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Garmin Forerunner 45: essentials for running

Garmin Forerunner 45: essentials for running

April 07, 2020

Characteristics of the Forerunner 45
Quick presentation of the Forerunner 45 and 45S
In-depth review of the Forerunner 45
Comparison between Forerunner 35 and 45: the differences

Buy the Garmin Forerunner 45 and 45S

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Characteristics of the Forerunner 45

Weight32 g (model 45S) and 36 g (model 45)

Music player–

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Quick presentation of the Forerunner 45 and 45S

The Forerunner 45 in brief: the essentials for running

Released in May 2019, the Forerunner 45 is the replacement for the Forerunner 35. It is a versatile entry-level watch geared towards running and walking. But it can be used for other sports like cycling, swimming, indoor sports (elliptical, yoga, treadmill, spinning).

Available in 2 case sizes (model 45S for fine wrists and model 45), it is both small, thin and light. Easy to use and user-friendly, it offers most of the functions for the occasional runner at a reasonable price.

Equipped with a GPS chip and an optical cardio on the wrist, it displays in real time the main data of your outing (duration, distance, pace, heart rate), measures the calories expended, records the route and has a voice coach to help you progress (downloadable adaptive training plans).

It offers an activity monitoring function, sleep analysis, assesses physical condition (VO2max) and recovery level (Body Battery function), measures stress and offers exercises to relax. It also supports smartphone notifications. The icing on the cake, it offers an incident detection and assistance function to be rescued if necessary.

Who is the Forerunner 45 for?

This smart health connected watch is aimed at amateur sportsmen, occasional or regular, who wish to have simple and understandable information on their outing without taking the lead with complicated functions and statistics. For a slightly more complete watch with GPS track and possibly a music player, turn to a mid-range watch like the Forerunner 245 or consult our comparison of the best watches for running.

In-depth review of the Forerunner 45

Design and weight: fine and ultra-light

Garmin now offers a round rather than rectangular screen, chemically reinforced glass for greater solidity and, like its Fenix 5 and Fenix 5 Plus, different case and strap sizes to adapt to all wrists . The female gender will appreciate.

The Forerunner 45 is available in 2 models:

The Forerunner 45S: it is the small model intended for fine wrists (124 to 185 mm in circumference). Its case is only 39.5 mm in diameter for a thickness of 11.7 mm. With 32 g on the scale, it is one of the featherweights. It is available in 2 colors: white and iris.
The Forerunner 45: this is the standard model. It is suitable for wrists with a circumference of 129 to 197 mm. Its case is 42 mm in diameter, 11.4 mm thick and only 36 g in weight. It is available in 2 colors: black and red.

Garmin offers a new anti-reflective color screen (transflective MIP technology) 208 x 208 px and 26.3 mm in diameter (compared to the 128 x 128 px square monochrome screen of the previous model, the Forerunner 35).

On this new model, you can change the watch face (watchface) either by creating your own face from personal photos, or by downloading one from the thousands available on the Garmin site.

Autonomy: 13 h in GPS mode

This model offers an autonomy of 7 days in watch mode and 13 h in GPS mode, which is roughly the same autonomy as the old model but with a more intensive use of the watch (measurement of stress throughout the day and compatibility with 3 satellite systems). This is sufficient for occasional sports use including several short outings in the week or a long outing.

The sensors: new GPS chip, cardio optics, accelerometer

As with its new Forerunner 245 and Forerunner 945 watches, Garmin has adopted a new, more energy-efficient Sony GPS chip on its Forerunner 45. This chip is compatible with the American GPS, Russian GLONASS and European Galileo satellite systems.

The watch measures the heart rate 24 hours a day thanks to an optical sensor on the wrist. No need to wear a chest belt to go running. For more precise measurements, you can wear a compatible belt (to buy extra).

The Forerunner 45 is also equipped with an accelerometer. It is used to detect movement and assess the distance covered indoors on the treadmill.

Finally, this model supports certain external sensors (foot pod, speed and cadence sensors for cycling).

Sports functions

The Forerunner 45 offers a dozen sports profiles including running, cycling, treadmill running, cardio, elliptical trainer.

It takes over all the functions of the Forerunner 35 with, for major innovations, the advanced workouts and the ability to download a training program in the watch. These training programs are adaptive, that is, they adapt to your physical condition and your goals. They offer advice from expert coaches to guide you and help you progress. The watch can even estimate your race time (race time predictor function), for example at a 10 km, depending on your fitness level and previous performance.

The functions already present on the Forerunner 35 are as follows:

Duration, pace, speed and GPS distance, cadence: the watch displays the duration, distance traveled and average speed obtained using GPS. For indoor running (treadmill), distance and speed are evaluated using the integrated accelerometer. The accuracy improves over time if you are going to run outdoors with the GPS (the watch performs a calibration). For cycling, spinning, or health home trainer, you will need an external sensor to obtain this data. The watch can also display the cadence (number of steps for running and walking or number of crank turns for the bicycle) if an external cadence sensor is used.
Heart rate and calories expended: the watch displays the heart rate and deduces the calories expended. It is possible to program heart rate zones for training or losing weight or to program an alert which is triggered in case of abnormal pulse (the heart rate exceeds a certain threshold after a period of inactivity).
Split training: the Forerunner 45 allows you to program interval exercises
Assessment of physical condition and VO2max: VO2max is a performance indicator. Its measurement makes it possible to estimate physical condition and assess sports progress. The watch uses this data to estimate the energy level (Body Battery) and adjust the training plans.
The auto-pause and auto-lap functions: automatic pause detects your moments of pause and automatically stops recording. The auto-lap function allows to compare its performances on a given circuit by recording the data every kilometer (or miles) or by a manual action
Audio instructions: they guide you during your outing (alerts, speed and intensity instructions, etc.). They require the pairing of the watch to a Smartphone during sporting activity.

Activity monitoring and physiological measurements

For daily use, the watch tracks your activity 24 hours a day: distance traveled, number of steps taken, intensive minutes, calories expended, sleep analysis (total number of hours of sleep and movements).

Garmin adds new relevant functions:

Assessment of stress level: the watch assesses the stress level throughout the day and offers breathing exercises to reduce it if necessary. The evolution of stress can be visualized in the form of a curve.
A Body Battery energy monitoring: this function estimates your body's energy level, as you would estimate the level of an electric battery. Basically, the watch assesses your ability to produce an effort. This level decreases with fatigue, stress, work, physical activity. It increases with rest, sleep, relaxation. This new indicator makes it possible to judge whether it is wise or not, at a given moment, to go to play sports.
Physical age assessment (in the Garmin app)
Daily monitoring of efforts: the watch deduces your level of effort from the variability of the heart rate measured during a 3-minute Review at rest. The level of effort can be seen as the ability to produce effort. This ability changes with sleep, diet and stress levels. The score obtained indicates whether the body is ready or not for an intensive sports session or, on the contrary, for a recovery session (yoga, quiet outing, etc.).

monitoring and security (assistance) functions

In addition to the LiveTrack function already available on the old model (tracking the athlete on the internet with coupling the watch to a Smartphone), Garmin adds 3 useful functions:

Incident detection: depending on the sporting activity, the watch can detect a fall and send a request for assistance via a smartphone coupled to the watch while transmitting the athlete's name and GPS coordinates. This function had already been integrated on the high-end bicycle GPS Edge 1030 and, very recently, on the Edge 530 and 830 models. Apple, which is placing increasing emphasis on safety and health, had also already integrated, on its latest Apple Watch 4, fall detection and l automatic call of an emergency number.
An assistance function: the athlete can ask for help from the watch (call for help) and transmit his GPS coordinates
Sharing events in real time: the watch allows you to share information in real time with the community (position, route, etc.) (on Android only)

smart health connected functions

The Forerunner 45 offers smart health connected functions, such as access to the calendar and weather (temperature and forecasts), Smart notifications, music control on your Smartphone, a "find my phone" function, a new "Find" function. my watch". You can also download watchfaces from Connect IQ.

Comparison between Forerunner 35 and 45: the differences

The Forerunner 45 incorporates all the features of the Forerunner 35 and adds notable changes to it. The design changes, the case is refined, the resolution increases significantly (208 x 208 px instead of 128 x 128 px), the screen changes from monochrome to color, the weight decreases a bit and you can download or customize your watchface .

On the sensor side, the watch becomes compatible with GLONASS and Galileo satellite systems. Its autonomy is roughly the same but for more continuous monitoring functions (stress measurement in particular).

In terms of functions, Garmin adds, among other things, new sports profiles, advanced workouts and downloadable programs, new physiological measures (stress, effort, physical age, Body Battery), access to the calendar, a timer and above all , a fall detection and assistance function in the event of an incident.

Here are the main new features:

Round, color and higher resolution screen
Thinner and lighter watch
Chemically reinforced glass
2 case sizes
GLONASS and Galileo compatibility in addition to GPS
Watchfaces downloadable via Connect IQ
Timer and calendar
"Find my watch" function
Incident detection and assistance in the event of an incident
Event sharing in real time
Body Battery Energy monitoring
Daily monitoring of efforts and stress
Advanced workouts and downloadable training programs (Garmin Coach)
More sports profiles

Discover the Forerunner 35 and the differences with the Forerunner 30.

Our opinion on the Forerunner 45: should we buy it?

Here is an entry-level watch that is simple to use, comfortable and very well supplied for the price offered. In our view, it constitutes excellent value for money.

The Forerunner 45 is indeed a good sports watch intended above all for runners, even if it offers other sports profiles. If your main activity is running and, in addition, you occasionally cycle, walk, swim or indoor sports, this model will be suitable. If your main activity is not running, choose another model (see our comparison of cardio-GPS watches).

This GPS watch really offers everything you need for the amateur sportsman (real-time data on his route, recording of the route, physiological measurements, activity monitoring and smart health connected functions) and even functions that most will not use . All at a reasonable price. It is a very good choice and certainly a good gift idea.

We appreciate, on this new model, the new design, the good resolution color screen, assistance in the event of an incident (the LiveTrack function also makes it possible to be followed on the Internet), useful physiological measures (stress, effort , recovery) and personalized training with voice coach. All this allows you to have not only information about its release but also some basic tools to progress and have fun.

For a more demanding sportsman (search for performance for example) or for fans of data and statistics, it will be better to invest in the model just above, the Forerunner 245 with or without music player or an equivalent watch (Polar Vantage M , for the triathlon, Garmin Instinct, Suunto 5 for example).

It's a shame that Garmin no longer offers (or maybe it's planned later) a model equivalent to the Forerunner 30: a lighter version of the Forerunner 35 (only one sport profile, fewer functions, less autonomy), planned for running only and offered at an even more attractive price. This made it possible to pay even less for functions which were more than enough for most occasional runners.

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