I will make this short and sweet. This is hands down the best running device I have ever used and I have had them all. I have been running for over 40 years and have run more marathons than I can count. I was using a Forerunner 610 for the past year and this is leaps and bounds beyond that device. WiFi is flawless. I ran 2 hours this morning in a snow storm, walked in the house and automatically my run was uploaded to Garmin Connect. This was much more cumbersome with the 610 and the ANT stick. This watch is so much lighter than the 610 and the issue with the band popping off has been resolved with the new design. I cannot understand why people are complaining about the poor color display or the plastic screen. Think about this for a minute. What value would a hi-res OLED display have for a runner in bright sunlight (absolutely none as you would not be able to see the display). Even more important if this device had a glass capacitive screen it would be useless as a running device. In the summer when your hands are wet with sweat you would not be able to control the screen or in the case of today when I had three pairs of gloves on I needed a pressure sensitive screen in order to actuate it.

Bottom line if you are a runner and want a serious HRM with GPS that can provide you with a significant amount of accurate data look no further.

I bought this Forerunner 620 after having been disappointed by the previous model, the 610. The 610 was big, bulky, and it was very beta when it was first released. And although the 620 was probably released a little too early as well, I’m happy to say that this is a great heart rate monitor, don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.

Pros: It’s no bigger than the watches a man would typically wear nowadays and it is very light; the band itself is quite comfortable. The touch screen seems to be more responsive than the 610 and satellite acquisition was instantaneous (I never even saw it search, it was just ready to go when I pushed start). Pairing it with my iPhone was extremely easy and the LiveTrack feature (where you can invite others to watch your progress live on the interweb) worked flawlessly. Uploading my workout date to Garmin Connect, both via my phone and over wifi, has proven to be a little hit or miss a couple of times but if that is my only complaint then this watch is still far superior to anything else on the market. The fact that you can upload over wifi is pretty impressive in itself and I only expect things will improve with future firmware updates. (It bothers me a little to even say that because I used to have a huge problem with all of these tech companies releasing expensive unfinished products, in effect, and expecting the customer to just put up with it but I’ve mellowed out a bit on the subject.) The sensor tracks heart rate just fine, as expected, and the cadence and oscillation readings are useful, if those metrics matter to you. The 620 rates my VO2Max in the orange, “fair” zone, which I’d say is accurate (and a great feature). Also, I’m glad that Garmin got Firstbeat’s Training Effect measurement right on this model. The charger attaches to the watch perfectly, unlike some previous Forerunner models.

Cons: None to speak of, really. I wish the Garmin Connect website wasn’t so stark and soulless and it could use more social networking features, like the Nike+ site. That being said, the information displayed is top notch and very much geared towards serious runners.

I’ve read reviews online from people complaining about foot pod calibration, that the screen “gives” too much, that the watch feels too “cheap”, and that the colors on the screen aren’t very brilliant. Yeah, I guess the screen “gives” when you push on it but I never would have thought anything of it if I hadn’t read those reviews beforehand and the same goes for it feeling “cheap”; I still don’t consider them flaws (and I half-suspect that Garmin designed the screen that way for better touch recognition). To be honest, out of all the features of this watch, the colors on the screen are the least important to me. And as far the foot pod goes, Garmin added an internal accelerometer to the watch so that nobody would need to use a footpod. Which reminds me, go ahead and add internal accelerometer to LiveTrack, uploading-via-wifi, and VO2Max rating as another reason why no other HRM compares to this one.

Seriously, I don’t think you could go wrong buying this.

If you want track running dynamics (cadence, vertical oscillation, and ground contact time) then this is the watch to get. Otherwise save your money and get a Garmin Forerunner 220.

I love this watch! This watch doesn’t have a beautiful display like an iPhone, but it works. I don’t have any issues with the display or the touchscreen. Garmin is using a resistive touchscreen which is different than the capacitive touchscreen used on modern day smartphones. Again, this hasn’t been an issue for me. I use the watch for tracking runs. I don’t use the watch for reading text messages, browsing the web, or watching videos. This is a utility item first and foremost.
I run four days a week for approximately 3.5 to 4 hours. I used up 53{60f78fc10f9d225dae0ba0255c415eaf093f5a3220b43cdf3df82aaf7b5f9e5d} battery life in my first week of use. This watch may not have the best color display and/or touchscreen experience but I don’t have to charge it very often either. This is a huge bonus for me.
The bluetooth connectivity works as expected. You have to open the app and unlock the watch before activities upload, but I don’t find that to be an issue.
I use the watch to upload activities to Strava, RunKeeper, and MapMyFitness as well. Strava is the only site that doesn’t like the Forerunner 620. I have to manually select the .fit file for upload. The other services recognize the watch and upload the activity through the Garmin Communicator plugin. However, Strava displays the cadence information. RunKeeper does not.
Alerts are another area where the Garmin shines. I have used the pace, heart rate, cadence alerts recently. The pace and cadence alerts allowed me to stay on target for a recent race. The heart rate alerts helped me pace out a slow and long run. The alerts are easy to setup and very helpful. If you trigger an alert the watch will vibrate to get your attention. This will occur every few seconds until you are back in compliance with the threshold.