Garmin adds LTE connnectivity to Forerunner 945

Garmin has added LTE connectivity to its premium triathlon smartwatch, the Forerunner 945, allowing triathletes to stay connected to their friends and family while they’re out on long training runs to improve safety. While the LTE features do require a subscription plan, they are certainly worth the extra step.

“For years, athletes have been able to leave their phone at home and still receive performance metrics, listen to music and pay for purchases with their Forerunner. Now, they can also access safety and tracking features right from their watch, making it even easier to work out without a phone and without worry,” says Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales.

The Forerunner 945 LTE lets athletes send for help if they need to and stay connected to loved ones — no phone needed. If an athlete feels unsafe or if the smartwatch senses an incident occurred, assistance and incident detection features will send a message with their location to chosen emergency contacts. The watch can also automatically send the runner’s name and location to Garmin IERCC, a professional 24/7 global monitoring and response centre, who will then contact and co-ordinate with local emergency services. The Garmin IERCC will stay in contact with the athlete until the situation is resolved.

The LiveTrack feature allows friends and family to follow along with you on your workout in real-time, and even see your entire preplanned course. You can also send pace and mileage updates to your friends and family during a race. This watch also includes maps, tracks your sleep, includes menstrual cycle and pregnancy tracking for women, can store up to 1,000 songs and can receive smart notifications, among several other features.

The Forerunner 945 LTE features up to two weeks of battery life in smartwatch mode and up to seven hours in GPS mode with music and LTE LiveTrack. Available now in whitestone or black, the Forerunner 945 LTE has a suggested retail price of $849.99 CAD.