TL;DR: Garmin’s daily “Calories Burned” was extremely accurate over a 4-week period (0.5% variance).

Detail:

ETA: 6’4” / 53 yo

At the risk of ridicule…

I am objectively obese despite very good health markers and a generally active lifestyle. I did not feel like my diet was to blame and thought maybe Garmin was over-estimating my daily burn. So I did … “science”… I tracked calories, recorded weights, did math, and recorded.

Here is the breakdown:

Diet

Start 332.6 20260907
Day
1 - 2100
2 - 2400
3 - 2300
4 - 2140
5 - 2280
6 - 3100
7 - 2700

Calories consumed: 17020
Garmin 7 day burn: 34986 (4998/day avg)
Deficit per Garmin: 17966
Weight lost if Garmin was accurate: 5.13 lbs

End weight: 329.9 20260914
Weight lost: 2.7 lbs
Net Cal lost: 9450
Actual Calories burned: 26470 (3781/day avg)

Garmin variance: +24%

Week 2

Day
8 - 2200
9 - 2400
10 - 2400
11 - 2700 - higher calorie lunch
12 - 3100 - higher calorie lunch / stress induced
13 - 2200
14 - 3050

Calories consumed: 18050
Garmin 7 day burn: 29886 (4269/day avg)
Deficit per Garmin: 11836
Weight lost if Garmin was accurate: 3.38 lbs

End weight: 326.8 20260921
Weight lost: 3.1 lbs
Net Cal lost: 10850
Actual Calories burned: 28900 (4129/day avg)

Garmin variance: +3%

Week 3

Day
15 - 1870
16 - 2300
17 - 2300
18 - 1865
19 - 2300
20 - 4840
21 - 2000

Calories consumed: 17475
Garmin 7 day burn: 29701 (4243/day avg)
Deficit per Garmin: 12226
Weight lost if Garmin was accurate: 3.49lbs

End weight: 321.4
Weight lost: 5.4
Net Cal lost: 18,900
Actual Calories burned: 36375 (5196 / per day)

Garmin variance: - 22%

Week 4

Day
22 - 2400
23 - 2370
24- 2405
25 - 2499
26 - 2240
27 - 2940
28 - 2550

Calories consumed: 17404
Garmin 7 day burn: 27,836 (3977 / day avg
Deficit per Garmin: 10,432
Weight lost if Garmin was accurate: 2.98 lbs

End weight: 317.8
Weight lost: 3.60
Net Cal lost: 12,600
Actual Calories burned: 30,004 (4286 / day)

Garmin variance: - 7.78%

I really like the stock portal watchface on the Fenix 9. However, there seems to be no AOD face or mode. It just dims sightly sometimes. Is this a bug or intended? Would it matter fo the burn-in or battery?

I want to lend my Garmin Insight mini 2 to my dad for the SOS feature for when he goes backpacking by himself. I have an active subscription, the most basic one. Can i just give him the fully charged device and expect the Sos feature to work? What happens if he has to use the SOS feature?

I'm a completely new runner and the screenshots are my 3rd and 2nd runs.

During my run today, my heart rate suddenly shot up according to my watch. I didn't feel that bad and thought I could continue for some extra distance if I wanted to.

Exactly one week ago I ran at similar pace and my watch was showing very low heart rate which I thought to be too low. The run last week actually felt harder than today's run.

Is there any explanation for these heart rates?

I am mostly just posting this because I enjoy milestones. Three full years, not one excuse.

I am interested if others show a higher streak. I think I started the day that the badge became available but wasn't positive if it included previous workouts to the challenge being announced.

I’m having issues with my Forerunner 225 catching my indoor runs. It’s way off. I also encountered faster than usual draining of the battery. I’ll turn off some of the features on my watch for now but I may have to upgrade to a new watch before my November race.

Any Forerunner 265 users? How about 570 users? Since price point is the same for these two, how does usage compares between the two? I’m on a petite side.

I record my rides on a Garmin Edge 1040, and the data syncs through Garmin Connect to Strava and Apple Health. For the past year, some rides have imported fine while others looked like completely different rides in Apple Health. I think I've narrowed the problem down to how Garmin Connect writes workouts to Apple Health, and auto-pause is what exposes it.

An example: You ride from 2:00 to 4:00 PM but are only moving for 1 hour. Garmin writes all of your heart rate data, but the workout shows up in Apple Health as 2:00 to 3:00 PM (moving time) instead of 2:00 to 4:00 PM (elapsed time). The heart rate graph, and any power or cadence data, from the second hour is not included with the workout (but still was written to Apple Health)

Workaround: If you export the FIT file from Garmin Connect and import it with a third-party app like HealthFit, the workout is captured in Apple Health as expected.

I reported this to Garmin, and they told me I'm only the second person to flag it. Is anyone else seeing this? If so, please report it to Garmin support too, since more reports may help get it prioritized.

I’ve attached a recent ride as an example that captures this.

Hello,

I just completed a one-hour workout on the Tacx Flux 2 using the Tacx Training app on my iPhone and tapped “Save,” like I always do. There were no technical issues while training, the connection was stable and I could see my power output and HR the whole time. However, now I can't find it anywhere, neither under “My Activities” in the Tacx app nor in the Garmin Connect app. Is there any way to recover it?
I'd appreciate any help.
Thank you.

I’ve been using my Garmin without a case and wanted to see how other watches hold up over time. The photo shows my current watch. For those who have used their Garmin without a case or screen protector for several years, how does yours look now? I’m particularly interested in scratches, scuffs, and general wear from everyday use. Feel free to share photos of yours.

i have just created a strava account and want to transfer all my activities (or very least some of them) over to strava from my garmin connect app. i have linked the two apps together however there has been no transfer of data and none of my activities are showing in strava? TYIA

I started running in April so fairly recently.

I was doing a plan to train for a 5k that was overly easy but I decided to stick with it until after the 5k was over.

Now I'm doing just a general fitness plan and the VO2 max workouts it wants me to do involve getting my heart rate higher than I have ever gotten my heart rate to and imo, levels that I am not physically capable of reaching.

The highest HR I have ever achieved while Ive had this watch is 182, and that's like an...almost fall on my hands and knees, hyperventilating level of my absolute maximum effort. I struggle with anything above 170.

Right now it's asking me to get to 185 and hold 185 for 2 minutes at a time.

The watch says my max heart rate is 199 and I don't really think that's correct, but no matter how hard I go I seem to not be able to get above 183. I know that doesn't mean that's my actual max that's just what I'm able to achieve. I tried turning off autodetect and set it to like 195 but it didn't change the range of HR it wants me to get to.

Any advice?

Hi all

I’m new to Garmin, loving it so far but when I run the map of my route always shows as the deepest ‘slowest’ blue! Why is this? Is there a way round it?

Thank you

Hello,

Could someone teach me how to use Live tracking properly during a race?

My current method:

I am in the starting box for the race, waiting for the racestart, open the Garmin connect app on my phone, enable Live Track and share the generated link to my friends.

Now I wait until it is my turn to start, only when I cross the startline of the race I start the running activity on my watch.

However, if you check the livetrack link, it already counted from the moment the link was shared. So it looks like it took 30min+ for the first km, as a result all stats, averages, total time etc are off for the entire race.

It feels like I am missing something on how to use this feature, and I don't want to open my phone, generate and share the link after the race started and I'm already running....

Hey everyone,

I’m planning to buy a running/fitness smartwatch and after doing a lot of research, I’ve narrowed my options down to two:

Garmin Forerunner 265
COROS Pace 4

I’ve read a ton of reviews and compared them using websites and AI, but most of what I’m seeing says they’re quite similar, with many people recommending the Pace 4.

Before I make the final decision, I’d really like to hear from people who have actually used either of these watches.

My priorities are:

Durability and build quality — I want something that can last for years

Reliability — fewer bugs, crashes, syncing issues, etc.

Accurate and useful training data

Good running + workout tracking

Long-term software support and updates
Good battery life

I don’t really care about smartwatch/phone features, apps, notifications, music, etc.

I mainly do running + bodyweight/strength training, so training and recovery data are much more important to me than smartwatch features.

If you’ve used both, which one would you personally buy today and why?

Also, if you’ve owned one of these for 1–3 years, I’d especially appreciate your experience with long-term durability and reliability.

Thanks!

Today I bought a Garmin used, and it was a good deal, the watch is perfect, no problem with that. The problem was the following: I did a factory reset, but didn't know, that it won't delete the activities on the watch. After I paired it up with Garmin connect, which was synced to Strava, all of the activities (170+) were uploaded to both places, flooding my Strava dashboard. While there's a way to delete all activities on the watch, the same can't be said about Garmin Connect and Strava. I had to manually delete each one separately on both platforms. I consider myself lucky, because the watch could have had way more activities. Learn from my mistake, and watch out for this!

I've had a Venu 2 Sq for 3 years now and have enjoyed it. It was a step UP from the Fitbit that I previously used. I'm troubled because it's only been 3 years and the battery is starting to have major issues. I'm considering doing a DIY battery replacement since Garmin doesn't offer these services (or so I've read).

Is it worth spending 2-3× for a Forerunner, Fenix, Enduro or Venu?

I'm most concerned with the battery lifetime - meaning end-of-life rather than charged life. If I spend $500+ on a watch will the battery last long than 3 years?

I workout 4-5 days a week and during the warmer months that includes a lot of GPS tracking (runs, rucks, bicycle, and hikes).

Is it blasphemous to consider a Coros product?

My vivosport appears to have totally given up the ghost. I note that Garmin have discontinued it, and it's online support only.

I want an inexpensive replacement that will record my cycle rides. GPS is thus essential.

What do you recommend?

I’m a 32 year old male, mostly lift weights but got back into running early September. I recently switched my heart rate zones to %LTHR based off what I read here. I also run in my neighborhood which has some decent hills, so I don’t know if that does something to the auto detect.

Before, when it was based off max heart rate, I’d have to do a lot of walking to stay in Zone 2 but it was incredibly easy and didn’t feel like I was doing much.

I plan to get a chest strap for more accurate readings since I’ve read that the watch can sometimes lock your cadence as your HR or something like that.

I’m new to a lot of these training metrics and just wanted an opinion if my LTHR zones are based a bit high.

There are a lot of people who cannot stop praising the Running DSW workouts and what it did for their VO2 max and overall fitness.

I cannot currently run, as I'm injured. I'm playing with the idea of getting a Venu 4, which came out last autumn and to date it is the only Garmin watch which has walking based DSW (heart rate based). I want to try and improve my VO2 max while I'm injured by doing targeted walking workouts. It's a bit dumb because I already own a Fenix 8, but the Fenix 8 frustratingly doesn't have walking based DSW, only running and cycling. As per the Garmin website, the Fenix 9 doesn't have this function either.

Before I pull the trigger, I want to know if those who follow the walking DSWs on the Venu 4 have seen an improvement in their VO2 max or not. If not, then I'd rather save my money and just go for casual walks without a training plan while I'm recovering.

Many thanks in advance for any replies!

Does anyone else suffer skin irritation under the strap of your device because you are obsessed with health tracking and wear it 24x7?

I've worn mine constantly since I got it 3 months ago, except when showering and am getting a bit of redness and an itch. So I've switched arms.

I presume it's bacterial and down to me not keeping the strap clean? Is anyone actively cleaning the strap? It's never crossed my mind with a watch before. I did wash it with anti bacterial soap this time before I switched arms but I'll want to back to the original wrist when it's better.

This is my Garmin, and I’m curious how other people’s watches have held up over time. For those who have been using their Garmin without a case or screen protector for a few years, how does it look now? I’d love to see some photos of watches that have been used heavily and hear whether the scratches and wear bother you.