Garmin announces the Forerunner 955 and 255 series. A Solar version of the Forerunner 955 will be released that will include a screen with support for solar charging. Both model series support multiband GNSS, have a Running Power, HRV Status and Sleep Score meter and are suitable for multisport activities.
The Forerunner 955 Solar includes a touch-sensitive 1.3″ color display of the always-on type, with a resolution of 260x260px. It is not an OLED display, but a transflective LCD with memory-in pixel. Thanks to the support for solar charging energy, the battery life is 20 days in smartwatch mode and 49 hours in GPS mode without music. Garmin assumes three hours a day in the sun with a light intensity of 50klx. There is also a 955 variant without solar charging, which offers 15 days of battery life in smartwatch mode and 42 hours in GPS mode. It is not the first time that Garmin has introduced a Solar variant of its smartwatches. These Solar sports watches have a Power Glass lens with transparent layer with photovoltaic cells. the touchscreen, the sports watch has five buttons.
Compared to the 2019 Forerunner 945, the new model adds support for multiband GNSS, a feature we previously saw with the Epix 2 and Fenix 7 models. The Forerunner 955 also promises to provide better insight into the user’s overall health with new Morning Report, Training Readiness and HRV Status reports. The new Race Widget should also provide better insight into the expected finish time with a pre-entered route, based on route details, weather data and fitness data.
Users can see their energy reserves in real time during runs with the Realtime Stamina function that we also found on the Epix 2 earlier. The watch can also make suggestions about daily training based on the fitness and health of the wearer. The 955 is compatible with the separately available Running Dynamics Pod or HRM-Pro for more stats, and the wearable also works with power meter pedals and Garmin Coach. In addition, there is support for Garmin Pay, as well as for Spotify, Amazon Music and Deezer, with space to store up to 2,000 songs. Just like its predecessor, the Forerunner 955 also features full-colour maps and offers the option of navigating with the watch.
The Forerunner 955 costs 550 euros. The Solar variant is a bit more expensive with a suggested retail price of 650 euros.
The Forerunner 255 Series consists of cheaper smartwatches aimed at amateur athletes. New to the Forerunner 255 models is the support for multisport activities, which makes it possible to log a triathlon as one activity, for example. Previously, this functionality was reserved for the more expensive Forerunners.
Like the 955, the Forerunner 255 gets improved Training Status, HRV Status and Race Widget, Running Power support, and multiband GNSS reception. Compared to the Forerunner 955, the cheaper Forerunner 255 lacks, among other things, built-in maps and navigation functionality, it has no solar function and the display of training and recovery status is more limited.
Users will receive a message in the morning with workout suggestions and a personalized score about their sleep quality, and women can keep track of data about their menstrual cycle and pregnancy. These wearables can also measure heart rate variability. Users can also read social media notifications and their email on the wearables. Support for Garmin Pay is available and the 255 Music smartwatches have space for up to 500 stored songs from music services.
There will be four variants of the Forerunner 255. The regular 255 and 255S appear in blue and pink for 350 euros. The 255 Music and 255S Music are available in black and white for a suggested retail price of 400 euros. The S variants are 42mm models, the other models are 47mm smartwatches. Furthermore, the Music variants have WiFi support and the option to play music.