Ahh yes, the moment you’ve all been waiting for has arrived: The plastic Fenix 5 Plus. Except, wait…not really. Yes, it has everything the Fenix 5 Plus does, but it actually has more. It’s got special sauce both from a hardware and a software standpoint. Which makes sense, it’s almost a year later since the Fenix 5 Plus came out.
Sure, the new FR945 gains things like onboard music storage/playback (including Spotify), as well as contactless payments and SPo2 readings. All staples of more recent Garmin wearables. But it goes beyond those too. It also takes in all of the new features of the $1,500 Garmin MARQ watches, including temperature and altitude acclimation as well as more detailed training load/focus metrics. And while they were at it, it joins almost every other 2019 Garmin device in adopting the Sony GPS chipsets – which in turn gives it longer battery life (though, not without some downsides I’ll dive into).
Now this wasn’t the only device released today. In fact, Garmin released two other series: The Forerunner 245/245 Music and the Forerunner 45/45S, which are at lower price points. Atop that, Garmin also announced new female health tracking – and it’s actually incredibly impressive how much detail there is in it, so check back for a post on that coming up a bit later today.
In the case of all these devices, I’ve got standard media loaner units that’ll go back shortly. After which I’ll go out and get my own via normal retail channels. Just the way I roll. If you found this review useful, you can help support the site via the links at the bottom. With that, let’s begin!
What’s new:
There’s no better place to start than with a complete list of what’s new/changed from the previous edition. In this case, I’ve got a complete run-through video where I dive into all these features. Or well, most of them anyways. If I dove into everything it’d be Planet Earth length.
But, if you want a consolidated text-driven list, then below will suit your fancy. I’ve put together this list using the Forerunner 935 as my baseline for whether something has changed. Obviously, with the Fenix 5 Plus series coming out half-way through the previous two years, a lot of these features first appeared there. Still, here goes:
– Added Music Storage/Playback via Bluetooth headphones, including Spotify
– Added onboard detailed routable maps for the region you bought it in, with heatmap data in it
– Added contactless/NFC payments
– Added Pulse Ox (pulse oximeter data)
– Added Respiration Rate (post-activity, also as a data field)
– Added new Garmin ELEVATE optical HR sensor (V3, same as MARQ/FR245)
– Added training load focus stats
– Added deeper training effect details/metrics
– Added stress tracking
– Added body battery functionality
– Added heat acclimation (for any workouts in temps over 71°F/21.6°C)
– Added altitude acclimation (for any time or workouts spent above 850m/2,788ft)
– Added Incident Detection (if you crash your bike it notifies someone)
– Added respiration rate (with a chest strap)
– Added Safety/Tracking Assistance (you can press button to send help alert to friends/family)
– Added ClimbPro for automated climb notifications on running/cycling/hiking/XC skiing activities
– Revamped race predictor to be a bit more strict on predictions (more than just VO2Max lookup charts now)
– Increases battery life to 36 hours in GPS mode (and 60 hours in UltraTrac mode)
– VO2Max now compensates for heat (previously it didn’t)
– Training Status now compensates for heat (previously it didn’t)
– Redesigned a bunch of the user interface, especially for post workout stats
Here’s a couple of quick things that don’t change, just in case you’re curious:
– It has virtually identical shell/case as FR935 did. Trick to telling them apart is the slight difference in button color (FR935 was silver, FR945 is dark grey)
– Uses same straps/bands as FR935 did, so all bands are interchangeable
Below, you can see the two units side by side and the slight differences in the button color (FR945 is on the bottom):
Next, if you’re looking at the difference between the Forerunner 945 versus the Forerunner 245, I highlight those in my FR245 video. But the overarching thing is that the FR945 is a multisport/triathlon watch at its core, whereas the FR245 is focused on runners. The FR945 does everything the FR245 does and craptons more, whereas the FR245 essentially takes the majority of the running-specific features and leaves the rest. Further, the FR245 doesn’t necessarily show the same level of detail as the FR945, even if it’s actually recording it. For example, you don’t get the training load focus screens or altitude/temp compensation screens on the FR245 display, but behind the scenes it’s actually doing that math for other metrics (and in case you sync it to something like an Edge 530/830). Make sense? Again, see that review for all the nuanced details.
And finally, as to whether or not the Fenix 5 Plus will get any of the new training load/acclimation metrics stuffs, Garmin says nope. Well, technically they said ‘No’, but either way, the resultant is the same: Nuttin.
The Basics:
As with most past Garmin watches, if you’re familiar with other Garmin wearables in the last few years, then you’ll find most of the things in this section repetitive. That’s even more so true if you’ve got a Fenix 5 Plus, in which case almost everything is identical in the basics section (the new stuff comes in under sport usage). Still, let’s get cookin!
To begin, we’ve got the watch face. You’ll see a slightly revamped default watch face showing some key stats (above). But everything on that is customizable, including every bit of data. You can either customize it using built-in watch faces, or you can make your own (or download 3rd party ones), using the Connect IQ App Store. You can even put your own face on it, if you wanted to.
From an activity tracking perspective the FR945 captures all the usual suspects. So you’ve got steps, stairs, sleep, and heart rate (plus Pulse Ox, but more on that in a moment). You can iterate through these in a bunch of widgets, of which most are redesigned on the FR945 compared to the Fenix 5 or FR935. And again, you can also download other widgets/apps to display more data. Many Forerunner 935 users will use custom watch faces that show extraordinary amounts of training/related metrics on them. Here’s a small gallery of the default/stock widgets:
All of this general activity tracking data is then automatically transmitted to Garmin Connect via your smartphone (Garmin Connect Mobile) app. Once on the Garmin Connect Mobile you can see the stats there as well as on the Garmin Connect website. Further yet, some 3rd party sites and healthcare providers can also receive this data if you’ve authorized them to.
The unit will further track sleep data automatically, though, no Garmin unit tracks naps correctly. Still, for regular sleep it’ll figure that out automatically, including the exact time you fall asleep (be it at 11PM or if working graveyard shifts – 9AM).
The FR945 includes a new optical heart rate sensor package, previously rolled out on the Garmin MARQ watches last month. The most notable thing about this is that it includes the new SPo2 measurement sensor on it, as well as the usual 24×7 (recording at 1-second intervals. This is the green light you see on the back of the unit. Whereas the red light is for the SpO2 sensor:
From a continuous heart rate standpoint, it tracks this constantly and then uploads it into Garmin Connect mobile as well. I use resting HR as a great indicator of when you’re over-trained, fatigued, or when sickness is on the way. I’ve discussed how many people are tracking resting HR and 24×7 HR data to figure out all sorts of things here.
In general I don’t really have any issues with the accuracy of the 24×7 HR data. It’s pretty much within a few BPM of any other devices I’ve used, including some dedicated sensors. We’ll talk more about the workout optical HR data later on though, as that’s in a different category (and typically vendors significantly bump up the optical sensor light/power draw during a workout versus in 24×7 mode).
With the addition of Pulse OX last summer to the Fenix 5X Plus, we’ve seen Garmin add it to numerous other wearables. The idea behind pulse oximetry tracking is mostly around high altitude tracking. Though it’s often used in hospitals on most patients as well. Still, the focus here is high altitude tracking for mountain climbing and such. Practically speaking for those of us at sea level, it’s mostly a useless stat. Again, remember Pulse OX is the red light that comes on next to the green lights on the back of the unit, and typically tracks in 15-minute increments if enabled, and is overlaid against your altitude:
The challenge here with Pulse Ox is really around accuracy. In the case of a typical medical grade pulse oximetry device, that medical certification is done with the person sitting in a chair very still. The FDA acceptable tolerances are actually surprisingly low (as in, easy), at least compared to what I’d consider acceptable even for sport tracking of heart rate accuracy for example. So you take technology that’s really designed to be done when very still and try to apply it to everyday life and you get oddities. That manifests itself in the readings you get. You’ll see below that my readings are a bit all over the place. For someone like me at exactly sea level, I should be in the 98%+ range almost the entire time.
The challenge is that this is taking readings all day long (not by default, but because I enabled it that way), and some of those are inaccurate. Ideally this technology would be leveraged on the side of a mountain and manually triggered to determine your current state. In that scenario – it’s likely to produce just as good results as any other unit on the market, medical grade or otherwise. Running around town at the grocery store? A bit less so.
Shifting slightly to some non-sports stuff, the Forerunner 945 supports smartphone notifications like all previous Garmin watches. You’ll see the notifications per however you’ve configured them on your smartphone via the normal phone notification center, and then they show up on the unit itself. You can then open up a given notification to get more detail about it (such as a longer text message):
The FR945 also supports the new smartphone notification privacy mode, which means the content of notifications won’t be displayed unless you turn your wrist towards yourself, or press a button. This is off by default, but can be enabled in the settings. The goal here being that coworkers at a conference table can’t see your sexts come in.
At this point we’ve gone through all the basics, but if you’re looking for a bit of a user interface tour, I’ve put together this simple video that just walks through the menus. It’s long, and probably boring. But if you’re into kinky user interface menus…this video is your jam:
With that, let’s shift over to sport specific metrics, usage, and related goodness.
Sport Usage:
The Forerunner 945 is aimed squarely at the multisport athlete. Which means that its goal is to be a performance watch above everything else. Whether you run, ride, or swim – or do any of the umpteen million other sports that the unit supports, the goal is to give you a crapton of metrics about that sport.
Some sports have super detailed metrics, whereas others are a bit more bland. For example the detail and focus on running and cycling is strong. But if you go to kayaking or rowing, you’ll get overall metrics just fine, but not things like paddling rates. So again, it varies. In any case, here’s the complete sporting listing:
Trail Run, Run, Hike, Bike, Bike Indoor, Open Water Swim, Triathlon, Golf, Navigate, Track Me, Map, Multisport, Treadmill, Indoor Track, Climb, MTB, Pool Swim, Ski, Snowboard, XC Ski, SUP, Row, Row Indoor, TruSwing (Golf related), Project Waypoint, Walk, SwimRun, Kayak, Strength, Cardio, Yoga, Floor Climb, Elliptical, Stair Stepper, Clocks, Other [Custom]
After you’ve pondered which sport you’re gonna do, you’ll go ahead and tap the upper right button, which opens up the sport menu. By default it’ll show you the last sport you did, and will automatically start looking for sensors and GPS (if an outdoors sport). You can press up/down to change through to other sports:
Speaking of sensors, the FR945 supports all the same sensors as the Fenix 5 series and the FR935 did, that includes Bluetooth Smart sensors as well. There’s no additional/new sensor types support here. Here’s the full listing of sensor types it supports:
So basically, anything and everything you could want. Also, it supports Garmin’s ‘Xero’ lineup of range finders/sights. The only notable exception to the list above is cycling ANT+ FE-C trainers, which are not connectable here (but are using Garmin’s Edge devices).
You can save/connect multiple sensors of the same type. For example, if you have multiple bikes, each with their own cadence sensors on them, it’ll save those and automatically connect to them when those sensors turn on. Additionally, via data fields and apps, companies can create their own sensor types. We’ve seen companies create tire pressure sensors and aero sensors.
Note that sensors are across the entire device. So you define sensors and all activity profiles/sports can use them. Speaking of those sports above, each one is customizable with unique data pages/metrics, and settings. All of these screens are customizable, and you can create/add new pages/screens as you see fit (a crapton of them, more than I could create). There are also stock screens with certain data types, including Virtual Partner, Compass, Elevation, Map, and Music controls.
However, custom data pages can have up to four data fields on them, in a variety of patterns. You can choose the pattern and then choose the individual data fields to add to those pages. Here’s a gallery of different page looks:
Like the Fenix 5 series, there’s nothing on the market that can match the customization of data fields/metrics as the higher end Garmin series. Though, I do really wish we could see more data fields on a single page, like Suunto supports on certain watches in certain configurations. It’s also in these settings that you can configure things like auto lap, auto scroll, and numerous other ‘auto’ things.
Now that we’ve spent half our life setting things up (in reality, you don’t need to do anything above I noted, you can just press start and go), it’s time to begin our workout. Just press the start button again and it’ll start recording and displaying your metrics. Here’s a quick look at what some of those metrics look like in yet another gallery. It’s like the Louvre around here with all these galleries:
In terms of things like pace stability, I’ve had no issues with that. In fact, I think I’ve seen seen slightly more stable paces – like this morning at the track doing a track workout. Again, we’ll talk about accuracy of GPS a bit later. I’ve also had zero connectivity issues with sensors, be it power meters, heart rate sensors, or the Garmin RD-Pod (for Running Dynamics).
Once you’ve completed your workout (by pressing stop, then save) you’re going to see the new post-workout screens. These start by showing a quick outline of your route if outdoors, and some high-level stats. It’s divided up into a rotating upper portion that lists Summary, Training Effect, VO2Max & Recovery, and Training Status. Then lower down you’ll get more detailed stats about different areas, such as laps or a map or training effect. For fun, below is the GPS track from my track workout last week, almost looks like an icon, huh?
And this is where we start to get to some of the newness in terms of training load related bits. The first is the new Training Effect labels and details. While Training Effect has been around a long time on Garmin devices, there’s now additional information about the exact training benefit of each workout. For example, my track workout shows the load at the bottom (303), as well as the primary benefit up top (Anaerobic) in purple. Down below it also breaks out the exact aerobic and anaerobic benefits:
If I go down one button press, I then get the detail for both aerobic and anaerobic, showing me exactly what it’s benefiting – in this case, it’s ‘Impacting Tempo’, which is logical given these were longer 800m intervals.
And the same for the anaerobic impact, showing exactly what it’s doing:
Of course, for many people this can still be a bit fuzzy. So Garmin went a step further and just simplified this entirely, which you’ll find in two parts, via the ‘Training Status’ widget. This first piece shows your current fitness (in my case, fitness is actually going up), while concurrently my load is stabilized:
You’ll also see the little mountain and sun icons at the bottom, more on that in a moment. If I enter the widget I’ll get my current VO2Max, but the next page after that is more important – it’s my 7-day load. It’s here that I can see breakouts by load type (remember the aerobic load color coding above, with purple?), and the load per day. It also shows the optimal load:
Go down once and I’ve got a page that is sorta the pinnacle of this entire journey: 4 Week Load Focus. The idea here is that you’re trying to get the different types of training load properly aligned to the little ‘pills’ you see on the screen. You can see the various areas listed briefly when you first open the screen:
And if I press the start button, it’ll give me some general guidance on what I could do to even things out a bit. Note, the below photo was taken a few days prior when it was giving me different guidance.
The next page then shows me my current recovery time:
After that, I’ve got altitude acclimation. Both of these are actually quietly present on the Garmin MARQ series as well. The goal behind both of these are post-workout calculations tied to figuring out whether or not you’re acclimated to a given temperature or altitude. Obviously, both can significantly impact performance. Starting with heat acclimation, the function leverages nearby weather stations. So your unit has to have connected to Garmin Connect Mobile within 3 hours of starting your ride in order to receive that weather data (it doesn’t use on-device temperature).
You’ll see small icons on the bottom of the training status page if you’re in the midst of acclimating to anything. In the case of below last week, I managed to score both heat and altitude acclimation icons:
Altitude acclimation/adaption starts with a minimum threshold at altitudes above 850m/2,788ft, and tops out at 4,000m/13,123ft (Garmin doesn’t calculate above that level, sorry folks). Garmin says that they divide up training vs living altitudes, just as typical studies would. The company says that adaptation algorithms within the MARQ/Forerunner 945/Edge 530/830 assume total adaptation after 21 days, and that adaptation is faster at the beginning of altitude exposure. Additionally, adaptation will decay within 21-28 days depending on acclimation level.
Fun geekery moment for you: On the Forerunner 945/MARQ, the altitude acclimation is based both on workouts, but also on where you sleep each night. At midnight the unit will quietly take an altitude reading (actually, it’s doing it all the time anyway), and then use that reading to determine acclimation. Where this gets fun is when you take redeye flights, as it’ll take that reading at between 6,000-8,000ft (pressurized cabin altitude of a commercial airliner). At first you may think this would skew results, but in reality – it’s actually correct. Your body is acclimating to that altitude. Where it’s slightly off is that it assumes you’re spending 24 hours at that altitude, rather than the 5-14 hours you’re likely spending at that elevation.
Meanwhile, the next screen is heat acclimation.
For heat acclimation it applies a heat correction factor for rides above 71°F/22°C, using a percentage based amount from published studies (humidity is also factored into this as well). This is then shown in the training status widget. Garmin says they assume full acclimation takes a minimum of 4 days, and acclimation/adaptation to a given high temperature will automatically decay after 3 days of skipped training within that heat level.
Some of this is available within the Garmin Connect Mobile app, but it’s messy and scattered at best. For example, here’s the Training Effect pages (under Performance stats, but not the self-titled ‘Training Stats’ section) – but this is missing the matching color coding of the device itself (no purple here):
However, the ‘Training Status’ section gets you a bit closer. Showing altitude acclimation as well as heat acclimation. But there’s still weird gaps. For example the ‘Load’ metric on the screen is missing a value on the main page. Though, it does do an interesting job at dividing up whether any given week was productive or not.
Here’s what happens when you click on load, more data pages – these much closer to what we see on the device:
Still, I feel like back on the main Garmin Connect Mobile dashboard there should absolutely positively be a Training Status widget that matches what I see on my device. Yet that doesn’t exist, nor can I add it. Basically this is all I get:
Don’t get me wrong, I know this is nitpicking – but it’s something that people constantly complain about Garmin Connect Mobile (even though I think these days the depth is actually better than all their competitors). But it’s not depth of data that’s the problem, it’s how cumbersome it is to find that data. Garmin’s entire marketing strategy around the FR945 is around these performance metrics. They made a full well-leaked YouTube video about it. Yet, in the mobile-first world of 2019, those metrics are buried 98 taps deep in the menus. Sigh.
In any event, re-winding a little bit to where we left off post-workout, the workouts are automatically synced to Garmin Connect via Bluetooth to your phone or WiFi if you’ve configured that. From there you can open it on Garmin Connect Mobile:
Or, on Garmin Connect itself. Here’s a recent workout of mine if you want to poke around by clicking on the link:
In addition, at the same moment these activities are sent to any 3rd parties that you’ve connected to your account, like Strava or TrainingPeaks, among many others. At which point, we’ve covered how everything works from a sport specific standpoint. Of course, there’s countless nuances to other metrics you can dive into like VO2Max (which now accounts for heat), or stress tracking via HRV data. One could spend weeks writing about all the data you can pull from a Garmin watch. Regrettably, I don’t have enough coffee to do that.
I do want to super briefly mention though that respiration rate is now a field you can add to your watch. That field will populate when connected to a heart rate strap/sensor. You’ll see it live both on the screen (like standing in the photo below), as well as later on within Garmin Connect.
One note about swimming is that unlike both Suunto and Polar, Garmin doesn’t capture heart rate data via the optical HR sensor while underwater. Garmin says that’s because the data isn’t as reliable. Which frankly, is kinda true. Though, I’ve found it varies a lot person to person. That’s probably why Polar basically says ‘Good luck with that’ for their wrist-based optical HR sensors for swimming, but, at least they allow it. In the case of Garmin, you’ll need either the HRM-TRI or HRM-SWIM HR straps. These straps will capture data while swimming, and then download it after the swim to your watch, merging the data together.
[Update: As of September 2019: You can now enable and utilize optical HR within the FR945 for all swimming activities. Ensure you’re on the latest firmware and you’re good to go.]
The HRM-SWIM strap is designed for pool swims (it has a sticky surface on the back that holds well for flip/tumble turns). The downside to the much larger blue HRM-SWIM is that it’s not very comfortable out of the water, such as running. Whereas the HRM-TRI is designed primarily for openwater swims worn under a tri suit as it doesn’t have the stickiness, but is more akin to a regular HR strap that feels normal when out of the water running or riding.
The catch with both straps is that you can’t see your HR live in the pool, as the digital signal won’t go through water (only analog signals will, and even Polar’s latest Vantage series doesn’t support that anymore). The other catch to both straps is that they’re ANT+ only, unlike the new HRM-DUAL strap that has ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart. So you’re kinda in a pickle. Undoubtedly Garmin will eventually upgrade the HRM-TRI/SWIM with dual ANT+/Bluetooth, though it doesn’t sound like that’s going to happen immediately. Just sucks to buy something that’s basically so limited. Though frankly, if you want HR data this season, you’ve really only got one choice.
Finally, I want to briefly touch on maps. I discuss this far more extensively in my Fenix 5 Plus review (mapping/navigation/ClimbPro section here), where the features/functions are identical. But, all Forerunner 945’s have detailed maps for the region they were bought in. So if you bought the unit in Europe, you’ll have European maps, and in the US, North American maps. And so on. These maps include digital elevation data as well within them. Here’s how they look on the watch:
You can move around the map using the upper right button, which iterates between zoom/pan/scroll. This allows you to both see the terrain around you, as well as navigate to points of interest or other places. For example, there’s a full POI (points of interest) database on the unit, so you can find nearby restaurants, monuments, lodging, geographic points, and a slew of other spots. Functionally this is useful if perhaps you’re hiking and want to know how far it might be to a campsite or food, or to a given landmark.
You can also create ‘Round-Trip Courses’ for both running and cycling that allow you to set a given distance and desired direction of travel (if you want) and it’ll come up with a course using the internal heatmap data (aka ‘Trendline Popularity Routing’ data). It takes about 1-3 minutes (kinda a long time) and comes up with three differences courses. No internet connection is required for this.
Finally, you can follow any downloaded courses as well, using Garmin’s new smartphone course creator (quietly launched two weeks ago), or any other downloaded GPS files:
Once following these routes, you’ll get instructions on when to turn, and when you’re off-route. The value of having the underlying map data becomes clear when you’re at an intersection of multiple trails and trying to have context of what’s around you. Previously with a FR935 you had breadcrumb trails but it was just over a grey background of nothingness. Now you can see that you’re along a river, or going towards a mountain. Or just near an ice cream shop. Whatever’s important in life.
Music:
By now, some 16 months after Garmin’s first music-enabled wearable (the Forerunner 645 Music), the act of Garmin adding offline music playback support isn’t exactly news. Still, it is the first time we’ve seen it in the triathlon-focused Forerunner variants. And unlike the Forerunner 645, Vivoactive 3, and Forerunner 245 – there is no non-music variant of the Forerunner 945. Whereas those watches all had music and non-music variants, the FR945 simply just has music in the only version of the Forerunner 945 there is.
In the case of all of Garmin’s music-capable watches, tunes manifest itself in two basic ways:
A) Manually copied music files: These are saved MP3 files, playlists and the like that you sync via USB cable to your computer B) Streaming services cached files: These are offline playlists/favorites from music services like Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Deezer, cached for playback when not near connectivity
The music capabilities of all these watches are virtually identical, though they have received minor updates over the last year or so. Be it expanded download limits (effectively, no meaningful limit), or the addition of new services like Spotify. However, there are some other audio features that are only on the higher end units. For example, the Vivoactive 3 Music lacks audio alerts for things like pace and laps, which the FR645/Fenix 5 Plus/Forerunner 945/Forerunner 245 Music have. Second is that the Fenix 5 Plus/645 Music/Forerunner 945/Forerunner 245 Music have the ability to add a music page to your workouts data pages, whereas the Vivoactive 3 Music lacks that ability, adding a couple extra steps to change songs mid-workout. In fact, on the Forerunner 945/Fenix 5 Plus you can even set power-based audio alerts.
But let’s step back a second and talk about how you listen to music. To do that you’ll need a Bluetooth audio device of some sort. Headphones would be most common (I’ve been mixing between an older pair of Beats PowerBeats and $19 Anker headphones), but it also could be a crappy Amazon Basics $15 speaker, or a not-so-crappy Tesla car. In the Bluetooth audio realm, the world is your oyster.
In order to connect your headphones you can go through a variety of menus to pair them. Be it the normal sensors menu or the music-specific portions, all roads lead to the below. You can pair multiple Bluetooth audio devices if you happen to have that. Of course, only one can be used concurrently:
Once paired up you’ve got two options for getting music onto the unit. The first method is via Garmin Express (Mac or PC), allowing you to ‘watch’ music folders (you can customize which ones), and then select playlists/albums/songs/artists/etc to transfer over. Note that you don’t technically have to use Garmin Express to move music onto the device. You can just drag it on via other apps as well…like Windows Explorer.
Sure, you can do this, but I don’t bother anymore. I use streaming services 100% of the time these days for listening to music, so there’s little reason for me to load music on it anymore. In any event, the actual process of syncing music is pretty darn quick, but the inventorying of even a small music library can take a heck of a long time. The Forerunner 945 has 14.5GB (~6.6GB is usable). Note usable space will vary by region, as maps take up different amounts in North America than Europe than Asia, etc…
In any case, next you’ve got your streaming services. These are all technically Connect IQ apps, though Garmin has preloaded some of them. Well, one of them: Spotify. Either way, you can crack open Garmin Connect or Garmin Connect IQ on your phone and add other music services in:
The way all these works is that they offline cache the playlists that you want, using WiFi. Meaning, even in the case of Garmin’s Vivoactive 3 Music LTE (Cellular), you still can’t stream music via cellular in real-time. You have to download it first. It’s no biggie though, with all these music services you’re more likely to specify a given playlist (likely a dynamic one), and then download that playlist. Setting up Spotify or similar is super easy (here’s a detailed post I wrote on it for the Fenix 5 Plus, it’s 100.000% identical on the Forerunner 945).
Once setup, you’ll choose which playlists/podcasts/etc you want to sync (via WiFi). You cannot sync these streaming services via USB (or Bluetooth Smart, which is too slow/bandwidth limited).
The way Garmin has designed music on all their devices is via service provider model. This allows 3rd parties to relatively easily plug into said model. For example, Apple Music or Amazon Music could reasonably join the platform and it makes it largely transparent in terms of adding additional services. You see this when you crack open music, as you’ll see service such as ‘My Music’ (the stuff you copied over via USB), or ‘Spotify’ (self-explanatory), all seen as equals here. Deezer will show up in the same place, as would other services. Expect this list to grow more in 2019, likely in ways that will make you think you’re watching an (yet another) awkward sex scene from Game of Thrones.
In any case, when you first navigate to the music widget (just press up/down from the watch face), you’ll see the current album playing (if any), as well as controls around the edge, like a rotary phone.
These controls are pretty easy to identify, and include the basics like skip/back/play/pause/volume/repeat and shuffle options, plus the all-important ‘Manage’ option, which is the little settings icon. By tapping that icon you get into the music providers and headphones areas.
It’s here you can select which music to play, be it streaming services music or manually transferred music. It’s pretty much as you’d expect, allowing you to choose anything from specific albums to playlists to artists. It’s easy to navigate, even when running along.
So how does playback sound?
Well…just like music.
Basically, it’s digital audio over headphones designed for sport while I’m running my ass off trying to keep breathing. Said differently – it sounds perfectly good to me. It’s really going to depend more on your headphones than anything else. Garmin recently (like, last week), added the ability for headphones to now select stereo or mono, so there’s certainly some focus on music quality. I’ve never heard anyone in the last year complain about music quality.
Instead, people have (rightfully) complained about dropouts. And that’s a *much* tougher nut to crack. Like, giant Costco sized nut.
The reason? Everyone is playing the low-power game. Headphones makers are trying to minimize the antenna power as much as humanly possible to save power on a device with a tiny battery. Meanwhile, the wearables companies are fighting the same battle on their end. Battery is everything when you’re talking two devices with tiny batteries. Compare that to a phone that has a gigantic battery and then can take the blowtorch approach to Bluetooth signal broadcasting. Alternatively, there’s cases like Apple with the AirPods and the Apple Watch that can implement their own heavily optimized protocols because they control everything end to end.
Still – I’ve had *zero* dropouts with the Forerunner 945 using my older Beats headphones. Which may be dumb luck, but it’s still impressive. Typically speaking it helps if you wear your watch on the same wrist as the antenna in your headphones (all headphones have one side that has an antenna in it, you want that side to match your watch). Garmin, like all wearable companies, also has a list of recommended headphones. Starting from that list is a good idea, though honestly, there’s plenty of things not on there that work just fine
It’s been interesting to watch Garmin’s music focus over the last year, but I’d argue that aside from Apple’s streaming over LTE capabilities and better AirPods integration, there’s oddly enough no wearable company with as many streaming partners nor as smooth a music experience as the Garmin wearables. They’ve easily surpassed Fitbit in this realm (both in providers and the experience), as well as Samsung (in providers). Something I never would have expected a year and a half ago.
Garmin Pay (NFC Payments):
Garmin Pay allows you to use your watch to pay for stuffs anytime there’s a contactless NFC reader to spend your money. Garmin Pay is the branding that covers the contactless/NFC payments, just like there’s Apple Pay on Apple devices, Fitbit Pay on Fitbit devices, and Samsung Pay on Samsung devices. All of which allow you to use your watch to simply tap a contactless payment reader and pay for goods. Adoption varies by country, with Europe generally ahead of North America, and seemingly Australia (in my experience) well beyond everyone on this planet. In any case, the limiter here won’t likely be the retail establishments, but rather whether your bank supports it.
In the case of a watch, this is most useful in perhaps running or cycling scenarios where you have ‘known good’ stores that accepts contactless payments. Perhaps a coffee shop or such. Obviously, many people will still carry a credit card, but I’ve found it handy in some rare scenarios.
Since launching Garmin Pay nearly two years ago, the number of banks supporting it has grown substantially (in numerous countries). If you haven’t looked at things in a while, hit up the list here to see if you’re good to go. See, it’s not as simple as being just Visa or Mastercard, rather – Garmin (like Apple and Samsung and Fitbit) have to negotiate with individual banks, not just credit card companies. Of which there are thousands upon thousands worldwide.
To add your card you’ll go into the Garmin Connect Mobile smartphone app and simply follow the prompts. It’ll ask you to scan the card (or manually enter it in), as well as create a pin code in case your watch gets taken from you by your significant other in your sleep. It only takes 60-90 seconds:
It’ll validate some magic with your bank, and in some (maybe all?) cases ask for a validation code as well (depending on the bank). After which it’ll give you final confirmation it’s added to the watch. Note that you’ll do this for each card you want to add to your digital wallet.
To use the payment card, simply long-hold the upper left button down when you’re ready to make a payment, then select the wallet option. After which, you’ll need to enter in your pin code that you created:
This passcode is good for 24 hours from entry, or until you’ve removed the watch from your wrist. This is in line with Fitbit and Apple. You’ve got about 30 seconds to scan the device and register a payment before the screen simply times out:
Once completed it’ll give you a quick confirmation on the screen (and also ideally on your card reader). That’s it!
Ultimately, as with before – this works well enough, assuming you have a card supported and a store/shop that also supports contactless payments. In my travels I’ve found the adoption by stores to vary a lot. Of course, over time this technology will become completely commonplace in most countries/stores/devices, and thus, as a result, it will soon be as normal to pay with a watch as it is to pay with a credit card. For now though, I see it more valuable for ‘known good’ establishments that allow you to skip carrying a wallet to grab a coffee at the end of a run or ride.
GPS Accuracy:
There’s likely no topic that stirs as much discussion and passion as GPS accuracy. A watch could fall apart and give you dire electrical shocks while doing so and somehow athletes will still adore their favorite watch, but if it shows you on the wrong side of the road? Oh hell no, bring on the fury of the internet!
GPS accuracy can be looked at in a number of different ways, but I prefer to look at it using a number of devices in real-world scenarios across a vast number of activities. I use 2-6 other devices at once, trying to get a clear picture of how a given set of devices handle conditions on a certain day. Conditions include everything from tree/building cover to weather.
Over the years I’ve continued to tweak my GPS testing methodology. For example, I try not to place two units next to each other on my wrists, as that can impact signal. If I do so, I’ll put a thin fabric spacer of about 1”/3cm between them (I didn’t do that on any of my Forerunner 945 workouts). But often I’ll simply carry other units by the straps, or attach them to the shoulder straps of my hydration backpack. Plus, wearing multiple watches on the same wrist is well known to impact optical HR accuracy. One technique I’ve been using a bit starting this review that’s worked exceedingly well is below. How on earth I never thought to place the secondary watches on the outside of my hands (loosely strapped) is beyond me. Note, for those units on my hands, they *are not* using optical HR. Instead, they’re connected to chest straps and other HR sensors.
Next, as noted, I use just my daily training routes. Using a single route over and over again isn’t really indicative of real-world conditions, it’s just indicative of one trail. The workouts you see here are just my normal daily workouts.
I’ve had quite a bit of variety of terrain within the time period of Forerunner 945 testing. This has included runs, rides, and swims in: Amsterdam (Netherlands), Mallorca (Spain), Kansas (USA), Northern California & Southern California (USA). Forests, mountains, oceans, farmlands, and everything in between.
All of the workouts you see here I did with GPS+GLONASS enabled, as Garmin noted that’s the mode they’ve spent the most time on the GPS performance on. They said they haven’t spent as much time on Galileo. However, in my testing of the older FR935 with Galileo, I’ve seen mind-bogglingly good results in the last two months since the bulk of the Galileo constellation went live back in February. Even in places like NYC it’s thrown down some tracks that some of you on Strava have been like ‘Who dis? Holy crap’. In any case though, for the FR945/FR245/FR45 watches, I kept them all on GLONASS for the bulk of my testing (I did try some Galileo runs/rides and saw less accuracy than GLONASS).
In any case, let’s start off with an hour-long run from two weekends ago. This loop starts off with some minor buildings alongside the canal, and then heads out to farmland and a rowing basin, before I head back past some larger 8-10 story buildings and back home. Here’s the overview:
If we look at the beginning of the route, the only real stand-out here is the Polar Vantage V struggling. But upon closer inspection you see a slight bit where the FR245 doesn’t match the rest (most northern part of the track). At first glance one might blame the FR245, but in reality it was the only one who managed to stay where I ran and not cut the buildings. Good on it. Everyone else saved a few meters.
Coming under the giant railway/car bridges, no meaningful issues:
So essentially in the harder parts it does well, so let’s go out towards the fields. It’s here we see some minor track alignment issues on the part of the FR945 – just a couple meters off the path. And all the units seemed to get distracted by the marina and a small bridge. Not sure what that was all about.
But for the most part, all the units were very close here:
So let’s step it up – can they go around a track? Aside from the buildings of Dubai or NYC, it’s the hardest thing for a GPS unit to do properly. The constant turning nature of a track is incredibly difficult to nail perfectly, especially since an average workout might have 20-40 laps. Or, 20-40 opportunities for just one tiny screw-up to immediately be obvious.
In this case, The Girl is running with the watch (I’ve got another set, also on the track at the same time). Her lineup is the Fenix 5s (original), the Suunto Trainer Wrist HR, the Forerunner 945, and the Forerunner 45. Here’s that data set:
What’s fun about this game is that it’s immediately obvious who did well. The name of the game here is keeping yourself within the bounds of the track. The Suunto Trainer was well outside of that – something The Girl could see on her wrist just looking at distances as she ran. She placed her bets mid-way through the workout.
Here’s the results if we toggle to just the FR45 and FR945. Almost perfectly within the bounds of the track. In The Girl’s case, she was actually across multiple lanes, so that’s correct. As is the squiggly into the trees to get a errant soccer ball for some kids.
There’s really no reason to further analyze this one – both the FR945 and FR45 nailed it. Both were in GPS+GLONASS modes.
For fun though, I was on the track at the same time, and here’s my FR945 and FR245 side by side. Not quite as good as The Girl’s tracks, but pretty good:
Next, let’s head to Long Beach, California for a run around some tall structures and bridges. Nothing like the combination to throw a wrench into things. This data set has a Forerunner 945, Forerunner 245, then a Polar Vantage V and Garmin FR935. Here’s the data set:
Once again, boring. Let’s zoom in and try and find someone…anyone….that screwed up their GPS track. We’ll start where I started, with a short out/back loop towards the Queen Mary. We can see the FR245 did stumble very slightly next to the gigantic ship, ending up two lanes away (so…not very far away, just a standard road here). Additionally, back towards the left side we see the Polar Vantage V cut a corner across the park.
When it came to the tricky overpass/underpass situations (both of them), the new Garmin units did well. We see a slight bobble by the Suunto Trainer as it approaches the bridge, but nothing major.
Looking at the long pier, all the units nailed this without issue:
However, the village area as I ran up against buildings was another story. The Polar in orange really struggled here – far more than everyone else. The other units had some very minor (off by 1-3 meters) issues, but nothing like just cutting across a restaurant or two.
The remainder of the run portions were all normal as expected.
Let’s shift things over to cycling for a ride. Mostly just a single road because all my road-rides with the new Forerunners were frankly spot-on. Kinda boring. I know, you’re looking for NASCAR style crashes of GPS accuracy. But they’re hard to find here.
Here’s the track as we left Amsterdam and headed south through the tulip fields. It was a one-way journey, then taking the train back. Here’s the data set:
Here’s the thing – the results were spot on every single corner or turn. Even capturing going off to find a bush perfectly.
Even this turn here gets the exact bike lane portions to the right correct, though there appears to be maybe 1 meter difference between the tracks as we cross the intersection. Which is like complaining that you’re missing an M&M from a jar full of them.
Ultimately, the Forerunner 245/945 tracks were pretty consistent time and time again when using GPS+GLONASS. I did see more variability with GPS+GALILEO, as well as more variability earlier in the beta cycle, but in the last two weeks as firmware and finalized, things are looking stronger than I anticipated. Again, Garmin has noted that they’ve spent the majority of their time on GPS+GLONASS, and not yet focused very much accuracy efforts in GPS+GALILEO.
Which isn’t to say things are perfect. I still think right now the most accurate Garmin device for me (over the past two months) is the Forerunner 935 in GPS+GALILEO mode. But if/when things go wrong for the FR245/945, it’s never a substantial wrong, it’s usually just a minor alignment issue (like being on the road instead of on the sidewalk). Most importantly though, I’m not seeing corner cutting – which was something I saw with both Suunto and Polar (and COROS as well) earlier in their Sony chipset development phase. If there’s one thing one shouldn’t do – it’s cut corners. So it’s good that’s not happening here.
Garmin did note numerous times over the past few months that we should expect more GPS enhancements from them, likely with the usual firmware updates. If the pace I’ve seen for these updates in the last month or two is any indication – then the future is lookin’ good. But today isn’t bad either.
(Note: All of the charts in these accuracy portions were created using the DCR Analyzer tool. It allows you to compare power meters/trainers, heart rate, cadence, speed/pace, GPS tracks and plenty more. You can use it as well for your own gadget comparisons, more details here.)
Heart Rate Accuracy:
Before we move on to the test results, note that optical HR sensor accuracy is rather varied from individual to individual. Aspects such as skin color, hair density, and position can impact accuracy. Position and how the band is worn, are *the most important* pieces. A unit with an optical HR sensor should be snug. It doesn’t need to leave marks, but you shouldn’t be able to slide a finger under the band (at least during workouts). You can wear it a tiny bit looser the rest of the day.
Ok, so in my testing, I simply use the watch throughout my usual workouts. Those workouts include a wide variety of intensities and conditions, making them great for accuracy testing. I’ve got steady runs, interval workouts on both bike and running, as well as tempo runs and rides, and so on.
For each test, I’m wearing additional devices, usually 3-4 in total, which capture data from other sensors. Typically I’d wear a chest strap (usually the Garmin HRM-DUAL or Wahoo TICKR X), as well as another optical HR sensor watch on the other wrist (primarily the Polar OH1+ and Wahoo TICKR FIT, but also the Scosche 24 too). Note that the numbers you see in the upper right corner are *not* the averages, but rather just the exact point my mouse is sitting over. Note all this data is analyzed using the DCR Analyzer, details here.
Note that while I’ve been using the Forerunner 945 since mid-March, I’m mostly going to use recent data in this review – since that’s the firmware that it’s currently on and the production firmware that real world people are using.
First let’s start and see how it handles steady-state running. This is an 8mi long run from a few weeks ago, just cruising along at a relatively easy pace. In this case we’ve got the FR245 vs the FR945 from an optical wrist standpoint, with the Wahoo TICKR-FIT and Polar OH1 on the upper arm, as well as the HRM-DUAL on the chest. Here’s that data set:
Well then…that was boring.
Everyone agreed. And – interestingly enough – a picture perfect example of where optical HR sensors can ‘beat’ chest sensors. In this case, a relatively dry day, the chest sensor lagged a bit – incorrectly so.
Not much more to say here on that one – all the units worked great. So, moving on.
Let’s kick things up for a full track workout of intervals. In this case I was doing 4×800, then 2×400, then 3×200 (because apparently I can’t count to 4). The contenders were the FR245 Music vs the FR945, with the chest strap (HRM-DUAL) and Polar OH1 as validators. Here’s that data set:
Wait!!!!
See that funky green line at the beginning? That wasn’t the Polar OH1’s fault, it somehow got flipped up/caught by my t-shirt, so was facing the sky. Once I fixed it, it immediately nailed things. Let’s look at the 800’s first:
So both the FR245 and FR945 scary-perfectly nail the build sections, though, like I’ve seen with the FR45 as well – it struggles a bit on the rest portions, being slower than I’d like. But damn – at least it got the important part right. Really right.
Now check this out – this next section is the 400’s followed by the 200’s. You can see a bit more lag coming in from the FR245/FR945, but not a ton by optical HR standards. I honestly didn’t expect it to do this well (because very rarely does Garmin nail shorter intervals like this). Even the recovery isn’t horrible. A few seconds delayed, but nothing crazy.
As for the cool-down at the end? No idea why the FR245 lost the plot. Perhaps I was drinking from the bottle of water or something. Either way, that’s sorta like giving a minor love tap while parallel parking. Shrug
Let’s head out to Long Beach for a run there in warmer weather. Usually warmer weather is easier on optical HR sensors – but that’s not a given. Sometimes sweat pooling under the watch in between the skin and sensor can cause issues. Here’s an overview of the run, comparing the FR245 vs the FR945, with the Wahoo TICKR-FIT and Polar OH1 optical sensors as well as the Garmin HRM-DUAL chest strap. Here’s the data set:
Sigh.
Another boring and perfectly functional data set. They even (almost) get the build right. You can see a slight bit of lag compared to the chest strap on this one, and then you’ll also see that around the 6 minute marker the FR245 does very briefly lag for 10 seconds behind the others as I reduced pace. But otherwise, the rest of the data set is spot-on.
Let’s switch gears, literally, to cycling for a moment. Surely we’ll be able to find failures there. After all, Garmin optical HR sensors rarely work well in cycling outdoors.
In this case, about a 80-90 minute loop from the city to the countryside and back. Roads mostly smooth, but a cobblestone/brick town or two along the way. The data includes the FR945, the Polar Vantage V using the Polar OH1 Plus, and the Garmin HRM-DUAL. Here’s the data set.
Huh. It’s not half-bad. Didn’t expect that.
It’s best to divide up this ride into three basic chunks. Before and after the two yellow lines are where I’m in the city a bit more and focused more on avoiding people/dogs/etc, so my hand position will be a bit less stable, and my effort equally variable. However, between those two yellow lines is mostly smooth countryside sailing.
And sure enough, safe for a single error at the 23 minute marker after a section of brick, the Forerunner 945 seems to nail the main sections. In fact, even accounting for the stumbles at the beginning/end, this might very well be the best outdoor cycling optical HR sensor attempt I’ve seen from Garmin. Is it as good as a chest strap riding outdoors? No. But it’s not half bad.
Let’s head indoors for a moment then to a workout yesterday. This one a 50 minute ride on Zwift. In this case we’ve got the Forerunner 45 on one wrist, and the FR945 on the other. Plus a HRM-DUAL chest strap and then a TICKR-FIT paired to Zwift. Here’s the data set.
Huh. Well, that first 7-8 minutes is more or less a car wreck. While I was riding, since I was riding Zwift I’m also using my hands to control things like interactions on the phone, though that was on the console in front of me – and those first 8 minutes I was mostly playing catch-up because I had jumped on a bit late for the race start and skipped a warm-up.
On the bright side, at least the Forerunner 45 did well there – which shares the exact same optical HR sensor package as the FR945 does. Goes to show that simply which wrist you’re wearing it on can make a difference. Both were tightened the same.
Ultimately, in looking at these and other data sets, the optical HR sensor seems to be a slight improvement on the Fenix 5 Plus series (which was the previous generation HR sensor prior to the current V3). I think there’s probably something to be said for Garmin’s approach here of just ever so slightly incrementally improving their optical HR sensor, rather than massive wholesale changes for each new products. In the case of optical HR sensor accuracy, it’s mostly a game of fixing 1% issues. Fixing an algorithm error that may cause an issue for 1% of the population, but if you do that 10 or 20 times, you start to make significant ground. Essentially the whole concept of marginal gains. Roughly.
Of course, you can still just have bad-day moments like my ride yesterday with the FR945. Win some, lose some.
Product Comparison Tool:
I’ve added the Forerunner 945 into the product comparison tool, which allows you to compare it against any watches I’ve reviewed to date. For the purposes of the below table, I’ve compared it against the existing Polar Vantage V, and Suunto 9, as well as the Fenix 5 Plus. But you can easily mix and match against any other products within the database here, by creating your own product comparison tables. Note that in some cases nuanced features (like being able to calibrate altitude based on the map DEM data), doesn’t really fit well into product comparison tools designed to host hundreds of watches (when only a single watch has it).
There’s pretty much no question the Forerunner 945 will be my mainstay watch going forward. I’ve previously used the Forerunner 935 as my main running/tri watch, though I switched for a period last fall to the Fenix 5 Plus. However eventually I fell off that bandwagon (primarily because I couldn’t find the darn thing at some point in December) – and ended up back on the FR935 again. I’m finding myself actually liking the training load focus bits more than any other metric Garmin has stuffed into their watches previously. It’s easy to understand and color-coded with clear targets. I’m all about simplicity.
Of course, there is the reality that somehow this watch is now $599 – some $100 more than the Forerunner 935 was/is. Sure, it’s added a boatload of new features, primarily the maps/music/contactless payments. But still, ouch. Of course – it’s hard to reasonably argue with the factual reality that people are buying these watches more than ever before – the Fenix 5 series is concrete proof of that (and that costs $699+). Even Apple’s more recent watches have increased in price over previous editions. I’m not sure if the trend is long-term sustainable, but I don’t think it’s going anywhere anytime soon.
The new GPS sensor is kinda meh. While I get that it provides significantly longer battery life, there is the tradeoff for less accuracy. It’s not as bad as some of their competitors using the same sensor – but it’s also not as good as the FR935 was. I’ve no doubt it will improve (I’ve seen notable improvements even in the last 4-6 weeks), and I’m not getting any ‘horrid’ tracks’. Just some tracks that are kinda…well…shrug.
Ultimately though, the Forerunner 945 is the most full-featured triathlon watch on the market today (even topping the Fenix 5 Plus). Heck, one could also argue that since the Forerunner 945 has a quick release kit whereas the $1,500 Garmin MARQ Athlete doesn’t, it’s more full-featured than that. Whether or not you need those features is an entirely different discussion – one primarily between you and your accountant. With that – thanks for reading!
Found this review useful? Or just want a good deal? Here’s how:
Found This Post Useful? Support The Site!
Hopefully you found this review/post useful. At the end of the day, I’m an athlete just like you looking for the most detail possible on a new purchase – so my review is written from the standpoint of how I used the device. The reviews generally take a lot of hours to put together, so it’s a fair bit of work (and labor of love). As you probably noticed by looking below, I also take time to answer all the questions posted in the comments – and there’s quite a bit of detail in there as well.
If you're shopping for the Garmin Forerunner 945 or any other accessory items, please consider using the affiliate links below! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot.
And finally, here’s a handy list of accessories that work well with this unit (and some that I showed in the review). Given the unit pairs with ANT+ & Bluetooth Smart sensors, you can use just about anything though.
This is a dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart cycling cadence sensor that you strap to your crank arm, but also does dual Bluetooth Smart, so you can pair it both to Zwift and another Bluetooth Smart app at once if you want.
This is one of the top straps I use daily for accuracy comparisons (the others being the Polar H9/H10). It's dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart, and in fact dual-Bluetooth Smart too, in case you need multiple connectons.
Seriously, this will change your life. $9 for a two-pack of these puck Garmin chargers that stay put and stay connected. One for the office, one for your bedside, another for your bag, and one for your dog's house. Just in case.
This speed sensor is unique in that it can record offline (sans-watch), making it perfect for a commuter bike quietly recording your rides. But it's also a standard ANT+/BLE sensor that pairs to your device. It's become my go-to speed sensor.
This wifi-connected scale will track your weight and related metrics both on the scale display and in Garmin Connect (plus 3rd party apps like TrainingPeaks). It'll also then sync your weight to your watch/bike computer, to ensure accurate calorie data.
The HRM-PRO Plus is Garmin's top-end chest strap. It transmits dual ANT+/Bluetooth Smart, but also transmits Running Dynamics & Running Pace/Distance metrics, stores HR data during a swim, and can be used without a watch for other sports. Also, it can transmit XC Skiing Dynamics as well.
And of course – you can always sign-up to be a DCR Supporter! That gets you an ad-free DCR, access to the DCR Quarantine Corner video series packed with behind the scenes tidbits...and it also makes you awesome. And being awesome is what it’s all about!
Thanks for reading! And as always, feel free to post comments or questions in the comments section below, I’ll be happy to try and answer them as quickly as possible. And lastly, if you felt this review was useful – I always appreciate feedback in the comments below. Thanks!
Mark, there is a review in the Garmin forums on battery while using Music. The short version is that the user reports that it uses substantial battery capacity.
Can you change the preloaded maps? The 945 isn’t available here yet (Malaysia). I was thinking of buying one from the US or Europe, but would like to have local maps available.
I moved from Fenix 5 plus to AW 4.. As much as I wanted to love the Garmin (and want to love the 945), the AW just gives you a better ecosystem and functionality a cross the board..
I run and swim About 40 km a week, paricipate in half marathons now and then, but the AW just does a better job in most areas (not to talk about perfect integration with Airpods – 2).
Enlighten me (:
It’s a matter of preferences.. I like the screen, integration with phone, music and airpods, the ability to share with freinds etc. more on the apple watch than in Garmin, even though Garmin watches are cosidered more “sport oriented”.
It’s such a shame they kept those big bezels around the screen. It makes the watch look so dated. This is the watch I was waiting for to be released, but not going to buy this. Looks years old. I hope a refresh of the 735 is coming.
Can someone report on running battery life? My 935 (2YO) loose 4-5% per hour in running mode, that is around 20 hours of battery life, if the 945 is really lasting more than 30 hours, it should loose no more than 3% per hour. This is a very important for people running ultras. Thanks.
I just ran for 1hr20min GPS +glonass with run pod and tri HRM connected. Bluetooth on activity tracking on. Used about 5%. Not sure if I’m happy with take it not… Doesn’t seem that much better than my 935
Great review, as always. Pre 945, I assume that the 935/735 and Fenix range were the only dedicated multisport watches being manufactured by Garmin. I ‘assume’ any 910s and 920s for sale would be ‘old stock’ or 2nd hand/refurbs? Is it reasonable to assume that in 12-18 months, only the 945,Marq and Fenix range will be manufactured as multisport watches? So it’s a nearly $1000 entry point for a Garmin tri watch? Or is there room for a 745 type ‘midrange’ watch?
Are you talking USD? Right now the FR945 is $599, the FR935 if $499, and the FR735 is usually in the $300’s. And the FR920 – which is somehow still more capable than most competitors out there, floats arround $200.
The Fenix 5 Plus is normally $649, though right now on sale for $499.
I do think there’s room for a refreshed FR735 (aka FR745), though honestly, I have no idea what they’d do to it feature-wise to not cannibalize their FR945. My guess would be no music, no advanced metrics, maybe not even power meter support. Hard to say.
The FR945/245/45 will go up on the battery test slate (outdoors) later this week. Waiting for a small device to arrive to keep it moving/shaking, since that’s a key element in wearable battery testing. Though, given I can’t strap a human wrist to it for days outside, it won’t be inclusive of optical HR enablement.
Ray do you need to use the built-in HRM for all those good Firstbeat/Body-Battery/etc training effect metrics?
I much prefer NOT to use that and instead use an external HRM (like the schosche products). Can you elaborate if this will cause some of the metrics not to be captured/recorded/analyzed?
No. I mainly use an HRM-Tri in actual timed activities – e.g runs and rides and gives all that. In fact those metrics will likely be a nonsense if your HR is also a nonsense – whatever HR source you use. As such, best to use whichever you think works best for you.
I was looking at a Fenix 5 Plus but now it seems that the 945 is a better watch. Can we see a size comparison in picture on a wrist? (I bought a 920xt and recalled seeing a similar picture on your review.) I have a small wrist (920 is massive so I don’t wear it all day…) but I’m hoping that the 945 could be worn all day. Thanks!
Ray in the review you mention “typically vendors significantly bump up the optical sensor light/power draw during a workout versus in 24×7 mode”. Do you happen to know if one can “force” the 945 to be on high-power draw even during the 24×7 mode? In my tests of the 935, it was really struggling getting my HR during walking around in 24×7 mode (cadence lock with fast walking) but if I were to start an activity, the HR would be spot on.
I ordered there, too.
Asked them, if they knew, when they will have the watch available.
Answer: first watches are expected at the end of this week, but they are not sure, that they get enough for all orders.
Thank a lot for the review. in the comparison it would be very useful, beyond technical features, to have a clear view on materials used (glass, plastic etc.) it would ease the comparison and understand the cost drivers for those who are not familiar with other model (fenix plus, suunto 9 etc)
thanks!
Coming from a 935, looks to me like it is build the same exact way, using some kind of chinesium alloy for the body and recycled sewer pipes and condoms for the band. Like Ray mentioned, they have changed the colors on the buttons. The screen still has that huge bezel too and at least it is using the same connector for the cable.
thank you!
I indeed understood it is similar to 935, but how about fenix5 x plus and fenix5 plus?
I d like to understand if the material used (especially for the glass) is worth spending more for a fenix for less features than Fr945
thanks!
The 945 like the 935 are basically Fenix 5 Ps as in “plastic”. The metal body of the Fenix looks better, but not much. I had a Fenix 3 HR and 5 bith with sapphire. Size might be different, but they kind of both look the same (black), and never had an issues with body or screen scratches on any of them, and I do sport activities on a daily basis. Sapphire is not worth it IMO, at least the MARQs in term of material look much better IMO than the Fenix 5, but are not available (yet) and expensive.
Can anyone describe which metrics are tied to the onboard HRM and which ones are not? I suspect things like Pulse Ox would be, but it’s not clear on the rest (like training load, etc).
I want to know what the drawbacks are for turning off the HRM and going with an external HRM instead.
This would be something that would be helpful to include in the comparison chart.
The “onboard” HRM is always used outside a timed activity so for your general health stats so you would need to wear it all the time for best effect. In a timed activity (which are used for training load) you can elect (as I do) to use an external HR strap instead on a belief it gives me more reliable results. That said I did try OHR for a run and it worked a lot better than some previous devices have in that regard.
Just got mine today and par for the course for good old Garmin, it’s crippled by what I hope is simply the usual firmware buggery, and not a Fenix 5 redux with its b0rked antenas. Yes I did update to firmware 2.40, for the obvious Captain Obvious/Garmin my-product-is-perfect fanboys.
Wi-Fi is sketchy at best regardless if setup directly from the watch, GE or Connect on my phone. Half the time it stays stuck at “Searching for Wi-Fi network”, and I have defined three networks that work flawlessly with other devices. At least when it does accept to connect, Spotify sync is working as expected.
Caveat Emptor
I hope it’s simply Garmin’s usual firmware QC buggery
In the future the Galileo satellites should provide a service similar to inReach, called SAR. I don’t know if it’s already operational. link to gsa.europa.eu
It should be interesting to ask Garmin if in the future they will support this service in their watches (obviously when the service begins to be operational).
But maybe to use this Galileo SAR service the antenna of the watch is too little, like Ray suggested for the inReach. Looking at the video in the link above where the man in the boat is calling for help, it seems that you need a big antenna
The main difference between Galileo SAR and inReach is that maybe Galileo SAR is free (without cost for the user), but I don’t know if Europe decided to give this service for free.
I’ve not seen better GPS accuracy on any other watch.
In GPS + Glonass mode, on the 1st lane of track, my 1K repeats tracked as 1.00km (5 reps) and 1.01 (3 reps).
I can’t seem to find answer anywhere on that: is there any option to set up audio alert when you get out of your hr zone? Either above or below? I remember this feature on polar and I miss it desperately on vivo active 3. Does forerunner fill the gap? Thanks Ray!
There most certainly is, at least on my 935, so I have absolutely no doubt that there’ll be a similar feature on the 945.
One caveat: I found that the HR low/high alerts needed to be spaced apart by a minimum of 10 bpm – when my coach had my e3 as going from 128 bpm to 135 bpm, that was a problem. (It broadened significantly as my fitness improved.) Apart from that though, you can definitely set a low/high alert whilst running, and I’m fairly sure a similar feature applies for cycling if you want it (though I never used that myself.)
I ordered this for my 945 but the protectors are marginally too big (fit on the bezel, not directly on the glass). There are no specific 945 screen protectors on Amazon that have been reviewed as yet.
So it sounds like the bezel is smaller than the 935? That doesn’t sound right, I doubt they’d make such an incrementally trivial change like that. Maybe it’s just a bad vendor on amazon?
I pre-ordered a 935-specific screen protector from Amazon as well (mostly to get a matte finish as opposed to the glossy it comes with) and I’ll post back how mine fits.
Hi Ray, great review. I currently have the 935 but do enjoy listening to music so would be happy to upgrade so I don’t have to also take my phone out. My question is about the music function, if you pair the watch with waterproof Bluetooth headphones would it work in the pool. That would seal the deal for me. Thankyou
Hi! For those who already have the watch what are your first thoughts on it? How’s the battery life? Found any bugs/problems? What do you think about OHR and GPS accuracy (while we wait for DCR to write the next review)?
Thanks David. The advertised battery life on the 945 seems to good to be true :) but you turned music on which Garmin says cuts a hell lot of battery life from the watch.
Have you noticed if the battery drains too quickly when the watch is not in sports mode? I’m fearing that the other sensors like spo2 can kill the battery life too soon (vs. the 935). Thanks
Yeah, SpO2 is fun to play with for a week, or if you’re at high altitude, and then you’ll realize how quickly it burns battery and turn it off. Though, the red light is cool.
What do you think is the better buy: 1) Garmin 945 or 2) Garmin 245 + Stryd?
So with 2) you loose maps, some additional training metrics but gain more accuracy in running power and instant running pace. Garmin pay is pretty much useless in Portugal so it’s out of the equation.
I’ve looked into some reviews on Garmin Power vs. Stryd and I feel that either Garmin’s power
is wrong or the numbers are pretty much useless because they are excessively volatile. You would need to adjust your running pace a gazillion times to keep it at about the optimum power level. I’m not saying the absolute number of Stryd is correct (they don’t take wind into account) but it surely seems smoother and usable in practice.
I guess with running power in general, there’s just too many variability for my taste. Maybe over time that’ll change as hardware evolves…but not today.
I word of warning if you try and order from CT in the UK. They charged my credit card, then cancelled the order. I tried a different card and they did it again. It’s now 5 days and I haven’t had the money back yet. Apparently I failed a security check and have been red-flagged!! It would be funny if it a) wasn’t £1000, and b) wasn’t the only discount you can get in the UK.
UK staff can;t do anything – it’s all ‘Head office’ in the US…and they’re not saying very much. Apparently this has happened to a ‘few’ people in the UK.
Sorry DCrainmaker – I wanted to support the site with an order but instead I’m a grand down. :( Red flagged means you can *never* order from them in the future.
In 25 years of shopping online this is a new one….
I’ve ordered from CT uk and they have taken money, my order has been sat processing since then.
I hope I don’t have the same experience, but can you not just let your CC fight it out with clever training? A few CC recharges and Mastercard will take them to task
Same here in Germany. CT canceled my order for security reasons (no comprehensible), but nevertheless blocked the amount on my credit card.
Never-ever-Clevertraining-again.
I ordered from them as well to give DCR support but they emailed me today to tell me they won’t be getting enough stock and they won’t know when they will fill my order. They had already charged my card last week too. Sorry, Ray, I’m going to get it from one of the shops that does have it available.
Hey Guys – sorry for the CTUK rejection troubles (credit rejection). There’s definitely something amiss, and CT HQ is looking into it as we speak. As noted, way too many people are getting rejected (more today than I’ve seen in two years combined).
I appreciate the support, and hope to have things untangled shortly!
I can’t get anything from CT at all so taking it up with the card issuers and Mastercard is on the list for tomorrow. I haven’t had the couple of hours spare it’ll take to go through it all. :)
Hi Charles, did you ask them for an update or did they just email you explaining the problem? My order is still processing, haven’t heard anything back from them, the cc is charged too.
CT need to contact affected customers to say “We’re looking into this, please stand by.” If it were me affected by the problem, and I heard nothing from them, I’d be contacting my credit card company and asking for a chargeback, and if there’s anything a merchant doesn’t want to have to deal with, it’s a flood of chargeback requests.
They need to get ahead of the puck, in other words – simply looking into it quietly is going to cause more problems for them down the road.
@Kevin – I e-mailed them to ask and they said that they would get them at the end of this week and they would ship this next week. They followed that up two days later to say they weren’t getting as many as expected and that there won’t be many. FWIW, I ordered within 30 minutes of it going live.
I just phoned CT UK and was told that they are getting deliveries next week, but have been told they will not have nearly enough units, and will be fulfilling on a first come first served basis, and wouldn’t be able to tell me when or if mine would be fulfilled.
I don’t mind waiting for things if I can get a clear idea of when, but open ended vagueness isn’t something I’m willing to accept from a retailer. I cancelled my order and ordered from Wiggle
On the vívoactive® 3 Music, Forerunner® 645, Forerunner® 645 Music and the fēnix® 5 Plus series, the safety and tracking functions are now also available!
Btw just ordered the FR945 ? to replace my Fenix 3 HR.
Ordered Saturday afternoon from CT and got a shipment confirmation today… Also ordered the 530, though did that about two weeks ago, but still no word on that shipment.
Ordered the Forerunner 945 from Wiggle on sunday evening and received it on tuesday. GPS accuracy is even better then on my 935 (6 activities in open area, near buildings and in woodlands) so i‘m really surprised. No problems with sensor connections (jaybird headphones, stryd power pod etc.). WLAN setup worked fine but to synchronise with spotify drains battery really fast.
Is temperature adjusted Vo2Max a software update and therefore will be available on the Garmin 935 as well?
Garmin support have already indicated that the updated 7 day training load metrics will be available on 935. However these are not currently showing in Garmin Connect on the phone (only overall value and status are available).
I have a 945, on Garmin connect I can see “respiration rate” in exercises when paired with Scosche Rythm+.
I thought I would need a chest belt for this(?)
Without the Rhytm+ and only using 945 wrist OHR these respiration figures are not shown.
Have not received my unit yet and was just wondering (as a new-to-Garmin user): Do they support rotating the screen?
Would be usefull in the TT-position…
@Ray any chance you used V800 or any of the older SIRF-based watches as a reference for GPS comparison? They’ve always been better. Now it’s only the new, I’d say inferior, chipsets for your runs so it’s hard to see how really good the newest watches are.
If i buy the watch in the UK – Am going to US for work and want to run some trails, assuming I create the course in course creator and download it to the watch will I see a map or will I just see a breadcrumb trail like the older models ?
I bought a Fenix 5 and now a Fenix 5x Plus in Germany. Regular European edition, official dealers, nothing special. I do not know why, but I had full US maps on multiple occasions (California and Texas) without getting any additional maps from Garmin or anybody else. So I guess this should work for you, too.
I know your previously preferred watch was the Fenix 5 Plus, and it may be too early to tell, but will you stick with the Fenix or swap to the 945? I’m only curious because I am torn between the 2. With the Fenix currently being cheaper than the 945, I see it as the better value as it does almost everything the 945 does but with higher quality materials. I know there are a few features the 945 has that the Fenix doesn’t but those are not features I personally find much value in. I could be missing something though. What are your thoughts?
Awesome review by the way. Thanks for all that you do.
It appears the 945 does not have the virtual partner function which I find useful. Seems the 245 and lower models have it. Do you know why it was scrapped in the 945?
CT is located in the US, so shipping is pretty quick. I don’t believe you can order from CT UK and get it shipped to the states and even if you did, you’d pay a lot for import duties and have the wrong maps on the unit.
Ray, thank you so much for all the awesome geek-sport information that you every time provide.
I use a Polar RS800CX PTE with all the sensors and it still works for me for sports but it’s in the past compared with a Android Wear watch or a dedicated sport oriented watch like Garmin flagships.
To bury my RS800CX in the technology graveyard I need something that have both of these worlds but it still doesn’t exist. A real sport smartwatch that has all the sport sensors or at least that can communicate with them and be real smart that can function with Google Maps/Earth, Strava, etc. Polar tried with M600 but it has ridiculous battery, can’t communicate with the sensors and is too slow. And probably we won’t see that in a couple of years, or we have something that’s just for sport or is just a geek watch. We still don’t have a watch that we use all-day for maps/orientations, apps notifications and get out to run, cycle or trekking with maps.
You work close to the developers, will we see that soon or they don’t have the interest? Apple is just too closed/proprietary, Garmin is just for sport and Android Wear watches are trapped in limbo.
Worth considering before you buy this: I have a Garmin 645 that I’ve been unable to upload workouts to for a couple of months now, thanks to Garmin’s buggy software. Garmin Express for the Mac is broken and has been for months, refusing to sync anything to the watch after falsely claiming it’s not the default activity tracker. And Garmin Connect mobile for iOS is also broken, just failing to upload workouts to the watch (no error reported, it just doesn’t do it).
Having bought the watch to drive my running interval sessions, I’m extremely annoyed. More so due to the lack of response from Garmin. (See Garmin forums for the whole saga.) I’m even more angry with Garmin as I’ve got an Edge 520 with a crippled battery ever since firmware v12.60 was unleashed by Garmin.
These devices might boast an attractive set of features on day 1 but by the end of year 1 Garmin no longer cares about fixing the many bugs it has introduced.
Have you tried opening up a Garmin support ticket? I haven’t heard of any sort of widespread upload issue blocking people for months (I use iOS upload daily without issue, along with many others).
Yes, I’ve opened on every recently when it became clear that no fix was going to be implemented any time soon.
I’d offer you links to the threads showing the 2 long-standing problems but the Garmin forums are down for migration to the new platform, ironically. iOS upload worked for me months ago but is broken now. And Garmin Express for Mac has been broken for months. Very disappointing.
Garmin Express has been working fine for me on both my MacBookPro running Mojave (10.14) and my MacPro running Sierra (10.12). Syncing, updating various devices including maps have all been working as normal. I don’t have many workouts, since I only use them in the winter, but I was able to send them to my Edge 1000 over the winter with no difficulty.
You’ll be able to sync to your Edge 1000 absolutely fine as it isn’t an activity tracker. Do you have an activity tracker watch, and is it syncing too?
Yes but it’s not a Garmin, and all of the “steps” crap on my Apple Watch is kept quiet as much as possible. (I cant keep it from counting “steps” but I can keep it from bothering me about it.). My Garmin watch is my Epix and I don’t remember if it can count steps but it’s turned off if it can.
So after a bit of to-and-fro with Garmin support by email, they admit that Garmin Express for Mac and Garmin Connect for iOS are both broken and that you can’t create a Workout then upload it to the FR645 from either platform.
Stupendous work, Garmin. You just killed the very feature that I wanted from the FR645.
Again, beware of Garmin’s buggy firmware and software before buying one of their devices.
Sorry to see that you are having some issue getting workouts uploaded to/from your Forerunner 645. We will want to try and determine what exactly is going on with your device. There shouldn’t be any reason why you are not able to sync data between your account and watch. If possible can you reach back out to our Support team so that we can assist you directly? It looks like we need to look at your situation again.
Interesting that you reply to me here in this widely-read blog but not in the Garmin forums where this and other bugs sit unheeded for a year or more.
I have got a case open with Garmin Support and they agree that both the Garmin Connect iOS app and Garmin Express are broken in this regard (Chris’s email to me of 21 May), and as you can see from the Garmin Forums they’ve been broken for ages.
Are you a Mac user? Then don’t expect Garmin Express for Mac to work – it’s been broken for around 6 months with no fix in sight. Here are the details.
Worth thinking about if you’ve got a Mac and iPhone (see earlier post about broken Workout upload from iOS) and were thinking about buying a Garmin device. The decision is yours.
I’m an iOS and Mac user and Express works fine for me. I recently added an Edge 830 and Fenix 5+ to my collection, and both sync with no problems along with my VIRB 360 and the older devices I have synced recently (Epix, Edge 1000). I don’t count steps. So the problem isn’t universal. (You’re not using any “anti-virus” crap or a “cleaner” on your Macs, are you?)
The problem is widespread enough to continue to feature on the Garmin forums for months.
And Garmin Support have just emailed me back to say “I have now added you to the ongoing investigation. As this is a know issue currently, and is being worked on by the engineers, please be patient whilst they work a fix. And apologies for any inconveniences, ” so they’re not denying the bugs exist.
To reiterate, the problem relates to activity tracking devices such as the FR645. The VIRB, Edge 830 and Edge 1000 are unlikely to trigger this bug as they aren’t activity trackers (as in, daily steps, resting HR etc).
Oh, I don’t doubt that Garmin software has bugs. I’ve used Garmin software too long not to know that they always have bugs. Just saying that I’m not being affected on both Mojave and Sierra. If activity tracking is the cause, just turn it off and see if that helps. So far my 5+ isn’t causing any problems, and it’s set as my primary activity tracker but tracking is turned off on the watch.
My 945 came in from Clever Training today. Looking forward to setting it up. I noticed on Amazon that there are all kinds of bands and so forth available. Are those little covers for the charge port even worth getting?
Great review as always. If you use a HRM-SWIM strap will this contribute towards training status and load statistics? I’m tracking those data points but it’s frustrating to have gaps where I’ve completed pool swims.
My buttons are a little soft. Doesn’t really have a good tactile feel to them. It seems to soft press halfway and have a false click until pressing harder to actually activate the button. Ordered from clever training and was wondering if anyone else is having this problem?
yes, exactly the same issue. I am going to give it a little time to see if either I get used to it or it gets better. Others have reported exchanging and the replacement was OK, maybe they just had a bad batch
Must say that I’m pleasantly surprised that the music part (through Spotify) linked to a pair of Bose SoundSport actually works without a snag. Battery then drains rather quickly but not unexpected.
Now Garmin needs to integrate mobile telephony so that we can ditch the phone (i.e. if you need to call for help) when working out.
Weird, I can’t seem to plug my F945 as a Mass Storage Device regardless of USB Mode selected (MTP vs Garmin).
@Ray – when plugged into GarminExpress I see a few available map options. One being TopoActive North Americas which is 7.9 GBs… I was under the impression the device came loaded with maps from the original region of purchase. Do I need to install the nearly 8gb update? How much available storage does the F945 have?
Starting a while back with the music devices, you’ll see them show up like a music device – still a file system accessible device, but not with a drive letter (assuming you’re talking Windows).
As for the maps, that’s just the updates. For whatever reason, Garmin has always delivered entire map updates, not differentials. I’d save that for a rainy day.
I don’t see it at all when I’m plugged in to my machine (mac). I do however see the option to add music via Garmin Express but vía a drag and drop file system option.
I’m interested because I’d like to drop and save a few files from other folders.
That said, I’m not sure how to get to these update files.
Nevermind… I found this in the manual “NOTE: Mac® operating systems provide limited support for MTP file transfer mode. You must open the Garmin drive on a Windows® operating system. “
Just for internet searching sake… the solution I found for OSX (10.14.5) was to install Android File Transfer, and select MTP on the 945 when connected. This allowed me to browse and grab what I needed, which was screenshots :)
Wrote to fb and garmin asking for new fb features as addon…(pay) and they seem to say if enough people ask for it they may consider it for the fenix 5xplus .
REI is running their Anniversary sale starting May 17th and REI members can get 20% off a single full price item. Anyone know if this maybe used for the purchase of the Garmin 945? This would be a pretty good deal if it works.
Ray,
The 645M has a different cable (looks identical to others) which allows for uploading music so wouldn’t the 945 have a different one as well? I had to put a tag on my 645M so I’d know which one to use when uploading music.
Does the 945 have the same navigation limit as the 935 : only 50 navigation points are supported ?
I don’t find much info on this on the internet, but it bothers me when I use the 935 for navigation on longer bike rides where 50 points is not enough. I’ve read it was 150 on some other models (which would be a much more comfortable number).
Technically I also do not understand this limitation as I can’t imagine it to take up a lot of memory either.
Do you guys also find this annoying ? Or how do you get around this limitation ?
The forum is down, so I can’t check – but there is a difference between route points and track points – what I need is track points and can’t find that figure anywhere.
The Fenix 3 for example had 10,000 track points and 50 route points.
Wouldn’t the ‘pill’ boxes in the load overview depend on what you’re trying to achieve? I.e. shouldn’t a 5k runner see different recommendations than a marathon runner?
I’ve just spoken to Clever Training UK and was told that they haven’t received any stock yet, they were supposed to on Friday but are having to chase Garmin as they got nothing.
I ordered on the 3rd May, she said there were “many” pre-orders before me, which started from around the middle of April so I would most likely have to wait quite a long time, probably into June.
With that in mind, I’ve cancelled my order and gone with Wiggle (will get my watch tomorrow), I know I have lost the discount but I would have no idea on when the watch would have arrived from clever training.
Oh man, that is cruel – I ordered one day after you. To make things worse: My V800 just died and I have races coming up, so definitely can’t wait till June…
Why the heck does wiggle get stock and Clever Training does not?!
I think Wiggle had a deal with Garmin for an exclusive I guess.
I wouldn’t have minded waiting had Clever Training kept me updated of likely delivery, but I wasn’t happy leaving it open ended when as far as I know it could be another month.
This watch was announced on April 30th. How are there pre-orders from mid-April? That is a joke. They (CT-UK) should be more proactive with their clients, whatever the problem, and not so creative with their excuses.
I also ordered at clevertraining.co.uk and now I regret this decision. I can wait nex few days but this looks like a joke – we will have units and dispatch in early May, we will have units until 10th may and start dispatching 13th, we do not know when we will have stock. I do not know whose fault is this, clevertraining or Garmin, but this makes me angry. Never again, sorry. Do not sell things if you don’t have it in stock or can’t guarantee delivery date.
I ordered a 945 just minutes after it was released on Clever Training UK website April 30th.
I had no confirmation on delivery in conversation with them the following week. They were awaiting information from “Head office”. In the end I cancelled my order (refund was smooth) and bought from Wiggle instead.
When asking where I was in the line to get my watch they informed they could not tell because they did not know from HQ hiw many watches they would get in first batch.
They also told med they had orders from April 26. This was what really triggered me to cancel the order at CT UK. I am annoyed
how they can accept pre orders before official launch.
I’ve ordered FR945 from CT UK on April 30. Called them today. It seems they have received today a small amount and mine was among them. Have received a shipping confirmation just a few minutes ago. Glad I did not cancel my order, waited and got it with the discount.
Same here, ordered on the 30th from CT UK and just received a tracking number. Was just about to give up and order it for the staggering 649€ price the local shops are asking for, but now definitely glad I didn’t. Hope everyone gets their own soon.
After emailing them and receiving the open response today, I decided to cancel. Otherwise, there was no delivery date and if I want to play the lottery, I buy tickets. Never more. (Even knowing that they have sent some, more than satisfied to pay the extra to know when I receive what I bought and paid).
@Ray – Is it possible to differentiate LiveTrack by Activity type?
For example, I want all cycling activities to LiveTrack (since I’ll have my phone with me) but no Running activities.
From what I can tell if you set up LiveTrack “AutoStart” it doesn’t differentiate. Which is a pain as I will start most of my runs “near” my phone (it being in my vehicle or at my house) but quickly “not near” so it sends a “false” LiveTrack notification to my established contacts.
If this could simply be designated by Activity type it would solve the problem.
Is it possible to differentiate Alert notification types by Alert types? It doesn’t appear so by the menu options that’s why I’m asking if I’m missing something.
For example:
I might want an HR max alert by vibration but Lap splits to be by audible beep.
After a full week of training for a 70.3 (11 hours – pool swimming/indoor trainer/outdoor running) and using the 945, I have a few things to say:
Pool swimming: No complaints here. It counted all my laps perfectly during 4 different workouts.
Indoor training: No surprises using an external HRM strap and Assioma Duo with power-match Wahoo Core 2018. The only thing I noticed is an issue when doing the 0 offset. Even though I see “0 offset” in the screen, the animation keeps spinning and I never get the green confirmation to accept it and go to the activity screen. I need to manually “return” to exit the screen (which makes me think it’s not really saving the result). This is probably a bug, because I can do the 0 offset using Trainer Road without any problem.
Outdoor running: The GPS is.. hmm.. meh. I did a few runs using a 920xt while testing the 945. The 920xt is (almost) always perfect, and the 945 is not. I tried GSP only initially, and the results weren’t great at all (I live in Boston, USA – 3/4 story buildings so not at lot of tall buildings, and plenty of wide open areas around the Charles River bike path). In the past few runs I’ve been using GSP + GLONASS and it’s definitely better. My long run yesterday was surprisingly good, the first good result I would say. But when you zoom in and compare with the 920xt tracking (or old 935 / Fenix 3 activities) you see a lot of rough edges.. it’s not as smooth as my previous watches. And when I compare live stats (speed / distance) while running, the watches NEVER agree with the numbers. But I have faith it will get better.
Small issue: syncing. I initially setup both my home and work WI-FI networks. Then I noticed that it wouldn’t always sync after a workout. While the 920xt would. Yesterday, I got tired of seeing the watch connected, the little sync animation going but no sign of syncing, I removed the WI-FI networks and it seemed to have fixed my issue. Let’s see..
Now my biggest complaint: the UP & DOWN buttons. Like some people already complained, they are very soft. It’s like I need to press twice or much harder than the other buttons, otherwise it’s a false click. Yesterday, on my long run, it was “cold” 5C/41F (hello spring?) and I was wearing gloves. This turned out to be a huge problem. I really struggled to actually make them to work. For a $600 watch, I was expecting them to be better. I’m going to contact Clever Training and see what they have to say.
I haven’t used music yet. I always run with my phone because I listen to a lot of podcasts at 1.5x speed and I’m not sure I can do that with the watch. I wish Garmin had released two versions: 945 and 945 Music for the $100 premium. Shrug. I’m still bitter that I’m paying $100 extra for this watch (I know I didn’t “have to” buy it).
But overall, besides the soft buttons, I’m somewhat happy with the 945. All the metrics are cool and they seem to be a bit better than the used to be.
This matches my experience after a week as well. Even after deleting the wifi network, mine still takes about 10 trys to sync. Usually have to turn on and back off bluetooth, etc. One of those things where I have no idea what actually worked. All I know is my 935 connected and synced fine. this one shows connected and syncing, but then never completes
I discovered that FR945 download only supports 802.11b not g or n. Many people have there Wifi configured to modern standards only because supporting legacy devices hurts Wifi performance.
Went in and chose Legacy mode (I have Openwrt) and that resolved the problems with Wifi connections.
Interesting many people had similar issues with older watches (on Garmin Forums). But for some reason Garmin took the forum posts offline…
Is anyone else having problems with elevation on their Forerunner 945? I just got my new watch and I’m seeing somewhat random readings and stretches of no data at all (dropouts of some sort). The following 2 analyzer comparisons show the 2 rides I did this past weekend recorded on the Forerunner 945 and Edge 1030:
10 days after having 2 orders declined by CleverTraining for no reason they have still not released the funds on my credit card for one order but seem to think everything is resolved.
I’ve never dealt with such a shady company online – I’m really surprised they are recommended on such a good site.
I’ve emailed and called again today – maybe something will happen this week before I have to use UK consumer law?
Hi Philip – sorry for the troubles. I confirmed with the CT US folks who looked into your UK case that the funds were released back to your bank yesterday. However, they noted that sometimes banks in turn take a couple days before that shows up on your side. FWIW – the top accounting folks were working to try and untangle your situation (certainly not your fault). It’s the first time they’ve seen something like this before.
Again, sorry for the problems – but hopefully you’re good to go shortly.
Just an other “interesting” experience with Clever Training… Forerunner 945 ordered on May 12 (for 533.51 EUR), order cancelled on May 14, but 532.30 EUR only refunded on May 16! Where are my last 1.21 EUR??? Exchange rates somewhere??? Commission for the “excellent” job of Clever Training???
Hi Ray, thank you for your intervention. No, I was billed in EUR, my order confirmation only stipulates amounts in EUR. I also asked the question to Clever Training UK. Strange…
I ordered on May 4…still processing…my card was instantly charged on May 4. I hope I don’t have to wait much longer. Furthermore, they should upgrade us all to next day shipping… I’m traveling overseas on the 29th of May. I really don’t know if I will have received it by then. Lost faith with Clever Training. Sorry…
Hi Alex (and Ray)! I now understand what my (our?) problem is. Clever Training US didn’t refund me the amount paid in EUR (533.51 EUR), but the equivalent amount in GBP (532.30) expressed in EUR (532.30 EUR). Following their invoicing system, they refunded me 533.51 EUR but it isn’t true. Buggy invoicing system or punctual error, I don’t know. But I don’t give up, I will get my money back, it’s a question of principle. Sorry Ray but I’m glad I cancelled my order with Clever Training UK, it’s one of the best decisions I took in 2019 until now:-)
I was under the impression that they had reached out to you last week to sort things out and figure out what had gone on there. That’s the first time I’ve heard of it occurring – but I know it’s something I discussed with them and they were escalating quickly to sort out.
Hello, I have two questions about navigation with the FR945. With RoundTrip routing, you get a notification on the clock at every turn, just like with car navigation. But if I plan a route on the PC and transfer it to the clock, then I don’t receive a notification during navigation, but only see the route and must always look at the clock myself to see the direction. Is there any way to set it so that the notifications also come automatically for routes? The second question is whether you can load other maps on the clock, so that you get e.g. RoundTrip-Routing or with the “Back to Start” function also forest tracks suggested? At the moment only roads are suggested.
Your Activity settings, routing, courses needs to be set to “use map” instead of “follow route”. Then it will use the imbedded maps and navigate off of that. The downside is it takes longer to calculate.
I’ve done a detailed review of the Garmin/Firstbeat derived VO2 max as well as the breathing rate estimation from heart rate variability. If anyone is interested: link to muscleoxygentraining.com
I am another disgruntled Clever Training UK customer.
I ordered on 30th April via the link above. I’ve had no official updates as to what is happening after ordering (i.e. no emails).
I am unable to check the status of my order. When I advised them the order is not tied to my account last week, they said they would fix it, which they have not.
Last week they told me the 945 would be here by today. Today they said they do not expect stock until the end of May or after.
Not impressed with this website so far. Surprised that they are recommended as the whole experience has been extremely poor.
I ordered my 935 from Wiggle at launch last time and leaning towards cancelling my order with Clever Training and ordering there. Does anyone know of any other stores that have them in stock?
I also ordered from clever training following this site’s recommendation. DC Rainmaker is probably the best equipment review page in the world. Thus, I though that clever training would be at his level. Not even close. Ray, many of us follows your recommendation. It would be great if you speak with them directly and are able to give us some feedback. Something is very wrong here. Furthermore, many of us buy products based on your reviews and recommendations. Garmin should know that. If they make clever training look bad, they are making you look bad. I know you have nothing to do with this, but still, many of us purchased through clever training to support your page. Thus, by not having inventory for weeks when other stores do…I’m short, I’m not buying from them ever again. The problem is the uncertainty, if I had more information I could decide if I should just cancel and purchase the 945 elsewhere. Also, if they are like this, I wonder how long is going to take them to refund my money. I mean, they were very quick in charging my card. Sorry Ray, we need answers. Having said all that, you have the best page out there and your reviews are the best in the industry. No one comes close to your level. Congrats on that. Lastly, I read that you were recently in Mallorca. I live there and would have loved to cross paths, if even for a second to tell you that I’m a fan and that you are doing incredible work. Thank you.
First off, sorry for the troubles. I hear ya – trust me, I do. It sucks. And I know CT hears you as well (mostly, because they hear it from me three times a day – including every one of your comments).
I’ve got them committed that before you wake up in the morning all CT UK Garmin backorders will get a status update. CT US folks were getting weekly e-mail status updates for back orders, but UK folks weren’t. So that’s changing. They also just spent the last hour or two trying to get a clear timeline from the manufacturer on exactly when the pending shipments will arrive (which, includes some good news as soon as tomorrow). Again, update coming in the next few hours.
Atop that, they do agree that the mixed messages from CT UK aren’t good. So they’re working to get that correct. Be it good news, or bad news, the news should be the same (unless of course, the news varies on order date).
Thanks again for the support – I do appreciate it!
Ray, wow. Thank you. Things out of our control happen all the time. The problem, as I said before, is being in the dark which in turn makes it harder to understand the situation and be patient with the other party. It’s mind blowing how quickly you took charge of the situation and wrote back to us. No one does that. You are a true professional. Big thanks.
Thanks for that DC. I do empathise with your position as obviously this is not your store and have no control over stock issues etc. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we want to support the companies you work with as your reviews help us make the right decision with sports equipment.
I wanted this quick as I am planning on doing a YouTube review with it, and as you know, being late to the game with new products usually means no views. That’s why this has been pressing for me.
Not received any updates yet, but hopefully we will get some update about the order soon.
I do agree with Ray on the card issue though. Charging cards weeks before they come in stock is a very poor way to perform business and more concerning than any stock issues.
I’ll check on why CT UK is pre-charging the cards, as I know CT US doesn’t anymore (stopped a few years ago). It’s mostly the same platform, but maybe it’s a difference in payment provider. Either way, poking now.
Also, my understanding is e-mail updates were set to go out shortly after we all went to sleep. I’ll double-check that those happened.
I haven’t had any updates today about my order. I still can’t check my order status on their website either.
I just checked my credit card statement and after ordering on 30th April my card was charged on 1st May. Which means that I’m going to be paying interest on the watch soon despite not having it.
This is definitely not acceptable in my eyes and something which the company has to address in some way.
Just chiming in to echo other people’s concerns, my order was placed on the 30th of April. Absolutely no communication from CT and my emails were met with generic and vague answers. I can’t see how a company can advertise timelines for stock that they haven’t secured. CT haven’t gotten in touch after your post above Ray. I do hope this is getting resolved soon, thank you for trying to get CT to behave as they should.
The really frustrating thing is that the local distributor in Romania does have in stock at the same price (minus the 10% discount of course, but with some premium warranty which is nice). I hope to hear soon from CT UK, if it’s June then probably I will have to cancel.
Just received a mail from Clever Training UK stating that they will be receiving more inventory this week and every week after that. They expect to be able to fulfill all back orders before the end of May.
On a final note directed to GARMIN; I don’t know who’s fault it is, it’s beside the point. But know this, I trust Ray, as many thousands of other sports enthusiasts do. I’ve been a very faithful Polar user for more than 15 years. Im currently on my second V800 and I was very much looking forward to the Vantage V. However, because of Ray’s very professional, unbiased and comprehensive reviews, and lately of the Garmin 945 I decided to make a change. The point is, Ray, although unquestionably unbiased and truthful in his reviews is helping you sell thousands of Garmin products. Because of that, you should make sure that he and the channels that he recommends are well taken care of. Most people I know that play sports, from cycling to even sailing…trust DC Rainmaker. Other sites are secondary…thus, don’t fail him and us in turn. The fact that we are having this conversation when lesser suppliers have product and the retailers recommended by Ray do not is beyond comprehension.
I ordered late on the 30th April and seemingly missed the first batch they sent out.. But just got my shipping email now, hopefully they’ll be able to get the rest sent out sharpish.
Just few minutes ago I received this email from Clever Training (not CT UK):
“Thank you for your patience and we are happy to announce that the Garmin Forerunner 945 Black units have finally started to arrive into our UK warehouse.
Some units have arrived this week and we will be receiving the units as well next week.
The bulk of the units are scheduled to be arriving in the last few business days in May as well and going forward we will be sending out notifications every Wednesday evening to update you on your incoming order.
As a reminder that on the day that your unit ships a shipping and tracking email will be generated at that time to provide you with the ETA.
If you have any current or further questions or concerns please contact the UK Clever Training Team at:
CUSTOMER SERVICE”
Earlier today I received tracking number from DPD, however order in my account is still “Processing”. When I check tracking info on DPD website I see this status:
“We’ve received your order details, and we’re expecting your parcel shortly”
Thank you for the update but it is definitely too late to improve user experience. I will not cancel my order (if shipping info is true) but will never buy anything else in this shop. Very poor communication, charging card immediately after order was made without watch in stock. This is not how online shop should work.
I received the same email as others explaining that orders will be in soon. I ordered on 30th April, but it is still sitting at processing and there is no delivery information yet. I suspect I’m going to be one of the unlucky ones that has to wait.
Can’t believe my order says 3 to 5 days after all this hassle. After charging our cards weeks early, the least they could have done is send it next day delivery.
Well said! And scary how identical our situation is. I also just had my second V800 “drown” and decided to finally make the switch because of Ray’s reviews…
Ray – I’m a bit confused with the Pulse Ox feature and hoping you can help me understand it.
You noted in the review it’s primarily intended for folks doing high altitude training, which is not me as I live and train at sea level, so I’m good there.. However, is the ‘all day’ feature needed as part of the Heat Acclimation? When I go onto the watch or GC site I see the two toggles under Device Settings > Pulse Ox
Turn this on to track blood oxygen measurements throughout the day.
Acclimation
Turn this on to track blood oxygen measurements throughout the day.
Sleep Tracking
No, the all day features of PulseOx don’t tie into heat acclimation at all. Totally separate. In effect, there’s basically three acclimation metrics:
PulseOx: This one is probably the ‘least well’ integrated in terms of guidance. Though, it’s been around the longest from Garmin. It basically plots SpO2 over altitude graphs. So if you’re climbing, it shows those values atop each other. It doesn’t really say whether you’re acclimated per se though in the same sense as the others. It’s more of a ‘here’s your current not-dead status’.
Heat Acclimation: This is dependent on workouts specifically, and uses weather stations nearby your starting point using Garmin Connect Mobile (smartphone app). If you don’t do workouts, then the acclimation will slowly fade away. Further, it does depend on being above 71*F. Humidity is also factored in.
Altitude Acclimation: This data point is gathered both at the point of a workout from the watch itself, but also daily at midnight quietly in the background from the watch itself. It looks at your current altitude and then sees how long you’ve spent there. If it lacks a workout that day, it presumes you spent the entire day at that altitude. Said differently, if you arrive at a hotel in the Alps at 11:35PM, you’ll get credit for that whole day when the clock checks in at midnight. Same goes for a redye flight. The longer you spend at altitude, the more acclimated you are, and it shows you your current acclimation altitude.
Picked mine up on Saturday and took it out for the first run on trails, then another long run on Sunday. Replacing my Fenix 3. Everything appears in order. One concern is that the battery depletion is faster than I expected – I was using a GPS track to navigate a run, dropped about 15% over the course of a 2 hour run, meaning a 13 hour battery life even without music if that’s a trend. At the moment I’m putting it down to having my phone with me and bluetooth on – I’ve had that issue before on both the Fenix 3 and my Edge 810.
Mapping feature is excellent – can’t rave enough about it and really looking forward to using it in anger on the trail.
Also really liking the advanced sleep metrics. Pulse Ox is feeling a little bit like a chocolate tea pot at the moment – but when I start doing higher altitude events, it might come into its own.
It might be unrelated but it seems some devices are experiencing abnormal battery drain. My 945 was going from 100% to 76% within 24 hours without any gps tracking or pulse ox.
Garmin are not sure yet what is causing the issue and it appears not to affect every user but been reported by several in US and EU.
I’ve just returned my 945 for a refund because it was within 7 days of purchase and will buy again once Garmin have resolved the problem
AWESOME review as always, i end up reading reviews of most of the stuff even though I dont need them like power meters ??? Do you think 935 is still a good buy? Will they keep updating the software? I returned my VA3 due to a faulty sensor and I want to step up to 935 or 645
– The CleverTraining page for the Forerunner 945 looks terrible and the dropdowns don’t work if you’re logged in, but looks fine if you’re not. (Tested on Safari and Chrome on macOS.) I had to log out, add it to my cart, then log back in.
– Evidently the 20% VIP coupon code doesn’t work for the 945.
How long does it generally take to activate Garmin Pay. My bank is supported so I went through the setup on Saturday (05/11) however Garmin Pay still shows as ‘pending issuer activation’.
The last time I had a card get stuck was at launch of the tech almost two years ago. I’d say at this point you should escalate to Garmin Support and they can poke the payment provider. I’m not sure exactly how that support aspects works, but certainly Garmin Support will be able to get you going in the right direction on that (or at least as far as they can depending on how much of it is the banks fault).
Just before reaching out to Garmin I figured I’d remove the card to try re-adding. Like you two commented, it instantly activated. Guessing the activation got ‘stuck’ first time around.
Hi Ray, I have the 945, edge 1030 and Edge 130
before the 945 I had the 935 and everything was working fine with true up but now with the 945 it’s all gone wild.
When I do a workout on the edge 1030 it’s transfered to the 945 but the amount of load reported for the week load is stupidely low and it completeny screws the load calculations (IE workout done yesterday, 2h ride TE aerobic : 3.1 anaerobic 2.2) load reported by the 945 : around 20 … and is shown in grey.
other problem : swimming is not even taken into account. I know without HR it cannot give a true number of load but it would be good to get at least “some” load based on pace or something.
Yeah, only workouts with HR are taken into account. I didn’t do any with the HRM-TRI/SWIM though to see if those account for it (my regular swim workouts I did with it…I just did sans-strap).
If you’re getting wonky Physio TrueUp stuffs, the biggest things to do is double-check and re-toggle on/off the Physio True-up options on both the phone and device for each unit you have. I find that usually kicks it going again.
Failing that, Garmin Support can usually pretty quickly see if there’s something clogging the pipes on your account. Finally, ensuring quickie items like weight/gender are correct on all devices is important too.
Same experience here… Had a good experience with my F935 and Edge 520 but now things are all over the place on both new devices (eg F945 and Edge 530).
All user settings are correct on both devices yet the stats/values are all over the place.
Values from 935/520 also had no issues updating on my F5. Workouts still show on the F5 but even the stats on that are now skewed and don’t line up with either the 945 or 530.
Ray, I’m the owner of an 820, which I’m going to give to my wife and move to the 830. I also have a Forerunner 935. One feature I was hoping would work on the 820/935 combo was communication on effort and recommended recovery time. I know via your review, you now get that with the 830/945. I’m sure the answer is no, but do you know if you can get that with the 830/935 combo via software update? That’s a tough sell getting the wife to approve the 945 when the 935 works just fine (and I just bought the 830).
I missed the 945 launch stumbling upon it here when looking for a good 935 review. Excellent detail and brilliant stats. Looks like the 945 is the next watch to get!
It’s needed for the auto-backlight feature. It activates the backlight when the watch is “raised” so it needs to know left from right for that at least.
I have noticed my 945 will change the white background to black background occasionally on some run activities. I can’t figure out the logic behind it though, does any one know why this initiates?
It’s maybe the climbing logic, at least my 935 do that if climb detection is enabled and watch detects climb that exceed the set elevation (default is 600m/h which means rate of 10m/minute). It can be turned on/off from sport settings.
Last weekend i did a 70.3 Triathlon. In open water swimming my 945 measured 50m instead of 1900. Seems that it had no connection while swimming. Switched from 935 which was flawless in open water swimming. Anyone having same problem while swimming open water? I know that Fenix had many issues with open water swim… Now the same for FR945?!?
Ray et al – So this might be the wrong place to ask this but is it not possible to create profiles on this device? Meaning I want say the “bike” profile to only connect to certain power meters and sensors etc and my “run” profile to only connect to certain power meters (stryd) and its own sensors.
The other day I did a bike/run/bike commute to work and the device retained my Stryd power meter and registered obviously VERY low wattage for the bike commute portions that I had the Stryd stowed away in a pack. It seemed obvious to me that you would assign certain sensors to certain profiles (as other devices do) but I don’t see it as an option here?
For your Stryd unit though, are you pairing it as a power meter? Or using the Stryd app? In theory if you use the Stryd data fields in run mode there’s no reason to pair it as a power meter.
However, if you’re using the bike profile for running (since it supports power zones and such), then…that’s less ideal. No solution I know of there aside from ensuring each time you start a workout you’ve got it connected to the right sensor (You could name the sensors, so that at least it pops-up and says ‘Connected to Stryd’ or ‘Connected to Quarq’. Though with only one power meter, your pickle is complete.
Essentially, what you’re saying is you need a cycling power meter on your commuter bike. Problem solved. :)
Ha ha, the commuter bike is an ElliptiGo actually! Thanks, I had the Stryd connected as a power meter so it would show up in a special data field I pulled down from CIQ (“DozenRun”). Without that, the field doesn’t display power.
I am coming to the 945 from an original version “Vivoactive” and I was hoping some of these problems would’ve been solved by now.
Great review! Question, I do Ironmans but also lots of Trail Running / Ultras and some hiking, which watch would you recommend? FR945 or Fenix 5/5x plus?
First of all I am a huge fan of this website and the youtube channel, great job!
Has anybody received any update from clevertraining.uk? I placed my order on 6th with a note “early May” and it is still shown as “processing”. Of course my card has been charged. Just generic excuses from them without expected time of delivery and they are not willing to provide any discount for the delay. This is ridiculous, have never experienced anything like that with an eshop so far.
I wish Garmin had added GPS dual frequency (L1 + L5 and/or E1 + E5a). Maybe next year. Or 2021.
Since many here are complaining about CleverTraining and since I want to support Ray: Order placed at Clevertraining.com on May 18, 2019, delivered on May 22, 2019 (California).
As for dual frequency, Garmin says they’re looking at it (I had a chat with them about it), but that at this point it would set them back power-consumption wise and basically erase any of the gains they saw with the new Sony chipset (power-wise). Given it’s not even in any headliner phones yet, it sounds like it’ll be a ways before we see it in any wearables. Which wasn’t a hard no from them, purely a ‘the time isn’t yet right’.
You erase with music more than with dual frequency. The Forerunner and Fenix products should be more for athletes as for lifestyle. If Garmin waits that Suunto or even Polar have dual frequency, so we would never see dual frequency by Garmin. Why should Garmin not be the first and have the lead with this technology?
Sure, but people can decide whether or not to use music – and thus, it’s either an impact or not depending on user preference. I don’t know if in dual chipsets the user would have that choice or not.
I’m going to highly doubt we’ll see Suunto or Polar move first on dual frequency. Maybe I’ll be wrong, but it seems unlikely given what we’ve seen both companies do in recent years.
Does that mean that the Sony chip supports dual frequency and there is a chance that the firmware will be updated down the line to support it? Or Garmin are evaluating the possibility of using chips in future devices that will support dual frequency?
Garmin have said they’re looking at dual, but at this time the tech/adoption is just too early. They noted that no headliner phones have it yet (not that that’s a requirement, but just pointing it out), and they noted that while the battery life isn’t a massive hit, it would erase the gains of the Sony chipset. Again, they said they’re super interested in it…but just not yet.
Good to know that Garmin confirmed to you that from a design and production process view point it’s possible to fit a dual frequency chip and a dual frequency antenna in a small object like a watch.
Anyway, it seems that I’m the exception. After reading your review I had not high expectations about gps accuracy, but my FR945 in my first runs in easy environment for gps is giving me better results than the FR35 with the Mediatek chipset and better results of my old trusted FR610 with Sirfstar chipset. I’m quite surprised by the good results with GSP + Galileo.
Now I’m waiting to test the watch in other routes more difficult for gps, and test how the watch will handle with multipath errors (near mountains and building).
Even without the dual frequency, my first impressions is that the FR945 is a great sport watch!
Thank you for the review. I do about 25% of my workouts on an indoor cross country ski machine (Nordic Track Skier). What would be the best Garmin set up to monitor and store these workouts? I don’t see and indoor skiing option so would one choose indoor running and would a foot pod be useful for this activity?
I’m honestly not sure any of those modes would really track anything of use. You’d basically be tracking HR/time, but I don’t believe you’d see any distance out of that.
If you actually ski outdoors, then you already know that a Nordic Track is really nothing like skiing outdoors. But here’s the simple answer: you’re on a trainer that isn’t moving. Your distance is zero. (Glad to help.) The most you can do is monitor heart rate and maybe cadence. A foot pod would be of little use since there’s no distance to be measured. Possibly it could measure cadence but since there’s no impact of foot on surface, it may not be able to. (If you actually want to associate distance to a workout, simply make a number up based on what seems reasonable for the level of effort.)
The more complex answer is that outdoors distance isn’t all that great an indicator of effort anyway (consider going uphill and downhill). When I’m skiing outdoors I track speed/distance (which actually means something outdoors), elevation, and heart rate. There’s really nothing else that can be measured. (Calories you get for free from the watch, and I really don’t believe that number anyway.)
I don’t know about the Nordic Track skier, but for the Concept2 Ski-erg which is popular in Sweden there is an connectIQ app which let’s you save the power, distance, stroke cadence etc. It should work with every newer Garmin watch.
Have you heard anything from Garmin about battery drain problems? I have had my 945 for about 2 weeks and I love it except for the battery. It drains way faster than my 935 did. More than 1% per hour in smart watch mode with pulse ox off. I’m hoping it’s a firmware issue, but getting frustrated.
I am disappointed with the battery drain as well. My in-use estimation is about 8 hours of GPS life (no music, external HRM) which is far under my expectation. Trying to think of what I might be doing to cause this (vibration alerts, backlight on wrist turn, etc).
P.S. Ray – I ordered from CleverTraining (US) and had no issues on my end, received very quickly.
nearly 3h with GPS+Glonass enabled and navigation (though map was not always in front): Battery went down from 100% to 91%
So for me that’s pretty good. Any other runs (also with music) are within expectation and match Garmin’s claims. I can’t say much about daily usage because I only use the 945 only for running and keep it turned off. (I have a F5+ for daily usage).
I do not say want to say that I don’t believe you, just as a remark that maybe there is something else (worst case: battery itself) that might cause your bad results.
For reference, here is my usage since the last full charge:
Monday PM – Charged overnight to 100%
Tuesday AM – 50min bike, 60min run, 50min bike
Tuesday PM – 95min bike
Wednesday – 40min run, 15min treadmill workout (no GPS)
Thursday AM – 60min run w/ music
That’s about 295min (almost 5 hours) of GPS use with no music, 15min of treadmill (no gps) and an hour of GPS with music. So roughly 6 hours of usage all told.
Watch was on and connected the rest of the time with background HR monitoring. This morning I’m sitting on about 15% battery remaining. That doesn’t seem to jive with their estimations right?
I ended up contacting garmin yesterday. They asked me to return it right away for a new watch. I shipped it out yesterday afternoon. I’m hoping the new one is better. I went back to my 935 (which I’m so happy I hadn’t sold yet) and it just reconfirmed something was wrong with the 945. I was losing 5-7% in 7 hours of sleep. 935 last night lost 1% after 8 hours. With the connect battery widget. it reported that the 945 was using 1.1% battery per hour.
I have read that sometimes the charge cycles need to run through a few times before the battery sets. So, I’m going to do that and see what difference it makes.
Also, i have no events longer than say 4 hours coming up so it’s not like I’m going to run out of juice in anything that matters.
My order was placed on May 4 with Clever Training UK. The card was charged immediately. As of today, May 23, the order is still in “processing” status.
Incredible…oh, but I receive one or two emails “spam” per day offering me all sort of new products. Yep…I’m so motivated to keep buying things from them…NOT!!! And everybody else is getting product delivered. Even Clever Training US, isn’t Garmin from Europe, shouldn’t Clever Training UK receive at least the same treatment?
Ordered mine from Clever Training UK on 01/05, shipped on 21/05, delivered today.
Friend of mine placed his order on the same day (01/05) and have received his today as well.
Unfortunately, Garmin treats these as separate entities. There’s no concept of a single global merchant in the world of Garmin.
As for looking at shipping tracking numbers on CT US or UK, to do so go to Order Status (top of page) > View Order > Track your order (and then it shows you a DPD number right there).
Hi. Sorry to say Rai but this is being a complete NIGHTMARE. I have bought the watch on the very 30 of April, and it was supposed to arribe yesterday but nothing happened. Today I have asked Clever Training by email, and the answer was: “the parcel must have been lost, we will get in contact with dpd (sender company) and will arrange another order, this may take us a few days. Kind regards.” UNBELIEVABLE. Never again. No apologies, no sorries, no nothing, not even a simple excuse…
BLOODY HELL!!!! Whats wrong with them????
Did you receive a tracking number? With CT UK and DPD, the tracking number is shown in your account as well as typically e-mailed to you. What does the tracking number show?
To find the tracking number, go to Order Status (top of page) > View Order > Track your order (and then it shows you a DPD number right there).
Couple of days ago I reached to Clever Training UK for an order update. Mine was placed on May 4. They quickly responded that although eagerly expected, very little to no inventory had been received this week and that they hope to get more orders fulfilled the following week. They also said that orders are being shipped in the order they were received. No exceptions.
If this had been a general problem it would have been easy to understand. But as to why Clever Training UK is barely getting any product out when everybody else has…it just defies logic. Ray…everybody follows you…Garmin should take care of your followers and get product to CT UK.
Hi Rai!!!
I got everything, the track number and the email. It was expected to arrive last week but I DONT KNOW WHY, it’s been lost in transit, as CT has told me, so the fault is on dpd. I have ask dpd and they apologized and told me to email their experts extension group (this is because the watch supposedly has gone out of UK, so they, dpd, dont really know where is it). Last words of CT were: We can’t do more but wait 14 days to prepare another order.
I dont know whats going on, SHOULD I BEEN LOOKING FOR MY PARCEL?? Emailing, and emailing again?? I dont think this is fair..
However, thank you for ask Rai. It has nothing to do with you.
What else can I do to get what I have paid almost a month ago?????
Hmm, yeah, that’s tricky. If you’ve got a DPD tracking number (and it shows it left CT’s warehouse according to DPD’s site and is somewhere between it and you), I’m not sure what to say. I’d be poking DPD as the consumer, while CT does it concurrently from their side.
I did go ahead and raise the issue again today to CT, and they’re going to escalate the resolution as well.
2% usage an hour during an activity with no music – extrapolating out to 18 hours usage
7% usage an hour during an activity with music – extrapolating to 7 hours
That does remind me, I wonder how easy it would be to surface battery life from .FIT files that support it into the DCR Analyzer. That’d be super cool.
Out of curiosity, is that from the native .FIT file, or are you using a Connect IQ app to collect it? Or just in general, how are you gathering that data?
Hi Ray – using the Fit File Repair Tool to look at the fit files.
Attached more data with what sensors etc are used. If I was a betting man I’d say its something to do with sensor comms, and perhaps OHR not turning off when chest strap on.
Yeah, looking at the stats on a run with GPS+GLONASS and optical HR I’m at about 5%/hour using Fit File Repair Tool, which, does seem a bit high. No CIQ apps.
I’ll do a bit more digging first and circle back to Garmin.
Hi, can anyone help? I got my first 945 on May 2nd, but had to return it after 2 weeks as the battery life was really bad. I received a new one on Sunday but it doesn’t track my training load or strength training calories? It has uploaded runs to Garmin Connect but says the training benefit is “unknown” and doesn’t show on my 7 day training load screen. The last training load activity which shows is from my first 945 even though I have ran Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and strength trained Monday and Friday.
Today I gave first ever chance to a Garmin device (from CC UK & CDR code), planning a switch from Polar ecosystem fully to Trainingpeaks. Fingers crossed I will not regret this, but interesting to see whether the grass is any greener “on the other side” :D
I always get good information from your blog. Thank you.
Can the 945 oximetar be used to check the threshold during exercise like Moxy monitor or Humon?
How is your battery life compared to the 935? My 945 seems to be a bit worse than my 935. Just wanted to mention that my settings impacting battery life are: SpO2 turned off, backlight at 20%.
I’ve installed the Battery Widget from Garmin Connect and it says it consumes about 0.75% per hour. That means about 5.4 days of power in smartwatch mode and that is about half of what they said in the specs.
Thanks for the review! It was great quality as usual. Will you do a battery test including the 945?
I had to return mine to Garmin for a replacement after two weeks. my battery was consistantly under performing…. Especially in smartwatch mode. Using about 1% per hour in smart watch mode. Pulse ox off. I’m hoping the new one will work better or they come out with a firmware fix. Glad I held on to my 935!
I also read on Facebook some reviews that said battery life is worse than the 935. Please keep us posted about the battery on the 945 replacement when it arrives. I’m really interested if another unit would perform better.
Thanks!
Just a small update on this, the discharge rate is about the same and it stabilized towards 0.73% per hour.
Ray, what discharge rate are you getting in smartwatch mode? Has anybody else noticed similar battery life in smartwatch mode?
Hmm, I haven’t tracked smartwatch mode that closely. Though, I’d be curious what the impact of that CIQ app is compared to not (my complete swag is higher than one might think, at least based on historical data points).
I installed the battery widget and I am averaging about 1.1% per hour in the “long term avg” but that includes smartwatch usage (SpO2 off, I think) and in-activity use (external HRM and rarely w/ music).
I’m beginning to think I have a defective watch/battery as that measures out to a mere 2 days of combined smartwatch/activity use.
It’s a hard thing to gauge though as there are so many variables (vibration, backlight, oHR, music, raise-to-wake, etc).
I have a 4 hour event this weekend that will at least give me a good idea of GPS use.
P.S. How exactly do you turn “off” the SpO2 anyway? I removed the widget from the device, figuring that would do it. Can’t find anything else in any of the menus.
Here’s how to turn on or off anything related to SpO2: link to www8.garmin.com
I’m now on my third charging cycle and what I saw was that battery drain has improved just a little bit. It now drains at approx. 0.7% per hour, down from 0.75%. I discharged it to just 3% and now I’m charging it. I read somewhere that doing this once or twice should format the battery and improve charge.
I’ll keep you updated on what happens. Your 2 days of battery seems really bad compared to what I used to get on the 935 (6, sometimes 7 days, just like the specifications on the box).
Thanks for the info. I also mis-spoke above, 1.1% equates to about 4 days of usage, not the 2 days I said. Still low of course.
I haven’t gone through a full discharge yet, maybe that will make a difference.
Overnight (when it was sitting on the bathroom counter), the battery widget said the usage rate was .46% per hour. That’s the only time it’s come in close to the range that Garmin is listing in the specs.
My bet is raise to wake backlight is hurting a fair bit. The reason I say that is that the 2nd biggest battery life hit is backlight display (behind GPS). It’s huge. I suspect that the number of times you raise sorta adds up over time. just a guess.
Raise to wake should contribute to battery drain as it lights up the screen and uses energy but the old 935 had this feature too and it worked the same way. Yet, the 945 has less battery life with the same settings and under the same conditions as the 935.
This would not be a problem as the 945 has a lot more functions compared to the 935 but Garmin said in the specs that it would have twice the battery life of the previous model. I would be happy if it was 1.2-1.5 times but the 945 is constantly draining faster than my previous 935 (i’m on my fourth charge).
This is why I posted here so I can figure out if it’s just my watch battery or if this is a problem for the majority of 945 users. Ray, what do you think? Is 0.7% per hour (6 days of battery life) normal for a 945 or should i get a replacement?
Hmm, that’s a good question. Official specs say ‘Up to 14 days’, but I’ve gotta believe there’s a pile of things that impact that pretty quickly. Off the top of my head, I’d assume the following drive 24×7 battery performance:
– Bluetooth Smart connectivity (sans notifications, but for background sync, I believe this is accounted for)
– Smartphone notifications (with both backlight and vibration on)
– PulseOx (a biggie, as discussed)
– Connect IQ Widgets (could be substantial)
– 24×7 optical HR sensor enabled (I believe this is accounted for in the 14 day figure)
– HR displayed on watch face 24×7
– Activity tracking (I believe this is within the reference number)
I want to follow my friends in a route that I don’t know, record the track and later put that track in the watch and follow the instructions of where I need to go.
And a “Mario Kart ghost mode” where I see on the screen a map and a moving dot that was me at my previous training on that route. And follow that dot to run at the same speed or be faster.
Are those functions already available? It would be amazing!
Rai, I really appreciate your help. When in my last message I said experts I meant “dpd exports team” to whom I had been addressed or redirected to by “dpd costumer service”. I wrote them on Friday and again today, but no news have I received. DONT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO. I had put all my expectations in this watch, I was so excited when I first saw your review but all is twisting and turning into the worst experience I have ever had buying online.
It is almost a month since I bought the watch, too long waiting… I’d simply want to know where is it, it must be somewhere and still it’s UNBELIEVABLE, to my understanding, that no one knows about and I should be the one searching for..
To add insult to injury, CT keeps sending me offers to became a Vip member and more and more publicity…
That sucks. Though, it does seem like it’s fully within DPD’s realm at this point – at least until CT is able (per whatever rules DPD has) to consider the shipment lost and have it re-issued. The tracking shows it was picked up, moved around the UK, and then left the UK.
Have you tried calling DPD and seeing what they say? DPD is a pretty massive European shipping company, and i know I’ve generally had good luck interfacing with them here in the Netherlands when I’ve tried.
Hi again Rai. Finally the dpd exports team has emailed me. I don’t really get what is going on because now they’ve told me to talk to the sender, I guess CT. Literally (copy/paste):
“Hello Luis,
I would request you to please get in touch with them for further updates on your parcel as they will be able to help you to provide you with the updates. This is because we have certain contractual terms with your sender and we can share the updates on the investigation only with them.”
We have completed the circle. At the end we get again with CT. Preciously they (CT) asked me to talk with dpd…
Long story short, I think things are at least moving, we’ll see how fast because many stages are implied in al this mess. Don’t really know how much can I wait.
MUCHAS GRACIAS POR TODO
Many thanks Rai.
Ray – Is it even possible to use the Pulse Oximeter feature to record any kind of activity? Meaning, you want to specifically test your SpO2 in a targeted activity (say you’re on a mountain top or something – or conversely you bought a $2000 altitude tent).
Can you even turn this feature on and record the metrics for review later? If not, is this possible in a widget or a CIQ app?
Hmm, at present the data is saved to the app plotted over time. I haven’t looked at a specific workout .FIT file to see if it also shows in there as well somewhere.
The widget though is also on the watch and shows the data 24×7 plotted over two time durations. If I didn’t include it here, the functionality is the same as in my Fenix 5X Plus review, where I was at higher altitudes and able to dig into it more deeply (identical functionality).
It does not seem to be carrying over into the FIT file, well at least from what I can tell with what’s shown in Garmin Connect or elsewhere (Sporttracks).
I’ll check out the Fenix review, however what I’m really looking for is a measurable and most importantly “recordable” way of tracking SpO2 in preparation for alpine events. Was hoping this would provide a way to do that. Otherwise, why have this as a widget only?
Hmm, in the Summary you say you hope the accuracy of the GPS chip would get better compared to the 935. But isn’t the accuracy solely dependent on the chip and maybe their sampling rate. How’s it going to get better unless they increase the sampling rate? Aren’t they solely dependent on the chip for accuracy?
I do not read that @ all.
I read that his conclusion is that GPS does not work as good as the 935 “The new GPS sensor is kinda meh. While I get that it provides significantly longer battery life, there is the tradeoff for less accuracy. It’s not as bad as some of their competitors using the same sensor – but it’s also not as good as the FR935 was”.
My own findings is, in the short time i used 945, that for me GPS on 945 is as accurate as on the 935.
I am one of them that bought Fenix 5 Plus last summer and returned it to seller shortly after, i wrote about my experiences on this site.
I have compared tracks in city, among trails in woods a.s.o. and i can’t see any big diffrence, it work as good as i can expect, it’s not 100% spot on, but neither is 935 or any other other GPS i use (including gpsmap 276cx).
Firmware updates for GPS and watch itself are super common, and have a long history of seeing watches from all companies improve. We’ve seen Suunto for example go for horrible Suunto 9 performance to generally good. The same for Polar. And there’s also countless examples from Garmin too in various historical products.
That said, nothing can address bad antenna design (I have zero antenna design concerns on any of the new Forerunner watches). Far too many people focus on GPS chipsets, when in reality it’s usually antenna’s that hose up companies (including Garmin).
Most of what changes in firmware is algorithm related and essentially getting better at sorting noise from intention, not sampling rates.
I’m seeing really poor heart rate results with my 945 – 10-15 BPM below what it should be, and even going in reverse at times e.g. I speed up, HR goes down. It’s my first wrist-based HRM, is there anywhere online any useful hints and tips around how to wear it for highest accuracy? When I look at the HR section of the review above it seems to be pretty perfect, which is very far from what I’m seeing on mine.
That’s certainly what I’ve seen in a couple of weeks of use, however It seems like Ray can make OHR work pretty well across a range of activities judging by the review above, so it must be possible. It also is a very expansive watch if one of the basic features can’t be relied upon.
Today I have canceled my order at clever training (UK).I had ordered on May 3. the Garmin 945, first I heard nothing from Clever Training, but my Credit Card was charged. Then the promised Wednesday customer update was also a fail. Also yesterday no Wednesday update about my order. Now I have to wait for my refund. Sorry Clever Training this was a real fail !!!
Who knows when it will actually arrive and the battery/gps issues need to settle before that kind of investment.
Given the stock levels for other sellers, I wonder if clever training are accepting orders and using the payments to buy stock then sending on…doesn’t make sense that you can get it next day from so many other sellers
I noticed a few things do not seem to be included in the true up / workout sync. This is based on doing a ride with the 1030, and seeing how it reflected on the 945.
1. Temperature acclimatization did not update on the 945, based on a ride done on the 1030. It was a hot day (85) but the 945 still showed my acclimatization for that day going down.
2. Intensity minutes on the 945 not credited for a ride recorded on the 1030.
RE: Temp acclimation – The Edge 1030 doesn’t yet have the new firmware coming out that adds that feature, so in this case that feature won’t work backwards quite yet.
RE: Intensity minutes: Not sure on this one. However, triple-check that Physio TrueUp is enabled for both devices in your Garmin Connect Mobile app (and consider toggling it on/off/on again for fun).
Is this the same barometric/altimeter sensor from the 935? I have had 3 replacement 935 watches due to failed barometric/altimeter sensors and was told by Garmin support that chlorine from the swimming pool eventually kills the sensor. After the first one failed, I tried cleaning with soap and water after every pool swim. Still failed. Twice.
Thanks so much for this review that persuaded me to upgrade from the 935 to the 945. Really appreciate the additional performance data and graphics the 945 has. Question: After a run, the 945, as you’ve noted, will peg aerobic score to its impact such as base or tempo. My 945 on the initial runs indicated that I needed to put in more low aerobic training for overall balance. When I have followed this suggestion, I will get positive feedback from the 945 for performing a low aerobics training segment but at same time be given an “unproductive” ranking overall on run even though my pace, time and speed meet PRs and my average heart rate for run is lower than usual. Seems like a conflict between this new aerobics detail and the grade on overall run. What am I missing here? Thanks again for your invaluable review. Jim Duncan
So, I’ve had my 945 now for enough time really comment on its use.
I’m frankly a little disappointed.
For context, I’m coming over from a Vivoactive (v1) that I bought about 3 years ago, but I’ve also owned several Garmin devices over the year (405, 910xt, Fenix v1, etc).
Many of the bugs I attributed to my good ol’ Vivoactive being old and out-of-date are also occurring on this brand new 945:
– battery life less than expected (I have posted a number of comments above around this)
– smartphone notifications failing to send to device (a reboot always fixes it though)
– taking an incredible amount of time to sync an activity or just failing to sync outright
– glitchy, weird behavior such as activities failing to load CIQ data screens (Stryd, Dozenrun) and causing the watch to reboot, hosing up the activity altogether
– “raise to wake” for backlight working only intermittently (I look like a fool sometimes dramatically raising my arm trying to get it light up)
I have enjoyed the music feature, but I frankly only use that on <10% of my activities so it's not a great impact. The maps are cool but with such limited use I am only just beginning to try that out.
I bought the watch based on A) battery life, B) New Features (music/maps), C) for a robust upgrade. So far, it's only really scoring for me on (B).
Hi mates!! I’d like to share with you all my ONE MONTH ANNIVERSARY!!!! Yeah right, today I’ve been waiting a whole month for this watch to come. Thanks to Clever Training, it would have been impossible without them.
My excitement has been bombarded, broken into pieces; I wished so hard to train with it but feelings at the moment are kinda weird. Many downs regarding battery life, not enough garmin pay banks allowed, bugs, gps accuracy, and so on. I don’t really know if I want this device anymore… Just hope my money is safe
BTW, Rai I haven’t phone to dpd or any of them because this international phone calls must cost an arm and a leg. I’d have appreciated CT calling me; just a comforting gesture.
I know CT has contacted DPD to try and figure out where your shipment went. However, to be clear, DPD has numbers in all European countries that are local. You can ring them as well without paying international fees.
Bummed to hear about the trouble for sure though. :(
if i understand this correctly, you pay 600USD but don’t get worldwide maps?
Say you buy the watch in the US you get NORTH america maps – are these just driving maps? does it include all map types?
Garmin maps are very very expensive so thats an important part to cover. Say you want the French alps topographic maps its 240USD!
You get maps for the region you’re in. They aren’t driving maps at all, but rather detailed trail/street maps. You can download free 3rd party maps here for the FR945 (it’s almost identical to what Garmin includes): link to dcrainmaker.com
I do agree however, I think it’s stupid that Garmin makes it this complex.
I currently have a Vivoactive HR (great little watch) and I am training for a Century Ride, run a little bit (nothing major) and love to be outdoors and active.
I am looking at either the Fenix 5X Plus or the 945.
What would you recommend? Should I just keep the Vivoactive HR and get a 530/830?
Actually, the GPS tracks seem worse than the Vivoactive. That part doesn’t bother me much though as I use Stryd and have it calculate pace/distance. But for example, many of my 945 runs have been out and backs and the GPS track often is “off” where you’d expect the “back” to be perfectly on top of the “out.”
Totally agree on the gadget aspect though, that was a main driving force for my upgrade. But $550 is a lot for such an upgrade.
I cannot compare the FR945 with the Vivoactive but so far I’m really pleased with the FR945 GPS accuracy provided you only begin your workout after the watch acquires the GPS signal. DCR is the bible on GPS-watches reviews but if you want to check some more logs I provided an analysis on 2 runs here: link to ptjuggernaut.blogspot.com
I had a first bad impression with the watch on my first run because I started running without waiting for the watch to acquire a GPS signal – this has turned out to be my worst-ever experience with a GPS watch. The FR945 went completely wacko the entire course, posting 1K laps @ 3 mins/km which unfortunately I cannot do :) This was unexpected behavior as with my old FR225 I could start running even without GPS signal and the watch didn’t perform badly as it captured the signal a min or so after beginning.
Bottom line: wait for the 945 to acquire GPS signal and you’ll be OK.
2 years (3500 km run) with Vivoactive 1 and now 1+year with 645M (2500km run) and I can confirm that the Vivoactive has a better GPS result.
In my opinion, it could be the “basic plastic case” the reason behind these good results.
i’ve tried to use Garmin Pay. It’s significantly more cumbersome than Apple Pay on an Apple Watch.
Apple unlocks your watch when you unlock your phone, which you can do with your face. Practically speaking, this means you nearly never enter a passcode on your watch. With Garmin Pay, I need to enter the passcode using the Asteroids-Style chooser, which takes probably 10 seconds at least. And I likely won’t do that until I am at a cash register, since the watch is usable w/o entering a passcode.
Second, Apple Pay can be triggered with a double press of the lower right button. Wit Garmin Pay I must long press the top left button and then hit the top right button – or if the last used function was not the Wallet, click “down” “down” until I get to the wallet.
The net result is that the convenience of Garmin Pay is far lower than using Apple Pay on an Apple Watch. It’s not even close. I feel like Garmin Pay was added without the product managers actually trying to use the thing on a daily basis.
And there is the problem that the number of issuers that support Garmin Pay is small – but that was pointed out in the review.
Just as a heads up – you only have to enter the passcode once per 24hrs, so you can do it anytime before you get to the register as well (such as standing in line). After that, it’s just a single long-hold away. I don’t find that it takes 10 seconds to enter it, a couple seconds perhaps once you’ve done it a few times.
As for unlocking via face – I don’t see any realistic way of that changing for Garmin. Apple doesn’t permit apps to leverage that off-phone, so it’s not like Garmin could tap into that if they wanted to.
@dcrainmaker, Garmin could tie unlocking the wallet to opening the connect app, which I do once per morning on my iPhone either after a workout or to see how my sleep went.
@kevin, my hotkey is set to opening music, which is sensible to me since I use that more often than NFC payments.
In my opinion, the out-of-the-box convenience of Apple Pay is far higher. Have you all tried Apple Pay?
RE: Tie to opening the app, that’s an interesting idea. I like it. Though, I don’t know how/if Garmin could then know whether the phone also had pin-code enforcement. Keep in mind, most of these restrictions come not from Garmin, but the banking industry.
I have actually spent a ton of time with Apple Pay – and in fact just used it 10 minutes ago. There are things I like better there (such better receipt confirmations). However, I’ve also spent a lot of time with Garmin Pay too, and I don’t think there’s really that much of a difference once you use it for a short period.
One big difference is the primary use of each device. The AW is a smart watch, and it’s designed to detect when it’s on your wrist and to lock when it’s not. Unlock it, and so long as it’s on your wrist you don’t have to do that again. Once it’s off your wrist, though, it’s pretty useless. Garmin watches are fitness devices. They have to function just as well off your wrist as on it. My new Fenix 5+ will be worn over clothing in the winter so I can see it, not touching my skin. It’s pointless to wear an Apple Watch that way. So the security model is different. If my 5+ falls off somewhere I don’t want someone to be able to pick it up and start buying things. Garmin’s security model has to be more strict, which makes Garmin Pay less usable than the simple double click it takes with an unlocked AW on your wrist. I enabled a card on my 5+, but because of the PIN and because I don’t wear it all the time like I do the AW I doubt I’ll ever use Garmin Pay.
Paul, I agree that Apple Watch is more of a “smart watch” / lifestyle watch than the Garmin. And that really is my issue. I want the best of both worlds. I want a watch with LTE connectivity that can get me out of a bind when I am not carrying my phone, but also be an amazing fitness device. We all know that Garmin makes better fitness packages. The combination of the sensors, the software, the integration with Strava and the customizability of the screens, always-on-display, and physical buttons make garmin the leader in fitness tracking for serious amateurs. It’s just a shame that I still need to swap back and forth between two devices.
And I’d like to have dinner tonight at that place in orbit around Proxima Centuri (you know the one, the view is fantastic). But that’s not going to happen. Your dream is way more possible, but it’s still pretty unlikely. The requirements for a smart watch and a serious fitness watch are just too dissimilar for mashing them together to work well. Do you want a screen that’s always on, or do you want a beautiful high resolution color screen that would drain the battery in an hour (unless you want to wear a tin can on your wrist) if it were always on? Apple could easily add ANT+ to their devices (from what I understand, this is a leftover Jobsism), but that still doesn’t change the other weaknesses of the AW as a fitness device. Fortunately, the solution is pretty easy, buy one of each. I wear my AW most of the day every day, while my 5+ basically awaits the winter and cross country skiing. (The reason I enabled Garmin Pay is that I can envision needing to buy gas after going skiing and having Garmin Pay on my 5+ would make that easier with my AW either buried under clothing or more likely left at home.)
Ray – Apropros of nothing in particular, do you think Garmin will ever make another sport watch without oHR? I think my Vivoactive is the last one without it and it’s just such a nice watch from a form/fit standpoint. I’d happily upgrade to a new one if they updated the memory/processors, etc.
I just swapped the 935 for the 945 and did my first sea swim with it today. My last sea swim with the 935 gave an average pace of 1:30 per 100 metres. The 945 today recorded 2 mins per 100. Do the units take time to adjust or is this likely down to gps accuracy. I have it set on gps glonas.
Love the reviews and my first port of call when seeking new tech.
My two sea tests have been failures: first one stopped recording gps+galileo at 94 yards and second stopped recording gos at 145 yards. Timer and stoke count continued for full 3600 and 3000 yards swims. GPS records fine on land.
I finally gave up on using watches to track OW on my wrist. I now just use my old Garmin 310xt under my cap for reference and the Apple watch on my wrist for a stopwatch and a (surprisingly good) track, but even then it throws a wobbler (no distance recoorded at all yesterday).
Garmin sent me a replacement watch (quick customer service from a complaint on their support site). Upgraded to 2.50 software. Still had the same problem — on an open water race around a 1000 yard pier, the new 945 tracked 498 yards (longest distance ever), while the 920 on the other wrist tracked 981, both having been soaked for about 30 minutes before. The next day the new 945 tracked 51 yards for an open water swim by my house, while the 920 on a pull buoy tracked 1,988 yards. (A beach run I tracked with both watches on separate wrists came up with the same distance and matching tracks.) From Ray’s other post I’ll wait for the software upgrade that’s supposedly in the works, but if there isn’t a good improvement I’ll return the “multisport” watch for a refund even though I like many of the other features. Hopefully my 920 will stay intact!
I pre-ordered the 945 and I think I’m gonna cancel and stick with my 935. People at Garmin furum are really disappointed with the GPS accuracy that in my opinion is the most important thing in a device like this. Ray’s review says it is fine, but I’m really concerned about this matter considering how good is the 935. Just slightly better than the Fenix 5 isn’t enough to justify $600 upgrade. It is the GPS that bad? Thanks
I had the 945 for two weeks and used it with great success on GPS + glonass. I found the GPS accuracy to be just about exactly what I would expect from my 935. I sent it back to Garmin because I was having problems with the battery life. my new one should be arriving this week sometime. I wouldn’t shy away from it because of the GPS accuracy. And when I had it I was really enjoying a lot of the new features.
Hi Toby! I’ve done a preliminary analysis on the GPS accuracy of the Garmin FR945 and, actually, it looks fairly good. I was fearing the change to the Sony chipset so I decided to do some tests and the FR945 is not too shabby! I will add further tests in the future but for the meantime the 945’s GPS looks solid!
The GPS (GPS + GLONASS) tracking is pretty similar to the 735XT I had previously – until the tracking went wild, at which point I returned it.
Neither of those two are anywhere near as accurate (tracking) as my old 305. With the 305, 99% of the time I can see what side of a 5 foot wide canal towpath I was running on. With the 945, at times, it looks like I’ve taken a swim or I’m running 10 – 15 feet off the towpath in a field.
As for the battery – built-in HR on, 02 sensor off, backlight at 20% plus e-mail etc notifications, it drains at 10% per day without any activity/GPS use.
Whilst running with GPS/GLONASS & built-in HR, it drains around 10% per hour.
Nice watch, but GPS accuracy isn’t as good as I’d expected and the battery drain is somewhat worse than I hoped for.
I just started OWS here in MN and my 945 has been dropping GPS connections on most swims. I wait for a good GSP signal and then start and shortly it will drop the GPS connection. Today during an Olympic race it dropped after 179 yards. I’m swimming on the same lakes I did with my 935 and sometimes I can get it to reconnect if I stop and hold my wrist out of the water but sometimes that doesn’t work either. Anyone else experiencing this?
Out of the 4 OW swims I’ve done, only one has successfully recorded a track – the other three have all recorded stroke rate, time etc but only ~100 metres GPS track. All have been in a 500 yard swimming lake with no tree cover etc. My other half has a 945 and hers is recording successfully. Looking here and on the Garmin forum, this seems to be a common problem. I was using GPS and GLONASS – hers was just set to GPS
Thanks for the info. Looks like my first swim was set to GPS only and tracked fairly well although due to cold water temp I stopped more frequently. Does anyone know if there is a fix coming for OWS using GPS +Glonass for the 945?
Yup, I noted in the review which sports I was able to do, and which sports I couldn’t do (with openwater being trickier due to weather at that time of the year).
Still, you’ll see some bits tomorrow on the openwater swim frustrations, due to my triathlon this past weekend and running into the same things on the Garmin MARQ series.
Hi Joey,
My 945 lost GPS tracking a few minutes into my OWS, I’ve had 1 successful GPS +Glonass OWS and thought it was related to software update 2.50 but that doesn’t appear to have fixed the issue. link to connect.garmin.com
Hi! Moving to FR945 from Polar. I have ordered the watch and already got HRM Swim from a friend. My question is that how does triathlon mode work – can I swap from HRM Swim strap to Polar H10 strap during Swim-Bike transition? Would that break swim HR recording in FR945 or cause some other issues related to activity recording? Alternative is to buy HRM Tri, but I’m wondering is that really necessary.
Hi Ray! My 945 is not showing temperature acclimatization. This page just does not show up on the training status widget. I have a history of workouts for more than a week. Do you know what’s wrong? Thanks!
I’m very keen to get heart rate data into my swims with this watch. I’ve tried, and swimming with a chest strap is unfortunately a non-starter for me so I guess that eliminates Garmin’s swimming heart rate offerings. Is there any product out there that can do this right now? I’m looking at Polar’s OH1+ and Scosche’s Rhythm 24 as options here, but apparently neither of them can sync their cached HR data into a Garmin watch for inclusion into the activity, right? But maybe Scosche is trying to make this work? Is Polar making an effort here too? The up-to-dateist info on this is hard to find!
Is there a way to see at the smartphone screen, in REAL TIME, all the information that you are seeing in the watch during an exercise (pace, speed, HR, maps, routes)?
It would be very useful when running at the gym with the smartphone in front of you. Even when cycling, it would replace a Garmin Edge (that’s why I think this is still not possible).
Hi. Can anyone tell me what’s your (latest) day of order FR945 from CT UK where you have already received the watch or order status changed to ‘shipped’?
I have ordered 9th of May and I’m wondering which orders (of what day of order ) are now in realization.
Thanks
Marcino, regarding Clevertraining UK orders. I ordered 945 on the 4th of May. My order was shipped on the 4th of June, although I have not yet received it.
Thanks for your reply. It looks like I will have to wait a while longer. But maybe during this time Garmin will do something with the constantly reported defects of this model, because it’s very disappointing for a Garmin’s flagship model that costs such a large amount of money. Now people pay and they didn’t get quality they expect.
Battery life, sticky buttons, cracks on sensors glass, etc… (in less than one month of using?) I can understand bugs in software but I don’t understand how such a big company like Garmin can put on sale so underdeveloped units of this watch. Such a simple thing like a buttons work can be tested for every production batch.
Cracks on sensors – problem that occurred in 935 so it should be totally eliminated in next model.
I am very worried about the unit of watch I will get and I started thinking about canceling my order until all the faults will be fixed.
Anyone else having major music related issues with this 945 watch? Connecting to my Jabra Active Elite headphones is a nightmare. I have to remove them and re-pair each time and hope for the best. Now when I try to update or play a playlist from Spotify it just says “unable to get content.”
The other features all work fine, but this is pretty disappointed since one major selling point was being able to run without my phone strapped to me for music.
Great review! .. I’ve been thinking of getting the new Forerunner 945, but a bit worried that the same problems that I’m having with Forerunner 935 would follow. Would you happen to know by any chance if the bottom material which covers the optical sensor in the 945 is the same that in 935 .. I am currently on my second 935 in 18 months time because the optical sensor cover material started cracking for no apparent reason in regular use. I got sent a replacement straight away, but now it has started happening again with the replacement watch .. cracking exactly the same way starting right on top of the 3 LEDs and the sensor, I have no clue what is causing the cracks, and I am still waiting a response from the support for the current case. Seems that I either have very bad luck, or somethings is wrong with this model .. would very much like to have a permanent solution and a watch that would last, and thought of upgrading but a hesitating to do it if the new 945 has similar materials with possibly similar problem.
Hi Jukka! I have had the exact same problem you had and I exchanged my 935 three times. Now i have the 945 and so far I haven’t noticed any cracks. The sensors and lights have a different placement on this one, the crystal seems to be curved a little bit differently and I’m really hoping the problem was fixed. I’ll let you know if I notice any problems.
So far my biggest gripe with the new 945 is battery life (well below the 2 weeks specified under ideal conditions but more frustrating a little bit less than the 935) and that seems to be an issue for everyone: link to forums.garmin.com
I’m hoping they will fix this with a software update pretty soon.
Thanks for the link .. although I wish It wouldn’t exists and that the problem would have been fixed. I’ll just skip any upgrade thoughts I had to 945 for time being .. feeling pretty disappointed.
I would contact the support and talk to them. If the cracks keep getting worse you will end up losing the sensor data and features that use them .. My thoughts are if they can guarantee a working unit I’d take that, but if not .. I would return it.
The biggest selling points with 935 for me were accurate GPS tracking, sleep and recovery tracking. Eventually when the cracks got worse, my first 935 couldn’t measure HR accurately anymore it was all over the place, I kept using it with HR belt, tracking my activities for few months before contacting support. But the lack of sleep and recovery tracking just made it eventually not worth for me to wear. I stopped using wrist watches about 20 years ago, when I got my first mobile phone with a clock on the screen. Been tracking activity with mobile phones when came it possible with sports-tracker and this was my first watch since .. wanted to track sleep and recovery and not carry a huge mobile phones with me while running.
Currently have Oura ring to track my sleep and readiness .. so I guess I can go back to using HR belt with 935 for activity tracking or go back to mobile phone.
In Garmin Express is shows the following as being installed and up-to date.
1. TopoActive Americas North 2019.10
2. Coverage of Europe, Middle East & Africa 5.50
3. Coverage of North and South America 5.90
4. Coverage of Pacific 5.0
If it go into Tools & Content > Purchased, it shows City Navigator North America NT as “Ready to Activate”. There is also a Redeem / Enter Voucher Code item on that screen.
Anyone know what the deal is?
I’ve hesitated from selecting activate since it would seem the watch would likely not have the space for City Navigator.
Hi Ray!!
More than 40 days waiting. In my CT order status says Complete. They don’t respond as fast as they should, and when they do they don’t really answer to my questions. It’s like we are not dealing with people anymore. “Stock is coming, we do apologize”. But when?? Approx. And why my order status is COMPLETE? How can a 500€ watch be lost?? What else do I have to do? THEY HAVE MY MONEY 40 days now.
Sorry Ray, This situation is absolutely overpassing me. Please do something, say something….
Sorry again for the troubles. Unfortunately, they don’t have additional FR945 stock to send out. My understanding is that they expect to have that in the next week. While I know CT UK would love to send you another unit, they simply don’t have one to send. I’ve talked to them every few days about your case.
Have you tried reaching out to DPD directly? I know you were hesitant to do so earlier, but the tracking clearly showed it left CT and was on the way to you via DPD (and left the UK as a country). I know that CT UK has reached out to DPD as well, but oftentimes having pressure from multiple sides can help. What does DPD’s tracking site show now?
Could it be that there is a bug with the smart recording setting?
I noticed the fit files for the 945 were way larger then for the 935, so I loaded them in the fit file repair tool and saw that even with smart recording enabled I had a datapoint every second, while the 935 was indeed ‘smarter’ and could have multiple seconds between datapoints.
I tested this again a few times, also just now sitting on my chair with an activity for 5 minutes, and again… 308 data points.
Switching to 1sec doesn’t help, so it seems to always record at 1 sec? This is for both running and walking (which makes sense because it’s a general setting).
I really appreciate your help and support Ray.
I have contacted with ALL OF THEM, dpd, dpd exports, and the last word I have heard from them(two weeks ago or-so) it was to get in contact with “Fulfilment crowd”. I dont know. They also asked me, back in time, about my address, the address is totally perfect on the order so.. Who knows what on earth is going on.
Im learning to be patient. The parcel tracking is a long ago paralyzed.(attaching picture). “Your parcel has left the UK and is on its way to Spain” (quote)
Long story short, no many news within these last two weeks. Today CT has sent me an email, asking me about my address, which is perfectly written from the very first time. I will go on holidays in July, if they dont do anything soon I will have to ask for a refund at the end of June. But for now, I have told the to re-sent me thewatch; the only problem is they dont say a date, time goes and if I lucky enough I will get another message on Thursday or Friday. Well, at least you’ve confirmed they would have stock this next week (what does it mean?? This week we are on?? Or the oncoming??
Comments regarding the 945 are quite pessimistic… Let’s see!!
Thanks Ray, I know for sure this has nothing to do with you.
Thanks for the reviews you make. I am using Polar now and have been doing it for over twenty years. But this review makes me jump to the Garmin camp, instead of buying the Vantage V. I hope it’s the right choice :)
I’m glad I’ve learned about this site (I’ve only heard about it when I photographed the Garmin event in Apeldoorn where you were participating). Been reading a lot n your site since then. So I’m planning to buy the watch at CV UK, but the comments here make me hesitate a bit.
After over 15 years with Polar I just switched to the Garmin FR 945. Besides the horrible experience of having ordered through CT-UK, my unit was received on June 10 (ordered on May 4). However, the watch is incredible. I moved from a Polar V800 and went for a ride to compare. The optical sensor was surprisingly accurate in comparison to the Polar chest sensor. Most of the time they were giving exact readings or showing a difference of only 1-2 beats. In terms of GPS accuracy…both are great. I’ve had no battery issues, on the contrary…the battery of the FR 945 lasts forever in comparison to the V800. I love the fact that it records my HR 24/7. Having said that, the new vantage does al that too. Personally, I don’t care for Garmin Pay or having music on the watch. Furthermore, I though that the Garmin would have more exercise profiles on the watch, as Polar does. I do mostly water sports and the Garmin has stand up paddle but no sailing, windsurfing or kitesurfing as the Polar does. I added them creating a custom (other) activity which has a generic Icon. Furthermore, Polar allows you to customize the data screens on the computer, which is a breeze in comparison to having to do so on the Garmin. Having said that, the Garmin Connect app on the iPhone is light years ahead of the Polar one. It’s mind blowing. So much data…Amazing. Garmin has many apps or watch faces that can be installed, but you have to choose because most of them are useless or you have to pay couple of euros to unlock their full potential. Would I purchase the FR 945 again? The Polar Vantage looks amazing…but in general the Garmin is currently a superior product…I just have to learn how to customize the unit better. I mean…adding and creating custom activities should be way easier and straight forward. Again, Garmin’s are great…thus I probably still have to figure it out…and the FR has so much more stuff than the Vantage… anyway…just my personal opinion.
Same here, I was a happy owner of a Polar M400 for five years, waited for the new Vantage to come out only to see the general disappointment.
I have the FR945 since two weeks and happy with it, but I still have a lot of features to discover. I mainly use it for running, swimming and as a bike computer.
Well, I was a bit worried when I ordered the 945 at CT, but I got the watch today, within two weeks after ordering. Clever Training said it would be shipped end of June, it came even earlier than expected. Happy man here! And thanks Ray for the discount :)
Hi,
I’ve just come over from the Polar side of the force and one feature omission absolutely puzzles me:
How the heck can people live WITHOUT the ability to have (manual) laps in a multisport session/race?!
In a triathlon I always mark laps for specific segments on the bike course (e.g. climbs, descents) so that I can check a certain Wattage goal for that segment against the “Lap average power” field. No manual laps on my new Garmin means my whole pacing concept goes out the window.
I wonder what the design decision was there: “Hey guys, in multisport mode, we need to re-purpose one of the existing buttons for changing sport. Should we use the Lap or the Stop/Pause button? Oh well, I think taking a short rest is a more common use-case in a race than wanting to take a lap, so: bye-bye Lap-Butto!!!”
I have not tried this, but I think you could achieve your goal by setting up a shortcut such as “Hold Down” to record a lap. It’s not ideal (assuming it works as it should) given that it requires a bit more attention but better than nothing. Hope it works!
Anyone knows how to change songs, increase volume etc while in running mode, for example? I have added the “music control screen” on the running mode page but can’t seem to find the controls.
Thanks
Long press the down button to get into the Music mode. Once you are playing a tune, the start-stop button will bring up a circular menu of options you are asking about.
I am wondering whether there is much to gain from using Trainingpeaks given the performance data available with the watch. Anybody else thinking about this issue?
Anyone else having issues mounting the 945 on a Mac? When i connect the watch, Garmin Express can see it just fine, but it does not show up in the file system. Due to this i cannot copy over the GPS Firmware Beta.
They are both very similiar. With the FR945 you’re getting more metrics than the Fenix 5 Plus (which won’t come to the Fenix 5 Plus). Whereas the Fenix 5 Plus obviously has a different look.
It’s for the most part a personal preference thing, beyond those new features.
I compared the 945 with a wahoo elemnt bolt paired with a tickr fit. Both computers were paired with a power meter on a 400k brevet.
The 945 HR was almost as good as the tickr fit, particularly when riding without stops. When traffic was stop-and-go, it didn’t do nearly as well – it got lost a few times for up to a couple of minutes. Tightening the band may have helped.
The main drawback of the 945 vs. the wahoo: no navigation.
The biggest benefit for long rides: battery life approaching 30h.
Dang, very impressive. I’d love to see what the battery drain profiles look like for those!
(Fwiw, we added battery drain metrics to the DCR Analyzer a few weeks back, supported on both Wahoo and Garmin devices. Happy to see what those graphs look like if you shoot them to me, just ray at my domain.)
I’m trying to decide on the 935 (I can get new for $400) or the 945 ($600)… I’d like some of the new training dynamics features of the 945, but trying to balance that with an the extra $200 with likely worse GPS tracks that come with it…
Anyone have thoughts on which way to go, 935 vs. 945?
Did you manage to install the newest firmware before returning it? I’ve heard the battery DID get better after that, but I can’t confirm since I also returned mine (a long time ago).
My 945 battery is much better since the latest firmware and turning backlight off until after sunset.
I charged it Fri morning, 14th June. Did 4 x 8km run laps over a 24 hour endurance event using GPS, then a 45 min walk using GPS on Tuesday and it’s currently on 33% on Thurs night in the UK.
SO, Garmin 945 is now out in Thailand and I want to treat myself to a present.
After reading comments about battery and people returning it etc I am a little worried.
I am between the Fenix 5 Plus and the Garmin 945. Hoping that if watch goes wrong I still have warranty here in Thailand although sometimes dealing with language etc is a pain.
So, should I get a Fenix or a Garmin 945 – and are the battery issues a real issue??
I just bought the 945. I cannot get it connected with my Powertap G3! 945 connects all other sensors, wattbike, friends bike sensors, but no my G3. G3 works with 920 XT so the hub itself is ok.
I’ll continue reading your insightful reviews Rai but regarding your sponsors NEVER AGAIN. The day before yesterday I canceled my preorder at CLEVER TRAINING, after 55 days waiting I’m going on vacation next week and I don’t want to carry any worry with me. Two emails sent asking for a refund and no answer yet. THIS IS NOT FAIR at all.
I’ll be using the g245 bought it here in a local shop. Thanks for everything Rai. Just EXPECTING MY MONEY BACK
I’m a runner who is also starting to bike a lot as well, maybe thinking of doing a triathlon in the future. My forerunner 235 just broke and I am in a bit of a dilemma on what to buy. Running wise I know the forerunner 245 wil be sufficient, however I think its time for me to get a device that will help me with my routing during my cycling rides as well. Till now I was using the 235 for my cycling rides as well. From a triathlon perspective I think I wont mind too much if my watch doesn’t perfectly transition from one to the other activity. So the way I see it I have two options:
1) Forerunner 245 + Edge 530 = pros: good screen for cycling routes, cons: not good for triathlon, doesnt have all the extra’s of the forerunner 945.
2) Forerunner 945 = pros: great for ALL activities incl. triathlon, cons: small screen for cycling navigation.
Which would you recommend? I think it comes down to how user friendly the cycling navigation is on the 945 screen. Do you know how battery draining it is to use the navigation during cycling?
Got my 945, and I have to say I am happy. Compared to my old Epix the accuracy is fantastic. Moreover I have to thank you as I bought it at a great price with your Clever Training referral!
On question I cannot gt my respiration rate with my old Garmin Heart Rate Chest Strap (although all the other metrics are there). Do I need to buy a new HRM or should I change something in my 945 settings.
Just curious why the garmin site has not yet been able to sell the 945. Also currently showing 3-5 weeks lead time. Does this point to problems with production?
Not sure what you mean. It’s been selling for two months now, with most back-orders with retailers in North America and Europe cleared (finally), in the last couple weeks. Where are you delayed?
The Garmin site is always last to get stock, they send stock to their other retailers first. Another example – Edge 830 says 1-2 weeks on garmin.com, yet in stock for next day delivery elsewhere
I placed an order for the 945 Bundle on June 19th and it has not shipped yet. I spoke with a Garmin rep on the phone about two weeks ago. He didn’t elaborate if there were production issues, however, he did mention that demand was high from their resellers. Resellers get priority above Garmin Direct orders in regards to inventory. The rep mentioned that they hoped inventory would be better by this week. I am not holding my breath but, I am not in any rush for a new watch. I have had my Fenix 3 for over four years now, I can wait a month or two if needed. I noticed late last week that there is a pending charge on my credit card from Garmin, however, the order status still says pending, and I have not received a shipment confirmation. I ordered the bundle since historically demand is lower and inventory tends to turn up quicker.
Hi Ray,
Just curious why the garmin site has not yet been able to sell the 945. Also currently showing 3-5 weeks lead time. Does this point to problems with production?
Pretty sure the heat acclimation only works if you sync the watch to your phone before you start the activity. Seems odd that it needs to do that given the temp sensor on the watch, but maybe they don’t use that assuming sometime it’s on your wrist (running) vs off (quick release for bike)?
Yes, you need to sync your watch to your phone before a GPS activity and make sure the weather widget is updated on the watch. Furthermore, it will only show heat acclimation if temperature in the weather widget is above 22º celsius. They also need 4 days of data to compute the heat acclimation metric.
Garmin does not use the built-in temperature sensor as the sensor is affected by your body’s heat (for example, one day the temperature might be 22º celsius but in your watch sensor it is 30º because you’re overheated). Bottom line, the watch temperature sensor seems to be useless.
Can this watch play m4p files? Looking at an Apple Music library, although the service isn’t specifically supported, if you download the music to your PC you may be able to get the files to the watch if it allows protected mpeg-4 audio.
I have some issues with iTunes on the 945. First you need to make sure your files are DRM free (meaning the no copyright protection) , thus tunes either downloaded to iTunes from a CD/MP3 you own or tunes where DRM have been removed ;-) All the tunes downloaded from Apple Music are protected.
Then I have to say that the watch acts a bit weird with some tunes that are either cut in the middle or that cannot be uploaded to the watch with no logical reason. But this is I believe a problem with Garmin that might be solved with firmware updates… a bit a classic lately with watches that still have bugs when commercialised.
So the best solution is to have a Deezer or Spotify account.
Thanks for your reply! So it seems that regardless of downloading files from iTunes (Apple music) if the files have DRM on them, they cannot be played.
I have been usining the 945 for a close to 2 weeks now and I am experiencing some issues.
First I cannot get the Stress Level measured, actually it mesures my stress level but I keep getting the message “Check Watch Fit”
Second I am trying to get my HRV Stress measured (with the Garmin Tri Strap) but same issue…?
Third, my VO2 max is not measured. I used to have a Garmin EPIX with a VO2 max thet worked well and showed a VO2 max of 44 (I know not great ;-) but since I changed to the 945 I do not get any new value for VO2max
I thought it would take a few days to settle and to get the Garmin 945 to ‘know me better” but after 2 weeks and various exercices still the same issues !?
Ray do you think I should return my Garmin… or is their something I can do to have these values to work?
I’ve been using the Fenix 3 and thinking of an update. However, as a Linux user I put the Fenix in mass storage mode and copy the training files over to my laptop without using Garmin connect. Do the newer devices still allow that? Is the connect app mandatory for the setup of the watch or is it just more convenient?
I’ve been using the 945 for a while now and am generally happy BUT why is the calorie count when swimming so low? 100 calories for an hour in the water?? The 935 was better…
From what I’ve read, Stryd (uncalibrated) is generally considered to be more accurate for distance and pace than GPS. Has anyone had any experience (good or bad) using using the Stryd footpod as the source of distance/pace data for the 945 instead of using the watch’s GPS?
When you use Stryd with your watch for distance/pace do you still get GPS tracking? After uploading the activity to GC, will I see the map or not? Thanks
Pretty sure you do. It works that way with a speed sensor on a bike. Having the sensor does not turn off GPS, it simply moves the source of speed/distance data away from GPS. You still get a track.
Got the 945 and tried it out with Stryd this past weekend.
I paired the Stryd as a foot pod and as a power meter, then in the “Sensors and Accessories” section of the settings I changed the speed and distance setting for the foot pod to always use the foot pod for those metrics.
I mapped out a course on Garmin Connect that was 17.95 km and went out for a run (didn’t use the map functionality on the watch to follow the course while running — haven’t figured out how that works yet).
At the end of the run, the watch reported a total distance of 17.95 km. The fact that it was so exact is a coincidence, but it gives me confidence in the accuracy of using the Stryd to measure running distance instead of using GPS (the watch still recorded the GPS track and the GPS track was included with the activity when it was uploaded).
Since the Stryd distance/pace seems to be very accurate, I’ll continue using the Stryd metrics instead of GPS as it will provide consistency between outdoor runs and treadmill workouts, plus it will provide accurate distance in areas where GPS is spotty.
Hi, another great review, cheers and please keep it all going. I ended up buying the 945 off the back of your reveiw and think it is an amazing bit of kit. In regards to the quick release, do you know if fitting the quick release wrist band stops the optical heart rate monitor reading whilst wearing it on your wrist? I’m just thinking back to the 920xt which had a solid plastic mount next to the wrist. Any advice much appreciated, cheers.
Dave, no the 935 / 945 quick release mounts are blank in the middle, so it doesn’t block the sensor. See this video: link to youtu.be I know it says 935, but it’s the same for the 945
Paul, thanks for the reply mate. I’ll order that now then, don’t think there will be need for a separate bike computer seeing as my edge 520 bounced off my bike the other day. ?
Do the training status metrics sync between Garmin devices? For example, if I log my cycling activities using my Edge 1030 and strength workouts using a 945, will the training status captured by both devices be combined and visible on both?
Sorry – I realise it’s a bit blunt (and probably born of frustration). The term was used because they’ve taken money with little expectation of supplying product in the near future.
I ordered through your CT link for Europe (accepting I have to wait a few days) – payment is taken immediately. 10 days later I hadn’t received it and I checked online and my order is still awaiting dispatch, so I rang them and they now say that they won’t be getting delivery till “early to mid-August”.
So, if I hadn’t rung, they’d have just sat on my cash for at least month. A simple message to say that there was a problem would have helped. And not taking payment till stock is available would be a reasonable expectation. There are way too many web traders that run fast and loose with customers money. I’m not even sure CleverTraining is a proper company – they appear to be a virtual company fronted by Fulfilmentcrowd or one of those other white-labelling companies (nothing wrong with that – just means there’s even less certainty regarding the transaction).
I appreciate the option to purchase with a discount. However, I do expect to transact reliably. I’d actually prefer you set up referral links with reputable suppliers.
Sorry if I caused offence – non intended. Your site is great and the reviews well written and independent.
Bought some Assioma Favero pedals from Clevertraining recently. Main reason for using them was the DCR 10% discount. Their website said ‘in stock’ and they shipped all right within a day or two and I received them in France a day or two later. Happy customer, will certainly use them again.
Recording heart rate of a pool swim seems to be a software locked out feature. Why is this a thing on a $600 watch? I wear my external ANT+ HRM (Polar’s OH1+) on the same wrist as my watch and it records my HR into my activity if I choose open water swim mode, but if I choose pool swim mode it does not. Is this just Garmin trying to force me to buy one of their swimming HRMs?
Dear Forerunner 945 owners,
concidering the fact that the new Edge 530 & 830 have gotten so much faster than the predecessors, I wonder if the Forerunner 945 has the same new processor.
Compared to my old Fenix 5, the Fenix 5 Plus is noticeably faster. So is the Forerunner 945 even faster than the Fenix 5 Plus?
.. There is an app in the CIQ-Store called “Connect IQ benchmark”. Could someone please install that app and post a picture of the Forerunner 945’s result, so we can compare?
Thank you!
I guess map-routing works much better on your Forerunner than on my F5+. Wow is Batterylife for you? Mine is terrible! Max ~7h for Bikerides (GPS+Galileo, ervery second, no optical Hartrate, BT on, connected to: Powermeter, Speedsensor, exern HRM, Light off)
Hi Ray,
I seem to have software version 2.60 on my 945, but the latest version is 2.50. Do you know anything about this? I received my watch on the 12th of July.
I wanted to bring to your attention an issue with the new Garmin 945 which i hope you can address so either Garmin or Power Tap do something about it.
I have been trying to connect Garmin 945 to Power Tap P1 and odd things happen.
First of all, instead of detecting on single Power Meter unit, Garmin 945 finds two! It is like, i guess, it does not recognise the two pedals as one, but as two separate units, i have no other explanation for it.
Secondly, it does not calibrate and as result the power reading is totally off. It keeps saying ERROR 0 CALIBRATION FAILED.
i tried any thing in the book, i contacted both power tap and garmin and in a very disappointing fashion, they keep raising their hands and blame the other and to contact the other. So neither are taking charge.
i think this is a Garmin software issue.
I have no problem connecting and calibrating the same pedals to any other Garmin unit, including Garmin 920XT and Garmin EDGE 1000. it all works.
Looking forward to some advice / intervention from you
thank you
Alessandro del Forno
Ray – There appears to be a bug with the 945 where it repeatedly reboots when trying to start an activity at elevation significantly higher than the usual elevation (for me 3000’+ compared to sea level at home), and if two CIQ data fields are installed on the activity.
Could people who have had this watch for a while provide some feedback on the glass?
I have had my Fenix 3 for 4 years now and without a screen protector I have nothing but a few small scratches.
I am looking to upgrade and the glass is important for me, as I do OCR (Obstacle Course Racing) so the watch takes a lot of battering in mud and scrapes against things.
It depends on your needs. The FR945 has the new Gorilla Glass DX, but unfortunately ,the normal one not the scratch resistant one. The advantage of this type of glass is that it is a bit more clearer to read. I put a screen protector and it’s fine, I can’t complain too much. I wish Garmin had put the DX+ version, that should be scratch resistant like sapphire glass.
Sapphire glass is not so clear and easy to read as Gorilla Glass DX and DX+.
Screen protectors are pennies, so why not use one ? My 935 (945 ordered from CT, awaiting UK stock) has been saved a few times by the screen protector – thats been scratched or cracked where otherwise the screen itself would have been in the firing line.
Wrist based oHR is very poor for fast changing heart rates – like those you would expect in intervals. I found it lags behind, and is often only just catching up by the time I am coming out the other end of the effort.
I use the oHR on the watch for steady runs, but a TICKR FIT on the bicep for anything where I want greater accuracy. Although still not perfect, its far better than the inbuilt HR, and way more comfortable than a chest strap.
Guys this is a first, there is a beta fw since July 15 that makes it possible to enable wrist based HR for pool swim and OWS! link to www8.garmin.com
Ray, I trust you will test this and compare with Polar and Suunto, please? :) Today I pool swam with a Polar M600. Avg HR actually looked fairly good at 113. Not so sure about max 132, think it’s too high for me swimming, but I’m not sure.
I sincerely did not think Garmin would go this way. Interesting.
Ray do you think older models will get this too? I have a F5X Plus which possibly is a candidate?
I bought a FR945 about a week. A major problem, face so far is the poor connectivity between the watch and my mobile (Huawei P20) and also hr monitor. My 945 randomly connects and disconnects. Whenever it is connected, it loses connection after a few seconds/minutes (the green icon changes to the gray in Garmin Connect).
Just returned from a 12-day backpacking trip through the Philmont Scout Ranch in the Sangre de Cristo range of the Rocky Mountains (northeastern New Mexico). I wore my new Forerunner 945 and it worked very well in following the GPX file I created to trek our chosen route using the Gaia GPS app. My only complaint with the F945 related to the ClimbPro feature. Our chosen route was fairly long (about 80 miles) and ClimbPro computed 6 distinct climbs in the route. That was fine, but instead of pulling up the climb we happened to be navigating during the hike ClimbPro kept defaulting to the first climb in the list. Despite my efforts to move through the climb list during the hike, I was unable to to do so. This did not cause major issues, but it sure would have been nice to have had the ClimbPro data for all of our climbs as we were hiking.
Open water swim is still not working for me. I tried GPS only and this morning irt stopped after 200yd. I am going to try the beta firmware but it doesn’t say anything about a fix for this. Last weekend I did a Tri in a lake and it worked fine. Does it just not like the ocean and waves?
I discussed it with Garmin on Friday. Expect another beta drop soonish. They believe they’ve made some substantial progress on the openwater swim front in recent weeks (applying not just to the FR945, but a number of devices).
It does sound like they’re taking the openwater swim issue pretty seriously now. It’s taking a lot longer, but I’m hearing a lot of people in Kansas are spending a lot of time in the water lately.
Bought some Assioma Favero pedals from Clevertraining recently. Main reason for using them was the DCR 10% discount. Their website said ‘in stock’ and they shipped all right within a day or two and I received them in France a day or two later. Happy customer, will certainly use them again.
I really love my 945, happy I bought this watch. So thanks again Ray for this review!
However, I do have an issue with the 945. One of the things I liked about the 945 is the crash detection, especially since I like to go out mountain biking by my own. Last week I went over the bar with the mountain bike and to my surprise the crash detection didn’t sent a message to my contact (actually, I wanted to cancel sending it, since I was allright beside some scratches). Later at home I was figuring out why it didn’t sent a message. On the 945 I can turn the crash detection on or off for several profiles, among others my personal bike profiles. But not my mountain bike profile (which is a standard profile). Which to me is strange. Garmin states that the crash detection works with outdoor walks, runs and bike activities (link to www8.garmin.com), so why not with mountain biking?
This is just a guess, but they might have it turned off because the chances for false positives are far too high for mountain biking. You wouldn’t want to spend your time cancelling text messages as you rode. I fell on Tuesday (wasn’t paying enough attention and got my front wheel caught in a rut in soft mud on a climb and keeled over) and am glad that I didn’t have to cancel an incident detection from my Edge 830, especially since it’s unlikely cell service was good enough for that anyway. (I did, however, get credit for my first jump!).
My performance widget used to show my running V02max and my 10K time prediction. It now shows my cycling VO2max and an erroneous FTP. Also, the training status is the cycling one. On the iOS Connect app, the training load for the 945 seems to include cycling data.
I cannot find a way to fix it (i.e. have the running VO2max and training status on the 945 and the cycling stuff on the edge). I’ve also noticed something new on the connect webpage: my 945 is indicated to be my “favorite activity tracker” and that was not the case with my former 645.
Has anyone experienced the same and found a solution to this?
Sorry for a non-tech question but I am in Sweden and would like to buy the 945 from Clever Training UK, to support Ray and of course get a good price :)
However, I emailed them 5 days ago asking about delivery time, but they have not responded. And their web still says “Expected late July”, which in my world was last week.
Are they alive? I have no problem with a long delivery time, as long as I know what happens, but I certainly don’t want to be left hanging with a pending order for the next two months or so with no way of getting any response from them.
I just checked with the CTUK folks, and the FR945 is now in-stock there. They basically had a manual override for the status to be set as ‘Late July’, and then when the stock came in yesterday it wasn’t manually updated yet. I’m told it should be switched back in to automatic mode and showing in-stock any moment now.
As for the 5 days delay to get a response, working on sorting that one out too. Sorry about that!
Ray, any observations on using the 945 in salty water?
935 has a known problem with salty water blocking/destroying the altimeter/temperature sensors.
Do you think it is safe to swim in the sea with 945?
Best,
Alex
I haven’t had any issues with sea water. But then again, I also haven’t had much of an issue with my other units either.
I think in some ways a lot of the same logic applies to not just previous Garmin watches but also 3rd party ones, which is that keeping it rinsed (with clean water/soap) on a frequent basis tends to go a long way towards ensuring the baro holes remain happy. Obviously, some do still break for some people, but I haven’t entirely figured out the pattern yet. It does seem that for some people they’ll go years without any issues (never having an issue), whereas other people go through like 3-5 units.
To me, that implies more of an environmental thing – something in how that person uses it, or their area, etc… that causes it. Not necessarily that person’s fault, just sorta the reality of that situation.
I am trying to choose between 945, 5+, and 5X+. I would prefer the 945 due to lighter weight (coming from Ambit3 Peak but watch only syncs via cable now, drives me crazy; app is still terrible). Have the battery issues been resolved for the 945 and 5+? Ambit3 Peak battery is still outstanding. Any input on battery performance and firmware updates to resolve would be appreciated. Thanks Ray, reviews are superb.
I have no issues with battery but I don’t know how long it would go without a charge. I normally charge for about 20 minutes a day when I am having morning coffee. Sometimes I will skip a day or two. I routinely do 4 to 6 hours rides with GPS. I have PulseOX on at night. I used GPS yesterday for at least 5 hours and only charged for maybe 15 minutes this morning and I am at 96% before my run. I have done a couple of social centuries where we hang out and have lunch so it is basically on all day and I have had no problems. I don’t even look at my battery level. Because of the respiration data I now use my 945 for rides and delete the activity from my edge. I only use the edge as a display during my ride. If they would fix the open water swim this is the best device they have ever had. The only thing I want is full mobile phone functionality (like the apple) and it will be perfect. Then we don’t need to carry a phone anymore.
regarding battery life in day-to-day watch: Garmin wearables have two power modes: low and high power mode. They are relevant during displaying the watchface. The difference between them is, that in high power mode the entire display is refreshed every second (regardless whether the screen content changes) but not only the display is refreshed but every calculation in the code (more technically in the onUpdate() method) is repeated. So we have the CPU calculating things and the GPU refreshing the screen every second. In low power mode this is done every minute. Since a fair amount of time Garmin has introduced in low power mode that only a small portion of the screen is updated as well as a small portion of calculations is done to let developers implement seconds on a low power mode.
Saying this a user wants to have his watch in low power mode most of the time to save battery. The high power mode is entered typically after a key press or a wrist turn (this is done by design from Garmin and can not be prevented). The high power mode is entered for 10 seconds to fall back afterwards into the low power mode.
I can observe huge differences in battery drain between the FR945 and the FR935. Let’s assume that the user’s day-to-day behaviour is the same on both watches the only thing a user can’t influence is the wrist turn recognition. I am using my watchface “Blink” which starts blinking after a state transition from low to high power mode for a certain amount of time to stop blinking afterwards. The time is refreshed by a new wrist turn. I have the feeling that the watchface blinks more often than on the FR935 which would be an indication that we more often see a high power mode on the FR945 which leads to higher battery drain.
What I could do is creating a new watchface or integrate it into blink that the amount of wrist turns or the amount of time in high power mode is shown to the user. I have to spend some more thoughts on that how to implement and show this. Unfortunately I have no reference to the FR935 any more. Maybe there are users out there who owns a FR935 to make some comparisons.
As per usual, a great and thorough review. Thank you.
How do you obtain and load maps for other regions. My 945 came pre-loaded with US/Canada as watch was purchased there but I’m going to Australia and NZ soon.
I just have a short question concerning the Garmin Training Management and hope that you can help me.
Is there any chance to see a report with your daily / weekly / monthly Time spent per Heartrate Zone / Sportstype.
From my trainingplan I get the specific HR Zones for each sport (Triathlon) and my trainer tells me per week like:
Swimming: 2h in Zone 3, 0,5 h in zone 4
Running: 2,5 h in Zone 3
Biking: 2 h in Zon 2
Greetings from Austria.
I am having big problems with my 945. Yes the buttons are sticky as many complain about, but worse the heart rate sensor already cracked. I only used for running in the sun and did not swim or go crazy mountain climbing or to extreme temperatures.
Someone can tell me why? I think the plastic must break very easy. I am sad because my ForeRunner935 also has the heart rate sensor cracked two times and exchanged with garmin. The watch is too expensive to have such problems. So disappointed!
Welcome,
Thanks a lot for proffesional review. Two questions
1. Is it possible to use optical heart rate monitor from Garmin 945 with Zwift and Tacx Neo? It is written that can’t be connected with ANT+ FE-C trainers
2. I have my zwift connected with garmin connect and workouts from zwift are uploaded to the garmin connect. I am using Polar OH1+plus as heart monitor and is paired with Fenix 3 but i don’t have any indication in training effect – there is 0. My main idea of change garmin fenix 3 to 945 is to use it for running and also for bike but 99% with zwift. I would like to have the most accurate training load and other new paramiters but not only for running but also for zwift bike ride. Is it possible?
1.) I do not think that this is possible as the broadcasting of HR is via ANT+ and you generally need Bluetooth for Zwift.
2.) Training load is determined only based on activities measured on a compatible device (ie watch or bike computer). I connect my trainer via ANT+ to my 945 and Bluetooth to Zwift. This way, Zwift can control the trainer, but the Garmin measures HR and power concurrently.
1) You can use the rebroadcasting with Zwift no problems via ANT+. It’s just you’ll need to have a Windows/Mac computer to connect to ANT+, since iOS doesn’t support ANT+, and Zwift choose not to support ANT+ on Android (where there is lots of good support).
2) I don’t know offhand what nuances Training Effect may have from a requirement standpoint on the underlying HRV data stream (and more specifically, what exactly the OH1 transmits with respect to RR data over ANT+ to the Fenix 3).
In my experience, No Garmin device is able to calculate training load correctly when an indoor cycling activity is done (it ignores the indoor activity). Furthermore, there is no unified training load that combines cycling and running (metrics for cycling and running are kept separately). The only time that training load is somewhat useful is if you are a single sport athlete and do your training outdoors (or on a track).
@bikepower every single one of my Garmin devices, 520, 935, 945 and 830 have recognised all my indoor training sessions and given them appropriate training load.
I pair my HR, and power pedals to the Edge unit, if your head unit is ignoring your indoor sessions I guess it’s not correctly connected to a sensor to tell it you are doing load!
No issues either for indoor activity accumulating Training Load assuming a power meter/trainer (with power) is involved. I did that today on a FR945 without issue and I see training load, and see it synced to my Edge 530 & Edge 830.
Ahh. I think I know what the problem is. I upgraded to an Edge 1030 and I have the old Edge 1000 hooked up to the bike that’s on my Wahoo KICKR (it’s a permanent setup). I think Garmin did not update the Edge 1000 to support training load, etc. That would explain why I get the data when I’m riding my road bike with the Edge 1030 and run data with the Forerunner 945, but only limited data when I use the indoor trainer with the Edge 1000.
Thanks all. I tried fenix 3 with polar oh1+ with indoor cycling program. Power, cadence from Tacx trainer. It showed training load. As it is based only on pulse so it isn’t as accurate as your described connections but it should work and give more or less picture of trainings. So with 945 also should work.
Some update. 945 come and i paired it with Polar oh1+. working ok. I tried also indoor bike and when i turn on tacx neo it paired automatically with speed and cadence sensor. I don’t know how i don’t know why but it works for me. There is no power as i have it in Zwift from Neo, also speed and cadence and pulse. So in 945 is speed and cadence and pulse. In Zwift Neo is speed, cadence, pulse and power. I had connected garmin connect with zwift so workouts were doubled. I disconnected it and now have only one workout from indoor bike in garmin connect. So there it is i wanted to have. It is not as accurate as with power but it gives some idea about training load. I remember at the my beginnig of the Zwift it was info that garmin sth is connected and i had to disconnect it. Now it works simultanously. Maybe these information will be useful for users.
So I’ve got my 945. Great watch, I was worried that it would look big on my small wrists but no, it doesn’t. Coming from a 645 it even feels better, like it sits better on the wrist. Very nice! Will be interesting to take it out for a run :)
One slight disappointment though. I would have assumed that the bigger watch would have a bigger screen – but no, it’s the same as the 645. On the 645 it wasn’t a problem, since the watch itself was smaller, but now there’s a glossy black ring surrounding the dark-but-not-black LED screen, which is clearly visible (much clearer than the photoshopped product photos from Garmin). It’s really disturbing when using one of the analog watch faces, since the screen never goes as black as the surrounding ring.
Now I fully understand compromises for battery life and that it’s obviously a good idea to reuse that screen in all watches (even the Marq and the huge Fenix 5X seem to have the same display?), but a tad disappointed nevertheless.
Is it really that hard to make the display a few mm’s bigger, to avoid this problem? It would make the watch truly awesome. Perhaps I’ll have to wait for the 955 for that to happen :)
(Not meant to criticize your great pics Ray, I should have looked closer on them of course. And it hadn’t been a showstopper anyway).
Agreed on the huge bezel .. once I heard about it in one of the video reviews (could have been DC Rainmaker’s one too) it was hard not to be disappointed and to ‘unsee’ it. As I usually use a digital watch face (the default one) it’s not so noticeable.
Now I will notice it for a few days though before it fades :)
Hi, my watchface Blink can show now optionally the minutes in high power mode of the current day and of yesterday. The string given is xx:yy at the bottom of the watch face where xx stands for the current day’s minutes and the yy for the yesterday minutes. Give the watchface a day to measure. To use the feature you have to go to the settings of the watchface and activate the corresponding opton. Maye there is someone out there who can measure both, the FR935 and the FR945.
Are you sure ANT+ FE-C can’t be utilized to control smart trainer? I found a campaign app link to geniuswrist.com which theoretically offers that option.
The Garmin watches don’t support the ANT+ FE-C device profile. Which means that while they support power, that doesn’t actually mean much here. That’s like saying speaking Chinese is the same as speaking Japanese. Not same-same.
Totally different standards doing more or less totally different things. Sure, power is a part of ANT+ FE-C, but only in the sense that it happens to see power.
So in the case of this developer, they had to entirely roll their own FE-C engine. That’s not exactly easy. Kinomap had long talked about it, but never did it. It also means they have to deal with all the stupid bugs/quirks that various trainer companies have. Garmin is lucky is that they’ve already dealt with all those quirks, but this app will have to re-learn all those lessons again.
Nothing against the app, just being honest on expectations.
Don’t get me wrong – I’ve argued Garmin should make FE-C available to the watches as well, either via CIQ or natively. But at the same time, I think Garmin implementing FE-C natively on watches is a waste of resources for Garmin. Mostly because virtually nobody is using FE-C even on the Edge devices, let alone the watches (I know, someone will say they are, but realistically I bet it doesn’t even account for 1/10th of 1% of use cases – if even that). So I’d rather Garmin spend that time on fixing other issues or adding features that are useful to a great portion of the population.
Hi, Is there anywhere that explains how screen automatically change when following a course?
For example, I scroll to the climbpro screen but after a few seconds the screen automatically moves to my first data screen. Every time. Lots of other map related screens won’t stay on screen but change after a few seconds. Are there settings I need to adjust?
Super detailed informaion! Thank you!
I have been using Polar V800 for a long time but it is timne for a change. I really struggle figuring out what to choose – Vantage V Titan or FR 945 for triathlon with mainly trail tunning and MTB. You almost made me choose the Garmin however my biggest concern is not being able to monitor my heart rate while swimming without the garmin strap. I do have Polar OH1 though which streams with no issues under the wanter.
Have you tried pairing OH1 to 945? Do you think it might be possible to use them toggether for swimming?
OH1 won’t give you “real time” HR whilst swimming, but the good news is Garmin released a beta of the 945 firmware that DOES enable HR whilst swimming from the watch.
Hi,
I bought the fr945 mainly due to my main sports are cross country skiing and kayaking.
When I upload a kayak activity it becomes wildwater paddling instead of just paddling.
Is it possible to in some settings in the watch or in Garmin connect manage so the sport is stored as i want?
Try renaming the activity to “paddling”. I have a couple of activities on my FR920 called “Paddling”, “Paddling Race”, etc and they all show up in Garmin Connect as Kayaking. They originally showed up as Stand Up Paddleboard, but they changed something and now they work.
I swim, bike and run. Then, I come here and write about my adventures. It’s as simple as that. Most of the time. If you’re new around these parts, here’s the long version of my story.
You'll support the site, and get ad-free DCR! Plus, you'll be more awesome. Click above for all the details. Oh, and you can sign-up for the newsletter here!
Here’s how to save!
Wanna save some cash and support the site? These companies help support the site! With Backcountry.com or Competitive Cyclist with either the coupon code DCRAINMAKER for first time users saving 15% on applicable products.
You can also pick-up tons of gear at REI via these links, which is a long-time supporter as well:
Alternatively, for everything else on the planet, simply buy your goods from Amazon via the link below and I get a tiny bit back as an Amazon Associate. No cost to you, easy as pie!
You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.
Want to compare the features of each product, down to the nitty-gritty? No problem, the product comparison data is constantly updated with new products and new features added to old products!
Wanna create comparison chart graphs just like I do for GPS, heart rate, power meters and more? No problem, here's the platform I use - you can too!
Think my written reviews are deep? You should check out my videos. I take things to a whole new level of interactive depth!
Smart Trainers Buyers Guide: Looking at a smart trainer this winter? I cover all the units to buy (and avoid) for indoor training. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Check out
my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
Get all your awesome DC Rainmaker gear here!
FAQ’s
I have built an extensive list of my most frequently asked questions. Below are the most popular.
You probably stumbled upon here looking for a review of a sports gadget. If you’re trying to decide which unit to buy – check out my in-depth reviews section. Some reviews are over 60 pages long when printed out, with hundreds of photos! I aim to leave no stone unturned.
I travel a fair bit, both for work and for fun. Here’s a bunch of random trip reports and daily trip-logs that I’ve put together and posted. I’ve sorted it all by world geography, in an attempt to make it easy to figure out where I’ve been.
The most common question I receive outside of the “what’s the best GPS watch for me” variant, are photography-esq based. So in efforts to combat the amount of emails I need to sort through on a daily basis, I’ve complied this “My Photography Gear” post for your curious minds (including drones & action cams!)! It’s a nice break from the day-to-day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
Many readers stumble into my website in search of information on the latest and greatest sports tech products. But at the end of the day, you might just be wondering “What does Ray use when not testing new products?”. So here is the most up to date list of products I like and fit the bill for me and my training needs best! DC Rainmaker 2023 swim, bike, run, and general gear list. But wait, are you a female and feel like these things might not apply to you? If that’s the case (but certainly not saying my choices aren’t good for women), and you just want to see a different gear junkies “picks”, check out The Girl’s Gear Guide too.
![image_thumb[17]_thumb[1]](https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2019/04/image_thumb17_thumb1.png "image_thumb[17]_thumb[1]")
![image_thumb[19]_thumb[1]](https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2019/04/image_thumb19_thumb1.png "image_thumb[19]_thumb[1]")
![image_thumb[26]](https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2019/04/image_thumb26-2.png "image_thumb[26]")
![image_thumb[28]](https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2019/04/image_thumb28-2.png "image_thumb[28]")
![image_thumb[30]](https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2019/04/image_thumb30-2.png "image_thumb[30]")
![image_thumb[32]](https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2019/04/image_thumb32-2.png "image_thumb[32]")
![image_thumb[34]](https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2019/04/image_thumb34.png "image_thumb[34]")
![image_thumb[36]](https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2019/04/image_thumb36-2.png "image_thumb[36]")
![image_thumb[20]](https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2019/04/image_thumb20.png "image_thumb[20]")
![image_thumb[22]](https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2019/04/image_thumb22.png "image_thumb[22]")
![image_thumb[4]](https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2019/04/image_thumb4-1.png "image_thumb[4]")
![image_thumb[8]](https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2019/04/image_thumb8-1.png "image_thumb[8]")
![image_thumb[12]](https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2019/04/image_thumb12.png "image_thumb[12]")
![image_thumb[16]](https://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2019/04/image_thumb16.png "image_thumb[16]")
Keep up the great work.
Wondering how many of the new things will trickle down… to the Stratos 2! :P
Maybe I am missing this but I haven’t seen it posted anywhere in the review or comments but what is the battery life of the 945 when using music?
Mark, there is a review in the Garmin forums on battery while using Music. The short version is that the user reports that it uses substantial battery capacity.
Can you change the preloaded maps? The 945 isn’t available here yet (Malaysia). I was thinking of buying one from the US or Europe, but would like to have local maps available.
I moved from Fenix 5 plus to AW 4.. As much as I wanted to love the Garmin (and want to love the 945), the AW just gives you a better ecosystem and functionality a cross the board..
I run and swim About 40 km a week, paricipate in half marathons now and then, but the AW just does a better job in most areas (not to talk about perfect integration with Airpods – 2).
Your comment is not meant to be serious, right? If not, read the whole article again.
Enlighten me (:
It’s a matter of preferences.. I like the screen, integration with phone, music and airpods, the ability to share with freinds etc. more on the apple watch than in Garmin, even though Garmin watches are cosidered more “sport oriented”.
Does the new worst-based optical heart rate sensor take HRV readings similar to Apple Watch?
Excellent blog
It’s such a shame they kept those big bezels around the screen. It makes the watch look so dated. This is the watch I was waiting for to be released, but not going to buy this. Looks years old. I hope a refresh of the 735 is coming.
I agree. The 245 looks fantastic compared to the 945. Not sure why they’re so different?
Can someone report on running battery life? My 935 (2YO) loose 4-5% per hour in running mode, that is around 20 hours of battery life, if the 945 is really lasting more than 30 hours, it should loose no more than 3% per hour. This is a very important for people running ultras. Thanks.
I just ran for 1hr20min GPS +glonass with run pod and tri HRM connected. Bluetooth on activity tracking on. Used about 5%. Not sure if I’m happy with take it not… Doesn’t seem that much better than my 935
I get about 5-6% with my 5X plus on GPS only with tri HRM connected. Bluetooth on and activity tracking for an hour run.
Great review, as always. Pre 945, I assume that the 935/735 and Fenix range were the only dedicated multisport watches being manufactured by Garmin. I ‘assume’ any 910s and 920s for sale would be ‘old stock’ or 2nd hand/refurbs? Is it reasonable to assume that in 12-18 months, only the 945,Marq and Fenix range will be manufactured as multisport watches? So it’s a nearly $1000 entry point for a Garmin tri watch? Or is there room for a 745 type ‘midrange’ watch?
Are you talking USD? Right now the FR945 is $599, the FR935 if $499, and the FR735 is usually in the $300’s. And the FR920 – which is somehow still more capable than most competitors out there, floats arround $200.
The Fenix 5 Plus is normally $649, though right now on sale for $499.
I do think there’s room for a refreshed FR735 (aka FR745), though honestly, I have no idea what they’d do to it feature-wise to not cannibalize their FR945. My guess would be no music, no advanced metrics, maybe not even power meter support. Hard to say.
Do you know what battery life one can get while using GPS+GLONASS? Since this seems to be a requirement to get good accuracy with the sony chip.
Garmin’s battery claim is actually GPS+GLONASS.
The FR945/245/45 will go up on the battery test slate (outdoors) later this week. Waiting for a small device to arrive to keep it moving/shaking, since that’s a key element in wearable battery testing. Though, given I can’t strap a human wrist to it for days outside, it won’t be inclusive of optical HR enablement.
Thanks for your great work! Did order one via Clever Training :)
Thanks – appreciate it!
Feel & did the same! Time to replace my XT 920
Thanks for all the deep analysis on your blog. I love the new music on the 945!
Great and amazing review as always!
Are you sure WATERPROOFING is 100M (see table)?
I think Garmin claims it’s only 50M
Ray do you need to use the built-in HRM for all those good Firstbeat/Body-Battery/etc training effect metrics?
I much prefer NOT to use that and instead use an external HRM (like the schosche products). Can you elaborate if this will cause some of the metrics not to be captured/recorded/analyzed?
No. I mainly use an HRM-Tri in actual timed activities – e.g runs and rides and gives all that. In fact those metrics will likely be a nonsense if your HR is also a nonsense – whatever HR source you use. As such, best to use whichever you think works best for you.
Do you know when will be available in Poland ???
Do you know anything about how scratch resistant the new Gorilla Glass DX is versus the ‘chemically hardened glass’ from the previous forerunners?
Not very resistant….have had mine for 2+ months and 2 scratches already. :\
Sorry for bothering, but where is the promised post on the new female health functionality? Thanks!
I was looking at a Fenix 5 Plus but now it seems that the 945 is a better watch. Can we see a size comparison in picture on a wrist? (I bought a 920xt and recalled seeing a similar picture on your review.) I have a small wrist (920 is massive so I don’t wear it all day…) but I’m hoping that the 945 could be worn all day. Thanks!
Sorry, $AUD. Nearly a grand for the watch and over $1000 for the bundle. A lot of coin for a watch!
Ray in the review you mention “typically vendors significantly bump up the optical sensor light/power draw during a workout versus in 24×7 mode”. Do you happen to know if one can “force” the 945 to be on high-power draw even during the 24×7 mode? In my tests of the 935, it was really struggling getting my HR during walking around in 24×7 mode (cadence lock with fast walking) but if I were to start an activity, the HR would be spot on.
No method to change that unfortunately.
Ordered one (Clever Training UK) Did anybody receive theirs yet? My status keeps saying “processing”.
I ordered there, too.
Asked them, if they knew, when they will have the watch available.
Answer: first watches are expected at the end of this week, but they are not sure, that they get enough for all orders.
Get on Wiggle, I’m getting mine tomorrow.
I tried on Clever Training Uk and their risk assessment rejected me.
I think I prefer to support this site directly.
10% off for CT UK is worth waiting for tho!!
I went for CT over wiggle as a £52 discount was too good to ignore, happy to wait a dew extra days for the watch.
Thank a lot for the review. in the comparison it would be very useful, beyond technical features, to have a clear view on materials used (glass, plastic etc.) it would ease the comparison and understand the cost drivers for those who are not familiar with other model (fenix plus, suunto 9 etc)
thanks!
Coming from a 935, looks to me like it is build the same exact way, using some kind of chinesium alloy for the body and recycled sewer pipes and condoms for the band. Like Ray mentioned, they have changed the colors on the buttons. The screen still has that huge bezel too and at least it is using the same connector for the cable.
thank you!
I indeed understood it is similar to 935, but how about fenix5 x plus and fenix5 plus?
I d like to understand if the material used (especially for the glass) is worth spending more for a fenix for less features than Fr945
thanks!
The 945 like the 935 are basically Fenix 5 Ps as in “plastic”. The metal body of the Fenix looks better, but not much. I had a Fenix 3 HR and 5 bith with sapphire. Size might be different, but they kind of both look the same (black), and never had an issues with body or screen scratches on any of them, and I do sport activities on a daily basis. Sapphire is not worth it IMO, at least the MARQs in term of material look much better IMO than the Fenix 5, but are not available (yet) and expensive.
very clear thank you
well obviously, as FR945 glass is quite solide material, the gap of functionality doesn t justify to go for fenix
thanks
Can anyone describe which metrics are tied to the onboard HRM and which ones are not? I suspect things like Pulse Ox would be, but it’s not clear on the rest (like training load, etc).
I want to know what the drawbacks are for turning off the HRM and going with an external HRM instead.
This would be something that would be helpful to include in the comparison chart.
The “onboard” HRM is always used outside a timed activity so for your general health stats so you would need to wear it all the time for best effect. In a timed activity (which are used for training load) you can elect (as I do) to use an external HR strap instead on a belief it gives me more reliable results. That said I did try OHR for a run and it worked a lot better than some previous devices have in that regard.
Thank you for the reply!
Just got mine today and par for the course for good old Garmin, it’s crippled by what I hope is simply the usual firmware buggery, and not a Fenix 5 redux with its b0rked antenas. Yes I did update to firmware 2.40, for the obvious Captain Obvious/Garmin my-product-is-perfect fanboys.
Wi-Fi is sketchy at best regardless if setup directly from the watch, GE or Connect on my phone. Half the time it stays stuck at “Searching for Wi-Fi network”, and I have defined three networks that work flawlessly with other devices. At least when it does accept to connect, Spotify sync is working as expected.
Caveat Emptor
I hope it’s simply Garmin’s usual firmware QC buggery
Ray,
Any idea if Garmin intends to introduce its inReach emergency technology with the Fenix 6?
That seems like the next critical feature for a true backcountry adventure watch.
Cheers,
Ben
I wouldn’t see inReach being added into any watch anytime soon, mainly due to the antenna size alone being large than the watch itself right now. :-/
In the future the Galileo satellites should provide a service similar to inReach, called SAR. I don’t know if it’s already operational. link to gsa.europa.eu
It should be interesting to ask Garmin if in the future they will support this service in their watches (obviously when the service begins to be operational).
But maybe to use this Galileo SAR service the antenna of the watch is too little, like Ray suggested for the inReach. Looking at the video in the link above where the man in the boat is calling for help, it seems that you need a big antenna
The main difference between Galileo SAR and inReach is that maybe Galileo SAR is free (without cost for the user), but I don’t know if Europe decided to give this service for free.
Ray, thanks again for a great review.
Garmin’s Web site says 10 hour GPS battery life (60 hours in ultra-trac).
Your review, and other reviews I’ve read say 36 hour GPS battery life.
Which is accurate? Thanks.
10 hours with music.
36 hours without music.
I’ve not seen better GPS accuracy on any other watch.
In GPS + Glonass mode, on the 1st lane of track, my 1K repeats tracked as 1.00km (5 reps) and 1.01 (3 reps).
link to connect.garmin.com
I can’t seem to find answer anywhere on that: is there any option to set up audio alert when you get out of your hr zone? Either above or below? I remember this feature on polar and I miss it desperately on vivo active 3. Does forerunner fill the gap? Thanks Ray!
There most certainly is, at least on my 935, so I have absolutely no doubt that there’ll be a similar feature on the 945.
One caveat: I found that the HR low/high alerts needed to be spaced apart by a minimum of 10 bpm – when my coach had my e3 as going from 128 bpm to 135 bpm, that was a problem. (It broadened significantly as my fitness improved.) Apart from that though, you can definitely set a low/high alert whilst running, and I’m fairly sure a similar feature applies for cycling if you want it (though I never used that myself.)
Thanks Stuart!
I ordered this for my 945 but the protectors are marginally too big (fit on the bezel, not directly on the glass). There are no specific 945 screen protectors on Amazon that have been reviewed as yet.
link to amazon.co.uk
So it sounds like the bezel is smaller than the 935? That doesn’t sound right, I doubt they’d make such an incrementally trivial change like that. Maybe it’s just a bad vendor on amazon?
I pre-ordered a 935-specific screen protector from Amazon as well (mostly to get a matte finish as opposed to the glossy it comes with) and I’ll post back how mine fits.
the bezel is not the same as the 935, I bought some protectors from Ebay
I got the 4 pack from diruite on amazon and it fits. it’s tight and I had to get it just right, but got it on without wasting any screens.
Hi,
Can you please send the link? I’ve also bought some but they don’t fit, same for the one I had on my 935…
Thx
link to amazon.com
Thanks, I got them but still not…
Hi Ray, great review. I currently have the 935 but do enjoy listening to music so would be happy to upgrade so I don’t have to also take my phone out. My question is about the music function, if you pair the watch with waterproof Bluetooth headphones would it work in the pool. That would seal the deal for me. Thankyou
Bluetooth won’t transmit under water. Same reason ANT+ and BTLE straps don’t work under water.
Hi! For those who already have the watch what are your first thoughts on it? How’s the battery life? Found any bugs/problems? What do you think about OHR and GPS accuracy (while we wait for DCR to write the next review)?
Thanks.
Gps is reasonable. No worse than 935 but strays a tad in places
OHR is very good. Much better than 935
Battery life.
A 30 minute run with OHR, GPS+Glonass, RD Pod and music took about 9% – so I am doubting their numbers.
SPO2 *kills* the battery, drains hugely. That being said they do warn this.
Thanks David. The advertised battery life on the 945 seems to good to be true :) but you turned music on which Garmin says cuts a hell lot of battery life from the watch.
Have you noticed if the battery drains too quickly when the watch is not in sports mode? I’m fearing that the other sensors like spo2 can kill the battery life too soon (vs. the 935). Thanks
SPO2 is a battery drainer if on all day mode. Seems good otherwise.
Yeah, SpO2 is fun to play with for a week, or if you’re at high altitude, and then you’ll realize how quickly it burns battery and turn it off. Though, the red light is cool.
I would keep “Sleep Pulse Ox” though, good way to detect sleep apnea, especially for people sleeping alone.
Hi ray,
If I want the temperature and altitude acclimatation for my VO2max, do I need to keep the all day SpO2 on ?
does this mean I might be able to justify using HSA for this purchase!? Sweet!
What do you think is the better buy: 1) Garmin 945 or 2) Garmin 245 + Stryd?
So with 2) you loose maps, some additional training metrics but gain more accuracy in running power and instant running pace. Garmin pay is pretty much useless in Portugal so it’s out of the equation.
I’ve looked into some reviews on Garmin Power vs. Stryd and I feel that either Garmin’s power
is wrong or the numbers are pretty much useless because they are excessively volatile. You would need to adjust your running pace a gazillion times to keep it at about the optimum power level. I’m not saying the absolute number of Stryd is correct (they don’t take wind into account) but it surely seems smoother and usable in practice.
Easily #1.
I guess with running power in general, there’s just too many variability for my taste. Maybe over time that’ll change as hardware evolves…but not today.
I word of warning if you try and order from CT in the UK. They charged my credit card, then cancelled the order. I tried a different card and they did it again. It’s now 5 days and I haven’t had the money back yet. Apparently I failed a security check and have been red-flagged!! It would be funny if it a) wasn’t £1000, and b) wasn’t the only discount you can get in the UK.
UK staff can;t do anything – it’s all ‘Head office’ in the US…and they’re not saying very much. Apparently this has happened to a ‘few’ people in the UK.
Sorry DCrainmaker – I wanted to support the site with an order but instead I’m a grand down. :( Red flagged means you can *never* order from them in the future.
In 25 years of shopping online this is a new one….
Scary!
I’ve ordered from CT uk and they have taken money, my order has been sat processing since then.
I hope I don’t have the same experience, but can you not just let your CC fight it out with clever training? A few CC recharges and Mastercard will take them to task
Same here in Germany. CT canceled my order for security reasons (no comprehensible), but nevertheless blocked the amount on my credit card.
Never-ever-Clevertraining-again.
I ordered from them as well to give DCR support but they emailed me today to tell me they won’t be getting enough stock and they won’t know when they will fill my order. They had already charged my card last week too. Sorry, Ray, I’m going to get it from one of the shops that does have it available.
Hey Guys – sorry for the CTUK rejection troubles (credit rejection). There’s definitely something amiss, and CT HQ is looking into it as we speak. As noted, way too many people are getting rejected (more today than I’ve seen in two years combined).
I appreciate the support, and hope to have things untangled shortly!
I can’t get anything from CT at all so taking it up with the card issuers and Mastercard is on the list for tomorrow. I haven’t had the couple of hours spare it’ll take to go through it all. :)
Appreciate the intervention, Ray. Hope you have better luck than everyone else. :)
Hi Charles, did you ask them for an update or did they just email you explaining the problem? My order is still processing, haven’t heard anything back from them, the cc is charged too.
CT need to contact affected customers to say “We’re looking into this, please stand by.” If it were me affected by the problem, and I heard nothing from them, I’d be contacting my credit card company and asking for a chargeback, and if there’s anything a merchant doesn’t want to have to deal with, it’s a flood of chargeback requests.
They need to get ahead of the puck, in other words – simply looking into it quietly is going to cause more problems for them down the road.
@Kevin – I e-mailed them to ask and they said that they would get them at the end of this week and they would ship this next week. They followed that up two days later to say they weren’t getting as many as expected and that there won’t be many. FWIW, I ordered within 30 minutes of it going live.
I just phoned CT UK and was told that they are getting deliveries next week, but have been told they will not have nearly enough units, and will be fulfilling on a first come first served basis, and wouldn’t be able to tell me when or if mine would be fulfilled.
I don’t mind waiting for things if I can get a clear idea of when, but open ended vagueness isn’t something I’m willing to accept from a retailer. I cancelled my order and ordered from Wiggle
Sorry Ray
Can anybody comment if the credit card problem is already solved? I am going to order through CT UK, but I am a little bit worried……Thanks
Just posted by garmin netherlands
On the vívoactive® 3 Music, Forerunner® 645, Forerunner® 645 Music and the fēnix® 5 Plus series, the safety and tracking functions are now also available!
Btw just ordered the FR945 ? to replace my Fenix 3 HR.
Ordered Saturday afternoon from CT and got a shipment confirmation today… Also ordered the 530, though did that about two weeks ago, but still no word on that shipment.
Ordered the Forerunner 945 from Wiggle on sunday evening and received it on tuesday. GPS accuracy is even better then on my 935 (6 activities in open area, near buildings and in woodlands) so i‘m really surprised. No problems with sensor connections (jaybird headphones, stryd power pod etc.). WLAN setup worked fine but to synchronise with spotify drains battery really fast.
Is temperature adjusted Vo2Max a software update and therefore will be available on the Garmin 935 as well?
Garmin support have already indicated that the updated 7 day training load metrics will be available on 935. However these are not currently showing in Garmin Connect on the phone (only overall value and status are available).
I have a 945, on Garmin connect I can see “respiration rate” in exercises when paired with Scosche Rythm+.
I thought I would need a chest belt for this(?)
Without the Rhytm+ and only using 945 wrist OHR these respiration figures are not shown.
Have not received my unit yet and was just wondering (as a new-to-Garmin user): Do they support rotating the screen?
Would be usefull in the TT-position…
The screen on the 945 is round. I’m not sure that there would be a benefit to be able to rotate the screen.
well, the benefit would be that when you have your arms extended forward (like an an aerobar), you wouldn’t be looking at your numbers sideways ;-)
@Ray any chance you used V800 or any of the older SIRF-based watches as a reference for GPS comparison? They’ve always been better. Now it’s only the new, I’d say inferior, chipsets for your runs so it’s hard to see how really good the newest watches are.
On the course creator
If i buy the watch in the UK – Am going to US for work and want to run some trails, assuming I create the course in course creator and download it to the watch will I see a map or will I just see a breadcrumb trail like the older models ?
I bought a Fenix 5 and now a Fenix 5x Plus in Germany. Regular European edition, official dealers, nothing special. I do not know why, but I had full US maps on multiple occasions (California and Texas) without getting any additional maps from Garmin or anybody else. So I guess this should work for you, too.
Ray,
I know your previously preferred watch was the Fenix 5 Plus, and it may be too early to tell, but will you stick with the Fenix or swap to the 945? I’m only curious because I am torn between the 2. With the Fenix currently being cheaper than the 945, I see it as the better value as it does almost everything the 945 does but with higher quality materials. I know there are a few features the 945 has that the Fenix doesn’t but those are not features I personally find much value in. I could be missing something though. What are your thoughts?
Awesome review by the way. Thanks for all that you do.
He said this in the summary
“There’s pretty much no question the Forerunner 945 will be my mainstay watch going forward. “
I must have missed that. Thanks.
My FR945 is otw from CT. Yay!
Hi Ray,
It appears the 945 does not have the virtual partner function which I find useful. Seems the 245 and lower models have it. Do you know why it was scrapped in the 945?
Tracy
It’s there (though it’s not clear from the manual which specific activities have it available.)
link to www8.garmin.com
As noted, it’s there.
Could you please tell me how quickly CT ships to US?
CT is located in the US, so shipping is pretty quick. I don’t believe you can order from CT UK and get it shipped to the states and even if you did, you’d pay a lot for import duties and have the wrong maps on the unit.
Ray, thank you so much for all the awesome geek-sport information that you every time provide.
I use a Polar RS800CX PTE with all the sensors and it still works for me for sports but it’s in the past compared with a Android Wear watch or a dedicated sport oriented watch like Garmin flagships.
To bury my RS800CX in the technology graveyard I need something that have both of these worlds but it still doesn’t exist. A real sport smartwatch that has all the sport sensors or at least that can communicate with them and be real smart that can function with Google Maps/Earth, Strava, etc. Polar tried with M600 but it has ridiculous battery, can’t communicate with the sensors and is too slow. And probably we won’t see that in a couple of years, or we have something that’s just for sport or is just a geek watch. We still don’t have a watch that we use all-day for maps/orientations, apps notifications and get out to run, cycle or trekking with maps.
You work close to the developers, will we see that soon or they don’t have the interest? Apple is just too closed/proprietary, Garmin is just for sport and Android Wear watches are trapped in limbo.
bought on CT on the 30th of April. still not shipped. yesterday they said to me they are expecting a stock later this week…
does anybody in the uk have more detailed news on shipping times?
Hi Pedro,
i also buyed on CT UK on 30th April, no delivery yet…
Same here. Early May has come and gone, the money withdrawn and the order is still “Processing”.
Now ‘late may’ in CT UK orders… (only for the new preorders?)
36 hours of gps life, is that
GPS only
Or
GPS + Glonass
The 935 was not 24 hours of battery life when using GPS+GLONASS, it was 24 hours on one second recording with GPS only
Battery life is based on GPS+GLONASS according to a comment from Ray above (6th of May).
Worth considering before you buy this: I have a Garmin 645 that I’ve been unable to upload workouts to for a couple of months now, thanks to Garmin’s buggy software. Garmin Express for the Mac is broken and has been for months, refusing to sync anything to the watch after falsely claiming it’s not the default activity tracker. And Garmin Connect mobile for iOS is also broken, just failing to upload workouts to the watch (no error reported, it just doesn’t do it).
Having bought the watch to drive my running interval sessions, I’m extremely annoyed. More so due to the lack of response from Garmin. (See Garmin forums for the whole saga.) I’m even more angry with Garmin as I’ve got an Edge 520 with a crippled battery ever since firmware v12.60 was unleashed by Garmin.
These devices might boast an attractive set of features on day 1 but by the end of year 1 Garmin no longer cares about fixing the many bugs it has introduced.
Buyer beware.
Have you tried opening up a Garmin support ticket? I haven’t heard of any sort of widespread upload issue blocking people for months (I use iOS upload daily without issue, along with many others).
Yes, I’ve opened on every recently when it became clear that no fix was going to be implemented any time soon.
I’d offer you links to the threads showing the 2 long-standing problems but the Garmin forums are down for migration to the new platform, ironically. iOS upload worked for me months ago but is broken now. And Garmin Express for Mac has been broken for months. Very disappointing.
Garmin Express has been working fine for me on both my MacBookPro running Mojave (10.14) and my MacPro running Sierra (10.12). Syncing, updating various devices including maps have all been working as normal. I don’t have many workouts, since I only use them in the winter, but I was able to send them to my Edge 1000 over the winter with no difficulty.
You’ll be able to sync to your Edge 1000 absolutely fine as it isn’t an activity tracker. Do you have an activity tracker watch, and is it syncing too?
Yes but it’s not a Garmin, and all of the “steps” crap on my Apple Watch is kept quiet as much as possible. (I cant keep it from counting “steps” but I can keep it from bothering me about it.). My Garmin watch is my Epix and I don’t remember if it can count steps but it’s turned off if it can.
So after a bit of to-and-fro with Garmin support by email, they admit that Garmin Express for Mac and Garmin Connect for iOS are both broken and that you can’t create a Workout then upload it to the FR645 from either platform.
Stupendous work, Garmin. You just killed the very feature that I wanted from the FR645.
Again, beware of Garmin’s buggy firmware and software before buying one of their devices.
Hi Johnston,
Sorry to see that you are having some issue getting workouts uploaded to/from your Forerunner 645. We will want to try and determine what exactly is going on with your device. There shouldn’t be any reason why you are not able to sync data between your account and watch. If possible can you reach back out to our Support team so that we can assist you directly? It looks like we need to look at your situation again.
Hi Joey,
Interesting that you reply to me here in this widely-read blog but not in the Garmin forums where this and other bugs sit unheeded for a year or more.
I have got a case open with Garmin Support and they agree that both the Garmin Connect iOS app and Garmin Express are broken in this regard (Chris’s email to me of 21 May), and as you can see from the Garmin Forums they’ve been broken for ages.
Here’s a year’s worth of pain on the iOS app – https://forums.garmin.com/apps-software/mobile-apps-web/f/garmin-connect-mobile-ios/145578/garmin-connect—ios-not-syncing—workouts-or-training-calendar
…and 6 months of broken Garmin Express for Mac – link to forums.garmin.com
Cautionary tales for any potential Garmin customer.
Are you a Mac user? Then don’t expect Garmin Express for Mac to work – it’s been broken for around 6 months with no fix in sight. Here are the details.
link to forums.garmin.com
link to forums.garmin.com
Worth thinking about if you’ve got a Mac and iPhone (see earlier post about broken Workout upload from iOS) and were thinking about buying a Garmin device. The decision is yours.
I’m an iOS and Mac user and Express works fine for me. I recently added an Edge 830 and Fenix 5+ to my collection, and both sync with no problems along with my VIRB 360 and the older devices I have synced recently (Epix, Edge 1000). I don’t count steps. So the problem isn’t universal. (You’re not using any “anti-virus” crap or a “cleaner” on your Macs, are you?)
Nope, I’m not using either of those things.
The problem is widespread enough to continue to feature on the Garmin forums for months.
And Garmin Support have just emailed me back to say “I have now added you to the ongoing investigation. As this is a know issue currently, and is being worked on by the engineers, please be patient whilst they work a fix. And apologies for any inconveniences, ” so they’re not denying the bugs exist.
To reiterate, the problem relates to activity tracking devices such as the FR645. The VIRB, Edge 830 and Edge 1000 are unlikely to trigger this bug as they aren’t activity trackers (as in, daily steps, resting HR etc).
Oh, I don’t doubt that Garmin software has bugs. I’ve used Garmin software too long not to know that they always have bugs. Just saying that I’m not being affected on both Mojave and Sierra. If activity tracking is the cause, just turn it off and see if that helps. So far my 5+ isn’t causing any problems, and it’s set as my primary activity tracker but tracking is turned off on the watch.
I don’t have a sports watch. I can buy a used 935 for $300. Would this be a better deal than a new 245? Or, is the 945 worth the price over the 935?
New sensors, Firstbeat metrics, Pay and Music; so I would say yes having migrated from a 935 myself.
My 945 came in from Clever Training today. Looking forward to setting it up. I noticed on Amazon that there are all kinds of bands and so forth available. Are those little covers for the charge port even worth getting?
Great review as always. If you use a HRM-SWIM strap will this contribute towards training status and load statistics? I’m tracking those data points but it’s frustrating to have gaps where I’ve completed pool swims.
My buttons are a little soft. Doesn’t really have a good tactile feel to them. It seems to soft press halfway and have a false click until pressing harder to actually activate the button. Ordered from clever training and was wondering if anyone else is having this problem?
yes, exactly the same issue. I am going to give it a little time to see if either I get used to it or it gets better. Others have reported exchanging and the replacement was OK, maybe they just had a bad batch
Hi everyone,
does the 945 have the ABC widgets (just like Fenix watches have it) ?
Thanks!
Must say that I’m pleasantly surprised that the music part (through Spotify) linked to a pair of Bose SoundSport actually works without a snag. Battery then drains rather quickly but not unexpected.
Now Garmin needs to integrate mobile telephony so that we can ditch the phone (i.e. if you need to call for help) when working out.
Weird, I can’t seem to plug my F945 as a Mass Storage Device regardless of USB Mode selected (MTP vs Garmin).
@Ray – when plugged into GarminExpress I see a few available map options. One being TopoActive North Americas which is 7.9 GBs… I was under the impression the device came loaded with maps from the original region of purchase. Do I need to install the nearly 8gb update? How much available storage does the F945 have?
Starting a while back with the music devices, you’ll see them show up like a music device – still a file system accessible device, but not with a drive letter (assuming you’re talking Windows).
As for the maps, that’s just the updates. For whatever reason, Garmin has always delivered entire map updates, not differentials. I’d save that for a rainy day.
I don’t see it at all when I’m plugged in to my machine (mac). I do however see the option to add music via Garmin Express but vía a drag and drop file system option.
I’m interested because I’d like to drop and save a few files from other folders.
That said, I’m not sure how to get to these update files.
Did you find a way to browse the file system of the 945? I am still unable to browse in either Garmin or Music mode…
Nevermind… I found this in the manual “NOTE: Mac® operating systems provide limited support for MTP file transfer mode. You must open the Garmin drive on a Windows® operating system. “
Just for internet searching sake… the solution I found for OSX (10.14.5) was to install Android File Transfer, and select MTP on the 945 when connected. This allowed me to browse and grab what I needed, which was screenshots :)
As a Mac user who prefers (for privacy reasons) to manually upload workouts, this is a near deal breaker for me. At least there’s a workaround.
@Brian – Thanks for posting this… I haven’t had time to dig further after finding the same thing in the manual.
Wrote to fb and garmin asking for new fb features as addon…(pay) and they seem to say if enough people ask for it they may consider it for the fenix 5xplus .
Write in! Garmin
REI is running their Anniversary sale starting May 17th and REI members can get 20% off a single full price item. Anyone know if this maybe used for the purchase of the Garmin 945? This would be a pretty good deal if it works.
No, it’ll be excluded. Specifically “GPS devices” is the exclusionary category.
Is the 935 cable the same as the 945 or due to the music side they are slightly differents??
Thanks in advance
Identical.
Ray,
The 645M has a different cable (looks identical to others) which allows for uploading music so wouldn’t the 945 have a different one as well? I had to put a tag on my 645M so I’d know which one to use when uploading music.
Does the 945 have the same navigation limit as the 935 : only 50 navigation points are supported ?
I don’t find much info on this on the internet, but it bothers me when I use the 935 for navigation on longer bike rides where 50 points is not enough. I’ve read it was 150 on some other models (which would be a much more comfortable number).
Technically I also do not understand this limitation as I can’t imagine it to take up a lot of memory either.
Do you guys also find this annoying ? Or how do you get around this limitation ?
Kind regards,
Wouter
There was(is) a test done on Garmin forum(temp down).
FR945 can manage 200 Course points.
200 is pretty poor, I think my Fenix 3 supports 10,000 points per track.
If 200 the limit, then I’ll probably cancel my 945 order as I need around 1000 for some of my 100 milers.
The forum is down, so I can’t check – but there is a difference between route points and track points – what I need is track points and can’t find that figure anywhere.
The Fenix 3 for example had 10,000 track points and 50 route points.
@OnlyTwo : Thanks for the helpful reply, this is exactly what I was looking for !
200 should be enough !
@Jonathan : we were indeed discussing route points, not track points.
Kind regards
Wouter
Wouldn’t the ‘pill’ boxes in the load overview depend on what you’re trying to achieve? I.e. shouldn’t a 5k runner see different recommendations than a marathon runner?
I’ve just spoken to Clever Training UK and was told that they haven’t received any stock yet, they were supposed to on Friday but are having to chase Garmin as they got nothing.
I ordered on the 3rd May, she said there were “many” pre-orders before me, which started from around the middle of April so I would most likely have to wait quite a long time, probably into June.
With that in mind, I’ve cancelled my order and gone with Wiggle (will get my watch tomorrow), I know I have lost the discount but I would have no idea on when the watch would have arrived from clever training.
Sorry Ray.
Oh man, that is cruel – I ordered one day after you. To make things worse: My V800 just died and I have races coming up, so definitely can’t wait till June…
Why the heck does wiggle get stock and Clever Training does not?!
I think Wiggle had a deal with Garmin for an exclusive I guess.
I wouldn’t have minded waiting had Clever Training kept me updated of likely delivery, but I wasn’t happy leaving it open ended when as far as I know it could be another month.
This watch was announced on April 30th. How are there pre-orders from mid-April? That is a joke. They (CT-UK) should be more proactive with their clients, whatever the problem, and not so creative with their excuses.
I also ordered at clevertraining.co.uk and now I regret this decision. I can wait nex few days but this looks like a joke – we will have units and dispatch in early May, we will have units until 10th may and start dispatching 13th, we do not know when we will have stock. I do not know whose fault is this, clevertraining or Garmin, but this makes me angry. Never again, sorry. Do not sell things if you don’t have it in stock or can’t guarantee delivery date.
I ordered a 945 just minutes after it was released on Clever Training UK website April 30th.
I had no confirmation on delivery in conversation with them the following week. They were awaiting information from “Head office”. In the end I cancelled my order (refund was smooth) and bought from Wiggle instead.
When asking where I was in the line to get my watch they informed they could not tell because they did not know from HQ hiw many watches they would get in first batch.
They also told med they had orders from April 26. This was what really triggered me to cancel the order at CT UK. I am annoyed
how they can accept pre orders before official launch.
did the same!
canceled order with CT (after 15 days) got it from wiggle today (less than 24h).
cheers
I’ve ordered FR945 from CT UK on April 30. Called them today. It seems they have received today a small amount and mine was among them. Have received a shipping confirmation just a few minutes ago. Glad I did not cancel my order, waited and got it with the discount.
Same here, ordered on the 30th from CT UK and just received a tracking number. Was just about to give up and order it for the staggering 649€ price the local shops are asking for, but now definitely glad I didn’t. Hope everyone gets their own soon.
After emailing them and receiving the open response today, I decided to cancel. Otherwise, there was no delivery date and if I want to play the lottery, I buy tickets. Never more. (Even knowing that they have sent some, more than satisfied to pay the extra to know when I receive what I bought and paid).
@Ray – Is it possible to differentiate LiveTrack by Activity type?
For example, I want all cycling activities to LiveTrack (since I’ll have my phone with me) but no Running activities.
From what I can tell if you set up LiveTrack “AutoStart” it doesn’t differentiate. Which is a pain as I will start most of my runs “near” my phone (it being in my vehicle or at my house) but quickly “not near” so it sends a “false” LiveTrack notification to my established contacts.
If this could simply be designated by Activity type it would solve the problem.
Is it possible to differentiate Alert notification types by Alert types? It doesn’t appear so by the menu options that’s why I’m asking if I’m missing something.
For example:
I might want an HR max alert by vibration but Lap splits to be by audible beep.
Is that possible?
After a full week of training for a 70.3 (11 hours – pool swimming/indoor trainer/outdoor running) and using the 945, I have a few things to say:
Pool swimming: No complaints here. It counted all my laps perfectly during 4 different workouts.
Indoor training: No surprises using an external HRM strap and Assioma Duo with power-match Wahoo Core 2018. The only thing I noticed is an issue when doing the 0 offset. Even though I see “0 offset” in the screen, the animation keeps spinning and I never get the green confirmation to accept it and go to the activity screen. I need to manually “return” to exit the screen (which makes me think it’s not really saving the result). This is probably a bug, because I can do the 0 offset using Trainer Road without any problem.
Outdoor running: The GPS is.. hmm.. meh. I did a few runs using a 920xt while testing the 945. The 920xt is (almost) always perfect, and the 945 is not. I tried GSP only initially, and the results weren’t great at all (I live in Boston, USA – 3/4 story buildings so not at lot of tall buildings, and plenty of wide open areas around the Charles River bike path). In the past few runs I’ve been using GSP + GLONASS and it’s definitely better. My long run yesterday was surprisingly good, the first good result I would say. But when you zoom in and compare with the 920xt tracking (or old 935 / Fenix 3 activities) you see a lot of rough edges.. it’s not as smooth as my previous watches. And when I compare live stats (speed / distance) while running, the watches NEVER agree with the numbers. But I have faith it will get better.
Small issue: syncing. I initially setup both my home and work WI-FI networks. Then I noticed that it wouldn’t always sync after a workout. While the 920xt would. Yesterday, I got tired of seeing the watch connected, the little sync animation going but no sign of syncing, I removed the WI-FI networks and it seemed to have fixed my issue. Let’s see..
Now my biggest complaint: the UP & DOWN buttons. Like some people already complained, they are very soft. It’s like I need to press twice or much harder than the other buttons, otherwise it’s a false click. Yesterday, on my long run, it was “cold” 5C/41F (hello spring?) and I was wearing gloves. This turned out to be a huge problem. I really struggled to actually make them to work. For a $600 watch, I was expecting them to be better. I’m going to contact Clever Training and see what they have to say.
I haven’t used music yet. I always run with my phone because I listen to a lot of podcasts at 1.5x speed and I’m not sure I can do that with the watch. I wish Garmin had released two versions: 945 and 945 Music for the $100 premium. Shrug. I’m still bitter that I’m paying $100 extra for this watch (I know I didn’t “have to” buy it).
But overall, besides the soft buttons, I’m somewhat happy with the 945. All the metrics are cool and they seem to be a bit better than the used to be.
This matches my experience after a week as well. Even after deleting the wifi network, mine still takes about 10 trys to sync. Usually have to turn on and back off bluetooth, etc. One of those things where I have no idea what actually worked. All I know is my 935 connected and synced fine. this one shows connected and syncing, but then never completes
Thank you for yor review it really helped me (to wait a bit longer and see if problems are fidxed ;)
I discovered that FR945 download only supports 802.11b not g or n. Many people have there Wifi configured to modern standards only because supporting legacy devices hurts Wifi performance.
Went in and chose Legacy mode (I have Openwrt) and that resolved the problems with Wifi connections.
Interesting many people had similar issues with older watches (on Garmin Forums). But for some reason Garmin took the forum posts offline…
Is anyone else having problems with elevation on their Forerunner 945? I just got my new watch and I’m seeing somewhat random readings and stretches of no data at all (dropouts of some sort). The following 2 analyzer comparisons show the 2 rides I did this past weekend recorded on the Forerunner 945 and Edge 1030:
link to analyze.dcrainmaker.com
link to analyze.dcrainmaker.com
I suspect bad hardware and am ready to return my watch for replacement, but though I would check here first.
Ray, could you check whether or not the FR935 and FR945 screens are exactly the same size? Screenprotectors for a FR935 don’t fit the FR945. Thanks!
Seems it is a hair smaller, since the screen protector doesn’t fit.
10 days after having 2 orders declined by CleverTraining for no reason they have still not released the funds on my credit card for one order but seem to think everything is resolved.
I’ve never dealt with such a shady company online – I’m really surprised they are recommended on such a good site.
I’ve emailed and called again today – maybe something will happen this week before I have to use UK consumer law?
Hi Philip – sorry for the troubles. I confirmed with the CT US folks who looked into your UK case that the funds were released back to your bank yesterday. However, they noted that sometimes banks in turn take a couple days before that shows up on your side. FWIW – the top accounting folks were working to try and untangle your situation (certainly not your fault). It’s the first time they’ve seen something like this before.
Again, sorry for the problems – but hopefully you’re good to go shortly.
Just an other “interesting” experience with Clever Training… Forerunner 945 ordered on May 12 (for 533.51 EUR), order cancelled on May 14, but 532.30 EUR only refunded on May 16! Where are my last 1.21 EUR??? Exchange rates somewhere??? Commission for the “excellent” job of Clever Training???
That’s weird. I’ve forwarded it on to the right folks.
Though, i could see a scenario whereby if you were billed in GBP and then your bank’s exchange rate varied, that might explain it.
Hi Ray, thank you for your intervention. No, I was billed in EUR, my order confirmation only stipulates amounts in EUR. I also asked the question to Clever Training UK. Strange…
Same for me – Did you already get any update?
Hi Alex! No, I contacted Clever Training UK again yesterday but no update until now…
I ordered on May 4…still processing…my card was instantly charged on May 4. I hope I don’t have to wait much longer. Furthermore, they should upgrade us all to next day shipping… I’m traveling overseas on the 29th of May. I really don’t know if I will have received it by then. Lost faith with Clever Training. Sorry…
Hi Alex (and Ray)! I now understand what my (our?) problem is. Clever Training US didn’t refund me the amount paid in EUR (533.51 EUR), but the equivalent amount in GBP (532.30) expressed in EUR (532.30 EUR). Following their invoicing system, they refunded me 533.51 EUR but it isn’t true. Buggy invoicing system or punctual error, I don’t know. But I don’t give up, I will get my money back, it’s a question of principle. Sorry Ray but I’m glad I cancelled my order with Clever Training UK, it’s one of the best decisions I took in 2019 until now:-)
Hi Xorkkgul-
I was under the impression that they had reached out to you last week to sort things out and figure out what had gone on there. That’s the first time I’ve heard of it occurring – but I know it’s something I discussed with them and they were escalating quickly to sort out.
Thanks for the support attempt though!
Cheers.
I’ve noticed the WHR LEDs on the 945 stay on even when connected to an external HRM.
This differs from the 935, and seems an unnecessary battery drain.
I saw that once or twice too, and wasn’t sure why.
What is this “Floor Climb” app pre-installed?
Of course I go to the Connect IQ page and search on “floor climb” and it doesn’t show up so I can’t get a description there.
Clever Training UK just completed my order. Original order date was April 30.
ordered 30.04., via DPD UK on the way to Hamburg
would have been great to use for my weekend run (Paris Saint-German-en-Laye La Course), but arrives on Friday in Hamburg. Sad Panda.
But something to look forward to next week :)
Thanks for the support guys – and sorry for the delays. At least it’s on the way now! Good luck on the run!
Paris-STG was fun, the whole weekend in Paris was great as always.
Oh, and we´ve been for diner at Comme Cha Toi again, always good food :)
I also ordered on 30th April from Clever Training UK and I received tracking details today.
Hello, I have two questions about navigation with the FR945. With RoundTrip routing, you get a notification on the clock at every turn, just like with car navigation. But if I plan a route on the PC and transfer it to the clock, then I don’t receive a notification during navigation, but only see the route and must always look at the clock myself to see the direction. Is there any way to set it so that the notifications also come automatically for routes? The second question is whether you can load other maps on the clock, so that you get e.g. RoundTrip-Routing or with the “Back to Start” function also forest tracks suggested? At the moment only roads are suggested.
Your Activity settings, routing, courses needs to be set to “use map” instead of “follow route”. Then it will use the imbedded maps and navigate off of that. The downside is it takes longer to calculate.
I ordered from CT UK early morning of May 1st, my order is still processing, seems like I didn’t make the first batch :(
I’ve done a detailed review of the Garmin/Firstbeat derived VO2 max as well as the breathing rate estimation from heart rate variability. If anyone is interested: link to muscleoxygentraining.com
I am another disgruntled Clever Training UK customer.
I ordered on 30th April via the link above. I’ve had no official updates as to what is happening after ordering (i.e. no emails).
I am unable to check the status of my order. When I advised them the order is not tied to my account last week, they said they would fix it, which they have not.
Last week they told me the 945 would be here by today. Today they said they do not expect stock until the end of May or after.
Not impressed with this website so far. Surprised that they are recommended as the whole experience has been extremely poor.
I ordered my 935 from Wiggle at launch last time and leaning towards cancelling my order with Clever Training and ordering there. Does anyone know of any other stores that have them in stock?
I also ordered from clever training following this site’s recommendation. DC Rainmaker is probably the best equipment review page in the world. Thus, I though that clever training would be at his level. Not even close. Ray, many of us follows your recommendation. It would be great if you speak with them directly and are able to give us some feedback. Something is very wrong here. Furthermore, many of us buy products based on your reviews and recommendations. Garmin should know that. If they make clever training look bad, they are making you look bad. I know you have nothing to do with this, but still, many of us purchased through clever training to support your page. Thus, by not having inventory for weeks when other stores do…I’m short, I’m not buying from them ever again. The problem is the uncertainty, if I had more information I could decide if I should just cancel and purchase the 945 elsewhere. Also, if they are like this, I wonder how long is going to take them to refund my money. I mean, they were very quick in charging my card. Sorry Ray, we need answers. Having said all that, you have the best page out there and your reviews are the best in the industry. No one comes close to your level. Congrats on that. Lastly, I read that you were recently in Mallorca. I live there and would have loved to cross paths, if even for a second to tell you that I’m a fan and that you are doing incredible work. Thank you.
Hi Kevin and Joaquin-
First off, sorry for the troubles. I hear ya – trust me, I do. It sucks. And I know CT hears you as well (mostly, because they hear it from me three times a day – including every one of your comments).
I’ve got them committed that before you wake up in the morning all CT UK Garmin backorders will get a status update. CT US folks were getting weekly e-mail status updates for back orders, but UK folks weren’t. So that’s changing. They also just spent the last hour or two trying to get a clear timeline from the manufacturer on exactly when the pending shipments will arrive (which, includes some good news as soon as tomorrow). Again, update coming in the next few hours.
Atop that, they do agree that the mixed messages from CT UK aren’t good. So they’re working to get that correct. Be it good news, or bad news, the news should be the same (unless of course, the news varies on order date).
Thanks again for the support – I do appreciate it!
Ray, wow. Thank you. Things out of our control happen all the time. The problem, as I said before, is being in the dark which in turn makes it harder to understand the situation and be patient with the other party. It’s mind blowing how quickly you took charge of the situation and wrote back to us. No one does that. You are a true professional. Big thanks.
Thanks for that DC. I do empathise with your position as obviously this is not your store and have no control over stock issues etc. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we want to support the companies you work with as your reviews help us make the right decision with sports equipment.
I wanted this quick as I am planning on doing a YouTube review with it, and as you know, being late to the game with new products usually means no views. That’s why this has been pressing for me.
Not received any updates yet, but hopefully we will get some update about the order soon.
I do agree with Ray on the card issue though. Charging cards weeks before they come in stock is a very poor way to perform business and more concerning than any stock issues.
Thanks, totally understand.
I’ll check on why CT UK is pre-charging the cards, as I know CT US doesn’t anymore (stopped a few years ago). It’s mostly the same platform, but maybe it’s a difference in payment provider. Either way, poking now.
Also, my understanding is e-mail updates were set to go out shortly after we all went to sleep. I’ll double-check that those happened.
I haven’t had any updates today about my order. I still can’t check my order status on their website either.
I just checked my credit card statement and after ordering on 30th April my card was charged on 1st May. Which means that I’m going to be paying interest on the watch soon despite not having it.
This is definitely not acceptable in my eyes and something which the company has to address in some way.
Just chiming in to echo other people’s concerns, my order was placed on the 30th of April. Absolutely no communication from CT and my emails were met with generic and vague answers. I can’t see how a company can advertise timelines for stock that they haven’t secured. CT haven’t gotten in touch after your post above Ray. I do hope this is getting resolved soon, thank you for trying to get CT to behave as they should.
No update about my order yet, but it looks like they have finally assigned my order to my account so I can at least see now that it is “Processing”.
Progress ;)
I didn’t get any update either. Wrote to them this morning but no response yet.
The really frustrating thing is that the local distributor in Romania does have in stock at the same price (minus the 10% discount of course, but with some premium warranty which is nice). I hope to hear soon from CT UK, if it’s June then probably I will have to cancel.
Just received a mail from Clever Training UK stating that they will be receiving more inventory this week and every week after that. They expect to be able to fulfill all back orders before the end of May.
On a final note directed to GARMIN; I don’t know who’s fault it is, it’s beside the point. But know this, I trust Ray, as many thousands of other sports enthusiasts do. I’ve been a very faithful Polar user for more than 15 years. Im currently on my second V800 and I was very much looking forward to the Vantage V. However, because of Ray’s very professional, unbiased and comprehensive reviews, and lately of the Garmin 945 I decided to make a change. The point is, Ray, although unquestionably unbiased and truthful in his reviews is helping you sell thousands of Garmin products. Because of that, you should make sure that he and the channels that he recommends are well taken care of. Most people I know that play sports, from cycling to even sailing…trust DC Rainmaker. Other sites are secondary…thus, don’t fail him and us in turn. The fact that we are having this conversation when lesser suppliers have product and the retailers recommended by Ray do not is beyond comprehension.
I ordered late on the 30th April and seemingly missed the first batch they sent out.. But just got my shipping email now, hopefully they’ll be able to get the rest sent out sharpish.
Just few minutes ago I received this email from Clever Training (not CT UK):
“Thank you for your patience and we are happy to announce that the Garmin Forerunner 945 Black units have finally started to arrive into our UK warehouse.
Some units have arrived this week and we will be receiving the units as well next week.
The bulk of the units are scheduled to be arriving in the last few business days in May as well and going forward we will be sending out notifications every Wednesday evening to update you on your incoming order.
As a reminder that on the day that your unit ships a shipping and tracking email will be generated at that time to provide you with the ETA.
If you have any current or further questions or concerns please contact the UK Clever Training Team at:
CUSTOMER SERVICE”
Earlier today I received tracking number from DPD, however order in my account is still “Processing”. When I check tracking info on DPD website I see this status:
“We’ve received your order details, and we’re expecting your parcel shortly”
Thank you for the update but it is definitely too late to improve user experience. I will not cancel my order (if shipping info is true) but will never buy anything else in this shop. Very poor communication, charging card immediately after order was made without watch in stock. This is not how online shop should work.
Thanks for fighting our cause Ray.
I received the same email as others explaining that orders will be in soon. I ordered on 30th April, but it is still sitting at processing and there is no delivery information yet. I suspect I’m going to be one of the unlucky ones that has to wait.
I just received the shipping notification from CT UK, order was made 4AM on May 1st.
Mine has shipped too.
Can’t believe my order says 3 to 5 days after all this hassle. After charging our cards weeks early, the least they could have done is send it next day delivery.
But hey ho, at least the ball is moving.
Nevermind. Royal mail says they haven’t even received it yet.
“16 May
05:08pm
Sender preparing item”
Re: “On a final note directed to GARMIN;…”
Well said! And scary how identical our situation is. I also just had my second V800 “drown” and decided to finally make the switch because of Ray’s reviews…
Ok, finally have my 945 from CT UK. It took long weeks but it is here and I am excited.
Ray – I’m a bit confused with the Pulse Ox feature and hoping you can help me understand it.
You noted in the review it’s primarily intended for folks doing high altitude training, which is not me as I live and train at sea level, so I’m good there.. However, is the ‘all day’ feature needed as part of the Heat Acclimation? When I go onto the watch or GC site I see the two toggles under Device Settings > Pulse Ox
Turn this on to track blood oxygen measurements throughout the day.
Acclimation
Turn this on to track blood oxygen measurements throughout the day.
Sleep Tracking
How do these impact the heat acclimation piece?
No, the all day features of PulseOx don’t tie into heat acclimation at all. Totally separate. In effect, there’s basically three acclimation metrics:
PulseOx: This one is probably the ‘least well’ integrated in terms of guidance. Though, it’s been around the longest from Garmin. It basically plots SpO2 over altitude graphs. So if you’re climbing, it shows those values atop each other. It doesn’t really say whether you’re acclimated per se though in the same sense as the others. It’s more of a ‘here’s your current not-dead status’.
Heat Acclimation: This is dependent on workouts specifically, and uses weather stations nearby your starting point using Garmin Connect Mobile (smartphone app). If you don’t do workouts, then the acclimation will slowly fade away. Further, it does depend on being above 71*F. Humidity is also factored in.
Altitude Acclimation: This data point is gathered both at the point of a workout from the watch itself, but also daily at midnight quietly in the background from the watch itself. It looks at your current altitude and then sees how long you’ve spent there. If it lacks a workout that day, it presumes you spent the entire day at that altitude. Said differently, if you arrive at a hotel in the Alps at 11:35PM, you’ll get credit for that whole day when the clock checks in at midnight. Same goes for a redye flight. The longer you spend at altitude, the more acclimated you are, and it shows you your current acclimation altitude.
Picked mine up on Saturday and took it out for the first run on trails, then another long run on Sunday. Replacing my Fenix 3. Everything appears in order. One concern is that the battery depletion is faster than I expected – I was using a GPS track to navigate a run, dropped about 15% over the course of a 2 hour run, meaning a 13 hour battery life even without music if that’s a trend. At the moment I’m putting it down to having my phone with me and bluetooth on – I’ve had that issue before on both the Fenix 3 and my Edge 810.
Mapping feature is excellent – can’t rave enough about it and really looking forward to using it in anger on the trail.
Also really liking the advanced sleep metrics. Pulse Ox is feeling a little bit like a chocolate tea pot at the moment – but when I start doing higher altitude events, it might come into its own.
GREAT DEVICE! Reccommend!
It might be unrelated but it seems some devices are experiencing abnormal battery drain. My 945 was going from 100% to 76% within 24 hours without any gps tracking or pulse ox.
Garmin are not sure yet what is causing the issue and it appears not to affect every user but been reported by several in US and EU.
I’ve just returned my 945 for a refund because it was within 7 days of purchase and will buy again once Garmin have resolved the problem
AWESOME review as always, i end up reading reviews of most of the stuff even though I dont need them like power meters ??? Do you think 935 is still a good buy? Will they keep updating the software? I returned my VA3 due to a faulty sensor and I want to step up to 935 or 645
I think it’s a great unit. I suspect you’ll continue to see software updates – just not major ones. Mostly minor stuff.
– The CleverTraining page for the Forerunner 945 looks terrible and the dropdowns don’t work if you’re logged in, but looks fine if you’re not. (Tested on Safari and Chrome on macOS.) I had to log out, add it to my cart, then log back in.
– Evidently the 20% VIP coupon code doesn’t work for the 945.
Just to clarify – CT US or CT UK? Though honestly, should be identical.
As for the VIP coupon, yeah, most Garmin stuff is excluded per Garmin requirement.
CT US. But the problem seems to have cleared up. Possibly a .css caching issue or something.
That’s too bad about the Garmin exclusion. Maybe I should have another look at your review of the Suunto.
How long does it generally take to activate Garmin Pay. My bank is supported so I went through the setup on Saturday (05/11) however Garmin Pay still shows as ‘pending issuer activation’.
for me it was immediate(several minutes at most)
Yeah, it’s instant for me (a few seconds).
The last time I had a card get stuck was at launch of the tech almost two years ago. I’d say at this point you should escalate to Garmin Support and they can poke the payment provider. I’m not sure exactly how that support aspects works, but certainly Garmin Support will be able to get you going in the right direction on that (or at least as far as they can depending on how much of it is the banks fault).
Just before reaching out to Garmin I figured I’d remove the card to try re-adding. Like you two commented, it instantly activated. Guessing the activation got ‘stuck’ first time around.
Thanks fellas!
Hi Ray, I have the 945, edge 1030 and Edge 130
before the 945 I had the 935 and everything was working fine with true up but now with the 945 it’s all gone wild.
When I do a workout on the edge 1030 it’s transfered to the 945 but the amount of load reported for the week load is stupidely low and it completeny screws the load calculations (IE workout done yesterday, 2h ride TE aerobic : 3.1 anaerobic 2.2) load reported by the 945 : around 20 … and is shown in grey.
other problem : swimming is not even taken into account. I know without HR it cannot give a true number of load but it would be good to get at least “some” load based on pace or something.
Yeah, only workouts with HR are taken into account. I didn’t do any with the HRM-TRI/SWIM though to see if those account for it (my regular swim workouts I did with it…I just did sans-strap).
If you’re getting wonky Physio TrueUp stuffs, the biggest things to do is double-check and re-toggle on/off the Physio True-up options on both the phone and device for each unit you have. I find that usually kicks it going again.
Failing that, Garmin Support can usually pretty quickly see if there’s something clogging the pipes on your account. Finally, ensuring quickie items like weight/gender are correct on all devices is important too.
I have the same issue. Low values (55) for bike rides with a TSS of 200+ whereas easy runs of 4-5 miles have 100+.
Same experience here… Had a good experience with my F935 and Edge 520 but now things are all over the place on both new devices (eg F945 and Edge 530).
All user settings are correct on both devices yet the stats/values are all over the place.
Values from 935/520 also had no issues updating on my F5. Workouts still show on the F5 but even the stats on that are now skewed and don’t line up with either the 945 or 530.
Hi Ray,
Great review as always and appreciate the work you do!
I’ve had my FR945 for 10 days and noticing 2 issues, battery and syncing
Battery
With 2 complete battery drains and charges so far I’m getting about 4 days/cycle (2 workout activities/day average).
Compared to the 935 it is horrendous. My 935 would give me 10 days approx.
Syncing
The calendar and weather widgets will only update/sync with IQ open.
Workouts Are only syncing manually – on the 935 when I saved a workout it synced to IQ almost instantly
Any ideas would be appreciated from you (or anyone else) in the group.
Thank you
Hi, i did face the same problems. An hard reset made things a little bit better but still not on the level of the 935.
Ray, I’m the owner of an 820, which I’m going to give to my wife and move to the 830. I also have a Forerunner 935. One feature I was hoping would work on the 820/935 combo was communication on effort and recommended recovery time. I know via your review, you now get that with the 830/945. I’m sure the answer is no, but do you know if you can get that with the 830/935 combo via software update? That’s a tough sell getting the wife to approve the 945 when the 935 works just fine (and I just bought the 830).
Any insight would be appreciated!
Thorough as ever, brilliant review.
I missed the 945 launch stumbling upon it here when looking for a good 935 review. Excellent detail and brilliant stats. Looks like the 945 is the next watch to get!
In the menu of the watch 945, in settings -> user profile there is “wrist left or right”. Can you ask why? Maybe for the accelerometer?
It’s needed for the auto-backlight feature. It activates the backlight when the watch is “raised” so it needs to know left from right for that at least.
I have noticed my 945 will change the white background to black background occasionally on some run activities. I can’t figure out the logic behind it though, does any one know why this initiates?
My Edge 520 does the same thing when night time comes. Just throwing out a possibility, not making a definitive statement about the 945.
It’s maybe the climbing logic, at least my 935 do that if climb detection is enabled and watch detects climb that exceed the set elevation (default is 600m/h which means rate of 10m/minute). It can be turned on/off from sport settings.
Hi, thanks fr the great review as always. one question, can the maps be changed if I move b between different ares?
Last weekend i did a 70.3 Triathlon. In open water swimming my 945 measured 50m instead of 1900. Seems that it had no connection while swimming. Switched from 935 which was flawless in open water swimming. Anyone having same problem while swimming open water? I know that Fenix had many issues with open water swim… Now the same for FR945?!?
mine worked flawlessly on my triathlon, good distance and the drawing was spot on !
Ray et al – So this might be the wrong place to ask this but is it not possible to create profiles on this device? Meaning I want say the “bike” profile to only connect to certain power meters and sensors etc and my “run” profile to only connect to certain power meters (stryd) and its own sensors.
The other day I did a bike/run/bike commute to work and the device retained my Stryd power meter and registered obviously VERY low wattage for the bike commute portions that I had the Stryd stowed away in a pack. It seemed obvious to me that you would assign certain sensors to certain profiles (as other devices do) but I don’t see it as an option here?
Anyone? Bueller?
No method of doing that unfortunately.
For your Stryd unit though, are you pairing it as a power meter? Or using the Stryd app? In theory if you use the Stryd data fields in run mode there’s no reason to pair it as a power meter.
However, if you’re using the bike profile for running (since it supports power zones and such), then…that’s less ideal. No solution I know of there aside from ensuring each time you start a workout you’ve got it connected to the right sensor (You could name the sensors, so that at least it pops-up and says ‘Connected to Stryd’ or ‘Connected to Quarq’. Though with only one power meter, your pickle is complete.
Essentially, what you’re saying is you need a cycling power meter on your commuter bike. Problem solved. :)
Ha ha, the commuter bike is an ElliptiGo actually! Thanks, I had the Stryd connected as a power meter so it would show up in a special data field I pulled down from CIQ (“DozenRun”). Without that, the field doesn’t display power.
I am coming to the 945 from an original version “Vivoactive” and I was hoping some of these problems would’ve been solved by now.
Great review! Question, I do Ironmans but also lots of Trail Running / Ultras and some hiking, which watch would you recommend? FR945 or Fenix 5/5x plus?
Thanks!
First of all I am a huge fan of this website and the youtube channel, great job!
Has anybody received any update from clevertraining.uk? I placed my order on 6th with a note “early May” and it is still shown as “processing”. Of course my card has been charged. Just generic excuses from them without expected time of delivery and they are not willing to provide any discount for the delay. This is ridiculous, have never experienced anything like that with an eshop so far.
Great review! As usual :-)
I wish Garmin had added GPS dual frequency (L1 + L5 and/or E1 + E5a). Maybe next year. Or 2021.
Since many here are complaining about CleverTraining and since I want to support Ray: Order placed at Clevertraining.com on May 18, 2019, delivered on May 22, 2019 (California).
Thanks for the support Andy, I appreciate it!
As for dual frequency, Garmin says they’re looking at it (I had a chat with them about it), but that at this point it would set them back power-consumption wise and basically erase any of the gains they saw with the new Sony chipset (power-wise). Given it’s not even in any headliner phones yet, it sounds like it’ll be a ways before we see it in any wearables. Which wasn’t a hard no from them, purely a ‘the time isn’t yet right’.
You erase with music more than with dual frequency. The Forerunner and Fenix products should be more for athletes as for lifestyle. If Garmin waits that Suunto or even Polar have dual frequency, so we would never see dual frequency by Garmin. Why should Garmin not be the first and have the lead with this technology?
Sure, but people can decide whether or not to use music – and thus, it’s either an impact or not depending on user preference. I don’t know if in dual chipsets the user would have that choice or not.
I’m going to highly doubt we’ll see Suunto or Polar move first on dual frequency. Maybe I’ll be wrong, but it seems unlikely given what we’ve seen both companies do in recent years.
Does that mean that the Sony chip supports dual frequency and there is a chance that the firmware will be updated down the line to support it? Or Garmin are evaluating the possibility of using chips in future devices that will support dual frequency?
It doesn’t support it.
Garmin have said they’re looking at dual, but at this time the tech/adoption is just too early. They noted that no headliner phones have it yet (not that that’s a requirement, but just pointing it out), and they noted that while the battery life isn’t a massive hit, it would erase the gains of the Sony chipset. Again, they said they’re super interested in it…but just not yet.
Good to know that Garmin confirmed to you that from a design and production process view point it’s possible to fit a dual frequency chip and a dual frequency antenna in a small object like a watch.
Anyway, it seems that I’m the exception. After reading your review I had not high expectations about gps accuracy, but my FR945 in my first runs in easy environment for gps is giving me better results than the FR35 with the Mediatek chipset and better results of my old trusted FR610 with Sirfstar chipset. I’m quite surprised by the good results with GSP + Galileo.
Now I’m waiting to test the watch in other routes more difficult for gps, and test how the watch will handle with multipath errors (near mountains and building).
Even without the dual frequency, my first impressions is that the FR945 is a great sport watch!
Thank you for the review. I do about 25% of my workouts on an indoor cross country ski machine (Nordic Track Skier). What would be the best Garmin set up to monitor and store these workouts? I don’t see and indoor skiing option so would one choose indoor running and would a foot pod be useful for this activity?
I’m honestly not sure any of those modes would really track anything of use. You’d basically be tracking HR/time, but I don’t believe you’d see any distance out of that.
If you actually ski outdoors, then you already know that a Nordic Track is really nothing like skiing outdoors. But here’s the simple answer: you’re on a trainer that isn’t moving. Your distance is zero. (Glad to help.) The most you can do is monitor heart rate and maybe cadence. A foot pod would be of little use since there’s no distance to be measured. Possibly it could measure cadence but since there’s no impact of foot on surface, it may not be able to. (If you actually want to associate distance to a workout, simply make a number up based on what seems reasonable for the level of effort.)
The more complex answer is that outdoors distance isn’t all that great an indicator of effort anyway (consider going uphill and downhill). When I’m skiing outdoors I track speed/distance (which actually means something outdoors), elevation, and heart rate. There’s really nothing else that can be measured. (Calories you get for free from the watch, and I really don’t believe that number anyway.)
I don’t know about the Nordic Track skier, but for the Concept2 Ski-erg which is popular in Sweden there is an connectIQ app which let’s you save the power, distance, stroke cadence etc. It should work with every newer Garmin watch.
Thank you Paul and Anders for the reply. I will check for the connect app.
Have you heard anything from Garmin about battery drain problems? I have had my 945 for about 2 weeks and I love it except for the battery. It drains way faster than my 935 did. More than 1% per hour in smart watch mode with pulse ox off. I’m hoping it’s a firmware issue, but getting frustrated.
I am disappointed with the battery drain as well. My in-use estimation is about 8 hours of GPS life (no music, external HRM) which is far under my expectation. Trying to think of what I might be doing to cause this (vibration alerts, backlight on wrist turn, etc).
P.S. Ray – I ordered from CleverTraining (US) and had no issues on my end, received very quickly.
Hmm…
Just remembering my last trail race with the 945:
nearly 3h with GPS+Glonass enabled and navigation (though map was not always in front): Battery went down from 100% to 91%
So for me that’s pretty good. Any other runs (also with music) are within expectation and match Garmin’s claims. I can’t say much about daily usage because I only use the 945 only for running and keep it turned off. (I have a F5+ for daily usage).
I do not say want to say that I don’t believe you, just as a remark that maybe there is something else (worst case: battery itself) that might cause your bad results.
Well that’s encouraging.
For reference, here is my usage since the last full charge:
Monday PM – Charged overnight to 100%
Tuesday AM – 50min bike, 60min run, 50min bike
Tuesday PM – 95min bike
Wednesday – 40min run, 15min treadmill workout (no GPS)
Thursday AM – 60min run w/ music
That’s about 295min (almost 5 hours) of GPS use with no music, 15min of treadmill (no gps) and an hour of GPS with music. So roughly 6 hours of usage all told.
Watch was on and connected the rest of the time with background HR monitoring. This morning I’m sitting on about 15% battery remaining. That doesn’t seem to jive with their estimations right?
I ended up contacting garmin yesterday. They asked me to return it right away for a new watch. I shipped it out yesterday afternoon. I’m hoping the new one is better. I went back to my 935 (which I’m so happy I hadn’t sold yet) and it just reconfirmed something was wrong with the 945. I was losing 5-7% in 7 hours of sleep. 935 last night lost 1% after 8 hours. With the connect battery widget. it reported that the 945 was using 1.1% battery per hour.
What % per hour in smart watch with pulseOx off would people expect?
I have read that sometimes the charge cycles need to run through a few times before the battery sets. So, I’m going to do that and see what difference it makes.
Also, i have no events longer than say 4 hours coming up so it’s not like I’m going to run out of juice in anything that matters.
My order was placed on May 4 with Clever Training UK. The card was charged immediately. As of today, May 23, the order is still in “processing” status.
Incredible…oh, but I receive one or two emails “spam” per day offering me all sort of new products. Yep…I’m so motivated to keep buying things from them…NOT!!! And everybody else is getting product delivered. Even Clever Training US, isn’t Garmin from Europe, shouldn’t Clever Training UK receive at least the same treatment?
What a mess…sorry, a bit frustrated here…
Ordered mine from Clever Training UK on 01/05, shipped on 21/05, delivered today.
Friend of mine placed his order on the same day (01/05) and have received his today as well.
Did you received a shipping confirmation or the watch just showed up at your door? There is something very wrong here….
I ordered mine on the 2nd of May. Received this yesterday after I asked for the promised Wedensday evening update:
“Good Afternoon,
We are currently waiting for a definite date the Garmin 945 will be coming into our warehouse. Unfortunately there are no other update at the moment.”
Also slightly frustrated, but it is what it is.
RE: CT UK vs CT US
Unfortunately, Garmin treats these as separate entities. There’s no concept of a single global merchant in the world of Garmin.
As for looking at shipping tracking numbers on CT US or UK, to do so go to Order Status (top of page) > View Order > Track your order (and then it shows you a DPD number right there).
Hi. Sorry to say Rai but this is being a complete NIGHTMARE. I have bought the watch on the very 30 of April, and it was supposed to arribe yesterday but nothing happened. Today I have asked Clever Training by email, and the answer was: “the parcel must have been lost, we will get in contact with dpd (sender company) and will arrange another order, this may take us a few days. Kind regards.” UNBELIEVABLE. Never again. No apologies, no sorries, no nothing, not even a simple excuse…
BLOODY HELL!!!! Whats wrong with them????
Hi Luis-
Did you receive a tracking number? With CT UK and DPD, the tracking number is shown in your account as well as typically e-mailed to you. What does the tracking number show?
To find the tracking number, go to Order Status (top of page) > View Order > Track your order (and then it shows you a DPD number right there).
What does that show?
Couple of days ago I reached to Clever Training UK for an order update. Mine was placed on May 4. They quickly responded that although eagerly expected, very little to no inventory had been received this week and that they hope to get more orders fulfilled the following week. They also said that orders are being shipped in the order they were received. No exceptions.
If this had been a general problem it would have been easy to understand. But as to why Clever Training UK is barely getting any product out when everybody else has…it just defies logic. Ray…everybody follows you…Garmin should take care of your followers and get product to CT UK.
Hi Rai!!!
I got everything, the track number and the email. It was expected to arrive last week but I DONT KNOW WHY, it’s been lost in transit, as CT has told me, so the fault is on dpd. I have ask dpd and they apologized and told me to email their experts extension group (this is because the watch supposedly has gone out of UK, so they, dpd, dont really know where is it). Last words of CT were: We can’t do more but wait 14 days to prepare another order.
I dont know whats going on, SHOULD I BEEN LOOKING FOR MY PARCEL?? Emailing, and emailing again?? I dont think this is fair..
However, thank you for ask Rai. It has nothing to do with you.
What else can I do to get what I have paid almost a month ago?????
Hi Luis-
Hmm, yeah, that’s tricky. If you’ve got a DPD tracking number (and it shows it left CT’s warehouse according to DPD’s site and is somewhere between it and you), I’m not sure what to say. I’d be poking DPD as the consumer, while CT does it concurrently from their side.
I did go ahead and raise the issue again today to CT, and they’re going to escalate the resolution as well.
Looking at the FIT files what I see is
2% usage an hour during an activity with no music – extrapolating out to 18 hours usage
7% usage an hour during an activity with music – extrapolating to 7 hours
Does not seem right at all – thoughts?
I’m not sure I follow. 2% an hour = 50 hours.
7%/hour with music is = 14.28571428571429 hours.
C’mon, Ray, stop approximating. You can be more precise than that.
Haha…I’m here to serve!
That does remind me, I wonder how easy it would be to surface battery life from .FIT files that support it into the DCR Analyzer. That’d be super cool.
Massive typos
2% for 30 minutes, and 7% for 30 minutes. Hence the numbers.
Hmm, yeah, that’s a bit tougher. What GPS mode (GLONASS or Galileo)? And any CIQ apps running?
GPS + GLONASS
CIQ – running power only
Another 30 minute run at lunch from 64.0% – 62.0%, so 2% for the 30 minutes, 4% for 60
30 minute run at lunch
Timestamp BatteryLevel
27/05/2019 07:55:44 0.67
27/05/2019 08:00:44 0.66
27/05/2019 08:05:44 0.66
27/05/2019 08:10:44 0.65
27/05/2019 08:15:44 0.65
27/05/2019 08:20:44 0.65
27/05/2019 08:25:44 0.64
Or rather the 30 minute cycle to work
Hi David-
Out of curiosity, is that from the native .FIT file, or are you using a Connect IQ app to collect it? Or just in general, how are you gathering that data?
Cheers.
Hi Ray – using the Fit File Repair Tool to look at the fit files.
Attached more data with what sensors etc are used. If I was a betting man I’d say its something to do with sensor comms, and perhaps OHR not turning off when chest strap on.
Gotchya.
Yeah, looking at the stats on a run with GPS+GLONASS and optical HR I’m at about 5%/hour using Fit File Repair Tool, which, does seem a bit high. No CIQ apps.
I’ll do a bit more digging first and circle back to Garmin.
Hi, can anyone help? I got my first 945 on May 2nd, but had to return it after 2 weeks as the battery life was really bad. I received a new one on Sunday but it doesn’t track my training load or strength training calories? It has uploaded runs to Garmin Connect but says the training benefit is “unknown” and doesn’t show on my 7 day training load screen. The last training load activity which shows is from my first 945 even though I have ran Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and strength trained Monday and Friday.
I ordered the bundle from CT and received shipping notification yesterday. I am so anxious.
Today I gave first ever chance to a Garmin device (from CC UK & CDR code), planning a switch from Polar ecosystem fully to Trainingpeaks. Fingers crossed I will not regret this, but interesting to see whether the grass is any greener “on the other side” :D
I always get good information from your blog. Thank you.
Can the 945 oximetar be used to check the threshold during exercise like Moxy monitor or Humon?
How is your battery life compared to the 935? My 945 seems to be a bit worse than my 935. Just wanted to mention that my settings impacting battery life are: SpO2 turned off, backlight at 20%.
I’ve installed the Battery Widget from Garmin Connect and it says it consumes about 0.75% per hour. That means about 5.4 days of power in smartwatch mode and that is about half of what they said in the specs.
Thanks for the review! It was great quality as usual. Will you do a battery test including the 945?
I had to return mine to Garmin for a replacement after two weeks. my battery was consistantly under performing…. Especially in smartwatch mode. Using about 1% per hour in smart watch mode. Pulse ox off. I’m hoping the new one will work better or they come out with a firmware fix. Glad I held on to my 935!
I also read on Facebook some reviews that said battery life is worse than the 935. Please keep us posted about the battery on the 945 replacement when it arrives. I’m really interested if another unit would perform better.
Thanks!
Just a small update on this, the discharge rate is about the same and it stabilized towards 0.73% per hour.
Ray, what discharge rate are you getting in smartwatch mode? Has anybody else noticed similar battery life in smartwatch mode?
Hmm, I haven’t tracked smartwatch mode that closely. Though, I’d be curious what the impact of that CIQ app is compared to not (my complete swag is higher than one might think, at least based on historical data points).
I installed the battery widget and I am averaging about 1.1% per hour in the “long term avg” but that includes smartwatch usage (SpO2 off, I think) and in-activity use (external HRM and rarely w/ music).
I’m beginning to think I have a defective watch/battery as that measures out to a mere 2 days of combined smartwatch/activity use.
It’s a hard thing to gauge though as there are so many variables (vibration, backlight, oHR, music, raise-to-wake, etc).
I have a 4 hour event this weekend that will at least give me a good idea of GPS use.
P.S. How exactly do you turn “off” the SpO2 anyway? I removed the widget from the device, figuring that would do it. Can’t find anything else in any of the menus.
Hi Brian,
Here’s how to turn on or off anything related to SpO2: link to www8.garmin.com
I’m now on my third charging cycle and what I saw was that battery drain has improved just a little bit. It now drains at approx. 0.7% per hour, down from 0.75%. I discharged it to just 3% and now I’m charging it. I read somewhere that doing this once or twice should format the battery and improve charge.
I’ll keep you updated on what happens. Your 2 days of battery seems really bad compared to what I used to get on the 935 (6, sometimes 7 days, just like the specifications on the box).
Thanks for the info. I also mis-spoke above, 1.1% equates to about 4 days of usage, not the 2 days I said. Still low of course.
I haven’t gone through a full discharge yet, maybe that will make a difference.
Overnight (when it was sitting on the bathroom counter), the battery widget said the usage rate was .46% per hour. That’s the only time it’s come in close to the range that Garmin is listing in the specs.
My bet is raise to wake backlight is hurting a fair bit. The reason I say that is that the 2nd biggest battery life hit is backlight display (behind GPS). It’s huge. I suspect that the number of times you raise sorta adds up over time. just a guess.
Raise to wake should contribute to battery drain as it lights up the screen and uses energy but the old 935 had this feature too and it worked the same way. Yet, the 945 has less battery life with the same settings and under the same conditions as the 935.
This would not be a problem as the 945 has a lot more functions compared to the 935 but Garmin said in the specs that it would have twice the battery life of the previous model. I would be happy if it was 1.2-1.5 times but the 945 is constantly draining faster than my previous 935 (i’m on my fourth charge).
This is why I posted here so I can figure out if it’s just my watch battery or if this is a problem for the majority of 945 users. Ray, what do you think? Is 0.7% per hour (6 days of battery life) normal for a 945 or should i get a replacement?
I am also getting battery drain of about 0.7% per hour (~6 days total) without active use of GPS.
Hmm, that’s a good question. Official specs say ‘Up to 14 days’, but I’ve gotta believe there’s a pile of things that impact that pretty quickly. Off the top of my head, I’d assume the following drive 24×7 battery performance:
– Bluetooth Smart connectivity (sans notifications, but for background sync, I believe this is accounted for)
– Smartphone notifications (with both backlight and vibration on)
– PulseOx (a biggie, as discussed)
– Connect IQ Widgets (could be substantial)
– 24×7 optical HR sensor enabled (I believe this is accounted for in the 14 day figure)
– HR displayed on watch face 24×7
– Activity tracking (I believe this is within the reference number)
My battery life has improved hugely since 2.5 firmware and the ability to only turn the backlight on when raised or key presses after sunset.
I want to follow my friends in a route that I don’t know, record the track and later put that track in the watch and follow the instructions of where I need to go.
And a “Mario Kart ghost mode” where I see on the screen a map and a moving dot that was me at my previous training on that route. And follow that dot to run at the same speed or be faster.
Are those functions already available? It would be amazing!
Rai, I really appreciate your help. When in my last message I said experts I meant “dpd exports team” to whom I had been addressed or redirected to by “dpd costumer service”. I wrote them on Friday and again today, but no news have I received. DONT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO. I had put all my expectations in this watch, I was so excited when I first saw your review but all is twisting and turning into the worst experience I have ever had buying online.
It is almost a month since I bought the watch, too long waiting… I’d simply want to know where is it, it must be somewhere and still it’s UNBELIEVABLE, to my understanding, that no one knows about and I should be the one searching for..
To add insult to injury, CT keeps sending me offers to became a Vip member and more and more publicity…
CHEERS anyway!!!
That sucks. Though, it does seem like it’s fully within DPD’s realm at this point – at least until CT is able (per whatever rules DPD has) to consider the shipment lost and have it re-issued. The tracking shows it was picked up, moved around the UK, and then left the UK.
Have you tried calling DPD and seeing what they say? DPD is a pretty massive European shipping company, and i know I’ve generally had good luck interfacing with them here in the Netherlands when I’ve tried.
Hi again Rai. Finally the dpd exports team has emailed me. I don’t really get what is going on because now they’ve told me to talk to the sender, I guess CT. Literally (copy/paste):
“Hello Luis,
I would request you to please get in touch with them for further updates on your parcel as they will be able to help you to provide you with the updates. This is because we have certain contractual terms with your sender and we can share the updates on the investigation only with them.”
We have completed the circle. At the end we get again with CT. Preciously they (CT) asked me to talk with dpd…
Long story short, I think things are at least moving, we’ll see how fast because many stages are implied in al this mess. Don’t really know how much can I wait.
MUCHAS GRACIAS POR TODO
Many thanks Rai.
Ray – Is it even possible to use the Pulse Oximeter feature to record any kind of activity? Meaning, you want to specifically test your SpO2 in a targeted activity (say you’re on a mountain top or something – or conversely you bought a $2000 altitude tent).
Can you even turn this feature on and record the metrics for review later? If not, is this possible in a widget or a CIQ app?
Hmm, at present the data is saved to the app plotted over time. I haven’t looked at a specific workout .FIT file to see if it also shows in there as well somewhere.
The widget though is also on the watch and shows the data 24×7 plotted over two time durations. If I didn’t include it here, the functionality is the same as in my Fenix 5X Plus review, where I was at higher altitudes and able to dig into it more deeply (identical functionality).
It does not seem to be carrying over into the FIT file, well at least from what I can tell with what’s shown in Garmin Connect or elsewhere (Sporttracks).
I’ll check out the Fenix review, however what I’m really looking for is a measurable and most importantly “recordable” way of tracking SpO2 in preparation for alpine events. Was hoping this would provide a way to do that. Otherwise, why have this as a widget only?
Hmm, in the Summary you say you hope the accuracy of the GPS chip would get better compared to the 935. But isn’t the accuracy solely dependent on the chip and maybe their sampling rate. How’s it going to get better unless they increase the sampling rate? Aren’t they solely dependent on the chip for accuracy?
I do not read that @ all.
I read that his conclusion is that GPS does not work as good as the 935 “The new GPS sensor is kinda meh. While I get that it provides significantly longer battery life, there is the tradeoff for less accuracy. It’s not as bad as some of their competitors using the same sensor – but it’s also not as good as the FR935 was”.
My own findings is, in the short time i used 945, that for me GPS on 945 is as accurate as on the 935.
I am one of them that bought Fenix 5 Plus last summer and returned it to seller shortly after, i wrote about my experiences on this site.
I have compared tracks in city, among trails in woods a.s.o. and i can’t see any big diffrence, it work as good as i can expect, it’s not 100% spot on, but neither is 935 or any other other GPS i use (including gpsmap 276cx).
Firmware updates for GPS and watch itself are super common, and have a long history of seeing watches from all companies improve. We’ve seen Suunto for example go for horrible Suunto 9 performance to generally good. The same for Polar. And there’s also countless examples from Garmin too in various historical products.
That said, nothing can address bad antenna design (I have zero antenna design concerns on any of the new Forerunner watches). Far too many people focus on GPS chipsets, when in reality it’s usually antenna’s that hose up companies (including Garmin).
Most of what changes in firmware is algorithm related and essentially getting better at sorting noise from intention, not sampling rates.
I’m seeing really poor heart rate results with my 945 – 10-15 BPM below what it should be, and even going in reverse at times e.g. I speed up, HR goes down. It’s my first wrist-based HRM, is there anywhere online any useful hints and tips around how to wear it for highest accuracy? When I look at the HR section of the review above it seems to be pretty perfect, which is very far from what I’m seeing on mine.
From my point of view OHR is not for activities but only for 24h metrics, especially, not for intervals
That’s certainly what I’ve seen in a couple of weeks of use, however It seems like Ray can make OHR work pretty well across a range of activities judging by the review above, so it must be possible. It also is a very expansive watch if one of the basic features can’t be relied upon.
Mine seems good for running. I think Ray suggests wearing it at least 2 finger widths above the bony part of your wrist, and pretty snug/tight.
Today I have canceled my order at clever training (UK).I had ordered on May 3. the Garmin 945, first I heard nothing from Clever Training, but my Credit Card was charged. Then the promised Wednesday customer update was also a fail. Also yesterday no Wednesday update about my order. Now I have to wait for my refund. Sorry Clever Training this was a real fail !!!
Andreas
I’ve also cancelled the UK order today
Who knows when it will actually arrive and the battery/gps issues need to settle before that kind of investment.
Given the stock levels for other sellers, I wonder if clever training are accepting orders and using the payments to buy stock then sending on…doesn’t make sense that you can get it next day from so many other sellers
I noticed a few things do not seem to be included in the true up / workout sync. This is based on doing a ride with the 1030, and seeing how it reflected on the 945.
1. Temperature acclimatization did not update on the 945, based on a ride done on the 1030. It was a hot day (85) but the 945 still showed my acclimatization for that day going down.
2. Intensity minutes on the 945 not credited for a ride recorded on the 1030.
Has anyone else notices this?
ML
RE: Temp acclimation – The Edge 1030 doesn’t yet have the new firmware coming out that adds that feature, so in this case that feature won’t work backwards quite yet.
RE: Intensity minutes: Not sure on this one. However, triple-check that Physio TrueUp is enabled for both devices in your Garmin Connect Mobile app (and consider toggling it on/off/on again for fun).
Is this the same barometric/altimeter sensor from the 935? I have had 3 replacement 935 watches due to failed barometric/altimeter sensors and was told by Garmin support that chlorine from the swimming pool eventually kills the sensor. After the first one failed, I tried cleaning with soap and water after every pool swim. Still failed. Twice.
Thanks so much for this review that persuaded me to upgrade from the 935 to the 945. Really appreciate the additional performance data and graphics the 945 has. Question: After a run, the 945, as you’ve noted, will peg aerobic score to its impact such as base or tempo. My 945 on the initial runs indicated that I needed to put in more low aerobic training for overall balance. When I have followed this suggestion, I will get positive feedback from the 945 for performing a low aerobics training segment but at same time be given an “unproductive” ranking overall on run even though my pace, time and speed meet PRs and my average heart rate for run is lower than usual. Seems like a conflict between this new aerobics detail and the grade on overall run. What am I missing here? Thanks again for your invaluable review. Jim Duncan
So, I’ve had my 945 now for enough time really comment on its use.
I’m frankly a little disappointed.
For context, I’m coming over from a Vivoactive (v1) that I bought about 3 years ago, but I’ve also owned several Garmin devices over the year (405, 910xt, Fenix v1, etc).
Many of the bugs I attributed to my good ol’ Vivoactive being old and out-of-date are also occurring on this brand new 945:
– battery life less than expected (I have posted a number of comments above around this)
– smartphone notifications failing to send to device (a reboot always fixes it though)
– taking an incredible amount of time to sync an activity or just failing to sync outright
– glitchy, weird behavior such as activities failing to load CIQ data screens (Stryd, Dozenrun) and causing the watch to reboot, hosing up the activity altogether
– “raise to wake” for backlight working only intermittently (I look like a fool sometimes dramatically raising my arm trying to get it light up)
I have enjoyed the music feature, but I frankly only use that on <10% of my activities so it's not a great impact. The maps are cool but with such limited use I am only just beginning to try that out.
I bought the watch based on A) battery life, B) New Features (music/maps), C) for a robust upgrade. So far, it's only really scoring for me on (B).
Hi mates!! I’d like to share with you all my ONE MONTH ANNIVERSARY!!!! Yeah right, today I’ve been waiting a whole month for this watch to come. Thanks to Clever Training, it would have been impossible without them.
My excitement has been bombarded, broken into pieces; I wished so hard to train with it but feelings at the moment are kinda weird. Many downs regarding battery life, not enough garmin pay banks allowed, bugs, gps accuracy, and so on. I don’t really know if I want this device anymore… Just hope my money is safe
BTW, Rai I haven’t phone to dpd or any of them because this international phone calls must cost an arm and a leg. I’d have appreciated CT calling me; just a comforting gesture.
Hi Luis-
I know CT has contacted DPD to try and figure out where your shipment went. However, to be clear, DPD has numbers in all European countries that are local. You can ring them as well without paying international fees.
Bummed to hear about the trouble for sure though. :(
if i understand this correctly, you pay 600USD but don’t get worldwide maps?
Say you buy the watch in the US you get NORTH america maps – are these just driving maps? does it include all map types?
Garmin maps are very very expensive so thats an important part to cover. Say you want the French alps topographic maps its 240USD!
You get maps for the region you’re in. They aren’t driving maps at all, but rather detailed trail/street maps. You can download free 3rd party maps here for the FR945 (it’s almost identical to what Garmin includes): link to dcrainmaker.com
I do agree however, I think it’s stupid that Garmin makes it this complex.
I currently have a Vivoactive HR (great little watch) and I am training for a Century Ride, run a little bit (nothing major) and love to be outdoors and active.
I am looking at either the Fenix 5X Plus or the 945.
What would you recommend? Should I just keep the Vivoactive HR and get a 530/830?
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Sam
That’s what I’d suggest.
I’m the opposite of you (run alot and bike a little) and I’m having a hard time self-justifying the upgrade to the 945 from my Vivoactive.
Do you find the 945 to be a lot more accurate than the Vivoactive? Did you have the Vivoactive HR?
Really is a pretty cool little device. Part of this is driven by the nerd side of me that likes new gadgets! LOL
Actually, the GPS tracks seem worse than the Vivoactive. That part doesn’t bother me much though as I use Stryd and have it calculate pace/distance. But for example, many of my 945 runs have been out and backs and the GPS track often is “off” where you’d expect the “back” to be perfectly on top of the “out.”
Totally agree on the gadget aspect though, that was a main driving force for my upgrade. But $550 is a lot for such an upgrade.
Out of curiosity, which GPS mode are you using (GLONASS, GALILEO, Regular GPS)?
I have mine set to GPS+Glonass. I think that came out of the review above as the best option but I may have read wrong. It’s a long review. :-)
I cannot compare the FR945 with the Vivoactive but so far I’m really pleased with the FR945 GPS accuracy provided you only begin your workout after the watch acquires the GPS signal. DCR is the bible on GPS-watches reviews but if you want to check some more logs I provided an analysis on 2 runs here: link to ptjuggernaut.blogspot.com
I had a first bad impression with the watch on my first run because I started running without waiting for the watch to acquire a GPS signal – this has turned out to be my worst-ever experience with a GPS watch. The FR945 went completely wacko the entire course, posting 1K laps @ 3 mins/km which unfortunately I cannot do :) This was unexpected behavior as with my old FR225 I could start running even without GPS signal and the watch didn’t perform badly as it captured the signal a min or so after beginning.
Bottom line: wait for the 945 to acquire GPS signal and you’ll be OK.
2 years (3500 km run) with Vivoactive 1 and now 1+year with 645M (2500km run) and I can confirm that the Vivoactive has a better GPS result.
In my opinion, it could be the “basic plastic case” the reason behind these good results.
i’ve tried to use Garmin Pay. It’s significantly more cumbersome than Apple Pay on an Apple Watch.
Apple unlocks your watch when you unlock your phone, which you can do with your face. Practically speaking, this means you nearly never enter a passcode on your watch. With Garmin Pay, I need to enter the passcode using the Asteroids-Style chooser, which takes probably 10 seconds at least. And I likely won’t do that until I am at a cash register, since the watch is usable w/o entering a passcode.
Second, Apple Pay can be triggered with a double press of the lower right button. Wit Garmin Pay I must long press the top left button and then hit the top right button – or if the last used function was not the Wallet, click “down” “down” until I get to the wallet.
The net result is that the convenience of Garmin Pay is far lower than using Apple Pay on an Apple Watch. It’s not even close. I feel like Garmin Pay was added without the product managers actually trying to use the thing on a daily basis.
And there is the problem that the number of issuers that support Garmin Pay is small – but that was pointed out in the review.
Just as a heads up – you only have to enter the passcode once per 24hrs, so you can do it anytime before you get to the register as well (such as standing in line). After that, it’s just a single long-hold away. I don’t find that it takes 10 seconds to enter it, a couple seconds perhaps once you’ve done it a few times.
As for unlocking via face – I don’t see any realistic way of that changing for Garmin. Apple doesn’t permit apps to leverage that off-phone, so it’s not like Garmin could tap into that if they wanted to.
I actually like Garmin Pay. It works really good for me. Little tip, you can setup “hot keys”, for example, long press back button to open the wallet.
@dcrainmaker, Garmin could tie unlocking the wallet to opening the connect app, which I do once per morning on my iPhone either after a workout or to see how my sleep went.
@kevin, my hotkey is set to opening music, which is sensible to me since I use that more often than NFC payments.
In my opinion, the out-of-the-box convenience of Apple Pay is far higher. Have you all tried Apple Pay?
RE: Tie to opening the app, that’s an interesting idea. I like it. Though, I don’t know how/if Garmin could then know whether the phone also had pin-code enforcement. Keep in mind, most of these restrictions come not from Garmin, but the banking industry.
I have actually spent a ton of time with Apple Pay – and in fact just used it 10 minutes ago. There are things I like better there (such better receipt confirmations). However, I’ve also spent a lot of time with Garmin Pay too, and I don’t think there’s really that much of a difference once you use it for a short period.
One big difference is the primary use of each device. The AW is a smart watch, and it’s designed to detect when it’s on your wrist and to lock when it’s not. Unlock it, and so long as it’s on your wrist you don’t have to do that again. Once it’s off your wrist, though, it’s pretty useless. Garmin watches are fitness devices. They have to function just as well off your wrist as on it. My new Fenix 5+ will be worn over clothing in the winter so I can see it, not touching my skin. It’s pointless to wear an Apple Watch that way. So the security model is different. If my 5+ falls off somewhere I don’t want someone to be able to pick it up and start buying things. Garmin’s security model has to be more strict, which makes Garmin Pay less usable than the simple double click it takes with an unlocked AW on your wrist. I enabled a card on my 5+, but because of the PIN and because I don’t wear it all the time like I do the AW I doubt I’ll ever use Garmin Pay.
Paul, I agree that Apple Watch is more of a “smart watch” / lifestyle watch than the Garmin. And that really is my issue. I want the best of both worlds. I want a watch with LTE connectivity that can get me out of a bind when I am not carrying my phone, but also be an amazing fitness device. We all know that Garmin makes better fitness packages. The combination of the sensors, the software, the integration with Strava and the customizability of the screens, always-on-display, and physical buttons make garmin the leader in fitness tracking for serious amateurs. It’s just a shame that I still need to swap back and forth between two devices.
And I’d like to have dinner tonight at that place in orbit around Proxima Centuri (you know the one, the view is fantastic). But that’s not going to happen. Your dream is way more possible, but it’s still pretty unlikely. The requirements for a smart watch and a serious fitness watch are just too dissimilar for mashing them together to work well. Do you want a screen that’s always on, or do you want a beautiful high resolution color screen that would drain the battery in an hour (unless you want to wear a tin can on your wrist) if it were always on? Apple could easily add ANT+ to their devices (from what I understand, this is a leftover Jobsism), but that still doesn’t change the other weaknesses of the AW as a fitness device. Fortunately, the solution is pretty easy, buy one of each. I wear my AW most of the day every day, while my 5+ basically awaits the winter and cross country skiing. (The reason I enabled Garmin Pay is that I can envision needing to buy gas after going skiing and having Garmin Pay on my 5+ would make that easier with my AW either buried under clothing or more likely left at home.)
Hi. Can the maps be changed?
Yup, see this: link to dcrainmaker.com
Ray – Apropros of nothing in particular, do you think Garmin will ever make another sport watch without oHR? I think my Vivoactive is the last one without it and it’s just such a nice watch from a form/fit standpoint. I’d happily upgrade to a new one if they updated the memory/processors, etc.
Nope. I think those days have passed. Cheers!
I just swapped the 935 for the 945 and did my first sea swim with it today. My last sea swim with the 935 gave an average pace of 1:30 per 100 metres. The 945 today recorded 2 mins per 100. Do the units take time to adjust or is this likely down to gps accuracy. I have it set on gps glonas.
Love the reviews and my first port of call when seeking new tech.
My two sea tests have been failures: first one stopped recording gps+galileo at 94 yards and second stopped recording gos at 145 yards. Timer and stoke count continued for full 3600 and 3000 yards swims. GPS records fine on land.
I finally gave up on using watches to track OW on my wrist. I now just use my old Garmin 310xt under my cap for reference and the Apple watch on my wrist for a stopwatch and a (surprisingly good) track, but even then it throws a wobbler (no distance recoorded at all yesterday).
Garmin sent me a replacement watch (quick customer service from a complaint on their support site). Upgraded to 2.50 software. Still had the same problem — on an open water race around a 1000 yard pier, the new 945 tracked 498 yards (longest distance ever), while the 920 on the other wrist tracked 981, both having been soaked for about 30 minutes before. The next day the new 945 tracked 51 yards for an open water swim by my house, while the 920 on a pull buoy tracked 1,988 yards. (A beach run I tracked with both watches on separate wrists came up with the same distance and matching tracks.) From Ray’s other post I’ll wait for the software upgrade that’s supposedly in the works, but if there isn’t a good improvement I’ll return the “multisport” watch for a refund even though I like many of the other features. Hopefully my 920 will stay intact!
I pre-ordered the 945 and I think I’m gonna cancel and stick with my 935. People at Garmin furum are really disappointed with the GPS accuracy that in my opinion is the most important thing in a device like this. Ray’s review says it is fine, but I’m really concerned about this matter considering how good is the 935. Just slightly better than the Fenix 5 isn’t enough to justify $600 upgrade. It is the GPS that bad? Thanks
I had the 945 for two weeks and used it with great success on GPS + glonass. I found the GPS accuracy to be just about exactly what I would expect from my 935. I sent it back to Garmin because I was having problems with the battery life. my new one should be arriving this week sometime. I wouldn’t shy away from it because of the GPS accuracy. And when I had it I was really enjoying a lot of the new features.
Hi Toby! I’ve done a preliminary analysis on the GPS accuracy of the Garmin FR945 and, actually, it looks fairly good. I was fearing the change to the Sony chipset so I decided to do some tests and the FR945 is not too shabby! I will add further tests in the future but for the meantime the 945’s GPS looks solid!
link to ptjuggernaut.blogspot.com
Had my 945 a couple of weeks now.
The GPS (GPS + GLONASS) tracking is pretty similar to the 735XT I had previously – until the tracking went wild, at which point I returned it.
Neither of those two are anywhere near as accurate (tracking) as my old 305. With the 305, 99% of the time I can see what side of a 5 foot wide canal towpath I was running on. With the 945, at times, it looks like I’ve taken a swim or I’m running 10 – 15 feet off the towpath in a field.
As for the battery – built-in HR on, 02 sensor off, backlight at 20% plus e-mail etc notifications, it drains at 10% per day without any activity/GPS use.
Whilst running with GPS/GLONASS & built-in HR, it drains around 10% per hour.
Nice watch, but GPS accuracy isn’t as good as I’d expected and the battery drain is somewhat worse than I hoped for.
Hi,
I just started OWS here in MN and my 945 has been dropping GPS connections on most swims. I wait for a good GSP signal and then start and shortly it will drop the GPS connection. Today during an Olympic race it dropped after 179 yards. I’m swimming on the same lakes I did with my 935 and sometimes I can get it to reconnect if I stop and hold my wrist out of the water but sometimes that doesn’t work either. Anyone else experiencing this?
Couple of examples:
link to connect.garmin.com
link to connect.garmin.com
Out of the 4 OW swims I’ve done, only one has successfully recorded a track – the other three have all recorded stroke rate, time etc but only ~100 metres GPS track. All have been in a 500 yard swimming lake with no tree cover etc. My other half has a 945 and hers is recording successfully. Looking here and on the Garmin forum, this seems to be a common problem. I was using GPS and GLONASS – hers was just set to GPS
Thanks for the info. Looks like my first swim was set to GPS only and tracked fairly well although due to cold water temp I stopped more frequently. Does anyone know if there is a fix coming for OWS using GPS +Glonass for the 945?
Hi Brent,
We are aware of the report of Open Water Swim distance stopping after a short time. We are working to get this resolved ASAP.
Wow. This feels like a pretty major issue. I’m surprised and disappointed that this has not been pointed out in your review here Ray :-(
Yup, I noted in the review which sports I was able to do, and which sports I couldn’t do (with openwater being trickier due to weather at that time of the year).
Still, you’ll see some bits tomorrow on the openwater swim frustrations, due to my triathlon this past weekend and running into the same things on the Garmin MARQ series.
@Garmin-Joey,
Updated my 945 software version to 2.50 and it tracked my OWS nicely this morning using GPS + GLONASS. Thanks, Brent
@Garmin-Joey,
Hi Joey,
My 945 lost GPS tracking a few minutes into my OWS, I’ve had 1 successful GPS +Glonass OWS and thought it was related to software update 2.50 but that doesn’t appear to have fixed the issue.
link to connect.garmin.com
@Garmin-Joey,
Any updates on the OWS issues with the 945?
This site has posted this exact same page – I don’t see any credit to you.
[removed]
I greatly enjoy your reviews.
Thanks for the heads up!
Zapping the link so the site doesn’t get a SEO/optimization bump from the link here. :(
Yes, sorry .. when I posted I didn’t think about that, and I hadn’t found your e-mail link yet.
Has anyone tried the new beta firmware (v2.48)? link to www8.garmin.com
Hi! Moving to FR945 from Polar. I have ordered the watch and already got HRM Swim from a friend. My question is that how does triathlon mode work – can I swap from HRM Swim strap to Polar H10 strap during Swim-Bike transition? Would that break swim HR recording in FR945 or cause some other issues related to activity recording? Alternative is to buy HRM Tri, but I’m wondering is that really necessary.
Nice review!
Hi Ray,
Any update on CT UK stock? They were showing ‘late May’, its now gone to ‘early june’…
Hi Ray! My 945 is not showing temperature acclimatization. This page just does not show up on the training status widget. I have a history of workouts for more than a week. Do you know what’s wrong? Thanks!
I’m very keen to get heart rate data into my swims with this watch. I’ve tried, and swimming with a chest strap is unfortunately a non-starter for me so I guess that eliminates Garmin’s swimming heart rate offerings. Is there any product out there that can do this right now? I’m looking at Polar’s OH1+ and Scosche’s Rhythm 24 as options here, but apparently neither of them can sync their cached HR data into a Garmin watch for inclusion into the activity, right? But maybe Scosche is trying to make this work? Is Polar making an effort here too? The up-to-dateist info on this is hard to find!
Is there a way to see at the smartphone screen, in REAL TIME, all the information that you are seeing in the watch during an exercise (pace, speed, HR, maps, routes)?
It would be very useful when running at the gym with the smartphone in front of you. Even when cycling, it would replace a Garmin Edge (that’s why I think this is still not possible).
Hi. Can anyone tell me what’s your (latest) day of order FR945 from CT UK where you have already received the watch or order status changed to ‘shipped’?
I have ordered 9th of May and I’m wondering which orders (of what day of order ) are now in realization.
Thanks
Marcino, regarding Clevertraining UK orders. I ordered 945 on the 4th of May. My order was shipped on the 4th of June, although I have not yet received it.
Mine was ordered on the 4 of may. It was shipped last week and is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow, Monday June 10.
Thanks for your reply. It looks like I will have to wait a while longer. But maybe during this time Garmin will do something with the constantly reported defects of this model, because it’s very disappointing for a Garmin’s flagship model that costs such a large amount of money. Now people pay and they didn’t get quality they expect.
Battery life, sticky buttons, cracks on sensors glass, etc… (in less than one month of using?) I can understand bugs in software but I don’t understand how such a big company like Garmin can put on sale so underdeveloped units of this watch. Such a simple thing like a buttons work can be tested for every production batch.
Cracks on sensors – problem that occurred in 935 so it should be totally eliminated in next model.
I am very worried about the unit of watch I will get and I started thinking about canceling my order until all the faults will be fixed.
Anyone else having major music related issues with this 945 watch? Connecting to my Jabra Active Elite headphones is a nightmare. I have to remove them and re-pair each time and hope for the best. Now when I try to update or play a playlist from Spotify it just says “unable to get content.”
The other features all work fine, but this is pretty disappointed since one major selling point was being able to run without my phone strapped to me for music.
I have no problems with my AfterShokz Trekz Air and the watch, pairs automatically each time I want to listen to podcasts/music on the watch.
I don’t use Spotify, so I can’t comment on that, but sync playlists from iTunes using Garmin Express under Windows 10 without any problems.
Great review! .. I’ve been thinking of getting the new Forerunner 945, but a bit worried that the same problems that I’m having with Forerunner 935 would follow. Would you happen to know by any chance if the bottom material which covers the optical sensor in the 945 is the same that in 935 .. I am currently on my second 935 in 18 months time because the optical sensor cover material started cracking for no apparent reason in regular use. I got sent a replacement straight away, but now it has started happening again with the replacement watch .. cracking exactly the same way starting right on top of the 3 LEDs and the sensor, I have no clue what is causing the cracks, and I am still waiting a response from the support for the current case. Seems that I either have very bad luck, or somethings is wrong with this model .. would very much like to have a permanent solution and a watch that would last, and thought of upgrading but a hesitating to do it if the new 945 has similar materials with possibly similar problem.
Hi Jukka! I have had the exact same problem you had and I exchanged my 935 three times. Now i have the 945 and so far I haven’t noticed any cracks. The sensors and lights have a different placement on this one, the crystal seems to be curved a little bit differently and I’m really hoping the problem was fixed. I’ll let you know if I notice any problems.
So far my biggest gripe with the new 945 is battery life (well below the 2 weeks specified under ideal conditions but more frustrating a little bit less than the 935) and that seems to be an issue for everyone: link to forums.garmin.com
I’m hoping they will fix this with a software update pretty soon.
Looks like the cracking is happening.
link to forums.garmin.com
On reading the post I noticed it had happened to mine a little. not sure whether to return or not. Thoughts?
David
Thanks for the link .. although I wish It wouldn’t exists and that the problem would have been fixed. I’ll just skip any upgrade thoughts I had to 945 for time being .. feeling pretty disappointed.
I would contact the support and talk to them. If the cracks keep getting worse you will end up losing the sensor data and features that use them .. My thoughts are if they can guarantee a working unit I’d take that, but if not .. I would return it.
The biggest selling points with 935 for me were accurate GPS tracking, sleep and recovery tracking. Eventually when the cracks got worse, my first 935 couldn’t measure HR accurately anymore it was all over the place, I kept using it with HR belt, tracking my activities for few months before contacting support. But the lack of sleep and recovery tracking just made it eventually not worth for me to wear. I stopped using wrist watches about 20 years ago, when I got my first mobile phone with a clock on the screen. Been tracking activity with mobile phones when came it possible with sports-tracker and this was my first watch since .. wanted to track sleep and recovery and not carry a huge mobile phones with me while running.
Currently have Oura ring to track my sleep and readiness .. so I guess I can go back to using HR belt with 935 for activity tracking or go back to mobile phone.
I had 4 935s replacements, 2 for barometer issues, 2 for cracking hrm. Very concerned that people are seeing cracks on the 945 so soon.
Trouble is there is nothing else out there is a similar size/weight with the same features like firstbeat, barometer, open water, triathlon etc.
Need a Suunto 7 with a combination of the 9 and 5 features!!
Does the 945 come with City Navigator NT?
In Garmin Express is shows the following as being installed and up-to date.
1. TopoActive Americas North 2019.10
2. Coverage of Europe, Middle East & Africa 5.50
3. Coverage of North and South America 5.90
4. Coverage of Pacific 5.0
If it go into Tools & Content > Purchased, it shows City Navigator North America NT as “Ready to Activate”. There is also a Redeem / Enter Voucher Code item on that screen.
Anyone know what the deal is?
I’ve hesitated from selecting activate since it would seem the watch would likely not have the space for City Navigator.
Hi Ray!!
More than 40 days waiting. In my CT order status says Complete. They don’t respond as fast as they should, and when they do they don’t really answer to my questions. It’s like we are not dealing with people anymore. “Stock is coming, we do apologize”. But when?? Approx. And why my order status is COMPLETE? How can a 500€ watch be lost?? What else do I have to do? THEY HAVE MY MONEY 40 days now.
Sorry Ray, This situation is absolutely overpassing me. Please do something, say something….
THANKs
Hi Luis-
Sorry again for the troubles. Unfortunately, they don’t have additional FR945 stock to send out. My understanding is that they expect to have that in the next week. While I know CT UK would love to send you another unit, they simply don’t have one to send. I’ve talked to them every few days about your case.
Have you tried reaching out to DPD directly? I know you were hesitant to do so earlier, but the tracking clearly showed it left CT and was on the way to you via DPD (and left the UK as a country). I know that CT UK has reached out to DPD as well, but oftentimes having pressure from multiple sides can help. What does DPD’s tracking site show now?
Thanks.
Could it be that there is a bug with the smart recording setting?
I noticed the fit files for the 945 were way larger then for the 935, so I loaded them in the fit file repair tool and saw that even with smart recording enabled I had a datapoint every second, while the 935 was indeed ‘smarter’ and could have multiple seconds between datapoints.
I tested this again a few times, also just now sitting on my chair with an activity for 5 minutes, and again… 308 data points.
Switching to 1sec doesn’t help, so it seems to always record at 1 sec? This is for both running and walking (which makes sense because it’s a general setting).
Can anyone check/comment?
I really appreciate your help and support Ray.
I have contacted with ALL OF THEM, dpd, dpd exports, and the last word I have heard from them(two weeks ago or-so) it was to get in contact with “Fulfilment crowd”. I dont know. They also asked me, back in time, about my address, the address is totally perfect on the order so.. Who knows what on earth is going on.
Im learning to be patient. The parcel tracking is a long ago paralyzed.(attaching picture). “Your parcel has left the UK and is on its way to Spain” (quote)
Long story short, no many news within these last two weeks. Today CT has sent me an email, asking me about my address, which is perfectly written from the very first time. I will go on holidays in July, if they dont do anything soon I will have to ask for a refund at the end of June. But for now, I have told the to re-sent me thewatch; the only problem is they dont say a date, time goes and if I lucky enough I will get another message on Thursday or Friday. Well, at least you’ve confirmed they would have stock this next week (what does it mean?? This week we are on?? Or the oncoming??
Comments regarding the 945 are quite pessimistic… Let’s see!!
Thanks Ray, I know for sure this has nothing to do with you.
Thanks for the reviews you make. I am using Polar now and have been doing it for over twenty years. But this review makes me jump to the Garmin camp, instead of buying the Vantage V. I hope it’s the right choice :)
I’m glad I’ve learned about this site (I’ve only heard about it when I photographed the Garmin event in Apeldoorn where you were participating). Been reading a lot n your site since then. So I’m planning to buy the watch at CV UK, but the comments here make me hesitate a bit.
After over 15 years with Polar I just switched to the Garmin FR 945. Besides the horrible experience of having ordered through CT-UK, my unit was received on June 10 (ordered on May 4). However, the watch is incredible. I moved from a Polar V800 and went for a ride to compare. The optical sensor was surprisingly accurate in comparison to the Polar chest sensor. Most of the time they were giving exact readings or showing a difference of only 1-2 beats. In terms of GPS accuracy…both are great. I’ve had no battery issues, on the contrary…the battery of the FR 945 lasts forever in comparison to the V800. I love the fact that it records my HR 24/7. Having said that, the new vantage does al that too. Personally, I don’t care for Garmin Pay or having music on the watch. Furthermore, I though that the Garmin would have more exercise profiles on the watch, as Polar does. I do mostly water sports and the Garmin has stand up paddle but no sailing, windsurfing or kitesurfing as the Polar does. I added them creating a custom (other) activity which has a generic Icon. Furthermore, Polar allows you to customize the data screens on the computer, which is a breeze in comparison to having to do so on the Garmin. Having said that, the Garmin Connect app on the iPhone is light years ahead of the Polar one. It’s mind blowing. So much data…Amazing. Garmin has many apps or watch faces that can be installed, but you have to choose because most of them are useless or you have to pay couple of euros to unlock their full potential. Would I purchase the FR 945 again? The Polar Vantage looks amazing…but in general the Garmin is currently a superior product…I just have to learn how to customize the unit better. I mean…adding and creating custom activities should be way easier and straight forward. Again, Garmin’s are great…thus I probably still have to figure it out…and the FR has so much more stuff than the Vantage… anyway…just my personal opinion.
Hi there,
Same here, I was a happy owner of a Polar M400 for five years, waited for the new Vantage to come out only to see the general disappointment.
I have the FR945 since two weeks and happy with it, but I still have a lot of features to discover. I mainly use it for running, swimming and as a bike computer.
Thanks! It makes me more determent to change
Well, I was a bit worried when I ordered the 945 at CT, but I got the watch today, within two weeks after ordering. Clever Training said it would be shipped end of June, it came even earlier than expected. Happy man here! And thanks Ray for the discount :)
Thanks for the support Bas, I appreciate it!
Are you satisfied with using it as a bike computer? How long of a ride can you use it for? Is the screen big enough to clearly see when to turn?
thanks in advance
How is it as a bike computer? User friendliness/battery life?
Thanks in advance!
Hi,
I’ve just come over from the Polar side of the force and one feature omission absolutely puzzles me:
How the heck can people live WITHOUT the ability to have (manual) laps in a multisport session/race?!
In a triathlon I always mark laps for specific segments on the bike course (e.g. climbs, descents) so that I can check a certain Wattage goal for that segment against the “Lap average power” field. No manual laps on my new Garmin means my whole pacing concept goes out the window.
I wonder what the design decision was there: “Hey guys, in multisport mode, we need to re-purpose one of the existing buttons for changing sport. Should we use the Lap or the Stop/Pause button? Oh well, I think taking a short rest is a more common use-case in a race than wanting to take a lap, so: bye-bye Lap-Butto!!!”
I have not tried this, but I think you could achieve your goal by setting up a shortcut such as “Hold Down” to record a lap. It’s not ideal (assuming it works as it should) given that it requires a bit more attention but better than nothing. Hope it works!
Anyone knows how to change songs, increase volume etc while in running mode, for example? I have added the “music control screen” on the running mode page but can’t seem to find the controls.
Thanks
Long press the down button to get into the Music mode. Once you are playing a tune, the start-stop button will bring up a circular menu of options you are asking about.
Thank you!
Thank you for an insightful review.
I am wondering whether there is much to gain from using Trainingpeaks given the performance data available with the watch. Anybody else thinking about this issue?
Does Suunto 9 or Spartan Ultra have a Duathlon mode? I’m still using Ambit3 because it does and my Spartan sport does not. Thanks
Hey Ray,
Worth the splurge on the 945 or try to save a few bucks on a 935 or fenix 5 plus?
Anyone else having issues mounting the 945 on a Mac? When i connect the watch, Garmin Express can see it just fine, but it does not show up in the file system. Due to this i cannot copy over the GPS Firmware Beta.
Thanks
Hi Miro,
You can use “Andriod File Transfer” download it and start. Make sure you CMD+Q Garmin express you can only run one of the applications at a time.
Hope this helps
Want to either buy the 945 or the 5Plus. Want to get into running and triathlon but only beginner.
Which one of the two do you recommend. I was going to buy the fenix 5plus before the 945 came out.
Please reply.
Thanks.
They are both very similiar. With the FR945 you’re getting more metrics than the Fenix 5 Plus (which won’t come to the Fenix 5 Plus). Whereas the Fenix 5 Plus obviously has a different look.
It’s for the most part a personal preference thing, beyond those new features.
I compared the 945 with a wahoo elemnt bolt paired with a tickr fit. Both computers were paired with a power meter on a 400k brevet.
The 945 HR was almost as good as the tickr fit, particularly when riding without stops. When traffic was stop-and-go, it didn’t do nearly as well – it got lost a few times for up to a couple of minutes. Tightening the band may have helped.
The main drawback of the 945 vs. the wahoo: no navigation.
The biggest benefit for long rides: battery life approaching 30h.
Dang, very impressive. I’d love to see what the battery drain profiles look like for those!
(Fwiw, we added battery drain metrics to the DCR Analyzer a few weeks back, supported on both Wahoo and Garmin devices. Happy to see what those graphs look like if you shoot them to me, just ray at my domain.)
I’m trying to decide on the 935 (I can get new for $400) or the 945 ($600)… I’d like some of the new training dynamics features of the 945, but trying to balance that with an the extra $200 with likely worse GPS tracks that come with it…
Anyone have thoughts on which way to go, 935 vs. 945?
My 945 has gone back for replacement. LEDs cracked.
Gone back to my 935 and amazed how much better the battery life is on the 935 than 945
Not sure I would get a 945 again.
Did you manage to install the newest firmware before returning it? I’ve heard the battery DID get better after that, but I can’t confirm since I also returned mine (a long time ago).
I did install it.
It didn’t help.
My 945 battery is much better since the latest firmware and turning backlight off until after sunset.
I charged it Fri morning, 14th June. Did 4 x 8km run laps over a 24 hour endurance event using GPS, then a 45 min walk using GPS on Tuesday and it’s currently on 33% on Thurs night in the UK.
That’s very similar to my 935.
SO, Garmin 945 is now out in Thailand and I want to treat myself to a present.
After reading comments about battery and people returning it etc I am a little worried.
I am between the Fenix 5 Plus and the Garmin 945. Hoping that if watch goes wrong I still have warranty here in Thailand although sometimes dealing with language etc is a pain.
So, should I get a Fenix or a Garmin 945 – and are the battery issues a real issue??
Thanks
Just like John before me,
I have the same question: Fenix 5X Plus or Forerunner 945 in relation to the battery. Battery is crucial for me.
Hi,
I just bought the 945. I cannot get it connected with my Powertap G3! 945 connects all other sensors, wattbike, friends bike sensors, but no my G3. G3 works with 920 XT so the hub itself is ok.
I’ll continue reading your insightful reviews Rai but regarding your sponsors NEVER AGAIN. The day before yesterday I canceled my preorder at CLEVER TRAINING, after 55 days waiting I’m going on vacation next week and I don’t want to carry any worry with me. Two emails sent asking for a refund and no answer yet. THIS IS NOT FAIR at all.
I’ll be using the g245 bought it here in a local shop. Thanks for everything Rai. Just EXPECTING MY MONEY BACK
Thanks for the clear review DC rainmaker!
I’m a runner who is also starting to bike a lot as well, maybe thinking of doing a triathlon in the future. My forerunner 235 just broke and I am in a bit of a dilemma on what to buy. Running wise I know the forerunner 245 wil be sufficient, however I think its time for me to get a device that will help me with my routing during my cycling rides as well. Till now I was using the 235 for my cycling rides as well. From a triathlon perspective I think I wont mind too much if my watch doesn’t perfectly transition from one to the other activity. So the way I see it I have two options:
1) Forerunner 245 + Edge 530 = pros: good screen for cycling routes, cons: not good for triathlon, doesnt have all the extra’s of the forerunner 945.
2) Forerunner 945 = pros: great for ALL activities incl. triathlon, cons: small screen for cycling navigation.
Which would you recommend? I think it comes down to how user friendly the cycling navigation is on the 945 screen. Do you know how battery draining it is to use the navigation during cycling?
Thanks in advance, Guilhem
Hi Ray,
Got my 945, and I have to say I am happy. Compared to my old Epix the accuracy is fantastic. Moreover I have to thank you as I bought it at a great price with your Clever Training referral!
On question I cannot gt my respiration rate with my old Garmin Heart Rate Chest Strap (although all the other metrics are there). Do I need to buy a new HRM or should I change something in my 945 settings.
Thanks.
Hi Ray,
Just curious why the garmin site has not yet been able to sell the 945. Also currently showing 3-5 weeks lead time. Does this point to problems with production?
Thanks!
Not sure what you mean. It’s been selling for two months now, with most back-orders with retailers in North America and Europe cleared (finally), in the last couple weeks. Where are you delayed?
The Garmin site is always last to get stock, they send stock to their other retailers first. Another example – Edge 830 says 1-2 weeks on garmin.com, yet in stock for next day delivery elsewhere
& FWIW Garmin UK shows 945 as Processing time is 1–3 business days.
I placed an order for the 945 Bundle on June 19th and it has not shipped yet. I spoke with a Garmin rep on the phone about two weeks ago. He didn’t elaborate if there were production issues, however, he did mention that demand was high from their resellers. Resellers get priority above Garmin Direct orders in regards to inventory. The rep mentioned that they hoped inventory would be better by this week. I am not holding my breath but, I am not in any rush for a new watch. I have had my Fenix 3 for over four years now, I can wait a month or two if needed. I noticed late last week that there is a pending charge on my credit card from Garmin, however, the order status still says pending, and I have not received a shipment confirmation. I ordered the bundle since historically demand is lower and inventory tends to turn up quicker.
It’s back in stock now, 1-2 days processing time.
Hi Ray,
Just curious why the garmin site has not yet been able to sell the 945. Also currently showing 3-5 weeks lead time. Does this point to problems with production?
Thanks!
Pretty sure the heat acclimation only works if you sync the watch to your phone before you start the activity. Seems odd that it needs to do that given the temp sensor on the watch, but maybe they don’t use that assuming sometime it’s on your wrist (running) vs off (quick release for bike)?
Andrew
Yes, you need to sync your watch to your phone before a GPS activity and make sure the weather widget is updated on the watch. Furthermore, it will only show heat acclimation if temperature in the weather widget is above 22º celsius. They also need 4 days of data to compute the heat acclimation metric.
Garmin does not use the built-in temperature sensor as the sensor is affected by your body’s heat (for example, one day the temperature might be 22º celsius but in your watch sensor it is 30º because you’re overheated). Bottom line, the watch temperature sensor seems to be useless.
How do you set the Run/Walk mode?
Can this watch play m4p files? Looking at an Apple Music library, although the service isn’t specifically supported, if you download the music to your PC you may be able to get the files to the watch if it allows protected mpeg-4 audio.
Justin,
I have some issues with iTunes on the 945. First you need to make sure your files are DRM free (meaning the no copyright protection) , thus tunes either downloaded to iTunes from a CD/MP3 you own or tunes where DRM have been removed ;-) All the tunes downloaded from Apple Music are protected.
Then I have to say that the watch acts a bit weird with some tunes that are either cut in the middle or that cannot be uploaded to the watch with no logical reason. But this is I believe a problem with Garmin that might be solved with firmware updates… a bit a classic lately with watches that still have bugs when commercialised.
So the best solution is to have a Deezer or Spotify account.
I hope this answers your interrogation.
Emmanuel,
Thanks for your reply! So it seems that regardless of downloading files from iTunes (Apple music) if the files have DRM on them, they cannot be played.
Hi Ray, is there anything like Polar FitSpark on the horizon for Garmin?
Hi,
I have been usining the 945 for a close to 2 weeks now and I am experiencing some issues.
First I cannot get the Stress Level measured, actually it mesures my stress level but I keep getting the message “Check Watch Fit”
Second I am trying to get my HRV Stress measured (with the Garmin Tri Strap) but same issue…?
Third, my VO2 max is not measured. I used to have a Garmin EPIX with a VO2 max thet worked well and showed a VO2 max of 44 (I know not great ;-) but since I changed to the 945 I do not get any new value for VO2max
I thought it would take a few days to settle and to get the Garmin 945 to ‘know me better” but after 2 weeks and various exercices still the same issues !?
Ray do you think I should return my Garmin… or is their something I can do to have these values to work?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Hi,
I’ve been using the Fenix 3 and thinking of an update. However, as a Linux user I put the Fenix in mass storage mode and copy the training files over to my laptop without using Garmin connect. Do the newer devices still allow that? Is the connect app mandatory for the setup of the watch or is it just more convenient?
Thanks!
I’ve been using the 945 for a while now and am generally happy BUT why is the calorie count when swimming so low? 100 calories for an hour in the water?? The 935 was better…
From what I’ve read, Stryd (uncalibrated) is generally considered to be more accurate for distance and pace than GPS. Has anyone had any experience (good or bad) using using the Stryd footpod as the source of distance/pace data for the 945 instead of using the watch’s GPS?
When you use Stryd with your watch for distance/pace do you still get GPS tracking? After uploading the activity to GC, will I see the map or not? Thanks
Pretty sure you do. It works that way with a speed sensor on a bike. Having the sensor does not turn off GPS, it simply moves the source of speed/distance data away from GPS. You still get a track.
Got the 945 and tried it out with Stryd this past weekend.
I paired the Stryd as a foot pod and as a power meter, then in the “Sensors and Accessories” section of the settings I changed the speed and distance setting for the foot pod to always use the foot pod for those metrics.
I mapped out a course on Garmin Connect that was 17.95 km and went out for a run (didn’t use the map functionality on the watch to follow the course while running — haven’t figured out how that works yet).
At the end of the run, the watch reported a total distance of 17.95 km. The fact that it was so exact is a coincidence, but it gives me confidence in the accuracy of using the Stryd to measure running distance instead of using GPS (the watch still recorded the GPS track and the GPS track was included with the activity when it was uploaded).
Since the Stryd distance/pace seems to be very accurate, I’ll continue using the Stryd metrics instead of GPS as it will provide consistency between outdoor runs and treadmill workouts, plus it will provide accurate distance in areas where GPS is spotty.
thanks for review and promo code.
Hi, another great review, cheers and please keep it all going. I ended up buying the 945 off the back of your reveiw and think it is an amazing bit of kit. In regards to the quick release, do you know if fitting the quick release wrist band stops the optical heart rate monitor reading whilst wearing it on your wrist? I’m just thinking back to the 920xt which had a solid plastic mount next to the wrist. Any advice much appreciated, cheers.
Dave
Dave, no the 935 / 945 quick release mounts are blank in the middle, so it doesn’t block the sensor. See this video: link to youtu.be I know it says 935, but it’s the same for the 945
Paul, thanks for the reply mate. I’ll order that now then, don’t think there will be need for a separate bike computer seeing as my edge 520 bounced off my bike the other day. ?
Cheers
Do the training status metrics sync between Garmin devices? For example, if I log my cycling activities using my Edge 1030 and strength workouts using a 945, will the training status captured by both devices be combined and visible on both?
A great review – and I tried to support the site by using the Clever Training links. What a bunch of pirates…
Now ordered through Wiggle.
Not sure I understand about ‘pirates’? It’s the same price, except through CT UK you get 10% back instantly?
Sorry – I realise it’s a bit blunt (and probably born of frustration). The term was used because they’ve taken money with little expectation of supplying product in the near future.
I ordered through your CT link for Europe (accepting I have to wait a few days) – payment is taken immediately. 10 days later I hadn’t received it and I checked online and my order is still awaiting dispatch, so I rang them and they now say that they won’t be getting delivery till “early to mid-August”.
So, if I hadn’t rung, they’d have just sat on my cash for at least month. A simple message to say that there was a problem would have helped. And not taking payment till stock is available would be a reasonable expectation. There are way too many web traders that run fast and loose with customers money. I’m not even sure CleverTraining is a proper company – they appear to be a virtual company fronted by Fulfilmentcrowd or one of those other white-labelling companies (nothing wrong with that – just means there’s even less certainty regarding the transaction).
I appreciate the option to purchase with a discount. However, I do expect to transact reliably. I’d actually prefer you set up referral links with reputable suppliers.
Sorry if I caused offence – non intended. Your site is great and the reviews well written and independent.
They seem to just guess about when stock will be available, tried to order through them but no good.
Bought some Assioma Favero pedals from Clevertraining recently. Main reason for using them was the DCR 10% discount. Their website said ‘in stock’ and they shipped all right within a day or two and I received them in France a day or two later. Happy customer, will certainly use them again.
Thanks for the support Henrik! Glad all was good (as it should be, and normally is). Cheers!
Lots of people complaining about sticky/mushy buttons it’s holding my back from buying it at the moment.
I bought my 945 Bundle from Garmin direct, and my buttons seem just fine.
Recording heart rate of a pool swim seems to be a software locked out feature. Why is this a thing on a $600 watch? I wear my external ANT+ HRM (Polar’s OH1+) on the same wrist as my watch and it records my HR into my activity if I choose open water swim mode, but if I choose pool swim mode it does not. Is this just Garmin trying to force me to buy one of their swimming HRMs?
There is new beta firmware 2.64 giving the chance to enable OHR for pool and open water swimming:
link to forums.garmin.com
Nice – Has anyone heard if 2.64 also address OWS GPS disconnect issues? I didn’t see it listed in the fixes.
Dear Forerunner 945 owners,
concidering the fact that the new Edge 530 & 830 have gotten so much faster than the predecessors, I wonder if the Forerunner 945 has the same new processor.
Compared to my old Fenix 5, the Fenix 5 Plus is noticeably faster. So is the Forerunner 945 even faster than the Fenix 5 Plus?
.. There is an app in the CIQ-Store called “Connect IQ benchmark”. Could someone please install that app and post a picture of the Forerunner 945’s result, so we can compare?
Thank you in anvance.
FYI
Thank you!
I guess map-routing works much better on your Forerunner than on my F5+. Wow is Batterylife for you? Mine is terrible! Max ~7h for Bikerides (GPS+Galileo, ervery second, no optical Hartrate, BT on, connected to: Powermeter, Speedsensor, exern HRM, Light off)
Hi Ray,
I seem to have software version 2.60 on my 945, but the latest version is 2.50. Do you know anything about this? I received my watch on the 12th of July.
That’s interesting .. on the Garmin forum 2.50 is still listed as the most recent one (as you also stated)
link to forums.garmin.com
hi DC Rainmaker,
thank you for your superb reviews!
I wanted to bring to your attention an issue with the new Garmin 945 which i hope you can address so either Garmin or Power Tap do something about it.
I have been trying to connect Garmin 945 to Power Tap P1 and odd things happen.
First of all, instead of detecting on single Power Meter unit, Garmin 945 finds two! It is like, i guess, it does not recognise the two pedals as one, but as two separate units, i have no other explanation for it.
Secondly, it does not calibrate and as result the power reading is totally off. It keeps saying ERROR 0 CALIBRATION FAILED.
i tried any thing in the book, i contacted both power tap and garmin and in a very disappointing fashion, they keep raising their hands and blame the other and to contact the other. So neither are taking charge.
i think this is a Garmin software issue.
I have no problem connecting and calibrating the same pedals to any other Garmin unit, including Garmin 920XT and Garmin EDGE 1000. it all works.
Looking forward to some advice / intervention from you
thank you
Alessandro del Forno
I suggest you forget the P1 in sensors and re-link it via ANT+, I suspect you have linked it via Bluetooth.
My P1s pair fine to my 945.
Ray – There appears to be a bug with the 945 where it repeatedly reboots when trying to start an activity at elevation significantly higher than the usual elevation (for me 3000’+ compared to sea level at home), and if two CIQ data fields are installed on the activity.
Here is the link on the Garmin forums.
https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/running-multisport/f/forerunner-945/166571/repeated-reboots-when-starting-an-activity—highly-frustrating
So far no response/reply from Garmin on this at all.
Are you able to test this with your device?
P.S. It will happen on a flight too, it just did to me when the cabin was pressurized to 3000-6000′.
Hehe
Could people who have had this watch for a while provide some feedback on the glass?
I have had my Fenix 3 for 4 years now and without a screen protector I have nothing but a few small scratches.
I am looking to upgrade and the glass is important for me, as I do OCR (Obstacle Course Racing) so the watch takes a lot of battering in mud and scrapes against things.
Thanks in advance
Scratches so so easily. Much worse than my 935
just buy a screen protector and that’s it really ! even a sapphire glass can be scratched, why take the risk
So better off with a Fenix 5+ potentially?
It depends on your needs. The FR945 has the new Gorilla Glass DX, but unfortunately ,the normal one not the scratch resistant one. The advantage of this type of glass is that it is a bit more clearer to read. I put a screen protector and it’s fine, I can’t complain too much. I wish Garmin had put the DX+ version, that should be scratch resistant like sapphire glass.
Sapphire glass is not so clear and easy to read as Gorilla Glass DX and DX+.
Screen protectors are pennies, so why not use one ? My 935 (945 ordered from CT, awaiting UK stock) has been saved a few times by the screen protector – thats been scratched or cracked where otherwise the screen itself would have been in the firing line.
The FR945 OHR never catches the beginning of my intervals. I tried both arms with no success. I tried loose or tight , no success … any idea ?
Wrist based oHR is very poor for fast changing heart rates – like those you would expect in intervals. I found it lags behind, and is often only just catching up by the time I am coming out the other end of the effort.
I use the oHR on the watch for steady runs, but a TICKR FIT on the bicep for anything where I want greater accuracy. Although still not perfect, its far better than the inbuilt HR, and way more comfortable than a chest strap.
Guys this is a first, there is a beta fw since July 15 that makes it possible to enable wrist based HR for pool swim and OWS! link to www8.garmin.com
Ray, I trust you will test this and compare with Polar and Suunto, please? :) Today I pool swam with a Polar M600. Avg HR actually looked fairly good at 113. Not so sure about max 132, think it’s too high for me swimming, but I’m not sure.
I sincerely did not think Garmin would go this way. Interesting.
Ray do you think older models will get this too? I have a F5X Plus which possibly is a candidate?
I bought a FR945 about a week. A major problem, face so far is the poor connectivity between the watch and my mobile (Huawei P20) and also hr monitor. My 945 randomly connects and disconnects. Whenever it is connected, it loses connection after a few seconds/minutes (the green icon changes to the gray in Garmin Connect).
Tried repairing, resetting, turning of battery optimization, upgrading FW, downgrading FW, factory reset. NOTHING works!
Very frustrating, since all smartphone functionality doesn’t wor
i own a Huawei Mate 20 Pro and the connects between my forerunner 945 and Smartphone is much better then my Fenix 5. I’m absolutely happy
Just returned from a 12-day backpacking trip through the Philmont Scout Ranch in the Sangre de Cristo range of the Rocky Mountains (northeastern New Mexico). I wore my new Forerunner 945 and it worked very well in following the GPX file I created to trek our chosen route using the Gaia GPS app. My only complaint with the F945 related to the ClimbPro feature. Our chosen route was fairly long (about 80 miles) and ClimbPro computed 6 distinct climbs in the route. That was fine, but instead of pulling up the climb we happened to be navigating during the hike ClimbPro kept defaulting to the first climb in the list. Despite my efforts to move through the climb list during the hike, I was unable to to do so. This did not cause major issues, but it sure would have been nice to have had the ClimbPro data for all of our climbs as we were hiking.
Any similar issues … or thoughts?
Open water swim is still not working for me. I tried GPS only and this morning irt stopped after 200yd. I am going to try the beta firmware but it doesn’t say anything about a fix for this. Last weekend I did a Tri in a lake and it worked fine. Does it just not like the ocean and waves?
The 2.64 beta hasn’t worked for my OWS using the 945…Had 34 minute 68 yd swim on Friday ;)
Yup. Nope beta doesn’t work.
I discussed it with Garmin on Friday. Expect another beta drop soonish. They believe they’ve made some substantial progress on the openwater swim front in recent weeks (applying not just to the FR945, but a number of devices).
It does sound like they’re taking the openwater swim issue pretty seriously now. It’s taking a lot longer, but I’m hearing a lot of people in Kansas are spending a lot of time in the water lately.
Great news. Thanks.
Hi DCR, any update with the 945 GPS, or same accuracy problem? does this affect a lot in half iron distance?
There’s been some slight tweaks here and there. I think most people are pretty happy with the results at this point though.
Bought some Assioma Favero pedals from Clevertraining recently. Main reason for using them was the DCR 10% discount. Their website said ‘in stock’ and they shipped all right within a day or two and I received them in France a day or two later. Happy customer, will certainly use them again.
I really love my 945, happy I bought this watch. So thanks again Ray for this review!
However, I do have an issue with the 945. One of the things I liked about the 945 is the crash detection, especially since I like to go out mountain biking by my own. Last week I went over the bar with the mountain bike and to my surprise the crash detection didn’t sent a message to my contact (actually, I wanted to cancel sending it, since I was allright beside some scratches). Later at home I was figuring out why it didn’t sent a message. On the 945 I can turn the crash detection on or off for several profiles, among others my personal bike profiles. But not my mountain bike profile (which is a standard profile). Which to me is strange. Garmin states that the crash detection works with outdoor walks, runs and bike activities (link to www8.garmin.com), so why not with mountain biking?
This is just a guess, but they might have it turned off because the chances for false positives are far too high for mountain biking. You wouldn’t want to spend your time cancelling text messages as you rode. I fell on Tuesday (wasn’t paying enough attention and got my front wheel caught in a rut in soft mud on a climb and keeled over) and am glad that I didn’t have to cancel an incident detection from my Edge 830, especially since it’s unlikely cell service was good enough for that anyway. (I did, however, get credit for my first jump!).
Hi Ray, everyone,
My performance widget used to show my running V02max and my 10K time prediction. It now shows my cycling VO2max and an erroneous FTP. Also, the training status is the cycling one. On the iOS Connect app, the training load for the 945 seems to include cycling data.
I cannot find a way to fix it (i.e. have the running VO2max and training status on the 945 and the cycling stuff on the edge). I’ve also noticed something new on the connect webpage: my 945 is indicated to be my “favorite activity tracker” and that was not the case with my former 645.
Has anyone experienced the same and found a solution to this?
Thanks!
Sorry for a non-tech question but I am in Sweden and would like to buy the 945 from Clever Training UK, to support Ray and of course get a good price :)
However, I emailed them 5 days ago asking about delivery time, but they have not responded. And their web still says “Expected late July”, which in my world was last week.
Are they alive? I have no problem with a long delivery time, as long as I know what happens, but I certainly don’t want to be left hanging with a pending order for the next two months or so with no way of getting any response from them.
Hi Carl-
I just checked with the CTUK folks, and the FR945 is now in-stock there. They basically had a manual override for the status to be set as ‘Late July’, and then when the stock came in yesterday it wasn’t manually updated yet. I’m told it should be switched back in to automatic mode and showing in-stock any moment now.
As for the 5 days delay to get a response, working on sorting that one out too. Sorry about that!
Thanks for the support!
Wow, that was quick, they reverted to me right away. Order placed! :)
Thanks!
Ray, any observations on using the 945 in salty water?
935 has a known problem with salty water blocking/destroying the altimeter/temperature sensors.
Do you think it is safe to swim in the sea with 945?
Best,
Alex
I haven’t had any issues with sea water. But then again, I also haven’t had much of an issue with my other units either.
I think in some ways a lot of the same logic applies to not just previous Garmin watches but also 3rd party ones, which is that keeping it rinsed (with clean water/soap) on a frequent basis tends to go a long way towards ensuring the baro holes remain happy. Obviously, some do still break for some people, but I haven’t entirely figured out the pattern yet. It does seem that for some people they’ll go years without any issues (never having an issue), whereas other people go through like 3-5 units.
To me, that implies more of an environmental thing – something in how that person uses it, or their area, etc… that causes it. Not necessarily that person’s fault, just sorta the reality of that situation.
I am trying to choose between 945, 5+, and 5X+. I would prefer the 945 due to lighter weight (coming from Ambit3 Peak but watch only syncs via cable now, drives me crazy; app is still terrible). Have the battery issues been resolved for the 945 and 5+? Ambit3 Peak battery is still outstanding. Any input on battery performance and firmware updates to resolve would be appreciated. Thanks Ray, reviews are superb.
I have no issues with battery but I don’t know how long it would go without a charge. I normally charge for about 20 minutes a day when I am having morning coffee. Sometimes I will skip a day or two. I routinely do 4 to 6 hours rides with GPS. I have PulseOX on at night. I used GPS yesterday for at least 5 hours and only charged for maybe 15 minutes this morning and I am at 96% before my run. I have done a couple of social centuries where we hang out and have lunch so it is basically on all day and I have had no problems. I don’t even look at my battery level. Because of the respiration data I now use my 945 for rides and delete the activity from my edge. I only use the edge as a display during my ride. If they would fix the open water swim this is the best device they have ever had. The only thing I want is full mobile phone functionality (like the apple) and it will be perfect. Then we don’t need to carry a phone anymore.
Hi, do you have a color tint (reddish) if you activate backlight?
Sat fix times seem to be worse compared to the fr 935. Can you confirm this?
Hi again,
regarding battery life in day-to-day watch: Garmin wearables have two power modes: low and high power mode. They are relevant during displaying the watchface. The difference between them is, that in high power mode the entire display is refreshed every second (regardless whether the screen content changes) but not only the display is refreshed but every calculation in the code (more technically in the onUpdate() method) is repeated. So we have the CPU calculating things and the GPU refreshing the screen every second. In low power mode this is done every minute. Since a fair amount of time Garmin has introduced in low power mode that only a small portion of the screen is updated as well as a small portion of calculations is done to let developers implement seconds on a low power mode.
Saying this a user wants to have his watch in low power mode most of the time to save battery. The high power mode is entered typically after a key press or a wrist turn (this is done by design from Garmin and can not be prevented). The high power mode is entered for 10 seconds to fall back afterwards into the low power mode.
I can observe huge differences in battery drain between the FR945 and the FR935. Let’s assume that the user’s day-to-day behaviour is the same on both watches the only thing a user can’t influence is the wrist turn recognition. I am using my watchface “Blink” which starts blinking after a state transition from low to high power mode for a certain amount of time to stop blinking afterwards. The time is refreshed by a new wrist turn. I have the feeling that the watchface blinks more often than on the FR935 which would be an indication that we more often see a high power mode on the FR945 which leads to higher battery drain.
What I could do is creating a new watchface or integrate it into blink that the amount of wrist turns or the amount of time in high power mode is shown to the user. I have to spend some more thoughts on that how to implement and show this. Unfortunately I have no reference to the FR935 any more. Maybe there are users out there who owns a FR935 to make some comparisons.
As per usual, a great and thorough review. Thank you.
How do you obtain and load maps for other regions. My 945 came pre-loaded with US/Canada as watch was purchased there but I’m going to Australia and NZ soon.
Cheers
Ask and you shall receive! Published a mere couple hours ago: link to dcrainmaker.com
Hi,
I just have a short question concerning the Garmin Training Management and hope that you can help me.
Is there any chance to see a report with your daily / weekly / monthly Time spent per Heartrate Zone / Sportstype.
From my trainingplan I get the specific HR Zones for each sport (Triathlon) and my trainer tells me per week like:
Swimming: 2h in Zone 3, 0,5 h in zone 4
Running: 2,5 h in Zone 3
Biking: 2 h in Zon 2
etc
How do you manage that with Garmin?
Greetings from Austria.
I am having big problems with my 945. Yes the buttons are sticky as many complain about, but worse the heart rate sensor already cracked. I only used for running in the sun and did not swim or go crazy mountain climbing or to extreme temperatures.
Someone can tell me why? I think the plastic must break very easy. I am sad because my ForeRunner935 also has the heart rate sensor cracked two times and exchanged with garmin. The watch is too expensive to have such problems. So disappointed!
Yours,
Werner.
Welcome,
Thanks a lot for proffesional review. Two questions
1. Is it possible to use optical heart rate monitor from Garmin 945 with Zwift and Tacx Neo? It is written that can’t be connected with ANT+ FE-C trainers
2. I have my zwift connected with garmin connect and workouts from zwift are uploaded to the garmin connect. I am using Polar OH1+plus as heart monitor and is paired with Fenix 3 but i don’t have any indication in training effect – there is 0. My main idea of change garmin fenix 3 to 945 is to use it for running and also for bike but 99% with zwift. I would like to have the most accurate training load and other new paramiters but not only for running but also for zwift bike ride. Is it possible?
1.) I do not think that this is possible as the broadcasting of HR is via ANT+ and you generally need Bluetooth for Zwift.
2.) Training load is determined only based on activities measured on a compatible device (ie watch or bike computer). I connect my trainer via ANT+ to my 945 and Bluetooth to Zwift. This way, Zwift can control the trainer, but the Garmin measures HR and power concurrently.
1) You can use the rebroadcasting with Zwift no problems via ANT+. It’s just you’ll need to have a Windows/Mac computer to connect to ANT+, since iOS doesn’t support ANT+, and Zwift choose not to support ANT+ on Android (where there is lots of good support).
2) I don’t know offhand what nuances Training Effect may have from a requirement standpoint on the underlying HRV data stream (and more specifically, what exactly the OH1 transmits with respect to RR data over ANT+ to the Fenix 3).
Thanks.
1. I am using with computer so here it is ok and connection via usb tacx antenna ant+
If i record my trainer activity on my Garmin Edge 530, is 945 able to import that training load correctly?
In my experience, No Garmin device is able to calculate training load correctly when an indoor cycling activity is done (it ignores the indoor activity). Furthermore, there is no unified training load that combines cycling and running (metrics for cycling and running are kept separately). The only time that training load is somewhat useful is if you are a single sport athlete and do your training outdoors (or on a track).
I have an 830 and the 945 recognises the load from indoor trainer activities fine, assuming you have True Up switched on for both devices.
@bikepower every single one of my Garmin devices, 520, 935, 945 and 830 have recognised all my indoor training sessions and given them appropriate training load.
I pair my HR, and power pedals to the Edge unit, if your head unit is ignoring your indoor sessions I guess it’s not correctly connected to a sensor to tell it you are doing load!
No issues either for indoor activity accumulating Training Load assuming a power meter/trainer (with power) is involved. I did that today on a FR945 without issue and I see training load, and see it synced to my Edge 530 & Edge 830.
Ahh. I think I know what the problem is. I upgraded to an Edge 1030 and I have the old Edge 1000 hooked up to the bike that’s on my Wahoo KICKR (it’s a permanent setup). I think Garmin did not update the Edge 1000 to support training load, etc. That would explain why I get the data when I’m riding my road bike with the Edge 1030 and run data with the Forerunner 945, but only limited data when I use the indoor trainer with the Edge 1000.
Thanks all. I tried fenix 3 with polar oh1+ with indoor cycling program. Power, cadence from Tacx trainer. It showed training load. As it is based only on pulse so it isn’t as accurate as your described connections but it should work and give more or less picture of trainings. So with 945 also should work.
Some update. 945 come and i paired it with Polar oh1+. working ok. I tried also indoor bike and when i turn on tacx neo it paired automatically with speed and cadence sensor. I don’t know how i don’t know why but it works for me. There is no power as i have it in Zwift from Neo, also speed and cadence and pulse. So in 945 is speed and cadence and pulse. In Zwift Neo is speed, cadence, pulse and power. I had connected garmin connect with zwift so workouts were doubled. I disconnected it and now have only one workout from indoor bike in garmin connect. So there it is i wanted to have. It is not as accurate as with power but it gives some idea about training load. I remember at the my beginnig of the Zwift it was info that garmin sth is connected and i had to disconnect it. Now it works simultanously. Maybe these information will be useful for users.
So I’ve got my 945. Great watch, I was worried that it would look big on my small wrists but no, it doesn’t. Coming from a 645 it even feels better, like it sits better on the wrist. Very nice! Will be interesting to take it out for a run :)
One slight disappointment though. I would have assumed that the bigger watch would have a bigger screen – but no, it’s the same as the 645. On the 645 it wasn’t a problem, since the watch itself was smaller, but now there’s a glossy black ring surrounding the dark-but-not-black LED screen, which is clearly visible (much clearer than the photoshopped product photos from Garmin). It’s really disturbing when using one of the analog watch faces, since the screen never goes as black as the surrounding ring.
Now I fully understand compromises for battery life and that it’s obviously a good idea to reuse that screen in all watches (even the Marq and the huge Fenix 5X seem to have the same display?), but a tad disappointed nevertheless.
Is it really that hard to make the display a few mm’s bigger, to avoid this problem? It would make the watch truly awesome. Perhaps I’ll have to wait for the 955 for that to happen :)
(Not meant to criticize your great pics Ray, I should have looked closer on them of course. And it hadn’t been a showstopper anyway).
Thanks. Yes i am using zwif with computer so here is ok.
Agreed on the huge bezel .. once I heard about it in one of the video reviews (could have been DC Rainmaker’s one too) it was hard not to be disappointed and to ‘unsee’ it. As I usually use a digital watch face (the default one) it’s not so noticeable.
Now I will notice it for a few days though before it fades :)
Hi, my watchface Blink can show now optionally the minutes in high power mode of the current day and of yesterday. The string given is xx:yy at the bottom of the watch face where xx stands for the current day’s minutes and the yy for the yesterday minutes. Give the watchface a day to measure. To use the feature you have to go to the settings of the watchface and activate the corresponding opton. Maye there is someone out there who can measure both, the FR935 and the FR945.
Are you sure ANT+ FE-C can’t be utilized to control smart trainer? I found a campaign app link to geniuswrist.com which theoretically offers that option.
Well, it’s not on the watch itself. Anything is possible with 3rd party apps.
Looks interesting.
Only if the HW supports it – and it seems it does. Platform is supporting power based training why not giving users one platform for all?
Sorta. It’s a bit more complicated than that.
The Garmin watches don’t support the ANT+ FE-C device profile. Which means that while they support power, that doesn’t actually mean much here. That’s like saying speaking Chinese is the same as speaking Japanese. Not same-same.
Totally different standards doing more or less totally different things. Sure, power is a part of ANT+ FE-C, but only in the sense that it happens to see power.
So in the case of this developer, they had to entirely roll their own FE-C engine. That’s not exactly easy. Kinomap had long talked about it, but never did it. It also means they have to deal with all the stupid bugs/quirks that various trainer companies have. Garmin is lucky is that they’ve already dealt with all those quirks, but this app will have to re-learn all those lessons again.
Nothing against the app, just being honest on expectations.
Don’t get me wrong – I’ve argued Garmin should make FE-C available to the watches as well, either via CIQ or natively. But at the same time, I think Garmin implementing FE-C natively on watches is a waste of resources for Garmin. Mostly because virtually nobody is using FE-C even on the Edge devices, let alone the watches (I know, someone will say they are, but realistically I bet it doesn’t even account for 1/10th of 1% of use cases – if even that). So I’d rather Garmin spend that time on fixing other issues or adding features that are useful to a great portion of the population.
Just my two cents.
thanks for comprehensive response – wasn’t aware that it’s possible to code your own implementation of protocol in CIQ.
BR,
MCC
Hi, Is there anywhere that explains how screen automatically change when following a course?
For example, I scroll to the climbpro screen but after a few seconds the screen automatically moves to my first data screen. Every time. Lots of other map related screens won’t stay on screen but change after a few seconds. Are there settings I need to adjust?
Many thanks,
Hi,
Super detailed informaion! Thank you!
I have been using Polar V800 for a long time but it is timne for a change. I really struggle figuring out what to choose – Vantage V Titan or FR 945 for triathlon with mainly trail tunning and MTB. You almost made me choose the Garmin however my biggest concern is not being able to monitor my heart rate while swimming without the garmin strap. I do have Polar OH1 though which streams with no issues under the wanter.
Have you tried pairing OH1 to 945? Do you think it might be possible to use them toggether for swimming?
Regards
Jordan
OH1 won’t give you “real time” HR whilst swimming, but the good news is Garmin released a beta of the 945 firmware that DOES enable HR whilst swimming from the watch.
link to www8.garmin.com
This is great. Thanks Greg!
Hi,
I bought the fr945 mainly due to my main sports are cross country skiing and kayaking.
When I upload a kayak activity it becomes wildwater paddling instead of just paddling.
Is it possible to in some settings in the watch or in Garmin connect manage so the sport is stored as i want?
Br,
Lars
Try renaming the activity to “paddling”. I have a couple of activities on my FR920 called “Paddling”, “Paddling Race”, etc and they all show up in Garmin Connect as Kayaking. They originally showed up as Stand Up Paddleboard, but they changed something and now they work.