Forerunner 945, Premium GPS Running/Triathlon Smartwatch with Music, Black - 010-02063-00

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).

If you’re a runner, hiker, cyclist, or just an active person, this watch is for you. It’s incredibly durable, has an impressive battery life, and looks great on the wrist. I took it on a week-long river trip through the remote Frank Church Wilderness, and it lasted the entire time without needing a charge. That’s huge, considering we were completely off the grid—the crew even carried satellite walkie-talkies in case of emergency. The satellite GPS was a game-changer, allowing me to track my entire route and giving me peace of mind knowing I had access to a detailed map. Beyond outdoor adventures, this watch is highly accurate for tracking distances, pace, and heart rate. It’s also great for monitoring sleep, daily exercise, and overall health metrics. Some standout features: ✅ Long battery life—no need to charge constantly ✅ Satellite GPS—reliable even in remote areas ✅ Compact and comfortable—perfect for small wrists, with larger options available ✅ Smartwatch capabilities—store card info, download music, check calls & notifications ✅ Great value—performs like high-end models but at a more reasonable price If you’re hesitant about spending $400+ on a watch, don’t be—this one is worth every penny. Mine just turned three years old and still runs perfectly with zero issues. Highly recommend! Happy adventuring! Happy watch-ing!

Does everything I need and more. Love the battery life and the fact I can download music so I can leave my phone at home when I run. Only downfall is if you want to use a streaming platform you have to have a paid subscription. Since I use the free versions, I can not stream from the watch. Not a deal breaker for me as I like my downloaded playlist as there are no ads

This Garmin has completely changed the game for my training. The race predictor feature keeps me motivated and gives realistic goals based on my performance. I check it constantly before races. The battery life is also amazing. I can go days without charging, even with GPS runs logged daily. It’s comfortable, packed with features, and easily the best running watch I’ve ever owned. If you're a runner looking for real data and long-lasting performance, this is the one to get. It connects super easily to my phone and is super durable! Looks sleek as well!

After more than 10 days of use, I now refer to my Garmin 945 as the Garmin “Coach” because it is the closest thing to an actual coach. Although I've purchased many products on Amazon over the years, this is the first time I've felt compelled enough to write a review. In short, this thing is absolutely phenomenal. However, it's not for everyone. I'll explain why later in this review, but first, let's get to the good stuff. Throughout this review I’ll mostly refer to the 945 as the “coach.” Just thought I should mention that so people aren’t confused. My first Garmin device was the Vivoactive HR. Then I upgraded to the Vivoactive 3. And now the FR945, which is a big jump. The reason I made the leap (after weeks of extensive research) is because I need more granular metrics for my training. With the VA3 I used the stress metric to decide when and how hard to train, which was ok for a while but now I'm training for a major event in combat sports and I need a coach. In the last 10 plus days, the FR945 has been eerily accurate in predicting my performance and recovery requirements. I've also learned that my training is unbalanced and may very well account for my high incidents of sports injuries. For example, the body battery and recovery. I woke up one morning with a pretty low body battery after a brutal workout the night before. I also had a terrible late-night meal before going to bed. The "coach" said I had another 18 hours of recovery remaining and suggested an easy or recovery workout. I still felt the previous night's workout, but I was at least good enough for morning yoga, right? Well, halfway through what is typically a moderate yoga class, my body felt miserable. I struggled throughout the class and couldn't believe how difficult everything felt. This is the same class I attend twice a week, every week. And my day didn't get better. I felt like crap the rest of the day. What I really needed was plenty of rest and a good night of sleep. This is a case where I was in one place psychologically and a totally different place physically. This is where injury happens, at least in my case. The "coach" tried to advise me, but I ignored it. Another example, the performance condition. After about 90 minutes of late afternoon drilling, I decided to go for a run. I was pretty pumped and felt great. Yet, the "coach" said my drilling workout was a lot tougher than what I had planned. The training effect was in the "VO2 Max" category with an aerobic effect of 4.1 and anaerobic effect of 3.5. Translation? It was time to chill. Instead, I decided to go on a short 2.5 mile run and to beat my previous time. Then, about 20 minutes into my run this thing pops up on my watch screen called "Performance Condition" with a value of -3. I had no idea what this was and decided to look it up later. Well, I completed my 2.5 miles and beat my previous time by 2 full minutes. But to my surprise, the "coach" suggested a 4-day recovery window, which sounded absolutely ridiculous until I woke up the next morning. Everything hurt and I was exhausted. And I looked up the "performance condition" later that day and smacked myself in the forehead. The "coach" was trying to tell me to stop and get some rest. So, the "coach" has shown me that I tend to do too many hard workouts without enough recovery time in between. Sometimes the mind wants to do what the body is not ready for, but how can you really know? It was mostly guesswork before I bought the FR945. And since I've been an athlete my entire life, pushing through pain has always been part of the lifestyle. Now I can finally focus on training smarter, not just harder. The only thing better would be an actual coach who reviews your stats in real time and plans your workouts accordingly. Such a coach costs far more than $600, so I consider the FR945 to be a damn good bargain. Now I will very briefly go over some of the features of the watch 1. Battery life - With regular use including all-day activity tracking I get about 7 days. This is even with the sleep pulse ox on for a couple of nights just to try it out. I didn't do much with GPS during this time but used it quite a bit for music playback and several workouts. 2. Music - Next to the advanced metrics, this was a major motivator for the purchase, and it's fantastic. At first, I had lots of trouble getting my Jabra Elites to work consistently but I think I accidentally fixed it by solving a separate problem. The watch kept crashing whenever I launched the strength app. I saw in the Garmin forum that someone fixed this by deleting outdated .FIT files on the watch, so I decided to do a full factory reset and the strength app stopped crashing. I concluded the problem had to do with me copying data from my VA3 to the FR945. Once I reset and did not copy the data back, everything ran smoothly. Then I noticed the headphones consistently connected as well. However, they still won't auto connect. Once the headphones are on and I click “connect” from the watch, I have to give the power button on the headphones a single push. Then, they connect and stay connected. So, it's still not as seamless as other headphones but I'm not sure if that's a problem with Garmin, Jabra or a mix of the two. There is no music "streaming" though. I use my Spotify account to download the playlists to the watch, which can take a while for a large playlist, but it's still an awesome feature. The first time I went into the gym without my phone, I was like a kid with a new toy. It was just freakin' awesome. Some people complain that the sound is not as good as coming from a phone, and this is true but only barely noticeable. The music playback still sounds pretty damn good. 3. Wrist HR - It's awesome for daily activity tracking and all-day HR, but it sucks for any type of gym or strength training workouts. This is true for all devices like this though. But if you're spending $600 on a watch like this, I suspect you're also wearing an external HR during workouts. If not, you should. 4. Sleep tracking - It's decent enough for tracking trends but sometimes needs adjusting. Although the FR945 does better than my VA3, I still need to adjust the sleep start from time once in a while. There are also times when it does not calculate my "awake" minutes correctly. For example, it might say I was "awake" during my sleep window for 10 minutes when I know for a fact it was more like 40 minutes. And the REM vs deep sleep I take with a grain of salt. Again, great for tracking trends but I'm not confident in the absolute numbers. So, this is still a good feature but far from perfect. 5. Buttons - It took me a day to get used to the buttons after coming from touch screen watches but now I could never go back to touch screens. I lost at least one workout on the VA3 due to inadvertent screen touches. There have also been complaints of the buttons losing their "springiness" and feeling mushy, but so far, I have not experienced this. Maybe it takes more time to manifest itself. However, I use the vibration feedback feature so that each button push gives off a vibration. I suspect this could be a good solution to those experiencing mushy buttons. 6. Sports (lots and lots and lots of them!) - There are tons of sports categories on this thing, most of which I will never use. The level of customizable data screens for each sports category is just mind-boggling. There's is something here for just about everyone. Honestly, this category alone requires a separate review. And configuring activities from the watch itself is very intuitive and user friendly. 7. Maps and navigation - I haven't used either of these beyond playing around with them at home but I have a couple of big hikes coming up. So, I'm really looking forward to trying these out and maybe I'll update this review. 8. Training metrics - This is another one that needs a separate review. The FR945 accurately tells me when to train, how hard or how little, and when to take it easy. It also tells me how long to rest. The training load and training focus features are amazing and will help keep my training more balanced. I haven't even gotten to the lactate threshold or FTP because I haven't been using the device long enough for that data to be available yet. And the body battery is so accurate it’s almost creepy. I’ve learned the hard way to listen to it. 9. Garmin pay – Set up is really easy but I have not actually used the feature in a store yet. I’ve never been super excited about contactless payments anyway. 10. Other stuff – Ok this includes heat acclimation, altitude, etc., etc. So, far I have 19% heat acclimation. 11. Look and feel – Despite being jam packed with incredible hardware and a slew of amazing features, the watch is so light weight that I barely notice it’s there. And on top of that it looks great too. Although I liked the VA3, I wanted a more rugged, sturdier looking watch. I can take the FR945 out for a 10-mile hike or just as easily wear it to a business meeting. It has both the sleekness of Bruce Wayne and the utility of Batman. 12. Smart watch features – This is not a smart watch. It’s a sports watch with some smart watch features. In contrast, the Apple watch is a smart watch with some sports features. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of the smart watch stuff. So, I turned off all smart features except phone calls. While I find it convenient to reject calls without pulling out my phone, the text and other iPhone alerts are just annoying. It would be more useful if I could customize text alerts to receive them only from a select group such as my wife and kids. So, who is the FR945 for? In short, the very serious athlete. If all you are interested in is daily activity tracking, sleep tracking and recording short runs or Zumba classes, get something in the sub $300 range. This watch is for the person who trains for rigorous events such as Spartan races, marathons, triathlons, ultras, serious cyclists, combat sports and so on. In other words, the person who, despite having a day job, thinks about their event for much of the day. They get up to train early in the morning 5 to 7 days a week. They train in the evening and put away ridiculous amounts to calories to keep up. Or if you just want to splurge on a really nice sports watch, go for it. It’s no one’s business. But make no mistake about it. This watch is for serious, data-hungry athletes. This watch is now my daily driver, so I’ll be collecting lots of data and feedback over the next several weeks. If I experience anything significant whether positive or negative, I will update this review. In the meantime, however, I find it difficult to give this product anything less than 5 starts.

I've had the 945 for 5 months and it has been fantastic. I've had several Garmin watches since 2003, including the Forerunner 201, 205, 305, 310XT, and now the 945. Every unit has always been a significant upgrade for me, with the 945 being a huge jump from 310XT. It does everything great and it's slim enough to wear all the time. For exercise I mostly use it for biking (indoor and out) and running. When it's warm enough, I just use the built in heart-rate sensor and it's been very reliable. When it's colder and I need to wear layers, I use a separate Scosche heart rate sensor under my long-sleeve shirt and wear the 945 on the outside, and that combo works great too. I have two bikes I use it with, my regular outdoor bike and an indoor bike mounted on a Kurt Kenetic trainer. Both bikes have their Garmin speed/cadence sensor on them and it works great with each of them. One advantage over the 310XT is the customized data fields are unique to each activity (e.g., "bike" versus "bike indoor") which is handy. The 310XT shared the same data fields when used with two bikes. There is only one small negative, but it's just a subjective thing and I suppose you can't have everything. On the Garmin 310XT, the screen actually has a smaller area (593 square mm versus 726 for the 945), but the rectangular layout allowed seeing 4 data fields clearly, even without my bifocals on. With the 945, there's more area but some of it is wasted due to being circular, so the fields are actually slightly smaller, even when arranged optimally (with top/bottom/left/right fields, versus 2 rows and 2 columns). Another factor is that the monochrome screen on the 310XT was easier to read in various lighting conditions, compared to the color screen on the 945. BUT... all that said, there are some pros that make up for what I consider negatives of the screen. The first is that having a color screen is just better for the many things this watch can do besides just tracking runs ((golf anyone?) . The second is that it's possible to add extra data fields screens (not limited to 4 like the 310XT) so besides the usual screens with multiple fields, I also added some extra screens with just one big field for various things (one for distance, one for pace, one for heart rate, etc.). And that has worked very well for me. Overall I love this watch and have no hesitation in recommending. Of course if you really want to learn more, and you haven't been there already, be sure to check out the DC Rainmaker website. That's my first stop for anything related to fitness gadgets, and he has a TON of great reviews and information on just about everything out there!

I bought this 945 on Prime Day (nice sale!), as an upgrade to the 935 that I’ve been using for a little over 4 years. I probably don’t use even 20% of capabilities of these watches, but as a triathlete, I sure enjoy the data that they provide… and the 945 provides even more than the 935. Nice. The biggest things that I’ve noticed over my 935 are (again) the increased amount of data that this watch provides. I particularly like the significantly more detailed sleep tracking, as well as the ‘body battery’, which I find to be QUITE accurate for how I’m feeling at any given moment. Further, I’m especially loving that the heart rate sensor works in the water – not having to wear a heart rate strap when I’m swimming to get my heart data is wonderful! The bad stuff… the buttons. The buttons just suck. Where my 935 buttons are smooth with a nice, single tactile click, the buttons on the 945 feel coarse and grainy – and the top left button got mushy and actually stopped clicking at all within the first 30 days. Further, the bottom right button would kind of catch on the way in, then click – rather like a double click. I contacted Garmin support, and they were wonderful – though they did initially try to just tell me that this was just they way they felt on this new model now, and as long as they worked, everything was fine (but it wasn’t fine, because the buttons suck). Even so, at my request, they did offer to replace it, which was awesome. I received the replacement… and it’s better than the first one. All of the buttons click, though they are still rather grainy, and the top right has that double clicky feel to it – but it’s better. Not better than my 935, but still better. It will get a lot of use with me before the warranty runs out, so I’m just going to keep an eye on it. (Regarding those buttons, after a lot of reading, I found that the buttons were improved thru different revisions of the watch – currently on Rev. D, as stamped on the box. Both my first and replacement watch were Rev. D, so apparently, there are still issues within the revision.) My only other observation with this watch has been battery life. I’m an Ironman athlete, so I need a watch that will make it all the way thru a full IM race. I did a couple of fulls with my 935 with no issue – but when I began to watch battery life on this unit, I was doubtful whether it would make it thru a race – battery was dropping quickly, even with no GPS based activity. Then I remembered… I get a TON of notifications thru my phone, so that had my watch active a lot. I went into Garmin Connect and turned off ALL phone notifications, then just turned on the notifications for calls and texts (because that’s all I want to see on my watch)… and the battery life improved dramatically. Still too soon to make the final call, but I think it’s good now. Just something to be aware of. The long and short of it?... excellent watch with crummy buttons. If I hadn’t caught it on sale, I think I would’ve regretted the purchase, as I would’ve just gone straight for the 955 (which is current right now). However, if you find this watch for a nice price (like I did), it’s worth it… crummy buttons and all.

It tracks everything about you and broadcast it to the internet. If you cool with that, then its a lot of fun. Tldr; its great. All the features work so well. I do use a chest strap heart rate monitor during my heavy workouts, but the one built in is just fine for daily and sleeping. Sleep tracking is pretty good, its picked up pretty accurately for me, and i work nights, so my schedule sucks. You have to set your sleep tracking time from 00:01 to 23:59 for it to pick up day sleeping. Battery is amazing if you turn off everything. I keep heart rate, pulse ox, and activity tracking running 24hrs, and i can go a few days before it hits 40%. First off, I bought a refurbished/used 945. I was anxious to see if any scratches or issues. None at all, watch is in perfect condition with all the packaging and parts. Now to the watch. It is amazing. I recently got back into working out, and wanted a way to measure my metrics, to see if I'm making progress. It does that amazingly well. I use zwift for cycling, and wanted a way to track my time off the bike. It does everything, and it tells me how im feeling, amd its spot on. When my body battery hits 9, i know i feel like a 9. Its like it gets me, and i have something that knows how i feel lol The sleep tracking is a big selling point for me because i work nights, and my sleep schedule is just so bad, i needed a visual way to display to others so they believe me. It does do that, but you need to put in a little effort to keep the results accurate. First if you sleep during day for night shift, you want to change the sleep window to encompass the entire day to "watch" for signs of sleep: 00:01(to sleep) to 23:59(wake up). This will allow you to fall asleep at any time. However, it only tracks one sleep event, so if you end up falling back asleep later, it will alter the original time's wake up, to this new wake up, and instead of being a cumulative 7hrs, it will count the awake time between, and come up with a total of say 15hrs. It will display the awake time during the sleep, but i like my times to show the actual hours of sleep, so i edit it to add in the correct time. Not sure if thats correct or not, but i dont know another way. The workout tracking is so cool. It has nearly every sport, and if you go into connect iq app, you can download more. You can also create your own. The data screens for the workouts are so customizable, you can change anything to how you want. When i run, i like to have the 6 field layout with all the quick info: timer, heart rate, cadence, pace, and distance. For cycling, i have all that plus my power meter connects and i have that data as well. It keeps tally of everything you do, and gives you a body battery score. I found this to be extremely accurate. When its a high number, i do feel good, and when its a low number, i definitely feel exhausted. Its a good measure of your fatigue, and that helps you rest knowing you are following your plan without regret. I really like how Garmin Connect app connects to other apps. So many workout apps are an island to themselves with the data they collect. Garmin shares with everything, and doesnt cost a subscription. Get the watch, join the garmin ecosystem. Its great. I ordered cheapo pack of watch band colors. To get the original band off, you need to use 2 tiny star tools to twist them off. Blue locktite secures the threads. Take the original band off, the put the crossbar back on. The new watch bands clip on to it, and make swapping different colors easy. The battery life is kind of a different story. Its really what do you want to compromise? If you want gps on all the time, expect the be recharging by the afternoon. If you turn everything off, including heartrate, pulse ox, activity tracking, gps, it will last quite a few days. I have tested it out fully. You should really make a good decision to what you put on the watch face. Having all the up to date metrics displayed 24/7 will be the biggest drain to your battery. I put mostly weather and step tracking on my watch face, because it doesnt update every second. That saves a ton of battery. Even having the second hand displayed drains battery. Most of the good watch faces you download will tell you that, and its very true. During workouts, i havent had issues with the battery even getting close to dying during an hour long workout with gps and connected to hr strap. I do my workout, and never worry about the battery. Maybe if you were doing ultra distance that takes over a day, i wouldnt worry. Its good, especially for all it does. The phone controls work well. Its conveniet to see who is calling, and i wear my headphones a lot, to just hit the button on the watch to connect me to the call without ever pulling out my phone. I can use simple customizable messages to reply to texts. Anything else and i need to break out my phone for that. All in all 10/10 experience. I hope the devolpment for the sleep tracking continues to get better, but this thing rocks

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! ------- 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 )

Really like the ease of use and also the different functions. Easy to set up, and works well with the app on my iPhone. Only gripe is my Headphones only pick up Spotify intermittently if it is on my left wrist when on the track, I think this is more about my headphones than the watch.

Great watch for fitness tracking ☺️.

Ottimo

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.