [[Garmin Fenix 2]].

=GPS Accuracy Issues=The Garmin 620 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 it is not having excessive problems with reacquisition. * On the 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, and the 620 does well, beating many watches that have higher overall accuracy. * I not had any issues with the 620 acquiring or maintaining the GPS signal, unlike some other devices. {| class="wikitable" |- valign="top"|[[File:BridgeGarmin 620 (3.30).jpg|none|thumb|x300px| You can see the 620 does a reasonable job most of the time. There are a number of tracks where it gets a little lost, and there are some very minor issues with the 620 reacquiring the signal after the bridge. It does poorly around the twisty section, cutting the corners too much due to smoothing. Interestingly, it does a 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, and the lap markers as blue dots.)]]|[[File:BridgeGarmin 620 (pre-v3.30).jpg|none|thumb|x300px| The earlier version of the firmware does rather horribly. The tracks are widely spaced and the 620 often gets rather lost. (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: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 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 lap markers as blue dots.)]]|[[File: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, blue up and to the right. This is less marked that other devices, but you can see the pattern. You can also see the lap markers shifted. (This image has the tracks color-coded for direction, with green coming from the right, blue from the left.)]]|[[File:ZigZagGarmin 620 (pre-v3.30).jpg|none|thumb|x300px| With the earlier version of the firmware the behavior is pretty much lost in the noise. It does seem like the green tracks are closer to the trail, but it's hard to be sure. (This image has the tracks color-coded for direction, with green coming from the right, blue from the left.)]]|}=Resolving GPS Accuracy =If you are having GPS accuracy issues, then the following suggestions may help.