Garmin Forerunner 935 (FR935) is a good sports watch. It can be better, depending on your need and understanding of what it can do. Let me explain.

Experts have called it an able successor to Garmin’s earlier releases including Forerunner 735XT and Forerunner 920XT. The praise is well-earned. The FR935 gets its basics strongly right. I loved its display, which among other things also tracks the kilometres you run or walk in a day. The gadget is light (49 gm) and once on your wrist, thanks to its good looks, you’re sure of attracting attention.

Its GPS comes on even before you press the button to start the run, and the battery – which charges to its full within an hour – lasted for nearly a week. The sports watch is easy to use. The sturdy buttons help you choose from the menu, go up and down, switch on the light, and one of them is the back button.

The watch even gives you weather reports. Its notifications are fairly accurate; but I wonder what’s the use of these notifications when you need to have the phone close enough for it to sync with the watch using bluetooth.

After each run, I got my performance details fairly fast; and this included distance, pace, average speed, lap performance, and heart rate. If your adrenaline doesn’t pump for running, but for another sport, don’t sweat. The FR935 has a long list of activities that it can tune to. And if your favourite sport activity isn’t on the list, you can create a new one.

That is one of the best things about the FR935. From the watch face and the display format while you are running, to the alerts and the way you want to get information such as location and physiological metrics, this gadget lets you customise almost each of its features according to your need. Its GroupTrack lets you keep tabs on your running friends on the go.

But before buying this for ₹42,990, you have to decide if you really need it. Are you a serious sports and fitness fanatic who cares for details like cadence, detailed heart rate, VO2 (measures your oxygen consumption), compass, navigation, barometer... the list is endless. It even has a storm alert. If yes, the FR935 will be your best companion.

I almost became obsessed with it as I prepare for the Wipro Marathon, slated for December. After every run I found myself stressing over my performance metrics. I even began checking my cadence (the ideal being 180 steps a minute) mid-run.

The bottomline: The FR935 is a premium sports watch that will be handy for ‘serious’ athletes.

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