Live Science Verdict
The Garmin 255 is one of the best time value Garmin watches for those who want serious stats in a light ring , and do n’t plan on using the lookout mysterious underwater .
sparkle and comfortable
Has higher - destruction software lineament like education Status
Practical MIP display
No maps or Golf mode
little battery liveliness than the sister Instinct 2
Some slight 60 minutes inconsistencies at higher exertion stage
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The Garmin Forerunner 255 is one of Garmin ’s most approachable “ serious ” fitness watch , being less bulky than the Garmin Instinct 2 and cheaper than the Forerunner 955 .
What do we mean by serious ? The Forerunner 255 records VO2 Max scores and has characteristic like Training Status , a great means to judge if your exercise mundane is on track — and help block up you lose impulse . Lighter touch sensation watches , like the Garmin Venu 2 , may feature in our pathfinder to thebest Garmin ticker , but they do lack these enthusiast favorites .
Display:1.1 in 218 x 218 MIP
Storage : Up to 4 gigabyte
GPS : Yes , Multi - Band GPS
Water resistance:5ATM
Weight:39 g
Size:41 mm x 41 mm x 12.4 mm
methamphetamine : Gorilla Glass 3
We are review the Forerunner 255S Music , a tiny variant of the watch with 4 GB computer storage for euphony and podcasts . It maxes out on what make up this particular range invoke . You get more than a taste of the hard-core side of Garmin ’s habiliment , without as intimidate a cost or a bulky design .
It ’s an absolute joy to utilise , but when there are no real washout in Garmin ’s Instinct , Venu , Forerunner and Fenix argument , the problem of this review is to figure out if this is in reality the veracious Garmin for you . The main reasons it mightnotbe are that the Forerunner 255 does not have a golf game mode or downloadable mathematical function . If you need those , consider the Forerunner 955 instead .
Plan on using the lookout man in the water for anything but airfoil - level swim and demand mega battery biography ? Get the Garmin Instinct 2 instead . It has far higher-ranking water resistivity .
Price and Availability
The Garmin Forerunner 255 serial publication was denote at the start of June 2022 . There are four key model . The scout with a small 41 mm diam casing is called the Forerunner 255S , the larger 46 millimeter model is the bare Forerunner 255 .
Each is available as a monetary standard or “ Music ” variant , which adds 4 GB storage and support for Spotify , Deezer and Amazon Music downloads . There ’s no difference in cost between the size , but you ’ll pay off an extra $ 50/£50 for music financial backing .
Non - Music Forerunner 255s cost $ 349/£299 , the high - end models $ 399/£349 .
Design
The Garmin Forerunner 255 is a reasonably unmingled lookout . It does n’t have the built - up bezel of a rugged wearable . The MIP show is very down in the mouth - key fruit and the entire casing , bar the display looking glass and metal button , is charge plate .
Garmin is n’t out to impress the hard-core physical fitness crowd , even if this is a comparatively “ hardcore ” scout . Its problem is to offer something capable for those who do n’t want to advertise that exercise is their principal hobbyhorse in their wrist joint wear .
This easily - going impression is even stronger with the special Forerunner 255S Music model we have . It is low , and very light ( 39 constant of gravitation ) , possibly the single best variation watch you’re able to get if you desire something unobjectionable that is packed with nerdy features under the aerofoil .
The one potential problem with the aim is something it shares with theForerunner 955 . Both ticker have 5ATM pee resistance , just like anApple Watch Series 7 . tack to the more chunky - lookingGarmin Instinct 2and you get 10ATM water resistance .
These figures mean the lookout can survive at 50 M and 100 M depth respectively . But those act are delusory , as they do n’t account for the additional pressure level of apparent motion in weewee . 10ATM is much good if you want to snorkel and dive a mode under the aerofoil .
Display
Is the Garmin Forerunner 255S ’s small video display a job ? Our vigil has a 1.1 - inch 218 x 218 pixel display . It is little , and like most other Garmin watch with MIP screens , a big black boundary line sits around the display so it does not fill the scout ’s brass .
This might be a problem in a smartwatch , but is not a Brobdingnagian issue in the Forerunner 255S thanks to the dim-witted way the Garmin port relays information . prod deeper into the software and you ’ll see information - fertile screen that show eye rate graphs , step count charts and so on . But the high - contrast , low - bother presentation means it is not undecipherable even at 1.1 inches .
The core display tech itself is much the same as that of a Forerunner 955 orFenix 7 . This is a color transflective MIP screen , one that feeds off ambient brightness level rather than competing with it , for first-class outdoors clarity .
It only call for to be actively lit in darker rooms , and barely uses any power to expose something on - CRT screen . Unlike a smartwatch , the screen is “ on ” 24/7 by excogitation . As such , these Garmins make first-class vigil .
However , the Garmin Forerunner 255 does not have a touch screen . All controller is through the five buttons on the side of the watch face . Garmin contribute touch to a wad of model this year , but not the 255 .
This gives the Forerunner 255 the definitive Garmin ticker find . If you ’d rather use a touch screen , have a look at theGarmin Venu 2instead . It has a bright and colourful OLED display , and takes a more passing approach to stats . It wo n’t recordVO2 Maxscores in the same way of life , and does not track your Training Status . But we still rate it highly for everyday exercise tracking .
Features
Not trusted what thing like breeding Status do ? These are some of the top reason to get a Forerunner 255 over either a Venu 2 or another cheap moon curser ’s or fitness watch .
Training Status analyse your act and say you each day whether you ’re keep , in retrieval , detrain or make progress . It ’s one of the more in effect ways wear keep you on track — if mostly because Garmin signaling you ’re losing advancement is never a dependable feeling .
The Forerunner 255 also has Performance Condition . This provides a light read on your current VO2 Max musical score , and shows you an index number of performance relative to your norm roughly 10 minutes into a workout . It ’s another straight motivational tool , and one you do n’t get in the shining Garmins at this level , like the Venu 2 .
These are just a couple of the entries you might desire to slot into the watch ’s Widget Glances screen . This sits below the watch face and is where you ’ll head for day-to-day stats . you’re able to take what goes in here , such as the step count , your last run particular and Body Battery — another Garmin metric used to label how well - catch one’s breath you are .
The Garmin Forerunner 255 also introduces HRV Status . This record yourheart pace variabilityovernight . It ’s a measurement of the difference in the gap between your heart beats over time , and a drop in the reading could indicate you are ill or run down .
You ’ll also be shown this HRV datum in the Morning Report that come out up — you guessed it — each morning . This is another new Garmin feature , and it packages up sleep data along with HRV scores , a straightaway elbow room to review data you ’re improbable to ask to see at other times .
While thebest Fitbitsprobably still have well sleep tracking than Garmin model , we have intercourse this sentry for the job . dawn written report presents sleep tracking data in a pleasant way , and the little and light Forerunner 255S does not feel ungainly to wear overnight .
Marrying the breeze with the serious , a Garmin Forerunner 255 offer some of the most important metric seen in top - conclusion watches like theGarmin Epix 2andGarmin Fenix 7 . However , it does not have everything . You ca n’t laden mapping onto the 255 . Navigation is determine to a breadcrumb trail that show where you ’ve been — a white line with a ambit indicator to help hiker avoid getting lost .
There ’s no Golf mode either . This is something many would never use anyway , but Garmin ’s Golf software is great as it include a database of thousands of course across the world . The Garmin Instinct 2 has this golf software program , and costs the same amount of money .
We have skillful news show for bicyclist , though . The Forerunner 255 does have Smart Trainer Control , which was missing in the Forerunner 245 . This permit the vigil connect to cycle turbo trainers and keep in line their impedance .
On - watch euphony support is an optional supernumerary in the Forerunner 255 series . For an extra $ 50 you get 4 GB of room for caterpillar track , which can either be loaded onto the watch manually or synced from Spotify , Deezer or Amazon Music using mini apps you download right from the watch itself .
All versions of the Forerunner 255 can control music played on a earpiece , puddle the climb appeal mostly for those who desire to run phone - free .
Do n’t care about on - sentinel function or golf game ? The Garmin Forerunner 255 probably has what you are after .
Performance
We have the version of this watch with the shortest battery life , the 41 mm Forerunner 255S. Garmin says it will last up to 12 day in its smartwatch mode . After 48 hours of use without any GPS - tracked runs it had lost 19 % mission , intimate it will last around 10.5 Clarence Shepard Day Jr. .
This is closemouthed enough to Garmin ’s call , because real - world stamina is by nature hold out to be dissemble by how many app notifications the picket receive , how much you interact with it and so on .
An hour of GPS employment took 4 % from the bombardment in the nonremittal All Systems GPS mode , suggest that even with a good turn of chase runs the Forerunner 255S should easily last a calendar week . medicine playback is the substantial battery sea wolf , with stamina rated at just five time of day for sessions with euphony and GPS in its most stamp battery - sapping Multi - Band mode .
The watch has the same Elevate heart charge per unit sensor tech as Garmin ’s priciest watches . Its results were broadly heavy , but after pick out both the Forerunner 255 and Fenix 7 out for several runs we did detect one consistent disparity . Maximum pump pace reading were always slightly down on the Forerunner 255 . We had been doing mixed exertion exercise to give the HR sensor , well , a physical exertion . But this crummy scout does seem to be less quick on the uptake when you ramp up the attempt a bit .
We saw a similar effect in the young Forerunner 955 , but would not be surprised if this changes in a next software update . The Forerunner and Fenix watches share what seems to be selfsame hardware and , if anything , the low exercising weight of the Forerunner 255 should really make it more reliable .
In good intelligence , the distances memorialize by the Forerunner 255 and Fenix 7 GPS systems were almost identical . And while the Forerunner initially have a little farseeing to triangulate , by our last few workouts the triangulation process was over in just a few seconds .
You get very exchangeable tracking answer to Garmin ’s top - death watches here , and onesextremelysimilar to those of the Forerunner 955 judging by our examination .
Verdict
The Garmin Forerunner 255 is a jolly low-priced running and seaworthiness watch for those who require Garmin ’s revered hardcore stats and software with a less hard-core appearance . It ’s also much less bulky than the similarly priced Garmin Instinct 2 .
It does n’t have on - watch maps and the 5ATM body of water resistance is n’t the best Garmin offer . But these limitations just are n’t going to count for many multitude .
Battery animation of about a workweek is n’t mind - blow by Garmin standards either , but again the lighter unnoticeable design will be well worth the sacrifice for some . We ’re largely pleased with its tracking accuracy too , with just some slight occasional inconsistencies with our benchmark Fenix 7 at high tenderness rates .
If you do n’t involve the mapping of the Forerunner 955 or the electric battery lifespan of the Instinct 2 , the Forerunner 255 is a outstanding option and simply super - appealing to bear — particularly in the modest Forerunner 255S model we reviewed .
Alternatives
Garmin offers two other vigil at almost the same price , theVenu 2andInstinct 2(pictured above ) .
The Garmin Instinct 2 is another usage enthusiast ’s watch , with a couple of clear benefits over the Forerunner 255 . Its barrage life is far longer and it has 10ATM water ohmic resistance instead of 5ATM . However , its display is monochrome , the case is bulkier and to many eyes it will seem the uglier scout . Screen resolution is depleted and the software has a more canonic - looking port . The Instinct 2 is clearly a toughened lookout man , but those who just require to track run around their local area may prefer the Forerunner 255 .
Garmin ’s Venu 2 is a more breezy , glossy choice with a “ smartwatch ” bent . It ca n’t actually run unlike apps , but has a sharper and more colourful OLED CRT screen and slicker design . The bezel is blade and there ’s a wakeful curve to the corners of the filmdom chicken feed . You neglect out on sophisticated software program feature article like Training Status , though , and if you utilise the Always On video display mode battery biography will be importantly myopic . It ’s a good option for those who just demand an all - purpose fitness tracker , but the Garmin Forerunner 255 is stronger for folk who want more insight into their physical exertion schedule .
