Garmin Forerunner 745, GPS Running Watch, Detailed Training Stats and On-Device Workouts, Essential Smartwatch Functions

I have only had apple as a smart watch, so first time Garmin user. The battery lasts longer, I get more health feedback when compared to my Apple Watch from the Harmon app.

A little expensive but quality costs. Charger not very robust but a good buy

I just love this watch, does what I expected.

Works like a charm, so good for multi-sport!

Overall awesome watch! very sleek and has a ton of information, every stat you could ask for is ready at your finger tips. Good motivation to keep you moving through out the day love how everything syncs so easily (text, phone, notices, Stava runs then MMP picks it up also) you end up getting hooked on it pretty quick. the GPS lock in pretty fast (in in the country a bit and my previous watch sometimes couldn't get the signal on a cloudy day. Fairly easy to use once you get the hang of it but like all things you need to give yourself a few weeks to get used to it. I have to admit I though the pairing with the ear phones would have been a super huge advantage but it tends to drop that connection a bit too easily and I hate having to stop a run to resync (if you don't have your air pod case then it just no music for you!) it may have been just user inexperience... While a pricey purchase I'll use this everyday for many years to come! highly recommend

Reloj deportivo de calidad, con funciones muy recomendadas a la comunidad runner para una medición más precisa de sus entrenos, recuperación, sueño, estrés y vitalidad durante el día.

I have four different Forerunner models and the 745 is a favorite. I got it 2 years ago as an upgrade to my 45s and have used it as my main time piece, not just my main fitness tracker or main exercise gadget. The big capability improvement over the 45s was the ability to track strength training, do multi-sport activities such as swimming, cycling, and running; and it also had capability to add various cycling sensors such as cycling speed and pedal cadence. Often the only time I did not have it on was when it was plugged to recharge, which usually was while I was in the shower after a workout. The main outdoor activities I did with it was biking (in which case it was attached to the handlebar, on a handlebar mount, acting like a bike computer), walking, hiking, and running. Indoors I used it with a treadmill, a stationary bike, indoor pool, for strength training, and doing other cardio exercise. The two main metrics that I tracked for every workout was active calories expended and the exercise training load. I then tracked my daily active calories and my weekly training load. In order to “pace” myself during a workout, I used heartrate zones while running, and then speed and cadence metrics while on the bike. I also found the 745 handy for recording my strength training sessions. Every morning I looked at the sleep report, my body-battery level, and the recovery tracker—these 3 together served as my “training readiness” indicator. They tended to correlate, for example if sleep was poor, body battery would be sub-optimal also. The "training readiness" indicator in my new 265s is a 'nice-to-have' because in theory I can look at one metric to tell me if I'm ready for a big workout, but in practice, I still look at sleep, body battery, and recovery. The one thing I would have preferred on the 745 would be a narrower strap. For my 6.25-inch wrist, a 22mm strap is just too wide. And this is not just about aesthetics. I find the narrower band on my more recently acquired 265s noticeably more comfortable. I think the 745’s 1.2-inch (30.4mm) screen size is in the “sweet-spot”. I find Forerunners with 1.3-inch (32.5 mm) displays too big for my wrist (for example the 265) and the 1.1-inch display a tad too small (the one on the 265s). If only there is a Forerunner 265-medium with a 1.2-inch screen size, that would have been the model for me. My dream Garmin Forerunner would be a Forerunner with all the capabilities of the 965 (except the mapping and navigation features), paired with a 20mm band that tapers to 18mm (or even 17mm), sporting a 1.2-inch AMOLED (same size as the 745 display) so that the watch case diameter would be a respectable 43.5mm and not the gargantuan 46.1mm-sized case of the 265 or 47.2mm-sized case of the 965. Garmin can call it the 765 (an upgrade to the 745). A pipe dream, I think; that is because Garmin did not release a 755, so it seems the 745-line may be an evolutionary dead end. For now, my 2-year-old 745 can still hold its own. Sure, I have now switched to the 265s for nighttime sleep tracking and treadmill running, but on the bike, the 745 still beats the newer 265s both indoors and outdoors. Outdoors the huge reflective MIP display works really well in bright sunlight. Indoors, I can set the 745 MIP background light to “always-on” for the entire workout. In contrast to a MIP display, the AMOLED version of “always-on” is to dim the background light after a few seconds, which is disappointing. I want an ‘always-on’ that does not dim, Forerunner MIP displays can do that, while Forerunner AMOLED display can’t do that (at least not just yet). When I bought the 745 two years ago, I really needed the capabilities it had, which my 45s did not have. But now, even with my 265s on hand, there seems to be nothing the 265s can do that the 745 cannot do, and in a particular use-case (placing the watch on the bike handlebar mount) I still prefer the 745 over the newer 265s. To conclude, I think the 745 is a solid piece of kit and in some use-cases can still hold its own against the latest Forerunner models. UPDATE dated Nov 2024. Since my initial review, Garmin has kept on issuing firmware updates to their Forerunner 265s. I'm now using it more than my tried and trusted 745. The Forerunner 745 remains as good as when first bought, solid piece of kit. But since I now do more workouts indoors instead of outdoors, the 265s amoled screen has won me over. When I bike outdoors, the 745 MIPS screen rules - and that is what I have strapped on my handlebars. But I don't bike outdoors all the much now. Instead, I bike indoors using a smart trainer, which provides power data — and I don't have to deal with the weather and dangerous drivers. Indoors, I prefer amoled over mips, so the 745 gets far less exercise time now. 😢 UPDATE dated March 13, 2026. I bought the Forerunner 745 last Aug 24, 2021. I had upgraded to the 265s, but very recently my adult daughter is using that now, so I'm back to the 745 for regular daily use. After so many years, functionality is the same except for battery life. Now the battery lasts about a few days, I need to charge it roughly every other day while I'm in the shower or washing dishes. Happily, it does charge quickly. I rediscovered my love for the default watch face which has the acute exercise load and tells the user at a glance one is over or under exercising, or just right. I love that feature on the watch face, which is not available on the 265s. I use Stryd, and interestingly enough, Stryd works "better" with the 745 than with the newer 265s in the sense that I still get the same exercise load behavior with or without Stryd on the 745, but not so on the 265s (on the 265s, exercising indoors with Stryd seems to depress Exercise Load credit). I've changed the strap to black which matches the black screen and bezel, the red case ends up being a nice accent color. I've actually learned to appreciate the 22mm wide strap. Because it is so wide, there is less pressure on my wrist, I now find this more comfortable than the 18mm strap of the 265s. Also, the default 265s strap is too "stretchy" it can feel like a tight rubber band on my wrist. The wide 22mm strap being wider seems to do a better job keeping the watch where I want it to stay without having to tighten it. The other thing the 745 does better I think than the newer 265s is with the strength training app. In the 745, the hundreds, tens, ones, and decimals are separate whereas in the 265s, just one control from 0 to 99. I end up scrolling more on the 265s and less on the 745, meaning — quicker and easier for me to track my resistance exercise in the gym with the older 745. I've gotten used to two features on the 265s not available on the 745: (1) Load Ratio, and (2) Training Readiness. The 745 like the 265s will tell me I'm in the optimal range, or under, or over. But the 265s Load Ratio will let you know to what extend exactly, for example if the acute training load is 2x the chronic load; the 745 will let you know when over or under training, but does not tell you to what extent exactly, though it does give you a sense of how much. I'm a bit of a data lover so I like the ratio. Nevertheless, the resulting behavior from me is the same, I take a rest day when either watch tells me my acute load is too much. Training Readiness on the 265s is nice to have. It feels motivating when the 265s says readiness is high, and demotivating when it says readiness is low (often happens when sleep score is low and both load ratio and recovery hours is high). On the 745, I get the same "effect" by looking at the sleep score, body battery, recovery hours, and acute load to get a sense if I should take it slow or get a good workout. One thing I do like in the 265s is the "Projected Calories" — it essentially adds for me the active calories to my usual non active calories to predict what my TDEE will be end of the day. This helps me manage my calorie intake. On the 745, I have to do quick mental math. For example, if my usual daily calorie expenditure without exercising is 1,800, and my active (exercise) calories is at 200, then my total calorie burn for the day will be roughly 2,000. So on the 745, I watch active calories like a hawk to get a sense of my total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) at the end of the day, while the 265s predicts it for me (saves me the mental math), which is nice. By the way, the TDEE prediction feature is not in the iOS Connect app, I don't know why Garmin has not added it there yet. One thing I really appreciate with the 745 is that it can accept cycling power. So, I can connect my cycling trainer to it, and it'll receive the power data and let me join Swift virtual cycling activities. The 745 is also triathlete capable. I have not done a full triathlon, but I do walk, hike, run, bike, swim with the 745. I'm interested in the Garmin 570 since Garmin seems to have put the 7 series (eg., 745) and the 2 series (eg., 265) both to pasture. But the 570 is so expensive! I must confess, I'm totally hooked on the Garmin ecosystem, eg., I have a Forerunner 305, the 45s which I sold, the 745 which I still use, the 265s which my daughter is using now, the HRM-Pro chest strap, the Garmin Footpod now replaced by the Stryd footpod, the Garmin speed and cadence sensor on my bike, another Garmin heart rate strap that goes around the bicep instead of around the chest which can also be attached to a swimmer's temple area under the swim cap to get swimming heart rate, a Garmin USB ANT+ receiver so my laptop can also receive ANT+ signal, and I'm very familiar with the Vivosmart, Vivoactive, and Lily 2 models which family members are using due perhaps to my influence. In short, while I don't consider myself an expert, I do think I'm familiar with Garmin watches. Oh, one last thing, I love the size of the 745. I have small wrists, and the 745 sized at 43.8 x 43.8 mm feels just right; the 41.7 x 41.7 mm 265s feels a bit too small and the 46.1 x 46.1 mm 265 is too big. So, the 47 x 47 mm 570 might look like a puck on the wrist. The smaller 42.4 x 42.4 mm 570 might fit the bill as an upgrade path because it has the same 1.2" sized screen (but AMOLED, not MIPS), and the strap is now 20 mm — much better I think than the 18 mm on the 265s (at least for me, though I think some may prefer the thinner more "refined" 18 mm one). But the 570 is so expensive!!! So, sticking to the 745 for perhaps another year at least. Oh, the 745 has some basic navigating feature which the more expensive 570 I've read about does not (but I don't use it all that much since I tend to know where I am and I don't tend to go to places where I might get lost, besides I prefer exercising indoors: swim pool, treadmill, stationary smart bike trainer, etc.). It is now March 2026, cheers!

2 años de esta compra y todo correcto aún

Easy to use and just the right size on your wrist. Wife loves it. Monitoring of sleep is very use full. Tracks everything you want.