Garmin Forerunner 110 GPS Heart Rate Monitor

The Garmin Forerunner 110 heart rate monitor is GPS enabled. It is primarily intended as a runner's watch with heart rate monitoring feature. It is an entry level model compared to say, the Garmin Forerunner 205 or 305 but it is newer. What that means is that the overall design is much more sleek and modern. It is smaller than the Forerunner 205 or 305 and hence can be used as an every day watch. Another improvement over those older 205, 305 models is the more accurate calorie computation: it is now heart rate based, rather than distanced based.

The main features of the Garmin Forerunner 110 GPS heart rate monitor are:

• Continuous Heart Rate Monitoring
• GPS-enabled running watch to help you keep track of distance and pace/speed
• High sensitivity GPS receiver using the HotFix satellite prediction system. So it locks onto satellite very quickly.
• 3 line wrist watch display: distance, stop watch or heart rate, pace/speed
• The calorie counter is heart-rate based: hence it is much more accurate.
• Stop watch with lap marking up to 1000 laps
• Auto Lap: laps are marked automatically triggered by distance.
• After each session, the running data can be saved. Up to 180 hours of history can be saved.
• For each saved run history, you can review: date, time of day, distance, run time, calories, average pace or speed and average heart rate data.
• Time of day can be set manually (or automatically via satellites), alarm
• Backlight
• Wireless heart rate monitor composed of a chest strap transmitter and a wrist watch receiver
• Waterproof i.e. splash/rain proof. It is NOT intended to be used while swimming.
• It uses rechargeable battery for the wrist watch unit and comes with its own special charger. If you run 45 minutes a day with the GPS, each charge can last about 1 week.
• The chest strap uses a CR2032 user-replaceable battery.
• A special USB cable is provided to transfer data to a computer
• Use the Garmin Connect online software or the Garmin Training Center desktop software to analyze or store your training data.

Note: On Garmin web site or manuals, the words "heart rate monitor" are used to denote the chest strap transmitter. This is in contrast to standard usage where "heart rate monitor" either refers to the wrist watch unit or to the combination of both the wrist watch unit and the chest strap transmitter. So please be aware of the difference to avoid confusion.

On the plus side, the Garmin Forerunner 110 is very simple to operate. You simply charge the battery (if it is not charged), locate the satellite signals, press the start button and run! You need to create your profile if you use it for the first time, but it is very easy to do. For those who do not like complicated operations, this model is perfect. Furthermore, the large 180 hours of memory means you can review many past runs, and see how you did. The computer upload feature allows even more detailed analysis, plus you can see the route that you travelled on a map.

On the down site, since Garmin Forerunner 110 is primarily conceived as a GPS runner's watch, the heart rate monitoring features are basic. The wrist watch shows you the real time heart rate and that is about it. You cannot set a heart rate training zone with alerts. This could be a problem for those who want to train within precise heart rate limits.

Summary

The Garmin Forerunner 110 is a simple-to-use GPS-enabled runner's watch with heart rate monitoring feature. Its strength lies in its ease-of-use and its elegant modern design. As one happy user on Amazon puts it:

This is for just simple use; distance, pace, calories, heart rate, time. This will suffice most people, and definitely extremely user friendly. Read more ...

It answers the simple questions: how far you are running (distance), how fast you are running (pace/speed) and how hard you are working (heart rate). For many runners, these are all they want to know.

Note that the Garmin Forerunner 110 comes in different colors and supplied in different bundles. Most bundles come with the heart rate monitoring chest strap, but some do not. So it is important to be aware of that.

This takes you to Amazon for some of the best selections for this model. Certain selections come with FREE Super Saver Shipping.

Useful Information

The next model up is the Garmin Forerunner 210.

Not sure which heart rate monitor is right for you? Take a look at the Which Heart Rate Monitor page.