Customer Ratings & Reviews

Good battery life and very precise. Display a little bit too dim. Very light.

Bought this for my wife who ended up wanting the smaller 45S after about a month. I was going to buy a smart watch but ended up keeping this one for myself. I've been very pleased. After a few days I could easily get to what I wanted to see on the watch. Everything seems to be fairly accurate. I've run the same route weekly and the GPS is consistent. I like the Garmin IQ app that connects to it. It has lots of good information. The watch doesn't have a swimming activity but you can record as cardio and change on the app. I wish that it was a little brighter when lit up. My eyes aren't what they used to be. It is a really good watch for the price point.

This is my first smart watch and I received it as a gift. I like it so far especially for the heart rate. I also like the way it fits, and it’s thin band. What I don’t like is that the screen light is to dull. Wish it was a little brighter. Other than that, I’m enjoying my watch.

I got this watch to use to track my walks and jogs and it’s nice so far. The only issue would be the screen seems pretty cheap in person than in the provided pictures. It still works great and I recommend it for someone looking for a fitness tracker.

Good battery life, very good looking smart watch. Didn't realize it doesn't have a touch screen, would greatly help functionality. Instructions not the greatest. Altitude is way off, not a clue how or where to reset.

First of all this is a full featured and terrific exercise watch. First, don't be put off by the dimness of the display. In bright outdoor light it is very easy to read. The 2 negatives: 1) the band will not fit on a large circumference wrist. It only fits wrists up to about 8.5 inches and there are no longer aftermarket bands. I had to return mine because of this limitation. 2) The user manual is very, very poorly constructed. I spent hours just figuring out the basics through experimentation. Big waste of time. If you can get past those 2 negatives, it is a super workout watch!

My husband likes it! I don’t like that it’s not touch screen, I missed that part in the description somehow. But at least he loves it & the built in coach.

The functionality of the watch is fine but the display brightness is terrible. I returned the watch for a different model. I am surprised that Gardin would sell a product like this.

The screen was to dull. Lack quality and to much adjustment from previous device.

I really wanted to love this watch but I couldn't get over the fact that for a $200 watch, the visibility was horrible. It was so dim and no way of adjusting the brightness. Even with the backlight, horrible. Garmin is my watch of choice, I have a forerunner 35 and wanted an upgrade to a more colorful interface. Also, if you like a bigger watch face, this is probably not for you. Returned it less than 24 hours after purchased. Disappointed.

Not liking it so far. The screen is very dim. Not even close to the brightness shown in the product images. I Googled to see if anyone else had the same issue and a fix, but all I found were numerous complaints about the dim screen. Some of complaints go back a long time, and they were for this model and others....which makes me wonder why Garmin hasn’t fixed the ongoing issue.

It was really cool looking but didn't have touch screen. I should have did more research.

Very difficult to read - low light, small digits. Programming is confusing.

Its not touch screen or anything. You have to use the buttons on the side and for the price of this you can get a watch with a touch screen.

I've had the 45 for 8 months. I bought it as an upgrade from my Vivosmart HR because the GPS was useless on it. The GPS on the 45 works very well and I can track my runs and walks easily now. But the 45 has other issues that are not as good as the Vivosmart HR. For one the battery runs out without notifying you. The Vivosmart HR gave me clear warnings. The 45 just shuts down and loses current data when it does. So get into the habit of recharging it on a schedule instead of waiting until it requires it. The battery has a shorter life than the Vivosmart HR as well (using the GPS). The display is also not as easy to see as the Vivosmart. This seems odd to me as the face of the 45 is so large you would think Garmin would make good use of it, but they don't. The last thing I will say is that this device like all Garmin smart watches does not have an instruction manual and calling their support is not a substitute for a lack of it. I hope they work to improve their devices in the future. Hope springs eternal.