Being involved in the fitness industry and being a personal trainer in NYC, I have always been fascinated with wearable devices. I’ve been in the industry for ten years and it has been quite amazing seeing the evolution of these devices. I’ve spent a few years bouncing around watches and experimenting with different brands. A few years ago, I found Garmin. I started with the Garmin Vivoactive line and loved all of its basic functions. Recently, I decided to upgrade to the Garmin Forerunner 945 LTE Smartwatch and let me tell you, I am blown away with all of the functions such a small device can hold.
I have been using the watch for over a month now and it definitely lives up to its high praise.
Garmin Forerunner 945 LTE Watch
Initial impression
One of the initial reasons I chose to go with Garmin is because it has a clean look. It doesn’t necessarily look like a clunky fitness tracker on your wrist. You can still wear them out to social functions and look stylish. I was glad that the Forerunner kept a minimalistic look, even with all of its added functions. It fits on my wrist nicely. It’s lightweight and compact, but you can still clearly see the screen and the customizable features that you decide to add to the home screen. Lastly, it doesn’t create any movement restrictions like other smart watches.
I was a little thrown off by the buttons on the side since my last watch was touchscreen. Although, I adapted to the buttons quickly and I can see how side buttons are more functional with a sports watch. Rain and sweat on the screen can make it hard to navigate. This is something I have experienced with old watches, so navigating the watch via buttons is a plus in the long run.
Upon taking the watch out of it’s pristine and easy-to-open packaging, the battery was over 90% charged. This means I was able to use the watch immediately.
It only took a few minutes to set up and connect to my phone. I have been addicted to all the fancy features, but I have to admit one of the simple things I love most about this watch is the battery life. I have had the watch for over a month and I have only needed to charge it a couple times. The battery can last for over two weeks if you set things up correctly.
Main features
The Garmin Forerunner 945 LTE watch is a very versatile watch that does everything I hoped for out of a fitness watch. It — of course — accurately tracks my steps, but it also does a great job at tracking my hikes, runs, bike rides, workouts in my gym, and even some detailed sleep metrics. The data obtained by this watch is staggering. It can be addicting to look at all the stats that the watch feeds to the app on your phone. I especially like the “body battery” metric because now I know what days I would be best served to take a recovery day.
I’m still sorting out all of the tracking metrics and widgets you can add to your watch from the app. It does seem endless and Garmin seems to be adding and improving their metrics. Although, some of the ones I especially like to see as a trainer include VO2 max, training status, training load, recovery time, and recovery status.
The ”body battery” is also helpful when training myself and clients. It combines your sleep quality with other possible stressful metrics throughout your day and can give you insight on how much you can be pushed during a workout session.
Great for Runners
The added LTE function makes this watch absolutely perfect for runners as well. You can leave your clunky phone at home during your run and still have the peace of mind that — in case of an emergency — you can reach out to a friend, family member, or even Garmin to let them know you need help and provide your location. Besides the safety feature of the LTE technology, you can also track your runs and performance metrics without the phone. You can even download hours of music on this watch and stay motivated on long runs. The watch has a large storage capacity, so you can stop using your phone as a music source.
Tracking Strength Training
I also like how you can track strength workouts. I don’t always have time to go on runs, but I do make sure I am consistent with my resistance training. The watch has the capability to track strength workouts. It can tell what exercise you are doing (squats, pushups, pullups, etc) and tell you what muscle groups you worked during the workout. This is quite impressive!
Final Thoughts
The Garmin Forerunner 945 LTE watch is everything I want in a smartwatch and more. It has impressive features that I now highly value in a fitness tracker, such as the detailed sleep data and the “body battery.” It is a highly regarded watch for serious runners. Although, t is also a fantastic watch for people that just love being active and — of course — for personal trainers such as myself.
The Garmin Forerunner 945 LTE watch is available in two colors (Whitestone and Black) on Adorama for $649.99.
