Garmin Forerunner Series has been the most successful lineup of GPS sports watches so far. From the original Forerunner released almost two decades ago to the latest FR55 introduced in 2021, the company has introduced a slew of budget, mid-range, and premium wearables for runners in between.
Forerunner 245 and 245 Music tops the chart in the mid-range category whereas FR55 is marketed as an entry-level watch. Our goal here is to find out the differences between the two and of course the similarities (there are many), so you can safely invest your money in one of them.
Here is the table to help you figure out what is missing in Forerunner 55 for those $ 100 savings in investment. Don’t have time for it? just skip to the end of the post to find out the key differences.
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The initial sale price of the Forerunner 245 was $350 but the watch can be bought for $50-100 at e-commerce stores (refurbished/discount). The initial sale price of FR55 is $199, and you won’t find any refurbished unit in the market this early as it is a relatively new product.
There is a music version of FR 245 that costs $50 more and can store up to 500 songs, and can download and stream music from popular platforms like Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pandora. Forerunner 55 has no music storage whatsoever but it can control music on your smartphone.
SpO2 tracking is missing on the Forerunner 55, whereas respiration rate monitoring can’t be found in FR245. Other health features like heart rate, sleep, and stress tracking are shared by the two.
Advanced Running Dynamics can only be found in the Forerunner 245 that includes ground contact time & balance, stride length, vertical ratio & oscillation, and cadence. Keep in mind that the watch alone can’t track these features, you would have to attach an external sensor to the watch (Garmin HRM-Tri or HRM Dual)
Forerunner 245 has additional trekking features like ‘Back to Start’, ‘ follow GPS track’. Also, you can download courses and routes right on the watch before you start your journey.
Though both the watches can be connected to an external sensor via Bluetooth or ANT+, FR 245 support a greater number of sensors.
Garmin introduced HIIT in the Venu 2, and the same made it to the FR 55. Despite having two more sports profiles (trail running, indoor rowing), FR245 is still missing high-intensity interval training.
Forerunner 245 offers 24 hours of battery performance when GPS is running in the background, FR55 offers just 20. However, the latter’s battery-saving mode can extend the performance for up to 2 weeks. FR245 offers only 1 week in comparison.
FR 55 has both recovery time and race predictor but that’s is the end of it. Forerunner 245 goes a few steps further to offer your Anaerobic and Aerobic Training Effects, Training Load, and Training Status.
FR 245 is a bit thicker and weighs slightly more. However, the difference is more prominent in display size and resolution where FR55 measures 1.04-inch and offers 203 x 203 pixels, whereas the FR245 measures 1.2-inch and offers 240 x 240 pixels. Also, the latter has Gorilla Glass Protection to its advantage.
Forerunner 245 has a more refines user interface and offer more data to view in a single glance.
Garmin has picked two different color schemes for these watches. While the old Forerunner 245 is available in Black and White, the latest FR55 is available in Berry and Gray.
Garmin Forerunner 55 vs. 245: Key Similarities
Both watches are water-resistant for up to 50m. You can take shower or swim in the pool without having to take any of them off.
As they both use the same Elevate V3 sensor, the heart rate accuracy of either watch is no better than the other.
You can download third-party apps from the Connect IQ stores on both these watches. A word of caution: the store minus a couple of sports app is all but useless.
Safety features like LiveTrack and Incident Detection are featured on both these watches, but unlike FR945 LTE, these two need to be connected to your phone.
We were pretty disappointed with the FR55 when it like the two years old FR245 didn’t pack the NFC technology. Adding support for contactless payment would have given it an edge.
The casing, strap, and bezel material are the same. Both watches come with a 20mm interchangeable strap.
The Bottom Line:
Forerunner 245 wins here but not by a huge margin. As it is an old watch, you may find it at a discounted price especially in the Christmas Sale. Maybe, you will have to pay the same price as for FR55, or maybe $50 extra. But if the size isn’t an issue, you should go for the FR 245 for it has music storage as well as advanced running, training, and navigation features.
