Activity Ben Drew

Garmin Forerunner 310XT

The Forerunner 310xt is Garmin’s entry-level triathlete watch. It’s filled with powerful training tools, making it a very good watch for experienced runners and cyclists.

What makes the 310xt ideal for triathletes? It’s rugged, able to withstand pounding, open swim starts; a long battery life: 20+ hours in exercise mode; and it seamlessly transitions from one activity to another with the multi-sport feature. The optional quick-release mount makes it easy to move the watch from wrist to bike mount.

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The Forerunner 310xt also boasts vibration alerts and has superior training aids like advanced workouts, Virtual Partner, and Courses. These three training features make it easy to program complex workouts on the watch and allow you to compete against a set pace or your own prior workouts saved on the watch.

It also has a large, highly customizable screen, perfect for viewing every piece of data you want displayed.

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On the downside, the numerous features built into this watch come at a cost of complexity and sheer bulkiness. Its chunky, square-ish shape, highlighted with orange accents, won’t win the 310xt any beauty awards.

But this burly and powerful watch is a perfect accompaniment to triathletes, cyclists, and experienced runners.

PROS:

20+ hour battery life in exercise mode
Powerful training features like advanced workouts, Virtual Partner, and Courses
Compatible with many accessories such as a heart rate monitor, food pod, and power meter
For triathletes it has features like multi-sport, custom bike settings, and a quick-release mount

CONS:

Complex, requires a learning curve to fully appreciate all its features
Big and bulky

WHO SHOULD BUY THIS WATCH

Runners

Experienced runners will appreciate the 310xt’s advanced training aids, but beginner and intermediate runners may prefer a simpler, sleeker, and less bulky GPS watch.

Cyclists

The Forerunner 310xt works with many bike-friendly accessories including a bike speed and cadence sensor and a power meter. Cyclists with multiple bikes will appreciate the custom bike settings when using the speed and cadence sensor. This allows you to program multiple bikes with different wheel sizes into the watch, eliminating the hassle of recalibrating the watch when switching between bikes.

Triathletes

The 310xt comes with features like multi-sport and the quick-release mount that make transitioning from swimming to biking to running extremely easy. Its 20 hour battery life ensures it won’t die during long workouts.

Swimmers

he 310xt’s is waterproof to 50 meters, great for swimming.

Ultrarunners

The 310xt’s long battery life is a nice feature for ultrarunners out for hours at time. GPS elevation is also useful when trail running in hilly terrain.

Hikers

We think hikers will appreciate that the Forerunner 310xt can track elevation. It does this with GPS data, which isn’t super-accurate, but will provide a general sense of altitude, useful when hiking.