Garmin Forerunner 610

Just about a week or so ago, Jamie posted in Facebook about the Garmin Forerunner 610 having battery and charging issues. I knew about the battery issues of the watch from reading a few forums but wasn't really concerned about it, that is until I read that Jamie's 610 basically couldn't seem to charge after only 10 months or so of having it.

Now that got me a little worried too. I've had my 610 less than a year as well. So far I've had no issues with the watch. It's an excellent watch for a runner and I take care of my watch with kids gloves. I make sure I wash it thoroughly immediately after each run and wipe it completely dry with emphasis on the contact points before even attempting to upload the data. I have a nice soft special cloth that I place it on as storage, safely tucked in my wardrobe even. I'm very careful with it.

So far, aside from the corrosion at the back of it, which had me rather pissed, the watch has been basically working well. No battery issues (at least not yet anyway) whatsoever. But I had the shock of my life yesterday when upon returning home from my run, I rinsed it as usual and as I was wiping it dry, the blasted strap came off! After looking at it, I managed to find the cause which was the pin that holds the strap moving out of place causing the strap to come loose.

Upon closer inspection, I think the pin had slowly moved out of place with time and the hole that the pin is attached to seems to be kinda loose from the pin slowly coming off, which I am pretty much confident is going to slip off again sometime soon. I've just got to keep and eye on it while I run.

Thank god it came off while I was drying it, imagine if that happened while I was running! It could have slipped off my wrist, fall on the road and shatter its glass face! For a RM1,200 watch, the build quality is really horrible. First it was the corrosion on the back cover, now the strap, I'm expecting the thing not to charge soon.

A cheap looking pasar malam watch ...

Notice the corrosion and scratches where the red arrows are? Even the entire Garmin words and stuff are complete wiped out of the backing. If there wasn't a Garmin logo on the front face, you'd think this was a cheap pasar malam purchased watch and not something costing RM1,200. The red circle is where the pin hole is in the strap which is kinda loose now.

Come on Garmin, for the price I paid (and a host of other people too), the least you could do was make the watch more durable and not start falling apart after less than a year. The wife's Forerunner 210 is so much more durable looking than mine and way cheaper as well. If I had known, I'd just have bought that model instead!

I really don't understand why the corrosion is beginning to show up, especially after 10 months or so. I've had this Casio G-Shock the wife gave me as a gift 13 years ago and it's still in very good condition, no corrosion, no straps dropping off or breaking apart.

It's still in pretty good condition even though I've been using for work practically everyday for the last 13 years. It only recently gave out on me and even then, it wasn't the fault of the build. The electronics were totally shot after 13 years of nearly 18 plus hours of usage almost everyday. But for it to last 13 years shows how good it was and though the wife till today will not tell me how much she paid for it, I'll bet it wasn't any where near as expensive as the Garmin 610.

I'm already making plans on what replacement to get should the 610 die on me, which I hope it won't though. Since it's still under warranty, I'm going to take it back to Garmin in the next week or so and see what they can do about the corrosion and the strap cos I have a feeling it'll come off again. The only good point is that I don't see any battery or charging issues just yet. (Keeping my fingers and toes crossed).