Garmin expands Forerunner GPS watch range

Garmin are premium activity tracking devices that are well liked and the brand respected by users of their equipment. Their Forerunner range of devices are one of their mainstream offering and the range has just expanded to offer budget through to premium offerings.

Australia will be seeing three new models of Forerunner: Forerunner 945, Forerunner 245 and Forerunner 45.

The biggest changes are in the Forerunner 45, keeping the same round watchface as the higher end models in the Forerunner lineup, along with some new tracking features for planning exercises throughout the day and support for Garmin’s Coach function.

The Forerunner 245 (and 245 Music which can hold up to 500 songs) updates the previous version 235, with newly added support for stress and sleep tracking, more sports to track, and an updated UI. It also adds a pulse oximeter sensor for even more fitness data.

Last, but by no means least, is the new Forerunner 945, flagship of the lineup. The 945 adds a pulse oximeter to measure oxygen absorption, Garmin Pay for contactless purchases, and full-color maps for navigating while out running. It can store up to 1,000 songs locally (from compatible services like Spotify or Deezer), and there’s a new tool for analyzing past workout history to improve future training.

Garmin promises up to two weeks of battery life in smartwatch mode, up to 36 hours in GPS mode, and up to 10 hours with both GPS and music active.

As always they’ve got that Garmin look and feel about them, as well as the functionality you would expect from a brand like Garmin. The prices start at $299 for the Forerunner 45, $549 for the 245 Music model, $469 for the 245 and peak at $949 for the Forerunner 945.

Considering that Wear OS is a basically a free-falling disaster for Google at the moment and basically unusable on most watches, Garmin offers a realistic – if not slightly expensive – alternative.