Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED (47 mm, Sapphire) vs Garmin Forerunner 970

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fēnix 8 AMOLED (47 mm, Sapphire) compared with Forerunner 970

	Garminfēnix 8 AMOLED (47 mm, Sapphire)	GarminForerunner 970
Overview
Released
Released	August 2024	May 2025
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	47 mm	47 mm
Panel
Panel	OLED	OLED
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	1.4-inch (35.56 mm) AMOLED touchscreen, 454 x 454 pixels, with optional always-on mode and leakproof inductive buttons.	1.4″ (35.3 mm) AMOLED colour touchscreen, 454 x 454 pixels; five buttons
Screen protection
Screen protection	Sapphire crystal lens on this titanium edition.	Sapphire crystal lens
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	Yes	Yes
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	Yes	Yes
Skin temperature
Skin temperature	Yes	Yes
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	Dual-band (L1 and L5)	Dual-band (L1 and L5)
Water resistance
Water resistance	100 m (better)	50 m
Sensors
Sensors	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou with SatIQ multi-band positioning; Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate, Pulse Ox, barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer, thermometer, ambient light and depth sensors.	Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate monitor; Pulse Ox blood oxygen monitor; barometric altimeter; compass; gyroscope; accelerometer; thermometer; ambient light sensor
Health features
Health features	Pulse Ox, skin temperature, sleep and HRV tracking; ECG app where regionally available, subject to compatible phone app and watch software.	Garmin ECG App (atrial fibrillation); Pulse Ox spot checks, with optional all-day acclimation and sleep readings; skin temperature; high and low heart rate alerts; HRV status; health status; sleep score, sleep coach, sleep alignment and nap detection; breathing variations; Body Battery; all-day stress; Health Snapshot; lifestyle logging; women's health tracking with past ovulation estimates; jet lag adviser
Fitness features
Fitness features	Sport-specific strength workouts, training readiness, endurance and hill scores, PacePro, ClimbPro, TopoActive maps, scuba and apnea dive activities; built-in LED flashlight.	Training readiness and training status; running tolerance; running economy and step speed loss (with HRM 600); wrist-based running dynamics and running power; VO2 max, endurance score and hill score; race predictor and projected race time; PacePro; ClimbPro; real-time stamina; Garmin Coach and Garmin Triathlon Coach plans; daily suggested workouts; quick workouts; built-in maps with turn-by-turn directions, dynamic round-trip routing and Up Ahead; triathlon and multisport profiles
Safety features
Safety features	Incident detection and assistance require a paired smartphone.	Incident detection during select activities; assistance; LiveTrack; live event sharing (Android only); LED flashlight
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 16 days	Up to 15 days
In low-power mode
In low-power mode	Up to 23 days	–
Mobile data option
Mobile data option	No	No
Works with
Works with	iPhone and Android	iPhone and Android
Storage
Storage	32 GB	32 GB
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 16 days in smartwatch mode, seven days with always-on display, 47 hours in GPS-only mode or 35 hours with all-systems multi-band GNSS.	Smartwatch mode up to 15 days; GPS only up to 26 hours; SatIQ (AutoSelect) up to 23 hours; All-Systems + Multi-Band up to 21 hours; with music up to 14, 13 and 12 hours in the same modes
Charging
Charging	Rechargeable lithium-ion battery with Garmin proprietary plug charger.	Garmin charging cable with proprietary plug
Connectivity
Connectivity	Bluetooth, ANT+ and Wi-Fi; Garmin Pay, Connect IQ and on-watch music. Speaker and microphone support calls and voice messaging through a paired phone; some offline voice commands work without one.	Bluetooth, ANT+ and Wi-Fi; multi-band GPS with GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou and SatIQ; Garmin Pay; speaker and microphone for calls and the phone's voice assistant with a paired phone; hands-free voice control
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	73 g	–
Software
Software	Garmin	Garmin
Case materials
Case materials	Titanium bezel, fibre-reinforced polymer case with metal rear cover, sapphire crystal and silicone band; 10 ATM water rating and 40 m dive-rated case.	Titanium bezel; sapphire crystal lens; 5 ATM water rating (swim); operating temperature –20 °C to 60 °C
Size
Size	47 x 47 x 13.8 mm; 73 g with silicone band, 52 g case only.	47 x 47 x 12.9 mm; 56 g (Garmin doesn't give a case-only weight)
Bands
Bands	QuickFit 22 mm band; silicone band fits wrists 125–208 mm.	22 mm silicone band; takes QuickFit 22 bands; fits 135–205 mm wrists
Colours
Colours	Titanium with spark orange and graphite silicone band.	Carbon Grey DLC Titanium with Black case and Black/Translucent Whitestone band; Titanium with Whitestone case and Whitestone/Translucent Amp Yellow band; Soft Gold Titanium with French Grey case and French Grey/Translucent Indigo band
In the box
In the box	–	Forerunner 970, charging cable, documentation