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Garmin 620

No change in size, 19:02, 29 September 2015
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The {{Garmin 620}} is wonderful running watch. It's much smaller than many comparable watches, but it 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 [[Garmin 310XT]] or the [[Suunto Ambit2]] that offer better value for money. 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 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.

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