Customer Ratings & Reviews

I had a Fossil Explorist Q gen 4 before this watch. The Fossil looked great but the crown and back plate would pop off when the weather got hot, so there was no water resistance (it never touched water, even before.) I've only had the Garmin for 2 weeks, but do far I love it. I've been swimming in it almost every day. I run in it every other day. Seems accurate in steps and mileage. Heartbeat is a little lagging, esp for weight training, but I think it averages out pretty accurately over time. I didn't need music, so I got the base model. It looks good and is light weight. It doesn't look as nice as my Fossil, but the build quality seems better. The battery has been lasting right at 6 days. I let it go from 100% down to about 8%. It charges up in a little over an hour, though I haven't timed it exactly. I didn't need altimeter or maps either. I think this can get maps, not sure, I don't need them on my watch. This model doesn't have WiFi, which would make music and adding apps easier, but again, it's not needed. The screen looks great in bright light, but only okay in the dark. The digital watch face look much better on this watch than 'analog' style faces. (Both look great on the Fossil.) The strap is nice and flexible. As comfortable as I could imagine silicone being, I guess. I replaced it with woven nylon bc it's more breathable on my skin. Best bang for your buck in my opinion.

Works great for everything you would expect from a fitness watch. Not so smart that I would distract you from exercising. Screen could be a little brighter but can be seen well enough in the sunlight. Overall I’m happy with it

I owned an iwatch before this purchase and absolutely hated the battery life. I didn’t use all the unnecessary apps or to text/make calls. What I cared about was having GPS to track my runs, the pedometer, health trackers, and having it remind me of my appts or nudge me when I had an email/message. This Garmin watch absolutely crushed all of these requirements. I charge it maybe 1x every 5+ days, not because its low, but so that I don’t forget to and so I can wear it while sleeping and being active. The watch band and size is super comfortable to wear. I only wish that the display was a little brighter and would brighten when I look at it vs pushing the light button to see the time. Highly recommend!

So I've had this watch about 2.5, almost 3 years. It is awesome, it's great, it does everything I want AND more. HR monitor links up with my NordicTrack and rower. Gives all kinds of data on the fly, and can adapt to you with so many different apps, and after all this time, the battery life is still almost as good as new! I'm military and this watch has been worn through flight ops, aircraft mechanic work, physical training, swimming/snorkling to about 20ft, among other activities and there's only been ONE problem:f The ONLY problem I have after all this time, use, and abuse is that the 245/245 Music seems to have a frequent habit of burning a spot on the screen. Google it up. There is no cure once it starts, the screen location is random, and timeliness seems to have no rhyme or reason. As you can see on mine, there's no sign of cracked/scratched glass (abuse). Some get the burn after a few months, mine was about the 2.5yr mark. Keep this in mind! Mfr Warranty is only 1 year. I bought the 245 Music, but am writing a review on the 245 because it is essentially the same watch minus a memory bank, and I wanted to share my experience with this series. Overall, awesome watch. I still use mine despite the burn because it's in the top left of the screen and I can still view everything, OR download the info to my phone via the Garmin connect app and function is all there. Just annoying to have the burn mark, and I don't know if they ever fixed it with updates.

Really like this watch. I was turned off at first given my 2 year run with a Fitbit Versa 2. I had grown accustomed to the very brilliant and user friendly touch screen. After spending some time with the 245, I really do like the watch for a few reasons. First the GPS is accurate. Syncing with Strava is seamless. And the always on screen during the workouts is so easy to see in the sunlight. Additionally you can show 4 stats on the screen at one time. And you can easily customize multiple workout screens. Second, the battery life is amazing. If you don't use the GPS, I think this thing will go over a week without needing charged. Using the GPS an hour a day is looking like a 5-6 day battery life. Third, I like the always on display. It is somewhat faint but it is readable in daylight and is a very attractive watch and display. One complaint is the display is not as brilliant as many of the smart watches on the market. And the 245 does not have a brightness adjustment. The Garmin software is quite configurable and a little tricky at first. It is not as plug and play as the Fitbit, but I am appreciating the configurability the more I explore. I have had to spend time with it to really figure it out. Bottom line is it is a great running, walking, biking watch with an accurate GPS and long battery life.

This is my third smart watch and by far the best. I use my watch for exercising after I had stents put in a couple of years ago. I needed an accurate heartrate reading and this does the trick. Previously I owned a Fitbit Versa who's heartrate was not even close to being accurate. Many others who owned it said the same thing but Fitbit did nothing to address the problem. Then I purchased a Galaxy watch only to find that their heartrate monitor was totally inconsistent and erratic. In fairness to them, they tried to fix my watch but in the end refunded my money. I have had this Garmin for about 3 weeks and although it doesn't have a touch screen for operations, I the buttons work fine and the heartrate monitor works great. Love this watch.

Lots of new data available. Relatively easy to use. Wish it had a touch screen for some functions during a run. GPS is much faster to acquire that my old unit. All these new Garmins are expensive compared to past units.

This watch is okay but the screen is a bit too dark for my taste, ended up returning it.

It does its work, but make sure you read all the specs on the device. It is not touch and you have to rely on buttons only. If you don't want the touchscreen option, I will recommend this item for sure.

Had a fitbit iconic which died. This watch works great. Not a touch screen, but it works better than the fitbit.

Everything you would expect! The only thing that would make this a better device is if it had a touchscreen. But overall, it is a great device.

When it worked it was easy to use, I like it. My watch died (screen stopped working) with no reason given.

Overall a good product but not a touch screen so that is why i rated 3 stars

Very difficult to use I thought. Was not touch screen. Could not send and recieve text or calls. Could read text but that was it. We returned it and got him the Galaxy Active watch. He likes it alot better.

Amazing watch. Worked perfect. Not a steep learning curve for the user interface, but contrary to the specs, this does not have a touch screen. So if you're looking for a touch screen, this one does not have one.