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Forerunner 645 Music review: the running watch with music and contactless payment

Forerunner 645 Music review: the running watch with music and contactless payment

April 10, 2020

Overview of the Forerunner 645 Music: top of the range with more music!
Specifications for the Forerunner 645 Music
Garmin Forerunner 645 Music review
The differences with the Forerunner 630, 735XT and 935
Our opinion on the Garmin Forerunner 645 Music
Price and availability

Buy the Forerunner 645 Music

Trader

Price (from)

Pope

See the offer

449 € 399

i-Run

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449 € 329

Alltricks

See the offer

449 € 400

Go-Sport

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449 € 399

Rakuten

See the offer

449 € 392

Buy the Forerunner 645

Trader

Price (from)

Pope

See the offer

399 € 379

Alltricks

See the offer

399 € 319.99

Commercial links. Non contractual prices. Please consult the merchant website.

Overview of the Forerunner 645 Music: top of the range with more music!

Designed essentially to run in music without a Smartphone and pay for small purchases without taking out your bank card, this high-end Garmin running watch offers the advantages of the Forerunner 735XT or even the Forerunner 935 without the triathlon functions but with the added bonus of access to a mp3 player on-board (Garmin will soon offer access to the Deezer platform), 4 GB of memory and an NFC chip for the contactless payment (Garmin Pay system). In addition to these 2 main innovations, this model is the first in the Forerunner series to have a steel bezel and a high resolution Garmin Chroma Display non-touch which, moreover, remains permanently on.

Did you know ?

Listening to music while running can help with concentration, improving performance and physical ability. The music, by diverting the attention of the sportsman, can even make forget the tiredness and the pain.

Find out more

We find a GPS chip, GLONASS and, new in 2019, Galileo, an optical sensor on the wrist, sensors worthy of adventurer watches (compass, thermometer, gyroscope), advanced navigation functions (point-to-point navigation, breadcrumb trail , return to start, TracBack, altitude profile, vertical speed, etc.), advanced training and tracking functionalities (training tracking and status, stride and cadence analysis, race dynamics analysis, predictor , VO2max, and much more) found on high-end models (Forerunner 735XT, 935, 945), an activity tracking function and smart health connected watch functions (SMS notifications, calls and emails but also, new, the possibility of sending SMS, e-mails and messages on social networks!).

Woman Running While Listening To Music With Forerunner 645 Music Watch

Pay for your purchases with ease with Garmin Pay contactless payment!

watch showing contactless payment Garmin Pay

Also new on this high-end watch: after its introduction to the Garmin Vivoactive 3 sports smart health connected watch, the contactless payment allows you to pay for small purchases with your watch as with a contactless bank card or a Smartphone. This innovation is also found in the Apple Watch Serie 3. This system uses NFC (Near Field Communication) radio wave technology that the Android Wear OS now knows how to pilot and which equips most bank cards and smartphones.

In practice, the user must create an account in order to associate his bank card with an identifier then update his watch. Payment is made by activating the function with a secret code and by approaching the watch from the card reader. The function remains active for 24 hours and deactivates if the watch is removed from the wrist or if the optical sensor is deactivated.

GarminPay will soon be available in France and usable by customers of partner banks at merchants accepting this payment method.

A multisport watch with advanced GPS navigation

Compared to other Forerunner models, this mp3 watch is more open to indoor and outdoor leisure activities with 15 sports available including yoga, bodybuilding, skiing, stepper, rowing, stand-up paddle, and of course running, treadmill, swimming (no open water function, however), indoor or outdoor cycling (spinning, health home trainer). Thanks to its numerous sensors, you have relevant data and measurements such as elevation, climb speed, altitude profile and much more. The watch can count the number of lengths in the pool or the number of repetitions in bodybuilding. It also offers the classic GPS navigation functions: track recording, breadcrumb trail, return to departure point, TracBack, point-to-point navigation, distance to destination.

The watch is not a "real" multisport in the sense that there is no automatic or manual transition between activities as is the case on the Forerunner 935 or the latest (May 2019) Forerunner 945 So you will have to stop recording midway to change activity. For triathlon, it is better to turn to the Forerunner 735XT, the Forerunner 935 or the very complete Forerunner 945 which offers color mapping. See also our file: Best triathlon watches 2020.

An advanced analysis of your performance to help you progress

Garmin has integrated into the Forerunner 645 most of the advanced analysis functions useful for athletes to improve their technique and monitoring their progress. We find most of the analysis functions available on the Forerunner 935: running dynamics (Running Dynamics) for stride analysis (balance at ground contact time, stride length, cadence, vertical oscillation), VO2max estimate, race time estimate (race predictor), training status and tracking, aerobic / anaerobic distribution, fitness and age estimate, and other data useful for your training ( Note that the measurement of running dynamics requires a Running Dynamics Pod or an HRM-Tri or HRM-Run heart rate belt, sold separately). The watch assesses the quality of training, recovery time and performance. In short, a rather complete tool to help you progress. Learn more on the Garmin site.

To have all the biometric data, you will need to acquire an optional accessory, the Running Dynamics Pod, or a chest belt HRM-Run which already includes this sensor.

Thanks to its 15 integrated profiles, the watch can cross trainings and accumulate statistics.

A customizable watch via Connect IQ

The Forerunner 645 Music really caught our attention because we have been waiting for a music function on Garmin watches for a long time, especially on the Forerunner series! What could be better than being able to finally listen to your music while running without cluttering up with an mp3 player or a Smartphone!

For people who like to listen to music while running, we recommend so far the Tom Tom Runner 2 or the Tom Tom Runner 3 (with GPS track) which are good running watches incorporating an mp3 player, but this new Garmin model appeals to us by its very advanced sports functions that will suit athletes looking for sophisticated measures to train. MAJ 2019: Garmin has expanded since its Forerunner x45 range: Forerunner 245 Music and 945 watches have an mp3 player. The Garmin Pay payment system, which was unusable some time ago since it is being deployed, is gradually spreading to sports watches and is therefore starting to become interesting.

With the music function, Garmin Pay payment, more advanced smart health connected functions (sending SMS and emails!), Its varied sports activities, activity monitoring and a more mixed look (city and sport), the Forerunner 645 and rather attractive and opens up to a wider audience among runners. Too bad Garmin didn't plan a touch screen that would have been more practical for navigation.

We appreciate its look at the same time city and sport, the steel bezel, the ultra-resistant glass Coring Gorilla Glass 3 (used on the best Smartphones) and the added functions to obtain a comfortable and practical high-end watch interesting the sportsmen of all levels, from amateur to professional. Bravo Garmin!

We liked

On-board mp3 player, access to Deezer
Contactless payment
Advanced tools and drive functions
Design and robustness (steel bezel, Gorilla glass)
HD color screen

We'd have liked

A touch screen
Better autonomy

Price and availability

The Forerunner 645 is available with or without an integrated mp3 player. The Forerunner 645 Music is available in black, cherry, Rose Gold and Gray (gray) at the recommended retail price of € 449.99. The Forerunner 645 (without mp3 player) is available in black or beige, at the recommended retail price of € 399.99.

Buy the Forerunner 645 Music

Trader

Price (from)

Pope

See the offer

449 € 399

i-Run

See the offer

449 € 329

Alltricks

See the offer

449 € 400

Go-Sport

See the offer

449 € 399

Rakuten

See the offer

449 € 392

Buy the Forerunner 645

Trader

Price (from)

Pope

See the offer

399 € 379

Alltricks

See the offer

399 € 319.99

Commercial links. Non contractual prices. Please consult the merchant website.

Philippe Baudoin

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