Ive seen a couple of deals on the Garmin 735.
Anyone got one or had one and are they any good?
Id rather not spend £300+ on a Garmin but is the 735 any good although its a bit old ?
Although not as old as my 910XT that I am still using 
, although on its last legs in terms of battery
I’ve used one since 2017 - it does everything I need.
Battery life isn’t great but I’ve never used it for cycling only swim/run so never had issues during Ironman.
Did send my original unit back with water ingress damage but Garmin replaced it for free no questions even though it was out of warranty. Only issue I have with the current unit is the optical heart rate not working. Never bothered me as I’ve always used a separate hr strap. Plus it’s crap anyway
Had mine for a couple of years, no issues with it at all. Don’t do IM so battery life isn’t an issue. No altimeter (uses GPS) which is fine by me as it’s a bit of an Achilles heel for Garmin.
None of the features that have come out on the newer watches since really interest me so I’m perfectly happy with mine and wear it as my every day watch.
Thanks guys. You say battery isn’t great…how long does it last ?
Also can you use a hr strap or does it only work with the wrist hr?
As above, mine is absolutely solid.
You can use a HR strap & looking at reviews wouldn’t trust my battery for IM distance, perhaps only the swim/run part.
As ever I’d look at DC Rainmaker for reviews.
I think they quote about 12 hours of solid use. I wear mine all day and do about 1-2 hours of exercise (more at weekends) and end up charging it about once a week.
I use mine with the Swim and Tri HR straps that came in the bundle plus an old hard Garmin strap from years ago.
I used to charge mine at least 2x a week. You’ll be lucky to get 10h on GPS, so okay for HIM. Wife uses it now on occasion; not sure what benefits the 935 has over it other than battery life. I’m sure there are some…
I only used it for about 7-8 months, when I realised the battery was no good for Ironman.
If you’re not wedded to Garmin, The Ginger Runner just did a review of the Corros Pace 2 which seems like good VFM.
On my new phone, haven’t worked out how link but google it up.
The optical HR stopped working on mine. A factory reset fixed the issue.
Thanks! I’ll give it a shot
When I used it for IM Lanza it died about 30km into the run, so probably less than 12 hours. I turned off Glonas to save battery life, but I should have turned off the audible/vibration lap alarms because I think that chews up battery life too. I got chatting to another bloke on the run course who was cursing his 735, which had given up at about the same point as mine 
I usually use the live track function when I’m out cycling so Ms W can see where I am and doesn’t worry about me and this seems to be very heavy on the battery. I think I usually only get 6-7 hours of battery life on GPS live track.
I’ve generally been pretty happy with mine, but the original strap lasted less than a year and after about 2.5 years the face and internal gubbins parted company with the rest of the case. The watch continued to work and I glued it back together, but I wouldn’t trust the waterproofing for swimming now.
No issues here. Had it 2 years. Optical HR is still a bit hit and miss, so you’ll definitely want a chest strap, other than that it’s spot on.
Most people I know who use it for a full IM have the watch set to indoor bike mode for the middle leg. They have a separate bike computer anyway. That way, they still have the overall race time in multisport mode, get a single file in Garmin connect tracking TSS/hr/calories, etc.
With 5+ hours in non-GPS mode on the bike, it will easily last the full race. This approach is reliant on having that extra bike computer if having a file with the route on it is important for you for strava etc
Oh no, that sounds very Naughties; having a separate computer for the bike 
That’s the way I’ve always done it.
Much prefer seeing the data out front than on my wrist!
yeah have one and its good for tri, less so for maps/trekking. Mine stopped working after a pool session and i contacted garmin, despite the fact i had no receipt (gift) they sent me a brand new watch no questions asked which really impressed me.
Just had email introducing the new 745 with music, payment etc. but it’s £450 at the moment so I’ll be sticking with the 735 for the foreseeable.
I says something like, battery life for any event, then quotes 6 hours with GPS and music 
Shouldn’t need (or be permitted) music for an event; unless you’re weak of course.
My wife has one of the Garmin “with music” watches, maybe vivoactive 3 and the music kept cutting out. Don’t think the tech is as good as erm carrying your phone in your hand, like I do. Phone also doubles as weapon for any scrote trying to attack you to erm steal your phone. Hmmm…
DCR has uploaded a review today.
I do use the music on the 945, it’s generally alright but I do get the odd cutout and you need to remember to refresh the licenses every few weeks if you use Spotify.
Wouldn’t use it in a race though. Only carry my phone if it’s a longer run and I’ve got my backpack with me.