Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsEXCELLENT watch but with one MAJOR issue
Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2021
The watch initially was amazing, especially for a runner. No more carrying a separate MP3 player, Fitbit, headphones, etc. The watch had all music, the GPS for tracking my runs, etc. Earphones in and that's all I had to carry. Great for tracking sleep, water consumption, weight, everything.
I was using a set of wired, Bluetooth headphones. But they were annoying since the wire bounces with you when you run. The wire was constantly pulling on the buds, so I had to adjust them when running all the time. So, I tried using ear buds. The watch connects alright, but the volume cannot be controlled. Why? No idea. I tried three different brand of ear buds and none allow for volume control and the volume is LOUD. Ear splittingly loud. That would be enough for three stars. What good is a fancy, amazing, up-to-date technology if you can't wear anything but 5 year old headphones with it??? I look up issues with this and Garmin's forum is littered with the same problem going back years. Which tells me that Garmin could care less about fixing what should be a VERY SIMPLE fix to their watch's programming. So, I control customer support.
Another star is knocked off due to Garmin's HORRID support. On the chat, I was literally told, "We do not guarantee full compatibility with all earbuds. Some features may not work." And then sent a link with the headphone compatibility with wearables. Being that this is a long term issue, you'd think that Garmin would have assembled a list of ear buds that work with their devices, similar to how Playstation has done with their Bluetooth connectivity headphones. Nope. The customer support rep "Nicky," in response to each question I would ask, only quoted from the link that was provided instead of answering a simple question. Finally I asked about this lunacy, and this was the response, "I'm sorry for the frustration, but the only solution is to test out different models to find one that works with the features you want." Yes, Garmin's official solution is for every customer to purchase ear buds and return them if they do not work with their device. Stupidity, just sheer stupidity.
The watch is fantastic so long as you never want to use ear buds or ask for any form of help from Garmin. If this is their customer support for flipping ear buds, imagine what their warranty coverage is like!
Update: 14 months in and the "back" button has broken. So now, if I want to check something, I have to wait for it to time out and return to the main screen a few minutes later. The warranty is only 90 days.
My next purchase will not be a Garmin, despite how much I love this watch, despite all its issues. The very least you could do is cover your workmanship. Replacing a $400+ watch every 14 months is asinine.
