Meet Garmin Forerunner 245 Music - Triathlete's dream fitness watch
Garmin reinvigorates its line of fitness watches with the new Forerunner 245 Music that can store music locally and connect to wireless earphones.
Garmin's Forerunner series was designed for roadrunner and triathletes where accurate measurement of distance, speed, heart rate, time, altitude and pacing is important. Featured in this article is the Forerunner 245 Music that arrived in the Philippines in 2019.
Now, let's check it out!
Inside the box are the Garmin Forerunner 245 Music, USB Type-A to a proprietary 4pin port cable, stickers, and documentation.
In terms of build materials, the Garmin 245 Music's main body is made of premium metal and glass. The other body is anodized with black with red and unpainted trimmings. The glass is Corning Gorilla Glass protected.
At both ends of the body are the lugs that are compatible with 20mm watch straps. Our unit has two bright red straps with a metal buckle.
To make the Band 4 more exciting to use, Garmin is offering a wide selection of watch faces in different styles from stylish ones to functional ones. They are available at the Garmin Connect App.
It is not a touch screen. You have to use the 5 hardware buttons to control and navigate through the features of the 245 Music. This is the only and the most frustrating part about the Garmin as the UI isn't as quick as a touch screen interface.
Once connected and paired via Bluetooth, the 245 Music supports push notifications from user-specified apps. There is a do not disturb mode where you can schedule to not have notifications for a set time.
The 245 Music also has a built-in music player along with a Spotify app that you can download from the Garmin Connect App. Once logged in to your Spotify app, If you have Spotify Premium, you can save music locally on the watch.
You can then listen to your playlist with a Bluetooth connected earphones or headphones without needing a smartphone or other smart device.
Garmin's Forerunner series was designed to be able to measure, track and record heart rate, speed, distance, altitude and pacing of the user while running on the road/treadmill/indoor track, while exercise on a bike, or while swimming on a pool.
Battery capacity is undisclosed but it is rated for 7 days in smartwatch mode, rated for 24 hours with GPS turned on continuously and rated for 6 hours of continuous playback.
In our one-month experience with the Forerunner 245 Music, when using the smartwatch features only, we were getting 7 to 8 days. If with mixed use of smartwatch, exercise tracking, and Spotify playback, we would get 3 to 4 days in total.
Charging time usually takes 90 to 120 minutes.
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| Garmin Forerunner 245 Music |
Garmin's Forerunner series was designed for roadrunner and triathletes where accurate measurement of distance, speed, heart rate, time, altitude and pacing is important. Featured in this article is the Forerunner 245 Music that arrived in the Philippines in 2019.
Now, let's check it out!
Meet Garmin Forerunner 245 Music
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| Inside the box |
Inside the box are the Garmin Forerunner 245 Music, USB Type-A to a proprietary 4pin port cable, stickers, and documentation.
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| Front side |
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| Back side |
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| Left side |
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| Right side |
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| Strap clasp |
In terms of build materials, the Garmin 245 Music's main body is made of premium metal and glass. The other body is anodized with black with red and unpainted trimmings. The glass is Corning Gorilla Glass protected.
Sturdy build!
At both ends of the body are the lugs that are compatible with 20mm watch straps. Our unit has two bright red straps with a metal buckle.
 |
| Different watch faces |
To make the Band 4 more exciting to use, Garmin is offering a wide selection of watch faces in different styles from stylish ones to functional ones. They are available at the Garmin Connect App.
Display with various Watch Faces
It is not a touch screen. You have to use the 5 hardware buttons to control and navigate through the features of the 245 Music. This is the only and the most frustrating part about the Garmin as the UI isn't as quick as a touch screen interface.
Notifications and Spotify built-in
Once connected and paired via Bluetooth, the 245 Music supports push notifications from user-specified apps. There is a do not disturb mode where you can schedule to not have notifications for a set time.
The 245 Music also has a built-in music player along with a Spotify app that you can download from the Garmin Connect App. Once logged in to your Spotify app, If you have Spotify Premium, you can save music locally on the watch.
You can then listen to your playlist with a Bluetooth connected earphones or headphones without needing a smartphone or other smart device.
It also has plenty of fitness tracking features!
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| Garmin Connect app |
Garmin's Forerunner series was designed to be able to measure, track and record heart rate, speed, distance, altitude and pacing of the user while running on the road/treadmill/indoor track, while exercise on a bike, or while swimming on a pool.
Good battery life!
Battery capacity is undisclosed but it is rated for 7 days in smartwatch mode, rated for 24 hours with GPS turned on continuously and rated for 6 hours of continuous playback.
In our one-month experience with the Forerunner 245 Music, when using the smartwatch features only, we were getting 7 to 8 days. If with mixed use of smartwatch, exercise tracking, and Spotify playback, we would get 3 to 4 days in total.
Charging time usually takes 90 to 120 minutes.
Garmin Forerunner 245 Music Specs
Display: 1.2-inch Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protected color display with 240 x 240 resolution at 283 ppiBattery: Up to 7 days smartwatch mode, 24 hours with GPS, up to 6 hours with continuous music playback
Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, GLONASS, Galileo
Sensors: 3-axis accelerometer, optical heart rate sensor, IR
Others: 5 ATM water resistance, 20mm standard silicone watch band, Colors: Aqua, Black, Lava Red, Slate Gray, Yellow
Dimensions: 42.3 x 42.3 x 12.2 mm
Weight: 38.5 g
Price: PHP 24,595
Quick thoughts
Out of the box, the Garmin Forerunner 245 Music is a great athlete-focused fitness smartwatch that can play music locally.
This is because of the super accurate tracking of activities and location. The build quality and battery life are top-notched and our only gripes with it are the lack of a touch screen and the lack of sleep tracking.
This can be a problem especially because competitors like the Huawei Watch GT can track similar activities as well as sleep while having an even longer battery life.
This is because of the super accurate tracking of activities and location. The build quality and battery life are top-notched and our only gripes with it are the lack of a touch screen and the lack of sleep tracking.
This can be a problem especially because competitors like the Huawei Watch GT can track similar activities as well as sleep while having an even longer battery life.
What do you guys think?
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