Garmin totally baby-beared it with this running watch with music. For the runner who wants both beats and performance metrics on watch without dropping $500 or more—the Forerunner 245 is juuuuuuust right.
As a more affordable option, the Forerunner 245 only stores up to 500 songs, which for many runners is more than plenty. Just download your must-have workout tunes from your Spotify, Deezer, or Amazon account and go.
Additionally, at $300 less than the fēnix 6 Pro, you still get a nice chunk of running metrics with the 245, including VO2 Max, Race Predictor, PacePro, Recovery Advisor, Training Status, and Training Load. And for health, factor in wrist-based heart rate, Body Battery energy monitor, Pulse Ox, and advanced sleep monitoring.
You won't get as many activity profiles as with the fēnix 6 Pro or the Forerunner 945 (e.g., skiing, stand up paddleboarding, golfing, etc.), but you will get a rich mix of running, cycling, swimming, and gym workout profiles.
While you will have multi-GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo satellite imagery access) for advanced tracking, and a compass and accelerometer, you won't have the barometric altimeter for elevation metrics. Even though it is not preloaded with all the maps that come with the fēnix 6 Pro and 945, the 245 still offers some highly useful navigation tools like point-to-point and back to start.
At this price range, this Garmin Forerunner does not have the compatibility to integrate power meters or third-party platforms like Strava.
Battery life, while not as robust as the fēnix 6 Pro, is still impressive for a mid-range sport watch: Up to 7 days in smartwatch, 6 hours in GPS+music, and 24 hours in GPS without music.
While this running watch is not for serious marathon and triathlon training, it's definitely got the music and sport features to motivate serious daily pavement pounders, trail runners, and workout hounds!