The two Garmin Forerunner 45 running watches have arrived and they nicely complete the entry-level end of Garmin’s 2019 range, I’m not sure I will do a full review at all so, for now, let’s go ahead now with a preview-cum-opinion piece.

Garmin Forerunner 45 – Where Are We?

The earlier, Garmin Forerunner 35 from 2016 was an acquired aesthetic taste albeit in a useful square format. It was ‘sort of’ alright but I found it hard to recommend except at 11:30 on a Friday night. Perhaps my view at the time was tainted by the device’s seemingly over-reliance on Garmin’s good CONNECT infrastructure to beef it up to more of a running offering than it really was.

Almost 3 years further on and we have two replacements; the Forerunner 45 and Forerunner 45s, the latter being a smaller format watch for smaller wrists.

What Is It? What’s New?

The new Forerunner 45 entirely replaces the older Forerunner 35 which will effectively be discontinued once current stock is sold-up.

It’s an entry-level running watch which is perfectly fine for beginners and seasoned runners alike and packs in a very decent tranche of Garmin’s pure-running functionalities. However, the ‘smarts’ and ‘connectivity’ that are packaged around that are OK but relatively thin-on-the-ground. I can see exactly why Garmin has made the various calls about what should be in all of the new Forerunner watches, it makes sense within the range but Garmin does not have superiority at the cheaper end of the price range and its offerings are easily threatened by those from competitors to the point where competitors might over-trump Garmin’s usual trump card…ie that of MORE FEATURES. To be clear, at this price point there are better and cheaper competitor products that offer MORE features…more, that is if you take into account non-running features.

What’s New – Hardware Base

The Forerunner 45, when compared to the 35, is a totally different bit of kit. The shell has obviously changed from square to round and so the watch looks entirely different. But everything on the inside is different too…everything. Indeed the Forerunner 45 is really a cut-back version of the newer and more expensive Forerunner 245 rather than a beefed-up FR 35. This means that inside, it contains all-new, high-tech components for 2019 ie: ELEVATE HR sensor v3; GNSS/GALILEO Chip (Sony); battery; larger screen with higher resolution; straps; all of it.

Some aspects of the new hardware, like the bigger and better screen, may consume more battery but battery savings elsewhere, such as with the Sony chip, mean that overall the battery life is materially unchanged from the earlier FR 35. So, with up to 13 hours of GPS usage on one charge – that’s decent.

What’s New – Firmware

All has changed and yet all has not changed.

To me, there is some confusion about what the Forerunner 45 is trying to be. Garmin’s strength has ALWAYS been the ‘sport’ piece rather than the ‘smart’ piece.

So, enabling the use of gym-based sports profiles is sensible, adding a bit extra activity tracking functionality is sensible,  adding a few more ‘smarts’ is sensible. Yet Garmin have done those sensible things rather than nailing some of the more niche ‘running’ features which are included in the 235. But Garmin is also putting the price up. Thus Garmin is leaving the door open for some competitors to do better running features at the same price (China, Polar) and clearly also leaving the door open for MANY competitors to do WAY superior ‘smarts’ at the same price (Amazfit, Apple, Samsung, WearOS and more).

So I can sort of talk myself into thinking that the FR45 makes sense from some perspectives. But when I look in a digital shop window at my sub-$200 choices, I’d probably go elsewhere.

Maybe Garmin plan to lower the price after a year’s worth of convincing the legacy customers to upgrade ie those who have already tied their workout history into Garmin Connect and who are thus reluctant to move platforms?

What’s New – Personalisation & Protection

Other than your initial choice of colour, size and the ongoing ability to change watch faces, there’s not so much that you can do to make the Forerunner unique to you. Although one of Garmin’s strengths is to personalise the display of the data that you have available during your runs but that’s standard stuff these days on many watches.

For those of you worried about running in remote locations there are also assistance and incident detection features which send your location to selected emergency contacts via your smartphone.

What’s New – Physiology

These are nice features to support & enhance the legacy, activity tracking stuff. The Firstbeat features, though limited on this watch, really start to take activity, rest & sleep onto the next level to help you understand more about what your efforts actually all mean to your overall fitness levels and how you feel.

What’s New – Garmin Coach

Well, it’s not new, but it is a very nice addition to the 45 which makes the overall running offering more attractive to novice runners. Garmin Coach offers adaptive running plans which sound great but which are a little let down in the execution. Nevertheless, they are great for beginner-level runners (>25 min/5k) and the plans deliver individual workouts to your watch which you can follow.

Basic Specifications

More complete specs are shown at the end with a comparison to the old Forerunner 35 and the new, higher-spec Forerunner 245.

• Dimensions: small: 39.5 x 39.5 x 11.4 mm @32g, large: 42 x 42 x 11.4 mm @36g
• Screen: 26.3mm dia, 208x208px – not great. Strengthened glass NOT gorilla glass
• Battery life: up to 7 days in smartwatch mode; up to 13 hours in GPS mode  – GOOD
  
• Waterproof 5 ATM (you can swim with it) – FINE

Price, Discounts & Availability

Use REI in the USA who now have stock and they give members 10% off (link to: rei.com). Definitely use Wiggle in the UK where you can get a new Customer Discount with the code NEWGB at this link (here) with platinum discounts of in-stock products up to 17% in boost periods. They will also get stock earlier than most other retailers. Wiggle is also pretty good on the whole throughout the Eu I’m just not sure of the in-stock status for May 2019 for non-UK markets.

Delivery should be mid-may if you order from from Wiggle

• Forerunner 45 & 45s – $199, Eu199, £169

Garmin Forerunner 45 (45s) Specifications & Comparison

Here are the full specs (Source: Garmin.com) and a comparison to the Forerunner 35 that it succeeds and the 245 which is the next model up.