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GPS Navigation Features of Garmin 745

carstenM
over 4 years ago

Hi everyone, this is my first post on here. Apologies in advance for the very noob questions, I'm looking to purchase my first Garmin after spending the last few years running with an Apple Watch. I'm a fairly casual runner and average around 50-60km a week. I really have no understanding of the GPS capability of Garmin's, beyond what I've read at a surface level on product pages and through some videos. I was hoping you could let me know if the Garmin 745 has some of these GPS features, or whether I need to look at the 945?

  1. I travel quite a lot for work (or at least used to!) and it would be great to use the watch to simply find popular routes near me, then run a selected route with turn-by-turn navigation as I'm running. This would be much better than having to memorise new routes with my Apple Watch! From reviewing the Garmin products, it seems like this might only be available on the 945? If so, what's the benefit of creating routes on the 745 if you can't follow them when out running?
  2. I've read a bit about uploading GPX routes. Is this common practice, our would most people simply create their routes/courses in the Garmin Connect app? What would be a scenario where you don't create a route on the Garmin Connect app? Or is GPX uploads less common now based on this article?
  3. Is creating courses on the Garmin Connect app similar to creating on connect.garmin.com, per this video (starting at 3:25). I like the idea of creating a course based on seeing how popular routes and trails are.

Thanks so much and sorry again for the basic questions. I just want to make sure I pick up the right watch as this will be a decent-sized investment for me. Slight smile

  • +1 over 4 years ago

    1. The difference between a 945 and a 745 is that on the 945 you can create a route directly on the watch (given that your watch contains maps for your current region), and the 745 can guide you on a route, but this route has to be created externally (for example in the Garmin Connect mobile app) beforehand.

    2. I use GPX routes sometimes, but almost exclusively when I want to use a route provided by someone else. When I create my own routes, I do it in Garmin Connect.

    3. It is similar, functionality wise, although I find it more comfortable to use the Garmin Connect website, and I resort to the mobile app only when I have no access to a computer.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to tmk2

    Thanks a lot! Is another difference that when you're following a route on the 745, it doesn't show as an actual map, similar to Google Maps? Is it just arrows that tell you when to turn? How does that route guidance work alongside showing your data such as pace, heart rate, distance, time etc?

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to carstenM

    The watch displays data fields of your choice, and when navigating a course, it will show navigation prompts (a small arrow and a distance to an upcomming turn). You can change the display to a so called "Map", which is not a map per se, but rather a line showing the course with your position superimposed on it.