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.
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 | Garmin Forerunner® 955, GPS Running Smartwatch, Tailored to Triathletes, Long-Lasting Battery, Black | Garmin Forerunner 945 Bundle, Premium GPS Running/Triathlon Smartwatch with Music, Blue | Garmin Fenix 6 Pro, Premium Multisport GPS Watch, Features Mapping, Music, Grade-Adjusted Pace Guidance and Pulse Ox Sensors, Black | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Rating | (1827) | (350) | (182) | (11265) |
| Price | $499.99 | $649.99 | $430.00 | |
| Sold By | Amazon.com | Heart Rate Monitors USA | Sports-and-Gadgets | Olive Branch Enterprises |
| Color | Black | Black | Blue | 6 Pro - Black |
| Model Year | 2019 | 2022 | — | 2019 |
| Special Features | Bluetooth | Waterproof | Bluetooth | Bluetooth |
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Customer reviews
The Best Fitness Watch on the Market. Comparison to Fenix 5, Apple Watch 4
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2019
Before I get to the review, I’ll tell you a little bit about myself so you know how I use the watch. I’m an Emergency Medicine Doctor, beginner to intermediate runner and cyclist, and aspiring triathlete. I’ve owned the Forerunner 945 for about a month now, and prior to this I used the Garmin Fenix 5 and Apple watch 4 ( I hesitate to even include this because it’s really not a fitness watch). I am by no means a high level athlete, and I’m not going to qualify for the Boston anytime soon. I am, however, a data geek. I’m obsessed with wearables and the insights that they can provide us. For the sake of brevity, I’ll assume that anyone looking to purchase a 600 dollar watch knows what they are purchasing and has done a fair amount of research. My hope is to review some of those new features and help you make an informed decision.Fit:The Fenix 5 is built like a tank. Indestructible, heavy, but mostly annoying to wear. I found it difficult to sleep with the device on my wrist. The apple watch 4 was sleek, but I worried about cracking the screen during my workouts. The Forerunner 945 is just right. Sturdy, but significantly lighter than the Fenix 5. I wear this one all day and during sleep. My wrist is small to medium at 7 inches and I do not find the Forerunner too large by any stretch. It’s slightly less comfortable than the Apple watch for all day wear.Appearance and performance:I don't want you to convince yourself that this is going to look sharper than an Apple Watch. Apple has aesthetics down. In fact, the forerunner 945 has identical screen resolution to the Fenix 5. But edges appear sharper and brighter in actual use. The processor is noticeably faster from the Fenix 5 and navigating from screen to screen is a delight.Features:For fitness metrics, Garmin reigns supreme. It is so vastly superior to any other fitness watch on the market. This is a true multisport watch. Do not convince yourself that the Apple watch is a fitness watch. It is a smartwatch with fitness features. If all you need is cadence, speed, and distance, the Apple watch will do just fine. Buy an Apple Watch if you want a smartwatch. But if you’re looking at this review, you’re probably a dedicated runner, cyclist or triathlete. The amount of data on this little computer is absolutely incredible. From the very actionable lactate threshold feature, to the less actionable but interesting respiratory rate, this watch has something for everyone.New Features:If you're new to the Garmin ecosystem, I’d refer you to their website or First Beat to look at all the available features. However, if you’re looking to upgrade from a previous Garmin, i’ll give you a rundown of what’s new from the Fenix 5/Forerunner 935.Music - Perhaps the biggest reason to upgrade. I use spotify, and found the integration to be absolutely seamless. Add Wifi network to watch, download playlists, connect wireless headphones (I use aftershokz air), play music. That’s literally it. Garmin kept it simple here. So simple that it’s easier to download music on the Forerunner 945 than the Apple watch.Heat/altitude acclimation - This falls into the category of “interesting, but not sure what to do with it”. Garmin automatically accounts for external temperature by the use of local weather data (Not the watch itself), and gives you a percentage of acclimation. I live in Florida, so after the first week I was 100% acclimated and rarely fell below 95%. I’m not sure what to do with this. I don’t live or train at altitude, so I can not review that feature.Training Focus - This feature surprised me. I really like the training focus graph. It’s very actionable if you polarize your training (As you should). I no longer have to depend on third party websites to see how well polarized my training is. If it’s time for a high intensity run, I do it.Workout labels - You’re training effect now comes with a label (Base, Tempo, Vo2 max etc). This is a nice summary at the end of you’re workout. It keeps me in check. Often when I think I’m doing an easy effort, I stray into the tempo workout. This can only be seen after the fact, but it’s good for post run analysis.Pulse oximetry - This falls into the category of “please remove this from the market immediately.” As a doctor, I hate this feature. Not because it’s a bad thing to include, but because it is terribly inaccurate, and the data is confusing for people. For a healthy adult, or even a sedentary adult without respiratory or cardiac problems (Asthma, COPD, etc), your normal pulse oximetry should always read near 100% at sea level. Regardless of whether you’re working out or not. I've compared this to hospital pulse oximeters and I can tell you the accuracy of this feature is so poor that I really wonder why they released it. The idea, from Garmins point of view, is that oximetry data can be used for altitude acclimation, sleep tracking, sleep apnea. Unfortunately, the error is at least 5-10% for any given reading. An adult with a pulse oximetry reading of 88% on room air would have severe respiratory problems. My watch will frequently tell me that I am 88%, only to check on a real pulse oximeter and see 99%. I turned this feature off and I recommend you do the same.Body battery - I like this feature. It takes into account your sleep, stress, activity level, and VO2 max (Resilience against fatigue) and comes up with a number. Subjectively, I found my battery to line up with how I feel. I had a few drinks the other night, had a poor night’s sleep, and woke up to a body battery of 10%. If you had asked me how I felt before I looked at the number, I would have said a number around 10%. It’s a good tool for mindfulness and becoming aware of situations that drain you. I’m usually at 5% after a twelve hour shift in the Emergency Department.Respiratory rate - Requires HR strap. Interesting, probably accurate ( Although I cannot confirm, using HRV makes sense in theory and the numbers seem to correlate with HR when plotted on a graph). This falls into the “interesting, but not actionable yet. Lots of potential in the future”. I can see Garmin doing some interesting things with this data (Lactate, ventilatory threshold improvements for example). Just not enough going on with it for prime time yet.Updated and improved:VO2 Max -Now takes heat into equation so your VO2 max doesn’t tank during the summer. Nice feature.Training status - Also includes temp data for more accurate training loadRace predictor - New algorithm that relies on more factors than just VO2 max. It’s an improvement, but it’s still wildly optimistic I think.Still needs improvement:Wrist HR - Although Garmin claims that their new sensor is better, I found it to be equal to the Fenix 5, which is to say, not great, but acceptable at rest. This is a huge blow and the biggest reason I cannot give it five stars. In order for your data to mean anything, it depends on accurate HR data. I am not satisfied enough to run without my HR strap yet. Hopefully there will be improvements to come in the form of software updates. For now, get a chest strap.Pulse oximetry - A real stain on otherwise well released product. Should remove feature entirely.FTP auto detection- Never worked on my Fenix 5, still not working on my Forerunner 945. I ride with a power meter and HR belt so I don’t know where the issue is.EKG - This is becoming standard now and it would be a nice health feature to add.Text back features - Garmin still struggles in the smartwatch department. Notifications are nice, but you’re still tethered to your phone for text backs.FAQ:Do I need a chest HR monitor? Yes. If you’re going to splurge for the data options on the Forerunner 945 you should use a chest strap to enable all features, ensure accuracy of device.What’s the difference between the Forerunner 945 and 245. The 245 is primarily a running watch. The forerunner 945 is a triathlon watch. The 245 has very limited data for cycling, and worse yet does not include lactate threshold for runners which is a huge let down. Falls into the category of "too expensive for a casual runner, not enough features for a dedicated runner".Internet complaints I've come across when researching this product:Pairing issues with music- Have not had a problem yet in a month of use. Pretty seamless for me.Buttons “mushy” - Something I NEVER would have noticed if not for the internet. I guess they are a little soft? I don’t know. They feel exactly the same as the Fenix. Wouldn’t worry about it.GPS inaccurate - GPS is on par with Fenix 5, Apple watch. Never had much variation between any of these. I run in a medium sized city with tall buildings and haven’t had any dropouts.HR inaccurate - It’s true. It seems to be a continual struggle for smart watches (Except the Apple watch 4, who has figured out the magic formula). This is an optical HR monitor, so it depends on perfusion, which is variable throughout the day. To remedy, I still use a chest HR monitor which uses electrical conduction of the heart muscle and is extremely accurate.Battery poor - I get like 4-5 days out of it and I run about thirty miles a week. I'm not sure if the people who complain about this run ultramarathons? But I can't really speak to any problems here.Accessories I use:AfterShokz Trekz Qir headphones. Love, love, love these headphones. They are the best. They work great with the Forerunner.Garmin Tri HR monitor - Waterproof, durable, accurate chest strap.Favero Assioma power pedals - Cheap, reliable.Have fun out there!
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2019
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