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Garmin Forerunner 945 vs Garmin Venu Sq

Garmin Forerunner 945

Garmin Forerunner 945

137 reviews

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Garmin Venu Sq

83 reviews

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#1 most mentioned

Reddit · r/garmin

Feature-Rich Sports Watch for Endurance Athletes

Switchback Travel · Best Sports Watches of 2022

#18 most mentioned

Reddit · r/garmin

#20 most mentioned

Reddit · r/smartwatch

Great features such as music, an oximeter, and improved battery life compared to the 935

Journaling features are fantastic

Can charge it while it's on your wrist

Strap hog with plenty of options for straps

Compatible with other sports and activities

Great battery life

Comprehensive health and fitness tracking features

Integration with the Garmin ecosystem

Customizable watch faces and screen options

Lightweight and stylish design

Not living up to its potential in terms of battery life

GPS accuracy is not reliable when running under trees

High price tag

Not suitable for hardcore athletes or those looking for advanced training features

Some users have reported accuracy issues with heart rate tracking

Expensive compared to other lifestyle watches

Verdict

The Garmin Forerunner 945 is a feature-packed sports watch with a high price tag. It has great features such as music, an oximeter, and improved battery life compared to the 935. However, it does not live up to its potential in terms of battery life and GPS accuracy when running under trees.

Verdict

The Garmin Venu Sq receives mixed reviews, with some users praising its features and design, while others criticize its accuracy and lack of training features. Many users appreciate its battery life and integration with the Garmin ecosystem, while others find it lacking compared to other high-end smartwatches. Overall, the Venu Sq seems to be a good option for those looking for a lifestyle watch with above-average sports tracking and health features, but may not be suitable for hardcore athletes or those looking for a premium smartwatch experience.

Reviews by Topic

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

Durability

It happened to me and I ended up regretting my purchase big time. Anyone claiming that the FR series is of equal durable to the Fenix series is performing some serious mental gymnastics. Get your hands on both and you'll understand what I mean.

Venu 2 Plus - Apple/Samsung rival. Great for running/Spotify and general Smartwatch use

Dropping or hitting the watch can damage the water resistance, as can exposing it to hot water/chemicals/soaps i.e. showers. I’m afraid I did both and learned a lesson

Battery Life

Forerunner 935 is better

5 of those were with music) over about 4 days and was down to 14% battery. When new, my 935 would have gotten probably about double that. I don’t know if I got a defective model or something but my commute to and from work via bicycle is about 50 mins each way. Without music, it would drain 8-10% battery

youtube

NEW GARMIN VENU SQ (Accurate HR/GPS, Offline Spotify, 5 Day Battery)

That's a small drawback for me, because when i'm traveling i will have to bring a charger the battery life on this, however, is pretty good. So if you...

Positive

Activity Tracking

I haven’t used a sports watch before, and as well as using it for triathlon-specific training, I’d like to use it for the other sports which I usually partake in (football, tennis, weight training etc), and general day-to-day activities. Looking online, it appears the Garmin Forerunner 945 is my best bet.

Positive

reddit.com/r/triathlon

A Year Later ~ Updated Review February 2022

The mobile app is great and helps to track my activity over time and other measures like my weight and menstrual cycles. I don't wear my watch at night, but there is an option for sleep activity. I charge my watch once a week and it is typically around 40-50% battery life so it could likely last almost another week without charging. There are alerts throughout the day to remind me to move

Connectivity

For a $500 watch, I expected better.

to me. I decided to keep the Marq after experiencing both watches for over a month. First, the most annoying thing for me was the Forerunner often lagged a half second after each press of the buttons. It felt like it wasn’t responding so I would often press the buttons multiple times and then it caught up and jumped menus on me

Get a screen protector. Otherwise, fantastic. (Coming from Samsung Gear Watch)

I was figuring I'd upgrade to a newer Samsung watch. I'm glad I took the time to research and try a Garmin. I'm a techie and quasi-athlete. In other words, I like gadgets and cool tech, and I take exercise somewhat seriously

Software Updates

**[Forerunner 945 New

Neutral

reddit.com/r/Garmin

A huge disappointment for a Garmin device

Maybe the Venu SQ functions well as a very basic fitness device, but a lot of our time with jt was spent dealing with software and other technical shortcomings.

Fit

I do like it though. I am glad I bought it. It talks to my cell phone which talk to my ear buds which is cool. i like having texts displayed

Missing very important features.

If you are training and want insight for recovery and progress, this unit provides neither. No recovery time, no performance indicators or insight. Seems odd to leave that out, and those are important metrics for anyone into fitness. Actually, those are the MOST important metrics

Comfort

The Garmin Coach?

1 and anaerobic effect of 3.5. Translation? It was time to chill. Instead, I decided to go on a short 2

Pleasantly Surprised!

. or even a new runner, this is probably the watch for you. It doesn't have all of the frills of some of Garmin's other products, and it is very simple to navigate! I'm all about simplicity because I'm kind of "computer stupid

Notifications

Good, not eveything I wanted, but most of it

Getting addresses into it should be easy. Instead I'm using a third party app to read notifications for turn by turn directions in Google on my phone. Admittedly not a must have.

I liked having that constant feedback from the program, and I liked that it would adjust based on what I did. The first few weeks, I had to stop a few runs early as I just didn't have the endurance or I skipped a run, and the program compensated for it. Then in September, I moved the date of my race (since I chose my own race instead of tying it to a specific one) out a week, and the program adjusted.

Positive

reddit.com/r/Garmin

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