▷ Garmin Forerunner 645 Specs | Detailed Comparison To 735XT and 935

65 thoughts on “▷ Garmin Forerunner 645 Specs | Detailed Comparison To 735XT and 935”

1. I’m interested to see which music streaming services the 645 supports for offline listening. Per https://appelmoessite.wordpress.com/2017/11/28/garmin-forerunner-645-music/:

   “Syncs music from select streaming services for offline listening”

   My guess would be Spotify and perhaps Apple Music / Google Play Music. Hopefully we won’t have to wait long for the official announcement.

   1. I heard rumours of Spotify. I would imagine it will initially only be to one service.

      1. Says iHeart Radio. You can download for offline play.

         “iHeartRadio: All Your Favorite Music. All our Favorite Stations

         iHeartRadio has unlimited music and thousands of radio stations all in one app. Sign up for a free trial of iHeartRadio All Access today to take your favorite radio stations, music, news, podcasts, sports, talk and comedy shows offline while you run. Get your 30-day trial here.”

      2. I saw the mention of iHeartRadio, though I’d be very disappointed if that’s the only streaming service that can sync with the 645. If that’s indeed the case, I’d personally wait until other services are offered or perhaps pass entirely on the 645.

      3. never heard of it.
         no doubt it’s big somewhere

2. Great,that’s my present sorted out, delighted they have dropped the touchscreen was one of the main reasons i returned my 630 previously and got a 235 instead. The silver ring out the outside looks a bit like the 405 touchring, hope they are not bringing that back.

   1. it’s not 100% yet but that’s how it looks to me.
      we need to just check it’s a bit better than the VA3 before we let you spend your hard-earned cash tho 😉 Please keep Mr Visa at bay for now 🙂

      1. May I ask why you don’t like a touchscreen ? I own a 620 and I am so used to touch the screen when I want to switch between data fields. To me, it seems easier when running. I didn’t buy the 935 almost only because of this but maybe I’m wrong.

      2. it’s just me. each to their own.
         i dont like them as, for me, they often dont work.

3. As a 935 owner I won’t be changing but if I was buying from scratch today then it would be a contender. I’m mostly a runner these days, I do cycle but don’t use a power meter and I don’t swim in any meaningful way. The music feature is something that I want badly but I have fears about how usable the Garmin interface will be (both in terms of getting music onto the device and playing it on the move – I only actually want basic shuffle all functionality while running). And then comes along the big dealbreaker for me (if correct), battery life. Goodbye to charging once a week or less as with my 935. I’ve done the daily (or every other day) charging with an Apple Watch and don’t want to go back to that. Same old Garmin really. I know they need to give a reason for people to buy the expensive devices, but with 5 hour GPS I’d be marginal for completing a marathon before my watch died (I said I run, I didn’t say i was fast!!!). In short, if I was buying then I’d choose the 935 again and continue with my iPod shuffle for a while longer

   1. doesn’t look like it’s one for you. I think the battery life WILL be better than I’ve stated as we need to see what it’s like sans music for a areal feel

4. Wow, that thing is DoA. Other than on-board music (the first in an obvious trend of watches to come with music storage) it doesn’t fit ANY niche at all. biking with no power, swimming with no HR cache, no triathlon…and just 50 bucks cheaper than the vastly superior 935, which is going have a price drop around the launch of the 645…

   I’m sorry for the incoming Hyperbole…but the watch is a Frankenstein monstrosity of a device. It’s almost like Garmin was milling around in their workshop and took all the odds and ends from every other watch they made in the last year, took a bit of glue and duct tape and “VIOLA!”

   You have the 645.

   1. It’s as bad as all the other gimmicks at these crazy prices. At least we should praise the fact that is targeted at the disappearing niche of (semi) serious runners and not at the general group of fitness users with disposable income in their pockets who because they wear lycra and sport a $500 watch they see themselves as athletes… LOL

      1. hey that’s me you’re describing there 😉
         but yes, i agree with your sentiment.
         my concern is kind of related in that if it’s like the VA3 then it’s not really a sports watch but rather a 247 watch with gret runnign features. the music WILL be really appealing to LOTS of people…probably this products saving grace.

   2. very poetic !
      it is the same bike/swim principle as the 630…
      it’ll be fine

   3. I‘m with you.

5. The new 645 watch is not on Garmin’s website anymore. As a runner only, it looks like it has more than I need and all there can be today in a GPS watch. The music and the stronger glass are a big plus and the smaller size will be much better for my small wrist.

   1. yep

      1. For runners only this would be a great high-end watch (even at $450) if the battery life is better than listed above. We’ll see. For me (primarily a runner who wants daily activity tracking and notifications), recharging more than once a week doesn’t differentiate much from alternatives (i.e., 935). Perhaps that’s their plan!

      2. yep

      3. Battery life for TomTom Runner3 is 5 hours with GPS+HR+music, while 9 hours for GPS+HR only. If that’s the same for the FR645, then it’s acceptable, but far from good for a 450 EUR watch .

      4. good point MArc, I was going to double check that same comparison myself.
         so we could probably still see 8-11 hours for the 645 in non-music mode.
         put the gps in ‘worst’ mode
         add a decent footpod
         use a hrm

         and then maybe its even more.

6. Has no-touchscreen been confirmed? Don’t see it in the specs explicitly.

   1. nope.

      1. Thanks, there’s hope still. Hate them buttons only

      2. yep it could be hardware like the va 3 (hence touchscreen….quite a good one actually) or hardware like the 935 without one.

      3. lens material: gorilla glass 3 – this is same as VA3 so there is quite a big chance it’s touch.

      4. I thought we’d have Approach S60 hardware in case of 645. Is it different from VA3?

7. Good timing, a fall at a hill running event at the w/end has left my 620 with a big scrape across its face (& me with a few stitches on my forehead!) so think I know what my xmas present to myself will be 🙂

8. The big plus it seems is they have finally added a baro altimeter to their top running watch which is a huge plus. To people running up and down a lot that’s very nice also not having to rely to altitude adjustments on the websites. Touch screen on the 630 was good with some head scratchy features (like you cant just block the screen and not the buttons) – could have left it with improvements. Music check… Optical Heart Rate… serious runners will still use chest straps for sessions that matter

   1. yep. the BARO is for the POWER algorithm as well.
      will be interesting to see if the BARO auto-calibrates to known POI altitiudes.

9. I’ve been waiting since june for this release to finally decide which Garmin watch to buy.
   The 935 feels overkill since since I’m predominantly a runner (albeit slowish) but the features listed don’t fully convince.

   Guess I’ll wait for your in-depth review and comparison (wink-wink) before the final decision.

10. Why is this music feature so desired? You lose battery life and your phone will do it better. Are you not going to carry a phone then when you run? Also, any update on a successor to the 235? I was hoping the 245 would be out by now…Thanks!

    1. personally i run with music 0.01% of the time. but i see a LOT of people running with music. say 50%.

       245..nope nothng. it’s one of those ‘obivous’ things that will happen. obvious apart from the timing. but it will be no later than q1.2018 i reckon

       1. Right I am not saying people don’t run with music – but why would you want a dumbed down version of music on your watch when you have your phone that has everything? Do people not carry a phone when they run? Bah – I was holding out for a running watch instead of buying the 235. The 935 seems like overkill for me and this 645 has music which I don’t want/need. Do you have any info on what the 245 would have? Thanks!

       2. saves 2 devices. garmin will have done market research.
          when i have to carry a smartphoen to handle some bizarre sensor it is a real PITA..i really dont like carrying a phone.
          why dumbed down? quality will be the same if you think about it
          you are a 245 man i reckon

       3. Yes just don’t want to sacrifice battery for music. But in any case, do you have any info on what to expect from the 245?

       4. no info. but look at the other post compareing 235/630 and 645 and then you can extrapolate what will be taken out of the 645 to make the 245. I might do that as a post but I am running out of time as I have to make a honest living elsewhere!!

    2. I run with music about 95% of the time, so a watch with music storage does appeal to me. I currently carry a phone for the sole purpose of music, it would be nice to carry one fewer device. It’s likely that I fit squarely into the “semi-serious runner” market segment that Garmin is targeting with the 645.

       1. hmm. yes
          gamrin would also say they ALSO are siumultaneously targetting the seirous runners with the firstbeat metrics.

    3. Call me crazy but I do not want to carry a 6 inch phone with case and a magnetic plate under the case(for easier hookup in the car) every time I run. I just want to run free…but with music. 😉

    4. I assume most people would prefer to run without a phone if possible. I do. What this is missing is some sort of LTE capability for emergency access, like the Apple Watch. Otherwise, it’d be a home run.

       1. that’s going to come eventually but i suspect not in this model.

11. Thoughts on a “music-less” version?

    1. 90% chance i’d say
       OR garmin could rationalise that they have the price right for the 645 compared to the range and so no need to go to the expense of making, packaging and selling a another variant.

12. if SANS music the battery is up in the 15 hour range, and the BARO gives a reasonable vert reading, I’ll be there. Otherwise, I’m hopping over to the Suunto Spartan range…

13. You have ‘type-o’ in the title. 745XT… I wish I had… 🙂
    Nevertheless I think that 645 is watch I was looking for BUT… with so weak battery and for so much money I would again consider choosing 935 over 645. BUT (again 🙂 I bought 3 weeks ago with a big discount the 735XT run Bundle version for 320 Euros and the price performance ratio is the best what I could “squeeze” from it.

    1. eeesh that’s 2018
       getting everyone too excited, sorry 😉

14. is there any sportwatch that has voice guidance feature for running? such as what freeletics run app does? or pulsometer app which telling the HR reading periodically.. or strava which periodically inform current stats..

    am using Garmin VAHR currently.. not really a fan in listening music while running.. yet still carrying phone and BT headset for voice guidance feature..

    1. i could only think of other apps like http://shft.run
       have a look at this: https://en.discussions.tomtom.com/spark-and-spark-3-runner-2-and-runner-3-473/tomtom-spark-audio-prompts-in-running-mode-1004788

15. I use my 735 for 99% of my outdoor runs and cycling, and a VA3 for most everything else (strength, yoga, treadmill runs, activity tracking)

    I would really like to get back to a one watch solution and the 645 as described here would do that for me. Especially if there is a non-music version or with music disabled it can get “GPS on” battery life similar to the 735.

    The VA3 is an “almost there” device for me but I’m not a fan of the touchscreen interface, particularly with the strength training app, and the short-ish battery life for someone who does between 7 and 13 hours of GPS activities a week.

    I wore my 735 24/7 for most of 2017 so going with the 935 wouldn’t be a big problem but I do like the looks of the VA3 so a better, more full featured, running watch with the VA3’s looks would check all of the boxes in my wish list.

    1. still not sure if a non-music version will be available. i’d imagine either version are same on battery life comapred to when the MUSIC version is not playing music.
       agree with your interface comments

    2. Thanks for this post; I almost bought either watch (735xt/va3). The forerunner 645 slightly slimmer without music would be my wish. I just found my forerunner 101, but care not to wear.

16. When do you think the 245 will be released?

    1. the 645 is slipping.
       i would hope april/may.
       if not then i would have thought september/oct

       1. what do you mean the 645 is slipping? it looks like it is supposed to ship march 5. is a garmin 245 still 100% going to come out? And what would be the main difference between it and the 645 – would it be cheaper?

       2. i think it was planned earlier than 5march. (from memory)
          main differences? no-one knows for sure outside of Garmin’s channels. but likely: no high end functions and removal of one or two useful training features.
          yes for sure it will be cheaper eg 630 vs 235

       3. but my question is how do you know with 100% certainity that a 245 model is coming out? has Garmin confirmed it is?

       4. There has been no press release about a 245.
          When a press release is issued then the details are simultaneously released. THAT is the only confirmation we will get.
          FWIW: I would bet LOTS of money that there will be a cut down Forerunner 645 called “245” or similar. I am not a gambler.

       5. So a 245 then is just speculation…. and if the 245 is supposed to be a “stripped” down version of the 645, what would they price it at? Because the cheapest 645 (non music) is $399. The original retail price of the 235 was $329. To me it wouldn’t make sense for them to release anything over $300 for the 245 – otherwise you would just buy the 645 at $399. Right?

       6. maybe. depends on the functions

17. Thanks for the details! I notice one mistake in the comparaison table: Forerunner 645 don’t have Hot Keys…

    1. will check ty
       edit: yes you are right.
       THANK YOU

18. Excellent post but I was wondering if you could write a litte more
    on this subject? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate
    a little bit further. Cheers!

    1. ha ha

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