Garmin is introducing two new running watches to its Forerunner portfolio just in time for Global Running Day: the $349.99 Forerunner 255 and the $499.99 Forerunner 955. Both GPS watches include multi-band GPS as well as new racing capabilities such as a race widget. The Forerunner 955 will also be available in a Solar version, which will include solar charging for even longer battery life.
The Forerunner 255 is a lightweight, intermediate running watch that is an improvement over the Forerunner 245. It will be available in two sizes. The normal Forerunner 255 will be 46mm in diameter and 49 grammes in weight, while the smaller 255S will be 41mm in diameter and 32 grammes in weight. There will also be Forerunner 255 Music and 255S Music models, which can store up to 500 songs on the watch itself. According to Garmin, this includes playlists from Spotify, Amazon Music, and Deezer. The Music models will cost an additional $50, bringing the total to $399.99. The watches are water-resistant to 5ATM and have a battery life of 14 days, with up to 30 hours in GPS mode.
The biggest changes this time around are a redesigned racing widget, HRV status during sleep, multi-band GPS, and the option for triathletes to transition between sports with a single button click. The race widget will feature race preparation information such as performance forecasts, race-day weather, and a countdown clock. Multi-band GPS is a function that is becoming increasingly popular on multisport watches. It improves GPS accuracy by allowing connection with various satellite bands. The promise is improved accuracy in circumstances where a good signal is difficult to obtain. Finally, the watch has a “morning report” feature. When a user wakes up, the watch will provide a brief review of the day’s weather, a daily workout recommendation, and a report on the previous night’s sleep, recuperation time, training status, and HRV status.
