Corey Gaskin
If you happen to’re in any respect accustomed to Garmin’s wearables, you understand that GPS-equipped operating watches have at all times been the corporate’s major power. Garmin’s health watches have been a staple amongst athletes as a consequence of their options that are not discovered on Fitbits and Apple Watches. The Forerunner collection continues to be the place the corporate introduces a few of its most progressive monitoring and coaching options.
The Forerunner 955 continues that custom. It sits atop the Forerunner collection as probably the most feature-packed watch within the bunch, and this yr it positive aspects some fashionable touches like a touchscreen and each day train readiness assessments (à la Fitbit’s Every day Readiness function, however free to customers), whereas introducing new options not current on some other Garmin watch. That features the higher-end Fenix collection of watches, from which the Forerunner 955 can also be beginning to steal some cues, like solar-charging choices and multi-band GPS.
We skilled with the Forerunner 955 for just a few weeks to see how its latest options enhance on a platform we already love and to find out simply how afraid Garmin needs to be about Apple or Fitbit catching up.
A brand new touchscreen, photo voltaic possibility, and multi-band GPS
-
Left to proper: Forerunner 945, 955, and Garmin Fenix 7. The 955 is correct within the center by way of dimension.
Corey Gaskin -
Photo voltaic sensitivity offers outside adventurers an edge by barely boosting battery life.
Corey Gaskin
The Forerunner 955 has an identical design to the 945 earlier than it, however that is the primary Forerunner to include a touchscreen show you’ll be able to disable manually or robotically throughout actions. It is also the primary Forerunner to function a photo voltaic charging possibility for a $100 premium, and it is the primary with multi-band GPS help. Multi-band GPS supplies extra correct location monitoring that’s extra dependable in difficult environments. The function was beforehand reserved for Garmin’s highest-end trackers.
The 955’s face grew a tenth of an inch, widening the show to 1.3 mm and permitting for a brand new digitized second hand going across the edges of the display. The solar-charging model provides a neat reflective rim across the watch face the place it soaks in daylight for a bump in battery life. Altogether, this makes for a barely larger watch than its predecessor, however it does not bulge off your arm like Garmin’s Fenix or Epix watches would possibly.
Beneath the hood, we nonetheless have sensors for coronary heart fee, blood oxygen monitoring, GPS, and 32GB of storage for music. The Forerunner is rated for 5ATM water resistance, and it will probably function from -4º F to 140º F.
Similar OS, new touch-based interactions
Garmin hasn’t tweaked the aesthetics or mechanics of the OS a lot, as an alternative specializing in refining and creating new monitoring options. I don’t have any qualms with the UI—they get the job completed—however it was good to see the introduction of interactive watch faces on the platform. It’s not a lot, however the default face has a carousel of quick-view stats you’ll be able to faucet by that embody VO₂ max, coronary heart fee variability (HRV), coaching load, and exercise minutes.
Garmin’s inexperience with touchscreen interfaces is obvious on the Forerunner 955. It’s not instantly intuitive what every icon is telling you, and it will be useful for those who might long-press every of them to see extra info, very like how watch face problems on the Apple Watch work. Hopefully, this type of touch-optimized interface enlargement will come quickly.
New Coaching Readiness scores and assessments
Garmin’s sturdy swimsuit continues to be its free, in-depth well being metrics and coaching evaluation. The corporate is leagues forward of its opponents in offering coaching enchancment options and sport-specific assessments (significantly operating, but in addition biking and swimming to barely lesser extents).
With the 955, Garmin additional refined these metrics for accuracy whereas including two extra mainstream options: Coaching Readiness and Morning Report. Coaching Readiness makes use of your sleep rating historical past, coronary heart fee variability, stress historical past (primarily based on HRV), restoration time since your final exercise, and Garmin’s Acute Coaching Load function to evaluate how prepared you might be to train each day.
