INSTANT UPGRADES
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2 SPEND A PENNY
You’ve just finished a gruelling
run. You’ve forgotten your drink.
The water fountain in the park
is occupied by some decaying
spiders and the guy at the
kiosk doesn’t take cash. Fret
not, because the 945 features
Garmin Pay, which allows you to
reap the benefits of contactless
pay without a pocket full of
cards. Note: it only currently
supports a handful of UK banks,
with more on the way.5 REBOOT YOUR ROUTE
Some of Garmin’s previous
efforts at mapping were at best
confusing and at worst bloody
infuriating. Rejoice: the mapping
functionality is now as smart
as any nav system you’d find
in a car, and will immediately
re-route if you make a wrong
turn. Also, try the new Trendline
popularity routing, which uses
Garmin Connect data from
fellow athletes to suggest the
best routes and trails.1 FEEL THE POWER
For years, cyclists have been
taking advantage of power
meters and accurately working
out effort based on the wattage
they put through the cranks. It’s
a little trickier for runners but
Garmin’s ace Running Power
app, which works perfectly on
the Forerunner 945, works out
running power in real time using
factors such as pace, vertical
oscillation, gradient and even
wind. No. More. Excuses.4 GEEK OUT ON STATS
The 945 produces more graphs,
charts and statistics than
a failed SpaceX landing. You
can check your real-time
performance condition (the
relationship between your
running speed and heart rate),
recovery time and VO2 Max,
and even identify your lactate
threshold. Head to the excellent
Garmin Connect app in order
to get the clearest picture of
your progress.3 FOLLOW THE BEAT
Music can make or break a
workout, and some people
find a rollicking tune can push
them through the mental barrier
that’s stopping that PB from
being obliterated. Garmin makes
it simple to pair a set of wireless
headphones to the device; then
you can transfer music from
your library (this takes ages)
or stream it from a favoured
service (no Google Play Music
or Apple Music at the moment).6 DON’T STRESS
As well as tracking all manner of
exercise and turning all wearers
into super-athletes, the 945
also has your back when it
comes to health and well-being.
Activating the sleep-tracker
function gives a detailed
breakdown of rest (and where
you’re going wrong), while
24/7 stress tracking warns
when that throbbing vein on
the side of your head is getting
out of control.N
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RUNCASTS
If Spotify and
Deezer just aren’t
getting you over
the 4K hump,
maybe Stephen
Fry or Ricky
Gervais will.
Runcasts makes
sync-ing favourite
podcasts to your
watch a doddle.KOMOOT
The absence
of Google Maps
makes planning
routes on the
watch a little
tricky. Komoot
simplifies things
with a nice
desktop interface
and the ability to
beam routes over.BARCODE
WALLET
This app does
what its names
suggests, and
stores up to 16
barcodes then
displays them
on the watch-face
widget. Saves you
having to carry
around all those
loyalty cards.