Garmin Forerunner 25 vs Garmin Forerunner 70
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| GarminForerunner 25 | GarminForerunner 70 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | 2015 | May 2026 |
| Display | ||
| Case sizes | 43.9 mm or 47 mm | 42.6 mm |
| Panel | Memory-in-pixel | OLED |
| Always-on display | Yes | Yes |
| Display detail | Monochrome transflective memory-in-pixel display, 128 × 128 pixels; 18.5 × 18.5 mm in the small version and 23 × 23 mm in the large version. | 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 | Built-in GPS and accelerometer; heart rate requires an optional ANT+ chest strap, and an optional foot pod is supported. | Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate; Pulse Ox; accelerometer; ambient light sensor; no built-in barometric altimeter or body-temperature sensor |
| Health features | Daily steps, automatic step goal, inactivity bar and sleep monitoring; heart-rate zones require a paired chest strap. | 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 pace, distance, personal records, Virtual Pacer, Auto Pause, Auto Lap and time, distance and run/walk alerts; indoor distance from its accelerometer. | 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 | Live Tracking shares a run through a paired compatible smartphone. | 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 70 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 | Small version up to eight weeks in watch mode or eight hours of GPS training; large version up to ten weeks or ten hours respectively. | 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; charging and data cable supplied. | Garmin proprietary plug charging/data cable; rechargeable built-in lithium-ion battery; USB charging temperature 0–45 °C |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth Low Energy syncs to Garmin Connect Mobile and displays paired-phone notifications; ANT+ supports optional heart-rate and foot-pod accessories. | 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 | Seven activities of on-watch history. | 512 MB memory/history; not storage for offline music playback |
| Design | ||
| Weight (lightest version) | 31 g (better) | 40 g |
| Software | Garmin | Garmin |
| Case materials | Silicone band and 5 ATM water rating. | Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel; silicone band; chemically strengthened glass; 5 ATM water rating; operating/storage temperature –20–60 °C |
| Size | Small version 35.9 × 43.9 × 13.9 mm, 31 g; large version 40.2 × 47 × 13.9 mm, 39 g. Longest case dimensions appear in the size comparison. | 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 | Large versions in black/blue and black/red; small versions in black/violet and white/pink. | UK Black, Whitestone, Citron and Cool Lavender; global range additionally offers Tidal Blue and Soft Pink |
| In the box | Watch, charging/data cable and manual; some bundles also included a heart-rate chest strap. | Forerunner 70; charging cable; documentation |
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