Garmin Forerunner 245 Music Smartwatch

The Garmin Forerunner 245 Music Smartwatch is a GPS fitness watch that adds onboard music storage to Garmin's Forerunner 245 platform. It records your activities with GPS and wrist-based heart rate, and it holds roughly 500 songs on its own 3.5 GB of memory, so you can leave the phone at home and still have something to listen to.

Battery life depends on what you ask of the watch. Garmin lists up to 7 days in watch mode with activity tracking, smartphone notifications, and wrist-based heart rate. In activity mode with GPS and wrist-based heart rate, the figure is up to 24 hours. Adding music playback changes the numbers: up to 8 hours in watch mode with music, and up to 6 hours in activity mode with GPS, heart rate, and music running together. That is still enough for most long rides and runs, but it is worth knowing before you plan a full day out with headphones in.

Built for Training and Daily Wear

The 5 ATM water rating makes the Forerunner 245 Music swim-rated, so it can go in the pool or the rain without a second thought. Garmin specifies an operating range of -20°C to 60°C (-4°F to 140°F), which covers cold winter mornings and hot summer afternoons. As a fitness watch it works as an everyday wearable as well as a training tool, tracking activity and relaying smartphone notifications between workouts.

Connectivity is where the Music model separates itself from the standard Forerunner 245. It includes Bluetooth 4.2 and ANT+ along with Wi-Fi, which is the wireless link the music side of the watch relies on. ANT+ is the protocol many cycling sensors use, so the watch fits into an existing sensor setup if you already have one.

Where It Fits

The Forerunner line is Garmin's running-focused watch family, and the 245 Music sits in its mid-range. It suits riders and runners who want GPS and heart rate data on the wrist, with music built in, without moving to a larger and more expensive multisport watch. If you train across more than one sport, or want to leave the bike computer at home on short rides, the 245 Music covers the basics: location, heart rate, and a playlist.

The version listed here is the white model, and it ships with the Forerunner 245 Music's full feature set. For riders who spend as much time running as pedaling, it is a straightforward way to carry heart rate, GPS, and a few hundred songs on one wrist.