I wanted to take time to do a quick comparison between two garmin watches that are extremely popular running watches. The goal here is to educate you on which one would workout better for you by looking at the features of each watch. There are subtle differences that I’ll point out so it’s clear what does what.
I do have a full review on the forerunner 220 here if you already know you want more information on it right now. It does have the most performance features out of the two. Otherwise lets get started below looking at the features of both watches.
Garmin 220 Features
First up let’s cover the dimensions of the 220 which is 1.8″ x 1.8″ x 0.5″ (45 x 45 x 12.5 mm) . It has one standard size for each of the 220 watch models. The display size is 1″ and the resolution is 180 x 180 pixels and is also color. This weights in at 1.4 oz (40.7 g) .
The battery life is a full 6 weeks when it is set to watch mode. This was a worry point for me because I wanted to wear the watch all the time other than just training. Just make sure to set it to this mode when not training so you do not have to charge it each day. If you are running in full training mode it will last up to 6 hours. That is great for one heck of a long run!
Storage Capacity
Here is where you see a major difference between the two. The garmin 220 will store up to 200 hours of training data. The 10 just stated it would store 7 activities. I’m not entirely sure what that means but it is way less. 
Performance Features
The 220 has a feature to track your distance without a footpod called an accelerometer. This is a nice bonus for those of us who live in cold climates and hit the treadmill a lot during the winter months when it’s to cold to run outside. You can also buy a footpod if you want something a bit more accurate. The f-10 does not have either of these options. Another benefit this watch has over the 10 is that you will keep track of your personal records for various distances you have setup. When you break a personal time it will let you know. You can also use live tracking if you have the 220 paired with your phone so friends and family can see where you are running at in real-time.
Garmin 10 Features
Here are the dimensions for the garmin forerunner 10: Pink/White, Green/White, Violet/White & Black/Silver: 0.81” x 0.77” (21 x 20 mm); Black/Red & Orange/Black: 0.98” x 0.94” (25 x 24 mm) . Note: if you want a bigger size look at the black & red combo or the orange black combination. The display itself is just under 1″ in diameter for all the models. Now, it does not have a color display and it’s 55 32 pixels. The watch weight is Small: 36 g (1.3 oz); Large: 43 g (1.5 oz) .
The forerunner 10’s battery in watch mode only can last up to 5 weeks of run time. If you are in training mode it will last up to 5 hours. One thing that the 10 has that the 220 does not is the virtual pacer function. So, with the f-10 you can set up the pacer to help you keep at your training pace to keep pushing you in your run. You can read our full forerunner 10 review here.
Performance Features
It has an auto pause and auto lap feature that the 220 does. It also shows the calories you have burned total distance for your workout as well. You can also upload your data to garmin connect. It also does show you the average pace you are running at.
Major Differences
- The first difference is that the forerunner 10 is a bit bigger in size
- There are a lot more colors to choose from in the 10 than the 220.
- The 220 has a heart rate monitor option where the 10 does not have it.
- 220 has a color display, 10 does not.
- forerunner 220 has 10 hours of run time in training mode vs 5 hours in the 10.
- 220 has a ton of storage compared to the 10.
- The 220 has a lot more performance features to customize your workouts, advanced pace alerts and interval training.
- The 220 has has a heart rate monitor option that the 10 does not.
- The f-10 is at a lower price than the 220.
Conclusion
So, overall the forerunner 220 has a lot more features that if you are looking for more training data it is what you want. Now, if you don’t care about having a heart rate monitor and you want a nice simple watch that tracks your pace, distance and calories burned the forerunner 10 is perfect. You can see our top rated gps watches review here for more options. Oh yeah, also, remember you have a lot more color choices in the 10 than you do in the 220 which can be a deciding factor on looks as well.
