Garmin Forerunner 50
Garmin today announced a new fitness product, the Garmin Forerunner 50 watch. For us, the most remarkable feature of the Forerunner 50 is that…. ready for this?… it doesn’t have a GPS! Instead, the device works with a “foot pod” which will track your movements by sensing the impact of your footsteps while walking or running. The watch also comes in a form factor which looks much more like a traditional watch– not nearly as bulky as the Forerunner 200/300 series devices.
The Forerunner 50 will be sold in a few different combinations, some with the foot pod, some with a heart rate monitor, and all will come with a wireless USB stick so that information can be downloaded wirelessly from the watch to the USB stick and then into your computer.
Perhaps one of the most exciting things about this product is the price. When the Forerunner 50 becomes available in August it will retail for $99. Bundles with the foot pod and heart rate monitor are expected to sell for about $199.
These new watches will also work with Garmin Connect, Garmin’s online training site, so that owners can log their workouts and share that information (if they choose) with friends, family, or coaches.
Garmin faces stiff competition in this market with lots of other devices such as the Nike/iPod combination product, a few other GPS watches, and lots of other pedometer products. It will be interesting to see how well they stack up with this non-GPS product.
I just get my forerunner 50 with HRM, footpod and usb ANT
- installation and detection
easier than that does not exist. has been done in no time.
- Esthetically, it looks like a watch ! not so common for the ones who know Garmin 305.
the foot pod is quite small and light compared to the other brands.
- test
I have calibrated my foot pod and after 7.8 kms, found only a discrepancy of 40 meters.I have adjusted and it is now giving precisely the distance. i tested then by displaying my speed in km/h ad found it equal to the speed calculated on a track. it is a good tool for improvements and training plans !
the foot pod is not annoying at all. i didn’t feel it.
the watch has a very readable display. you go through the data with a single button during your workout.
I would just have appreciated to have more info on a single screen without having to scroll.
- Data upload.
you plug the usb key and automatically your workout is uploaded to the computer and the watch memeory is cleared.
Very good HRM. I advise.
Got a my Forerunner 50 after eveluating and even buying a basic HRM. Took the basic HRM back and got a refund and sprung a bit more and got the Forerunner 50.
Very happy with it, I got the version with just the heart rate monitor ‘belt’ and use if for cycling. I’ve for a computer on the road bike for speed and cadence.
I downloaded and installed the software, I was happy that it installed and work perfectly. I run windows 2003 server on the laptop for work and the Garmin apps installed and worked. I’ve had lots of problems with installed CDs who’s software only work on XP so I was happy I didn’t have this problem.
I was torn between a Polar F6 or the Garmin which were the same price down here in South Africa. Even though the Polar connects to the computer it seems to only download summary data rather than detailed minute by minute data like the Forerunner 50.
The watch is simple (not a nightware like the cheaper watch I 1st tried). It’s easy to set a zone alarm so that it beeps regularly if you’re either under or over the set zone. The detailed data is also very usefull for viewing on the PC as you get to see how hard the workout or bike ride really was.
Overall I’ve very happy with the HRM watch.
This looks like great competition for Polar who seem to be the first name everyone thinks of when they are looking for a heart rate monitor. I suppose it just means other manufacturers have to try harder!
Unlike Garmin’s normally excellent products this watch has some serious flaws. After using mine for about 3 months now I have discovered the following drawbacks:
1. Using it for cycling, if you stop to fix a puncture the RPM/Speed sensor goes into shutdown mode if it does not detect Speed or RPM for a few minutes. This is normal, but the watch then loses sync with the sensor. When you start cycling again, the watch does NOT pick up the RPM sensor again. The only way to see you RPM and Speed again is to stop the current execise and start a new one. This is not a flaw of the sensor itself, as the Edge305 that I also use immediately picks up the RPM/speed again as soon as I start cycling after fixing the puncture.
2. Where the date is normally displayed the watch shows “LoBatt” when the battery starts going low. This is nice, I thought, until I realized that it keeps the “LoBatt” there no matter what you do. You cannot see the date again until you replace the battery!
3. This watch’s firmware is not upgradeable. So I am now stuck with these flaws! How do I know, if I buy a newer one, whether these flaws have been addressed?
Overall I get the impression that the design team at Garmin gave this watch as a project to a junior (or new) engineer to develop, because they simply did not think through everything when developing it. If only they made the firmware upgradeable then it would be fixable, but alas.