First look: Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar and Forerunner 255 Music
The two new watches in the Garmin Forerunner series are ideal for those who love the outdoors
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Garmin
If you are looking for a running or a triathlon watch that can do it all at a reasonable price, Garmin will be releasing 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 which can hold up for their weekend away from the city.
Here’s a first look at the two new watches.
Garmin 955 Solar
The Forerunner 955 Solar is built 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 the battery life; an hour-long run in bright sunlight can add 10 to 15 per cent to the charge.
Other notable features include an easy-to-navigate touchscreen interface, multi-band GPS and new training features like training readiness (which tells you how recovered you are before your next session), stamina insights and running power (watts).
The new touchscreen lets you quickly swipe through data screens and stats, which can also be used in its traditional way with the same five buttons from the 945. Garmin has kept the weight of the 955 at 53 grams, which is impressive with the increase of onboard storage with the new model (32 GB); double the memory you get on the Fenix 7.
There is an improvement in battery life on the new watch is 15 days in smartwatch mode, 42 hours in GPS mode and as long as 80 hours in UltraTrac mode, and uses the same charging pin/cord as previous models.
The Forerunner 955 release date is expected to be in early June, which will start at $780 (non-solar). 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 via software updates on Garmin connect.
Garmin 255 Music
The brand-new Forerunner 255 has everything users enjoyed from the 245 series, plus additional features to appeal specifically to triathletes (such as the ability to toggle between sports), optional multi-band GPS, Garmin Pay, barometer and recovery during sleep.
The 255 and 255 Music are available in multiple sizes and exciting new colours. Both the 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 will give you up to 6.5 hours with GPS while listening to your favourite running playlists on Spotify.
The new morning report feature shows the athlete an outlook on the day: including the weather, your personalized suggested daily workout and insights on your previous night’s sleep, recovery time, training and HRV status (the variation in the time between heartbeats).
Other new features include improved training status and the new race goal widget, which provides race prep information, a countdown, weather and daily workout suggestions for your upcoming race. The Forerunner 255 Music comes in two sizes (41 mm or 46 mm).
Similar to the 955, the 255 will also be released at the same time in early June, starting at $460 (without music) and $520 for the music version.
