Garmin 310XT Product Review

Yeah! the best just got better as Garmin take a leap ahead with their wrist top Forerunner range, especially in context of multisport athletes. The 310XT is a mix of the old Forerunner 305 and the more recent 405 I’ve been using this past year for my run’s. If you do anything more than riding, the 310XT deserves your interest, else you need to be at the Edge 705 – both will have you in the GPS tracked realm of info-over-load and unsurpased post training analyses and web options.

The major leap is the waterproof character, allowing for openwater swimming and temporary drowning to the depth of 50m without damaging the unit. It has an incredible vibration alert, for pre-set time or distance intervals, to keep you posted on distance covered while swimming, ie vibrating every 400m. Each vibration ends  a lap, for which individual data is stored for later disection. From distance per lap, average speed, average heart rate, etc.

It has four different display options per sporting code, so you can pre-set four displays with up to 4 different data fields, but even at max, that wont cover the 40 different outut variables available for display. Navigation is intuative and makes sense to even me, the farm lad, so without being tech savvy, you can set up personal info and system preferences. The flow makes sense.

The batter life is plenty better than its predecessors lasting typically 20hours (so they say – I did not count). My math is shady, and my memory is worse, so recalling a “low battery” warning during a session when I get to the apartment and am hungry remains my biggest Garmin-Love obstacle.

The 310XT impressed from the get-go, with super simple setup and first time effortless sync with my old HR monitor belt, as well as Cadence Sensor on the Tarmac. If I had an ANT+ enabled Power Meter on the bike (as I wish I did) I would be able to sync that too, and need only the Garmin display.

I have been very impressed, despite not being able to use if for the past two weeks… Its more sleek, more comfortable, and easier on the wrist. I do much prefer the 310XT to the 405 (sorry). The touch dial limited the way I switch interfaces when doing quality when I was wearing a long sleeve top or in rain. I just prefer the bigger 3.3 x 2 cm display, allowing 4 display units, like the old 305.

I’ve never been into racing with the unit before, partly cause the swim restriction, but that may change now. And the 310XT allows for automatic sport mode changes for races, including the transitions. A nice feature, especially for the longer racing like Ironman.

Uploading remains unchanged it seems, with the Ant Data Stick – a wireless “memory stick” type USB connection that automatically detects when the Forerunner unit is close, and checks for new data and uploads it if available. You can save all your sessions on Garmin Connect on the web, or export and import them in Trainingpeaks like I am meant to do for Gary… (not always the case).

I’ve said before I cant leave the door without my unit, without the assurance of knowing exactly how far a jog would be, what the average pace was, but now I am saying you want, you need it, in the form of the 310XT. It will bring a fun world of information and progress tracking to your training.

The only downside for me – is the temptation to have the lap vibration on auto with the unit in my pants pocket as opposed to on my wrist. But I can make do.