Garmin Forerunner 15 Review: Waterproof Fitness Watch

Our Verdict

The Garmin Forerunner 15 is an affordable GPS running-sentinel every bit well as a decent activity tracker, simply nosotros wish it offered Bluetooth syncing.

For

Accurate GPS tracker
Long battery life
Waterproof

Against

Bulky watch face
No Bluetooth
Indoor running merely possible with foot pod

Tom'south Guide Verdict

The Garmin Precursor 15 is an affordable GPS running-watch too as a decent activity tracker, but we wish it offered Bluetooth syncing.

Pros

+
Accurate GPS tracker
+
Long battery life
+
Waterproof

Cons

-
Bulky watch face
-
No Bluetooth
-
Indoor running merely possible with foot pod

Garmin wants to put its GPS technology on everyone's wrists. The Forerunner 15 is one of the company's more affordable running watches that uses embedded GPS to rail and map your routes, and it doubles as an all-day activeness tracker. While bulkier than your typical fitness tracker, the Forerunner xv is a skilful value then long as you don't mind syncing your fitness data with a cable.

Pattern

Garmin wasn't going for svelte when information technology designed the Forerunner 15. The device looks like a standard sports lookout man, featuring a bulky body, four concrete buttons at its iv corners and a traditional watchband.

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The display measures a mere 55 ten 32 pixels, just I like that it's always on to display the time. I appreciated the regular watchband on the Precursor 15; it's easy, intuitive and comfortable to accept strapped effectually your wrist all day, even if the trunk of the device is bulky. The watch comes in small and large sizes and in either black or white with a multifariousness of accent colors.

I appreciated the regular watch band on the Forerunner 15 - it's easy to put on and comfortable to have strapped around your wrist all day.

Compared to the $130 TomTom Runner GPS watch, the Forerunner looks gaudier because of the buttons protruding from all four rounded corners of its face. Notwithstanding, it's slightly lighter, weighing 1.5 ounces compared to TomTom's one.75 ounces. Like the TomTom Runner, the Forerunner 15 is water resistant up to five atmospheres, or 165 feet.

The Forerunner xv's buttons were non easy to empathize at outset. The top left button controls the backlight and turns off the device; the elevation right button selects options from a list and controls the stopwatch for runs, and the lesser right and left buttons are for scrolling upward and downwardly (or side to side) betwixt options and data points.

Setup

Earlier using it for the kickoff time, you lot have to accuse the Garmin Forerunner 15 since the device only comes partially charged. Connect the device to your computer by snapping the lookout man face into the charging base of operations and plugging the cord into your computer'southward USB port.

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Then, you'll want to go to Garmin Connect online to download Garmin Express, a plan yous need to install on your estimator that will gear up your device. Once installed, Garmin Express will open up and sync with your Precursor 15 and testify yous if in that location are whatsoever software updates available to download.

Interface

There are four master screens on the Garmin Forerunner 15. You'll spend most of your time on the abode screen, which acts equally your clock and as well lets you lot quickly scroll through such information as steps, altitude and calories.

Credit: Jeremy Lips / Tom's Guide — (Image credit: Jeremy Lips / Tom's Guide)

Using the bottom correct push, y'all tin move down to the History page, which lets you lot see step goals, past run stats, and records achieved. This will come in handy when yous want to look back at your stats rapidly, without syncing your device to a computer. The Forerunner 15 stores upward to seven runs or workouts before you lot have to sync.

Run Options lets y'all control the features you want turned on for your runs. For example, you can apply the Hour Alert feature if you have Garmin's breast strap heart-rate monitor, and the watch will notify you of certain heart rate zones. Auto Pause is a nifty characteristic, as well; turning it on will tell the watch to automatically break tracking your run if information technology senses that you lot've slowed downwardly to a walk.

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The final screen is Settings, where you tin control well-nigh of the scout's general options. I suggest turning off key tones here, unless you want to annoy everyone around you each time you press one of the watch's buttons.

GPS

The Forerunner's GPS feature is essential for outdoor routes. When I tested information technology in New York Urban center'due south Flatiron Commune, the GPS took about three minutes to locate me.

That'southward groovy because the skyscrapers in the way. The betoken held for my jog around Union Foursquare.

Functioning

Overall, the Garmin Forerunner xv tracked my steps well and my running even ameliorate. I loved that it created a new footstep goal for me each 24-hour interval depending on my total steps from the day before. Information technology's a small feature that keeps you from getting conceited with your current step average and pushes you to motion more than. The Forerunner 15 also has an inactivity alert, where the watch beeps and flashes "Move!" on the screen if you lot've been stationary for an 60 minutes.

You can besides wear the Forerunner xv as a slumber tracker; it'll track sleep periods and your motility while you catch some zzz'due south. However, this data tin can just be seen in Garmin Connect when you sync your data. The slumber widget also gives you lot the selection to choose sleep starting time and wake times.While the strap is comfy, I institute the watch to exist as well beefy for me to sleep with.

Later on you start your run, you won't interact much with the Precursor 15 while yous're training, which is refreshing.

But the Forerunner is primarily a running watch with no frills. All you have to practise is kickoff and finish your run with the pinnacle right push, and while you're running you can run into the time elapsed and distance on the display. You can further customize what y'all see on the brandish during a workout to include step or calories. Other than that, y'all won't have much interaction with the Precursor fifteen while you're training, which is refreshing. You tin also create timed intervals on the watch to guide you lot through speed exercises.

A major drawback of the Forerunner fifteen is that you need a Garmin foot pod to do indoor running. The TomTom Runner has a setting that lets you run indoors or on a treadmill without an additional attachment.

Garmin Connect

You can access Garmin Connect, the visitor's hub where all your information is stored, from your PC or through your iOS or Android device. However, since you must sync the Forerunner 15 via your figurer's USB port, you'll likely use Garmin Connect in your browser the most.

Garmin Connect is basically a dashboard with cards to show y'all data like steps, sleep, reports, challenges and badges. You can click and elevate these cards around in the order you like, too as input some information manually, such as your current weight and how long you slept the previous night.

Since the Forerunner 15 doesn't support wireless syncing, Garmin Connect loses some value.

Since the Precursor 15 doesn't support wireless syncing, Garmin Connect loses some value for me. I wish I could sync the Forerunner fifteen via Bluetooth to my smartphone and come across my daily stats whenever and wherever I wanted. Notwithstanding, the TomTom Runner is the same; it uses Bluetooth LE to connect to accessories similar heart rate monitors, but not to sync data.

Since I could simply make apply of Garmin Connect when my Forerunner xv was plugged into my PC, I didn't use the dashboard much. Rather, I stuck to interacting with the lookout man itself throughout the 24-hour interval and during my exercises.

As mentioned above, go along in mind that the Forerunner xv only stores seven days worth of data; and then yous need to remember to sync at least once per week.

Battery Life

Garmin promises the Precursor 15 can become a whopping 5 weeks of battery life when in activity tracking style, and upwardly to 8 hours during GPS tracking. This is similar to the 7 to 8 hours of GPS battery life we constitute on the TomTom Runner (although that company promises x hours). Considering it takes at least 2 to iii hours to accuse the Forerunner 15 fully in the first place, that long bombardment life is a lifesaver. I wore my device for three days, and there was barely a dent in the battery life icon on the display.

Bottom Line

The Garmin Forerunner fifteen is a solid GPS lookout man that volition runway and map your runs with piffling effort on your office. It's great for those transitioning from casual activity to more serious activity or anyone who wants to beginning running more than or needs to train for a 5K or marathon. I besides liked being pushed by the scout, then that I could surpass my footstep goal each 24-hour interval. And compared to its little blood brother, the $99 Forerunner 10, this model offers 3 more than hours of battery life in training mode, besides as mean solar day-to-day activity-tracking features.

The Forerunner will suit you well if you exercise nigh of your running outdoors, but treadmill runners volition want to opt for the TomTom Runner, because the latter doesn't require a footpod. While I wish the Forerunner 15 offered wireless syncing, that doesn't have abroad from the fact that this $139 tracker is a very adept value for those who want to stride up their running games.

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Valentina is Commerce Editor at Engadget and has covered consumer electronics for a number of publications including Tom'southward Guide, Wired, Laptop Mag and Ars Technica, with a particular focus on wearables, PCs and other mobile tech.