Garmin Forerunner 945
$830 When it comes to GPS watches, Garmin is certainly the market leader, and it’s not hard to see why when you put on the company’s flagship multisport watch, the Forerunner
945. What’s amazing about this watch is that it somehow manages to pack in even more functions than previous editions in an even smaller, lightweight package.
For those of us who figured the company’s
935, launched a couple of years ago, offered ground breaking training insights like training load and training status, the 945 manages to take all of that and add even more. In addition to simply tracking your speed and distance while you’re running and biking, it’ll offer lots of swim data for when you hit the water, too. There’s a wrist-based heart rate monitor that works even underwater, built in sports apps and the ability to access a variety of different navigation satellite systems.
The 945 provides a crazy amount of training data – add the running dynamics pod and you can get lots of running metrics like cadence, stride length and ground contact time. The VO2 max indicator accounts for changes in performance based on conditions like heat and altitude. It will analyze your pace and heart rate to give you an idea of your current ability to perform, let you know if you’re training too hard or too little, gauge your training load and even give you information on how the workouts you’re doing influence your overall fitness.
While the 945 won’t actually do a race or workout for you, there’s not much else it won’t. It doesn’t have a touch screen, but there are five buttons that make navigation pretty easy. As daunting as it might sound, it’s easy to navigate your way through the various screens to get to what you’re looking for.
In addition to the elaborate list of training capabilities, you can also listen to music through the watch (add a Bluetooth headset and you’re off), use Garmin Pay for contactless payments, and access full-colour onboard maps. You’ll get 10 hours of battery life in GPS mode and listening to music, which should keep you covered for even your longest workouts.