So I got the 45+ a month back and was using my AW2 for swimming. And Edge 520+ for bike.
Ive smashed the AW.
The new 55 now does pool swimming (not OW), which is the vast majority of training covered for £179. It’s basically an old 245, according to DCR.
I could buy a new AW3 and get OW swimming and all the benefits of a real smart watch but the daily pain of manually moving swims into Garmin is too much to bear.
I could get a Garmin Swim 2 and get more swim features and OW for £219
Thoughts?
There are some decent bargains on slightly older Garmins out there. I just sold my Vivoactive 3 for £45 which does pool swims/running/cycling etc. Seems to be the going rate for them even though they’re really good for the money.
How much does a 735xt go for these days?
I’ve used mine for swim/run for 4 years. Does everything I need
EDIT - quick google shows just under 200
I don’t really buy secondhand kit.
Although I do look at the price it’s because I think there’s a price/value benefit. So I could buy a Fenix 6 Pro if I wanted one, I just don’t like the look of them and have no need “off road” gubbins. Like buying a 4x4 to drive the kids to school. I train indoors or in suburbia 
Fair enough. I hadn’t realised it was discontinued
It’s a bit pathetic I suppose, I’m paying £££ to avoid manually downloading/uploading files.
Thing is that I’ve just bought a 45+ £139 iirc, if I buy a 55 £179 will I then go and buy another watch for some other feature I haven’t though of as important yet?
I’m kind of teased by the SwimSmooth app Insights only available on Apple. But it means continually manually uploading stuff.
Does anyone know if the 945 is small form factor like the 45 or big like the Fenix 5/6?
Okay I’ve spent another hundred hours procrastinating and this is my comparison table:
| Forerunner 55 | Forerunner 945 | AW3 | Form | Swim 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pool swim | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Uploads to Garmin | Y | Y | Y (with 945) | Y | |
| Uploads Strava | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| OW Swim | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| SwimSmooth Insights | Y | ||||
| Buttons | Y | Y | Y | ||
| Garmin run plan | Y | Y | |||
| Requirements | Requires 745 upward or AW3 | ||||
| Bonus | Form compatibility | Form compatibility | |||
| Bonus | SwimSmooth Insights compatibility | ||||
| Race swim | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| Race bike | Y | ||||
| Race run | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| £180.00 | £430.00 | £200.00 | £150.00 | £220.00 |
Basically I can buy a 945 or buy a 55 and an AW3, getting more features and saving £50.
Or for a £100 more than a 945 have a set of Form goggles too.
0 voters
Looking like the 945 ticks the most boxes just more wedge
I still can’t understand the apparent reluctance to just get a single device that does everything you want?
If you’d done that at the time you bought the 45, then you’d have saved a load of money!
As far as I can see it, the only real reason to get an AW is if you want the day to day AW features. In which case get that, but otherwise, make your decision on a sports watch based on what you want to use it for. I guess until you’ve used it you wouldn’t appreciate the benefits, but multisport mode is really nice to have. I’ve not done a single triathlon without a single multisport watch since my very first one.
935 will tick all the same boxes as the 945 (except possibly Run Plan?) but for £100 less. My issue with Form would be goggles are consumable in my experience, even with my lack of swimming they last <1 season before they start to leak. Any indication from SwimSmooth if Insights are coming to any other watches?
We’re only talking £60 from what I can see (935 is £356 on wiggle, 945 is £417 on amazon - I’m only using “big player” retailers based on joex’s previous indication about purchasing prefs)? Personally, I’d get the watch that it still “live” and being updated. Even in the last couple of weeks, there’s been some decent new features added that I’m already using regularly.
I’d agree with this. Having used them once, they’re decent in the pool. But I’d not want to use them in OW. You wouldnt be able to see a thing. Vision is really narrow.
I bought the cheap 45 to see if I liked Garmin while waiting the 955 release which didn’t happen.
The 945 is 2yo and 2,5? times the cost of the 55 which does everything I need for the vast majority of my training.
An AW plugs the gaps of a 55 and adds more capabilities than Garmin can do.
But do I really need OW anyway? Only really happens a few times per year and in races we know our race times anyway. So maybe save a bundle and just spend £179.
I dunno I’m stuck. But the poll isn’t 
trafleets innit
I see the garmin forerunner 920xt you can get used now for £75 on eBay. An excellent watch. I bought mine second hand summer 2017 and it has everything I need - all disciplines have indoor and outdoor settings and still going strong - Don’t think previous owner used it much though - There are features on it I’ve never bothered to explore/use… tbh I don’t think you can go wrong with it - 
I’d agree with this. I even still have mine that I’d kept “just in case” that’s now not been used in approaching 2 years (except for my gf trying out jogging a couple of times during lockdown 1 last year). I’d probably be happy to part with it