Hasta La Gadget!

There’s a reason Garmin has a virtual lock on the GPS watch market: Garmin watches just work. When you’re getting ready to head out on a run, you want to be able to just turn on your watch, let it sync while you stretch, and go. No watch I tried out allowed for that–except for the Garmin Forerunner 110 ($249.99 direct).

Though it was the smallest of the watches I tried out by far, the Garmin still had plenty of room on the screen for all the essential stats: distance, time elapsed, and pace. Unlike the Timex’s wide range of views, the only other options for the Garmin are heart rate and time. I was sent the more expensive grey and pink women’s version of watch (The price goes up $50, because it comes with a heart-rate monitor), but there is also a red and black “male” version as well as a less expensive black and grey unisex model. I didn’t mind the faint floral design on the bezel, but many of my running companions complained that it was a little too girly for their taste.

Like the display options, the functionality of the Garmin watch is pretty bare bones. I appreciated its simplicity, but this watch can’t differentiate between athletic activities like the triathlete-friendly Timex or provide more detailed geographic information like the hiking-geared Suunto. Pressing the menu or start buttons will launch the search for satellite connection. From there, operation is simple–start, pause, and stop the watch with the start/stop button on the top right. There’s also an illumination button on the top left for night running and an option to record splits with the lap button on the bottom right. Unless you press the lap button, the watch automatically starts a new lap each mile, briefly displaying your average pace for the past mile.

Post By Nicole Price-Fasig