It’s been 3 years and 2 days since Garmin announced the Forerunner 945, and today it has finally been successfully upgraded to the Forerunner 955. Except, it’s actually two watches: the Forerunner 955 and the Forerunner 955 Solar. Today’s announcement is the first time we’ve seen solar power in the Forerunner family. And similarly, this is also the first time we’ve seen the most accurate dual-band / dual-frequency capability on a Forerunner watch (previously in the Fenix 7 / Epix series). And it’s the first time we’ve seen native power running on a Garmin watch. And finally, this is the first time we’ve seen a touchscreen Forerunner.
However, despite all these hardware innovations, I would actually say that the most interesting news here is not the hardware at all, but the software changes. The Forerunner 955 picked up all the Fenix 7 software additions, but then added a wide range of training load and recovery tools, including detailed HRV status tracking and something called Training Readiness. which finally grabs the mix of countless different Garmin bodies. -related metrics, and puts it in a clear recommendation, with details on why it offers the guidance it does.
Oh, and the Forerunner 955 wasn’t the only watch announced today. They also announced the new Forerunner 255, which is rising to become a full-featured multi-sport watch with much of the same new functionality seen in the Forerunner 955. Here’s my full in-depth review on this. [arriving shortly, here’s the video review in the meantime].
As usual, this watch is a media loan and will soon return to Garmin. This review is not sponsored (and no business can preview anything I review) and I don’t take money from advertisers for the companies I review. And as regular readers know, if something sucks, I’ll say it brutally as it is, no matter the brand (as Garmin saw just two weeks ago). Once this unit is back, I will go out and get mine for any future test needs. If you found this review useful, you can use the links at the bottom or consider becoming a DCR support that makes the site ad-free, while gaining access to a mostly weekly video series behind the ads. DCR cave scenes. And of course, it makes you great.
What’s new:
The Forerunner 955 includes a lot of new features compared to the previous Forerunner 945 (or FR945 LTE). However, a large part of it was previously introduced in the Fenix 7 & Epix series about five months ago. However, there are also new features from Garmin, virtually all of which will also come in the Fenix 7 and Epix series. More on that later in this section.
So here’s the massive list I’ve compiled of what’s new compared to the Forerunner 945 or the Forerunner 945 LTE (there are a handful of items listed below that the Forerunner 945 LTE already has). Of course, the reality is that there are even more new articles than this one that are too small to find / list here:
– Two variants now: non-solar ($ 499) and solar ($ 599) – the only difference here are the solar bits – Touch screen added – Solar power added – Multiband GPS support added (dual frequency support) – Has added a native operating power. (native fields / recording, but requires RD pod / HRM-PRO / HRM-TRI / HRM-RUN) – Specific added power strength training areas – Preparation for added training, a short daily preparation metric deadline – Monitoring the status of HRV added (at night) – A morning report has been added (summarizes HRV, sleep, training plans, etc.) – A new race schedule has been added and race details / Countdown widgets – Added a new race prediction widget – Added acute load metrics – Added the ability to redirect emergency assistance to a person solo: carousel of data added to certain clock dials. Added daily health snapshot. “Forward forward” function added for distances to predefined markers such as help stations, climbs, etc … – Added real-time resistance function, which is used during races and walks to try to leave nothing in the tank ( or manage a job correctly ut) – Added historical race predictor trend lines (to see if you’re faster or slower) – Added automatic running / walking / standing charts within a workout ( see the sports section for more information) – Viewer messaging has been added (seen on FR945 LTE, requires phone though on FR955) – New graphics have been added as fields – Added the ability to set up clock activity profiles and data fields from your phone – Added Garmin Connect IQ to the wrist (well, a limited version anyway) – Added added a new “Map Manager Function” to manage / download maps from the wrist using W iFi – Garmin SkiView added, now includes resort names and track names – Cross-country ski runs added to maps – Touch screen swipe left for create a lap – Massively checked workout status / load works (more details below) – Training load approach changed to keep up to date with your entire race schedule– Suggested daily workouts can now be viewed in the future, settings for long workout days, more settings, etc … – Suggested Daily Workouts Uts can now be linked to future calendar racing events, automatically creating workouts for this distance / course – Switched to Garmin Elevate V4 optical FC sensor – The screen of the Forerunner 955 is 260 x 260 pixels and 33 mm in diameter (the FR255 is identical, the FR255S is smaller at 218 × 218 and 27, 5 mm)
There’s no LTE version of the Forerunner 955, and I can’t wait to see one happen.
So what’s new here that isn’t in something like the recent Fenix 7 or Epix? Glad you asked, here is the top list of hits:
A) HRVB status) Preparation for daily trainingC) Acute training loadD) Morning reportE) Native race powerF) Race calendar and race event widgetsG) Suggested daily workouts that now take into account calendar races
There are many small things that are attached to these (sub-functions of these items) or menu / user interface settings (for example, on a Fenix 7, you can keep pressing any data on the face of the clock and will take you to the widget details of this data, but not to the FR955), but that is the most important thing. In any case, with regard to the stack of features listed above that are new to the FR955 compared to the Fenix 7 / Epix series, Garmin says it expects them very soon, starting with the beta releases in the recently announced beta program . The Forerunner 945 LTE will also get all these features and also look for the beta program soon (the fact that it gets it all is massive).
For Instinct 2 series watches, they also get a subset of these features to make them look like the Forerunner 255. Specifically, they will get previous A / C / E elements (these are the features seen in the FR255). And again, Garmin says we need to look into the beta program very soon for the Instinct 2 beta updates that cover these features.
Do you have all this? Let’s go cruising.
The basics:
In this section, I will cover all the basics of using a watch. Things like general usability and the new touch screen, but more importantly, all the basic daily fitness features like activity tracking, sleep tracking, health tracking, and more. Widgets, phone integration, etc … Of course, I also do it in my massive video of the beginner’s guide that appears a few hours later today, which starts in this area and then sinks as you progress.
Regardless of the version of Forerunner 955 you have (solar or non-solar), everything remains the same in this section. The only difference between these two units is literally the solar panel. This is. So all these differences are discussed in the “Solar” section below.
Starting with the outside hardware, the Forerunner 955 has five buttons like most Garmin fitness watches. Three on the left and two on the right. In general, the top right button is your confirmation button and the bottom right button is your escape / escape button. The left buttons are for navigating the menu. And you can hold down any of the buttons to access different menu items or assign quick access buttons.
The new Forerunner 955 touchscreen works in the same way as the Fenix 7 / Epix touchscreen, allowing you to navigate / swipe through or touch items like almost any other touchscreen device. I had no problems with the rain or while it was soft. Although, as usual, you will see a little less precision with a touch screen than with buttons. However, there is * ZERO * dependence on the touch screen. in fact, most of the time I don’t use it. I only use the buttons. Garmin’s approach here is to let you choose how you want to use your watch. If you want everything to be sensitive, then move on, you can. If you want all the buttons, you can do that too. Or mix the two the way I do.
By default, virtually all sports profiles have the touch off, and then turn it on by profile. You can also turn it on / off at all levels or just in all sports. There’s a slight nuance in the differences in that in the Fenix 7 series you can also turn it off with just sleeping, but that doesn’t seem to be an option here right now. To be clear, there is still a night mode of not disturbing and such, but not the more advanced sleep-related screen settings found in the Fenix 7 / Epix.
In any case, we slide back to the face of the clock. As with virtually all Garmin watches, this is customizable. You can choose from a bunch of built-in clock dials and then customize just about every piece of data, or you can download thousands from the Connect IQ store. Heck, you can even make your own with your face or something.
Here’s the Connect IQ app store, where you can download clock dials or create your own with photos. The Forerunner 955 has a 64-color display, which is identical to the Fenix 7 series. It’s not an AMOLED screen like the Garmin Venu or Epix series watches, so it won’t be as …