Post #1653674

2026-04-23 06:46 UTC

@peteorrall I’ve had various Garmin Forerunner models for about 10 years now and very happy with them. The watches are durable, customer support is good and accommodating, the battery life is excellent, all models still have buttons (some in addition to the touchscreen) and can be operated wearing gloves. It only stops at 400 $, at least at the new price. But you could snap up a 955 for around €300 on eBay. As far as I know, Garmin doesn’t use Google Maps at all? What makes you think that?

Replies (2)

@mcliquid@en.osm.town 2026-04-23 06:47

@peteorrall The great thing about Garmin: I use #OpenStreetMap maps exactly as I want them – just download the .img file, drag it onto the watch and you’re off. I use https://www.velomap.org with the Hike style. Alternatively: you could buy a cheap Garmin Forerunner 265, for example. It doesn’t have any visible map data, but it shows you the track and your position for orientation. At some point, though, that wasn’t enough for me.

Open ##1653675
@alan@en.osm.town 2026-04-23 07:29

@mcliquid Garmin Connect does use Google Maps, maybe that is what @peteorrall is referring to? But I don't think that really matters, you can view your tracks in whatever app/platform suits you. As implied by other answers, I think a key question is whether you need some kind of map on the watch. For my purposes an old Forerunner 245 is enough, I only use the map for recording, not navigation.

Open ##1653676