This watch is feature rich with solid battery life and 'just works' reliability, and a good value for what you get. It's a great new addition to Garmin's line of Forerunner watches.
Before buying this, I used a Garmin Forerunner 35 for several years. That was a very good watch for tracking runs, and I also used it for other workouts like cycling and rowing. I loved its long battery life of about 1.5 weeks to 2 weeks the way I used it, plus physical buttons which I find much better for controlling the watch during runs than a touch screen. It also has a good quality heart rate monitor and some sleep-tracking capabilities.
The Garmin 245 Music can do all this, plus adds additional workout tracking capability, and ability to wirelessly communicate with a Garmin running dynamics pod which gives additional data about runs. It also adds a pulse ox sensor, and ability to store up to 500 digital music tracks on the watch and broadcast to earbuds/headsets/speakers via bluetooth. It is more waterproof than the 35. It can track several measures of indoor lap swimming in a pool, but not open water swims or scuba. Finally its watchbands have quick release connections to the watch body, making it easier to replace them if needed or desired.
I'm not sure I must have any of these things but was curious to try all of them. I am pleased with their implementation. The music feature is especially well done. It pairs without problems with my bluetooth headphones and speakers. I have good audio quality throughout my runs, arm motions while running do not cause any problems. I've copied .mp3 tracks to the watch from a Windows PC that uses Itunes to store my music library, using the watch's USB cable to transfer the files. I've installed the Garmin Express software on the PC (a free download from garmin.com), and methods to copy individual music tracks or playlists are straightforward and work fine. Garmin supports music services like Spotify and Deezer as well, but I haven't tried that and can't comment on how well it works. There are decent controls on the watch for playing tracks or playlists, and adjusting volume. There are a separate set of controls for that within my bluetooth headset (Plantronics BackBeat Fit 3150), and those play nice with the watch.
The battery definitely drains faster while using its GPS and streaming music via bluetooth. Garmin claims 6 hours battery life for these conditions, which sounds roughly consistent with my own experience. That brings me to one of my few quibbles with the watch, which is that I wish its battery life was somewhat better. There's no escaping increased power consumption when using GPS and bluetooth, but it would have been nice if they'd fit a battery with more capacity into the watch. It's not terrible as-is: still much better battery life than Apple watches, and lasts a week to a week and a half if I 'only' track runs with it, use the pulse ox sensor, and don't stream any music. It seems slightly worse than the Forerunner 35 when using the same features, but I was hoping for the same or better. If you want more battery you can buy a Fenix or more expensive Forerunner. It's still good for what it does and the price, though.
This watch seems generally well regarded but I've seen a few negative reviews that say its GPS accuracy is not good, or not as good as older Garmin watches. That has not been my experience. GPS accuracy seems just as good as my Forerunner 35, which is excellent. In fact, the 245 can also do GPS and Glonass together, which I tried while visiting Iceland. I've heard that Glonass can be helpful at hi latitudes. It worked well for me, though I didn't do careful experiments using GPS only versus GPS + Glonass to quantify differences.
The watch has a lot of capability and it's a challenge to design an interface to easily access it all using the watch buttons. Garmin uses several of the watch buttons to descend or ascend within menus, or select options. There is also a circularly scrolling 'wheel' in one menu to enable or disable different kinds of connections, or power the watch off. It all works and is reasonably easy to find, but some items are buried a bit in menus, at times the clicking around can feel inefficient. Not sure there's an easy solution to support so many features, though. There is a lot of flexibility to customize and specify on or off for different sensors and connections, kudos to Garmin for giving this much control. The Garmin Connect smartphone software is a good companion for uploading workout data and displaying. It works reliably through a bluetooth connection between the watch and phone, and is well organized. It requires you to upload the watch data to Garmin's cloud, then communicates with the cloud to display different aspects. I don't love the cloud aspect, it would be better if they provided an option to store the data 100% locally (on the watch and phone only, with no internet involvement). But if you can live with the data being on the cloud, the software works well and has good visuals for displaying all the data.
To summarize, this watch is a great product. It adds some nice extra features to the more basic Forerunner 35/45 while not being overly expensive, and continuing to include everything I liked about the 35/45. It seems meant to be a 'mid-level' watch, and I think what you get for the price is a good value. If you want much longer battery life or more sensors, like a barometric altimeter, get another watch like the higher end Garmins. If the capabilities of the Forerunner 45 or predecessor 35 fully meet your needs, save a bit of money and get those. This watch is a sweet spot of Garmin goodness + bluetooth music streaming and some extra workout tracking ability for lowest price.
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This Item  Garmin Forerunner 245, GPS Running Smartwatch with Advanced Dynamics, Slate Gray |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | -17% $249.95 List: $299.99 | $209.99 | -25% $299.99 List: $399.99 | $437.83 | -25% $299.99 List: $399.99 | $309.99 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 15 | Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14 | — |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sleep tracking | ||||||
| Mileage | ||||||
| For working out | ||||||
| Accuracy | ||||||
| Battery life | ||||||
| Sold By | Big Rocket Man USA | Sports-and-Gadgets | Amazon.com | M Emporium | Amazon.com | Beach Camera Same Day Shipping |
| size | One Size | +Black EarBuds | 41 MM | 46 mm | 46 MM | — |
| display size | 1.2 inches | 1.04 inches | 1.1 inches | 1.3 inches | 1.3 inches | 1.3 inches |
| connectivity tech | Bluetooth, GPS, ANT+ | Bluetooth | Bluetooth, USB | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB | Bluetooth, USB | GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
| supported applications | Phone | GPS | GPS | GPS | GPS | Sleep Monitor, Email, Heart Rate Monitor, GPS, Alarm, Fitness Tracker, Pedometer, Calendar, Weather |
| input interface | buttons | buttons | buttons | touch screen, buttons | buttons | buttons |
| wireless standard | bluetooth | bluetooth | — | bluetooth | bluetooth | bluetooth |
From the manufacturer
Foreruner 245
More Ways to Customize
Check out our Connect IQ Store, where you can add personality to Forerunner 245 by downloading apps, widgets, watch faces and more. It’s easy and — even better — it’s free. New apps are added every day, so you can keep tabs on when your Uber will arrive, turn on your lights at home with the SmartThings app, and even use the AccuWeather MinuteCast app to find out when the rain will start.
GPS Running Smartwatch with Advanced Training Features
You do the running. Forerunner 245 does the thinking. This GPS smartwatch doesn’t just tell you where you ran. It tracks your stats, crunches the numbers and gets to know all about your performance, your running form, your training history and even your goals. All you need to focus on is putting one foot in front of the other.
- Evaluates your current training status to indicate if you’re undertraining or overdoing it; offers additional performance monitoring features
- Get free adaptive training plans from Garmin Coach, or create your own custom workouts on our Garmin Connect™ online fitness community
- Provides advanced running dynamics, including ground contact time balance, stride length, vertical ratio and more (when used with Running Dynamics Pod or HRM-Run or HRM-Tri monitors (sold separately))
- Safety and tracking features include incident detection (during select activities) which sends your real-time location to emergency contacts through your paired compatible smartphone
- Customize with free watch faces, apps and more from our Connect IQ™ store
- Battery life: up to 7 days in smartwatch mode; up to 24 hours in GPS mode
Features and Benefits
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Advanced Performance AnalyticsWhat amount of training is right for you? Forerunner 245 offers personalized training and recovery insight for smarter training decisions, helping you prepare for your next race. It keeps tabs on your VO2 max and understands how heat and altitude impact your performance. The higher your VO2 max, the higher you can expect to perform, which is exactly what is shown by the performance condition metric. Training status evaluates your recent exercise history and performance indicators to let you know if you’re training productively, peaking or overreaching. See how your workouts influence the development of endurance, speed and power with aerobic and anaerobic training effect feedback. Recovery time helps you maximize the benefit of your efforts by predicting when you will be ready for your next tough challenge. You can view your overall training load, which measures your exercise volume from the last 7 days and compares it to the optimal range for your fitness and recent training history. |
More Ways to Work OutRunning is what you do, so train smarter with the tools available from our Garmin Connect online fitness community. Create your own custom workouts, or download free ones that sync right to your watch. Or, if you’ve got a specific goal in mind for your next 5K, check out Garmin Coach. Featuring guidance from expert coaches and free training plans that adapt to you and your goals, it’s a foolproof way to get to the finish line. As part of your training plan, it can even help you predict your race time. What about when you want to switch it up? Forerunner 245 also has activity profiles for cycling, pool swimming, indoor rowing and even for using the elliptical or stair-stepper. |
Analyze Your Running FormThe Forerunner 245 GPS smartwatch also has the tools you need to improve your running form. The watch measures crucial running metrics such as cadence, stride length, ground contact time and balance, vertical oscillation and vertical ratio. These measurements are the key to understanding your form, so you can bring your best on every run and at every race. Your Forerunner 245 can start tracking these metrics with the addition of a compatible heart rate strap or the compact Running Dynamics Pod, which clips right onto your waistband. |
Stay Connected on the RunForerunner 245 makes it easy to run without leaving important smart features behind. Once paired with your compatible smartphone, you’ll be able to receive text messages and see social media updates, emails and more right on your wrist. And new safety and tracking features make it easy to share your location with chosen contacts in case you need assistance — manually, or automatically with built-in incident detection (when paired with a compatible smartphone), if needed. So, lace up your shoes, and head out with a little extra peace of mind. |
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Worth the money
I bought one of these watches for the GPS and tracking aspects of the watch for when I go walking or biking. I love the features of this watch. I do not use it for messages or anything like that. Those just become a distraction if you are trying to get any exercise done. But the watch isn't real big, it's just the right size, smaller than any G-Shock It functions well for how I use it. Battery life is good, however if you use the GPS tracker in it that feature does shorten the battery life some. The screen is just fine for a watch. I did not like the dinky band that comes on it. Its small in my opinion for a watch that men will wear. I switched mine out for a "HEMSUT" watch band. I switch all my other watch bands out, so that wasn't a big deal. But if you want a good watch, this is the one. Garmin is a very reputable brand. Nice alternative to apple or fitbit, etc. I would most certainly buy another. Oh and the little app store thing they got is good enough. This watch does have the music feature but I have not tried it yet. I live in south Florida and because no one here knows how to frigging drive without trying to kill a biker or pedestrian, I just figured I'm safer being more aware of the environment around me.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2020
Spent a lot of time reviewing and researching smart watches online before deciding to go with this watch, versus upgrading my older apple watch to the next gen. And after living with it for a couple months, it's everything I wanted and expected. I chose this watch because I wanted something that gave me maximum analytics in a lightweight package without breaking the bank as it's my first Garmin watch. I've had 2 versions of the apple watch previously and various fitbit watch/trackers for running. Run 3-5 times a week, generally 4-6 miles per run outside over varied terrain.
Pros:
-Very light weight, barely notice it which is awesome for distance running. The larger Fenix series seem just too heavy and loaded with features I don't need. My wrist is about 185-190mm and band fits perfect (if you have very large wrists band may be a bit small), face large and easy to read but not crazy big. And after years of black watches, went with white and it looks great.
-Analytics are awesome, pulse ox gives you load tracking and vo2 max which are game changers over basic activity tracking numbers that iphone apps can give. You really don't know what you are missing if you don't have this, highly recommend ensuring any watch you get from Garmin has the performance tracking features to really motivate you. (was looking at vivoactive/venu etc in similar price range without this, glad I didn't get them)
-Music and apps like Starbucks card load easily via garmin app on phone. So you really can leave house with only this for a run, even though doesn't have Garmin pay.
-Battery life is amazing, I can go a week or more between charging even with gps runs, try that with a apple watch, can't go even 2 days which is very limiting and annoying on weekend trips
-Connects up easily with Runkeeper by Asics which I have been using for nearly a decade so I can still get historical comparisons. After your run, when you sync it up with the garmin phone app, it automatically loads it into the Runkeeper app as well.
-Have had no problems with screen visibility or burnt out spots, it's always on and light button works fine for low light situations.
Cons:
-The initial set up is fidgety to say the least. Took me repeating the same step often to get watch/garmin apps to connect with wifi, bluetooth headsets, runkeeper app, etc.. Had to restart phone, devices etc a few times. It's frustrating but it's not as bad as some reviewers described. And once things are connected, they stay connected. Haven't had to reinstall/reconnect anything.
-The buttons do sometimes stick a bit on the side as others mention, it's summer and with long runs comes lots of sweat so taking it in the shower every couple of weeks does the trick to keep the white clean and the buttons working well.
-Figuring out how to use new apps loaded on the watch is weird, seems like the interface wasn't designed for them so they are stuck in a weird spot. Once you know where, it's easy and they work great. But again, the software lets you down a little here.
-It does have full pacing and training programs which give basic alerts via your bluetooth headphones or on your wrist with a buzz, however I prefer the coaching apps that speak to you and motivate you on your planned work outs so do still often run with my phone when I'm doing them. Maybe I'll find an app that does this though long term, haven't explored this as much.
-Only default watch face ships loaded, but easy to download more and customize via the app. Wish there were a few more pre loaded but is what it is (Pic shown with the Crystal downloaded face).
Finally, yes I'd buy it again. It's the perfect light weight running watch for me. In the future may try the Forerunner 945 for the garmin pay, altimeter, thermometer, and a few more goodies now that I understand it's set up more. But, $250 more for just those things seems like a lot.
Pros:
-Very light weight, barely notice it which is awesome for distance running. The larger Fenix series seem just too heavy and loaded with features I don't need. My wrist is about 185-190mm and band fits perfect (if you have very large wrists band may be a bit small), face large and easy to read but not crazy big. And after years of black watches, went with white and it looks great.
-Analytics are awesome, pulse ox gives you load tracking and vo2 max which are game changers over basic activity tracking numbers that iphone apps can give. You really don't know what you are missing if you don't have this, highly recommend ensuring any watch you get from Garmin has the performance tracking features to really motivate you. (was looking at vivoactive/venu etc in similar price range without this, glad I didn't get them)
-Music and apps like Starbucks card load easily via garmin app on phone. So you really can leave house with only this for a run, even though doesn't have Garmin pay.
-Battery life is amazing, I can go a week or more between charging even with gps runs, try that with a apple watch, can't go even 2 days which is very limiting and annoying on weekend trips
-Connects up easily with Runkeeper by Asics which I have been using for nearly a decade so I can still get historical comparisons. After your run, when you sync it up with the garmin phone app, it automatically loads it into the Runkeeper app as well.
-Have had no problems with screen visibility or burnt out spots, it's always on and light button works fine for low light situations.
Cons:
-The initial set up is fidgety to say the least. Took me repeating the same step often to get watch/garmin apps to connect with wifi, bluetooth headsets, runkeeper app, etc.. Had to restart phone, devices etc a few times. It's frustrating but it's not as bad as some reviewers described. And once things are connected, they stay connected. Haven't had to reinstall/reconnect anything.
-The buttons do sometimes stick a bit on the side as others mention, it's summer and with long runs comes lots of sweat so taking it in the shower every couple of weeks does the trick to keep the white clean and the buttons working well.
-Figuring out how to use new apps loaded on the watch is weird, seems like the interface wasn't designed for them so they are stuck in a weird spot. Once you know where, it's easy and they work great. But again, the software lets you down a little here.
-It does have full pacing and training programs which give basic alerts via your bluetooth headphones or on your wrist with a buzz, however I prefer the coaching apps that speak to you and motivate you on your planned work outs so do still often run with my phone when I'm doing them. Maybe I'll find an app that does this though long term, haven't explored this as much.
-Only default watch face ships loaded, but easy to download more and customize via the app. Wish there were a few more pre loaded but is what it is (Pic shown with the Crystal downloaded face).
Finally, yes I'd buy it again. It's the perfect light weight running watch for me. In the future may try the Forerunner 945 for the garmin pay, altimeter, thermometer, and a few more goodies now that I understand it's set up more. But, $250 more for just those things seems like a lot.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2024
Style: MusicColor: BlackVerified Purchase
I bought one of these watches for the GPS and tracking aspects of the watch for when I go walking or biking. I love the features of this watch. I do not use it for messages or anything like that. Those just become a distraction if you are trying to get any exercise done. But the watch isn't real big, it's just the right size, smaller than any G-Shock It functions well for how I use it. Battery life is good, however if you use the GPS tracker in it that feature does shorten the battery life some. The screen is just fine for a watch. I did not like the dinky band that comes on it. Its small in my opinion for a watch that men will wear. I switched mine out for a "HEMSUT" watch band. I switch all my other watch bands out, so that wasn't a big deal. But if you want a good watch, this is the one. Garmin is a very reputable brand. Nice alternative to apple or fitbit, etc. I would most certainly buy another. Oh and the little app store thing they got is good enough. This watch does have the music feature but I have not tried it yet. I live in south Florida and because no one here knows how to frigging drive without trying to kill a biker or pedestrian, I just figured I'm safer being more aware of the environment around me.
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
Gabriela Montiel
Lindo y todo bien
Reviewed in Mexico on February 1, 2024Style: StandardColor: BerryVerified Purchase
Gabriela Montiel
Reviewed in Mexico on February 1, 2024
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Excelente!!!! Chegou antes do esperado e o relógio superou minhas expectativas. Super recomendo.
Ótimo produto
Reviewed in Brazil on September 2, 2023Style: StandardColor: BerryVerified Purchase
Daniel Rodríguez
Buenísimo
Reviewed in Mexico on July 8, 2023Style: StandardColor: Slate GrayVerified Purchase
Daniel Rodríguez
Reviewed in Mexico on July 8, 2023
En cuanto al reloj funciona de manera excelente, cumple con las características que menciona. Lo que más me gusta es correr con el ya que desde la app que uso para entrenar (Runna) puedo cargar mis sesiones de entramoento a mi reloj y me va dando datos y recomendación (cómo estar en la zona deseada, o mejorías).
También para el día a día es muy útil, ya que te muestra los mensajes que llegar a tu celular y te permite contestar (mensajes predeterminados) desde el reloj. Por último, el control de la música, ya que no siempre uno está cerca del móvil o si te estás bañando puedes cambiarlo.
Sin duda lo recomiendo, es un excelente reloj.
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