One of the Things I Love the Most About Garmin Watches

If you have followed my site for any amount of time or have read any of the posts about GPS watches, you know I am a huge Garmin GPS watch fan! I started running almost 11 years ago and I had a problem with my first couple of runs – I was still having trouble breathing. I have been an asthmatic for almost 30 years and that is why I did not start running until about 11 years ago, because my asthma had been triggered by exercise.

One of the Things I Love the Most About Garmin Watches

I Have Owned Many!

This was my first Garmin watch model – the Forerunner 201! | Courtesy http://www.flickr.com/people/57009135@N00 Michael Dorausch

I really wanted to run but kept having issues – until I borrowed a GPS watch! It was then that I found out that I was actually running way too fast and it was not giving me a good way to regulate my breathing! I knew I had to get one of those watches to help me keep better track of my pace and so I bought a Garmin Forerunner 201 – yes, quite an old model now!

They Have Seen It All!

Since my first Garmin 201, I have owned/used just about every model they ever made. I have put thousands of miles on my feet while wearing those watches and have done so on 6 continents and in dozens of countries. That means that my Garmin watches have also been in extreme conditions as well from Death Valley in July to the frigid temperatures of the northern US in the dead of winter. It also means that I have used my watches in the oceans and on mountains.

What Do I  Love? Garmin’s Service Is Incredible!

Some of the current Garmin watches available

And guess what? They have always performed incredibly well for me! And this is what I love about Garmin watches – the service behind the watch. Garmin certainly stands behind their watches and I love the speed and professionalism that they handle repairs.

In all of that time, I have had two problems – one was a couple of years ago with an out-of-warranty heart rate module for the strap (screw was seized up and I couldn’t replace the battery after the first year), and the other was recently with the Garmin Forerunner 235 when I saw the watch face actually popping up from the case while on an airplane! In both situations (one under warranty and one out of warranty), Garmin replaced the device very fast.

With the Garmin Forerunner 235, I sent it in with their label and the replacement model went out the same afternoon my watch made it there! That meant that I would have been without it for only 4 days! Pretty incredible turnaround! With the heart rate module, they actually just send me a new one and told me to keep the old one!

But, They Work So Well I Rarely Needed Servicing

But, even more than their warranty response, you know what I like about Garmin watches? I love that I only needed to avail myself of their servicing twice in 11 years of Garmin watches and owning well over a dozen watches. These watches are built very well and handle the day-in-day-out wear and tear very well. I have tried other solutions (Polar, Motorola, even the Apple Watch) but always keep coming back to Garmin.

They have built amazing products that just work. Now, they are fitting them with features for the modern age and it is something that keeps me coming back to Garmin all the time. I absolutely love my Garmin Fenix 5 and certainly do not plan on leaving it – except for maybe the Garmin Fenix 6. 🙂

Do you have a Garmin GPS watch? What has your experience been like with it?