Garmin Forerunner 255 vs Garmin Forerunner 970

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Forerunner 255 compared with Forerunner 970

	GarminForerunner 255	GarminForerunner 970
Overview
Released
Released	June 2022	May 2025
Display
Case sizes
Case sizes	46 mm	47 mm
Panel
Panel	Memory-in-pixel	OLED
Always-on display
Always-on display	Yes	Yes
Display detail
Display detail	1.3-inch (33 mm) transflective colour memory-in-pixel display, 260 x 260 pixels; button-operated.	1.4″ (35.3 mm) AMOLED colour touchscreen, 454 x 454 pixels; five buttons
Screen protection
Screen protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 3.	Sapphire crystal lens
Health and fitness
ECG
ECG	No	Yes
Blood oxygen
Blood oxygen	Yes	Yes
Skin temperature
Skin temperature	No	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	50 m	50 m
Sensors
Sensors	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, multi-frequency GNSS, Garmin Elevate wrist heart rate, Pulse Ox, barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope and accelerometer.	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, HRV status, sleep score, all-day stress and Body Battery energy monitoring.	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	Triathlon and open-water swimming profiles, morning report, race widget, daily suggested workouts, training status and load, recovery time and PacePro; breadcrumb course guidance.	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; LiveTrack.	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 14 days	Up to 15 days
Mobile data option
Mobile data option	No	No
Works with
Works with	iPhone and Android	iPhone and Android
Storage
Storage	–	32 GB
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Up to 14 days in smartwatch mode, 30 hours in GPS-only mode or 16 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 battery with Garmin charging cable.	Garmin charging cable with proprietary plug
Connectivity
Connectivity	Bluetooth and ANT+; Garmin Pay, Connect IQ, smart notifications and phone music controls. This standard model does not store music.	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)	49 g	–
Software
Software	Garmin	Garmin
Case materials
Case materials	Fibre-reinforced polymer bezel and silicone band; 5 ATM water rating.	Titanium bezel; sapphire crystal lens; 5 ATM water rating (swim); operating temperature –20 °C to 60 °C
Size
Size	45.6 x 45.6 x 12.9 mm; 49 g.	47 x 47 x 12.9 mm; 56 g (Garmin doesn't give a case-only weight)
Bands
Bands	Quick-release 22 mm band; fits wrists 130–205 mm.	22 mm silicone band; takes QuickFit 22 bands; fits 135–205 mm wrists
Colours
Colours	Tidal blue with black bezel.	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