Garmin - Forerunner 945
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Reddit Reviews:
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Based on 1 year's data from Jan 28, 2026 How it works
Liked most:
1111
408
"The roborock I have kicked and smashed with my foot so many times out of anger when it doesn't collaborate, and still he rocks 4-5 yrs later and no broken parts"
"they are extremely durable. ... I’ve got well over 1000 miles out of a pair and they still have grip and the uppers are in great shape"
"I've used them for 1500 miles of multi-day hiking with no issues!"
224
45
"Oh, and the battery lasts days even when exercising a lot (weeks without excercise)."
"Battery lasts me about a week?"
"my battery lasts about a week while using the oxymeter all the time as well as using it for tracking my workouts for about 7-9 hours a week."
26
6
"it’s sweet to be able to go for a run with just my watch and headphones."
"after YouTube Music was implemented I was happy that I got the Music version. ... It even auto updates all my playlists when it charges. ... And it connects to my AirPods flawless and when I do my run workouts it turns the music volume down and says the next step in the workout what pace and for how long."
"I had a 255 music and had no issues with playing music and battery. ... I played music on mine all the time. The music did not. ... Mostly used for running. Ran several marathons with it and it didn't drain my battery that much."
89
3
"There's a "Climb Indoor" activity that I use for both indoor/outdoor roped climbing and there's a bouldering activity for bouldering."
"it works perfectly for what you want!"
"my Instinct 3 works perfectly for cycling."
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1
"Not even getting started on navigation in the mountains, which is really good — if you hike, camp, trail run, cycle, or generally enjoy being out, you will love your Epic or Fenix."
"*Superior GPS performance with SAT IQ."
"I really wanted maps on it without 3rd parry apps screwing around."
Disliked most:
25
76
"wtf no time settings in a watch?"
"google's software features and fit-and-finish is lacking for their watch ... there is no option on a pixel watch to just automatically turn on the screen when a notification comes in to view the notification; you have to manually interact with it by either tapping the screen within a few seconds or lift-to-wake the watch, which is very unreliable ... that actually was a dealbreaker for me"
"it does not show new notifications as they come in without some sort of manual action ... unless you tap the screen or lift your wrist when you get the vibration, you don't get to see anything ... 75% of the time my pw2 wouldn't recognize a wrist-raise gesture, so I'd miss whatever the new notification was"
Mackerelponi 1.0nah not 945 ha, i upgraded from it to the 970. So much better in every way, especially the quality of gps tracking
pablotoofreshcobar 1.0Apple Watch Ultra as 1 and Forerunner 945 as last has me questioning a lot.
Agree with the dated aspect of it. I have one myself and I’m hard pressed to replace it because it does literally everything I need it to up to 140.6 races. I guess the new fancy screens and more data points is cool but fuck I’m overwhelmed enough with the data my 945 gives me lol.
Yeah you can’t say no to that. I’ve been enticed by the new 970, but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. I’ve had my 945 for 2 years now and really don’t have a reason to get rid of it yet.
AnonymousMiddleName 0.5I have been a Whoop wearer for 4 years. I have had a Garmin 945 for 5. This is exactly my use case—run and strength (and whatever else) with the Garmin and whoop for the overall experience.
b00mshaw 0.5Garmin Forerunner. I have the 945 and it still going strong. Does a great job with running, swimming and biking. Add in a Garmin Edge eventually for your bike. I do know several people that are quite happy with their Coros though. Not sure what they offer for cycling computers though.
blood_bender 0.5Can't speak for the Instinct, but I got my Garmin Forerunner 945 in 2019 and it's still going strong. Passive battery life a week+, GPS battery is still close to 24h (I think, haven't done a race that long in a bit). No issues with connectivity, bluetooth, charging, nothing. Some of their newer models are a little bloated and they're adding a ton of features at the cost of battery life, which is the only disappointing part. For ultras the only thing I _really_ care about is battery, and their out of the box battery life says 26 hours or something now, instead of 32+. Either way though, they make really good devices.
carguy121 0.5I’ve had my Garmin 945 since 2019 and I’m not anywhere near replacing it. Sure, the battery ain’t what it used to be, but I’ve put a ton of use into it (including a lot of hiking, some swimming, some biking on top of the running mileage) and it’s held up remarkably well.
cnidarian-atoll 0.5I have garmin forerunner 945. I really like it and it is great for running as well. I can also listen to music, podcasts etc. You can find deals sometimes so that it might fit in your budget.
Corbixz 0.5How quickly does it charge? I've gotten used to popping my Garmin (FR645, FR945, Fenix 7s, then Fenix 7s Pro) on the charger for 10min or so while I shower and that is enough that I never have to worry about the battery. Think the same would be true of the Venu 4?
Cutoffjeanshortz37 0.5well, the 945 is now 3 generations old so I'm honestly surprised it's come up that often to even make the list. I have a 955 and i feel like it's dated being 2 generations behind now. I'm more surprised the 965 isn't on the list. Maybe 945 is there because it can be had for cheap if buying used?
davidgoldstein2023 0.5I did a three day 26 mile backpacking trip on one charge. The watch is 3 years old. You’ll be fine. The best thing I once saw posted here about Apple vs Garmin. Apple Watches are extensions of your phone with health and fitness tracking as an afterthought. Garmin watches are designed to be health and fitness watches first and foremost with the phone connectivity as an add on.
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