Garmin Forerunner 30 guide: Everything you need to know about the running watch

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Despite being somewhat unsightly, Garmin's Forerunner 35 has been an affordable and feature-packed mainstay in the GPS running watch arena for some time. Now, the fitness company has announced the fresh Forerunner 30, which tweaks the Forerunner 35 into a simpler watch.

But with this representing only a slight off-shoot from its sibling, it can be tough to pick through the differences between the pair. So join us as we guide you through the Forerunner 30 and its design, features, pricing, battery and release date.

Garmin Forerunner 30: Design

If we're all being honest with ourselves, there's not much to write home about with regard to the Garmin Forerunner 30's design. This is essentially the same equation you're dealt with the Forerunner 35; light, small and not overly pretty.

However, for those used to the look of Garmin devices, the latter shouldn't be too big of a concern - only a couple of models within its entire stable are watches people would typically feel good about wearing all day, every day.

In terms of its physical specs, the Forerunner 30 will weigh around 37g and bring you a 128 x 128 pixel display on its 23.5 x 23.4 mm MIP screen. Its overall size sits at 35.5 x 40.7 x 13.2 mm, while it also offers those who want to take a dip in the pool a 5 ATM water rating.

There will be three colour options to choose from, too: turquoise, amethyst and gray.

Garmin Forerunner 30: Features

Garmin Forerunner 30 guide: Everything you need to know about the running watch

By pushing the Forerunner 30 as a slightly cheaper device than its older sibling, it might not surprise you that there's a few feature omissions here.

For example, there's no re-broadcasting HR via ANT+, no support for sensors, no interval mode, no run/walk mode, no Virtual Pacer mode, no on-device data configuration, and no on-device watch face configuration. However, the latter two are still possible through Garmin Connect.

Read this: The best GPS running watches

It's not all gone, though - you'll still get three data pages that showcase your distance, time, pace, calories, heart rate, and current date and time during exercise. You can look at heart rate zones, cadence, and VO2 Max, too, though these metrics are optional and can be added in manually.

Naturally, 24/7 heart rate monitoring and built-in GPS are also featured to keep track of your running routes. Move IQ is around to automatically detect your activity, as well, and you'll also get up to five days in smartwatch mode and eight hours in GPS mode.

And, just like the rest of the Garmin brotherhood, this will be comaptible with both iOS and Android devices.

Garmin Forerunner 30: Price and release

Garmin Forerunner 30 guide: Everything you need to know about the running watch

The Forerunner 30 is essentially a tweaked Forerunner 35 that'll retail for a more affordable £129.99, as opposed to £169.99. However, the big thing to note here is that it'll be exclusive to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

We don't yet know if the watch will eventually make its way to other territories, but we suspect the fact that Garmin has labelled this as an exclusive from the get-go means it's likely to stay put.



TAGGED Garmin

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Husain Sumra

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Husain joined Wareable in 2017 as a member of our San Fransisco based team. Husain is a movies expert, and runs his own blog, and contributes to MacRumors.

He has spent hours in the world of virtual reality, getting eyes on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Samsung Gear VR. 

At Wareable, Husain's role is to investigate, report and write features and news about the wearable industry – from smartwatches and fitness trackers to health devices, virtual reality, augmented reality and more.

He writes buyers guides, how-to content, hardware reviews and more.


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