Sale!Garmin Forerunner 945, Premium GPS Running Triathlon Smartwatch
$499.99 Original price was: $499.99.$299.99Current price is: $299.99.
Description
- Premium GPS running/triathlon smartwatch with music
- Download songs to your watch, including playlists from Spotify, Amazon Music or Deezer (may require premium subscription with a third party music provider)
- Performance monitoring features include Vo2 Max and training status with adjustments for heat, altitude Acclimation status, training load focus, recovery time, and aerobic and anaerobic training effects
- Garmin Pay contactless payment solution (available for supported cards from participating banks) lets you make convenient payments with your watch so you can leave your cash and cards at home
- Full color, onboard maps guide you on your run so you never get lost during your workout
- Safety and tracking features include incident detection (during select activities) which sends your real-time location to emergency contacts through your paired compatible smartphone
- Battery life: Up to 2 weeks in smartwatch mode, 10 hours in GPS mode with music or up to 60 hours in ultratrac mode. Display resolution – 240 x 240 pixels
PETER –
Update – contacted Garmin Customer care regarding India Region maps, they provided link to download and install maps.. HAPPY now 🙂
here is the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19IarHKRyvkV9EGRTQnFlvvsFkEuOpvMb/view?usp=sharing
unzip it, connect the watch to PC and copy the file gmapsupp.img to Garmin folder and that’s it!
Thanks Garmin for help!
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As New models have arrived which are cheaper and better in some areas but still preferred FR- 945 watch.
If you care for high resolution screen don’t go for this watch, 945 has LCD screen, so will always be dull when compared against AMOLED screen as in Venu 2..
Go for this watch if you care about:
1. Long hours battery life with GPS on to track your activity(32 hours), really great for triathlon or trekking like event
2. All time on – oxymeter, heart monitor, barometer, altimeter
3. Watch is Garmin Training plans compatible, watch once synced with Garmin connect app downloads the scheduled plan for the day on watch. Best part is plans are adaptable to your routine.
4. Feature rich widgets
5. Yoga, gym, HIIT workouts on watch screen
6. unique features- group track, maps, navigation, Heat acclimation, Altitude acclimation, Training load focus, Hydration Tracking, Abnormal Heart Rate Alert
7. Sleep tracker- (I don’t personally prefer wearing watch while sleeping, but good feature for those who like to )
M. Rigg –
I bought this watch to train for, and participate in, my first Ironman. My Apple Watch in exercise mode won’t last the entire Ironman event and I needed a watch that would. Beyond that simple requirement, here is what I found after using the Garmin Forerunner for the past month:
– I use TrainingPeaks to perform scheduled workouts. I sync the run and bike workouts (not swim) directly with the watch. Each day’s workout is ready for me when I am ready to start. Then during the workout, it will tell me what to do (when each interval starts / counts down the time, what pace to maintain, what interval is next, when rest periods start / counts down the time, etc.). I don’t have to remember the workout sequence and times, as it does it all for me. I just do what the watch tells me to do. TrainingPeaks is really well integrated with Garmin Connect and the watch.
– The swim watch face is much easier to read and to use in the water than the Apple watch (and I’ve had trouble with the Apple watch touch screen in the water – doesn’t register a tap). The Garmin buttons start/stop intervals easily and more swim information is available real-time on the Garmin.
– The sleep, stress and “body battery” functions are nice ways to keep tabs on my overall readiness to do the next day’s workouts. More generally, the amount of data available both in Garmin Connect and in TrainingPeaks is terrific.
Some other observations:
I don’t have any issues with the buttons on my watch (as another reviewer did). They work as intended and seem well designed. The overall quality of the watch is excellent.
– If you are a runner, this watch is much lighter than the Fenix series.
– I can wear the Garmin watch for days without recharging, which allows me to collect sleep information.
– I plan to use the maps and navigation/routing features when I start hiking again this winter. The number of sports and data on each sport is broader and deeper than what is on the Apple watch. These are nice features.
– I like that I can pair a heart rate chest strap to this watch for better accuracy; I can’t do that, or if possible haven’t done that, on the Apple watch.
– I like the Apple Watch wrist strap better; the Garmin strap is more traditional and harder to put on / take off.
– I really like the Apple Watch for many of its best features, and probably would not be wearing the Garmin at all but for the training need. Still, I now enjoy wearing the Garmin. In fact, I’ve started wearing both (fashionistas be damned).
Pebbles –
Okay. So I’ve had the watch a few days now
Please note it’s my first garmin and coming from a Fitbit versa 2, and I had a few expectations based on a few things I came across when looking into getting a garmin. I am not buying it for diving running skiing golfing etc. I am buying it because I just wanted a smart watch and I wanted it customizable. The price point wasn’t an issue. I just felt fed up with the lacking features of Fitbit. And through some basic research I found out that garmin had lots of features and was highly customizable.
IF YOU ARE IN CANADA LIKE ME, KNOW THAT A HUGE SELLING FEATURE “GARMIN PAY” IS CRAP 😂 unless you have the lowest credit ratings and have crappy credit cards. Nothing is supported on garmin pay. None of the major banks credit cards work. I have “9” premium cards. And none of them are supported. Also, American Express credit cards are not even possible on the watch. THIS WAS A MAJOR LET DOWN and while I own this watch now, it is definitely not a watch I’ll be recommending to anyone I know. Most of the cards are USA.
With that complaint out of the way. The watch.
Well. Set up was easy enough. You can do it all with just your iPhone and wifi. The watch makes you make a few basic selections like language etc.
Once set up. You hop over to the app. There’s two apps you’ll need. Garmin connect and connect IQ (you can start setting these apps up before your watch arrives. Some steps you’ll obviously skip but if you were waiting for your order you can start setting it up before you get it)
MAPS. Yes. You’ll probably have read people complain about maps from Asia. It does come with maps of Canada. However. Finding them on your watch is the challenge. If it’s your first garmin watch like me. Hop over to YouTube. That can help you navigate your watch menus. There are SO MANY menus on the watch. I am finding most times I just randomly push buttons until I happen to find it. There’s just so many features.
You can plot courses. However. Based on a video I watched you may or may not be able to send them to your watch. The screen on the app says it sent. But nothing shows up. According to the expert in the video. You need your computer and the charging cable to manually send the course files into the right folder. I have not done this yet but I was expecting better ease of making courses and sending them to the watch. This was actually one feature I was counting on. So I’m quite disappointed ill need to sit at home and use a computer to do this. This also means YOU CANNOT PLOT A COURSE WHILE OUT ON YOUR WALK/RUNS! So another selling feature that garmin brags about that isn’t possible to use except at home.
I’m in Canada. And my temperature settings on the app says DEGREES CELSIUS. On my watch it says it correctly. But when it’s recording a run. The stats are listed as degrees Fahrenheit and the course is in KM and my settings says MILES. so there’s definitely a push to have AMERICAN measurements and the watch struggles to apply the correct Canadian settings to everything.
Watch faces are numerous. You can have many options unpaid. I found exactly what I had been wanting (I had Fitbit versa 2 but the reason I wanted garmin was to be able to customize the watch face. For me. This is huge. I want the stats I want. At all times. Not what Fitbit thinks is important such as active minutes.) and I mostly wanted a watch face that stays visible. At all times. Where as on my Fitbit it only shows my watch face when I tilt the watch towards me. Otherwise it defaults to an ugly simple watch screen that Fitbit determined was GOOD which it wasn’t. So on this I’m super happy.
The straps are super springy. Whatever material it is made of. It’s high quality and it’s comfortable. I forget I’m wearing this watch. It’s not heavy either. I liked that the watch comes with an extra band ring. I think it was intended to be a spare in case your band breaks. But I actually placed it on the watch so that I could have double bands. The last thing I want is to lose my $800+ watch!
I haven’t tried it in salt water yet. But it definitely works in the shower and bubble baths with bath salts.
The heart rate monitor definitely works. It detected mine spiking moments after I enjoyed a coffee. It beeped and vibrated letting me know. Something Fitbit never detected. I am aware my heart spikes and races at times. I can feel it. But normally the smart watches don’t detect it or alert me properly. Garmin one did.
The straps are super long. But note that I’m on the anorexic side of slim and the watch strap just perfectly wraps my bony wrist and doesn’t peek out past the watch. There’s lots of buckle notches so if you’re not skinny it will fit you as well. Interesting as most watches I need to change out the bands to size small or get generic ones to make the band smaller fit.
GPS is super accurate. I walked to work now recently from a bus stop that leaves me further from work. But gets me to work closer to the start time so I am not sitting around at work 1 hr 20 mins before shift starts. I was always baffled about the route I walked. To get there. But after yesterday’s walk with gps. I was able to see the exact path I walked. And BAM now it makes sense. I tried it tracking the path from home to the nearest train station. It was so accurate it even plotted my trip up two flights of stairs. The winding around the stairs was mapped. I was super impressed.
I think I will super like the accuracy of the gps mapping on walks. But I just wished it was able to be sent over to the watch by using my iPhone.
It doesn’t come with a screen protector. Which I feel. It doesn’t even need one based on the quality of the watch materials but I did buy a few just in case. Application was simply and easy.
(Pack of 4) Tempered Glass Screen Protector for Garmin Forerunner 945, Akwox [0.3mm 2.5D High Definition 9H] Premium Clear Screen Protector for Garmin Forerunner 945 https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07T4FLX4H/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_NX28Z1BV14FHG1S5HH95?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I got this one. It was the cheapest one I could find. I wasn’t picky just wanted a glass type protector. The install was so easy just drop it onto the watch face and press down one finger in the middle of the watch. No air bubbles. I’ve never had a more easy install.
Oh. And the battery is rechargeable. And I am told we can’t change it out ourselves. Something to keep in mind cuz I go through my battery within 24 hrs. So most batteries are for 300 charges. This would mean once a year I’d need a new rechargeable battery. There’s no mention in the manual about where or how much a new battery is.
It does charge super fast. About 30 mins and it’s fully charged from dead. And it warns you at 10% that the watch is almost dead (super helpful)
Aline –
Ótimo produto! Relógio é completo! Irei usar por muito tempo. O preço compensou
Pebbles –
I bought the 945 as a replacement for a 735. For me the main reason for buying were the maps. I was stuck in running the same routes, and was really interested in having improved navigation on my longer runs.
Over the last few months of owning the watch I have used the maps from time to time. It works very well as a way of exploring a new area. Also one time when I got lost at night, it was really assuring being able to follow a map back.
In the end the feature I like best are the suggested runs and training status. Before I always ended up doing similar runs, 10k every other day. And it was a struggle to keep that up.
Now however, the suggested workouts have introduced a variety to my runs that really help keep things interesting for me. Usually it is a base run, which seemed very slow to me initially. The sprints really push me as do the tempo runs. Also for the first time I feel comfortable running 5 days a week.
So far the only bad side was that initially the battery was draining really quickly. After some investigation online I decided to switch off the pulse ox feature and it has greatly improved since.
Ironman&Ultrarunner –
this is my third garmin watch as i have graduated from one to the next with latest being the fenix 3. the differences between the two is big enough for me to sink in $600 for this watch. for me, the most important functionalities are battery life on gps, music, and wrist based hr monitoring….but it offers so much more!!! i really like the design of this watch. it is a lot lighter than the fenix and slimmer. fenix was not a watch that i could wear to sleep but this forerunner makes it easy for me. there are so many added features since the fenix 3 that i feel like a kid in a candy store. although not needed, i added my credit card to the watch…so if you want to go on a shopping spree, all you have to do is lift my watch!😂 syncing my airpods 2 was a breeze. have i mentioned that this watch is awesome! the built in heart rate monitor surpasses my expectations. although the wrist type monitors are not as accurate as a chest strap, i am willing to give up that accuracy for something that puts me in the general neighborhood of how my ticker is doing. it certainly does that! as far as the battery life claim of 36hours….i have not had a chance to test that yet but will have a chance toward the end of this year. generally, i can get pretty close to the number that garmin publishes but i do have to turn off almost everything to achieve that number. although i could have continue to charge the watch on the run believe it or not, my mind was too foggy in survival mode of a 100 mile run to want to worry about that. i really like the layout of the user interface on this watch. if you are coming from a garmin watch, it is similar and the learning curve is not too steep. i was able to navigate it within a few hours for the most part. i know someone stated in a review they didn’t like the buttons….i love the buttons! they are responsive and get me from me place to another quickly. it is true that not as much pressure is required to do that but that is my preference. the display is very very good. it is crisp and bright. oh….the watch face is very nice. one of the things that i didn’t like about the fenix was that i could never get the second hand to move like an analog watch. this one does. as far as fit, it feels so light on my wrist that i noticed it for the first day but now is just there. overall, i love the added functionalities of thhhis watch and will come back to provide a more in depth review once i have a chance to swim, bike and run with it. first impression is that this is a solid well bought out watch with everything i need! highly recommend!
8/10/2019
i have had this watch now for about two weeks. it is awesome. here are some things that i have done with it that i haven’t done previously:
– sync my apple airpods and a generic earbuds to the watch. both worked although the apple airpods worked more flawlessly.
– loaded spotify and my music onto the watch. very easy to do.
– the built in hr monitor is awesome! i don’t even wear my strap anymore….it gives me a rash so glad to be rid of it!
– i love all the health readings! it is awesome!
– i love the strength app. it actually counts your sets and reps. still has a little bit of work to do but pretty cool.
– i got all my external devices like hr strap, foot pod and power meter connected to the watch
– it uses about 15% per day of battery although i have everything turned on. once i am in race mode i will turn everything off to save on battery
– i bought a couple of extra cables. they charged the watch pretty well.
– i love the voice alerts while running. it gives pace distance and lactate readings
– the watch analog face is pretty good. i especially like the red second hand.. it does eat a little more battery.
– gps is quick to sync!
– the apps and widgets are awesome. well thought out.
that’s all i have for now as i am training for 100 miler and hasn’t had a chance to swim or bike. i am pretty sure i won’t be disappointed there either. will update once i log some distance for those activities.
Marce –
Tuve un forerunner 45s, bastante sencillo, bueno pero para principiantes. Este esta de lujísimo, para triatlón excelente! marca infinidad de cosas, si le sumas una banda garmín HRM-Pro Plus, harás el duo perfecto! No se necesita más. Lo encontré de descuento aquí en Amazón. Buen precio a diferencia de las tiendas! No lo dudes! Lo hubiera comprado desde el inicio!