Garmin Forerunner 920XT

Editor rating: 9.0 / 10

User's rating: based on 0 user ratings

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By Lillie Joseph

Garmin Forerunner 920XT Review Facts

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The Garmin Forerunner 920XT is an excellent device that is used to train amateur and professional athletes by displaying and tracking detailed data for biking, swimming, and running. Designed for both men and women, it uses Garmin Connect to share, plan, and save your activity progress and efforts with its large face and clear display. It includes an altimeter, a pedometer, a compass, an alarm, a stopwatch, a backlight, and a watch mode. This piece of outstanding technology is satellite and GPS detectable and can store up to 30 routes and 100 waypoints for biking and running. You can purchase this device with or without the monitor for tracking heart rate, which will give you additional information concerning your progress. It also has the usual tracking features of sleep quality, calories burned, and steps walked. To remain connected to your world, you can receive calendar reminders, call alerts, text messages, and emails from your smartphone. The terrific qualities and aspects of this superb product are almost too many to mention in a short review, but we discuss the most important features of the Forerunner 920XT in our full review below.

Editor's Pros & Cons

Pros

For training amateur and professional athletes
Tracks data for biking, swimming, and running
Ideal for both men and women
Has a compass, altimeter, and pedometer
Stores up to thirty routes and 100 waypoints
Includes an alarm, backlight, and a stopwatch
Records descent, ascent, distance, speed, and grade
Receive reminders, call alerts, texts, and emails
Recognizes pool laps and strokes
Tracks sleep, calories burned, and steps
Share, plan, and save progress with Garmin Connect
Display has a high resolution and watch mode

Cons

Problems with the lap counter and instruction manual
Pairing with Garmin Connect was problematic and spotty for some people

See How

What are buyers saying?

We have spent 3.5 hours analyzing a total of 705 reviews.

These reviews are then categoried into "Positive" and "Negative" feedback.

Below you will read a summary of them:

Positive

Reviewers are impressed by the versatility of this device for training and fitness tracking.
It easily syncs with Garmin Connect or your smartphone to track and store progress.
A variety of activities can be added to personalize this device for your needs.
Buyers have used this for running, swimming, biking, weight lifting, skiing, and various other activities.
Many reviewers say this is an excellent tool for triathlon training.
This device can help you save time by automatically uploading your completed workouts.
It connects quickly for GPS tracking.
Most buyers are satisfied with the battery life.
This device can work in conjunction with the Garmin Edge 810 bike computer through Garmin Connect.
It is easier to use and navigate than earlier models.
Garmin offers a variety of watch faces and apps to choose from for customization.
The band provides a comfortable fit.
Although the watch face is large, it sits comfortably across the wrist with a naturally shaped curve to the band.
In bright light the full display is easy to read, and in dimmer light, the backlighting can help.
The watch face is slimmer than the 910 version.
It comes with a heart rate chest strap.
This device tracks and logs a wide range of parameters to better follow your training progress.

Negative

This is ideal for people who want to train and track a lot of data. It can be too metric-heavy for people who are looking for basic fitness tracking.
It is expensive.
This version is no longer available from some sellers.
The swimming heart rate monitor is sold separately.
This device requires at least Mac OS 10.7.
Multi-week workouts are not easily customizable.
Although rare, there are some complaints of incorrect distance and step count tracking.
Data collection cannot be done while the device is charging.
Some quality control issues are noted with buyers receiving faulty devices that don't charge, fail within a week, or have a defective screen.
You can receive text and phone call notifications, but you cannot reply through the device.
This device does not track treadmill runs very well.
Custom workouts saved in the original Garmin Training app cannot be transferred to Garmin Connect for this device.

8.8

Brand

Garmin is one of the most popular brand names for sports technology and gear. This company is credited with creating the world’ very first multisport GPS device, and now has this incredible watch that is qualified to train both amateur and professional athletes. It features all the superior characteristics that are needed for advanced training. Compared to the former tracking model of the Forerunner 910XT, this 920XT version is wetsuit compatible and lighter in weight. Garmin has the technology and the craftsmanship to make the most innovative products to satisfy all of your sports tracking and monitoring needs.

Style

The Forerunner 920XTomes in a black model or a red and white version that is perfect for both men and women to enjoy. It displays and tracks detailed data for biking, swimming, and running with a display that is sharp and clear. Even those who wear glasses say that the numbers are so legible they can read the face without their glasses. The face is quite large according to some buyers who would have preferred a smaller face. It may look a bit awkward for women, but once you begin to use and enjoy the many features of this incredible device, you will adjust and appreciate the large face.

Support

Many aspects of this ideal Garmin watch are supportive of your needs and activities. It is satellite and GPS detectable and stores up to 30 routes and 100 waypoints that you can program into it. included is an alarm, stopwatch, compass, pedometer, and pace alert. There are no preloaded maps, but you do have the routes and GPS. All of these supportive features work together to give you a complete picture of your physical output and progress level. The alerts will let you know when to pick up the pace or slow down according to your other statistics and appropriate activity level.

Use

Use the 920XT to record descent, ascent, distance, speed, and grade for running and biking activities. Used best for fitness tracking and interval training, you can relive your achievements and record them with the action camera function. This is a good quality because you can then use the footage of your performances to plan your next training sessions. Receive calendar reminders, call alerts, text messages, and emails from your smartphone, while you participate in the sport or activity of your choice. You never have to be disconnected from your everyday world, even when you cannot be near your phone or a computer.

Waterproof

Not only is this incredible activity tracker waterproof, but it can get you plenty of statistics about your swimming activities. It measures pace, swim distance, stroke count, rest timers, drill logging, and identifies stroke type. You can log kick sets and swim drills at the pool as this device recognizes pool laps and strokes. Whatever kind of training you do for swimming both advanced or beginner, this Garmin product has you covered. The advanced technology is outstanding for those that want and need an accurate measure of their swimming statistics in just minutes. Once the data is loaded on Garmin Connect, you have plenty of choices for analyzing and interpreting your performance data in a convenient format.

Accessories

The Forerunner 920XT can be purchased with or without the monitor for heart rate. Even if you buy the device without the monitor, you will always have the option of getting one and connecting it if the need arises. It will give you the additional information of contact ground time, vertical oscillation, and cadence with used in conjunction with the heart monitor. Paired with this monitor, race times can be predicted with the 920XT for various distances along with recovery times and VO2 maximum. Combined with a power meter you can get estimates for VO2 max when cycling. The sensor for the heart monitor is a chest strap, and other accessories for this product include a foot pod, a power meter, and a cadence sensor.

Accuracy

Using the same technology as the Forerunner 620 and the Fenix 2, the Forerunner 920XT is quite accurate in its measurements for all your activities and training sessions. It aids with training for the best running form and provides a great image of activity daily. A unique characteristic of this marvelous tracker is running dynamics, which is not provided by the majority of performance trackers on the current market. It also will monitor and record sleep quality, calories burned, and steps taken during the day. Plenty of happy customers state that the 920XT is very accurate with its data measurements of these features. When paired with the HRM-Run device you can monitor the running statistics of total steps in a minute (cadence), foot contact time on the ground, and bounce amount in your running steps. The metronome aspect has audible alerts and vibe for guiding the training for cadence. You will grow to depend on the trustworthy and reliable figures that this superb device produces.

Apps

Garmin Connect is used for automatic uploads, sharing on social media, and live tracking. This online community is free to Garmin customers to share, plan, and save activity and sports progress and efforts. Brick race activities and workouts with Garmin Connect and access the information for each leg of the activity with the individual tabs. Store in one file each transition time and leg time of activity using a multisport profile. There are so many ways to view, analyze, and interpret your stats on Garmin Connect with the available technology that is just waiting for you to enjoy.

Band

We want to mention the band that comes with this Garmin activity tracker in this review because so many comments online addressed it. it is not one of the main features of this incredible watch, but it is a vital piece of the product. Plenty of people mentioned this band in their feedback because it is so comfortable. They said it is much better than some other popular brands and models for all-day wearing. The terrific band is flexible and hinged to be adjustable to your needs and wrist size.

Connectivity

Connecting to the Garmin Connect site and app is vital to viewing, saving, and sharing your progress data. It is easy and simple to sync your data to this site in several ways. Use Bluetooth technology, a smartphone, and the app of Garmin Connect Mobile for one way to connect, or you can set up hot spots of Wi-Fi to connect when you are in range. The third way is to use a USB connection with a computer to upload your information to the site. The flexibility in connecting to the site is just one of the outstanding aspects of this device. The Forerunner 920XT has a live tracking aspect, so others can follow your progress. Upload your workouts instantly when connected to the Garmin app and a smartphone, as it is compatible with Apple and Android devices.

Ease of Use

Data and figures are easy to understand and read, plus the controls of the watch are straightforward and simple to navigate. Syncing with the Garmin app is simple and quick with any of the provided methods, making this product one of the easiest to use. we would like to mention a few problems that online buyers discovered with their Garmin devices just to make you aware of their experiences. Some people had problems with the lap counter being accurate and the instruction manual being easy to use. Pairing the watch with Garmin Connect was problematic and spotty for a few users that had to reconnect every couple of days. A couple of buyers said the GPS was not accurate in the city for running, while some others were troubled with the enter button sticking or not working at all. These were not widespread complaints, but the issues are certainly possible for potential customers.

Face

The display of the Forerunner 920XT has a high resolution and a backlight. The face is quite large and might be something that you have to get used to in order to enjoy the many benefits of this incredible device. It has a watch mode for everyday all-day wear, so you can enjoy it all the time. This model is trendy and fashionable enough to wear with many outfits and wardrobe styles, as is perfect for casual or formal wear. You will find the figures and numbers surprisingly easy to read because of the larger print and backlight. The large face is necessary for all of the data that this product is capable of collecting and displaying for tracking your activities.

Power Source

Depending on the level of activity the battery can last for days or weeks before charging again. The manufacturer provides some general battery life data that some customers say is not accurate. Garmin says that the average life of the battery in the UltraTrac mode is forty hours, in the GPS mode it is 24 hours, and in the watch mode, it is four months. Not many users disagreed with these estimated times, so they have to be fairly accurate. Most people will be switching among the various modes for the things they want to track, so it will be hard to say that these estimates of the maker are wrong.

Bottom Line

When you consider the many features and capabilities of this incredible Garmin product for tracking, displaying, and analyzing your data of running, swimming, and biking, the technology is just astounding. We did mention in this review the negative comments that we encountered in our research of the Forerunner 920XT that were not widespread or urgent in manner. Some people had trouble connecting to the Garmin site, while others had issues with one or two of the features. What is better than a trouble-free device is a manufacturer that is honorable with product returns. Garmin is great in this respect as they love their customers and want them to love their innovative products. Happy customers are their livelihood, and plenty of buyers are thrilled with their Forerunner 920XT purchase. We think it is great too for its accuracy, comfort, support, and style that can make your training and workouts much more connected and enjoyable.