245 screen and gps issues

I don’t doubt it will happen again. This will be my last post in here and will be unsubscribing. I went with the Garmin 245 to test out the Garmin ecosystem prior to investing in a more expensive watch  all my friends with older Garmins like them BUT those we much older units. These new watches have build quality issues, screen issues and horrible (IMO) GPS so far. 

I never had these issues with my previous Suunto’s and they we far more accurate from a distance and pace stand point. Their ecosystem wasn’t as robust but had many more sport choices. I only run so that’s not a big deal to me. 

I sent my 245 in for a refund. I purchased the Coros Apex just to see what all the hype was in the Ultra running community. I’ve had it for awhile now so I feel my impression of it is honest. Battery life - absolutely crazy...I sometimes forget when I last charged it. On a 5-6 mile run it will drop maybe 1-2%. GPS has been pretty stellar. My tracks are on par with Suunto’s having me running on the road or trail and even on the right spots on the road. It’s constantly being updates with new features and they always work. Never causing any issues. The app - isn’t anywhere near garmins or even Suunto’s but it does provide me with all the metrics I need. It doesn’t support stryd yet but they say it will and I believe them as they have held true to all their prior promises. Build quality - best built GPS watch I’ve owned period while at the price of the 245. There are higher end offerings from them as well, Apex pro and vertix but I feel they are over priced for the features on them. Maybe not the Apex pro but the vertix is overpriced for sure unless your’re a mountaineer.

I’m not saying go buy a Coros BUT I am saying don’t be pigeonholed into a watch based on brand. There are other good options out there with companies that are tried and true. Polar/Suunto and a new company making waves and being supported by many elite athletes and reviewers (Coros). I hope this helps some of you make a decision on what to do. Happy running out there all!

Hi, I have the same issue, I have contacted the Garmin partner in my country to have mine replaced, we are working out the details, but I would like to ask if you guys at Garmin have identified what causes this problem so maybe we as users can avoid it, because I would hate to have my watch out of warranty having this issue again. I see on these forums that it is a common thing on your latest generation of watches and some people are saying that it may be related to moisture, which is a very bad thing given that you are supposed to be able to swim with these watches.

My white circle is almost identical to the one in the original post. I ran a half marathon, stretched, checked my data and everything was fine... walked to my car, looked at the time and there it was the white circle. I have never showered with the watch, never swam with it... I have no idea what could have caused this and I think we deserve an explanation, not just a replacement, otherwise I think you'll be losing clients in the long run, because I for one don't like my purchasing experience feeling like a gamble, and buying another Garmin watch at this stage would certainly feel that way.

Garmin at its best. This screen problem has a lot to say. after garmin sent me a new device due to the loss of pixels on the watch display during a trail run I had a slight drop and besides the outside scratched guess what got in trouble? the screen, of course, more dead pixels. I sent the watch back for warranty and said I even understood the exterior was scratched but the screen no, it is not acceptable for a 350 euro watch in a slight drop to be damaged and garmin's answer is that they have no responsibility for that and that the repair 170 euros. i'm a garmin customer, i have forerunner 235 and i upgraded to forerunner 245, but after the response from garmin assistance i sent them for a walk, said it was not to be repaired and then i went to buy the polar vantage m. I can't tolerate playing with my face and my money. It won't make much difference but they lost a customer and I'm going to the complaint portal here in Portugal to expose this situation

Sounds to me like Garmin has been doing a great job of dealing with this issue and replacing peoples watches that have legitimate warranty claims.  Claiming it is their fault that you damaged your device in a fall is really reaching.  Seems reasonable that they offered to replace it at a reduced cost, given it was in no way their fault. Chances are your Polar would have had a similar outcome in the same fall.

My 245 has been working great and still looks new despite using it in some pretty extreme environments.

Well, keep that in mind when it happens to you.This is a sport watch, not a phone. i know a fall in running, especially in trail running is usual, so is expected the watch be a little bit solid, not like this. 

Same problem here on a Forerunner 245 Music. Looks like there is a serious reliability issue with the screen of these.

I hope you dont have any scratch because if you have garmin run away from his responsabilities . The first time they replace the watch, second time because i have a fall in trail running anf the watch have some scratches they want 170 euros to repair. Rip garmin 245, bad quality of screen ,i dont recomend this watch

Mine doesn't have any visible scratches. But as you said, this is a sport watch, so Garmin blaming users for scratching it and asking 170 euros for a repair while this is definitely a design/QC issue is nuts.

This is an issue that found in a lot of recent Garmin watches, in my country Garmin expect us to make a claim and wait a month for replacement to arrive and then once your watch is out of warranty you'll need to pay for the watch DEFECT. Bye, this will be my last Garmin. 

Same issue here. So sad