Serious runners have been using Garmin’s high-end GPS watches for years—they were the first watches that calculated pace and distance with a high degree of accuracy, allowing a precision in workout tracking that made the high cost of entry—sometimes almost $400—worth it.
Then, over the last 2-3 years, a slew of lower-cost, competing GPS watches hit the market from Nike, Timex, Tech4o, and others, catering more to the everyday runner than the sub-elite data cruncher.
Now Garmin is responding with a very smart move—a self-described “entry level” GPS watch with a $130 price-point and one-button functionality. According to the press release, the watch will be the lightest and most comfortable Garmin watch yet (previous models have struggled to pack in all those elite features into a slim profile housing).
The Forerunner 10 will display time and distance on one screen, calories and pace on another. After the run, the watch will show a summary of the run, including lap splits, note any personal bests (fastest mile, etc), and record the data into the watch’s run history.
All runners can benefit from knowing their pace and distance, as well as time. As a affordable, slim-profile watch from a reputable company like Garmin, the Forerunner 10 is probably going to kill it. We’ll be putting the watch through our test process as soon as we get a sample.
For a full rundown on our latest reports on GPS running watches, click here.
