8,152
edits
Changes
From Fellrnr.com, Running tips
no edit summary
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Garmin 920XT Review}}
[[File:Garmin920XT.png|thumb|right|200px|The {{Garmin 920XT}}, showing the display of Cadence, Vertical Oscillation and Ground Contact Time.]]
The Garmin 920XT is an update to the [[Garmin 910XT]], adding many of the features from the [[Garmin 620 ]], while shrinking in size to become far less bulky than its predecessor. It's a large watch, but I found it comfortable even on my tiny wrists. Its [[GPS Accuracy]] is disappointing, and using the Russian GLONASS satellites makes this worse. However, the 920XT is the first of several watches in the Garmin range to support the revolutionary [[Connect IQ]]. This will allow the 920XT to run application, much like a smartphone.
* The 920XT is a great device for casual runners. Its clear display, real buttons, and rich functionality make it an attractive option if you can afford it. The [[Connect IQ]] extensibility adds some potential future proofing.
* For marathon runners the 920XT lacks a critical feature; an accurate display of current pace. While I don't expect most casual runners will be as concerned by the lack of accurate current pace, this is critical to many marathon training programs, and to effective marathon pacing strategy. The only way I found of getting accurate current pace is to use the older [[Garmin 610]], [[Garmin 310XT]], or [[Garmin 910XT]] with a [[Footpod]]. (Connect IQ may change this in the future.)
* For ultramarathon running the battery life of the 920XT makes it a strong candidate. See [[Shoes#Watches for Ultrarunning| Watches for Ultrarunning]] for more details.
=GPS Accuracy=
* The 24 hour battery life is good enough for many ultramarathons, and the extended mode allows for 50 hours with degraded GPS accuracy. In my informal testing of the extended mode, the 920XT did not perform as badly as I expected.
* You can use the 920XT as an activity monitor, something that's common to many new sports watches. However, because the 920XT is only using its internal accelerometer the activity estimates are rather poor. If you need an activity monitor, I'd recommend the [[Basis Activity Tracker]] which has sensors for heart rate, skin temperature and perspiration.
* The 920XT will record your personal best performances, such as fasted 5K or longest distance. These are a nice novelty, but for most people you want besetting won't be setting PR's on a regular enough basis for it to add much value.
=Garmin 920XT Cons=
* There is no way of displaying your current pace from the [[Footpod]] while using GPS for overall distance and course. Like all GPS watches, the 920XT does not have sufficient GPS accuracy to give useful current pace information. For situations where pacing is critical, such as running a marathon, a Footpod works better. (This is another situation where [[Connect IQ]] could enable apps to provide this functionality in the future.)
* There is a nice map display that shows the route you've taken for navigation, but Garmin has not implemented a resumezoom function. This makes the navigation pretty useless, and seems to be an intentional crippling of the device. Itbut it's possible that this might be fixed in a future firmware update, but it's also possible that the crippling . (There is to create product differentiation not support for devices like displaying a map; you need the [[Garmin Fenix 2Epix]]for that. )
* The 920XT includes an internal accelerometer to give you an idea of pace and distance while running on a treadmill without a footpod, but I found the accuracy was rather poor. I've yet to come across a watch that can reasonably estimate your pace from the movement of your wrist, nor does it seem likely that this functionality is practical.
* 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.