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Garmin Vivoactive 3 vs Garmin Forerunner 245

Garmin Vivoactive 3

Garmin Vivoactive 3

186 reviews

View Product Details

Garmin Forerunner 245

Garmin Forerunner 245

214 reviews

View Product Details

#7 most mentioned

Reddit · r/garmin

#24 most mentioned

Reddit · r/smartwatch

#3 most mentioned

Reddit · r/garmin

Wirecutter · The 4 Best GPS Running Watches 2021

Great battery life

Attractive and durable design

Accurate heart rate monitoring

Versatile and customizable for tracking fitness and daily activities

Great GPS performance

Music storage and playback

Heart rate sensors that perform well for the most part

Enhanced smartwatch features

Reliable and traditional running watch

Not as user-friendly as some other smartwatches

Display could be better

Some users have reported issues with water sensitivity

Not ideal for mountain biking, weight training, and rowing

Battery life may be shorter than expected due to certain features

Dead pixels may appear shortly after the warranty runs out

Verdict

The Garmin Vivoactive 3 is a highly recommended wearable device that strikes a balance between fitness tracker and smartwatch functionality. It has a durable and attractive design, accurate heart rate monitoring, and good battery life. However, some users have reported issues with the display, user-friendliness, and water sensitivity. It is a good option for those who want a versatile and customizable device for tracking their fitness and daily activities.

Verdict

The Garmin Forerunner 245 is a great choice for runners who want a reliable and traditional running watch with enhanced smartwatch features. It has music storage and playback, GPS performance, and heart rate sensors that perform well for the most part. However, some users have experienced hiccups with mountain biking, weight training, and rowing. Additionally, the battery life may be shorter than expected due to certain features like Pulse Ox draining it faster. Finally, some users have reported dead pixels appearing shortly after the warranty ran out.

Reviews by Topic

Our analysis shows how reviewers feel about different topics. Please note these are not full reviews.

Connectivity

Can not track basic data

You have to compromise your security by fully entering your credit card number, only to get a response saying the issuer isn't participating. The issuer of the credit card I tried is one of the largest in the US. If they're not participating, it's a good bet that not many are at all. I am unhappy that I had to share my full payment information in an app, in order to find this out

However, now I feel like maybe the Garmin FR 245 Music would be a better choice for me. The most basic functions I need are GPS and the ability to download music from Spotify for phone-free runs.

Positive

reddit.com/r/running

Activity Tracking

youtube

VivoActive 3 Review - Activities (EP3) Running, Cycling, Strength, Gym and more!

The V boxer 3 was actually shockingly accurate, but I did find it interesting that the Phoenix 5 X and vivoactive 3 calculated calories a little bit d...

Positive

youtube

Garmin Forerunner 245 Music // The Fitness Review

Heart rate was also pretty good. You'Ll see some inconsistencies here, but for the most part it was pretty darn close to three other external heart ra...

Positive

Durability

youtube

Garmin Vivoactive 3 Smart Watch Review - 2020 - YouTube

So what exactly does the Garmin VivoActive 3 have to offer and is it a good option compared to all of the other smartwatches out there? Well let's tak...

Positive

some disappointments

I have not dropped, banged or otherwise mistreated this product. It has not been exposed to extreme weather nor conditions but a year and a half into use and this strange dot appeared on(in) the screen and today it just froze , can't turn it off - nothing. For the cost of this watch i expect better.

Fit

Running watches for the recreational runner - are they needed?

Mostly I like having a pedometer...just taking more steps in a day has been good for my health

Positive

reddit.com/r/running

245 v 745 v Venu

The 245 and the 745 likely fit the bill best for your needs. I've got a 245 now and it's a great watch.

Positive

reddit.com/r/Garmin

Price

Running watch - Game Changer?

I wasn't sure how much I would personally benefit from one, so I didn't want to invest a lot but wanted a strong feature set. I went with the Garmin Vivoactive 3, and you can buy them for $130 but sometimes get them on sale for as low as $100-110. It's a great value for that price, and I would recommend it if you are unsure and want to try one and see if it is for you.

Positive

reddit.com/r/running

AMAZON KEEPS SENDING ME SOUTH EAST ASIAN VERSION OF THE WATCH!!!!!!

Really this should be the same price as the vivoactive 3, and serious runners who don't want a touch screen, garmin pay, stairs climbed counting, and want extra running metrics would buy it. Most people still wouldn't. After using it I don't see why its 100 dollars more. Runners pay more money for watches?

Battery Life

Had enough of the Fitbit issues. Time to try Garmin.

I haven’t found a simpler and efficient (and clean) watch face thats good on battery life as this one.

Positive

reddit.com/r/Garmin

Bad battery life

I think it may be that some features, like the Pulse Ox (which is fairly inaccurate), cause the battery to drain faster. Garmin's Connect app encourages you to wear this watch all the time, even when sleeping, to get better fitness data. That's another reason the battery drains so fast. Good thing is that it charges quickly

Design

I also had a Vivoactive 3 but the altimeter went flakey. Seems like a design flaw as I read other reviews with the same problem.

Positive

reddit.com/r/triathlon

INTERFACE: It's very fast and I like the new menu interface a lot. It's almost the exact same as the 945, excluding some Firstbeat analytics. My only annoyance is that it's missing Hotkeys, which I actually used on my other watches. I hope that it's just an oversight and not an intentionally-stripped feature

Comfort

Simple, basic, no frills

I do not like wearing a chest strap so I choose to use a watch with a heart rate monitor. I started with a vivosmart and now I’m using this device to broadcast my heart rate to the edge computer. To be quite honest I only used the vivosmart monitor for that one and only purpose. I used an Apple Watch 3rd gen as my regular watch

With smartphones constantly getting larger, What are your current favorite smartphone holder products?

Or honestly you don't even need a watch if you're comfortable running without technology. There is definitely a freedom to running without anything on you.

Positive

reddit.com/r/running

Comfortability

Just got the Instinct Solar

The Instinct solar just dropped $200 at my local store so I am going to pick it up today, going off what most people have told me its perfect for my use case(and clearly yours too) I dont want fancy gadgets, I want something that tells me the time, date, weather, when someone texts me and when someone calls me, thats about it, everything else is just a bonus. I also did some maths and theoretically with my job, i should never have to charge this watch after the first time I charge it because of the solar efficiency, that prospect is super cool. Congrats on the purchase!

Negative

reddit.com/r/Garmin

The feedback of my Forerunner 245 Music

I don't know if this is just my watch issues. If I don't have to deal with this annoying process turn on and off of my watch every day, I will give five stars for this review. By the way, one thing I want to mention, the Garmin Express is not working well. Every time I use it, I have to plug-in and plug-out the connecting USB cable five to six times to make connect work

Notifications

It's like wearing a can of worms, or a beehive.

Meanwhile, on the cell phone, the Connect app keeps asking me for permissions to show me texts, phone, email information on my watch. I DON'T WANT TO! I already denied the permissions, and hours later it will ask me again to enable the permissions. I don't want this watch to show me texts, emails, etc. that's why I carry my cell phone

Ok, Garmin. I love this watch!

This sends an email to whoever you’ve listed, or all of your connections, with a link to a tracker. I love this as a woman who often goes on runs alone early in the morning or at night. There is also a feature on this watch where if you press a button 3x it sends a text to your emergency contacts and it will also do this if it notices anything unusual (you stop suddenly, etc). Probably my favorite features

Software Updates

+8 Days Battery Life, Good Resting and Running HR

- If you turn the gesture on, sometimes it activates the backlight randomly even tough you don't gesture. I think it needs an software update to fix it.

Happy with Garmin, had some issues with the watch

Also, Garmin customer support has been outstanding! Cons: I’ve had issues with the watch accurately tracking pace, mileage, and VO2 (hence the above interaction with Customer support). Seems like some updates from Garmin Express may have resolved these, but it’s annoying that I have to plug this watch into a computer every couple weeks to check for software updates when I sync it with the Garmin Connect app on my phone multiple times a day. Seems like software updates through the mobile app would be standard functionality…

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