LATEST: Garmin Forerunner 945 Review
Gripes (edit: some updates 24Jun)
- It took a long while to setup but that was more due to the fact there are more features to setup. Setup is probably improved in reality over the 935, I guess, ie in the individual elements of setup.
- Manual music sync is super-slow from your personal collection. Like, sloooooow.
- Sound quality with my Jabra’s sounds alright/good/normal. The 945 is only going to have an SBAC codec so you can’t expect much more. But that’s the same CODEC same as every other music-enabled watch. NOT as good quality as many smartphones that have better HD CODECs like AptX HD.
- The buttons don’t seem positive enough to me and a bit ‘weak’ on the push. I compared it to the 935, guess what? Same!
- There are some issues with CIQ stuff not YET being flagged as supported by the 945 (eg I think Humon Hex and also my favourite watch face). Consequently, you can’t use them (yet). this means that it does not appear on the CIQ store and you can’t easily install it – EIDT: GENERALLY OK
- No-one has really mentioned the auto-elevation recalibration by GPS en route. Sounds nice. Doesn’t work too well.
- ELEVATE v3 and GPS…you can guess how good they are right? ….meh. Same old same old, no doubt other reviews will say how brilliant they are but you’re a clever lot so I won’t try to fool you 😉 EDIT: Actually it’s not too shabby at all. As per the review (linked above) it is an improvement
- I’ve been looking at GPS+GALILEO performance and GPS-only performance and, once again, the Galileo performance does not amount to anything special AT ALL. The easier, biking performance with GNSS has been generally alright though.
- I’ve got another SpO2 device right now and the 945 looks more correct than the other one (the other one tells me I am dead sometimes!…seriously)
- I can’t get the freakin’ thing to connect as a mass storage device and give me the 945 as a drive letter. It always connects like a smartphone with no drive letter assigned #BIG-PITA. I’ve had this problem with music-enabled Garmin devices since the 645 and yes I know there is a setting and that I can re-install USB drivers – which doesn’t work 🙁 . For anyone who can solve this, I will forever be in your debt (drive mapping does not work and I don’t want to use tapiriik and dropbox or anything similar and WebDav requires an actual Android device. OneDrive/GoogleDrive+mapping could be a solution and there is a paid-for solution in the comments that might work) edit: there is a bit of (paid for) software that can do this but I eneded up recording a macro in windows.
- The 945 is definitely faster than the 935, I would have preferred a bit more speediness. But it’s alright. #ModestImprovement
- I had hoped that the new ELEVATE sensor would be enabled for swimming. But…it’s not.
- Several CIQ apps and watch faces do not YET work on the 945. No worries. Go to the GARMIN/APPS folder on your 935 and copy the .PRG file to the 945…voila !! They work (or entirely crash and ruin your device as they are not supported 😉 ) the CRYSTAL watch face and the HUMON HEX data field both DO work using that method. Edit: Generally OK
- The ANT+ connection service sometimes 100% fails. It will not pair or connect to any ANT+ device. A restart of the watch fixes it. Edit: Seems alright now
- Menus are pretty much the same and as complex as ever although with a makeover that does look prettier and a LITTLE bit more sensible in how it works. Post-workout menu stuff IS better. My fave feature is bizarrely the Firstbeat workout label which really helps nail the workout physiological classification of what you’ve just done (eg TEMPO) and it matches how I felt. Or I could just trust how I felt in the first place 😉
- I can’t find the swimrun auto-sport change. Then again there’s quite a bit I can’t find on my 935 and I’ve had that 2 years 😉 (partly joking to make a point).
- Random screen freeze as the 14km lap popped up with music playing/GPS/STRYD/HUMON. It sill recorded though. (Press and hold top left button and choose to RESUME after restart) edit: not re-occurred
- First open water swim GPS disaster added below…the Vantage V actually looks quite good (only one lap, it was cold…statistical significance..errrr)
But it’s still a ‘happy camper 9/10 rating’ so far. Can’t wait for my proper GPS test but it’s down at about 5th on that list. Eesh.
See, I’m trying to put you off buying one but we both know you’re going to get one. So just do it now! Wiggle UK/PMC USA will deliver next day – see following link https://geni.us/GarminForerunner945
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