Garmin Forerunner 645: You don't need half of it
25.10.2018
Translation: machine translated
A heart rate monitor is standard equipment for competitive athletes. Can a normal smartwatch keep up? The test shows: Yes, but the Garmin Forerunner 645 has x too many features.
As a biathlete at competitive level, the heart rate monitor has become indispensable. No matter what happens, the sports watch is worn during every training session. Because I follow a strict training plan. Strength training twice a week, at least one training session at the limit and 10-12 hours of endurance training. The training intensity is determined by my heart rate.
The quality and accuracy of my sports watch is crucial so that I can obtain exact values and train optimally. From one day to the next, my old sports watch either provides incorrect data or no data at all. I need a new one because my coach insists that every one of his athletes wears a sports watch with a tracking function. If I turn up for training without a suitable watch, I'll be in trouble. So I have to get a new heart rate monitor as soon as possible.
Source: Marketa Sommer
I can't say exactly how I came across the Garmin Forerunner 645. Okay, to be honest, I was on the digitec website, saw the trailer for the Forerunner 645 and thought: "Awesome, I want that".
A small leap for a small watch
When I unpacked the watch and held it in my hand for the first time, I was so pleasantly surprised that I had to jump for joy. Because in the pictures on the internet, the watch looks bulky, large and heavy. But the plastic and stainless steel case has a diameter of 42 mm, which means it doesn't protrude over my wrist when I wear it, giving it a rather delicate look. The weight of 42.2 grams is also barely noticeable.
The watch is completed by the silicone strap, which you can order in black, grey or, like me, purple-pink. The Forerunner 645 has five buttons, two on the right and three on the left. The heart rate monitor and charging port are built into the back of the watch.
These connectors have the advantage that the watch is water-resistant up to 5ATM, i.e. approximately 50 metres, and no dust or dirt sticks to it. What bothers me, however, is that you need a special cable to charge the watch. If I forget my charging cable at training camp, I'm screwed. This is because the Forerunner 645 is not compatible with a micro USB cable like most other sports watches.
What also bothers me is that I had to buy an additional heart rate monitor. The heart rate monitor on the back of the watch provides good values when at rest, but during training the heart rate values don't match the actual heart rate at all. That's why I think a heart rate monitor should come with a sports watch and not have to be bought separately.
What is actually "smart"?
I still can't tell you what the exact function of a smartwatch is, i.e. what makes a smartwatch smart. No matter. But I'm pretty sure that connecting the smartwatch to your smartphone is a smart capability or even what makes it smart.
To be honest, I never knew what I meant by "smart" when it came to technology. Well, in English it means smart. But what should a smart watch be able to do? Of course I did some research on the internet. Every manufacturer has something to say on the topic, but they only agree on a few points. And Wikipedia is full of technical terms. Well, I'll draw my own conclusions from this smart thing.
Source: Vivienne Sommer
For this function, you can download the Garmin Connect app (Android and Apple iOS) and connect the Forerunner 645 to your device via Bluetooth. In the app, you can see your activities, achievements, training diary and much more at a glance. With your consent, you can see messages, incoming phone calls and appointments entered in your calendar directly on your smartwatch. Also installed via the app, you can activate Garmin Pay on your watch and pay wirelessly.
Of course, there are even more functions of this kind, such as a torch, compass, timer, alarm clock, stopwatch, sleep mode and weather data. I believe that Garmin awards the title "smart" when the watch simply seems to be able to do everything.
My personal highlight, however, is the music function. By connecting the headphones to the smartwatch via Bluetooth, you can listen to music during your workout without needing your mobile or any other external connection.
However, there is one small inconvenience here. You can't load the music directly onto the watch. First you have to save your songs on a PC, connect the watch to the PC and transfer the music to the watch from there. I found it a bit of a pain, but it was worth the effort. Towards the end of the test phase, however, Garmin integrated Spotify via a software update.
Where is my biathlon?
I'm sure you're not just interested in the smart side of the Forerunner 645, otherwise you'd be in the electronics shop buying an Apple Watch instead of reading my awesome article. Because the Forerunner 645 has a lot to offer as a sports watch.
Before you start training, tell the watch what sport you want to do. The Forerunner 645 has a large selection of sport profiles, and you can download others if required. The watch has already programmed cross-country skiing, but where can I find the best sport of all time? A little tip: that would be biathlon, a combination of cross-country skiing and shooting. Garmin, in the next update I hope for a biathlon profile, if you already have yoga and stair climbing as profiles.
Source: Vivienne Sommer
Surely you couldn't tell from my text exactly what a sport profile is or can do. Let's take a quick look at the jogging profile. This measures the following values during the race:
- Cadence
- Vertical movement
- Ground contact time
- Balance of the ground contact time
- Step length
- Vertical ratio
With this data, the Forerunner 645 allows you to precisely analyse and improve your running technique. In addition to this information, you can also customise the display panels during training. I think that's great, but it's quite confusing if you have a setting for everything. Before I could start my interval training, I first had to do some research on the Internet to find the function with the corresponding settings. But with a little practice, I'll be able to start my training next time without the internet.
Source: Dominik Bärlocher
I have had great experiences with the sports watch during swimming training. Although it can't measure my heart rate under water, it counts the laps swum including distance. All I had to do was enter the length of the pool. After swimming training, I also took the Forerunner 645 on a short diving trip to a depth of six metres. It's reassuring to have a watch that can do that.
After training, you also receive recorded data such as duration, distance, altitude metres, altitude profile, calories burned, average heart rate, maximum heart rate, training duration in the various areas, your GPS-recorded route, training effect, aerobic and anaerobic effect and much more.
In addition to this training data, the sports watch also measures your daily calorie consumption, floors climbed, number of steps taken, your stress level and your training status. As an athlete, this kind of data is important additional information for me.
My conclusion: the Forerunner 645 is a good, fully functional sports watch that is completely customisable. However, I would only recommend it to people who exercise regularly. Because the Forerunner 645 can do a lot, but for some it can do too much.
By the way, my coach didn't get angry when he saw me wearing the pink wristband. Lucky for me. <p
Shooting and cross-country skiing are my world. I am a biathlete abroad in Canada and write about this experience.<br> <a href="http://viviennesommer.ch/w_biathlon/site/s_0.asp?GID=113&RID=274&AID=1352" target="_blank">viviennesommer.ch</a>
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