Following a few months of rumours, Garmin has unleashed its long-speculated Forerunner 955 and 255 watches. Technically, we’re getting six new watches from Garmin, since each has multiple versions to choose from. The Forerunner 955 has a solar or non-solar option. The 255 releases with a 255s version alongside, with both the 255 and 255s offering music or non-music varieties.
Here’s a brief rundown of what each of the different versions consists of. Before you get too excited, though, local details have yet to be announced. Expect some news on that front shortly.
Forerunner 255
First up is the Forerunner 255 series. There are four ‘different’ watches to see here; the 255 and 255 Music, the 255s and 255s Music.
Both Forerunner 255 devices measure 46mm, while the 255s models are a little smaller at 41mm. Besides the size difference and the fact that two models have music functionality, they’re practically the same. None feature a touchscreen, which may be a dealbreaker for a few runners out there. But if you can look past the lack of touchscreen to the two weeks of battery life – or 30 hours on GPS mode, then this might just be your next watch.
The Music models differ from their siblings in that they can… play music. Both the 255 Music and 255s Music hold up to 500 songs in local storage. The pair also connect to Spotify, Apple Music, and Deezer.
Everything you’d expect from a Forerunner is here in terms of stat and health-tracking. There are a couple of new features – Morning Report, race-widget, and HRV status. There’s also an improved GPS tracker, with a new multi-band GPS that tracks across different satellite bands.
Pricing is where the issue comes in for us South Africans. Overseas pricing is know, but that doesn’t help us much, except as a vague guess. Our best guess? Roughly R6,200in South Africa, though it’s possible import taxes will raise this a little.
Forerunner 955
There are only two versions of the 955 to explore — the Forerunner 955 Solar and the regular old 955. As you’ve probably already guessed, the Solar model comes equipped with Garmin’s Power Glass solar charging lens technology. This takes the already spectacular twenty days of battery life to a whole other level. It’s worth noting that the non-solar model also comes with twenty-day battery life as standard.
Otherwise, there isn’t much difference between solar and non-solar. Both models feature a touchscreen display, along with a five-button setup that offers some wiggle room in how you control the watch.
While a lot of the new features on the 255 are shared with the 955 models, the 955 models blow the 255 out of the water. Like 49 hours of GPS battery life, which will keep you going even through the longest of runs. Unless you’re really, really slow.
Full-colour maps are a thing, though they’re not topographical. The maps highlight points of interest along your routes. Sadly, the 100m tall South African flag has been scrapped, so we’re back to not having any points of interest. More or less. Those other things don’t really count, they’ve been around for ages.
New race widget and Morning Report features will help plan your day a little better, though it’s worth noting that these features are mirrored on the 255 lineup.
Brace yourself
Expect these to be pretty pricey. American pricing for the pair seems affordable enough, but doesn’t include tax or the cost of bringing ’em here. The Forerunner 945, the immediate predecessor, retails for about R11,000 at the moment. Expect the newer model to be a little more costly when it lands.
If that seems steep, put yourself in the shoes of hardcore runners, who these were designed for. Runners will trip over themselves to lay hands on these. Hopefully that won’t result in any running injuries. That would be awully ironic. When the South African models are announced, Stuff will be the first to let you know.