Garmin Forerunner 45 GPS Running Watch with Garmin Coach Training Plan Support - Lava Red, Large

My favourite smartish watch. Easy to use, good battery life, comfortable and stylish.

Perfect all rounder fitness watch. I use it for tracking runs, walks and hikes. If you do a very specific sport and are looking for specific features, this watch may not be for you. But if you need a more general fitness watch this is perfect! Battery life leaves a little to be desired, lasts for about a week for genreal wear, but can last <8 hours if you use it with GPS for tracking an activity. The app is great as well, and has been perfect for tracking my fitness and health. The screen is quite basic for a smart watch, but for my use, it doesn't need to be any higher resolution or touchscreen etc.

I've owned a few forerunners and bought this new after being disappointed with the battery life of a renovated version of a different model, which died after half-marathon distance. This Forerunner 45 has easily coped with four hours of marathon training and still been going strong for runs on subsequent days before requiring a recharge. The sleep tracking function seems to be pretty reliable, detecting if I wake in the night. Very lightweight and stylish too.

Two years ago, I bought one of those cheap £29.99 "fitness watches" from China. OK they work (as a watch) and the pulse is fairly accurate but the distances tracked are way out (not GPS) In addition , I could not see the small face in anything other than darkness. I needed a watch so I could keep an eye on my pace and time and distance without keep getting my phone out and looking at Strava so I bought a Garmin 45. My aim concern being I need reading glasses, was being able to see the numbers on the go. I can confirm they are nice a big on the always on display. The best thing is the App. So much data is available. The sleep tracker seems accurate, heart rate also. The GPS is more accurate than Strava in my opinion. There are many features that I haven't even begun to use yet. The only question is why do people pay £200+ more for a more expensive Garmin? Update: The answer perhaps is the battery is rubbish. On a 3 hour run it drained 80% from full charge. It even drains 20% syncing with the phone app! One thing for sure, it would never last 7 days as claimed!

Just as good as the old Forerunner 235 in my opinion: Great functionality and now nice and light / less bulky on my wrist than earlier models. Lovely combination of features of more advanced models along with their form and value of the earlier ‘entry level’ forerunner. Link up to GPS has been frustratingly slow once or twice but apart from that this is perfect for run tracking.

Excellent watch, easy to use, very versatile and reliable.

The Forerunner 45 is not the most sophisticated watch (but neither is it the most exoensive(great if you're on a budget)). All the basics are there eg steps, activity tracking, sleep etc. Battery life is excellent. Strap is soft silicone so comfortable for extended wear.

The watch worked fine and was excellent until the mechanism which connects the strap to the face broke 6 months after I bought it. This happened in the last week of December. It seems to be a common fault with the watch. There is supposed to be a 2 year warranty. However Garmin have been an absolute nightmare to deal with and are almost impossible to contact. Over the last 2 months when I did manage to make contact, they 1st requested I send photos of the broken watch, they then requested I send back the watch. It is now 23rd Feb. I've had no watch for almost 60 days. It is disgraceful on Garmins part. I'm supposed to be doing a training program but that has all gone down the drain. At thus stage, I'm uncetain if I'll ever get a replacement watch and will certainly never buy a Garmin product again. On a side note, garmin products were recommended to me by several of my running friends who stated their products and customer service was fantastic so perhaps I'm just unlucky