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How has everyone's experience with the FR 245 GPS been so far?

245user
over 4 years ago

Just wondering if people are happy with the GPS accuracy of their 245/245M compared to previous Garmin devices (especially since the new watches apparently have the new, less accurate Sony GPS chipset). I've changed the settings on my 245M to GPS+GLONASS and every-second recording (and I of course wait for GPS lock and then a little bit more), which seems to have improved my activity tracks, but I still feel like they aren't *as* good as other people's tracks who are running with a 235, 935, or other previous-generation Garmin device. Also, the 245 is definitely not as accurate as using my phone for tracking had been, which is disappointing.

For instance, do your 245 tracks stray to the other side of the road even though you're running on the sidewalk on the opposite side (even for wider roads)? Especially when I zoom in a bit, I notice a lot of this happening. I see less of this from people with older generations – don't have anyone with a new watch to compare it with. Not sure if it's just me with a 245/245M, or if this is typical.

Have you noticed a shift in your activity tracks from previous generations?

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to jeilders

    Bump to see how everybody else’s luck has been. I just got back from vacation so I will continue to put the watch through the ringer again as I train for my next ultra. 

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to RunFar

    What was your experience with GPS+GLONASS vs. GPS only? I'm still exclusively using GPS+GLONASS. Accuracy typically isn't as good as it used to be with my phone (especially if there are 3 or 4-story buildings next to the sidewalk), but overall it's not bad. I do wonder if GPS+GALILEO will be the preferred setting at some point in the (near) future.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to RunFar

    Sold my FR935 and tried the Vantage V, now onto the FR245 (without Music.)   The screen is great.  GPS is comparable to my FR935 (I run the same routes, so I know if things are amiss.)

    Typical Garmin interface, which for me is easy to use (compared to Suunto, or Polar.)

    I don't miss the barometer, I thought I would but don't.

    Body Battery is gimmicky, you know if you're tired.

    OHR isn't a big upgrade from the 935, and is still lagy when running intervals

    Watch randomly resets its self, but it hasn't happened during a run yet, so I'm not mad about that

    Battery life for me is 3 days with an hour of running/day and Pulse Ox is on

    Pulse Ox has lower values that what I expected 86% to 94%, and when I sleep at times there will be an hour of missing heart rate data, which I never had with the FR935, but I'm assuming it's on the software fix list.  My watch isn't loose when I sleep, so I can't see it being a positioning thing.

    But, back to the GPS, I use GPS + Glonass, and so far the I trust the tracks.  I still think about the Polar Vantage, since I like the the look of Polar flow vs. Connect, but the FR245 is the cheaper better way for me.

    Regards,

    Chris,

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago in reply to jmio316
    jmio316 said:
    Body Battery is gimmicky, you know if you're tired.

    I agree 100%.  I've had my 945 since May 2nd. I'm a light sleeper and normally the Body Battery gives me a charge of 60 after a decent night's sleep.  The other night I had bad heartburn and tossed and turned all night long.  I got maybe a little more than 4 hours sleep and felt like 10 lbs of sh*t stuffed in a 5 lb bag in the morning. Battery Body gave me a charge of 78.  

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I’ve very happy with it. Superior to my 235. Have being using Glonass and it’s been fine. Did a certified 10K and got a 10K beeb about 70m from the finish line. Good enough for me. 

    Tried Galileo the other day and was blown away by how well the tracks were. Then tried it again two days ago and had to wait much longer for a lock compared to Glonass and tracks were awful! 

    DC rainmaker said in his review he’s been using Galileo in his 935 and has been very impressed. 

    Keep in mind it’s still early days and in the first 12-18 months many updates get released.  

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I came from a 630, 620, 220 and 410. The 245m is superior in every way. I am about a month in and am still learning to navigate it.

    I don't typically run with music but the ease in which I've been able to pair headphones to it (TBI Pro and Letscom) and download files to it from my laptop has been practically flawless.

    I ran 2 hours and 16 minutes yesterday with the music on. I began the run with a 100% battery and ended it at 57%. With its current configuration, typically, it uses about 10% battery for runs of 60 - 70 minutes without music, although one day a 60 minute run used only 6%. It used 20% battery for a 60 minute run with music on, so I would surmise that running with music doubles the battery drain. It uses about 4% battery overnight. I do not wear it while sleeping and do not have any of the overnight metrics enabled. It uses about 4 - 10% battery during my workday.  I have the heart rate monitor enabled and broadcasting and notifications enabled. I find that the battery drain is closer to 4% when I dismiss notifications from the watch or don't read them, and closer to 10% when I read and delete texts and emails from it.

    I am using GPS/GLONASS and every second recording however, I do not review its tracks.

    There is so much more to this watch than previous iterations that I may not ever learn it all, but I am okay with that. I loved my 620 but loathed my 630. I feel with the 245m, I'll be in love again. <3

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to RICK_262

    If you review the tracks (and zoom in a bit), I think you might see some pretty significant aberrations – especially if you live in a somewhat more dense neighborhood (not necessarily skyscrapers even, but some 3/4-story buildings and tree cover).

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    First time Garmin owner here.

    Tracking is on point, but I do find it strange that according to my watch I stop running a least a couple of seconds every km (moving time vs total time).

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    This is my first Garmin, coming from TomTom. On the software side, aside from an issue that will be fixed in the next release, everything is better than TomTom:
    - The app is really great, well designed, runs fast and reliable, lots and lots of information
    - bluetooth connectivity is reliable (as it should be, on TomTom watches it is truly dreadfull: their support page simply suggests to do a factory reset if you cannot connect via bluetooth)
    - software on the watch itsself it also great, could use a couple of usability tweaks here and there, but overall intuitive enough. You do really notice that sportwatches was only a temporary thing for TomTom, and that garmin has been doing this for a longer time: everything really makes sense, and feels like the result of many iterations of listening to user feedback.

    On physical side, love the design and comfort. You really do forget you're wearing it. Impressive.

    The screen is awesome outdoors, but hard to read inside in dim rooms. But i'll get used to that ... On the plus side of this, the battery life seems great.

    I've only tracked walks and bicycle rides, my main sport is swimming. I'll give that a try this week.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to Maurice

    How do you define "on point"? Do your tracks stray to the other side of the road even though you're running on the sidewalk on the opposite side, for instance? Especially when I zoom in a bit, I notice a lot of this happening. Not sure if it's just me, or if this is typical.