Garmin Forerunner 745 Released With Over-The-Top Tracking Abilities

Garmin today announced the Forerunner 745 GPS smartwatch, the successor to the Forerunner 735XT. These days Garmin makes smartwatches and fitness trackers for a lot of different segments, but like the 735XT, the Forerunner 745 seems aimed squarely at athletes who need a higher degree of fitness tracking. Specifically, the 745 has workout tracking features for running, biking, and swimming.

Garmin said today that the Forerunner 745 uses monitoring from Firstbeat Analytics to track things like V02 max, training load, aerobic and anaerobic training effects, which the watch will use to make running and cycling workout suggestions. Runners who have one of Garmin's Running Dynamics Pods or a heart rate strap that's compatible with the Forerunner 745 can track things like their cadence and stride length too, giving them specific information about their workouts.

That kind of focus on workout metrics is present when biking and swimming too, as the watch will be able to track things like left/right balance or time spent sitting and standing on a bike, or metrics like distance and stroke while swimming. When the workout is done, Garmin says that the watch will recommend how long to recover, and that it'll take things like sleep and stress into account when coming up with that recovery time as well.

As you might expect, the Forerunner 745 can be connected with the Garmin Connect app to download or plan courses through the course creator, but the watch is also capable of integrating with other training apps as well. The watch also features enough onboard storage for around 500 songs, supports Garmin Pay, can track sleep and menstrual cycles, and supports LiveTrack so you can let others know where you are as you're doing your workout. Garmin says that the watch should last for around a week on a full charge, but that battery life is cut to 16 hours in GPS mode and 6 hours in GPS mode with music.

So, if you need a watch that can closely track a variety of workouts, it sounds like the Forerunner 745 could be a decent choice, but all of that functionality will cost you. Garmin has priced the Forerunner 745 at $499.99 and is launching it in colors including black, neo tropic, magma red, and whitestone. The Forerunner 745 is available now.