I just got a Garmin 645. My employer has a nice reimbursement plan, so I figured I'd upgrade my GPS. First time out on a certified 10K today, and it read 6.22, so very pleased with this.

There is, however, a ton of gimmicky. For example, it shows the temperature as 55 - 70 degrees, even though it's been 28 - 38 every day. I mean, is there even a remote chance that a thermometer worn on my wrist could give an accurate reading?

The thermometer on your wrist isn't really meant for an ambient temp. It's against your skin. It's used for some heat acclimation info. And supposedly really helps with barometer, altitude, or some other metrics.

It's really accurate when I swim, though, like within a degree of the set point of the pool I swim at.

And if you really just want to know the temp outside, at your desk, or whatever, if you take it off and leave it for a minute it'll give you the ambient temp accurately. Never done this, don't care that much.

So no, it's not going to accurately tell you the ambient temp during your run. I didn't buy the watch because of that and that's not really what it's intended for. So not a big deal for me.

Interesting. I don't think you can even use the 645 for swimming.

There's this thing called stress. I have no clue what that is. It seems to be good at telling me to hold still for 30 seconds, then telling me to check watch fit. Cool.

And the watch is going to start being called "Covid Watch." This is because no matter what workout I do, it tells me to wait 3 days before exercising. 10 miles at 8 minute pace...wait 3 days. 6 miles at 9 minute pace...wait 3 days.

At this rate I'll never be able to trick it into telling me I'm in better shape. It may be upset with me because my heart rate never goes under 150 for any type of running. I may have offended it.

The 645 has an all-day stress measurement and also has a spot-check stress measurement. I don't know as much about the spot-check other than it works best with a chest strap. The all-day measures heart rate variability and can be a useful metric coupled with other metrics on the Garmin if you choose to use it. Stress plus body battery plus recovery advisor may not be 100% scientific, but they give a good picture of where one is from an overall exertion and recovery perspective.

Regarding the recovery advisor, the watch right now thinks that your fitness level is really low as that is the default. As you put more miles on it, your VO2 max will continue to calibrate, your heart rate zones will recalculate based on that VO2 max (assuming you leave the default setting to do that), and then your recovery advisor hours will go down as it will not think that your exertion relative to your fitness is nearly as high as it is now.

Lol I did the same for the move/step notifications. I remember running my first marathon, getting home, showering, and finally collapsing on the couch. The damn thing told me to get up and move 5 minutes later. Wanted to break it.

Good info. Thanks to all who are posting. I know there are Garmin discussion forums out there, but as I suspected, texags is proving to be more user friendly.

I've put on an analog looking face, and the 645 has a nice chrome bezel, but I still like wearing my Citizen Ecodrive. Is the Garmin gonna be angry with me if I only wear it a few hours per day?

I have also added a credit card, but I haven't tried to pay anywhere.

I did not get the Music version. It just seemed like too much work since I could only use it on a treadmill, and I already have a phone.

It won't cause issues, just may not have the most accurate data outside of workouts. As ptothemo said, the recovery, stress, etc learn as you wear it. Have a more restful day, recovery time drops, etc. None of that's necessarily a dealbreaker, I mean especially if you're just wanting the watch for tracking workouts. But you just won't be getting the most out of it. And you'll be losing steps by not wearing it all day

As for the only getting music while on a treadmill? Why do you say that? Is that the only time you listen to headphones? I have the 945, I've paired headphones but have never used them. I don't like listening to anything while running. I've added a credit card, never used it.

Also, finally broke down and bought a watch face a couple weeks ago with the weather on it. I was so hesitant to, talked myself out of it several times. Finally did it and the wife made fun of me when I told her how hesitant I was. "You spend x dollars on stupid **** every month and were nervous about buying a .99 watch face?!?!"

Like others said your numbers / recovery / etc will dial in over time. There is a run assessment you can do that will help dial it in better, may want to give it a go.

htxag09 said:

---

Also, finally broke down and bought a watch face a couple weeks ago with the weather on it. I was so hesitant to, talked myself out of it several times. Finally did it and the wife made fun of me when I told her how hesitant I was. "You spend x dollars on stupid **** every month and were nervous about buying a .99 watch face?!?!"

---

Good story. I can relate.

As for music, I can't listen to music while running streets. I guess I could while running greenbelts.

The credit card thing does seem kinda silly, but I did it anyway. I mean, is it really that hard to throw a credit card in a zipper pocket?

wcb said:

---

Like others said your numbers / recovery / etc will dial in over time. There is a run assessment you can do that will help dial it in better, may want to give it a go.

---

Good to know. Looks like Amazon has off-brand straps for about 1/3 the price of the Garmin ones. Any advice?

When my Garmin straps went south I generally replaced them with Polar. Much cheaper, worked fine.

I'd also recommend the tempered glass screen covers. May not be as big of an issue for you if you don't wear the watch daily, but it's probably saved me a cracked screen, at least scratched for sure.

94chem said:

---

wcb said:

---

Like others said your numbers / recovery / etc will dial in over time. There is a run assessment you can do that will help dial it in better, may want to give it a go.

---

Good to know. Looks like Amazon has off-brand straps for about 1/3 the price of the Garmin ones. Any advice?

---

wife and i have both bought knock off bands when the originals broke and have had no issues.

I downloaded a free watchface with weather (and a bunch of other stuff) the other day. I think it was called Fusion. I like it pretty well, but gotta log in to API weather or it's reminder blocks about a third of the face. Anybody else have this?

anybody put a tempered glass protector on the watch face?

94chem said:

---

anybody put a tempered glass protector on the watch face?

---

look three posts above yours.

AggieOO said:

---

94chem said:

---

anybody put a tempered glass protector on the watch face?

---

look three posts above yours.

---

Ebay, here I come.

htxag09 said:

---

I'd also recommend the tempered glass screen covers. May not be as big of an issue for you if you don't wear the watch daily, but it's probably saved me a cracked screen, at least scratched for sure.

---

I second this. I got the sapphire face, which is supposed to be more scratch resistant, but I got the scratch resistant covers as well. My watch face looks absolutely perfect, and I pretty much wear it all day long every day. Highly recommend.

I've had the 645 since it first came out. I longed to simplifying my runs by having music.

I am on my 3rd. First dropped while taking off and cracked screen. Second had a dead set of pixels.

Overall has been solid watch for long runs that ya need that extra motivation w music and not the added weight.

I'm hoping the 955 comes out soon w a bigger screen.

94chem said:

---

wcb said:

---

Like others said your numbers / recovery / etc will dial in over time. There is a run assessment you can do that will help dial it in better, may want to give it a go.

---

Good to know. Looks like Amazon has off-brand straps for about 1/3 the price of the Garmin ones. Any advice?

---

I switched to these nylon straps and love them. In my opinion they are more comfortable and the silicone straps were really putting a number on my wrists. They were always red and itchy and sometimes painful. Problem solved for $7.00

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XLLYMFZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have a Garmin Tactix Delta

I love it

Yes, I actually use it for work too.

Bumping. Not a huge deal, I mean I'm in houston so elevation is an afterthought, not really the goal of any workouts. So this is more curiosity. But has anyone seen elevation issues lately? For example, this screenshot is a walk I did with my family today. It was to memorial park and back, starting and ending at the same place. So the second half of the walk's elevation should be a mirror of the first half. And the starting and ending elevation should be the same. They aren't.

htxag09 said:

---

Bumping. Not a huge deal, I mean I'm in houston so elevation is an afterthought, not really the goal of any workouts. So this is more curiosity. But has anyone seen elevation issues lately? For example, this screenshot is a walk I did with my family today. It was to memorial park and back, starting and ending at the same place. So the second half of the walk's elevation should be a mirror of the first half. And the starting and ending elevation should be the same. They aren't.

---

I did a track workout this morning. Apparently I fell off a 10' precipice for about a quarter mile. I was not injured, but I did get a 2 mile PR of 14:02. 13:56 according to Garmin, but that's why I ran on the track.

Also, a Google search says that a VO2 max under 50 would make it very difficult to survive on Everest without O2. Garmin says mine is 48, so I guess I'll need an oxygen tank. Bummer.

This couldn't be more timely. Some buddies want to do a group fitness thing with a challenge. It wants to track steps but I don't like carrying my phone when I walk/run nor do I have an Apple Watch. So I called another friend tonite who I knew had a Garmin and turns out he's had several. They can do far more than I ever imagined.

So, with just a little looking, it seems one of the Instinct models might fit the bill but I'm wondering which one. I'm looking now between the plain Instinct and the Tactical model. Anyone have one or the other and know the differences?

htxag09 said:

---

Bumping. Not a huge deal, I mean I'm in houston so elevation is an afterthought, not really the goal of any workouts. So this is more curiosity. But has anyone seen elevation issues lately? For example, this screenshot is a walk I did with my family today. It was to memorial park and back, starting and ending at the same place. So the second half of the walk's elevation should be a mirror of the first half. And the starting and ending elevation should be the same. They aren't.

---

Well, this is evidence that your parents or grandparents really DID walk uphill to school both ways!

The Instinct models are rather different than what I think most people on here use, so I don't know that you are going to get a great deal of feedback on those specifically. Maybe I am wrong, though.

I was curious to check them out, and the difference that I can see between the Standard and the Tactical versions is that the Tactical has Stealth Mode and Night Vision Mode. The former allows you to turn off all logging and electronic communication so that you still record an activity but it isn't actually saved to the watch, and the latter lets you see the watch while wearing night vision goggles.

You have one of the Garmins that has a barometric altimeter built in, so I assume that isn't working correctly. https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=1fvlVNaxjA3OvdKrZSh058

If you didn't have the altimeter built in, there is an elevation correction capability that you could check to make sure is enabled. https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=R4I5hF****8gJPC4zi0Xv6

My Garmin said that my 4 mile recovery run this morning had 60,912 feet in elevation gain.

AgCanuck07 said:

---

My Garmin said that my 4 mile recovery run this morning had 60,912 feet in elevation gain.

---

Impressive, considering that 21,120 feet would be the max with a 100 % grade.

Just got back from a 4 mile run, on a route that I've done hundreds of times. The Garmin cheated me out of about 27 seconds per mile. What is going on? I've been using it for a month. It nailed a marathon. It's been really close at the track. It's the 645. Did it all of a sudden stop giving me credit for hills?

AgCanuck07 said:

---

My Garmin said that my 4 mile recovery run this morning had 60,912 feet in elevation gain.

---

Had this issue with my 935. Took a reset to get it all synced up again. Also, be sure you go all "green" on GPS before starting your activity.

ptothemo said:

---

The Instinct models are rather different than what I think most people on here use, so I don't know that you are going to get a great deal of feedback on those specifically. Maybe I am wrong, though.

I was curious to check them out, and the difference that I can see between the Standard and the Tactical versions is that the Tactical has Stealth Mode and Night Vision Mode. The former allows you to turn off all logging and electronic communication so that you still record an activity but it isn't actually saved to the watch, and the latter lets you see the watch while wearing night vision goggles.

---

OK, so I got the Instinct (the regular version; no Solar, no Tactical) and I'm pretty underwhelmed, actually. For one, I can't see the time in the dark. Perhaps its a setting I missed but it only shows when I hit a button. Huh? I haven't had a watch I needed to hit a button on to see the time since I was in like the 5th grade! (And believe me, that was a LONG time ago). Plus, it doesn't seem to want to interface with my iPhone too well. It has its own app and it works fine with that, but it won't play nice with the app my group is using (Pacer) without a subscription. I don't really want to pay for that -- at least not now -- until I work out the bugs and make sure I'm going to keep this.

So, my question is now: should I just go ahead and return this and get an Apple watch? I just want something that will chart GPS runs/walks, distance, times, elevation (if possible), and stuff like that. I'd also like something that, while I'm at it, has advanced countdown timer features. I think the Watch app store can provide that, though I haven't seen anything for sure. We just got one for my wife (ordered but not delivered) and got her one that she can walk with and use as a phone. I'm not interested in that so much.