Today Garmin is launching two brand new Forerunner watches plus a heart rate monitor that takes notes from Wahoo then adds even more features. Although the primary focus of the announcements take aim at sports beyond cycling, there’s a lot to love even if you prefer to only run when chased.
In particular, if you are looking for some details about good ways to use the Forerunner watches, jump over to 5 Training Tools to Help You Ride Farther and Get Faster where I discuss some details about how I use my Garmin watch.
Garmin Forerunner 570 and Forerunner 970
The headline products in the announcement are certainly the new Forerunner watches. Garmin Forerunner watches have landed as a mainstay for running and multisport fitness tracking while also sprinkling in smart watch features with real battery life. Today’s announcement takes that a bit farther while also adopting some of the technology first seen on last year’s Garmin Edge 1050 launch.
What that means is the new Forerunner 570 and 970 watches feature AMOLED displays and are “Garmin’s brightest smartwatch display(s) yet.” The display size is 454×454 pixels in a 1.4” diameter for both units however the Forerunner 570 is also available in a smaller 42mm case size which downsizes the display to 1.2” and 390×390 pixels.
Paired with that display tech is the same addition of a speaker again seen previously in the Edge 1050. This time though, it’s paired with a mic. As a combo Garmin shares that the new Forerunner watches allow users to “Make and take calls from the watch when paired with a compatible smartphone. Plus, control watch functions with voice commands, or use the phone’s voice assistant to respond to text messages and more.”
Where the watches split from the Edge 1050 bike computer is in the addition of multisport training. Both watches gain Garmin Triathlon Coach training plan which includes “free training plans that adapt daily and provide personalized workouts based on performance, recovery and health metrics.” Alternatively if you’d prefer to create your own workouts it’s now possible to “ Create custom step-by-step multisport workouts in Garmin Connect and send them to the watch to seamlessly switch between different sport types.”
Given that recovery is just important as training, Garmin is also adding new features to better inform recovery. Both watches gain Evening report which provides a before bedtime report with a reminder of sleep needed plus tomorrow’s workout, weather and events. A Skin temperature sensor will help “track skin temperature changes, which can be related to recent activity, sleep environment, potential illness and more. This also helps provide female athletes with improved period predictions and past ovulation estimates.” Helping inform better sleep the last new detail worth note is a metric that shows nighttime breathing variations using Pulse Ox and allowing athletes to “better understand shifts in their breathing patterns as they sleep.”
Differences: Forerunner 570 vs Forerunner 970
The most obvious differences start with the materials. While the Forerunner 570, both in the 42mm and 47mm sizes, uses an aluminum bezel, the Forerunner 970 upgrades that to titanium. Similarly the Forerunner 570 uses a Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 lens while the more expensive Forerunner 970 upgrades to Sapphire crystal. Then the final headline hardware upgrade is an increased battery life with the 970 managing up to 15 days vs up to 10 days of battery life for the Forerunner 570.
If you find yourself frequently in need of a flashlight, the Forerunner 970 is where you’ll want to focus your savings. While the 570 will continue to offer a screen flashlight, the latest flagship Forerunner now incorporates an actual LED flashlight as seen on other Garmin watches.
The last of the headline differences is the ECG app available on the Forerunner 970 but missing from the 570. Outside of that you’ll also find these additions only available on the Forerunner 970:
- Group livetrack vs only livetrack for the 570
- Spectator messaging
- Power Modes – customizable in-activity battery settings
- Real time stamina
- Endurance score
- Garmin live segments
- Round trip course creator (run/cycling)
- Trendline popularity routing
- Running tolerance
- Running economy
- Hill Score
- Preloaded with Golf Courses
- Explore nearby
- Nextfork Navigation
- Climbpro ascent planner
- Preloaded road and trail maps
- Preloaded Ski resort maps
- Downloadable cartography support
- GPS coordinates
- Sight’n Go
- Fish forecast
- Projected Waypoint
- Expedition GPS Activity
And Forerunner 970 exclusive cycling features:
- FTP
- Cycle Map (routable cycling specific street map)
- MTB Grit and flow
- Advanced Cycling Dynamics
- Power Guide (a pacing tool also available on specific Edge bike computers)
- HRM 600 heart rate monitor
The basic breakdown of separation for this new heart rate monitor starts with the fact that it’s rechargeable. This is a feature previously seen on the Wahoo Tickr Heart Rate monitor however this is the first time it’s showing up on a Garmin device. Unlike Wahoo with a quoted 100 hours of life, Garmin quotes only “Up to 2 months (using 1 hour per day)” which would appear to be less.
Despite that limitation, Garmin does manage to differentiate with the ability to use the HRM 600 underwater. While Wahoo offers a respectable IPX7, Garmin ups that to 5 ATM. Garmin also matches connections with the expected unlimited ANT connections and three bluetooth connections.
The real difference between the two products is that Garmin is focusing on the HRM 600 as a standalone device. To that end, it’s possible to use the HRM 600 to record activities “from team sports like basketball and soccer, to activities when a smartwatch can’t be worn, record workout data – including heart rate, calories, speed, distance and more – and view it afterwards in the Garmin Connect™ app.”
HRM 600 heart rate monitor
The basic breakdown of separation for this new heart rate monitor starts with the fact that it’s rechargeable. This is a feature previously seen on the Wahoo Tickr Heart Rate monitor however this is the first time it’s showing up on a Garmin device. Unlike Wahoo with a quoted 100 hours of life, Garmin quotes only “Up to 2 months (using 1 hour per day)” which would appear to be less.
Despite that limitation, Garmin does manage to differentiate with the ability to use the HRM 600 underwater. While Wahoo offers a respectable IPX7, Garmin ups that to 5 ATM. Garmin also matches connections with the expected unlimited ANT connections and three bluetooth connections.
The real difference between the two products is that Garmin is focusing on the HRM 600 as a standalone device. To that end, it’s possible to use the HRM 600 to record activities “from team sports like basketball and soccer, to activities when a smartwatch can’t be worn, record workout data – including heart rate, calories, speed, distance and more – and view it afterwards in the Garmin Connect™ app.”
New Forerunner watches and heart rate strap pricing and availability
Garmin Forerunner 570 in both 42mm and 47mm are priced at $549.99 with three color choices in each size.
Garmin Forerunner 970 is available in three color options and at a price of $749.99.
HRM 600 will offer either XS-S or M-XL sizes at a price of $169.99.
All products are going to be available to order as soon as May 21. For more information and ordering visit the Garmin website.