Cracked Face on Forerunner 310XT
Well that didn’t take long! I’ve owned the Garmin Forerunner 310XT all of two months before cracking the glass face. And I don’t even have a glorious story to go with it – when taking it off, it fell face first on a tile floor.
In my opinion, a non-recessed screen, lens or scratchable face is simply a design flaw. If a product is meant for active outdoor use (and this one most definitely is), then a design feature as simple as a raised and perhaps rubberized lip would help guard the face. This feature wouldn’t even detract from the nice sleek styling of the 310XT.
As I can tell, the other sport gps units from Garmin, including the Forerunner 405, have recessed faces. I would imagine this lesson was learned long ago, shortly after the invention of the wrist watch. Why the 310XT face is completely exposed baffles me.
I also have the Flip Video, which sports non-recessed surfaces on both sides. The lens protrudes from the front and the viewing screen is flush on the back. There is simply no safe way to even set the device down. Again, a simple mico-raised rim around the lens and screen would keep these glass faces off the deck when face down.
Repairs/replacement for the Forerunner 310XT are currently a fixed $99 rate – for that I’m thankful. Follow the instructions on Garmin’s Warranty Information page. When I get the unit back (10-14 business days after Garmin receives it), I will be designing my own face guard to prevent this from happening again. Perhaps something as basic as a wide rubber band around the head of the unit would work.
Forerunner 310XT returned from Garmin’s repair shop in under 10 business days. The refurbished unit appears to be just about new and is working fine.
Setting up the sync again with Garmin Connect was required since I received a different unit in return. The firmware was also reset. I was surprised that an older version of firmware was put on the unit and I needed to upgrade as soon as I received it. Perhaps this unit had been on the shelf for a while.
The only thing left to do is to implement a homemade face protector so I don’t crack the glass face again. $99 for a repairs/replacement was a fair charge, but I don’t want to pay it again.
I just cracked mine in the exact same manner (and the screen was already scratched due to bouncing around in my bag to and from work for weeks) – good to know it can be repaired, nominally speaking.
Post something when you do find a way to protect the bezel – I’d be interested in doing the same. Thanks.
Thanks for the post Dominic. The exact same thing just happened to me as well. I’ve used it for 2 months and pulled it out of my bag with the glass all shattered. What does your make shift glass protector look like? Can you post an update to this with a picture?
Thanks again!
Unfortunately, I’ve got you beat… I had mine for all of THREE DAYS before mine cracked! I’d had my 305 for over three years and had dropped it literally dozens of time, all without any damage to the face. One drop from two feet off the ground and my 310 was shattered. I suddenly realized the beauty of the non-recessed screen was more accurately a design flaw! I called Garmin, berated them and the design flaw in as polite a manner as possible, requested the design of, at very minimum, a face guard, and then begrudgingly sent in my unit for repair. Instead of repairing mine they sent a new (refurbished?) 310 and, low and behold, it had the “battery drain” problem. So after it got me through my half-Ironman I then returned THAT one. So far my third 310 is working okay, but now the HR monitor has gone wacky. It bounces around from low to very high readings (like 76 to 256 to 132 to 217 to 45) within a few seconds. I’m hoping it’s just a dying battery because I really don’t want to have to send back yet another piece of Garmin equipment…
I wonder if we’re experiencing the early adopter pains of a new product . . . and whether future revisions to the model will incorporate our feedback. As a casual consumer, it seems as though Garmin had long since mastered the wrist-worn GPS unit. I guess taking a step forward with product changes in design, waterproofing and some technology advancements can sometimes result in two steps back.
My refurbished replacement unit had been on a steady performance decline over the past three months, taking more than five minutes to acquire a satellite fix and sometimes not all. The unit then stopped resetting workouts via the lap/reset button and would only do so when sync’ed. Then no sync at all. I performed the hard reset by holding down the power and mode button for ~7 seconds. It appears to be working fine now.
Now it’s my confidence that is broken—I almost expect my 310xt to foul up. And I absolutely hate berating the product because when it’s working, there really is nothing that compares. I sincerely hope that advancements are made by Garmin and that we’re immediate beneficiaries. Meaning that existing customers are made whole with a new replacement unit, face guard, firm ware (a given) or whatever comes of the company’s feedback loop. …and then it’s entirely possible that our technology troubles represent a very small group of users and no enhancements are in the works.
Back to the exposed glass face on the Forerunner 310xt. I have tried out several poorly hatched ideas that didn’t work, like stretching a wide rubber band around the head of the unit. My latest venture is researching how to make rubber on the stove top. I’m fairly confident that I can make a mold of the head of the 310xt and then begin experimenting with pouring and carving a custom rubber face protector that exposes all the buttons and sufficiently wraps the glass face. Stay tuned.
I’m not excited about the amount of time it will take to invent a necessary feature for a $400 investment, but I plan on using it long into the future. And I’ve come to learn that I fall into the “power user” group, AKA I’m rough on my gear. I’ve since dropped it a second time. Actually, the wrist band pin popped out when the unit got caught on my backpack strap. Fortunately, I slipped my foot between the cement and the unit that was headed face down to its death. Well maybe not its death, but at least another $99 life-extending installment. I guess that would be my wallet’s death.
Just smashed mine after 1 week of ownership, taking it off – fell on tiled kitchen floor. No repair policy in UK, exchange only and £117.50 fixed price swap! Painful….
Lucky for them it’s such a fantastic product.
Interestingly they asked a number of questions about how it fell, onto what etc. and when I asked if they’d had a number of returns I got A VERY SHEEPISH “a few”….
No protective cover available apparently – someone needs to produce a g-shock style wrap or silicone i-pod type cover.I’ll put a thick rubber band or hair band over my refurbished return item until something comes out!
Mike
Sadly, I have you all beat. I had mine less than 24 hours – I bought it 6:00 pm on Friday and my friend dropped it on Saturday at about 3:00 pm. Same story – it was dropped from waist level, hit the floor, and the glass shattered.
After spending a lot of time on the phone with Garmin support, it looks like I’m stuck with a broken watch or paying 25% of the original price to repair it.
I can’t believe that a company like Garmin wouldn’t a) make a sturdier product – especially one designed for outdoor sports b) have a better warranty or c)have better customer service to deal with it.
I actually don’t want it anymore and not sure what to do with it now. The last thing I need to be worried about when racing is handling my watch with kid gloves.
I smashed mine on a bike fall (very small one) two months ago.
NO change policity in Argentina, so I must purchase a new one, or still using it as is.
Great product from Garmin, Rubish customer support.
Add me to the list of bezel breakers. It happened today just before my bike ride – it slipped out of my hand as I was putting it on my wrist. -(( Like many of you, I love the product too much to let this (BIG) design flaw to let it get in my way of getting it fixed. I think.
I’m actually writing for advice. 3 months ago, I injured my back and haven’t been able to run. I may not be able to run again. This was quite traumatic. However, I’ve become almost as obsessive with bike riding and keeping track of my outings. I like the 310xt on my wrist when I’m riding but I’m wondering if I should consider another product. I also use my bike to commute to the train to work. I don’t want to have to hassle with taking a device off and on the bike. And I’m hoping that I will be able to run again so I don’t want to buy anything that is specific for bikes. I find the 310xt great for both sports.
Thanks for any recommendations.
Glenn – Bummer! Sorry to hear that you’ve cracked the face on your 310xt as well. This is one of those clubs that you never want to join.
When I broke the glass on my Garmin 310xt, I had the same back-and-forth response on fixing it. It takes the price of the unit up another $100. I wouldn’t have purchased the device if the retail price was $100 higher. And getting it fixed doesn’t lessen the risk of the exact same thing happening again, forcing you to ask if you’re throwing good money after bad.
I chose to get mine fixed. I’m addicted to the training encouragement that my 310xt provides. And that it’s waterproof, it can stay on during transition training in and out of the water.
…but with the exposed glass face, I’m constantly concerned about breaking it again. I hate that I’m preoccupied by a device that should be serving me rather than the other way around.
I don’t know that I can offer sound advice on this one. Sticking with the Garmin 310xt keeps you mobile and able to pursue cross-discipline activities (I hope you get to take up running again!). If swimming isn’t in your future, you may consider just about any one of Garmin’s other wrist-worn gps units, which are all designed with face protection and a recessed surface. It was swimming that sent me the 310xt route.
Best of luck with your decision . . . as well as your physical recovery.
My Garmin 310xt fell 1ft from a chair onto a tile floor last night.
This morning I find the face shattered?
I am on hold to Garmin in Sydney Australia… Will let you know how the service goes.
A.
…just got off the phone with Garmin.
They will replace the model with a new (they might have said ‘refurbished’?) model for $219.
This can happen today. I don’t really have any choice but to take it.
I paid around $500 for the original model (bought it from Amazon and paid to get it to Sydney, Australia).
Now $219 for this…
I will just post the facts of my case and let others decide whether it influences their purchase decision.
A.
a desperate measure for sure but this *might* work…
http://www.heartratemonitor.co.uk/accessories.html#suunto_silicone_face_protector
do you think this would have helped?
http://www.zagg.com/invisibleshield/garmin-forerunner-310xt-cases-screen-protectors-covers-skins-shields.php
(yes I am just randomly looking for solutions on the internet, the thought of it cracking from a small drop appalls me)
Neil – thanks for sharing these resources?
I think the swatch-like approach would work great – though the dimensions of the screen protector on the heart rate monitor site doesn’t seem quite large enough.
I don’t think the invisibleSHIELD from Zagg would work at all as far as preventing the exposed 310xt glass face from cracking on impact . . . in my opinion. If the film is dense enough to resist scratching then I think it would transfer all the energy from a face-first fall directly to the glass face of the 310xt.
A near perfect solution may be if a protective film like this had a bead of silicone or raised rubberized lip around the outside edge. Then the method of attachment would simply be thru adhesion to the glass face and the needed cushion and raised protective rim is built right in. Then you could avoid all the additional material and fitting requirements of the swatch-like approach.
Of course, this still puts impact force disbursement on top of the glass itself as opposed to the plastic watch housing. Ideally the glass would never touch another surface and/or receive the transfer of energy.