We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, this is at NO extra cost to you. These small fees allow us to create great content and keep striving to create better content.
Garmin Forerunner 735XT vs 745: What’s New?
Garmin Forerunner watches are valuable tools for tracking activities and helping plan workouts. Exercise regimes often focus on running, cycling, and swimming. However, it’s become increasingly important to acknowledge more than just these activities.
The Garmin Forerunner 735XT and the Garmin Forerunner 745 are smartwatches that help you reach your workout and everyday goals. Although similar, they meet different needs depending on what you want.
Below, we’re comparing the 745 to its predecessor, the 735XT, and looking at the new features
Garmin Forerunner 735
- Numerous profiles for various types of athletes
- Has many of the same features as the newer 745 but at a lower cost
- Available in 3 different bundles in three different bundles: watch-only, run, and triathlon.
Garmin Forerunner 745
- Numerous profiles for various types of athletes
- Has many of the same features as the 945 but at a lower cost
- Includes the music option without offering a different product
Garmin Forerunner 735XT vs 745: 735XT Summary
Released in 2016, the Garmin Forerunner 735XT is a running watch for a multisport athlete. It’s purchasable in three different bundles: watch-only, run, and triathlon.
The run and tri bundles contain monitors specific for each activity. The 735XT alone provides heart monitoring and a GPS mode for active training. It also focuses on daily life with the ability to track steps, calories, and sleep.
Garmin Forerunner 735XT vs 745: 745 Summary
Garmin released its Forerunner 745 in September 2020. Athletes can use the 745’s detailed stats to improve their performance. With features like music syncing and Garmin Pay™, this watch makes your transition from activity to everyday life seamless.
The 745 learns your personal needs and helps you go farther by utilizing stats to help you reach your goal. With built-in sports apps, training status, and other helpful tools, this watch provides useful information for effective workouts.
Garmin Forerunner 735XT vs 745: Differences
The Forerunner 735XT and the 745 are both GPS running watches aimed at multisport athletes. The 745 offers what the 735XT does but possesses many additional features.
Versions
The Forerunner 735XT offers two bundle options in addition to buying the watch by itself. The Run Bundle includes an HRM-Run™ monitor, while the Tri Bundle includes both HRM-Tri™ and HRM-Swim™ monitors. Each monitor tracks stats for specified activities.
The Forerunner 745 doesn’t offer bundles, but it is compatible with the listed monitors.
Price
The Forerunner 735XT smartwatch alone costs less than its successor at $349.99. The Forerunner 735XT Run Bundle costs $399.99 and the Tri Bundle is the most expensive option at $499.99. The Tri Bundle’s price is on par with the 745, which also costs $499.99.
Design
The Forerunner 745’s design is simpler, though both watches are sporty and classic. The 735XT offers two color options, Black/Gray and Midnight Blue/Frost Blue. The 745 provides four: Black, Neo Tropic, Magma Red, and Whitestone.
The lens for the 735XT is a chemically strengthened glass. The 745 has Corning® Gorilla® Glass DX, which completely ups the durability game.
The 735XT’s strap is silicone and the 745’s strap is a fiber-reinforced polymer. Although providing somewhat different textures, they are similar in durability.
The Forerunner 745 is smaller in height and width than the 735XT, measuring at 43.8 x 43.8 mm, but thicker, being 13.3 mm deep. It’s also heavier, weighing 47 g.
The 735XT is 44.5 x 44.5 x 11.9 mm and weighs 40.2 g. Although lightweight, the 735XT lacks the sturdiness of the 745.
Display and Screen Size
The Forerunner 735XT’s screen size is 1.23″ with a resolution of 215 x 180 pixels. The 745’s screen size of 1.2″, while smaller, has a better resolution of 240 x 240 pixels.
Battery Life
The Forerunner 745 provides better GPS, but there’s a small trade-off compared to the 735XT’s battery. The advanced GPS features, as well as the music player, hit the 745’s battery harder than the 735XT’s. But, these features also provide a fuller workout experience.
The 735XT’s battery life for its Smartwatch and Ultratrac™ modes goes up to 11 days and 24 hours respectively. The 745 only reaches 7 days and 21 hours for those same categories but holds a strong 16 hours when in GPS mode, while the 735XT only reaches 14 hours.
Memory/History
While the Forerunner 745 has shorter battery life, it outdoes the 735XT in its hours of activity data. The 735XT lasts 80 hours, while the 745 stores a whopping 200. This helps the smartwatch learn who you as an athlete are and how you train.
Software
The Forerunner 745 gives you more features overall than the 735XT. It provides a more customized workout while harnessing the benefits of improved GPS. The 745 also has a greater variety of workout-tracking and increased Smart features.
Clock
While both watches’ clock features are identical, the Forerunner 745 provides a timer. The 735XT does not.
Health Monitoring
Both the Forerunner 745 and the 735XT provide the following health monitoring features:
- Wrist-based heart rate
- Daily resting heart rate
- Sleep
- Hydration
- Menstrual cycle
However, the Forerunner 745 has eight additional features including abnormal heart rate alerts and stress-tracking.
Sensors
The Forerunner 745 has almost double the number of sensors the 735XT has. Both contain a compass, accelerometer, GPS, and Glonass, but the 745 also has Galileo.
Other features exclusive to the 745 are its barometric altimeter, gyroscope, thermometer, and monitor for blood oxygen saturation.
Smart Features
Two developments for the Forerunner 745 are music syncing and Garmin Pay™. Up to 500 songs can be synced to your watch and the Garmin Pay™ allows quick contactless pay.
The 745 also allows text response and phone call rejection with text for Android™ users, making it even easier to go phoneless.
Safety and Tracking Features
The Forerunner 735XT only has Livetrack. But the 745 has Livetrack, Group Livetrack, Incident Detection, Assistance, and Life Event Sharing for Android™ users, ensuring your safety during your activities.
Activity Tracking Features
The Forerunner 745 has two additional features over the 735XT: Move IQ™ and Floors Climbed.
Gym & Fitness Features
New for the Forerunner 745, these features help track all activity, including yoga, pilates, and strength workouts. It even has a rep counter and gym activity profiles.
Training, Planning, and Analysis Features
The Forerunner 745 provides more features than the 735XT. Training features include your training status, load, and anaerobic effort. Instead of your stats feeling like one-time ventures, this information serves as cumulative data that helps the device learn how to guide you.
The round-trip course creator allows you to map out your trails. The Trendline™ Popularity Routing utilizes data from other users to help you find the best routes.
Physio TrueUp allows you to keep data, such as your VO2 max and training loads, synced between multiple devices.
Outdoor Recreation
The Forerunner 745 expanded outdoor recreation from the 735XT with features such as:
- Trackback®
- Ultratrac Mode
- Elevation profile
- Barometric trend indicator with storm alert
- Climbspro™ ascent planner
- Vertical speed
- Total ascent/descent
Cycling Features
Cycling features are the same for both watches, except for the Forerunner 745’s advanced Vector support.
Swimming Features
The Forerunner 745 contains more swimming features than the 735XT. Pool swim features include auto rest, time and distance alerts, and pacing alerts. Critical swim speed and underwater wrist-based heart rate features are available anywhere.
Garmin Forerunner 735
- Numerous profiles for various types of athletes
- Has many of the same features as the newer 745 but at a lower cost
- Available in 3 different bundles in three different bundles: watch-only, run, and triathlon.
Garmin Forerunner 745
- Numerous profiles for various types of athletes
- Has many of the same features as the 945 but at a lower cost
- Includes the music option without offering a different product
Garmin Forerunner 735XT vs 745: Conclusion
In a Garmin Forerunner 735XT vs. 745 battle, the 745 wins with so many more features than the 735XT. It hones in on your specific needs and can track many activities. But, this variety of features isn’t what everyone wants.
For some, that level of detail is too much for their needs. If you’re a classic runner, biker, or swimmer, the 745 may seem overwhelming. The simplicity of the 735XT might suit you better. Each watch excels in improving your workouts and achieving your goals, whatever your goals may be!
Robby McClung
This article was written by the editorial staff of the Canaan Valley Running Company and Robby McClung. Robby is the founder of the Canaan Valley Running Company. You can read more in the about section of the website on Robby and the Canaan Valley Running Company.
