GARMIN FORERUNNER 245 GPS TEST
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 พ.ค. 2019
- 2 weeks ago, I bought the Garmin 245 and have been running with it every day since. There’s some things I love about the watch and others a bit less so. One thing I was particularly interested in was its GPS performance given that Garmin recently switch to the Sony GPS chipset.
So today, I’m presenting my results of the Garmin 245 GPS accuracy and precision testing. For context, I will compare the data to the exact same testing I did for the Apple Watch 4, Apple Watch 3, Garmin 235, and the Stryd footpod.
In order to insure I had accurate tests courses, I used the USATF protocol for measuring courses ( www.usatf.org/Products-/-Servi... ) which required me to buy a Jones Counter and affix it to my bike.
I calibrated that Jones counter to within 99.98% accuracy each time I measured a new test course and then re-calibrated it at the end of that day to make sure it stayed within tolerance.
I then chose 3 different GPS test courses and road them 4 times each, making sure none of the 4 trials deviated by more than 0.02% error.
When it came time to test the Garmin 245, I wore it on my left wrist (without wearing any other GPS devices) and set it to GPS + GLONASS. Before each trial, I gave the Garmin 245 5 minutes to acquire and lock on to the satellites. Once the testing was complete, I inspected the native .tcx file and read off the distances in terms of meters.
I devised the 3 courses to test nearly all real-world situations-easy bike paths, light trails, single track heavily forested trails, downtown running, across bridges and under overpasses. You can learn more about how GPS works and what causes failures in my video: • HOW DO GPS RUNNING WAT...
In fact, I ran the test courses (except the 10.30km Otaku Circuit) 10 times over 2-3 days in order to see how the Garmin 245 did when the GPS satellites where in different orientations in the sky.
Anyway, I think you’ll find my test to be realistic, fair, stringent and thorough.
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Connect With Me
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Strava: / strava
Instagram: @running.otaku
Blog: www.runningotaku.com
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What I Use
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* Apple Watch 4
* Garmin Forerunner 245
* Wahoo TICKR
* AutoSleep for Apple Watch
* Stryd Footpod
* FinalSurge
My current shoes
* Brooks Glycerin 17
* Adidas Adios 4
* Nike VaporFly 4%
* Hoka One One Speedgoat 2
* Salomon Sense Ride
Royalty Free Music from www.bensound.com - กีฬา
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Thank god someone is making actual reviews of the product rather than just reading the specs, you gained a subscriber!
Thank you! 🙏
Wow! Your review is done with so much scrutiny that it makes purchasing the watch a very easy choice. I've been looking for a channel that would show statistics about GPS accuracy since that is the most important aspect of any sports watch and you sir, just made my day.
Fantastic, you made my day! Thanks for watching.
I appreciate your painstakingly benchmarking all the watches and presented in such a great graphical info. I wish you can do to other running watches also
I'd love to...but don't quite have the budget! :-)
Thank you for this video! It was very clear and easy to understand with great data.
Your content is always great. Thank you for making these videos!
Thanks...and I’m glad you are enjoying them!
You are amazing 💖 thank you for such a profound review!
Great video and testing
You earned a subscriber. Thank you for the relevant data!
Thanks for watching, Oliver...and glad to have you onboard!
Great testing protocol. Thank you for doing the work. Made me subscribe.
Fantastic, and thanks for watching! I follow a number of other running TH-camrs who review watches but even DC Rainmaker didn't go as deep into the weeds as I was hoping...and so Running Otaku was born! :-)
Super review, thanks for doing this. I particularly liked how you carefully described your testing methodology and had other devices to compare your results to. I currently have the 230 but am considering the 945 which has the same new GPS chipset. I wonder if the antenna design/configuration is the same with the 245 or if it varies. I'd think if it was the same, the 945 would probably perform similarly to what you tested.
Also, just to add one more points, a number of marathons run through city centers (like the one here in Chicago) so I was hoping the new chipset would be able to cope with those challenging conditions better. However, you are right, I too am hopeful that Garmin will do some more fine-tuning with the software to improve the performance.
I don’t know if the 945 has the same antenna as the 245; I can only guess that it’s different because the 945 chassis seems nearly identical to the 935’s. I’ve heard stories about GPS failures in parts of the Chicago Marathon. I suppose you would need a footpod to overcome that issue.
Very professional review, you gained my subscription! Thanks.
Thanks, you just made my day! 🙏 Happy New Year.
Thank you. You are very precisely one. I like your explanation because of my last profession - technician in airplane research. Very good.
Wow, thanks! When I was a kid, I learned how to fly but I am no longer current. 😢
Thank you for putting in the work for this video
My pleasure. It was fun and added 42 miles to my training. :-)
Great job! I love the data that you put together for these reviews as well as your own training and plans, it is always great to see someone take the harder scientific path to determine efficacy of a product along with the general "feel". I agree from my perspective absolute accuracy is not necessary although in cases the fact that the Garmin 245 is worse than the 235 (even if only a little) is concerning. Makes we want to go out and rigorously test my Fenix 5 (which I absolutely love BTW). One thing I learned from the video here is the next time I am out that way I absolutely have to go run that Mt Tabor trail, how far is that from the downtown area?
Kurt Steege If you come to Portland, then Forest Park is a must! www.alltrails.com/parks/us/oregon/forest-park. There’s something like 50 miles of single track and fire trails and it’s only a 2-3 mile jog from downtown.
Thanks for the huge effort you put into making this video. I had to subscribe. I am suprised the 245 scored so well because my FR10 was more accurate and my 935 more accurate than my 945. 935 I would click off kilometers each within 3 seconds on easy runs or threshold runs. The tracks on 935 are better too I wish I had kept that watch.
Accuracy is affected by the chipset, the antenna design, firmware, and many other watch factors. The only way to tell for sure how accurate the watches are is to do a test like I did on a hyper accurately measured course and do many trials over the course of many hours as the satellites move across the sky.
Awesome test :-D I came here, because there are some reports in the garmin forum about bad accuracy.
Thanks so much for watching. You can see from my How GPS Works video that there's a number of internal and external factors that can throw off accuracy. As I mentioned "precision" (the degree of variation from one test to another) is also really important but not many people actually talk about it...let alone measure it. :-)
Very well done sir.. Thank you for doing this..
Fantastic review, is there any updated version of this comparison? I am just planning to buy 245 Music for my upcoming training
Fantastic video my friend. Thanks for sharing this with us. :)
My pleasure, thanks for watching. I couldn’t find anyone else who went into this level of analysis, so I did it myself. 🤓
Thanks for the video. I like your testing protocol and good explanation. Looking forward to your full 245 review as I'm on the fence about buying one. I wonder how much of the GPS inaccuracy is inherent and how much could be improved in firmware. Did you compare with and without Glonass,?
Good questions! It’s difficult to determine what % of the inaccuracies are fixable in software because there are so many factors that can cause error (see my previous video about GPS technology). Basic physics makes accuracy tough in canyons or if the signal from one/multiple satellites are blocked. If the watch has a 9-axis sensor (accelerometer, compass, gyroscope) it could use that to augment the distance recordings in certain situations. My hypothesis is that Apple Watch is doing this; maybe Garmin will follows suit? Until then, I wouldn’t expect major improvements in accuracy/precision through software. As to your last question- I didn’t test with just GPS or GPS+Galileo...mostly because I didn’t want to run yet another 40 miles of tests as I’m on a fairly regimented training block now. 😀
Thank you for the video. I love it
sama sama 😀
I know it's been more than a year, but this is a really awesome video! You put so much effort into it! Thank you!
- Does recording interval matter in garmin watches? (Smart vs 1 second)
- What are the most accurate and consistent running watches out there? Kinda disappointed with the 245.
- You should really start making running shoe reviews that are on that level of details and effort! You would blow all other shoe reviewers out of the water!
Thanks for all your kind words. You just made my day! :-)
To answer your questions:
1. It will matter and I always recommend keeping the watch in 1 second mode.
2. As you can see from my past tests, the conditions matter more than the watch. If you want to have the greatest confidence of accuracy, the Stryd footpod was #1 in my tests for both accuracy and precision.
3. I though about it, but there are so many people doing this now. Everyone claims to be non-biased and free to say whatever they like, yet the truth of the matter is they hardly say anything negative for fear they’ll stop getting free stuff. I don’t have the budget to buy new shoes every week or two to eliminate that bias. Also, I’m running for a shoe affiliated team now, so that would cause some conflicts.
Well done, good Information! 👍
Glad you liked it
Great review.
Thanks 👍
Thank you for watching!
Great video. Thank you for your review :)
Do you know is the 245 has an altimeter?
Nope, the 245 doesn’t have a barometer (that’s what measures the change in air pressure to determine altitude).
Thanks! Been considering the 245 but I think I might just stick with my AW3, no complaints really, contactless payment, issue free music with airpods, baro alt, nice screen, excellelent OW swim track (it has no right to be that good at OW). Have some money burning a hole in my pocket but I think that will go towards a Stryd instead. Great vid 👍
Sounds very wise to me. The only reason I'd recommend for you to buy the 245 would be a.) if you do a lot of pre-programed structured workouts (you can do this on iSmoothRun for AppleWatch but its cumbersome) or b.) if you take a lot of lap splits when wearing gloves.
@@RunningOtaku + Battery life.
Thank you for video very helpful. Do you have a video which can compare GPS vs GPS GLONASS vs GPS GALILEO
Good question. Nope. I heard some claims that GPS is better than GPS plus GLONASS (or Galileo). That sounds like a mathematical impossibility to me, but without doing some experiments, I cannot say for sure. The argument is moot to me because the Stryd footpod is better than any combination of satellite-based pace/distance.
Just finished the Chicago Marathon and I thought the 245 was horrible. Garmin recorded I ran 26.68 and my watch basically recorded a completed mile about 1/4 mile before the road markers. Of course Chicago had tunnels, bridges and lots of buildings so based on your review I guess it performed as you expected it might.
Thank you
Yup, Chicago,is notoriously hard on GPS watches. I hope you had a great race though!
Love these tests. I decided to get the 645 about 2 weeks ago. Do you have a guess as to how that would perform? Similar to the 235? Does that have the old chip or the new one?
Jon Harding It’s got the previous chipset. Performance also depends upon the antenna design, so it’s hard to say how it would do vs. the 235.
Thanks man
Amazing video! Got one subscriber! Just a few questions, have you tested it again with sw updates? Have you tested HR and SpO2? Have you tested Instinct solar? Thanks!
Hi Mauricio- Thank you! I haven’t tested the accuracy in nearly 2 years, but I think the software updates are mostly about bug fixes/new features and not improved GPS accuracy. The HR readings on my wrist are really bad, so I only use a HR strap if I want to measure my pulse. I haven’t tested the Instict, sorry.
Thanks for your review Running Otaku. My impression is that accuracy somehow is dependent on on geographic location. Here in Oslo I find the 245M to struggle quite a bit with GPS+Glonass. However, when visiting northern norway (i.e. northcape area), the GPS+G is very accurate.
Did you btw use smart or every-second data recorder?
Your position on the globe could have some effect depending on which constellation of satellites you’re using. (I have a video on How GPS Works that explains the different constellations.). As I mention in the video, judging accuracy by reviewing the GPS tracks isn’t really a valid method. You’d have to painstakingly measure a corse and compare the actual distance with what GPS reports.
Another super interesting video because we all want to know how accurate our watches are. Does the 235 have the same GPS chipset as the 645? Also, was the 235 understating the distance or overstating it because I’m happy if it’s understating it!
By the way, my 645 consistently recorded a slightly longer distance than my TomTom when I tested both together so I’m curious to know whether it is long or short - but I don’t have the time or skill set to obtain this info! 😀
Thanks for doing it for me and others. 👍
Theres no one answer to your question. Sometimes a watch can read long and other tines short. Thats why I measure precision and accuracy. Precision is the range of error.
Great video!
Thanks for watching! What videos would you like to see in the future?
@@RunningOtaku I'm really like the technique you're using for testing GPS accuracy, it's insight and more detail than DC Rainmaker's testing. love to see more videos like this or stryd related is great. Thanks for your effort :)
Nhan Nguyen Ok, thanks for letting me know. 🤓
thanks for the useful video. from my pov and considering only the GPS results, I do not see the improvement from the 235 to the 245.....
GPS performance on the two watches is about the same, but there are a lot of other improvements on the 245 which I’ll talk about in my next video.
Running Otaku ....sure indeed.... as mentioned, only considering GPS ‘accuracy’
Thanks again...I’m following the channel with interest.....
Love the data centric approach. Subbed. Now that you had it for a year, does it still stand up well? What other watches would you recommend?
I still like the watch very much. It’s the one I use when I’m doing a structured workout. For easy runs, I find that just about any watch is fine...even my 15 year old Casio.
@@RunningOtaku i watched your casio is back video haha. i thought it was gonna be the new gshock one. Would love more videos from you sir!
Aaron Thanks. I’ve been trying to come up with something interesting to share....
Great review. I’m big on the gps accuracy. I currently use a forerunner 25, having a hard time making myself upgrade because the gps seems very accurate. With the 245 is there a way to engage the gps with both Glonass and Galileo engaged, I read that would decrease battery life but would it make it more accurate? Thanks.
You can’t do all three. If you have open skies GPS alone is fine. If you are in a canyon, having all 3 wont help.
Thanks for your great video!
Do you the data of FR245 which has GPS only option? I heard that FR245 shows better GPS accuracy when it is set to GPS only mode.
Plus, I want to know GPS accuracy of FR 945 too! Could you give me some advice?
I haven’t tested with just GPS. Mathematically, it’s hard to see why having fewer satellites would make accuracy better. I did a whole video on how GPS works and talked specifically about GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and other satellite constellations.
You are awesome!
Wow, you just made my day!
I have heard that Garmin is the go to name for runners and tri-athletes . Since Apple Watch performs better that Garmin, why not buy Apple Watch instead? I
just bought a Garmin 245 and tested it a little bit in my apartment complex which is square in shape and there is an outer ring road to run on. I wanted to know which mode to use on the garmin out of the 4 and hence stumbled on to your video. Great work. thanks :)
You’re welcome. I’m glad I was of help. 😄
You’re welcome. I’m glad I was of help. 😄
What are your though on Garmin 735x?? Thank U great video 💞
Thanks for your kind words. I’ve never used the 735, so I can’t really comment. In general, I really like Garmin watches for running- the only question is what price point do you want to pay.
best review ever !!!! hey what about the pace? does it show accuracy while running? in running tracks? how about that? thanks !
Thanks for your kind words! Pace and distance are equally accurate. My suggestion is to always smooth out the pace readings and never use real-time.
My recommendation is to set the pace reading as the current lap and turn on auto laps (per mile or km). When running on the track, I highly recommend that you go strictly by time and just take your own 200m and/or 400m splits. In fact, when I do track workouts, I usually just have the lap time displayed on the watch and nothing else. I have another video on how to set up structure workouts with the excellent Workout Builder on Garmin Connect when doing track workouts if you are interested.
@@RunningOtaku ohh thank you !! sure i ll check it out ! thanks for yr response! by the way i was thinking if this wereable works with the foot pod
Roberto Postigo I use the Garmin with my Stryd foot pod and it works great. of course it will also work with the Garmin foot pod.
@@RunningOtaku thats perfect ! thanks !!
hey buddy ! what about the combination of gps + galileo . and smart or seconds tracks?
When I tested, not all the Galileo satellites were deployed yet. On top of that, I have no reason to believe it would have made a significant difference.
I just purchased the 245 music. (It is supposed to be delivered today.) I "upgraded" from the Fitbit Ionic. I have been fairly satisfied with the Ionic up to now. I am a casual runner who runs in a half marathon here and there. The only time I see an issue with the Ionic is on the downtown portion of Philadelphia during my Philly Love Run. (That and the tangent discrepancies due to me staying on the right and running wide on turns.) Anyway, do you know anything about the Fitbit Ionic's accuracy? If the 245 is more accurate than the Ionic, I will be very happy, since I am not really unhappy with my Ionic.
I haven't tested the Fitbit Ionic, so I don't have any details for you. As I mentioned in the video, all GPS watches will struggle if you are running between tall buildings.
If you do live and run often in a city, which watch (s) would you recommend for GPS accuracy? I've had the 245 for several weeks, but it really seems to struggle even when it's within 15 - 20 meters of single or two story houses.
Thanks for doing thorough reviews by the way!
Hmmm. The 245 should do fairly well in that situation. Is it off by more than 2%? If so, I’d suspect that any other GPS watch will struggle too.
@@RunningOtaku it's highly variable, even on the same routes, but I'd say so. The thing is, even on more open streets with low buildings, or running alongside a canal with good view of the sky, it'll rarely place me on the right side, and does a lot of zig-zagging about.
Trevor White Sounds like there’s something defective. I’d make sure you’ve downloaded the latest firmware for the watch to see if that fixes things. If that doesn’t work, it might be that the watch’s antenna is damaged. Perhaps Garmin will send a replacement?
@@RunningOtaku This is actually the replacement for my first one 😬 and it seems to perform in the same way.
It's all up to date with the latest firmware (I even tested the beta firmware on my first).
Thanks for taking the time to respond!
Do You have test garmin 945 or polar vantage v?
I would like to test them, but it gets very expensive buying lots of running watches. Have you checked out DC Rainmaker’s TH-cam channel?
Hello, was this done without the watch being connected to the phone ? Also im considering buying this watch to track my runs, do you recommend another garmin that is best for tracking runs 🏃♂️? Thanks
Yup, I never run with my phone. All of the Garmin Forerunner watches are good for running. The more expensive you go, the more features. I like the 245 more than the more expensive Forerunners because it’s cheaper and does everything I need.
Great review, RO!! I'd like to ask you about the battery. I need to get 7 hrs from the watch, in full gps mode and with bluetooth activated so that I can listen to music during my long-distance running. Garmin says that I'll get 6 hrs from it like that but do you think that I can push that to 7 hrs by cutting out some of the functions? What if I, mid-run, turn the music off (can I easily do that) for an hour or so, would that get me to 7 hours? I don't know how the back light works - if I turn it off, can I still see the watch face? Do I save a lot by turning off the seconds on the time display? Basically, can I push it to 7 hrs or do I need to buy the 745? Thanks!!
Music streaming kills the battery...even faster than GPS does. If you turn the music off for an hour or two, it will definitely improve battery life.
@@RunningOtaku Thnx!
helow. i am new to garmin and i just owned my own FR245. my questions is how to know if my GPS is ready for running? i already wait around 3 mins in running mode but nothing happened. Is there any notification or such? (because when i use polar m400, there is a notification when the gps signal is ready)
On the Garmin Forerunner 245, when you click the top right button twice, it goes into "run" mode. You will see an arc across the top that has some red and some white. This is the GPS signal. When the watch has acquired the satellites, that arc will turn green and you are ready to run!
Saya suka TH-cam Channel Anda. (Saya tinggal di Bali selama satu tahun.)
@@RunningOtaku Wah terima kasih atas pujiannya.
Saya kaget loh. Ternyata bisa bahasa Indonesia. Keren!! Di Bali satu tahun jalan-jalan / kerja?
Btw, Thx u so much for the information about the garmin info.
Sama sama. Saya bisa berbicara sedikit bahasa indonesia. I was there with my family for a year of vacation...although my daughter went to kindergarten there.
Thanks for video,according to you, 235 & 245 which is better in GPS.
The 245 is a little better for accuracy and for battery life.
@@RunningOtaku thanks you 👍
In your opinion the Sony gps chipset is a downgrade for accuracy? The next generation will use this one again? Thank you.
Thats a good question. I haven’t done much testing with the prior GPS chipsets, so I cannot say for sure. My opinion is that the accuracy is good enough. If you really want to get great accuracy and precision, its hard to beat the Stryd footpod...although it will set you back $219 + shipping.
You said that you gave 5 minutes to acquire and lock on to satellite. After the watch shows "GPS Ready", is there more that goes on in the background to get a more accurate GPS measurement? My watch takes about 30 seconds so would adding more time make the GPS more accurate?
Once the watch acquires 4 satellites, it will say “GPS Ready”. There is potential to lock onto a few more satellites depending on where they are on the horizon at that moment of time. The more satellites acquired the more the accuracy will increase-but it’s probably only on the order of a few tenths of a percent improvement. I just wanted to give all the watches their best chance before starting the trials.
@@RunningOtaku awesome, I didn't know that. Thanks!
Thanks. Very informative video. Is it normal that it takes so long to get a GPS lock? Just got the 245, and it takes between 90-120 seconds for a gps lock, same location daily.
My Edge 1030 is MUCH faster.
I’ve recently had the same issue with my 245. I think its because Garmin updated the software and caused the bug. Hopefully it will be fixed soon.
@@RunningOtaku did a soft reset and am getting gps lock in 15 to 20 seconds now. Hope it's a lasting fix.
You can use Stryd with 245 right?
Absolutely!
Hello, awesome review! Which GPS setting would you recommend? I have the 245 and it always seems to be a bit far off of where I actually am.
I recommend GPS + GLONASS. If you’re interested, I have another video on how GPS works and several of the causes that can throw the accuracy off.
I Have the issue that I cant connect to gps.
Try powering off you watch completely and restarting. Gamin sent out a firmware upgrade recently that is causing problems acquiring satellites.
I recently got the ForeRunner 245 to replace my old TomTom Spark3. So many features, customizable and easy to use. However, the GPS accuracy is very poor. Even in open areas it can be 30m to 40m off. For my older Spark3 that was about 10m accurate in moderately wooded areas and about 3m or less in open areas. Really appalling that a GPS products company provides such poor (really poor) GPS quality.
How do you know what the exact distance was in the open areas and in the wooded areas?
should i get the 645 or 245?
I recommend the 245. If you listen to Spotify, then the 245 Music.
@@RunningOtaku I heard theres no barometer in 245 though
Arthur Tse That’s true. Do you do a lot of mountain running?
@@RunningOtaku no but from time to time I run trails with slight slope, maybe barometer isnt so important after all and benefits of 245 overrides the lack of barometer
Arthur Tse Yes, that is my opinion.
Basically using a Garmin GPS watch for running downtown is as accurate as using it to measure run distance on a treadmill.
Pretty much, although it depends how tall the buildings are and how narrow the streets are.
*****👌
First, wow! What an amazing review. It's wonderful that you applied some statistical method.
I am wondering, for the forerunner 245, is it possible to use only GPS? Or only Glonas? (Not use them together). Have you tried that? If so, how was the accuracy affected?
If you go to the 4:48 mark on the video below, you will see the reason for my question. I've noticed something similar in other videos which use the gps+glonass setting.
th-cam.com/video/3i8l5eapg5o/w-d-xo.html
Sure, you can select GPS only by clicking "Run" --> click middle left button --> scroll down and select "Run Settings" --> scroll down and select "GPS". Once you're there, you can chose between "GPS + GLONASS", "GPS + Galileo", "GPS Only" or , "UltraTrac". I have a video on how GPS works which explains GLONASS & Galileo. Theoretically two networks simultaneously should do better than just one. There's a chance that using two networks it might reduce battery life a bit, but if it does, it isn't noticeable. I always use "GPS + GLONASS".
@@RunningOtaku, thank you for the information. Your videos are top quality. I feel like I can purchase my first Garmin with much more confidence.
Kofuzi lives in downtown Chicago and so when he runs near the tall buildings his watches suffer from multi-path- basically the signal bouncing off the walls and throwing off the timing/GPS accuracy. Its not an issue of GPS and/or GLONASS.
@@RunningOtaku I just watched your GPS video, fascinating. Thank you for your service. I agree with the theory you explain in the GPS video. Still, I might copy your method and do 10 runs to collect data using different combinations of satellite constellations.
Of course Apple watch will be more precise,it's literally a small phone.