I love this watch, and I switched from a Fitbit that I swore by for almost 3 years. After going to Garmin, not only was I amazed by the quality of the watch (the BUTTONS!) but also the fact that it felt solid. It didn't feel like a cheap hunk of plastic, but instead something I felt comfortable wearing with my day-to-day activities, at the gym, out on a hike, run, swim in the ocean (a bit on that in a moment), etc.
First month, I purchased my watch back in March, and I was nervous. The watch felt heavier than the Fitbit Versa I was using, and I was getting used to the change in weight on my wrist. The strap is a flexible and stretchy silicone, and is very comfortable. A bit difficult to put on, because it is so flimsy, but there are more important things to worry about than a silly changeable strap (by the way, it's almost month 6 of owning it, and the strap is perfectly intact still). Of course I had to take it on a run and a bike ride to test the battery, GPS, and overall settings.
If you're used to a touchscreen watch, this is going to be a bit of a hurdle getting over, because each of the buttons do various things for the watch, and you cannot click on the screen. I appreciate this feature, because now I don't have to worry about damaging the screen and losing touchscreen capabilities or functioning because I bumped it while climbing a rock or scratched it putting on some hiking gear. The buttons are stable, and the standard GPS was great for running and cycling. There are settings to alert you when you've reached a "lap" which can be changed anywhere from 0.1 Miles to upwards of 10 miles (helpful for tracking pace during runs/rides/etc.). When I got back from my first ride (about 42 miles, according to my watch) I was amazed that it tracked so much... Altitude, climb, decent, mileage, average speed, live updates of what I was doing, etc. You name it, and the watch tracked it. After 3 hours of riding, the watch diminished about a quarter of the battery life, which wasn't too bad seeing how I was using the basic GPS the whole time, and all the bells and whistles that come with the watch itself. I tested this on a run, going for my typical 5-10 miles and eventually halfs and 30k+ runs. Same battery life.
Fast-Forward to today (I'll keep it short, no need to emphasize anything in a novel-format)
1. Battery: Killer! Still spot on with the average life of the Standard GPS (No I haven't used other GPS features to test their battery life, the standard is accurate enough for me). The Battery lasts about 10-12 hours in GPS mode for me, and I love that.
2. The band is still good for those who care about the standard silicone band that it comes with. Still flexible and showing no signs of wear and tear.
3. Runs, hikes, trail runs, ruck marches, etc. YOU NAME IT, the watch is very accurate*
***NOTE... If you are using the battery saver GPS.... It's terrible. Not going to lie, I tested this several times, and walking, I was going about 7 mins/mile which is insane. I've tried it on numerous occasions, and maybe I just have bad luck, but I was disappointed, because I was looking to track longer, but that's fine!
4. Buttons are GREAT... They push, click, and do the things that buttons typically do, and I've only noticed ONE thing, but it was a non-issue after about a day... I wore it in the ocean! *GASP* I know, wearing a watch in the ocean seems to be the ultimate test, and it was fine. I think that either sand or salt got in the button, but it's completely fine now, and I have not lost any functionality in the watch.
Honestly, the only reason I gave it 4-stars was the GPS function and the disappointment that came with that. I feel that if the feature is available, we expect it to be accurate in its tracking capabilities. The GPS was freaking out, sending me in all kinds of directions and definitely not keeping track of the path I was running on.
Overall, if that doesn't bother you, get this watch. The price is worth it and the quality is superior to any fitbit I've used. I don't care much for the peripheral features such as sleep tracking, etc., but the watch does great with that as well, using your heart rate for that or what not.
Anyway, hope this review helps!
PS I'm not bashing Fitbit! I am just comparing to the only product similar that I know of.
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This Item  Garmin 010-01863-00 Forerunner 645, GPS Running Watch with Pay Contactless Payments and Wrist-Based Heart Rate, Black, 1.2" |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | — | $439.00 | $582.90 | -25% $299.99 List: $399.99 | -12% $396.99 List: $449.99 | -40% $299.99 List: $499.99 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11 | Get it as soon as Monday, May 13 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11 | Get it as soon as Monday, May 13 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Accuracy | ||||||
| Sleep tracking | ||||||
| Battery life | ||||||
| For working out | ||||||
| Mileage | ||||||
| Sold By | — | Safe 'N Quick | Safe 'N Quick | Amazon.com | Safe 'N Quick | Beach Camera Same Day Shipping |
| size | 1.2" | 46 mm | — | 41 MM | 45 MM | 2.3 |
| display size | 1.2 inches | 1.3 inches | 1.4 inches | 1.1 inches | 1.4 inches | 1.2 inches |
| connectivity tech | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ANT+ | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB | Bluetooth, USB | Wireless | Bluetooth, GPS |
| supported applications | GPS, Heart Rate Monitor | GPS | GPS | GPS | Sleep Monitor | Heart Rate Monitor, GPS, Contacts |
| input interface | buttons | touch screen, buttons | touch screen, buttons | buttons | buttons, touch screen | dial |
| wireless standard | bluetooth | bluetooth | bluetooth | — | bluetooth | bluetooth |
Reviews with images
great running watch
I have had several of GPS watches and this is by far my favorite.First of all I want to say that the review for this watch on amazon is only 3.7 but if you look carefully, most of the lower scores come from earlier this year, and was due to connection issues (especially with the music model). It seems that Garmin has already fixed it and so the later reviews were all very good.Most GPS watches today are too big for runners with small wrists (and a lot of distance runners have small wrists!) I have a 6 and 1/4 inches wrist and most watches just look too big on me and aren't comfortable. As you can see in the picture, this one (42.5mm) looks about right and sits very comfortably. It actually looks a little bigger in the picture. In real life it looks just right.Function-wise, I use the watch mostly for running and it does a fantastic job. I won't go into the details as there are a lot of reviews out there, but I just want to say that besides the usual functions that all garmin watches have, this one provides some additional advanced metrics that are not only important, but make running kinda more fun to do. One other great feature is the recovery status - it tells how long you should wait before your next hard run.Some cons: the sleeping tracking is quite nice as it provides you the hours of light/deep/REM sleep, but I wish it offers you an advice or comparison everyday. Same for the advanced metrics: it would be nice to have some kind of percentile. For instance, the polar m430 gives each run a "runner score" to tell you where you are among your peers. Another con is obvoiusly the price. The non-music one is 100 more than 735XT and obviously not that much greater of a watch than the 735XT (also about 150 more than the Vivoactive 3). I would have bought the 735XT if it were smaller like this. I think the price on this will drop eventually but I didn't want to wait :)All in all this is a great watch and you won't be disappoint with it.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2020
Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2019
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2018
I have had several of GPS watches and this is by far my favorite.
First of all I want to say that the review for this watch on amazon is only 3.7 but if you look carefully, most of the lower scores come from earlier this year, and was due to connection issues (especially with the music model). It seems that Garmin has already fixed it and so the later reviews were all very good.
Most GPS watches today are too big for runners with small wrists (and a lot of distance runners have small wrists!) I have a 6 and 1/4 inches wrist and most watches just look too big on me and aren't comfortable. As you can see in the picture, this one (42.5mm) looks about right and sits very comfortably. It actually looks a little bigger in the picture. In real life it looks just right.
Function-wise, I use the watch mostly for running and it does a fantastic job. I won't go into the details as there are a lot of reviews out there, but I just want to say that besides the usual functions that all garmin watches have, this one provides some additional advanced metrics that are not only important, but make running kinda more fun to do. One other great feature is the recovery status - it tells how long you should wait before your next hard run.
Some cons: the sleeping tracking is quite nice as it provides you the hours of light/deep/REM sleep, but I wish it offers you an advice or comparison everyday. Same for the advanced metrics: it would be nice to have some kind of percentile. For instance, the polar m430 gives each run a "runner score" to tell you where you are among your peers. Another con is obvoiusly the price. The non-music one is 100 more than 735XT and obviously not that much greater of a watch than the 735XT (also about 150 more than the Vivoactive 3). I would have bought the 735XT if it were smaller like this. I think the price on this will drop eventually but I didn't want to wait :)
All in all this is a great watch and you won't be disappoint with it.
First of all I want to say that the review for this watch on amazon is only 3.7 but if you look carefully, most of the lower scores come from earlier this year, and was due to connection issues (especially with the music model). It seems that Garmin has already fixed it and so the later reviews were all very good.
Most GPS watches today are too big for runners with small wrists (and a lot of distance runners have small wrists!) I have a 6 and 1/4 inches wrist and most watches just look too big on me and aren't comfortable. As you can see in the picture, this one (42.5mm) looks about right and sits very comfortably. It actually looks a little bigger in the picture. In real life it looks just right.
Function-wise, I use the watch mostly for running and it does a fantastic job. I won't go into the details as there are a lot of reviews out there, but I just want to say that besides the usual functions that all garmin watches have, this one provides some additional advanced metrics that are not only important, but make running kinda more fun to do. One other great feature is the recovery status - it tells how long you should wait before your next hard run.
Some cons: the sleeping tracking is quite nice as it provides you the hours of light/deep/REM sleep, but I wish it offers you an advice or comparison everyday. Same for the advanced metrics: it would be nice to have some kind of percentile. For instance, the polar m430 gives each run a "runner score" to tell you where you are among your peers. Another con is obvoiusly the price. The non-music one is 100 more than 735XT and obviously not that much greater of a watch than the 735XT (also about 150 more than the Vivoactive 3). I would have bought the 735XT if it were smaller like this. I think the price on this will drop eventually but I didn't want to wait :)
All in all this is a great watch and you won't be disappoint with it.
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
Han Ben Juan
Great watch!!!
Reviewed in Singapore on June 6, 2020
Han Ben Juan
Reviewed in Singapore on June 6, 2020
Fit-wise, I wear this as a sleep tracker as well and haven't experienced any discomfort, even though it is substantially bigger than my previous wearable device, the MiBand 4.
Have yet to try the payment function, but setting it up was a breeze.
Took the savings from omitting the music, as I already run with my phone.
Images in this review
