Okay, so folks keep asking me about these Garmin watches, the Forerunner 955 and the 255. I’ve had both on my wrist for a good while now, putting them through their paces, you know, real-world stuff. Not just reading spec sheets. So, I figured I’d share what I found, straight up.
Got both boxes, opened ’em up. Nothing too fancy, standard Garmin stuff. The first thing you notice, or at least I noticed, was the feel. The 955 feels a bit more, I don’t know, substantial? Not heavy, just solid. The 255 is lighter, which some people might actually prefer. Slapped them on charge, did the usual setup dance with the phone. Pretty smooth for both, no real difference there.
Living with Them Day-to-Day
So I started swapping them out. Wore the 955 for a few days, then the 255. Then I got crazy and wore one on each wrist for a bit, looked like a right idiot, but hey, it’s for science, right? Or, well, for this blog post.
- Comfort: Honestly, both are comfy. The 255 being lighter is nice, you forget it’s there sometimes. The 955 isn’t uncomfortable at all, but you know it’s there. Size-wise, they’re pretty similar on the wrist, didn’t find one snagging more than the other.
- Screen: The 955 screen is technically a bit nicer, maybe slightly sharper? But outdoors, running? Both are super easy to read. Never had an issue glancing down at either one mid-stride. The 955 has touch, which is… okay. I ended up turning it off for activities because sweaty fingers and touchscreens don’t mix well for me. It’s handy sometimes for scrolling through menus or panning the map, I guess.
- Battery: Both are champs. Seriously, battery life is great on modern Garmins. The 955 maybe lasted a tiny bit longer in my use, but we’re talking maybe a day difference over like, nearly two weeks? Both easily got me through a week with plenty of runs. I wasn’t using the solar 955, just the standard one.
- Other Stuff: Notifications work fine on both. The 955 has Garmin Pay which I used once or twice, kinda neat but I usually have my phone or wallet. Didn’t test the music versions of either, I always run with my phone for safety and podcasts anyway.
Hitting the Pavement (and Trails)
Alright, the important bit: running. This is where you’d expect the differences to show up, right?
GPS Tracking: I took them on my usual routes, road runs, some park trails. Afterwards, I’d pull up the maps on the computer. Honestly? Both were pretty much spot on. We’re talking multi-band GPS on both these days. Maybe, maybe the 955 was a hair smoother around tricky corners under trees, but you’d need a magnifying glass to care. For all practical purposes, GPS was excellent on both. No weird zig-zags into buildings or rivers.
Heart Rate: Wrist heart rate is always a bit hit-or-miss for me, especially on intervals. Both watches seemed pretty similar. Mostly fine for easy runs, sometimes a bit laggy or spiky when I really pushed it. If I cared about pinpoint accuracy, I’d use a chest strap, and both watches connect to those just fine.
The Fancy Metrics: The 955 has ‘Training Readiness’. It gives you a score telling you how ready you are to train hard. It’s… interesting. It pulls together sleep, recovery time, HRV status, etc. Did it drastically change my training? Nah. I mostly go by feel. It was kinda cool to look at, maybe confirmed what I already felt (“Yeah, I feel wrecked, and the watch agrees”). But I didn’t desperately miss it when I wore the 255. The 255 still gives you plenty, like HRV status and recovery time.
Okay, So What’s the Real Difference?
After all that, it boiled down to a few things for me, in actual use:
- Maps: This is the big one on paper. The 955 has proper, full-color maps you can browse. The 255 just has breadcrumb trails (follow the line). Did I use the 955 maps? Yeah, a few times when exploring new trails. It was nice. Was it essential? For my typical running? Not really. The breadcrumb on the 255 is usually enough to get me back if I take a wrong turn. If you navigate unfamiliar places constantly, the 955 maps are a definite plus.
- Touchscreen: Like I said, nice for panning the map, less useful otherwise for me. Buttons work great on both, especially with gloves or sweaty hands.
- Training Readiness: Cool data point on the 955, but not life-changing for me. The 255 gives you most of the underlying info anyway.
- Stamina Feature: Both have this now, I think? Shows how much juice you have left during a run. Kinda neat, sometimes matched how I felt, sometimes not. Didn’t rely on it heavily.
- Price: Let’s not forget, the 955 costs a fair bit more.
My Takeaway
Look, both these watches are absolutely brilliant for running. Seriously top-tier.
The Forerunner 255 does pretty much everything a dedicated runner could seriously need. Accurate GPS, solid heart rate (for wrist-based), tons of data, great battery, different size options. It’s fantastic value. If you mostly run familiar routes or just need basic navigation prompts, save your money, get the 255. You won’t be disappointed.
The Forerunner 955 adds some sprinkles on top. The main ones that mattered in practice were the maps and maybe the touchscreen for interacting with those maps. Training Readiness is nice data to geek out on. If you do a lot of trail running in new areas, or you really want that full map experience on your wrist, or you just like having the top-end features and the slightly more premium feel, then the 955 is worth the extra cash.
Which one am I sticking with? Tough call. I like the maps on the 955 for those occasional adventures. But day-to-day? The 255 does the job perfectly well and is a bit lighter. If budget was tight, I’d grab the 255 and not feel like I was missing much at all. For my money, the 255 hits the sweet spot for most serious runners. The 955 is for those who want the extra map features or just want the top dog Forerunner without going up to the Fenix line.
That’s my two cents, anyway. Just one guy’s experience running with both. Hope it helps someone figure it out!