Garmin Forerunner 645 Music €228

seandalaiocht

Just ordered the Garmin Forerunner 645 Music watch from Chainreactioncycles.com. List price is €237.99 but used discount code "EMAIL2021" for an additional €10 off.

It's an older model but you get a lot of watch for the price.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/garmin-forerunner-645-music/rp-prod171154

Explosive_Cornflake

It's a great watch, I have one around ~18 months now.
It does Garmin pay also which can be handy

Stillnotworking

seandalaiocht wrote: »

Just ordered the Garmin Forerunner 645 Music watch from Chainreactioncycles.com. List price is €237.99 but used discount code "EMAIL2021" for an additional €10 off.

It's an older model but you get a lot of watch for the price.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/garmin-forerunner-645-music/rp-prod171154

Thnaks for that, is it that the 645 music is an old model of garmin watch or this particular watch? Trying to toss up between 245 music and 645 music. Thanks

rizzee

Stillnotworking wrote: »

Thnaks for that, is it that the 645 music is an old model of garmin watch or this particular watch? Trying to toss up between 245 music and 645 music. Thanks

I've had both. The 645M is a generation older than the 245M and has the older style clip charger compared to the 245s double sided plug. Pros for 645M over the 245 would be Garmin Pay, a feature I didn't use myself as I have NFC payments on phone but handy to have if you left phone at home on a run.

Roberto_gas

The tottum card deals from UK were savage last year with flat 40% off on all watches ! Sad we can no longer use ParcelMotels or ParcelWizards !

seandalaiocht

Stillnotworking wrote: »

Thnaks for that, is it that the 645 music is an old model of garmin watch or this particular watch? Trying to toss up between 245 music and 645 music. Thanks

I was in the exact same position. From reading comparisons online there seem to be a few extra sensors on the 645 vs the 245 and I (personally) think it looks a little better. It is missing a new pacing mode that the 245 has and a 'body battery' feature but generally they are pretty similar. I couldn't find the 245 cheaper than 300 so at this price the 645 made sense to me.

Reg'stoy

Have the watch myself and I've used Garmin pay twice where I have forgotten my wallet and to buy coffee's after a parkrun. It will also record the number of floors climbed, which I believe the 245 doesn't.

So the pro's for me, would be Garmin pay and that it doesn't look like a sports watch per say. Con's, well actually only a single con, would be that considering it's an older watch it won't be getting newer features, that more current watches might get.

Stillnotworking

Thanks for helping me make up my mind, its ordered now.

benji79

I got the 645 music at Christmas, it’s been brilliant

gabbo is coming

benji79 wrote: »

I got the 645 music at Christmas, it’s been brilliant

Great watch. Need spotify premium for podcast running

the_one_&_only

Can you use it with Garmin Golf? I've read conflicting articles

Peckham

Really tempted by this!

Just checking what experience is like with bluetooth headphone connectivity? Some reviews suggest that it drops frequently.

Also, you don't need to transfer music files by PC, correct? Just need a Spotify premium account and you're good to go, right?

Unknownability

Peckham wrote: »

Really tempted by this!

Just checking what experience is like with bluetooth headphone connectivity? Some reviews suggest that it drops frequently.

Also, you don't need to transfer music files by PC, correct? Just need a Spotify premium account and you're good to go, right?

I'd this watch before and would reckon the connectivity was perfect 98% of the time.

Correct you can load music to the watch without a PC, you just connect the watch to a WiFi network.

gabbo is coming

Peckham wrote: »

Really tempted by this!

Just checking what experience is like with bluetooth headphone connectivity? Some reviews suggest that it drops frequently.

Also, you don't need to transfer music files by PC, correct? Just need a Spotify premium account and you're good to go, right?

Never a bluetooth problem

But absolutely need spotify premium

Doesn't work with anything else, the garmin native app is ****

Peckham

Thanks. I have Spotify Premium, so all set on that front

Vinnie222

Peckham wrote: »

Really tempted by this!

Just checking what experience is like with bluetooth headphone connectivity? Some reviews suggest that it drops frequently.

Also, you don't need to transfer music files by PC, correct? Just need a Spotify premium account and you're good to go, right?

Have the 645 over a year now and no issues with Bluetooth headphone connectivity. You just need Spotify premium. Great watch for that price

overthebridge

I have this watch for over a year and you don't necessarily need Spotify Premium to listen to music.
I've been using it like an MP3 player by dragging and dropping music files from my laptop onto the watch. Works a treat every time.

mint man

I have this for over a year and a half , very happy with it ,i find bluetoooth perfect bar with cheaper Chinese headphones , I use aftershox mainly and never an issue.
The buttons can get stiff so gets hard to go true menu , washing it with warm soapy water helps somewhat .
Get a screen protector imo

CassieManson

seandalaiocht wrote: »

I was in the exact same position. From reading comparisons online there seem to be a few extra sensors on the 645 vs the 245 and I (personally) think it looks a little better. It is missing a new pacing mode that the 245 has and a 'body battery' feature but generally they are pretty similar. I couldn't find the 245 cheaper than 300 so at this price the 645 made sense to me.

Just wondering about the new pacing mode mentioned on the 245? I have the 645 and love it.

Reg'stoy

CassieManson wrote: »

Just wondering about the new pacing mode mentioned on the 245? I have the 645 and love it.

From my understanding of it, your watch takes into account elevation (hills) of the course you have created, if you want to run a quicker first or second half of the distance and calculates a pace per K or mile and tells you if you are ahead or behind this goal pace. I don't know if it takes into account wind direction, your current heart rate and adjusts your pace accordingly.

Your basically racing against an idealised run, like you can race against a previous time you did on the same course.

To be honest I normally work out an average pace I should keep to and try and keep as close to that for a run. I wanted to finish the 2019 Dublin Marathon in under 4hrs 30mins so I knew if I kept my average pace in and around 6-23 that I'd do that. I set my watch to display only my average pace and current heart rate. I had a bad 2K spell where my pace dropped to 7mins+ (on later review) but my average displayed was always below or close to the 6-23, I finished in 4hrs 29mins and 50secs. Might I have got a quicker time if I had picked a lower average pace, possibly but I wanted to do a time I was capable of doing.

benji79

the_one_&_only wrote: »

Can you use it with Garmin Golf? I've read conflicting articles

No I’d say

CassieManson

Reg'stoy wrote: »

From my understanding of it, your watch takes into account elevation (hills) of the course you have created, if you want to run a quicker first or second half of the distance and calculates a pace per K or mile and tells you if you are ahead or behind this goal pace. I don't know if it takes into account wind direction, your current heart rate and adjusts your pace accordingly.

Your basically racing against an idealised run, like you can race against a previous time you did on the same course.

To be honest I normally work out an average pace I should keep to and try and keep as close to that for a run. I wanted to finish the 2019 Dublin Marathon in under 4hrs 30mins so I knew if I kept my average pace in and around 6-23 that I'd do that. I set my watch to display only my average pace and current heart rate. I had a bad 2K spell where my pace dropped to 7mins+ (on later review) but my average displayed was always below or close to the 6-23, I finished in 4hrs 29mins and 50secs. Might I have got a quicker time if I had picked a lower average pace, possibly but I wanted to do a time I was capable of doing.

Thanks for the info - I use the audible alerts on my Garmin 635 to advise of average pace (can be set for variying frequency of alerts). I find this very useful.

Briain O Loinsigh

Hi ,
I am considering this but I'm not sure how stuff from northern ireland is treated by customs.

I've bought from chain reaction before but nothing since brexit .

Thanks.

RunRoryRun

Briain O Loinsigh wrote: »

Hi ,
I am considering this but I'm not sure how stuff from northern ireland is treated by customs.

I've bought from chain reaction before but nothing since brexit .

Thanks.

I ordered today. At order it said that there would be nothing further due to customs / at delivery to the republic.

gabbo is coming

overthebridge wrote: »

I have this watch for over a year and you don't necessarily need Spotify Premium to listen to music.
I've been using it like an MP3 player by dragging and dropping music files from my laptop onto the watch. Works a treat every time.

Major hassle for podcasts

seandalaiocht

Briain O Loinsigh wrote: »

Hi ,
I am considering this but I'm not sure how stuff from northern ireland is treated by customs.

I've bought from chain reaction before but nothing since brexit .

Thanks.

Mine was delivered yesterday by Fastway. No issues

polaris68

seandalaiocht wrote: »

Mine was delivered yesterday by Fastway. No issues

Did it appear on Fastway tracking? 48 hours after the dispatch email nothing showing up for me.

Stillnotworking

Mine just arrived, no issues re customs or additional charges.

Stillnotworking

Mine appeared last night on Fastway and delivered this morning.

Rowley Birkin QC

I have a Garmin Venu which is basically the same as this watch with worse battery life. One of the really annoying things I find is that the watch keeps repeating the same notifications. i.e. if I get a Whatsapp message at 11:00 that I don't dismiss / mark as read and another at 11:04, the watch will flash up a notification and vibrate but show the 11:00 message again.

My €30 MiBand was clever enough to not do this, only showing notifications once. Anyone have a solution on this?

Explosive_Cornflake

Rowley Birkin QC wrote: »

I have a Garmin Venu which is basically the same as this watch with worse battery life. One of the really annoying things I find is that the watch keeps repeating the same notifications. i.e. if I get a Whatsapp message at 11:00 that I don't dismiss / mark as read and another at 11:04, the watch will flash up a notification and vibrate but show the 11:00 message again.

My €30 MiBand was clever enough to not do this, only showing notifications once. Anyone have a solution on this?

I find that if I don't read the whatsapp message, and then there's another reply an hour later, you get the same alert on the watch.
It's techincally correct, the notification has updated, and it's a new one, but all the text at the start is the same.

Is that the issue?