Garmin Forerunner 955 GPS Watch Review
Likes
- Accuracy
- Long battery life
- Durable and lightweight
- Garmin support and innovation
- Music storage (up to 2000 songs)
- Comfortable fit
- Slim and lightweight design
Dislikes
- Expensive
- Issues with phone connection
What's New
Evolved from the Garmin Forerunner 945, the new Forerunner 955 is redesigned with longer battery life, Pulse Ox monitoring, full-color onboard maps, and a load of new performance metrics from the brand — oh, and a solar-charging option too!
If you are looking for maximum performance from a watch, the Garmin Forerunner 955 will work as hard as you do. Its thin, sleek body is packed full of features designed to help endurance runners and triathletes get the most out of their workouts. Using an optical heart rate monitor and blood oximeter, Garmin is able to provide the best training metrics to predict your performance, analyze training, estimate VO2 max, improve running form, recommend recovery time, and much more.
To minimize what you carry on a run, the new Forerunner 955 includes Garmin Pay for contactless payments and music storage so you can get into the rhythm as you go. Music can be easily downloaded through Garmin Express or using the Spotify, Amazon Music, or Deezer apps, and with the watch's Bluetooth connectivity, it easily links to your favorite wireless headphones. Thankfully, the battery lasts up to 10 hours while using music in GPS mode, so you don't have to sacrifice your tunes during a long run or race.
For safety during your run, the Garmin Forerunner 955 includes built-in color topo maps and turn-by-turn navigation. In the case of an accident, a new incident detection feature sends your location to pre-selected emergency contacts.
Our testers spent a month wearing the Garmin Forerunner 955. Read our in-depth look below to find out what they thought of this feature-packed GPS watch.
The Bottom Line
For this review, Garmin sent our experts their most current models for a few weeks of daily wear and testing. In that time they were able to get familiar with each product and share their experiences. If you are still stumped whether this is the right watch for you, check out our article How to Choose the Best GPS Watch for Running.
Our In-Depth Look
Qualityi
Tyler: "The materials are lightweight but substantial. When I press the buttons, I can feel the quality. I have even been a little rough on the watch, and it has yet to show any signs of scratching."
Kyle: "Materials and build quality are top-notch. I was 100% convinced I had scratched it when I rubbed up against metal shelving, but there's not a mark on it. My other watches probably would not have fared as well."
Technologyi
Tyler: "The technology in this watch is amazing. It has premium software, syncs fast to GPS, and features a long battery life. Really, the only issue I have is with Garmin's phone app. I notice all my watches have issues staying connected to my phone."
Kyle: "I felt like I just scratched the surface of the capabilities of the 955. Every day I found a new feature or new way of doing something that would have had a positive effect on my workout and day. Also, the optical heart rate monitor was always accurate when compared to my chest-mounted heart rate monitor on another GPS unit."
Ease Of Usei
Tyler: "Garmin is one of the easiest watch brands to use. Whether it is navigating the features or downloading and syncing data, the whole system is very intuitive."
Kyle: "It was incredibly easy to use all the features of this watch. I had no issues navigating menus and changing settings. The Bluetooth was quick to set up and had all of my phone notifications instantly reporting to the watch. I could even answer a call without touching my phone — pretty handy if you have headphones or just can't afford to miss a call."
Comfort and Stylei
Tyler: "Coming from the fenix line, this Forerunner 955 is significantly lighter and less bulky on my wrist. It fit my wrists perfectly, and I would even forget that I was wearing it at times. People with smaller wrists might find this watch to be too big, as it is slightly larger than the Garmin 255 series."
Kyle: "Amazingly comfortable, this watch didn't move or shift at all during activity. The silicone band had a lot of adjustability and was easy to dial in comfortably. Honestly, I forgot I was wearing a GPS watch and missed out on a couple of opportunities to record an activity. My only wish was that it had more style for the money."
Valuei
Tyler: "For most runners, it may be hard to justify the $600 price tag, but if you are looking for a multisport watch that has all the bells and whistles, it is definitely worth the money. However, if you are a casual runner who doesn't need maps, then you would probably be fine with the less pricey Forerunner 255."
Kyle: "Amazing value. Garmin kills it with all the features and metrics that come with this watch. Music storage, mapping, Spotify, activity training analysis, multisport features, find-my-phone, accurate optical HRM data, great battery life — the list is endless."
Individual Thoughts
The Garmin Forerunner 955 is close to my perfect watch. Its lightweight and sleek design made me forget that I was wearing a watch while running or swimming. The other thing I loved about this watch was the GPS accuracy. This was the most accurate watch that I have used to date, and the thing that surprised me most was the updated optical heart rate sensor. It was extremely reliable and gave me more confidence to do heart rate-based training.
If you are looking for a watch that can do it all and you want to listen to music, I highly recommend the Forerunner 955.
The Garmin Forerunner 955 is an excellent everyday, do-it-all GPS watch. The minimal size and cozy comfort immediately stood out to me, and I would often forget I was even wearing a watch. This was a surprise, as GPS watches have always been a bit cumbersome in my experience.
I found the 955 functionally very easy to use for my runs and road bike rides. If you're a multisport athlete in the market for a single GPS unit or if you're looking for a small but very capable GPS watch, then this is the one for you!
