My experience with the Garmin Forerunner 745

I have been using the Garmin Forerunner 745 for more than four months. It’s been a great experience so far and I believe it is the perfect watch for anyone who is interested in a fitness watch under $500.
Before using the Garmin I used multiple other watches. I started with the Xiaomi mi band. That band is great for beginners. The data isn’t as accurate and lacks a lot of functions but as a basic fitness band, it was great. I also miss how light it was on the wrist. After that, I tried the Apple Watch, Withings watch, Suunto watch, and Mobvoi watch. The Apple watch was the model 3. It was good. As a smartwatch, it added more features. But as a fitness watch, it wasn’t the best. I didn’t always get accurate data for my runs. The battery was also bad.
I switched to a hybrid watch next. It was the Withings watch. This watch had great battery life. Looked really slick. It gave me the bare minimum functions I needed. But the biggest issue was the accuracy. It always gave me wrong readings of my runs. I would have still kept the watch if this was fixed. After that, I tried a Suunto watch for a while but I didn’t like the companion App and also the watch UI. I quickly changed to a Mobvoi watch. This watch was my first wear os the watch since the original Moto 360. I was surprised by how good the performance was on the watch. Wear os didn’t seem that sluggish. The functionalities it provided were great too. But I didn’t like the one-day battery. It also didn’t do the best job with accuracy.
As you can see from my experience, accuracy gained more importance as I started running more. So after watching a lot of reviews, I realized if I wanted accuracy I needed to get a Garmin. After watching reviews on multiple Garmin models, I decided on the Garmin 745.
The main reasons I chose the model were the fitness data, price, battery life and the Suica functions for traveling on the trains here in Japan. So far it has done great in each category. I have gotten accurate data for most of my runs. It has been consistent on that. The battery life has been great. From having a day battery in previous watches to a week on this one. I just put it on charge every other day when I am at my desk. I have never worried about it running out of battery. The other great function has been suica. After moving to Tokyo my dependency on trains have increased. I commute twice a day on the train. Being able to just scan my watch to get on and off the train is a blessing. It is a great convenience.
Overal my experience has been positive. One of the things I want to change is the default band it came with. It is not the most comfortable. I want to try out new bands. As a smartwatch, it won’t add much functionality. You can receive notifications and reply to some. But it is not meant to be a proper smartwatch with a colorful display. You can get the Apple catch for that. But as a fitness watch, it has been great.