Garmin Forerunner 255S review: running with the big dogs

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One can either update beloved gadgets or not. Either a company tries to fix what ain't broken or builds upon a great foundation to create an even better product I am happy to say that the new $349.99 Forerunner 255S is a better product than the popular Forerunner 245. The watch punches well above its weight.

The Forerunner 255 lineup is almost the same as its predecessors. These aren't the prettiest on the market, but they're not a crime against fashion either. These can be transitioned from everyday life to the gym if you go for a more subdued color. There are now four different versions of the watch. The small 255S has a 41mm case and is 39 grams. There is a 46mm version that is 49 grams. It is roughly the same as an Apple Watch and is much lighter than a flagship gps watch. If you want onboard music storage, each size has a "music" version.

I think it's great that people of all sizes can use their device. The smaller Forerunner 255S is the right size for my wrists. The 255S never got caught on my sleeves, nor did I notice it's weight during a workout. I don't have to compromise between useful training tools and comfort after testing some really large multisport gps watches.

There are a lot of little things that improve upon the core experience in the Forerunner 255 series. The Forerunner 255 has a better heart rate sensor, barometric altimeter and compass, multibandGPS, and anNFC chip. It has been three years since the event. Wearable tech has been around for a long while. It was less common back then, but now it's a standard feature. Is there a better way to pay for things on your wrist? It works and allows you to leave your wallet at home more often. In this time span, the heart rate sensors have leveled out. The 255S will be futureproof by these smart upgrades.

An estimated 12 days on a single charge is the new battery life estimate. In 25 days of use, I only had to charge the device once. I have fifteen percent left as of this writing. The 255S uses a memory-in-pixel display for better visibility in the sun. This is a good choice as it is a watch aimed at runners and has a good battery life. The basic smart features such as alarms, timers, push notifications, media controls, calendar events, and weather will suffice. The only thing that can be done is to respond to texts or reject calls on the phone.

Multiband gps is the most important update. MultibandGPS allows a watch to access multiple satellite systems at the same time. In challenging environments, you'll get better accuracy. It is an attractive feature for hikers and trail runners.

It is crazy to find multibandGPS at this price. Premium fitness watches have a new feature that is fairly new to the space. Last year, the Coros Vertix 2 was the first to be introduced. The flagship Fenix 7 series starts at $699.99 and the Epix 2 starts at $899.99. It is possible to get an advanced navigation feature in a watch that costs hundreds of dollars.

I turned on the multiband gps setting on the Forerunner 255S and simultaneously recorded runs with the Apple Watch Series 7 and the Runkeeper app on my phone in order to test the feature. When testing multiple devices this way, the Forerunner 255S was consistently spot on with local routes. The Forerunner 255S was on a route of more than two miles. The Series 7 had a mileage of just over two miles while my phone had a mileage of over two miles. If you are running ultra-long distances, the discrepancies might be a bigger issue.

The Forerunner 255S wasn't as fast at picking up a signal as the Fenix 7S, but it wasn't too far off either. I was able to start a run more quickly when compared to the similarly priced polar pacifier pro The Forerunner 255 watches are a great value.

Other metrics can be monitored by the 255S. The Series 7 and my H10 chest strap were comparable in heart rate tracking. It wasn't as sensitive in tracking when the cat woke me up as it was in tracking when I slept. It is not the place to go for in-depth sleep quality insight. If you're looking for recovery insights, you should look at the other metrics, like Body Battery and Training Load.

At the end of the day, the Oura Ring and Apple Watch are a different kind of health Wearable. It works well for runners. You can get two new racingwidgets with the 255S. You can see a list of your upcoming events, your predicted finish time, and what the weather will be on race day with the Racing Calendar. Daily workout suggestions are generated by the Race widget. You can get a summary of your sleep, the weather, and some of your recovery metrics from the Morning Report.

Triathletes can benefit from the addition of the triathlon activity to the Forerunner 255 line. You can switch between running, swimming, and cycling in one workout. The Racing Widget and daily workout suggestions have helped me understand what I should be doing on a given day as I train for a 10K. When the watch tracks so many metrics, the user interface is confusing. The racingwidget isn't pre-installed. You have to do it your own way. You have to poke your way around until you find what you're looking for when you press a button.

I don't think I'm surprised The watch uses a traditional five-button menu navigation. If you're coming from a different platform or watch, it's difficult for newcomers. Hopefully, we'll see that trickle down to more affordable models in the future, as Garmin recently started including Touchscreen and Button navigation on its more premium watches.

I can't get into all the tracks. We would be here all day if there were enough. I would like to talk about the new HRV status metric. I can't. HRV status can be used to measure your heart rate variability during sleep and compare it to a three week baseline. The device becomes more accurate as you wear it more. I would like to tell you how well it works, but I didn't get to try it out. It takes a while to show up. You need to wear it nightly for three weeks before you see anything. That has been done by me. I didn't find anything.

I contacted the company to see if it was my unit, but they said it would take up to four weeks to populate. It is possible that my unit is taking longer than average because I forgot to wear it to bed a few times. Building a baseline over time is better for accuracy. baselines need to be built over a period of time. It usually doesn't take a long time. Accuracy is more important than impatience at the end of the day. There's no shortage of recovery metrics. Going into my 10K this weekend, I would appreciate these extra insights. My 10K will be gone by the time the data starts coming up.

Small potatoes have an interface that is less-than- intuitive. I had an excellent experience using the Forerunner 255S, even though I loved using the Fenix 7S. The 255S is perfect for my needs, and I didn't feel like I was missing out on valuable training insights. Real-time stamina monitoring was missing from the Fenix 7 series. I wouldn't pay twice the price to get it.

I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a comfortable, no- frills, long- lasting gps watch that won't break the bank. It is more expensive than its predecessor, but you have to consider that it is a bargain. This watch is a good alternative for people who want a multisport watch on a budget. If you want the most bang for your buck, then the Forerunner 255S is the device for you.

Victoria Song is a photographer.

Every smart device has a set of terms and conditions that you have to agree to before you can use it. It is not possible for us to read and analyze all of them. Since these are agreements most people don't read and can't negotiate, we're going to start counting how many times you have to agree to use the device.

You have to pair it with an Apple device. The phone's terms of service, privacy policy, and any other permission you give are included. To use the app, you need to create an account.

You agree to this when you set up the Forerunner 255S.

Privacy and legal policies can be found within the app. You have to grant certain phone privileges to the garmin connect app. Live Track comes with an end- user license agreement. You have to agree to the individual terms and policies of the other services you are integrating with.

Whatever your phone needs, plus three mandatory policies and four phone permission for smart features. There are policies for health and safety.