Garmin Forerunner 170 vs Garmin Forerunner 201

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Forerunner 170 compared with Forerunner 201

	GarminForerunner 170	GarminForerunner 201
Overview
Released
Released	May 2026	2003
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	42.6 mm	82.8 mm
Panel
Panel	OLED	LCD
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	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	Backlit monochrome LCD, 36.49 × 23.35 mm and 100 × 64 pixels, with buttons beside and below the screen.
Screen protection
Screen protection	Chemically strengthened glass	–
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	No	No
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	Yes	No
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	–
Sensors
Sensors	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	Built-in 12-channel GPS receiver and patch antenna; no heart-rate sensor.
Health features
Health features	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 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	Speed, pace, distance, laps, elevation and calories; Auto Pause, Auto Lap, interval training, pace and distance alerts, and Virtual Partner goals.
Safety features
Safety features	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	Stores up to 100 locations and can guide the wearer back to the starting point; a basic route map and pointer are shown on the screen.
Battery and connections
Battery life (maker's claim)
Battery life (maker's claim)	Up to 10 days	Up to 15 hours
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	No phone pairing
Storage
Storage	4 GB	–
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	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	Rechargeable lithium-ion battery, up to fifteen hours of typical use.
Charging
Charging	Garmin proprietary plug charging/data cable; rechargeable built-in lithium-ion battery; USB charging temperature 0–45 °C	A/C desktop cradle with charging and computer data contacts.
Connectivity
Connectivity	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	Serial port connection to a PC for Garmin Training Center transfers; no direct phone connection.
Storage
Storage	4 GB memory/history; standard Forerunner 170 does not support offline music playback	Up to 5,000 laps, with approximately two years of training history in Garmin's 2004 specification.
Design
Weight (lightest version)
Weight (lightest version)	41 g (better)	78 g
Software
Software	Garmin	Garmin
Case materials
Case materials	Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; silicone band; chemically strengthened glass; 5 ATM water rating; operating/storage temperature –20–60 °C	Sealed high-impact plastic alloy case with a textile wrist strap; IPX7 immersion rating, tested to 1 m for 30 minutes, rather than a swimming depth rating.
Size
Size	42.6 x 42.6 x 11.9 mm; Garmin lists 41 g without a separate body-only weight	82.80 × 43.44 × 17.53 mm and approximately 78 g. The widest case dimension appears in the size comparison.
Bands
Bands	Standard 20 mm quick-release two-tone silicone band; fits 126–203 mm wrists	–
Colours
Colours	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	Forerunner 170; charging cable; documentation	Watch, wrist and expander straps, A/C charging cradle with PC interface and manual.