Garmin adds heart rate to entry-level Forerunner 35 GPS watch

Garmin is making it easier (and cheaper) to track heart rate while running. The fitness company on Monday announced a new entry-level GPS watch with a built-in optical heart-rate sensor. At $200 (£160, AU$259), the Forerunner 35 is the company's cheapest running watch to offer the technology.

The Forerunner 35 does all of the basics: It has GPS to track pace, distance and speed when running or biking, and doubles as a fitness tracker and basic smartwatch. The watch will measure steps, distance, calories burned, intensity minutes and sleep throughout the day, and can display notifications and music controls when connected to an iPhone or Android phone.

Other features include auto pause, auto lap, vibration and virtual pacer (a feature that alerts you when you fall behind a set target pace). The watch also includes sport profiles for running, biking, treadmill running (which uses the accelerometer to estimate pace), walking and cardio, and will keep track of your personal records (longest run, fastest run, etc.).

The battery will last up to nine days as a watch/activity tracker, and up to 13 hours with an active GPS signal, which is two hours longer than our favorite running watch, the Forerunner 235. The watch is also waterproof up to 50 meters (about 164 feet).

The Forerunner 35 will be available toward the end of September in black, limelight, frost blue and white.