MARCH 2022 T3 73Te s te d
Garmin Forerunner 55£179.9 9
garmin.comsing a running watch for the first
time can be a daunting experience.
Most watches have plenty of features
that can help runners get better at
their craft, but if you’re starting out, all those
numbers won’t make much sense. Hence why it’s
so refreshing to use the Garmin Forerunner 55.
It looks exactly how you’d imagine it: a smaller
version of the Garmin Forerunner 245. The button
layout is the same as on any other Forerunner,
and as expected, the Forerunner 55 doesn’t have
a touchscreen either. Maybe that’s to come?
The screen resolution is not amazing but good
enough for the price. It’s a 1.04-inch, sunlight-
visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP)
display with 208 x 208 pixels resolution. To be
honest, the screen is the weakest point of the
Forerunner 55; it’s not a terrible display, but in
2022, when fitness trackers and smartwatches
have AMOLED screens, a MIP display won’t
impress anyone for sure.
As for battery life, the Garmin Forerunner will
last up to two weeks in smartwatch mode (GPS
turned off) and 20 hours in GPS mode. As always,
this means that the battery can track 20 hours’
worth of GPS activities, not that if you turn the
GPS on the battery will die in less than a day.
Considering the price, the Forerunner 55 is an
accurate wearable. It uses Garmin’s gold-standard
algorithm that performs exceptionally well when
you’re moving around fast (eg out on a run). Of
course, the Garmin Forerunner offers many
features for beginner and intermediate runners.U
This running watch for inexperienced
athletes who want to improve their running
gets the basics right – and its price is nice
Garmin
Forerunner 55
AMAZE RUNNER
WE’RE IMPRESSED Improved
battery life; added PacePro;
added swimming metrics; built-in
GPS; Garmin Coach ready.
WE’D IMPROVE Design is very
similar to Forerunner 45; screen
resolution is low.
THE LAST WORD For
beginner runners, we wouldn’t
recommend any other watch.
It’s light, capable, has plenty
of useful features, and it’s also
pretty affordable.VERDICT
Find great Garmin Forerunner
55 deals at: bit.ly/t3g4run55It tracks activities all day (steps, heart rate etc)
and even provides daily workout suggestions,
should you need a little inspiration.
If you’re planning on getting better at
running, Garmin Coach might help you do that.
The on-board adaptive running trainer can get
you ready to run a 5k, 10k or half marathon in a
set time. It’s pretty cool to use, and it also takes
the weight off your shoulders if you struggle to
put a training plan together for a race.
It’s a wrist wearable, so don’t expect it to be
super accurate for strength training or HIIT. It also
struggles when you aren’t moving fast outdoors,
such as walking and hiking. GPS and HR aren’t
way off in these instances though, and for
running, the Forerunner 55 is near damn perfect.
It’s water-rated to 5 ATMs, so is better suited for
people who like to use a watch to track swims. It’s
not a dedicated triathlon watch, but it’s good
enough for beginner training.
As well as Garmin Coach, the Forerunner 55
added PacePro, too, a feature that offers GPS-
based pace guidance for a selected course or
distance in the Garmin Connect app. Using
PacePro, you can become your own running
coach, which is a great thing.
The Garmin Forerunner 55 is a significant
update over the Forerunner 45, and it’s also
very cheap, at least by running watch standards.
Its only flaw is the screen. But thankfully, the
Forerunner 55 didn’t cut too many corners,
and, for beginner runners, these will be hardly
noticeable anyway.