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Which one to buy? Forerunner 245, 645 or 935

Former Member
Former Member over 4 years ago

Hi there,

I'm about to buy my first sports watch and trying to decide between the FR 245, 645 and the 935. The 645 and 935 have more or less the same price point, but the 245 would be roughly 80€ cheaper. 

I would use the watch mainly for running (kind of a new runner) and for hiking/skiing. Due to the barometer function, I'm therefore leaning towards the 645 or 935, but cannot decide between the both of them. The 645 is a little bit newer than the 935, while the 935 has more functions. 

Any recommendations?

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    The 245 does not seem to offer a skiing profile. You could copy another activity and rename it, or use a third party app, though you may miss out on some things. See, e.g., www.reddit.com/.../

    The barometer is a nice feature for the mountains. You gain an elevation profile for course navigation (if you've bothered to preload a course onto the watch) that is absent on the 245. It also enables you to use the Running Power Connect IQ apps for running power without a foot pod (though an appropriate accessory is still required, i.e., the HRM-Run or HRM-Tri chest strap or RD-Pod).

    The 935 is more or less a plastic Fenix 5 and will give you more outdoor features, like storm alerts (based on changes in barometric pressure) and additional navigation features. It is the only multisport/triathlon watch out of the bunch, meaning it can record multiple activities as one structured activity, e.g., swim/bike/run or bike/run/bike. It is also the only one to support cycling power meters.

    The 935 and 645 offer lactate threshold heart rate (LTHR) detection as well as a LTHR guided test, which I find useful for determining appropriate heart rate zones, though it may be overkill for a new runner.

    Only the 645 has Garmin Pay.

    The 245 is the newest and should have a more responsive interface. It has continued to receive updates in the recent past, gaining features that the others haven't, such as PacePro. The 645 and 935 may get bug fixes but will almost certainly not be receiving new features, as has been confirmed by DC Rainmaker.

    The 245 and 645 are 42mm, while the 935 is 47mm (albeit with the same screen size). The 245 and 935 have a plastic bezel, while the 645 has a metal bezel.

    There's a third-party comparison chart here: https://garminforerunner.com/garmin-forerunner-comparison-chart/

    You may also want to look at Garmin's own product pages (these are the US pages because that's where I live):

    245 and 245 Music

    645 and 645 Music

    935 (no music option)

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to seilogramp

    Ah, that's the comparison page I was looking for. I'll note that neither chart is perfectly accurate. The 645 received Incident Detection, for instance. It also has the HRV Stress Test. It does not, however, have the hydration widget.

    I chose the 645 over the 935, and if the 935 really doesn't have text response, that alone justifies my decision - I use that all the time. Also, Garmin Pay saved me from having to hop a turnstile once.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Hi, I have had the 645M for 2 years and now I have moved on to the 945 from desperation. Of 645M I have broken 2, if you read in the forum the case breaks and it is not said that the assistance will replace it with another refurbished one, to me once but to this I only added a TPU cover from amazon at the cost of 7 euros, since the rest works well, the risk is that they will give you a worse one, after a year my strap loop broke but you have to change everything because you can't find the single piece, a watch that doesn't worth what it costs and not suitable to be worn 24 hours a day and to do various sports. The 945 is something else entirely, if you don't use music I recommend the 935.