Garmin Forerunner 255 vs 955: What Are The Key Differences

Planning to buy a GPS running watch? Are you considering to buy from Garmin?

You could feel overwhelmed by the number of options available in the market today. With the Garmin Forerunner 255 and the Garmin Forerunner 955, Garmin actually offers you two excellent options. You need to put these Garmin watches on your shopping list.

Both Garmin watches are from the most recent 2022 batch of Garmin releases. While the 955 is the top-of-the-line Forerunner watch, the 255 is a mid-range watch. Although the two devices have many characteristics, there are a few significant variances that distinguish them from one another. Now, if you are interested to know the differences of these two watches, scroll down and continue reading.

Garmin Forerunner 255 vs 955

Garmin Forerunner

A range of sports watches from Garmin are part of the Forerunner series. The majority of versions are geared toward triathletes and road runners and employ the Global Positioning System (GPS). The watches in the Forerunner series are made to precisely measure distance, speed, heart rate (optional), time, altitude, and pace, all of which might be significant to athletes during training.

Garmin Forerunner 955

Product Information

• Brand: Garmin
• Model Name: Forerunner 955
• Screen Size: 1.3 Inches
• Special Feature: Waterproof
• Connectivity Technology: Bluetooth, USB
• Map Type: North America
• Sport: Training, Track & Field, Exercise & Fitness, Running, Outdoor Lifestyle
• Included Components: Forerunner 955, power/data cable, documentation
• Battery Life: 80 Hours
• Mounting Type: Wrist Mount

The Forerunner 955 offers a few small software modifications as well as extra functionality. Some of these, like additional activity profiles. Considered as a premium running watch by Garmin because of its additional features.

However, there are three key aspects that deserve special attention. These will undoubtedly be worth the additional expense for some people.

A training readiness metric, the suite of Garmin Golf capabilities, and enhanced maps and navigation tools are included in these three features. All the features are worth it.

Enhancements To Maps And Navigational Features

The Garmin 245 and the Garmin 55 both use breadcrumb navigation, as does the Garmin 255. It’s helpful and preferable. However, the Garmin Forerunner 955 provides a fully functional map. Along with points of interest, the map also shows marked roadways and trails.

You can get turn-by-turn directions if you’re following a scheduled path. Additionally, even if you didn’t prepare a route in advance, you can utilize the round trip course designer to create a route of any length.

Enhanced Performance Metrics And Training Readiness

This new metric is intended to inform you of your readiness for a demanding workout and your level of recovery. It accomplishes this by integrating a variety of different measures that are already offered by the Forerunner 255 and other watches, so it isn’t really unique. However, it’s convenient to have a single score that sums up everything on one screen.

Data on sleep, recovery time, heart rate variability, stress, and acute training load are used to determine training readiness. You might want to wait to work out the next day if any of these measures are out of sync.

The 955 also includes information on acclimatization to high altitudes and heat. It keeps track of your training in these scenarios and uses the data to enhance its algorithms for VO2 max and other performance metrics.

Real-time endurance is another relevant aspect. This statistic seeks to keep track of how much energy you have both before and throughout an activity.  It’s a cool feature that may be worth experimenting with.

Golf Features On Garmin

The availability of Garmin Golf is another truly special feature and enhancement on the Garmin 955. This is a terrific set of features to have on your watch if you play golf.

You can view information like the distance to the hole by loading data for the course you are currently playing. Although the 955 incorporates these functions with your running watch, there are Garmin devices designed exclusively for golfing.

This absolutely justifies the additional cost of the 955 if you play golf and run.

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Garmin Forerunner 255

Product Information

• Brand: Garmin
• Model Name: Forerunner 255
• Style: Play Music
• Color: Black
• Screen Size: 1.3 Inches
• Special Feature Bluetooth
• Compatible Devices: Smartphone
• Display Type: Sunlight-Visible, Transflective Memory-in-Pixel (MIP)
• Band Color: Black
• Battery Life: 336.0, 30.0 Hours

It has a compact design, an always-on full-color display, and is simple to read even in direct sunlight.

Forerunner 255 Music has a battery life of up to 14 days in smartwatch mode and up to 30 hours in GPS mode, giving you a complete picture of your health, including training and sleep.

Up to 500 songs can be downloaded to your watch, including playlists from Spotify, Amazon Music, or Deezer (membership required); after connecting your wireless headphones, you can listen to music without a phone.

As soon as you wake up, your morning report compiles information about your sleep, HRV status, and daily workout recommendations (This watch is intended to provide an estimate of your activity and metrics).

Prepare for your upcoming race with training advice, individualized daily workout suggestions, and finish time predictions based on course information, weather, and performance.

View a suggested daily exercise schedule for the full week that adjusts based on your performance and recovery after each run.

While you sleep, HRV status monitors your heart rate variability, providing you with more information about your general wellbeing, recovery, and training effectiveness.

Identifies whether you are overtraining or undertraining by evaluating your current training state. It also provides extra performance tracking functions, such as recuperation time following workouts.

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Garmin Forerunner 255 vs. 955 Physical And Hardware Differences

When you compare the Garmin 955 vs. 255, various significant physical and hardware differences become evident.

Furthermore, the Forerunner 955 is a little bigger. It has a diameter of 46.5mm. This is significantly larger than the 255s and slightly larger than the standard 255’s 45.6mm diameter. This can potentially work against you if you have a little wrist or are self-conscious about your size. In any case, it’s something to be mindful of. The Quick Fit band is another type of watch band that is used with the Forerunner 955.

The Garmin Forerunner 955 has a little longer battery power. Whether you’re looking at smartwatch mode or GPS mode, there isn’t a huge difference, although the 955 is rated to last a little bit longer. The 955 Solar differs significantly in this way as well. In smartwatch mode, it is rated for 20 days, as opposed to 15 days without sun.

The Garmin 955 also has a huge amount of internal memory. Compared to the 4GB of RAM on the 255, it has 32GB of memory. A portion of this is likely required for the other features, including fully featured maps and Garmin Golf. However, it also means that there will be greater room for music storage. This sports watch has a storage capacity of 2,000 songs compared to the 255’s 500 songs. If you use the music features frequently, this premium watch can be a major benefit for you.

Type And Display Size

Garmin Forerunner 255 and Garmin Forerunner 955 use color MIP displays. They have the same size and resolution. However, the Garmin Forerunner 955 has touchscreen.

These sports watches use Corning Gorilla Glass-encased color memory-in-pixel displays, however only the Forerunner 955 offers touch controls. The physical buttons on the case’s edge are the only controls for the 255. The Gorilla Glass used by the Garmin 955 is special. Compared to the Gorilla Glass 3 on the Forerunner 255, the Gorilla Glass DX on the 955 is designed to lessen glare and scratches. The glass on the 255 is acceptable, while the glass on the 955 is outstanding.

Case Size And Materials

While Garmin Forerunner 955 is only available in one size, Garmin Forerunner 255 has two casing sizes. There are silicone bands and polymer casings on both.

There are two casing sizes offered for the Garmin Forerunner 255: 41mm and 46mm. The 255S is the smaller model, and it is 12.4mm thick; the 255L is 12.9mm thick. Depending on the size you select and whether you choose the normal or music edition, there are various color options available.

The casing size for the Forerunner 955 is 46.5mm in diameter and 12.4mm in thickness. Both the normal and solar versions are available in black and white.

Both watches include silicone bands with fiber-reinforced polymer casings that can be removed and switched out for another if you want a different color or material.

Sensors

Garmin Forerunner 255 and Garmin Forerunner 955 have multi-frequency GPS. Both have the same range of biometric sensors.

With support for the GPS, Galileo, and GLONASS satellite systems, the Garmin Forerunner 255 and 955 both provide multi-frequency navigation. 

The most recent Garmin Elevate optical heart rate monitor, a SpO2 sensor to monitor blood oxygen saturation, a barometric altimeter for altitude training, a compass, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a thermometer are all included in both watches.

Smartwatch Features

Both the Garmin Forerunner 255 and the 955 feature a variety of tools that make them suitable for usage in between exercises, even if neither is designed to compete with ordinary smartwatches like the Apple Watch 7 in that regard. For instance, you may download extra watch faces, data fields, and apps for both devices from the Garmin Connect IQ store. These things appear while you’re monitoring an activity.

As previously noted, you can play music and podcasts with your best running headsets without using your phone with the Forerunner 955 and 255 Music. It’s also important to keep in mind that only the 955 has Wi-Fi, making it faster to download music, apps, and directions than over your phone’s Bluetooth connection.

Regarding common non-health tools, the two are extremely similar in every other aspects. No matter which device you choose, you will receive the same weather, calendar, find my phone, and Garmin Pay features. If you have an Android phone, both let you decline a call with a text message. The Forerunner 955 pairs with the Garmin Golf app, whereas the 255 does not.

Fitness Tracking Functionalities

The two watches differ greatly in this area. Both offer a variety of training modes and multi-sport recording, allowing you to quickly switch between other sports, such as cycling and running, for example, and are therefore useful for competitions like triathlons and biathlons.

The Forerunner 955, on the other hand, includes a lot more activity profiles, including modes for tracking indoor bouldering and climbing, kayaking, and bicycle touring, to cite a few. It’s the better choice if you have a broad and varied interest in sports.

With features like 42,000 preloaded courses, a digital scorecard, and Garmin Autoshot, the Forerunner 955 is definitely a fully functional golf watch as well.

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That’s it. I hope this post was helpful to you one way or the other. Thanks for reading this post.