Product Review: Garmin Forerunner 955 Sports Watch

The Garmin Forerunner 955 is a top of the range multisport GPS smartwatch designed for serious athletes and fitness enthusiasts. Packed with advanced features, it's designed to improve your training, performance, and overall fitness journey. Here’s a look at some of the features that helped nudge me to buy the Garmin Forerunner 955 sports watch.

Advanced GPS and Mapping

Top of my list, the number 1 reason I bought the Garmin 955 was the mapping. All in colour, and a mini map on your watch. Not a breadcrumb trail like the Forerunner 255, but a full on coloured map. The Forerunner 955 offers better GPS accuracy because it accesses a wider range of GPS services including GLONASS, and Galileo satellite systems. This helps to get a more precise track of your runs and rides, even in challenging environments like dense urban areas or deep forests. The built-in full-color mapping feature provides turn-by-turn navigation, making it easier to explore new routes without getting lost. It is also easier to navigate when you get to cross roads as the map has more detail and it's easier to work out which road you should be taking.

Training Readiness and Load Focus

Garmin has introduced the innovative Training Readiness score with the Forerunner 955. This feature evaluates your overall readiness for a workout based on several factors like sleep, recovery time, and stress levels. Additionally, the Load Focus feature helps you balance your training by categorising it into low aerobic, high aerobic, and anaerobic activities. This ensures that you are not overtraining and are getting the most out of your efforts.

Advanced Performance Metrics

The Forerunner 955 comes equipped with a huge range of performance metrics that help you analyse and improve your training. Some of these include:

• VO2 Max: Measures your maximum oxygen uptake, indicating your cardiovascular fitness level.
• Training Status: Shows how effective your training is, whether you’re peaking, maintaining, or overreaching.
• Recovery Time: Advises you on the optimal rest period between workouts.
• Running Dynamics: Offers insights into your stride length, ground contact time, and vertical ratio, helping you improve running efficiency.
• PacePro™ Technology: Provides grade-adjusted pace guidance for your race or long run, which I use to create runs e.g., by setting a 19kms run at a specific speed.

Health and Wellness Monitoring

Beyond training metrics, the Forerunner 955 excels in health and wellness tracking. It features continuous heart rate monitoring, advanced sleep tracking, and stress tracking. The Body Battery™ energy monitoring feature helps you understand your energy levels throughout the day, guiding you on when to push hard or take a rest. My daughter is using the menstrual cycle tracking, that gives additional insights into her training and performance.

The only thing I have had to take care of is not wearing the watch 24/7, because I found the heart rate monitor light on the back of the watch irritated my skin, but that was probably just down to wearing for a month or two at a time, without giving my wrist a rest. Since I've had this issue, I've been more careful, and used moisturising cream that helps reduce the irritation.

Smartwatch Functionality

The Forerunner 955 isn’t just about fitness. It also offers a host of smartwatch features that make it a versatile companion for daily use. You can receive smart notifications for calls, texts, and app alerts right on your wrist. The watch supports Garmin Pay™, allowing you to make contactless payments on the go. It's also got a Spotify connection, so you can download music directly to the watch and pair it with your Bluetooth headphones for a phone-free workout experience. It wasn't the reason why I bought the watch, but the fact that I can connect to a headphone and go out without my phone was a feature that I wanted to possibly take advantage of at some point.

Durable Design and Battery Life

Built to withstand the rigors of intense training, the Forerunner 955 features a robust and lightweight design. Its 1.3-inch always-on, full-colour display is protected by durable Corning® Gorilla® Glass DX. The watch is water-resistant up to 50 meters, making it suitable for swimming and other water activities.

Battery life is another area where the Forerunner 955 shines. In smartwatch mode, it can last up to two weeks, while in GPS mode, it offers up to 36 hours of continuous tracking. With the addition of the Power Manager feature, you can further extend battery life by adjusting settings and disabling certain features. In reality, I tend to charge it up every Sunday, depending on how much I've run during the week, I might have 30% charge left at that point. But I like to start the week with a full charge. I used to own an iWatch 6, which gave me less than 24 hours battery life. No matter what, whenever I want to go for a run, I've yet to be unable to go because of battery life. Even when it gets down to 10% it offers a battery saver mode that is designed to shut down some of the sensor data, but still have enough energy to get you home.

Customisation and Connectivity

The watch connects to various sensors and accessories, such as heart rate straps, including the H10 Polar, which I've been using. I've never had any issues loosing connection during a run, and seems to give a consistant reading. Same with my Garmin Running Pod, no issues once connected. I also cycle with it, and it seemlessly connects with a mix of sensors on my bikes, including a Giant RideSense sensor and Suunto Bike Sensor . I've not personally used the Garmin’s Connect IQ™ store, but you can download additional dashboards and screens to get more from your watch.

Conclusion

The Garmin Forerunner 955 is a really well made fitness watch that has been a pleasure to wear during exercise and after. I find it indispensable and appreciate being able to track not just the GPS routes of my runs and rides, but also track all the data that a run or ride generates. The build quality is a step up from the Forerunner 255 that was launched at the same time. It's a high quality watch that I hope to get a few more years service from. I would only look to change it if it breaks, as it has all the features and more that I need. Whether you’re a seasoned runner, a triathlete, or someone looking to improve their overall fitness, the Forerunner 955 is designed to help you achieve your goals with precision and confidence. It comes well recommended, and if I damaged it or had to replace it, then I would look to get the same again.