Latest news with #Forerunner970
The Guardian
3 days ago
- The Guardian
Garmin Forerunner 970 review: the new benchmark for running watches
Garmin's new top running watch, the Forerunner 970, has very big shoes to fill as it attempts to replace one of the best training and race companions available. Can a built-in torch, a software revamp and voice control really make a difference? The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. The new top-of-the-line Forerunner takes the body of the outgoing Forerunner 965 and squeezes in a much brighter display, useful new running analytics and more of the advanced tech from Garmin's flagship adventure watch the Fenix 8. These upgrades come at a steep cost of £630 (€750/$750/A$1,399) – £30 more than its predecessor – placing it right at the top of the running and triathlon watch pile, although less than the £780 Fenix 8. The 970 is about the same size as the outgoing 965 with a 47mm case and a beautiful, crisp and very bright 1.4in OLED screen. The touchscreen is covered in super-hard sapphire glass similar to luxury watches, while the titanium bezel finishes off the polycarbonate body in a choice of three colours. Quite a lot of the upgrades are trickle-downs from the Fenix 8 and make the 970 a better everyday smartwatch. It has Garmin's new offline voice control system, which allows you to quickly set timers and alarms, access settings or start activities. The watch also connects to your phone's voice assistant and takes calls on your wrist via Bluetooth. A revamped interface speeds up access to notifications from your smartphone by swiping down from the top of the screen. With an iPhone you can view and dismiss text-only notifications but connected to an Android phone you can also see images in notifications and directly reply to them from the watch. The 970 has Garmin Pay for contactless payments, although bank support is limited, and can control music on your phone or download playlists from Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and others for phone-free music on runs. The best new feature is the LED torch built into the 970's top edge. It was invaluable on the Fenix 8 and is my favourite new addition to the Forerunner. It is bright enough to light your way on the street at night or find things buried in dark cupboards but can be turned a dim red to avoid waking everyone at home. It can also be used as a strobe light for running to help keep you visible at night. The battery lasts about six days with general smartwatch usage, including having the screen on all the time, all-day and night monitoring of health, plenty of notifications and copious use of the torch. The screen has automatic brightness but turning it down one notch in settings, which was still plenty bright enough to see outdoors, added a couple of days to the battery life. Turning the always-on display setting off extended it further to about 12 to 15 days. Screen: 1.4in AMOLED (454x454) Case size: 47mm Case thickness: 13.2mm Band size: standard 22mm Weight: 56g Storage: 32GB Water resistance: 50 metres (5ATM) Sensors: GNSS (Multiband GPS, Glonass, Galileo), compass, thermometer, heart rate, pulse Ox Connectivity: Bluetooth, ANT+, wifi Its predecessor was a fantastic running watch filled to the brim with metrics, helpful analysis and buckets of customisation options, on which the 970 only builds. The screen is large enough to be able to clearly see up to eight data fields on screen at once. Maps look particularly good and are easy to use with touch. It has the latest dual-band GPS, while Garmin's algorithms consistently have higher tracking accuracy than its rivals, even with similar systems. The new Gen 5 Elevate heart rate sensor on the back improves pulse monitoring in tricky conditions, and provides ECG (arrhythmia) readings. The 970 has Garmin's suite of industry-leading fitness, recovery and training metrics, which are joined by a few new and interesting statistics, including two that attempt to help you prevent injury. Impact load quantifies how hard a run is on your body based on its intensity and difficulty compared with an easy, flat run at slower speeds. One fast, hard 7km run was rated as equivalent to a gentler 12km run, which felt about right in my feet and legs and made me consider taking a longer recovery time before the next workout. In addition, the new running tolerance feature tracks your mileage over a seven-day period and advises how much more you can run without increasing your chance of injury. Many runners, including myself, have injured themselves when ramping up their weekly distance too fast when training for a race, which this new stat is an attempt to avoid by giving you suggested guard rails. The 970 also has a new running economy feature that tracks efficiency of your form, including how much speed you lose as your foot hits the ground, but it relies on Garmin's latest heart rate monitor strap, the HRM 600 – a £150 separate purchase. Running battery life is a solid 11-plus hours with its highest accuracy settings and listening to offline music via Bluetooth headphones, or about 16 hours without music. Turning down the screen brightness a bit added several hours to the running battery life, while reducing the GPS accuracy mode can last up to 26 hours. The Garmin isn't entirely about running, triathlon and its 30-plus sport tracking features. It also has a comprehensive suite of general health monitoring tools, including good sleep, activity, stress, women's health and heart health tracking rivalling an Apple Watch or similar. Most of Garmin's most advanced training tools also monitor your recovery from exercise during the rest of the day and night, advising you in the morning and during the day how your body is doing. It has a built-in sleep coach, a running or triathlon coach and various advisers for activity, suggesting when to do a hard workout and when to take it easy. The daily suggested workouts are dynamic and based on your sleep and recovery, so it will never prompt you to do a hardcore workout when you've had a terrible night. These automatic workouts can be replaced by a coaching plan, either using Garmin's solid tools or third-party ones placed on a calendar before a race. The watch is generally repairable with options available via support. The battery is rated to maintain at least 90% of its original capacity after two years of weekly charging. The watch does not contain any recycled materials. Garmin guarantees security updates until at least 21 May 2027 but typically supports its devices far longer. It offers recycling schemes on new purchases. The Garmin Forerunner 970 costs £629.99 (€749.99/$749.99/A$1,399). For comparison, the Garmin Fenix 8 costs from £780, the Forerunner 570 costs £460, the Garmin Forerunner 965 costs £499.99, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 costs £799, the Coros Pace Pro costs £349, the Suunto Race S costs £299 and the Polar Vantage V3 costs £519. Garmin continues to set the bar for running watches with the Forerunner 970. It isn't a dramatic leap over the outgoing Forerunner 965, instead adding a few bits to the already excellent formula. The screen is brighter, covered in scratch-resistant sapphire and ringed by a titanium bezel, which gives it a premium look and feel alongside a more modern and responsive interface. The added bells and whistles of voice control and faster access to notifications make using it as a smartwatch alternative much easier. Though wearing it is still a statement about your sporty priorities compared with an Apple or Pixel Watch. The upgraded heart rate sensor helps keep things locked during more difficult exercises and adds ECG readings for more comprehensive heart health tracking. But it is the built-in torch that is the best addition for daily life. Every watch should have one. Meanwhile, the new impact load and running tolerance features could be very useful for avoiding strain and injury, adding to the already excellent training and recovery tracking. Plus it has market-leading running accuracy and detailed onboard maps for routes or if you get lost. If you want a premium running and triathlon watch with all the bells and whistles, the Forerunner 970 is the best you can get. It just comes at a very high cost. Pros: super bright OLED screen, built-in torch, phone and offline voice control, Garmin Pay, extensive tracking and recovery analysis for running and many other sports, full offline mapping, offline Spotify, buttons and touch, most accurate GPS, ECG. Cons: expensive, limited Garmin Pay bank support, still limited smartwatch features compared with Apple/Google/Samsung watches, battery life shorter than LCD rivals.
Tom's Guide
6 days ago
- Tom's Guide
Garmin Forerunner 970 Review: my new favorite sports watch
The Garmin Forerunner 970 is the best Garmin watch for runners and triathletes, offering almost all of the key features of the Garmin Fenix 8 in a more affordable and lightweight package. It also introduces some new features to Garmin's range, such as running tolerance and economy estimates, and the upgraded design has a brighter AMOLED display than the Garmin Forerunner 965, plus a built-in flashlight and a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal screen. The drawbacks to the Forerunner 970 are its high price, especially as you need to pair it with the $169 Garmin HRM600 chest strap to unlock running economy measurements, and its relatively short battery life compared with the Fenix 8 and Forerunner 965. I've loved using the watch, and in my Garmin Forerunner 970 review, I'll run through my testing and how it compares to the best sports watches, but also say which rivals might offer better value. The Garmin Forerunner 970 launched in May 2025 and costs $749.99 / £629.99, a considerable jump in price from its predecessor, the Garmin Forerunner 965, which is $599 / £599 and often reduced to under $500. It comes in one size and three colors — black, white and grey/gold. When considering the price of the Forerunner 970, it's worth factoring in that some of its new features also require the Garmin HRM600 chest strap, which is $169.99 / £149.99. Forerunner 965 Forerunner 970 Price $599 $749 Case size 47.1 x 47.1 x 13.2mm 47 x 47 x 12.9mm Screen size 1.4 inches 1.4 inches Resolution 454 x 454 pixels 454 x 454 pixels Screen material Gorilla Glass Sapphire Crystal Weight 53g 56g GPS battery life 31 hours 26 hours Smartwatch battery life 23 days 15 days Touchscreen Yes Yes Speaker/Mic No Yes Built-in flashlight No Yes Heart rate sensor Elevate v4 Elevate v5 The Garmin Forerunner 970 has some notable design upgrades compared with the Forerunner 965, including, for the first time on a Forerunner watch, a built-in flashlight. This sits on top of the watch and has four brightness settings, plus a red mode. It's very useful day-to-day, even if you live a relatively unadventurous life like me — it would be invaluable for those who camp or are outdoors a lot at night. The other big upgrade is the sapphire crystal display, which is more scratch-resistant than the Gorilla glass used on the Forerunner 965 and other Forerunner models. As someone who scratched the Forerunner 965 during testing, having a sapphire screen gives peace of mind and also means you can avoid using screen protectors. The titanium bezel surrounding the screen also toughens up the watch, which is otherwise made of plastic. The 1.4-inch AMOLED screen is also brighter than the display on the Forerunner 965, notably so when you put the two watches side-by-side. It's clearer to read under bright sunlight as a result, though this bright screen does reduce the battery life on the Forerunner 970 compared with the 965. On the back of the watch is Garmin's Elevate v5 optical heart rate sensor, which is an upgrade on the v4 sensor on the Forerunner 965 and one of the most accurate wrist-based sensors I've tested in general — it's used on most Garmin watches released in the past couple of years. The Forerunner 970 uses this sensor to offer ECG measurements, which weren't available on the Forerunner 965. The new watch also has a mic and speaker, like the Fenix 8 and Forerunner 570 watches. While the Forerunner 970 doesn't offer the bright and distinctive designs you get on the Garmin Forerunner 570, it's a good-looking watch you can wear 24/7, and it's lightweight and comfortable to wear all the time. It is, however, a shame that it only comes in one size, unlike the Forerunner 570. Those with smaller wrists who'd like a smaller watch than the 47mm Forerunner 970, but still want all of Garmin's best features, only really have the Fenix 8 43mm as an option. The onboard sensors include a pulse oximeter and barometric altimeter, and the GPS chipset allows for multi-band tracking for extra accuracy. You can pair external sensors like cycling power meters via both Bluetooth and ANT+. With a water resistance rating of 5 ATM, the Forerunner 970 is suitable for pool and open-water swimming, but it is not a diveproof watch like the Fenix 8. The Garmin Forerunner 970 is the top Forerunner watch in the brand's range, so as you'd expect, it's fully laden with all of Garmin's top sports tracking and training analysis features. It offers all the sports modes and stats you could ever want, including being a golf watch, and extensive training load analysis, including heat and altitude acclimation, VO2 max and race time estimates, and a rating of your training readiness based on factors like sleep, stress and recent workouts. For the most part, the analysis is the same as on past top models from Garmin, like the Fenix 8, but the Forerunner 970 introduces some new features with a running economy rating, step speed loss measurements and running tolerance, which estimates the training load you can tolerate safely each week. To get the running economy and step speed loss measurements, you need to pair the Forerunner 970 with the Garmin HRM600 chest strap, which is a significant extra outlay. Step speed loss is a measurement of how much you slow down with each stride when running, when your foot hits the ground. A lower number is better because that means it takes less effort to speed back up with each stride. You also get a percentage measurement of step speed loss, which is more useful as you tend to lose more speed when running faster, but the percentage is comparable across speeds. This stat is one of several that feed into your running economy rating, which is unlocked after you do several runs with the watch and chest strap. Heart rate, speed and other running technique stats like ground contact time also feed into the economy measurement. Running economy is an important metric because the better your economy, the less effort or energy it costs you to run at a certain speed, which basically means you can run faster for longer. The value of Garmin's measurement will be if you can see your economy improving over time, which mostly comes about from structured training and more mileage in general, though genetic factors are also a big part of economy. It's an innovative addition to the watch and something I love as a keen runner, and it's definitely something I'll keep an eye on when marathon training in particular. The final new feature is running tolerance, which says how much running your body is able to handle in terms of miles or kilometers based on your training history. Not increasing your mileage by too much week-to-week is a golden rule for runners trying to avoid injury, and many judge their training load simply by the amount of miles they run each week. But tolerance goes a step further by accounting for the extra impact of faster, harder runs. For example, when I ran a 10K race wearing the Forerunner 970, the total distance was 10K, but the impact load was 15.2km, because it was an all-out effort. This is a helpful way to remind runners that runs can differ in the amount of impact they have on the body and give a total mileage for the week that adds in extra to account for harder runs, because doing too much fast running can also lead to injury. Given how well developed Garmin's tracking and analysis features are at this stage, I'm impressed that they've been able to introduce some genuinely useful new features to the Forerunner 970, and runners in particular benefit. It is a shame you have to use the HRM600 chest strap to get some of these features, not only because of the cost but also because many runners simply don't like wearing chest straps, particularly women, which is why Garmin made the HRM-Fit to attach to a sports bra. For most of my testing of the Forerunner 970, I had it paired to the HRM600 chest strap, so I couldn't gauge the accuracy of the optical sensor on the watch. But I did some runs just using the watch's heart rate sensor to check its accuracy against a different chest strap, and it was always on point. I've also used Garmin watches for many years, and the Elevate Gen5 sensor has been reliably accurate for me on any watch I've tested. If you don't want to invest in the HRM600 strap to use with the Forerunner 970, you will still get good heart rate measurements. The GPS accuracy was also excellent during my testing. I primarily used the watch in multi-band mode for the most accurate results, and the GPS tracks from the Forerunner 970 were always free of major errors when I checked them afterwards. The Forerunner 970 tracks all the usual daily activity stats like steps, calories, floors climbed and active minutes, and can also be set to notify you if you're sedentary for too long. It also tracks stress throughout the day and measures your 'Body Battery' energy levels, which are depleted by activity and topped up via sleep. The watch also sums up your day in a new Evening Report, which summarizes your activity and gives a sleep recommendation — whether you need more or less than usual. It also shows your suggested workouts for tomorrow and any calendar events. In the morning, you get a Morning Report, which shows similar stuff along with your sleep score from the night. You can customize both reports to include the info you want. When it comes to sleep tracking itself, you get a wealth of data on your night's rest, along with a rating out of 100, including sleep stages, your heart rate variability and a summary of any breathing variations. Garmin watches have a habit of overestimating time asleep in my experience, in that they often log periods where you're still (but awake) as light sleep. But the Forerunner 970's overall rating of my sleep each night was in line with how I felt, and it did encourage me to try and get better sleep by limiting alcohol and sticking to a regular bedtime. The big, bright AMOLED display on the Forerunner 970 is wonderful, but its battery life does suffer as a result. With the screen set to always-on, the watch lasted me four or five days on a charge, running every day, whereas the Forerunner 965 would last me seven days under the same conditions. When I set the screen to raise to wake outside of workouts it did extend the battery life to seven or eight days, but that's still less than I've become accustomed to with Garmin's 47mm models — the Fenix 8 47mm lasts me six or seven days with the screen always-on, so the brighter display is definitely having an impact on the Forerunner 970. If you're a triathlete or a cyclist regularly doing long rides, then the battery life will be even shorter. It's still just about long enough to not be an annoyance in how often you need to charge it, and the Forerunner 970 can track an individual activity for over 20 hours even in its most accurate GPS mode, but the drop-off in battery life compared with other Garmins is noticeable. While the Forerunner 970 can't match the features available on the best smartwatches, which offer cellular connectivity and far more fully-stocked app stores, it does have some useful smarts. These include the new mic and speaker, which you can use to issue voice commands like 'start a timer' or activate your phone's voice assistant. It also has music storage and can link up with streaming services, including Spotify, to store your playlists offline, and NFC payments through Garmin Pay. The ConnectIQ app store has a few useful apps and also offers extra data fields for certain sports and more watch faces — I always download my parkrun barcode to my watch through an app and add rolling pace to my running data fields. There are more smart features here than you get on other brands' sports watches, and you can customize the watch face extensively, but the Forerunner 970 is still not as smart as a device like the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Along with its handy flashlight, the Forerunner 970 has several safety features, including the ability to send alerts to an emergency contact either manually (by holding down the light button) or automatically if a fall is detected during outdoor activities. The LiveTrack feature also allows you to send your activity to others so they can follow it live or check in on you from time to time, if you're heading for dangerous areas. You can navigate those dangerous areas using the color maps on the Forerunner 970, which are routable maps that allow you to create routes on the watch itself — other brands have maps that can show routes on maps but can't create routes or re-route you using trails if you go wrong. Garmin's mapping and navigation tools also include ClimbPro, which breaks out the climbs and descents on your route so you can judge your efforts. I find this invaluable on climbs in particular, in that it encourages me to slow down early in a climb because I know how much more uphill there is to go. All sports watch brands and many smartwatches now offer maps and routes you can follow during activities, but Garmin's features remain the gold standard in this area and you get all its best tools on the Forerunner 970. The Garmin Forerunner 970 is an outstanding sports watch and the only one that can really better it is the Garmin Fenix 8, which offers a more durable metal design and longer battery life. However, the Forerunner 970 is cheaper and many will prefer the lighter, slimmer design, especially now that it includes a sapphire screen and built-in flashlight, features that were reserved for the Fenix line in the past. It is an upgrade on the Forerunner 965, although the older watch is now available for under $500 and still has most of the excellent sports tracking features of the Forerunner 970. If you don't mind missing out on the design upgrades on the Forerunner 970, the older watch is a better value. Other older Garmin watches that might offer better value include the Garmin Epix Pro range, which comes in three sizes and is often on sale now. It's a top watch with most of the sports tracking and navigation features of the Forerunner 970, with a Fenix-style metal design. Outside of Garmin's range, the competition is less fierce, in my opinion, unless you want a smartwatch like the Apple Watch Ultra 2, which doesn't match the battery life or sports and navigation features on the Forerunner 970. Coros, Polar and Suunto all have great AMOLED watches that are cheaper than the Forerunner 970, like the Suunto Race, Polar Vantage V3 and Coros Pace Pro, but none offer the same range of sports, navigation and smart features as the Garmin. If the price doesn't put you off, I'd say the Forerunner 970 and Fenix 8 are the best sports watches available, so your choice might be between the more rugged Fenix design and the lighter, sleeker Forerunner 970, which is also a little more affordable.
Tom's Guide
11-06-2025
- Tom's Guide
I raced a 10K with the Garmin Forerunner 970 vs. Garmin Forerunner 570 — here's the winner
The Garmin Forerunner 570 and Garmin Forerunner 970 are the new stars of the Garmin range, and both have impressed me during the weeks of testing I've done with both so far. Both are among the best sports watches available, but both are also very expensive and there are Garmin watches that offer most of the same features for less. To help see if the Forerunner 570 and Forerunner 970 are with their lofty price-tags, I wore both at the High Easter 10K, a local race in Essex, UK, to check their overall performance and compare them against one another. The Garmin Forerunner 570 might be the best looking watch in the entire Garmin range thanks to its bright display and colorful bezel. It backs up its looks with reliably excellent sports tracking and training analysis, plus some useful smarts like music storage. It's expensive for a watch that doesn't offer offline maps though, which you get on the Garmin Forerunner 970 plus some design upgrades. For $200 more than the Forerunner 570 the Forerunner 970 offers a more durable design thanks to the titanium bezel and sapphire crystal screen, and it also has a built-in flashlight. It also has offline maps and extra running stats, though some of these are only available if you pair it with the $169 Garmin HRM600 chest strap heart rate monitor. I ran 33:17 at the race and both watches impressed with their accuracy — here are my key takeaways. The High Easter 10K takes place on open countryside lanes in Essex and as a result I expected highly accurate GPS tracks from both watches, which were both in the most accurate multi-band mode. Both were indeed very accurate, with the GPS tracks being almost identical and sticking the exact route I ran. The Forerunner 570 logged 10.02km compared with 9.98km on the Forerunner 970. I was able to run tight lines around most corners so I probably ran very close to the official 10K distance on the route, which has a UKA license as an officially measured course, so the Forerunner 570 was likely spot on. Both watches were accurate for pacing each kilometer split though, which is the main thing I use a watch for in a race. During the race the Forerunner 970 was getting its heart rate info from the Garmin HRM600 chest strap, which I had paired to the watch in order to get Garmin's new step speed loss stats that are only available if you use the HRM600. As a result I was only really testing the heart rate accuracy of the Forerunner 570, which did mostly line up closely with the HRM600's reading's throughout the race. There was one error during the race where the Forerunner 570's heart rate reading dipped erroneously. It also took a minute or two to get up to speed at the start of the race, which is something I expect to see with optical heart rate sensors, which aren't as quick to track sudden changes in heart rate as chest straps. The battery life of the Forerunner 570 and Forerunner 970 has been one of the only disappointments I've had with the watches during testing, with both draining rapidly thanks to their bright AMOLED displays. Garmin has actually already launched an update to improve the battery life of both watches, so hopefully that will help, but if you have the always-on display enabled they will need charging regularly. On race day, I used the most power-intensive multi-band GPS mode on both watches, and had the always-on screen enabled. According to the DC Rainmaker Analyzer, during the 10K the Forerunner 970 drained at a rate of 4.8% per hour, which would work out at just under 21 hours of multi-band GPS tracking. The Forerunner 570 drained at a rate of 6% per hour, which is 16.67 hours of multi-band tracking. On paper the Forerunner 970 is meant to last 21 hours, so this drain is in line with what's expected, but the Forerunner 570 outperformed its listed battery life of 14 hours of multi-band. One of the big upgrades you get on the Forerunner 970 compared with the Forerunner 570 is more running stats. These include step speed loss (SSL), an estimate of your running economy, and running tolerance. To get step speed loss you need a Garmin HRM600 paired to the watch, and it measures how much you slow down with each stride when you land. You want a lower score here, because slowing down less means you need to put in less effort to speed up again with each stride. During the 10K race my SSL got bigger as the event went on, which you'd expect — as you tire, your running form tends to get less efficient, and building strength and endurance through training is a way to combat that. This stat feeds into the overall running economy measurement on the Forerunner 970, which I recently unlocked after several outdoor runs. Both are interesting, and will hopefully prove useful over time — they're stats I'd hope to improve during a long training block for a marathon, for example. Running tolerance is the other new stat on the Forerunner 970 and you don't need the Garmin HRM600 for this. Running tolerance estimates how much training your body is equipped to handle that week in terms of mileage, based on your training history. Many runners use total mileage to judge their training load — you don't want to suddenly increase the total you do in one week as this risks injury. Instead you want to build it up gradually. What I like about running tolerance on the Forerunner 970 is that it doesn't just go on straight mileage, but adds the impact of harder runs. So my 10K race was rated as having the same impact of 15km of flat easy running, because I was working harder. Measuring it like this helps runners to factor in the impact of harder runs, so you're not just looking at an overall mileage number each week, but also how challenging your runs are, which will help reduce injury risk. With regards to the key performance stats during the 10K race, both the Forerunner 970 and Forerunner 570 performed well, giving accurate distance and pacing stats, and accurate heart rate on the Forerunner 570 compared with the HRM600 chest strap. You do get longer battery life and some interesting extra stats on the Forerunner 970, though you have to spend $200 more on the watch and then $169 on the HRM600 strap compared with the price of the Forerunner 570. Neither watch excels on the value front, even if both have been excellent for performance throughout my testing, including at this race. Better value can be found in older watches like the Garmin Forerunner 965, if you don't need the latest and greatest Garmin on your wrist.
Tom's Guide
09-06-2025
- Tom's Guide
Garmin's newest watches just got a battery life boost thanks to a free update
Battery life is one of the main reasons that many people opt for one of the best Garmin watches instead of an Apple Watch, so there's an expectation with Garmin that they'll last weeks rather than days on a charge. I've been testing the new Garmin Forerunner 570 and Garmin Forerunner 970 watches, and the battery life has been one of the few complaints I have with them so far. Both watches have bright AMOLED displays — brighter than on past Garmin models — but even so, I was surprised to only get three to four days of use from the 47mm Forerunner 570, and four to five days from the Forerunner 970, when I had the always-on screen enabled. That's less than I got from the previous models, the Garmin Forerunner 265 and Garmin Forerunner 965, so it did feel a let down even with the screen upgrade. Garmin has moved to address this with a free software update for the watches, where the main change is focused on improving battery life. Software version 6.17 is available now on both watches, though it's worth noting that the battery improvement is only on the larger 47mm model of the Forerunner 570. The update is live now, and you might have already received a prompt from your watch to update it — when that pops up, you just have to confirm it on the watch for it to go through. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. If you haven't had the prompt or rejected it at the time, then you can access the update through the menu on the watch. Hold down the Menu button — the center of the three buttons on the left of the watch — then go to System. In that Menu go to Watch Settings, then System, then Software Update and Check For Updates. In the change log for the update, it says it will improve 'expected battery life on watch face'. I'm not actually sure what that phrasing means, but hopefully the result is just longer battery life in general. The Garmin Forerunner 970 should last up to 15 days in watch mode, and the Forerunner 570 47mm model up to 11 days, according to the official specs. That's with the screen set to raise-to-wake, but even with it always-on, I wouldn't expect the drop-off in battery life I've experienced so far. Even with the screen set to raise-to-wake, I've found both watches have only made it to six or seven days of battery. I am a fairly heavy user, in that I run every day and use the most power-intensive GPS setting on those runs, but I'd still expect to get a week of battery from the Forerunner 970 in particular with the screen always-on, as I did with the Forerunner 965, so hopefully this update makes a difference.
Hype Malaysia
06-06-2025
- Hype Malaysia
Go Beyond Peak Performance With Garmin's New Forerunner 570, 970, HRM 200, & HRM 600!
Workouts are about to get epic! Garmin has launched the Forerunner 570 and Forerunner 970, its latest GPS running and triathlon smartwatches with advanced training tools, recovery insights, personalised workouts and more to help athletes reach their next personal best. Alongside the smartwatches, Garmin also introduced the newest heart rate monitor lineup, the HRM 200 and HRM 600, offering athletes enhanced performance data and more accuracy with a comfortable fit. Featuring Garmin's brightest AMOLED displays yet, the new Forerunner 570 and Forerunner 970 add a built-in speaker and microphone, Garmin Triathlon Coach training plans, an evening report and more to trusted health, wellness and connected features. Forerunner 970 also introduces a built-in LED flashlight and new performance features – like running tolerance, running economy and step speed loss – that are backed by Garmin data scientists and sports physiologists. And athletes can do more and charge less; Forerunner 570 gets up to 11 days of battery life in smartwatch mode, while Forerunner 970 offers up to 15 days. The HRM 600 and HRM 200 are premium heart rate monitors designed to deliver accurate heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) data across a variety of activities, from running and cycling to gym workouts. Both models transmit real-time data to compatible Garmin smartwatches, cycling computers, and apps, helping athletes better understand and optimise their performance. The HRM 600 adds advanced features like running dynamics, standalone activity recording without a watch, and a rechargeable battery – ideal for serious training. With two strap sizes available for both models, athletes can find their most comfortable and secure fit. Forerunner 570 To help athletes achieve their goals, Forerunner 570 includes advanced running metrics like training status, wrist-based running power and running dynamics, acute load, training effect, performance condition, VO2 max and more. Every morning, athletes can see their training readiness score based on sleep quality, recovery and training load so they know whether it's a good day to go hard or take it easy. Runners can also view the daily suggested workout that is made specifically for them and that adapts after every run to consider their performance and recovery, or use Garmin Coach training plans for running, cycling and strength to train for their next event. When running outdoors, athletes can execute their race day strategy using PacePro – grade-adjusted pacing guidance – and train with confidence knowing that SatIQ technology and multi-band GPS will provide superior positioning accuracy while optimising battery life. Forerunner 570 is available in two sizes – 42mm and 47mm – and features an aluminium bezel and fun new colourways, like raspberry with a translucent bone/mango band, amp yellow with a translucent whitestone/turquoise band and indigo with a translucent imperial purple/indigo band. Available from 18th June, Forerunner 570 has a suggested retail price of RM2,399. Forerunner 970 Designed for those who are determined to break their own personal records, Forerunner 970 builds upon Forerunner 570 by adding built-in mapping. Whether running on city streets or riding through densely covered trails, Forerunner 970 includes full-colour built-in mapping to help athletes stay on track. Before heading out, create or find existing courses in Garmin Connect and seamlessly sync them to the watch to get turn-by-turn directions. While exploring, enter a distance on the watch and receive suggested routes to stay on track and on time with dynamic round-trip routing. Featuring a 47mm case size, Forerunner 970 is available in popular colour options like carbon gray DLC titanium with a black/translucent whitestone band, titanium with a whitestone/translucent amp yellow band and soft gold titanium with a french gray/translucent indigo band. Available from 18th June, Forerunner 970 has a suggested retail price of RM3,269. What's New With HRM 600 Expanded running dynamics : The new step speed loss feature tells runners with the newly released Forerunner 970 how much they slow down when their foot hits the ground. Runners can also improve their form with existing running dynamics like stride length, vertical oscillation and ground contact time balance – all of which are available with select smartwatches, like the new Forerunner 570. Activity recording : 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. Rechargeable battery: Get up to 2 months of battery life with every charge. Functional design: With the press of a button, easily wake and pair the heart rate monitor. Plus, the LED light will indicate when it's awake, when the battery is running low and more. Activity tracking: Track steps, calories burned, heart rate, intensity minutes and more without a smartwatch, then sync to Garmin Connect to update all compatible Garmin devices. Available from 11th July onwards, the HRM 200 and HRM 600 have suggested retail prices of RM349 and RM739 respectively. The Forerunner 570 and 970, HRM 200 and HRM 600 will be available for purchase on Garmin Official e-store, Shopee, Lazada, AECO e-store, Garmin Brand Stores and all authorised retailers. 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