No matter how fast the runners are, Garmin will catch up with them. It could be the motto of Garmin’s new Forerunner 255 series of sports watches. This budget Forerunner, traditionally positioned in the back field of team Garmin, has made a sprint that leaves many others behind. That goes for the competition but even some more expensive Garmin models.
Garmin Forerunner 255
Price from € 349,-
Colors blue, gray, rose, light gray, white, black
Platform Android, iOS
Screen MIP (260 x 260)
Format 41 x 41 x 12.9mm
Weight 39 grams
Sensors heart rate monitor, breathing rate, sleep monitor, barometric altimeter, pedometer
Connectivity wifi, bluetooth, ANT+
Other gps/glonass/galileo, waterproof 50m, interchangeable straps
Website www.garmin.com
9 Score 90 
- Pros
- Sports Features
- Health features
- Garmin Pay
- Price
- Buttons
- Negatives
- Non-standard charger
- No touch screen
Buy the Garmin Forerunner 255 at Bol.com
This review will end with a very simple conclusion: if you want as much Garmin as possible for as little money as possible, the Forerunner 255 is unbeatable. And even if it doesn’t have to be Garmin because you’re not yet stuck in the ecosystem of this supplier of sports watches with many additional services, the conclusion will not be much different. The upgrade that Garmin gives to the lower end of its total range with the Forerunner 255 series makes it a formidable competitor for more expensive models such as the Forerunner 745 and puts all competition at a disadvantage that will be difficult to catch up.
Four models
The Forerunner 255 comes in four models, the two larger 255 and 255 Music and two smaller ones, the 255S and 255S Music. They are all 13 mm thick, the two 255 models are 46 mm in size, the two S models 41 mm. The latter is therefore more suitable for the smaller wrist. The housing is made of polymer-reinforced glass fiber, the top is made of scratch-resistant (but not indestructible) Gorilla Glass 3. There are no models with the even stronger sapphire glass. The MIP screen is 260 x 260 pixels in the larger models, and 218 x 218 in the S models. Both S models are 10 grams lighter than the non-S models, 39 grams against 49 grams.
Functionally there is no difference between the four except that both Music models have storage for 500 songs or podcasts and can play them directly on a headset connected to the watch. So the smartphone can stay at home. This is an advantage, but it certainly also has disadvantages. Since the 255 doesn’t have its own data connection without a smartphone nearby, you can only listen to what you’ve downloaded beforehand. And all connected functions will not work without a smartphone. So no LiveTracking where the home front can follow you on the road, no accident report when something unexpectedly goes wrong and no messages received on the smartwatch while running. This makes the business case for the more expensive Music model tricky.
Buttons no touch
The Forerunner 255 is a running smartwatch but with full triathlon support. Those who, in addition to walking, also cycle or swim or want to do a completely different sport such as cross-country skiing, skiing, paddle surfing, rowing, hiking or strength training or simply looking for peace in yoga. The Forerunner 255 is also suitable for that athlete. In addition to Multi-band GPS/Glonass/Galileo for determining position and determining speed, the entire series also has a wrist-based heart rate monitor, a barometric altimeter, a compass, gyroscope, accelerometer and thermometer. The heart rate is measured every second, during exercise and rest, and the Pulse Ox saturation meter adds the blood oxygen level. This produces a bucket of data that Garmin translates into a ‘fitness age’, ‘body-battery energy monitor and, provided the Forerunner is also worn at night, analysis of the night’s sleep and thereby a sleep score and insights into the body’s recovery after the efforts the day before.
All this data is recorded automatically while wearing the Forerunner. There are five buttons for recording activities or viewing collected data. The Forerunner 255 doesn’t have a touchscreen, but the controls are completely Garmin-standard and very quick to learn. Only drawback, once you know that way in the menus you will discover new functions and possibilities less quickly.
Sports Features
For the athlete, the Forerunner has a host of features that aid in training and recovery. In addition to simply registering an activity, it is possible to train with heart rate zones and to receive spoken instructions about the past and coming interval at intervals. With options such as Virtual Partner, Virtual Racer and especially Pacer Pro, a pace strategy can be determined for a route, whereby it is immediately clear while walking or cycling the route whether the athlete is ahead or behind schedule. When cycling, additional cadence and speed sensors can be linked for even more input and therefore more accurate registration and analysis.
Also for cycling and swimming there are additional sports options such as a signal whether a preset distance or goal has been reached, comparing results with previous activities, recording distance, pace, stroke count and stroke rate when swimming. When all data is synchronized with Garmin Connect, the free online platform for collecting your own sports performance and in-depth analyses, there are also daily training and recovery advice. As a small update on what was previously possible, these training advice can now easily be scheduled for the coming days.
HRV status
A new feature that Garmin is talking about is heart rate variability (HRV). For this, the Garmin not only registers the heart rate but also the small deviations in it. A variation of milliseconds between two heartbeats could previously be recorded incidentally on certain models via the Health Snapshot, but the Forerunner 255 models do this continuously. HRV status is measured overnight for a minimum of three consecutive weeks. According to Garmin, the HRV status is very suitable as an indication of the overall fitness, the stress level, whether you are overtrained and thus the extent to which you can train more or less intensively during the day. The HRV status is fortunately not a difficult value to interpret, Garmin expresses it in either red, orange or green for a lower or better fitness level, respectively. This is really less extensive than with Garmin’s top models, which do the same measurement, but compile a much more extensive report, including training advice directly adapted to the HRV status.
Miscellaneous
The Multiband GPS is very accurate, there are sufficient smartwatch functions, and both the recording of sporting and daily efforts and sleep as well as the analysis and advice that come from it are very valuable, in any case for athletes but also for those who just like to be. monitor health and fitness. Only those who really want higher sporting goals and benefit from even more extensive analyzes or who simply like a more robust watch, have reason to purchase one of the more high-end models from Garmin. Conveniently, Garmin offers Garmin Pay on all models, for contactless payment on the go. In a few steps you can connect a debit or credit card to the Forerunner and secure the use of the payment function with a PIN code.
Conclusion: buy Garmin Forerunner 255?
350 or 400 euros is a lot of money, but appropriate for a multisport sports watch with the capabilities of this Garmin Forerunner 255 series. Besides the fact that it is a very pleasant watch to wear due to the lower weight and the small size, it offers unprecedented possibilities for its money. Supplemented with a number of useful smartwatch functions, Garmin Pay and the possibilities of the Garmin Connect platform, it is a very attractive offer. Competitors Polar and Suunto will lose sleep over this, as their HRV status is to be feared.
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