The Garmin Forerunner 645 Music is a much-loved exercise tracker and fitness watch that continues to turn heads for all the right reasons. Garmin has since moved into outdoor watches and GPS-centric options such as the Instinct and the Fenix, however, anyone looking for a simple, effective Bluetooth ready watch really cannot do any harm investing in the Forerunner 645.
Famous for being extremely easy to use, and for being the music lover’s GPS watch of choice, the Forerunner 645 is a modern device with a hint of retro about it, offering you plenty of stats on how to monitor your health and exercise levels on route. For those runners looking for something a bit less complex than the mainstream, this appears to be a solid choice.
More About The Garmin Forerunner 645 Music
The Garmin Forerunner 645 Music is, as it suggests in the name, an entertainment device tour de force. While the main appeal clearly lies in the fact that you can download songs directly to the unit, you can also connect it up to streaming. We’d expect nothing less in the modern age – but if you prefer something that gives you the best of both worlds, this might just tick the right boxes.
Boasting a solid battery and even the ability for you to pay at contactless terminals with your watch, this is an entry-level exercise monitor that I really think you’ll love. Let’s break down a few of the essential statistics and see how things look.
Specifications and Essential Facts
- Manufacturer: Garmin
- Weight: 42.2g
- Dimensions: 42.5cm x 42.5cm x 13.5mm
- Added Features: GarminPay, stainless steel build, time sync, heart monitor, app connectivity, stopwatch, sunrise and sunset, alarm, 200 hours activity memory, Bluetooth, 500 songs storage space
What are the Best Features / Main Selling Points of the Garmin Forerunner 645 Music?
Of course, the first point to mention the Forerunner 645 Music is the fact that it’s an entertainment watch as well as a running tracker. This means you can easily download 500 of your favorite songs to the device and listen to them all via Bluetooth. What’s more, if you want to go online and listen to Spotify or Deezer, you can connect and listen to streaming favorites offline, too.
The heart rate and stress tracking features here are brilliant – while the Forerunner 645 really does look simple on the outside, it boasts a series of great features that really could help you to keep healthy.
The GPS is nice and tight, and while there are Garmin devices that make use of more satellites and more precise positioning, you can always keep track of where you are and where you’ve come from, here.
You can connect the watch up to your phone or tablet with Garmin Connect, allowing you to see statistics such as hydration, sleep health and more. There are even some women’s health features that you can use to help track cycles.
The main dial and screen itself is refreshingly simple and pleasing to look at, providing a choice of interchangeable screens which should help to keep things interesting. Much of the action takes place actually on the display, meaning that unlikely some other Garmin watches, there are no outer buttons or toggles which are likely to get fiddly or snagged at any point.
It’s nice and easy to connect to Bluetooth, and even better is the fact that you can use your watch to pay for groceries and store purchases with GarminPay. Contactless payments are the way forward in a post-COVID world, and the 645 really understands this.
There are other variations on the 645 Music available which aren’t nearly as feature rich or as focused on entertainment – they’re worth looking at too, but the basic Forerunner 645 is only half as interesting.
What are the Benefits of Using the Garmin Forerunner 645 Music?
The Forerunner 645 Music is absolutely brilliant for keeping you entertained while running. There’s no need for you to have to keep pulling out a smartphone to change the song every few seconds. Simply connect up your Bluetooth headphones of choice and away you go.
The heart rate and stress monitoring features are great – there’s a lot of useful data you can pull together through the Garmin Connect app, meaning that if you are trying to make a healthy break for yourself, this might just be a worthy ally to have by your side.
I also like the GPS – it might not be the most extensive or the most precise, but what it does offer is accurate running data that you can use to monitor your progress on a personal health level. There are other Garmin watches out there that go a little more in-depth on this side of things, so if more data and more advanced tech is up your alley, its’s worth checking out the wider lines.
I would likely recommend the Garmin Forerunner 645 Music as a solid entry-level smartwatch and GPS monitor if you’ve never experienced this kind of technology before. It’s very intuitive, there are no nuisance buttons on the outer rim, and the display is big enough and clear enough to tell you what you want to know with ease.
Does the Garmin Forerunner 645 Music Have Any Drawbacks?
There are only a handful of issues that some users report with regard to the Garmin Forerunner 645 Music, but they are absolutely worth listening to.
The 645 Music doesn’t exactly have the best reputation as far as battery life is concerned. Its battery will likely run out of juice altogether by the time you’ve had the watch for a year, and that’s with limited use over time. If you’re using it intensively, you’re likely going to find you need to replace the battery within a few months. That’s not a great track record.
Generally, I’d advise you probably look for a more exercise-intensive watch – such as the Garmin Instinct – if you really want an exercise and GPS tracker that’s going to weather the years to come. These alternative devices will also likely be your best options if, for example, you are going to head out on very long runs or hikes on a regular basis.
That said, the Forerunner 645 Music should offer more than enough appeal to people who simply want to go ahead and listen to music on runs occasionally.
Conclusion – Should I Buy The Garmin Forerunner 645 Music?
You should absolutely invest in the Garmin Forerunner 645 Music if listening to your favorite songs while running is an absolute must!
This is a well-loved device that’s user-friendly, simple to get used to, and is highly unlikely to bamboozle you on route. It’s very, very easy to follow, and while it may not be the most feature rich or most intensive choice on the market, it still has a lot of charm, style and personality.
I’d also suggest you take a look at the Garmin Forerunner 645 basic, which doesn’t have the music benefits of this model, but which still offers a fantastic array of entry-level features for novice GPS watch users to acclimatize to. Give it a go and see how you get on!
