245 / Worth the money?

I wouldn't buy it... I have had the 245 since almost a year, and am experiencing more and more problems (heart rate inaccuracy, failing GPS, battery drain, ...). I have no idea if this is also the case with other Garmin devices, but if I had to buy a new sportwatch at this moment, I would consider the new Polar Grit X (or Ignite if you are looking for a cheaper device)

Hmmm. Not the answer i like to hear. Unfortunaltely on the Etrry-Segment, like VA4/Venu, it looks realy bad. GPS is not good, sleep detection is the worst on market and so on.

Polar isfor me, as a casual sportler ;), a lot to much. I like the mix between some Watchfaces and so on. I dont need a pure Smartwatch.

GPS works ok, but the HR readings are is faulty - but that is a problem with the position on the wrist, not the tech itself. Depends on what you need - but be aware Polar has the same problems or even worse, any wrist HR sensor is crap, it just moves too much. I use it together with Polar OH1 sensor when I need more precise HR reading, e g. for tempo runs. I wish someone would make a watch with a detachable sensor.

I am of the same influence as yourself with regards to wrist based optical hr technology. These days nearly any company can make a product that can produce excellent hr reading from the wrist, FOR RESTING HEART RATE. In other words the flaw is not in the product, but in the positioning of the product on the wrist. Mountain biking is perfect example. All the vibrations and movement at the wrist  put the readings off. 

And like yourself, I too use the Polar OH1+. As wearing that high up on the arm is better positioning to diminish vibration and movement issues. Also blood vessels are bigger up there than on top of wrist, also cold weather does not affect larger arteries as much.

Am very happy with 245 so far for what it's worth to me. And again, like you have stated,  Polar, Fitbit, ECT all have similar issues. It's all pretty much the same positives and negatives with any reputable brand out there. Even Apple .

And what you said about detachable sensor... I have often wondered why noone has invented a strap to connect to the regular watchband to extend it so you can wear it up on arm to take hr readings during workouts  

Resting heart rate is awful on my watch. Continuous spikes throughout the day. Happens a lot when sitting/lying that the measured heart rate randomly spikes to 90/100+ bpm, while it is in fact around 52. All my activities are tracked with the wahoo tickr hr strap.

GPS: fails when running/cycling in areas with slightly denser trees or buildings.

kbf said:

I wish someone would make a watch with a detachable sensor.

It's simply more practical to just turn the oHRM on or off at the user's discretion then it would be to take off or put on a detachable sensor.  I would also think the user would suffer from connection issues with a detachable sensor (water tight seal, debris, etc.) and it would surely raise cost to manufacture which the consumer would make up the difference.

Just got the 245 after tried the 6S and the 645. Love the 245. About the hr inaccuracy it is correct but if you look at all the threads from all forums it started at one point. The original watches did not have that. So if you look for the 245, it started at firmware 3.7. If you read the description, it is when garmin added respiration. The thing with the 6S is that you cannot downgrade back to 3.10. I think with the 945, you can go back. So i am running the latest sensor hub with firmware 3.10 and the ohr is as good as a chest strap. an i am anal about hr. Garmin had a sale for the 245 and at $245 i think it is a great buy. So if anybody has issues with ohr, get a beta file and downgrade back. 

Pierrotsc said:

If you read the description, it is when garmin added respiration.

This coincides when the issues with the F6 and 245 started, but the 945 didn't get the respiration feature until FW 3.77.  I may be mistaken, but I thought there were post about this this prior to that update.  Do you know for certain?  The FW went from 3.30 to 3.77, so there may have been some betas in between that added the feature and that's when the post started coming in. 

Yes, when i am looking at the firmware history, indeed respiration came with 3.77. let me go through the posts to see when users started to report the problem you also have to remove the posts where users do not wear the watch correctly and complain about it. it is ohr after all. I just know that i had a 6S with 3.10 and it was working fine. i did not have respiration at that point. then i made the mistake to update and it went down hill. if indeed the issue with the 945 came before 3.77, then my assumptions are wrong. i just did indoor biking yesterday with chest strap to the computer and i would press the button to show ohr and it was one beat difference.

I'm thinking you may be on to something. It's the same sensor and I can see Garmin taking away something from HR to make respiration work. Sacrifice one with the hopes it isn't that noticeable to add another selling feature.