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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Garmin 620 Review}}
The {{Garmin 620}} is an intriguing devicewonderful running watch. It's much smaller than many comparable watches, adding some cool advanced features but it has appalling packs in more features while retaining great usability. It's my top pick for most runners, though if you're on a tight budget, there are other contender's such as the [[GPS AccuracyGarmin 310XT]] or the [[Suunto Ambit2 R]] that prevents me recommending offer better value for money. The 620 would be my top pick for marathon runners, but it. This is lacks the ability to show your current pace from a real shame as other than the accuracy problems I love Footpod while using the 620GPS for everything else. HoweverHaving run many marathons, I've had the 620 record only 12 miles on firmly believe that this is a 13 mile runkiller feature, something that I consider unacceptableas accurate pacing is essential for a good marathon performance.{{Alert|message='''GPS Accuracy Testing'''<br/>A new version of the firmware for the Garmin The 620 is being tested.<br/>Initial results indicate that GPS accuracy not a good choice for ultrarunners, as its battery life is significantly improvedtoo short.}}
[[File:Garmin620.jpg|thumb|none|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. ]]
=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 R]] 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.
* Like several other devices, the 620 displays [[Firstbeat| Training Effect]], an indicator of how hard or effective a training session is.
* 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 that , but this has been resolved with a firmware update. If you are mostly shared with the [[Garmin Fenix 2]]having GPS accuracy issues, which both use then the MediaTek GPS chipsetfollowing suggestions may help.# Make sure your firmware is up to date. I've seen The 620 actually has two types of problem with firmware installations, one for the 620:# Generally mediocre performancewatch functionality, though this obviously variesand one for the GPS. Occasionally the Fenix 2 will The GPS firmware needs to be quite good, as you'd expect from a random level of errorat 3.30 or above. # The Synchronize the 620 records with the right shape track, but offset by some distance. This does not look like a typical accuracy problem that would manifest itself randomlyGarmin software to update the EPO data which is used to improve GPS startup time. Note that # Leave the 620 does not have the Fenix 2 problem of reporting in "lost satellite receptionready to go". ==Is It Just Some Watches?==Some people are quite happy mode with the accuracy a good view of their 620 or [[Garmin Fenix 2]], prompting speculation that this is a quality control issue and the problems only effect some devicessky for at least 20 minutes. I don't believe this There is information (the case for a number of reasons. # I've tested 5 devices (2x Fenix 2,3x 620almanac) that exhibit the problemcan take 12. It seems remarkably unlikely that 5 out of 5 devices would have minutes under ideal conditions to download from the problemsatellites. The problems with these devices seem remarkably similar, though only In theory the Fenix 2 has 620 should get all of the catastrophic 'lost satellite reception' problem. # The severity of data from the problem depends on the situation. Running a fairly straight course with a wide open view of EPO file, but the sky is likely to give pretty good resultsalmanac might help. # Awareness If none of the problem will depend on testing methodology. Few users gather enough data to be statistically significant, or run on a course that's certified. Even running on a certified coursethese steps work, it's tough to hit the tangents perfectly unless you're do a front runnerfactory reset.
=Comparison Table=
{{:Best Running Watch-table}}
