Garmin Forerunner 45 Review

When it comes to fitness wearables, Fitbit might be most associated with wrist-based devices. But for truly fitness-oriented activity trackers, Garmin absolutely dominates. Its running and fitness watches are extremely solid, and range from entry-level models to high-end models. The Garmin Forerunner 45 is an all-around excellent watch with an emphasis on running. Packing a bevy of power-user features into an affordable device, it’s perfect for outdoor enthusiasts of all skill levels, and boasts the best value of any running watch on the market.

What is the Garmin Forerunner 45? Sensors, Hardware, and Battery Life

The Garmin Forerunner 45 is a wrist-based fitness tracker and entry-level running watch. It’s available in two sizes, with 39mm and 42mm variants. You’ll find an attractive, reflective display comprised of chemically-strengthened glass and water resistance up to 5o meters. There’s a wrist-based heart rate monitor, GPS with Galileo and GLONASS satellite connectivity, and ANT+. With ANT+ onboard, you can connect various devices such as chest straps or foot pods.

Battery life is excellent. The Garmin Forerunner 45 clocks in about 13 hours in GPS mode, and around seven days in smartwatch mode. There’s a crisp 208 x 208 display that remains readable in sunlight, with a backlight. Foregoing a touchscreen, Garmin instead opted for five buttons around the edge of the device: light, up, down, back, and start/stop. A single press from each accomplished the main command, but a long press a button will prompt a secondary command. Press and hold the light button, for example, to bring up a menu where you can access features such as toggling Bluetooth on and off, powering the watch itself off, and timers, stopwatches, or alarm clocks.

Garmin Forerunner 45S dimensions (small):

• Size: 39.5 x 39.5 x 11.4 mm
• Fits wrist circumference of 124-185 mm
• Weight: 32g

Garmin Forerunner 45dimensions (large):

• Size: 42 x 42 x 11.4 mm
• Fits wrist circumference of 129-197 mm
• Weight: 36g

Garmin 45/45S specs:

• Lens: Chemically-strengthened glass, sunlight-visible transflective memory-in-pixel
• Strap material: Silicone
• Available colors: Purple (45S), White (45S), Black (45S/45), Red (45)
• Display size: 1.04-inch/26.33mm diameter
• Battery life: 7 days smartwatch mode/13 hours GPS mode
• Water-resistant to 5 ATM
• Sensors: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, wrist-based heart rate monitor, accelerometer

Garmin Forerunner 45 Activity Tracking

With an emphasis on fitness tracking, the Garmin Forerunner 45 excels. And specifically, it’s great for runners of all skill levels. By default, it tracks seven different activities: outdoor running, treadmill runs, biking, walking, cardio, and elliptical. Twelve different profiles are available in the Garmin Connect app, available for Android or iOS. But you’re limited to storing six on the watch at a given time. 24/7 activity tracking lets you monitor your sleep schedule, and all of the basic running metrics are covered. You can record your distance, pace, heart rate, and even VO2 max, or maximal oxygen uptake during intensive exercising. While the Forerunner 45 may be advertised as a beginner’s running watch, the ability to record VO2 max makes it a great pick for more advanced fitness buffs as well. Although wrist-based heart rate monitors tend to be somewhat inaccurate, I found the 45’s HRM pretty precise. If you’re really concerned, you can always pair the Garmin with an ANT+ chest strap.

Forerunner 45 activity tracking:

• Wrist-based heart rate monitor
• VO2 max
• 24/7 monitoring
• Sleep tracking
• Pace, distance, and time
• Step counter

Garmin Forerunner 45 Review – An Excellent Fitness Tracker for Beginner and Advanced Runners Alike

While the Garmin Forerunner 45 mostly sticks to the basics, it’s got a number of extra features that make it an incredible value. You can track pace, distance, and overall exercise time. Add heart rate monitoring and VO2 max estimation for a better indication of overall health as well as workout intensity. Build quality is top-notch with a display that’s easy on the eyes and readable in direct sunlight or illuminated with its backlight in the dark alike. The silicone strap remains comfortable even under all-day wear, and it’s lightweight to the point that I often forget my Forerunner 45 is strapped to my wrist. Improving upon the previous generation Forerunner 35, the 45 revamps its display with a rounded watch face that’s aesthetically pleasing. It looks stunning during workouts and business meetings alike (take this with a grain of salt: I work from home full-time).

The Garmin Connect app lets you dig into various analytics so you can learn from your training data. Onboard, the Forerunner 45 stores up to 200 hours of data that it syncs to the Connect app. A particularly nifty feature is Garmin Coach, an adaptive training plan program that lets you select goals for achieving certain distances or times. Then, Garmin Coach comes up with a customized plan based on your preferences such as run days and your current pace plus mileage. The watch itself is user-friendly, as is the Connect app. You can choose to merely look at basic information or dig into analytics by reviewing historical exercise data. For juicing the watch back up, Garmin includes a proprietary charging cable. Though the core functionality of the Forerunner 45 focuses on fitness, you’ll find limited smartwatch capabilities such as reading notifications. While you can’t reply to texts, you can view them or answer calls. I particularly enjoy its music controls for pausing and starting music playback on a run.

Who Should Buy the Garmin Forerunner 45 – Is it Worth it?

Whereas the majority of beginner running watches stick to the bare minimum, extra goodies make the Forerunner 45 a neat pick for fitness enthusiasts as well. The inclusion of VO2 max, an accurate wrist-based heart rate monitoring sensor, and Garmin Coach makes this a beginner-friendly fitness wearable that punches well above its weight class. It’s reasonably priced and should satisfy users just getting into (or back into) running, as well as running buffs ok with missing out on a few features. A universal charging mechanism would have been appreciated, but the proprietary charger works just fine. Ultimately, the Garmin Forerunner 45 proves to be one of the best fitness wearables for your money, and a fantastic running companion.