Garmin’s Forerunner line of GPS-enabled health trackers is bewilderingly advanced. Also, the corporate updates Forerunner fashions so typically even these of us who take a look at them for a residing generally have bother maintaining. That’s factor—new options are virtually at all times a plus—however it does make picking the right model a problem.
To additional complicate your resolution, in 2022 Garmin added the Forerunner 255. The newest mannequin brings multiband GPS assist, a barometric altimeter, and much-improved sleep monitoring, amongst a number of dozen different welcome additions. The result’s a multisport, runner-friendly watch. At $350, this is among the greatest value-to-features watches within the Garmin lineup.
New and Noteworthy
Photograph: Garmin
For years now I’ve used the Garmin 245, which falls in the course of Garmin’s Forerunner line and is aimed primarily at runners. With the discharge of the Forerunner 255, Garmin has retired the 245.
As with any health tracker, how a lot any of this can profit you depends upon what you are doing. For reference, my exercise routine is body-weight-based, with alternating strolling and sprinting classes thrown in all through the week. I additionally used the 255 on hikes, paddleboarding, and for sleep monitoring.
Like practically all non-touch Garmin watches, the Forerunner 255 has 5 buttons, three on the left facet and two on the fitting. I discover the buttons extra dependable to navigate with than the touchscreen fashions, however the primary factor to notice is there isn’t any touchscreen right here. The watch face is totally customizable, with a wide variety of default faces you need to use to customise to your liking.
There are fairly just a few new options value mentioning, however the one I used to be most enthusiastic about is the sleep monitoring. The Forerunner 255 tracks heart-rate variability (HRV) and sleep phases and provides you an general Sleep Score, with a brand new Morning Report, which incorporates the corporate’s Body Battery characteristic in addition to a each day greeting, the climate, and different tidbits. It’s just like what Apple presents.
To take a look at the accuracy of the Forerunner 255, I had my spouse, who makes use of an Oura ring to trace sleep, use it for just a few weeks. (The Forerunner requires 19 days of use earlier than it is going to begin making suggestions primarily based on the sleep knowledge it has collected.) To hold this assessment to an inexpensive size, the end result was that she is not anxious about changing her Oura, on condition that firm’s disappointing trajectory. The Forerunner’s knowledge largely matched that of the Oura and could be very practically as complete. But it would not observe physique temperature whereas sleeping and is lacking another options the Oura presents.
I notably preferred my Morning Report, a great way to get a fast overview of the place you are at and what you wish to do this day, training-wise. The different factor that jumped out at me within the first week was the brand new auto-detection options.
