Okay, let’s talk about these two Garmin watches, the Forerunner 955 and the 255. I’ve been playing around with both for a bit now, trying to figure out which one really fits the bill.
Getting Started
So, I got both boxes. Pretty standard Garmin stuff. Pulled them out, the 955 definitely feels a little chunkier, maybe a bit more premium? The 255 is lighter, which I noticed right away. Charged them both up, which was quick, same old Garmin charger.
Setting them up was pretty much the same deal. Paired them with my phone through Garmin Connect. No real drama there, just follow the steps. Took maybe 10 minutes each, downloading updates and syncing things.
Wearing Them Around
For just daily wear, the 255 is super comfortable because it’s lighter. You kinda forget it’s there. The 955 isn’t bad, but you notice the size a bit more. Both show notifications from my phone just fine, texts, calls, whatever. The screens are both good, easy to see outside. The 955 has a touchscreen, which is kinda neat sometimes for scrolling through menus, but honestly, I mostly used the buttons, especially when running. It can be a bit finicky with sweaty fingers.
Battery life? Both are pretty solid. The 955 claims a bit more, and maybe it does last a tiny bit longer day-to-day, but with regular GPS runs, they both needed charging around once a week, maybe a bit longer for the 955. It wasn’t a huge difference in my actual use.
Let’s Run
This is where it matters, right? I took them out on several runs, wearing one on each wrist just to see.
- GPS: Honestly, tracking was almost identical. They both use multi-band GPS now. I ran my usual routes, through some tree cover, around buildings. Looking at the maps afterward in Connect, the lines were practically on top of each other. Maybe tiny differences here and there, but nothing major. Both lock onto satellites super fast.
- Heart Rate: Wrist heart rate is always a bit hit-or-miss for me, especially with intervals. Comparing them, they seemed pretty close most of the time during steady runs. When I did faster stuff, they both sometimes lagged or showed weird spikes compared to a chest strap. I wouldn’t say one was significantly better than the other based on my runs.
- The Feel: The lighter weight of the 255 was definitely noticeable during runs. Felt a bit less clunky on the wrist.
The Big Differences I Noticed
Okay, so tracking is similar, what’s the real difference in using them?
Maps: The 955 has full maps. I loaded up a route and tried it. It’s… okay. Kinda cool to see the streets, but the screen is small, and using the touchscreen or buttons to navigate the map while running isn’t super smooth. Useful if you get totally lost, maybe? The 255 just has breadcrumb navigation (follow the line). For sticking to a planned route, the breadcrumb is honestly fine for me. Less distracting.
Training Readiness: This is a big one Garmin pushes on the 955. It gives you a score every morning telling you how ready you are to train, based on sleep, recovery time, HRV status, etc. The 255 has the Morning Report which shows some of this (like HRV status and recovery time) but doesn’t combine it into that single “Readiness” score. Did I use Training Readiness? Yeah, I looked at it. Was it life-changing? Nah. Sometimes it felt right, sometimes I felt better or worse than the score suggested. It’s another data point, but I wouldn’t pay a huge amount extra just for that.
Stamina Feature: The 955 has this real-time stamina thing during runs. Tells you how much juice you supposedly have left. I tried watching it… felt kinda gimmicky to me. I usually have a decent feel for my own effort levels. Didn’t find myself using it much.
Touchscreen vs Buttons: Like I said, 955 has touch. It’s handy sometimes outside of workouts. During a run, I locked it or just used the buttons. The 255 is buttons only, which is simple and works perfectly fine in all conditions.
Music: My 955 has music storage. The 255 comes in music and non-music versions. I had the non-music 255 for testing. Honestly, I usually run with my phone anyway if I want music or podcasts, so built-in music isn’t a huge draw for me personally, but I know some people love it.
So, Which One?
After messing with both, here’s my take.
The Forerunner 255 does pretty much everything most runners need. Great GPS, solid heart rate (for a wrist sensor), all the core running metrics, sleep tracking, HRV status, decent battery. It’s lighter, comfortable, and less expensive. If you want a fantastic running watch without all the bells and whistles you might not even use, the 255 is awesome value.
The Forerunner 955 adds the extras. Full maps, the Training Readiness score, Stamina, touchscreen, maybe slightly better build materials, and often comes with music storage standard (check model). If you really geek out on all the data, want that combined readiness score, think you’ll use the maps a lot for exploring new areas, or really want that touchscreen interface for daily use, then the 955 is the step up. You pay more for those features.
For me? I lean towards the simplicity and value of the 255 for pure running focus. The extra stuff on the 955 is nice to have, but day-to-day, I didn’t find myself relying on it heavily. Both are great watches, though. Garmin did a good job differentiating them just enough. You basically decide how many features (and how much data) you want piled on top of the excellent core tracking.