The Garmin Forerunner series has many excellent watches for both budget-conscious buyers and big spenders. Two of their popular models, the Garmin Forerunner 255 and 945, have various advanced health features for everyday use without putting a hole in your pocket.
We’ll delve into a comprehensive comparison of these two smartwatches to find out which one makes the most of your money. In the end, I’ll share my pick to help you get the watch that fits your needs and budget. So without further ado, let’s dive in.
Quick Glance:
At first glance, you can spot a few differences, like the fact that both devices have Garmin’s typical five-button setup, with two on the left and three on the right. The screen size of both the Forerunner 255 and Forerunner 945 is similar, and they both come with a pin buckle and silicone band as standard. Both devices have a heart rate sensor, a pulse oximeter sensor, and a charging port, housed in a fiber-reinforced polymer body.
Garmin Forerunner 945 vs 255: Pricing
The Garmin Forerunner 255 is cheaper than the Garmin Forerunner 945. The price starts at $349 for the 41mm or 46mm. If you want music support, you need to invest an extra $50 for it. It comes in 8 colours: tidal blue, slate gray, light pink, powder gray, whitestone, and black.
The Garmin Forerunner 945, on the other hand, is available in 47mm but has options to choose between a Bluetooth and LTE model. The price starts at $499 for Bluetooth and $599 for the LTE model. It comes in black and whitestone colorways.
Garmin Forerunner 945 vs 255: Comparison
| Specifications | Garmin Forerunner 945 | Garmin Forerunner 255 |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Brand | Garmin | Garmin |
| Model Name | Forerunner 945 | Forerunner 255 |
| Design and Body | ||
| Weight | 50 grams | 49 grams (47mm) and 39 grams (41mm) |
| Material | Fiber-reinforced Polymer | Fiber-reinforced Polymer |
| Lens Material | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Shape | Round | Round |
| Display | ||
| Type | sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel | sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel |
| Touch | No | No |
| Size | 1.2 inch | 1.1 inch and 1.3 inch |
| Resolution | 240 x 240 pixels | 260 x 260 pixels |
| Always-on Display | Yes | Yes |
| Connectivity | ||
| Bluetooth | Yes | Yes |
| GPS | Yes | Yes |
| Extra | ||
| Sensors | Heart Rate Monitor, SpO2 (Blood Oxygen) Monitor, Calorie Count, Step Count, Sleep | Heart Rate Monitor, SpO2 (Blood Oxygen) Monitor |
| NFC | Garmin Pay | Garmin Pay |
| Camera | ||
| Camera | No | No |
| Technical | ||
| Compatibility | Android, iOS | Android, iOS |
| Multimedia | ||
| Music | Yes | Yes |
| Battery | ||
| Backup | Up to 14 days | Up to 14 days |
| Fast Charging | No | No |
| Features | ||
| Water Resistant | Yes | Yes |
| Water Rating | 5 ATM | 5 ATM |
| Water Depth | 50m | 50m |
| Price | $349 | $499 (Bluetooth) and $599 (LTE) |
Design and Display
The Forerunner 255 comes in two sizes: 41mm (255s) and 47mm (255). Both versions have music support but cost $50 more. In contrast, the Forerunner 945 is only available in a single 47mm size, which can be daunting if you have a slightly smaller wrist.
Both devices are housed in a fiber-reinforced polymer body with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top to survive extreme beatings. They come with a quick release, pin buckle, and silicone band as standard.
The Forerunner 945 is the heaviest at 50 grams, measuring 47 x 47 x 13.7 mm, while the Forerunner 255 is at 45.6 x 45.6 x 12.9 mm, weighing 49 grams for 47mm, 41 x 41 x 12.4 mm, and 39 grams for 41mm.
Both devices have five buttons to hover around the watch screen, with two on the right and three on the left. Neither of these watches supports touch-screen, but with five buttons, you can do pretty much everything, and it’s convenient to use the watch when wearing gloves or during workouts.
There’s no difference in the screen display, as both smartwatches have sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel screens that get brighter in direct sunlight and save extra juice to go longer. But the Forerunner 945 has a 1.2-inch (240 x 240 pixels) screen, whereas the Forerunner 255 has a 1.1-inch (218 x 218 pixels) or 1.3-inch (260 x 260 pixels) screen. More pixels mean the maps and fonts look more detailed.
Both devices have 5 ATM water ratings, so you can use them while swimming too.
Health Tracking and Features
Health tracking is arguably the most important factor on any smartwatch, and luckily both devices have various advanced features worth considering.
The Forerunner 945 has an Elevate V3 sensor, while the Forerunner 255 takes it a step further with an Elevate V4, which provides faster and more accurate readings. Both devices feature heart rate sensors, abnormal heart rate alerts, 24 x 7 respiration rate, pulse OX blood oxygen saturation, body battery, stress monitoring, sleep tracking, hydration, and women’s health tracking.
Garmin added two new features to the Forerunner 255: nap detection and health snapshots. The nap detection system tracks your nap times and provides recommendations to help you get the most out of it. The health snapshot tracks key metrics, including heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), pulse OX, and respiration, during a two-minute session, providing a glimpse into your overall cardiovascular status.
When it comes to activity tracking, both devices can track multiple sports modes, including swimming, running, cycling, and so much more. But with the Forerunner 255, you can track basketball, volleyball, boxing, mixed martial arts, and much more, which is not available in the Forerunner 945.
Both have back-to-back, point-to-point navigation, tracback, ultratrac mode, and much more. But the Forerunner 255 added up ahead. This feature is especially for runners and ultrarunners as it shows upcoming course points, providing the exact location of aid stations, turns, and more.
Additionally, they also have downloadable training plans, VO2 max, recovery time, training load, and so much more. There are also a few niche-specific features for runners, golfers, cyclists, and swimmers.
One feature I find useful in the Forerunner 255 is multi-band GPS. It uses multi-band frequency, which allows for more consistent track logs and improved positioning when using the device in challenging environments.
Smartwatch Features
Both devices share many similarities, but the Forerunner 255 takes the lead with a few extra-added features. First, let’s discuss the similarities.
Both devices offer smart notifications, calendars, weather forecasts, smartphone music control, finding my phone, and finding my watch. But the Forerunner 255 lets you view images from notifications and the morning report. The report shows weather, sleep, overnight heart rate variability status, and more right after you wake up.
Both have Garmin Pay to pay contactlessly from your wrist and music storage to download and store up to 2,000 songs. But you need to pay an extra $50 to get this feature on the Forerunner 255, and the Forerunner 945 comes with it.
In terms of connectivity, both have Bluetooth and ANT+, but the Forerunner 945 has Wi-Fi as well. They are both compatible with a wide range of Android and iOS devices.
Battery Life
When it comes to battery life, both devices are quite similar and offer over a day of battery life, which is good for most users but maybe not for ultrarunners or extreme adventure seekers.
Both have 14 days of battery life in smartwatch mode. But in GPS mode, the Forerunner 945 takes a win with 36 hours of battery, compared to 30 hours in the Forerunner 255. With GPS + music, the battery drops to 7–8 hours; however, not everybody uses music with GPS. If you use all-system GNSS mode plus multi-band in the Forerunner 255, it lasts for around 16 hours.
Both smartwatches come with Garmin’s proprietary plug charger, which takes approximately 1.5–2 hours to fully charge the device.
Which should you choose?
So, which should you buy? As you might have noticed by now, both devices are similar in various aspects. Whether it’s battery life, smartwatch features, health features, or display, But one thing the Forerunner 255 did was add various new features while cutting $150 off its pricing.
The Forerunner 255 has more sports profiles, multi-band GPS, health snapshots, nap detection, and a larger display. It also has an Elevate V4 sensor that is faster and more accurate than the Elevate V3 sensor. Above all, saving $150 while getting all the important features is the best thing you can do.