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Garmin Forerunner 15: A GPS running watch that can also track your steps

The Garmin Forerunner 15 has all the bells and whistles of the other activity trackers, but with one major flaw.

Dan Graziano
Dan Graziano is an associate editor for CNET. His work has appeared on BGR, Fox News, Fox Business, and Yahoo News, among other publications. When he isn't tinkering with the latest gadgets and gizmos, he can be found enjoying the sights and sounds of New York City.
Dan Graziano
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The Forerunner 15 combines the features found in Garmin's budget-friendly Forerunner 10 GPS running watch with its Vivofit activity tracker.

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While it's prettier than some of Garmin's earlier watches, the Forerunner 15 isn't going to win you any fashion awards. It resembles a traditional sports watch that is somewhat bloated.

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The Forerunner 15 is available either with a heart-rate monitor ($200, £170, AU$250) or without one ($170, £140, AU$200). Both packages include the same watch, meaning you can purchase the heart-rate monitor at a later time or use an existing one.

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Battery life is very good. The watch will last a whopping five weeks when using it solely as an activity tracker, or up to 8 hours when using the GPS.

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The Forerunner 15 is waterproof up to 50 meters, meaning you can shower with it or even go swimming.

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In addition to tracking your steps taken and calories burned, the Forerunner 15 can also track your pace and distance when running.

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All of your tracking information is shown on the watch's 55x32-pixel display, along with the time and date.

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The chest-based wireless heart-rate monitor is the same band that has been used with other Garmin products.

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The Forerunner 15 doesn't include Bluetooth. Instead, a special charging dock is required to sync the watch to your computer or mobile device.

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Four pins on the back of the watch connect to the charging dock that in turn connects to your computer.

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You will be required to download a special program, known as Garmin Express, on your Mac or PC to sync your data to the Garmin Connect website and mobile app (Android and iOS), and to also check for any firmware updates.

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The app lets you view details information about your past activities, create training plans and running courses, change your device settings, view your achievements and personal records, and connect with other Garmin users, among other things. The Connect app can also be linked with MyFitnessPal to track the food you eat and the amount of calories you take in.

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The Forerunner 15 is available in a variety of color combinations and two sizes. The large color options are black with blue accent or red with black, while the smaller color options are teal with white accents, violet with white, or black with green.

The large model weighs 43g, compared to 36g for the smaller one.

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Step goals automatically adjust based on your previous days performance.

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The watch stores personal records and will notify you after you set a new record.

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The Forerunner will store the past seven activities on your device before deleting the oldest one for a more recent session, but we'll go more into detail about that later.

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The watch will beep ever-so-slightly and tell you to "Move!" when you haven't walked at least 200 steps in the past hour.

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The Garmin Forerunner 15 is available now for $170 (£140 in the UK, AU$200 in Australia) without the heart-rate monitor or for $200 (£170, AU$250) with it.

Not interested in a GPS running watch? Check out CNET's review of the Forerunner's cousin, the more stylish Garmin Vivofit.

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