Garmin Forerunner 245

I've had my Garmin for about a year now, and I wanted to wait to write a review until now. It has been a solid watch. I mostly run, and that's been the primary use of the watch, along with just everyday wear. I have it linked to the garmin app which is also linked to the My Fitness app where I track food. I have always found the GPS to be very accurate, and it has been very durable. The battery still holds a good charge (DO NOT OVERCHARGE YOUR BATTERY) and I've had no issues with it!

This is the first different Garmin watch I’ve gotten in the last 15 years and I loved it! Since it’s a smart watch, I wear it all the time rather than swapping with a different watch. Does the job accidentally with all sorts of new bells and whistles. Very quick to charge to full Strength. Highly recommend.

Upgraded from FR 225 after several years. Much smaller design allows you to use all day long without the bulk. All the necessary functions and more without the additional cost of useless options on other models. The band size has also been reduced making the wear comfort worth it. I normally do not wear a watch at night, but since this purchase and the design that comes along with it, you don't notice it at all. I originally purchased this for the music option. At 50 I was told to get rid of the mp3 player and wired headphones that I have used for years. Well worth it, paired with OpenRun Pro headphones and have had no issues. I did notice the "down" button is kind of mushy when depressed, but does not impact the function, just feels odd in comparison to the others. Well worth the purchase and very happy.

With over 2 years of virtually continuous use, here is my experience:

The hardware is outstanding, no discernible degradation of battery life, the crystal lens is made out of kryptonite with zero scratches. The VO2 max reading read exactly the same as a medical one. The heartbeat is somewhat accurate, I had to wear the band rather tight for better accuracy. Charging connection is now touchy making it irritating when you put it in and the watch is dead.

Software:
Running programming is easy and very useful. One can easily run trails, road or track and incorporate interval training. It can’t discern if your running on sand, mud and give negative feedback on your performance, VO2max etc. one time I ran a 5k, did my best time in over 10 years at 63 years old 25 min something and it gave me right on the watch, in capital letters “FAIL” right after the run, WAT! No indication on why I failed or what it was using for that feedback.
Another time I ran a Parkrun 5K, under 25 minutes at 64, and it never recorded it as my PB plus continued to predict my 5K to be over 28 min, with mileage of 3.12miles. Still it is a useful running tool with some issues for me.

Gym wise the watch is virtually useless. It cannot discern accurately the number of reps. Cumbersome interface to correct values. I set a workout on the various machines and I cannot change the order during the workout. When the gym is busy, I cannot just kick off folks for a given machine. It should be easy to allow which machine next on a given workout. Otherwise the data is worthless to keep. Doing it manually is too time consuming and cumbersome.

I can no longer continuously wear the watch, after two years both wrist are now very sensitive to the band and will blister. I now just wear it for workouts. The left wrist even when not wearing the watch hurts when something touches it. I will give it time to heal from the watch. Just an issue with me.

For the price the watch is good value and can be rather good or not in what you use it for.

As advertised.