Garmin Approach J1 vs Garmin Forerunner 170

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Approach J1 compared with Forerunner 170

	GarminApproach J1	GarminForerunner 170
Overview
Released
Released	January 2026	May 2026
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	43 mm	42.6 mm
Panel
Panel	OLED	OLED
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	1.2-inch AMOLED colour touchscreen, 390 × 390 pixels; optional always-on mode and two physical buttons. Brightness and refresh rate are not published.	1.2-inch (30.4 mm diameter) colour AMOLED touchscreen, 390 x 390 pixels; optional always-on display and large-font setting; five physical buttons
Screen protection
Screen protection	Chemically strengthened glass.	Chemically strengthened glass
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	No	No
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	No	Yes
Skin temperature
Skin temperature	No	No
Sleep apnoea alerts
Sleep apnoea alerts	No	No
High blood pressure alerts
High blood pressure alerts	No	No
Body composition
Body composition	No	No
Fall detection
Fall detection	No	No
Crash detection
Crash detection	No	No
GPS
GPS	Single-band	Single-band
Water resistance
Water resistance	50 m	50 m
Sensors
Sensors	GPS, GLONASS and Galileo positioning, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer and ambient-light sensor. All Systems mode combines satellite systems; multi-frequency reception is not specified.	Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate; Pulse Ox; barometric altimeter; compass; gyroscope; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensor; thermometer measures activity/ambient temperature, not overnight skin temperature
Health features
Health features	Daily step counting and automatic step goals. No wrist heart-rate or blood-oxygen sensor; no ECG, sleep-apnoea or skin-temperature measurement.	Continuous heart rate with high/low alerts; HRV status; Body Battery; stress and respiration; advanced sleep, sleep coach, breathing variations and nap detection; smart wake alarm; Health Snapshot; lifestyle logging; Health Status; women's health tracking via Garmin Connect; no ECG app
Fitness features
Fitness features	More than 43,000 preloaded golf courses, forward-tee guidance, adjustable personal par, pace-of-play timer and club suggestions. Front/middle/back yardages, hazards and layups, Green View with movable pin, digital scorecard, stroke/putt/fairway statistics, handicap scoring and AutoShot distance recording. Automatic shot detection does not record putts and may miss chips. Walking, running, cycling and pool-swimming profiles, GPS pace/distance, cadence, Auto Lap, Auto Pause and Move IQ. The exact German datasheet marks CT1 and CT10 incompatible; the owner’s guide nevertheless mentions paired Approach sensors in generic shot-detection instructions. Compatibility is unresolved and not claimed.	More than 80 sports apps; training readiness, status, load, load focus and recovery time; Garmin running, cycling and strength coaching; daily suggested running workouts and quick workouts; wrist-based running dynamics and running power; ground-contact balance requires a compatible accessory; PacePro and grade-adjusted pace; VO2 max and race predictions; cycling power-meter and Varia radar/light support; pool and open-water swimming; no dedicated triathlon mode; Breadcrumb course navigation, point-to-point navigation, back-to-start and TracBack; elevation profile, future elevation plot and Up Ahead; no full routable offline maps
Safety features
Safety features	Pairing and account management may require a parent or guardian depending on the child’s age and region. Incident detection and emergency calls are not published.	Incident detection during selected activities, assistance and LiveTrack require a paired compatible smartphone; live event sharing is Android-only; screen flashlight, not a separate LED torch
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 10 days	Up to 10 days
In low-power mode
In low-power mode	–	Up to 19 days
Mobile data option
Mobile data option	No	No
Works with
Works with	iPhone and Android	iPhone and Android
Storage
Storage	4 GB	4 GB
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 10 days in watch mode with gesture wake-up; up to 15 hours in GPS mode with always-on display during golf. The March 2026 owner’s guide labels the 15-hour claim All satellite systems mode. A Battery Saver setting exists but no separate runtime is published.	Smartwatch up to 10 days, or 4 days with display always on; battery saver smartwatch up to 19 days; GPS-only GNSS up to 20 hours; all-systems GNSS up to 14 hours; actual life depends on enabled features and usage
Charging
Charging	Garmin proprietary plug charging/data cable; USB media-transfer and Garmin modes are documented. Rechargeable lithium-ion battery; operating/storage -20 to 60°C and charging 0 to 45°C. Capacity, charging power and charge time are not published.	Garmin proprietary plug charging/data cable; rechargeable built-in lithium-ion battery; USB charging temperature 0–45 °C
Connectivity
Connectivity	Bluetooth LE; pairs through Garmin Golf with compatible iPhone or Android phones. Golf data and fitness activities sync to Garmin Golf/Garmin Connect; Garmin Express provides computer software and course updates. No cellular connectivity, Wi-Fi or Garmin Pay is listed.	Bluetooth and ANT+; GPS, GLONASS and Galileo; no multi-band GNSS; Garmin Pay contactless payments; Android-only text responses and notification images; Connect IQ apps/watch faces/data fields; Garmin Share; controls smartphone music without offline playback; no Wi-Fi, speaker/microphone calls or cellular connection
Storage
Storage	4 GB memory/history.	4 GB memory/history; standard Forerunner 170 does not support offline music playback
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	29 g (better)	41 g
Software
Software	Garmin	Garmin
Case materials
Case materials	Fibre-reinforced polymer case, anodised aluminium bezel, plastic buttons and elastic nylon fabric hook-and-loop ComfortFit band.	Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; silicone band; chemically strengthened glass; 5 ATM water rating; operating/storage temperature –20–60 °C
Size
Size	43 × 43 × 11.4 mm; 29 g; fits wrists 115–195 mm.	42.6 x 42.6 x 11.9 mm; Garmin lists 41 g without a separate body-only weight
Water resistance detail
Water resistance detail	5 ATM: pressure equivalent to 50 m, not a diving-depth claim. Pool-swimming activity is supported; the touchscreen is unavailable during swims.	–
Reference and release detail
Reference and release detail	Available now in the US and Germany on 20 January 2026; the first UK shipping day was not established. Current UK security updates are promised until at least 20 January 2028, which is not an end-of-support announcement. No direct predecessor is claimed.	–
Bands
Bands	20 mm quick-release ComfortFit fabric band. Current UK/US tables describe industry-standard bands; the March 2026 owner’s guide says the watch is not compatible with third-party bands. This conflict remains unresolved; use exact Approach J1 replacement bands.	Standard 20 mm quick-release two-tone silicone band; fits 126–203 mm wrists
Colours
Colours	Cloud blue aluminium bezel with black/azure ComfortFit band (010-03898-00); silver aluminium bezel with lilac ComfortFit band (010-03898-10). Both are sellable in the current UK catalogue. The launch calls the second bezel lilac, while current product naming says silver.	Black with Black/Amp Yellow band; Whitestone with Whitestone/Cloud Blue band; Teal Green and Red Pink belong to the separate Music model
In the box
In the box	Approach J1 junior GPS golf watch with fabric band, charging/data cable and documentation.	Forerunner 170; charging cable; documentation