Garmin 010 00679 05 Forerunner 50 Sports Watch with Heart Rate Monitor and USB ANT Stick
Jump-start your training with the Garmin Forerunner 50. This sleek sports watch is ideal for running, cycling, and other fitness activities, and it includes a wireless heart rate monitor. Plus, it automatically transmits workouts to your computer so you can analyze, store, and share data using Garmin’s online community, Garmin Connect. Add Garmin’s Foot Pod (not included) to track your speed, distance, and calories burned while running, or add a Speed/Cadence bike sensor (not included) for tracking your cycling workouts.
Jump-start your training with the Forerunner 50. Click to enlarge. |
With ANT+ wireless technology, your workout data is automatically transferred to your PC when your device is within range–no cables, no hookups. Click to enlarge. |
Continuously track your heart beats per minute and wirelessly transmit the data to the Forerunner 50. Click to enlarge. |
Add the Garmin wireless Foot Pod (not included) to track your running speed, distance, and calories burned while on the treadmill or pavement. Click to enlarge. |
Get the Data You Need
Train inside or outdoors. The Forerunner 50 provides you with instant workout data, including training time, pace, distance, lap pace, lap time, lap distance, average and best pace, calories, and maximum and average heart rate. It also records both lap and detailed data. Available in three different versions, the Forerunner 50 comes bundled with different accessories (also available separately) to help you track your progress for whatever moves you.
Listen to Your Heart
Forerunner 50 with wireless heart rate effectively tracks and records your heart rate while you work out, providing instant feedback about how hard your heart is working. The included digital heart rate monitor continuously tracks heart beats per minute, which is wirelessly transmitted to the Forerunner 50. Even train in a certain heart rate zone to improve your fitness level. And well after your workout is done, Forerunner 50 is still working, wirelessly transmitting your training data to your PC.
Measure Speed and Distance
Garmin’s wireless Foot Pod (sold separately) lets you track your running speed, distance, and calories burned while on the treadmill or pavement. Just snap the Foot Pod into a clip on your shoelaces, and it’s ready to send data to Forerunner 50 as soon as you start moving. After your workout, Forerunner 50 automatically transfers the data to your computer when within range.
Track Your Ride
When paired with an optional speed/cadence sensor (sold separately), Forerunner 50 tracks the speed and distance of your cycling workouts. The wireless speed/cadence sensor attaches securely to your bike and measures your pedaling cadence and wheel speed as you ride. You can even use it to train indoors because the sensor attaches to your rear wheel.
Run, Sync, Store, and Share
You’ve logged the miles, and now you want to store them. With Garmin’s innovative ANT+ wireless technology, your workouts are automatically transferred to your computer when your device is within range. No cables, no hookups. The data’s just there, ready for you to analyze, categorize, and share through Garmin’s online community, Garmin Connect, or the Garmin Training Center software.
What’s in the Box
Forerunner 50 watch, USB ANT Stick, Heart rate monitor, Owner’s Manual
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars Usually works but with problematic flaws
It should work so I’ll save space and not mention what works (as it all should work and Garmin doesn’t get bonus points for a product doing what it is supposed to do). The start stop button is on the side (at 3 O’clock position) and frequently it gets pushed by my arm/wristband during a workout so that it stops logging data. Now I have to frequently keep an eye on it to ensure it is running which is annoying not to mention that I lose workout data that I would like to have had logged. Data transfer often doesn’t work (admittedly that might have something to do with Vista as well). Stopping and starting the service, rebooting my computer and switching the usb device to different ports is standard fare if you want to get data onto your computer. It will not pick up my heart rate until I am well into the workout (ie sweaty). This is something that is easy to correct by purchasing gel or getting the chest band wet first but this is something I never had to deal with when I used my older polar monitors. I wouldn’t buy one again.
4 Stars great replacement for my old Polar heart rate monitor
I bought this to replace an old heart rate monitor. I love the wealth of features in the watch, compared to my old watch that just displayed my heart rate. The only downside I’ve discovered so far is that the heart rate doesn’t seem to be picked up by cardio equipment at the gym like with my old monitor. Not a biggie, but nice to see it on the display instead of having to glance at my watch all the time.
5 Stars Changed the way I run
I bought the garmin 50 watch with heart monitor to help with my marathon training. I quickly learned that without the foot pod my experience was limited. So I went back and purchased the foot pod to go along with it and it has changed the way I run. The watch is comfortable, the heart monitor is not bothersome, and the foot pod is not even noticable. The watch with the associated software (and I have downloaded both the internet software and the desktop software) allow me to monitor heart rate, speed, distance run and step cadance. With this information I am able to get a better workout and determine appropriate pacing, and accurate distances. It also has pace alarms that let me know when I am running too slow or too fast. It can use heart rate alarms to alert me when my heart rate is too high, but I haven’t used that feature yet. I like that I can view instantaneous pace information, time distance or heart rate at the push of a button. All in all, it was a very wise investment and I am thouroughly enjoying it.
2 Stars So so, not dependable. No GPS.
I got this to replace an old Polar Heart rate mon.
POLAR was much more dependable for heart rate. This thing tended to lose the signal. The heart rate would read steadily for a while and then start jumping around. Since the EMTs never had to scrape me off the ground, I’m going to say the monitor was off (by 50 bps).
My unit came with the pedometer accessory and the battery was dead in that, so maybe it’s nearly dead in the heart rate strap and that’s the problem? Very frustrating to try to “mate” the watch to the sensors when the batteries are weak or dead.
It’s easy to get lost in the maze of “Views” and “Modes”. Since a lot of them just display zeroes it’s difficult to know what mode or view you’re in just at a glance (and who wants to stop?).
True, most of the time you will leave it on one view for one exercise, but what if you’d like to know your speed and heart rate? So far as I can tell, that doesn’t show on any single screen.
Which sucks.
Maybe if the thing worked out of the box I would have been more tolerant of the scattershot instruction manual and not so friendly display.
On the plus side: IF you need the multi-sport, multi-sensor features, it’s cheap. If you really just want a heart monitor or a pedometer or a bicycle cadence/speed display, you can do a lot better for less money.
4 Stars Dynamite Garmin
If you have any of the Garmin GPS products, this is a great compliment to those devices, especially for bikers who like to have additional feedback on their wrist.
A negative is in the operation, not the simplest to get to all the options when you are in a hurry, running, or biking, it must be set up before you start up. (i.e, you want to see your heart rate and time, it’s easy to get to, but when you are running, not as easy to change as a pulsar watch).
Good device, syncs up well with other Garmin devices, but you do have to read the manual.
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