Garmin Forerunner 235 vs Garmin Forerunner 70
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| GarminForerunner 235 | GarminForerunner 70 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | November 2015 | May 2026 |
| Display | ||
| Case sizes | 45 mm | 42.6 mm |
| Panel | Memory-in-pixel | OLED |
| Always-on display | Yes | Yes |
| Display detail | 1.23-inch (31.1 mm) sunlight-readable colour display, 215 x 180 pixels, with button controls. | 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 | – | Chemically strengthened glass |
| Health and fitness | ||
| ECG | No | No |
| Blood oxygen | No | Yes |
| Skin temperature | No | No |
| Sleep apnoea alerts | No | No |
| High blood pressure alerts | No | No |
| Body composition | No | No |
| Fall detection | No | No |
| Crash detection | No | No |
| GPS | Single-band | Single-band |
| Water resistance | 50 m | 50 m |
| Sensors | GPS, GLONASS, Garmin Elevate optical wrist heart rate and accelerometer. | Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate; Pulse Ox; accelerometer; ambient light sensor; no built-in barometric altimeter or body-temperature sensor |
| Health features | All-day wrist heart rate, steps, calories and sleep tracking. | 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 | Running and cycling tracking, VO2 max estimate, race predictor, recovery advisor, indoor distance from the accelerometer and optional foot-pod and cycling speed/cadence sensors. | More than 80 sports apps; training readiness, status, load, load focus and recovery time; Garmin running, cycling and strength coaching; daily suggested running workouts including run/walk; quick workouts; wrist-based running dynamics and running power; PacePro; VO2 max and race predictions; breadcrumb course navigation, back-to-start and TracBack; pool swimming; no open-water swim or triathlon mode; no full offline maps |
| 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 |
| Battery and connections | ||
| Battery life (maker's claim) | Up to 9 days | Up to 13 days |
| In low-power mode | – | Up to 28 days |
| Mobile data option | No | No |
| Works with | iPhone and Android | iPhone and Android |
| Battery life detail | Up to nine days as a watch with activity tracking, notifications and heart rate; up to 11 hours in training mode. | Smartwatch up to 13 days, or 5 days with display always on; battery saver smartwatch up to 28 days; GPS-only GNSS up to 23 hours; all-systems GNSS up to 16 hours; actual life depends on enabled features and usage |
| Charging | Rechargeable lithium-ion battery. | Garmin proprietary plug charging/data cable; rechargeable built-in lithium-ion battery; USB charging temperature 0–45 °C |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth and ANT+; smart notifications, Connect IQ, phone music controls and Garmin Connect Mobile sync. No on-watch music storage. | Bluetooth and ANT+; GPS, GLONASS and Galileo; no multi-band GNSS; Android-only text responses and notification images; Connect IQ apps/watch faces/data fields; Garmin Share; controls smartphone music without offline playback; no Garmin Pay, speaker/microphone calls or cellular connection |
| Storage | – | 512 MB memory/history; not storage for offline music playback |
| Design | ||
| Weight (lightest version) | 42 g | 40 g (better) |
| Software | Garmin | Garmin |
| Case materials | 5 ATM water rating. | Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; silicone band; chemically strengthened glass; 5 ATM water rating; operating/storage temperature –20–60 °C |
| Size | 45 x 45 x 11.7 mm; 42 g. | 42.6 x 42.6 x 11.9 mm; Garmin lists 40 g without a separate body-only weight |
| Bands | – | Standard 20 mm quick-release silicone band; fits 126–203 mm wrists |
| Colours | Black and red. | UK Black, Whitestone, Citron and Cool Lavender; global range additionally offers Tidal Blue and Soft Pink |
| In the box | – | Forerunner 70; charging cable; documentation |
More comparisons
- Garmin Forerunner 170 vs Garmin Forerunner 70
- Garmin Forerunner 170 Music vs Garmin Forerunner 70
- Garmin Approach J1 vs Garmin Forerunner 70
- Garmin Forerunner 570 vs Garmin Forerunner 70
- Garmin Forerunner 70 vs Garmin Forerunner 970
- Garmin Forerunner 165 vs Garmin Forerunner 70
- Garmin Forerunner 165 Music vs Garmin Forerunner 70
- Garmin Forerunner 265 vs Garmin Forerunner 70
- Garmin Forerunner 70 vs Garmin Forerunner 965
- Garmin Forerunner 255 vs Garmin Forerunner 70
- Garmin Forerunner 70 vs Garmin Forerunner 955
- Garmin Forerunner 55 vs Garmin Forerunner 70
- Garmin Forerunner 70 vs Garmin Forerunner 745
- Garmin Forerunner 45 vs Garmin Forerunner 70
- Garmin Forerunner 45S vs Garmin Forerunner 70
- Garmin Forerunner 245 vs Garmin Forerunner 70

