If you’re looking for a reasonably priced running or triathlon watch, Garmin will launch its new Forerunner 955 Solar and Forerunner 255 Music this June. The Forerunner series is perfect for those who love the outdoors and want a watch that can withstand the weekend out of town.
Photo: Garmin 2022
Here’s a first look at the two new watches.
Garmin 955 Solar
The Forerunner 955 Solar is designed for those who spend a lot of time outdoors. The watch builds on the success of the 945 Series while adding a solar charging feature that significantly extends battery life; one hour of sunlight duration can add 10 to 15 percent to the load.
The Forerunner 955 measures the solar intensity that helps charge the watch. Photo: Garmin 2022
Other notable features include an easy-to-navigate touchscreen interface, multiband GPS, and new training features such as training readiness (which tells you how recovered you are before the next session), resistance information, and operating power (watts).
The new touch screen allows you to quickly slide data and statistics screens, which can also be used in the traditional way with the same five buttons as the 945. Garmin has kept the weight of the 955 at 53 grams, which is impressive with the increase in onboard storage with the new model (32 GB); duplicate the memory you get on the Fenix 7.
The face of the Garmin Forerunner 955 watch and the solar battery. Photo: Garmin 2022
There is an improvement in the battery life of the new watch: 15 days in smartwatch mode, 42 hours in GPS mode and up to 80 hours in UltraTrac mode, and uses the same charging pin / cord as the models previous.
Forerunner 955 is expected to be released in early June, starting at $ 780 (non-solar). The Forerunner 955 Solar will start at $ 900.
The new Forerunner series does not offer LTE connectivity, but LTE connectivity will still be available on the 945 models and should soon have many of the 955’s features through software upgrades to Garmin connect.
Garmin 255 Music
The new Forerunner 255 has everything users have enjoyed about the 245 series, as well as additional features to specifically appeal to triathletes (such as the ability to switch between sports), optional multiband GPS, Garmin Pay, barometer, and sleep recovery. .
Garmin Forerunner 255 watch dial. Photo: Garmin 2022
The 255 and 255 Music are available in various sizes and interesting new colors. Both music and non-music versions offer up to 14 days of battery life in smartwatch mode and 30 hours in GPS mode. Forerunner 255 Music gives you up to 6.5 hours with GPS while listening to your favorite playlists on Spotify.
The new morning report feature shows the athlete an overview of the day: including weather, personalized suggested daily workout, and information on previous night’s sleep, recovery time, training, and VRC (the variation in time between heartbeats).
The Forerunner 255’s new morning report feature shows the athlete an overview of the day. Photo: Garmin 2022
Other new features include improved training status and the new race goal widget, which provides race preparation information, a countdown, time, and daily training tips for your next race. The Forerunner 255 Music comes in two sizes (41 mm or 46 mm).
The race day countdown feature on the new Garmin Forerunner 255. Photo: Garmin 2022
Similar to the 955, the 255 will also be released at the same time in early June, starting at $ 460 (no music) and $ 520 for the music version.