On Global Running Day, Garmin is presenting two new running watches to its Forerunner lineup: the $499.99 Forerunner 955 and the $349.99 Forerunner 255.
Both GPS watches sport multi-band GPS and the latest racing features, including a race widget. The Forerunner 255 and 955 count a new race widget, multi-band GPS, and a ‘morning report.’
The Forerunner 255 and 955 count a new race widget, multi-band GPS, and a ‘morning report.’ The Forerunner 955 will also arrive in a Solar version, which, as the name indicates, adds solar charging for even extended battery life.
The Forerunner 255 is a mid-range, lightweight running watch created on the Forerunner 245. It’ll come in two dimensions. The standard Forerunner 255 will gauge 46mm and weigh 49 grams, while the smaller 255S will measure 41mm and 32 grams. In addition, there’ll be a Forerunner 255 Music and 255S Music variants, which will be able to hold up to 500 melodies on the watch itself.
Garmin says that it also contains playlists from Amazon Music, Spotify, and Deezer. The Music models will command an extra $50 for $399.99. In addition, the watches are rated for 5ATM of water resistance with an estimated 14 days of battery life, up to 30 hours in GPS mode.
The significant additions this time around contain:
- A new racing widget.
- Status during sleep.
- Multi-band GPS.
- Heart rate variation (HRV).
- Triathletes can switch between sports via a single button press more easily.
The race widget will contain race prep information, including performance forecasts, race-day weather, and a countdown clock. In addition, multi-band GPS is an increasingly prevalent feature on multisport watches that boosts GPS accuracy by allowing communication with multiple satellite frequencies.
The guarantee is better accuracy in environments where it’s tough to get a good signal. Lastly, the timepiece also features a “morning report” component. When a user awakens, the watch will outline the day’s weather, a daily workout suggestion, recovery time report, last night’s sleep, training status, and HRV status.
Approximated to the Forerunner 245, the 255 lineup counts an NFC chip for Garmin Pay. Otherwise, it’s not too dissimilar sensor-wise. It still features continuous heart rate monitoring and SpO2 sensors to enable features like a Body Battery. The metric estimates how well you’ve recovered during sleep and how “drained” you are during the day from stress.
The Forerunner 255 series will also sustain basic smartwatch features like Garmin’s safety and push notifications, such as incident detection and live tracking. For training features, it’ll also provide users daily workout suggestions and keys to training programs via Garmin Coach with in-depth metrics on the Garmin Connect app.
Meanwhile, the Forerunner 955 is additionally a top-of-the-line running watch. It’s not entirely as full-featured as Garmin’s flagship Fenix series. Instead, it features a 47mm full-color touchscreen display, always-on, and 52 grams. Button fans need not bother, however. The 955 still includes five physical switches that can be used in tandem with the touchscreen.
Like the 255 series, it’s warranted for 5ATM of water resistance but has a negligibly longer battery life at an evaluated 15 days, with 42 hours in GPS mode. A $599.99 Forerunner 955 Solar also features Garmin’s proprietary Power Glass lens. The 955 Solar gains up to 20 days on a single charge with solar charging, with 49 hours in GPS mode.
The Forerunner 955, like the Forerunner 255 series, also fetches multi-band GPS, HRV status, morning reports, and the new race widget. It also has a unique training readiness metric. As the name implies, the metric considers sleep, recovery time, HRV, and a few other metrics to provide users a score indicating how “ready” they are for a training session. It also counts real-time stamina tracking, which Garmin first presented in its Fenix 7 series.
As far as health tracking and innovative features go, the Forerunner 955 has the exact staple features as the 255. In addition, however, it counts a few different training metrics, like PacePro and ClimbPro, giving real-time guidance on your pace and elevation. You can also store a more significant number of songs on the 955 — 2,000, to be exact.
Both Forerunner 255 and Forerunner 955 are available starting today. The Forerunner 255 is known in four colors: blue, gray, pink, and black. Meanwhile, the Forerunner 955 is obtainable in white and black.