Garmin Forerunner 645 Specs (Detailed) - Comparison to FR 630 and FR 235

It's pretty obvious that the new Forerunner 645 Music has, errr, music. But is there anything else to tickle your running fancy? Let's do some detailed comparisons and compare to other Forerunners. [caption id="attachment_25433" align="aligncenter" width="1922"] 235 - 645 Music - 935[/caption] I think it's interesting to compare the 'proper' run-focussed Forerunners ie the 235 and 630. The 735XT and 935 just have all the multisport stuff to get in the way and befuddle our brains. Plus many of you simply won't swim and run (you strange lot !! ;-) ) Just in case you are interested in the multisport comaprisons check the follwoing link out first... ESSENTIAL READING: Forerunner 645 vs 935 vs 735XT Comparison & Specs LIKELY AVAILABILITY: Now Back to the proper running watches...235 and 630. The detailed comparison is further below (Source: garmin.com) but here is my takeaway summary and headlines if you are pushed for time. https://the5krunner.com/2018/04/13/garmin-forerunner-645-review/ Opinion It looks to have everything a running watch could ever 'need'. Personally I would prefer a sports watch appearance, but Garmin have probably made the right call with this design for the broader target market of runners It's expensive BUT the onboard MUSIC could make this a 'Kerching moment' for Garmin's accountants. The Forerunner 645 is clearly different from other Garmins in the Forerunner range. Summary The Forerunner 645 has notably more functionality than the 630 and 235 although on pure 'competitive' running features the 630 and 645 are similar. You might have to think about justifying your upgrade from your 630 but the upgrade from the 235 is a much easier call with many obvious differences. If you don't do multisports then there is no real reason to go for the 935/Fenix 5 alternatives (discussed yesterday; link to: the5krunner.com). For customers, the big pull of new stuff in the 645 will come from ONBOARD MUSIC and GARMIN PAY, both will be highly desirable features for MANY casual to serious runners. New format compared to style of the Forerunner 630 / 235 Strong glass yet overall 'lightweight' form Standard bands Improved screen resolution at 240x240px, but this still lacks behind smart watches and most Suunto Spartan models. It looks like the touchscreen from the 630 is no more - but that is NOT confirmed. Battery life looks low. But without MUSIC playing I *HOPE* it will be well over 10 hours. Lots of connectivity - probably every key function Music with c800 onboard songs and BLE headphone connectivity Garmin Pay (contactless effectively won't be widely avaialble until 2018) It's a cycling watch BUT it will NOT support your power meter It's a pool swim watch BUT will not cache underwater HR from HRM-TRI. Not really designed for open water use with restricted functionality there. It's not a triathlon watch ie it does not have multi-sport profiles It has all the activity tracking functionality. Supports both BLE and ANT+ sensors Has all the clever Firstbeat physiological functionality Will support CIQ 2.4 - so you will get access to any new apps as they are made available 'Obviously' it will support Garmin's Running Power [caption id="attachment_25539" align="aligncenter" width="801"] Best REI/Wiggle/PMC price is linked to. Prices approx $400-$450 or £480-£520 and UNlikely for non-Music to fall below $400 in 2019. [/caption] Advice to Garmin Stockists Go long young padawan There are LOTS more runners than triathletes. Don't be too worried about runners' relative reluctance to spend money on gadgets as the 645 is opening up previously untapped market segments with GARMIN PAY and MUSIC. You won't be able to get all the stock you want anyway :-( And when you can the price undercutting will start, albeit surupticiously at first. I adapted the table from Garmin.com and have corrected some errors I spotted there, please let me know if there are any more. Garmin Forerunner 645 Music Garmin Forerunner 630 Garmin Forerunner 235 Top-end running Watch Top-end running Watch Mid-level Running Watch Headline RRP USA $450 $400 $300 General Lens Material Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 chemically strengthened glass chemically strengthened glass Bezel Material stainless steel Case material QuickFit™ watch band compatible Quick Release Bands yes (20 mm, Industry standard) Strap material silicone silicone silicone Physical size 42.5 x 42.5 x 13.5 mm 45 x 45 x 11.7 mm 45 x 45 x 11.7 mm Weight 42.2 g 44 g 42 g Water rating 5 ATM 5 ATM 5 ATM Display type sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) Display size 1.2" (30.4 mm) diameter 1.23" (31.1 mm) diameter 1.23" (31.1 mm) diameter Display resolution 240 x 240 pixels 215 x 180 pixels 215 x 180 pixels Color display Yes Yes Battery life Smartwatch Mode: Up to 7 days Smartwatch Mode: Up to 4 weeks Smartwatch Mode: Up to 9 days GPS mode with music: Up to 5 hours GPS mode: Up to 16 hours GPS mode: Up to 11 hours Memory/History 200 hours of activity data 200 hours of activity data 200 hours of activity data Clock Features Time/date Yes Yes Yes GPS Time Sync Yes Yes Yes Automatic daylight saving time Yes Yes Yes Alarm clock Yes Yes Yes Timer Yes Yes Yes Stopwatch Yes Yes Yes Sunrise/sunset times Yes No No Face It™ watch face creator Yes Yes Yes Sensors GPS Yes Yes Yes GLONASS Yes Yes Yes Garmin Elevate™ wrist heart rate monitor Yes No Yes Barometric altimeter Yes No No Compass Yes Yes No Gyroscope Yes No No Accelerometer Yes Yes Yes Thermometer Yes No No Daily Smart Features Connectivity Bluetooth®, ANT+®, Wi-Fi® Yes Yes Connect IQ™ (downloadable watch faces, data fields, widgets and apps) Yes Yes Yes Smart notifications Yes Yes Yes Text response/reject phone call with text (Android™ only) Yes No No Calendar Yes Yes Yes Weather Yes Yes Yes Music controls Yes Yes Yes Plays Onboard Music Yes No No Music Storage up to 800 songs No No Find My Phone Yes Yes Yes Find My Watch Yes No No VIRB® remote Yes Yes Yes Smartphone compatibility iPhone® and Android™ Yes Yes Compatible with Garmin Connect™ Mobile Yes Yes Yes Garmin Pay™ Yes Activity Tracking Features Step counter Yes Yes Yes Move bar (displays on device after a period of inactivity; walk for a couple of minutes to reset it) Yes Yes Yes Auto goal (learns your activity level and assigns a daily step goal) Yes Yes Yes Sleep monitoring (monitors total sleep and periods of movement or restful sleep) Yes Yes Yes Calories burned Yes Yes Yes Floors climbed Yes No No Distance traveled Yes Yes Yes Intensity minutes Yes Yes Yes TrueUp™ Yes Yes Yes Move IQ™ Yes Yes Yes Fitness Age yes (in app) Yes Yes Fitness Equipment/Gym Preloaded gym activity profiles Strength Training, Cardio Training, Elliptical Training, Stair Stepping, Floor Climbing, Indoor Rowing and Yoga No No Cardio workouts Yes No No Strength workouts Yes No No Automatic rep counting Yes No No Training, Planning and Analysis Features GPS speed and distance Yes Yes Yes Customizable data pages Yes Yes Yes Customizable activity profiles Yes Yes Yes Auto Pause® Yes Yes Yes Advanced workouts Yes Yes Yes Downloadable training plans Yes Yes Yes Auto Lap® Yes Yes Yes Manual lap Yes Yes Yes Virtual Partner Yes Yes No Configurable lap alerts Yes Yes No V02 max Yes Yes Yes Training Status (lets you see if you’re training effectively by tracking your training history and fitness level trend.) Yes No No Training Load (your total training load for the last 7 days calculated from estimated EPOC) Yes No No Training Effect (aerobic) Yes Yes Yes Training Effect (anaerobic) Yes No No Customizable alerts Yes Yes Yes Audio prompts Yes Yes Yes Finish time Yes Yes Yes Race an Activity Yes Yes No Auto multisport activities Yes No No Manual multisport activities Yes No? No? Course guidance Yes Yes No Segments (Live, Garmin) Yes No No Strava features (Beacon, live segments) Yes No No LiveTrack Yes No No Group LiveTrack Yes No No Touch and/or button lock Yes Yes Yes Hot keys No No No Auto scroll Yes Yes Yes Activity history on watch Yes Yes Yes Heart Rate Features HR zones Yes yes (with HRM) Yes HR alerts Yes yes (with HRM) Yes HR calories Yes yes (with HRM) Yes % HR max Yes yes (with HRM) No % HRR Yes yes (with HRM) No Recovery time Yes yes (with HRM) Yes Auto max HR Yes yes (with HRM) No HRV stress test (measures your heart rate variability while standing still, for 3 minutes, to provide you with an estimated stress level; the scale of this is 1 to 100; low scores indicate lower stress levels) yes (with compatible accessory?) yes (with HRM) No Records heart rate while swimming yes (with compatible accessory) No No HR Broadcast (broadcasts HR data over ANT+™ to paired devices) Yes No Yes Running Features Preloaded run profiles Running, Treadmill Running, Indoor Track Yes Yes GPS-based distance, time and pace Yes Yes Yes Running dynamics (with accessory) Yes Yes No Vertical oscillation and ratio (with accessory) Yes Yes No Ground contact time and balance (with accessory) Yes Yes No Stride length with accessory) Yes Yes No Cadence Yes Yes Yes Performance condition Yes yes (with HRM?) No Lactate threshold (with accessory) Yes Yes No Run workouts Yes Yes Yes Race predictor Yes Yes Yes Foot pod capable Yes Yes Yes Outdoor Recreation Features Preloaded outdoor recreation profiles Skiing, Snowboarding, XC Skiing, Stand up Paddleboarding, Rowing Yes Yes Point-to-point navigation Yes No No Bread crumb trail in real time Yes No No Back to start Yes Yes Yes TracBack® Yes No No UltraTrac mode Yes No No Elevation profile Yes No No Distance to destination Yes Yes (back to start) Yes (back to start) Barometric trend indicator No No No Storm alert No No No Trail run auto climb No No No Vertical speed Yes No No Total ascent/descent Yes No No Compatible with BaseCamp™ Yes No No GPS coordinates Yes No No Projected waypoint No No No Sight 'N Go No No No Area calculation No No No Hunt/fish calendar No No No Sun and moon information No No No Dual grid coordinates No No No Cycling Features Preloaded cycling profiles Biking, Indoor Biking Yes Yes Courses Yes Yes No Bike lap and lap maximum power (with power sensor) No Power No No Race an activity Yes Yes No Time/distance alerts (triggers alarm when you reach goal) Yes Yes Yes Interval training Yes Yes Yes FTP (with accessory) No No No Compatible with Vector™ (power meter) No Power No No No No Power meter compatible (displays power data from compatible third-party ANT+™-enabled power meters) No Power No No Compatible with Varia Vision™ (head-mounted display) Yes Yes Yes Compatible with Varia™ radar (rear-facing radar) Yes Yes Yes Compatible with Varia™ lights Yes Yes Yes Speed and cadence sensor support (with sensor) yes (ANT+® and Bluetooth® Smart) Yes Yes Swimming Features Preloaded swim profiles Pool Swimming No No Pool swim metrics (lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories) Yes No No Stroke type detection (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly) Yes No No Swim efficiency (SWOLF) Yes No No Drill logging Yes No No Pool swim workouts Yes No No Open-water swim metrics (distance, pace, stroke count/rate, stroke distance, calories) No No No Heart rate (real-time during rests, interval and session stats during rests, and automatic heart rate download post-swim) No No No [caption id="attachment_25539" align="aligncenter" width="801"] Best REI/Wiggle/PMC price is linked to. Prices approx $400-$450 or £480-£520 and UNlikely for non-Music to fall below $400 in 2019. [/caption]