Garmin Forerunner 645 Music and money – wherever you go

Garmin has launched the Forerunner 645 Music, a GPS running watch with integrated music (up to 500 songs) and a contactless credit card payment system to give athletes freedom to move.

The Forerunner 645 Music features all the usual Garmin measurements – 24/7 heart rate monitoring, advanced running dynamics, performance monitoring tools, smartphone connected features and thousands of ways to customise with free watch faces, widgets, data fields and apps through the Garmin Connect IQ.

“Listening to music helps most of us keep our momentum going during those long or particularly difficult runs,” said Adam Howarth, General Manager Garmin Australasia. “Now, with the addition of integrated music and Garmin Pay, the Forerunner 645 Music will help give athletes the independence they’ve been looking for while still providing them with the quality and accuracy of our other running products that they have come to rely on.”

Garmin Pay, is accepted in Australia by ANZ (Visa), CBA (MasterCard), NAB (MasterCard) with more to come. It is a contactless payment solution and has same rewards and benefits of the physical cards, with the convenience of having them right on the wrist for contactless payment.

Athletes can better prepare for a race or training cycle with the help of training features provided by Firstbeat. Training status automatically evaluates previous exercise and fitness levels to let athletes know if they are training productively, peaking or overreaching. Measuring exercise volume from the last seven days, training load helps users determine if they are training in the right zone and whether their sessions are too easy or hard. Additionally, the anaerobic training effect metric will tell athletes how their hard work and training is improving their ability to push the limits.

Clipping the optional Running Dynamics Pod to the waistband allows users to see all six running dynamics, including cadence, ground contact time, stride length and more on their watch without the need for a chest strap.

Built-in GPS and GLONASS let athletes track how far, how fast and where they run – no phone connection required.

When paired with a compatible smartphone, it automatically uploads to Garmin Connect, an online fitness community where users can track workouts, sleep patterns, join online challenges to compete against friends and earn virtual badges. Directly from the wrist, users will be able to receive and respond to text messages5, invite friends to follow their runs in real time with LiveTrack, and view social media updates, emails and more.

It has up to 7 days of battery life in smartwatch mode and up to 5 hours in GPS mode with music. Music requires the use of Bluetooth headphones.

Weighing 42g and waterproof to 50 metres, this is the first Forerunner to feature a stainless-steel metal bezel and always-on 30.4mm 240×240 pixel Garmin Chroma Display that is easy to read — even in direct sunlight — and is housed under chemically strengthened glass. It is available with a black or cerise band and has a recommended retail price of A$599.00.

Full specifications are here.