Just in time for Global Running Day, Garmin is introducing two new running watches to its Forerunner lineup: the $349.99 Forerunner 255 and the $499.99 Forerunner 955. Both GPS watches sport multi-band GPS and new racing features, including a race widget. The Forerunner 955 will also come in a Solar version, which, as the name suggests, adds solar charging for even longer battery life.
The Forerunner 255 is a lightweight, midrange running watch that builds on the Forerunner 245. It’ll come in two sizes. The standard Forerunner 255 will measure 46mm and weigh 49 grams, while the smaller 255S will measure 41mm and weigh 32 grams. There’ll also be a Forerunner 255 Music and 255S Music variants, which will be able to store up to 500 songs on the watch itself. Garmin says that also includes playlists from Spotify, Amazon Music, and Deezer. The Music models will cost an extra $50 for a total of $399.99. The watches are rated for 5ATM of water resistance with an estimated 14 days of battery life, with up to 30 hours in GPS mode.
The big additions this time around include a new racing widget, heart rate variation (HRV) status during sleep, multi-band GPS, and the ability for triathletes to more easily switch between sports via a single button press. The race widget will include race prep information, including performance predictions, race-day weather, and a countdown clock. Multi-band GPS is an increasingly popular feature on multisport watches that boosts GPS accuracy by enabling communication with multiple satellite frequencies. The promise is better accuracy in environments where it’s hard to get a good signal. Lastly, the watch also features a “morning report” feature. When a user wakes up, the watch will deliver a short summary of the day’s weather, a daily workout suggestion, and a report of last night’s sleep, recovery time, training status, and HRV status.
Compared to the Forerunner 245, the 255 lineup adds an NFC chip for Garmin Pay. Otherwise, it’s not too different sensor-wise. It still features continuous heart rate monitoring as well as SpO2 sensors to enable features like Body Battery. The metric measures how well you’ve recovered during sleep as well as how “drained” you are during the day from stress. The Forerunner 255 series will also support basic smartwatch features like push notifications and Garmin’s safety features, such as incident detection and live tracking. For training features, it’ll also give users daily workout suggestions as well as access to training programs via Garmin Coach and in-depth metrics on the Garmin Connect app.
The Forerunner 955 series adds solar charging and a new training readiness metric.
Image: Garmin
Meanwhile, the Forerunner 955 is …….
Source: https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/31/23148570/garmin-forerunner-255-955-wearables-smartwatches