This is my quick review of the Garmin Forerunner 245 Music smart watch.
So, what’s good, what’s a bit meh and do I recommend you buy it?
Er, let’s find out.
Forerunner 245: The Basic Specs
The Forerunner 245 is a fitness watch. It tracks various metrics, both during training sessions and throughout the rest of the day. The GPS tracking records where you’ve been and how far you’ve gone.
The watch calculates advanced metrics like training load and estimates your VO2 max, so you can monitor your fitness improvement – ahem – over time.
You can see all of this in the Garmin Connect app on your phone. The Forerunner links via Bluetooth, and I’ve had no trouble with connections and syncing and all that jazz.
And so we’re clear, the Forerunner is not touchscreen. It’s a buttons only watch.
Watch The Video!
…On my new dedicated reviews YouTube channel (oooh, exciting…)
How is the Forerunner to wear?
Well, I’ve found it comfortable. The rubber strap is soft but seems durable – it’s still going strong, two years in. It has loads of holes for the buckle, so is easy to get a good fit on my wrist.
After daily use and abuse the white strap is a bit, er, not white. A good clean would sort it. There’s a black option for those that can’t be harrised.
In terms of appearance, to these wizened ol’ MAMIL eyes, the 245 looks good. The white does stand out in a way, but the watch is otherwise fairly small and discreet.
I’ve worn a Fitbit Charge in the past and the Forerunner, despite being larger, is less obtrusive and feels better. Also it doesn’t just die and need replacing under warranty. Story for another time.
That said, there is a slight issue and it relates to …
The screen
Which to be fair I’ve been happy with.
I find the Foreunner 245 readable, both in normal and backlit modes.
You can pick from an assortment of watch faces.
The slight issue is a line that’s appeared on the left side of the screen in recent weeks.
The watch is two years old, so maybe that’s something that happens with these things. And it doesn’t, for now, annoy me too much.
You of course may take a different view.
Charging and battery life
Charging time seems reasonable. The Forerunner takes about an hour to go from under 10% up to fully charged. Which is good enough for me.
The Garmin-specific charging port, with a dedicated cable shared by none of my other devices, including numerous Garmin bike computers.
One more cable to remember is a pain but I assume it’s down to size constraints and the need to be waterproof. Whatever, I deal with it.
On the flip side, battery life is excellent. I probably go a week between charges but I’m a fairly infrequent GPS user – a lot of my outdoor sessions are on a bike, which I track with a bike computer.
Using the watch
Confession time: I haven’t found the buttons generally *that* intuitive. It’s likely a failing on my part – I’ve not taken the time to learn the principles of what each of them does. Five minutes of reading the instructions would probably solve it.
I bought the ‘Music’ version of the 245 but (another admission), I don’t use it often. I didn’t find it particularly easy to install a music app or convenient moving content, in my case podcasts, onto the watch. I got there in the end but for now I still use my phone for my ‘in-exercise entertainment’.
The optical heart rate sensor on the back seems to work well. I’ve not done a controlled experiment but I don’t see unexplainable spikes or dropouts. When I’ve also worn a heart rate monitor strap, the Garmin measurement has been consistently similar.
I’ve just discovered, after forgetting my heart rate strap on a recent cycling trip, that the 245 can also broadcast your heart rate, to be picked up by another device. Again, useful for bike computerists that don’t get on with the strap.
Tracking fitness metrics
And over the last 2 years – count ’em – of use, the 245 has performed its core fitness tracking functions well.
I mainly keep an eye on my steps per day and my resting heart rate, as an indicator of being overly tired or starting to be poorly.
I also track training load, but since I’m not following a programme (I’m just pottering along), this is more for interest than something I’m actively working on.
Whilst I don’t check it every day, I find the sleep tracking and body battery metrics useful, particularly to explain those days when I’m feeling sluggish.
For the steps, I tend to check the watch display over the course of the day. The 245 also vibrates when I hit the daily target.
For the more sophisticated metrics that are better viewed over time or with pretty charts, I’ll use the Garmin Connect app, which, whilst feature-packed, is generally easy to use once you know where you’re going.
Sum up
That’s my quick assessment of the Garmin Forerunner 245.
Obviously it isn’t Garmin’s top of the range fitness watch and there are newer variants, even at this level of the range.
But it has worked very well for my needs as a general health tracker and all-purpose fitness watch.
If you can find one at a good price, definitely worth a look.
