If you want all the latest features, then the 9-series from Forerunner is a great place to look – here, you'll find Garmin's flagship, aimed at performance, usable for many different sports including running and triathlon. With the 9-series, you get many of the same features as in the Fenix series, just built into a different watch case that's made of plastic, resulting in lower weight, but naturally also a less robust watch case compared to the Fenix watches, making it ideal as a running watch.
The newest model, Garmin Forerunner 955, comes in two versions, which you can read more about in this article.
General about Garmin Forerunner 955
Garmin Forerunner 955 is the successor to Forerunner 945 and offers a comprehensive package of features. The 9-series is generally known for being Garmin's flagship in running and triathlon with a clear focus on performance. Here, you get a lightweight watch with plenty of top-tier features.
Additionally, the Garmin Forerunner 955 now features a touchscreen, making it easier and more intuitive to navigate through the watch's many functions, especially when using Garmin Connect to analyze your data. This new touchscreen is designed to work under all conditions, whether you're wearing gloves, or it's raining or snowing. The responsive touchscreen enhances the user experience and allows quicker access to necessary data during your activities.
Garmin Forerunner 955 and Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar – the two new models
Common to the two new models is that they provide even more feedback to the user - both in terms of training planning, recovery, and competitions.
One of the brand-new functions in Garmin Forerunner 955 is training readiness. This feature gives you a daily assessment of how ready your body is to train based on various health metrics such as sleep, HRV, stress level, and activity history. This helps optimize your training sessions and ensures you train at the most optimal times for your personal needs.
Another key feature in the Garmin Forerunner 955 is the ability to measure VO2 max. VO2 max is a measure of the body's maximum oxygen uptake and is an indicator of your aerobic endurance and performance capacity. By monitoring your VO2 max, you can gain insight into how your fitness develops over time and better plan your workouts to fit your goals.
Garmin Forerunner 955 comes in two versions:
- Garmin Forerunner 955
- Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar
As you might have guessed, the difference lies in the Solar edition having built-in solar panels, which can give you up to 24% extra battery life.
What's new in Garmin Forerunner 955 and Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar
Here you get an overview of the new features – below you can read more about the various points.
- New multi-band GPS
- New HRV status
- New “Training Readiness”
- New “Race-widget”
- New “Morning Report”
- New “Real-time Stamina”
- Integrated power data in Garmin's system
- New touchscreen
- Updated “Training Status”
- Updated “Daily Suggested Workouts”
- Updated “Intervals Profile”
Garmin Forerunner 955
Multi-band GPS
Forerunner 945 could also access various satellite networks. What's new in Garmin Forerunner 955 is that the watch can now access several of these networks simultaneously, thus using multiple satellite networks at the same time to increase precision in challenging environments.
HRV status
HRV stands for “Heart Rate Variability” and is about the variation between your heartbeats – essentially, how long there is between your heartbeats. In other words, a high HRV means there is a large variation in the time between your heartbeats, while a low HRV means very consistent time between your heartbeats.
The body's nervous systems can make the pulse rise or fall. A well-rested body is more receptive to these signals. Since the nervous systems are constantly active to varying degrees, you will see a higher HRV if the body is rested and ready to receive the signals.
A modern smartwatch like Garmin Forerunner 955 makes it easy to keep track of HRV and other important health data. By wearing the smartwatch around the clock, you can get continuous updates and insights into your training readiness, sleep quality, and overall health status. This ongoing monitoring can help you adjust your training and lifestyle to achieve better results and a more balanced daily life.
You can therefore, as a runner, use HRV – if you have a higher HRV, it means you are well-rested and ready for the next training session.
Garmin Forerunner 955 measures HRV as 5-minute averages while you sleep and calculates an average for the night.
Training readiness is a crucial factor when it comes to planning effective training sessions. By understanding and measuring your level of training readiness, you can optimize your training so you always train at the right time and avoid overtraining. Garmin Forerunner 955 allows you to track your training readiness by integrating data from HRV, sleep quality, and stress level to give you a precise picture of when your body is ready to perform optimally.
The watch can compare the values from the last 7 days with your baseline (last 3 months) and use this to provide better insight into your “Training Readiness”.
In the feedback, you get both your average HRV and an explanation of what it means for your training status.
Training Readiness
Gain better insight into how ready you are for today's training. The idea behind this is that you get the most benefit if the content of today's training session matches your body's recovery status, so you don't schedule a very hard and demanding session on a day when you are not sufficiently recovered.
The watch uses information from both HRV, sleep quality, stress history, etc. Based on a comprehensive assessment, you get a score from 1-100 and an explanation of what it means for you.
Race-widget
Get Garmin's estimate of your finish time for competitions. This takes into account not only the distance but also the specific route, weather, etc. You can also get training tips in the period leading up to the competition.
Real-time Stamina
The watch estimates your potential, and during your run, you can monitor how much of your energy you have used.
With real-time stamina, the watch can help you hit the right intensity so you reach the finish line before you run out of energy.
Morning Report
Every morning, you get a morning report on the watch. The report can, for example, give you an overview of how sleep and HRV measurements have been during the night and, from this, suggest what you can beneficially do in today's running session.
If you have other preferences regarding the report, you can adjust its content.
Integrated power data
Previous models required installation of a data field or app from Connect IQ to get power data on the watch. In Garmin Forerunner 955, it is now built into Garmin's system. To get the actual power measurement, it requires either an HRM-Pro or a footpod.
The watch also uses multiple data sets to provide you with precise power feedback – including pace, vertical oscillation, grade percentage, and local wind conditions.
Touchscreen
To enhance the functionality of the many different features, Garmin Forerunner 955 has been equipped with a touchscreen. However, the watch still retains the familiar physical buttons that most prefer during training.
The touchscreen is especially useful when navigating the watch's built-in maps. Here, you can now zoom in and out using the buttons on the side, and via the touchscreen, move around the map. A significantly more natural and easy experience!
Touchscreen technology makes interaction with the watch much more intuitive. With light touches and swipes, you can quickly access your favorite features and adjustments. This makes it easy to customize settings even in the middle of a run or workout without having to stop and spend much time.
Another fantastic feature of the Garmin Forerunner 955 is the integration with Garmin Connect. This app allows you to sync your training data, monitor your performance in real-time, and get detailed analyses after each workout. With Garmin Connect, you can also customize your training plans, set goals, and track your progress over time, making it an indispensable tool for any serious athlete.
Training Status
Training status evaluates your training history in conjunction with your running performance. Combined, it gives you information about the outcome of your training. Garmin has various categories, to which they have now added another in Garmin Forerunner 955. You can now find out if your training status is one offollowing:
- Productive
- Peaking
- “Overreaching”
- “Strained”
Training readiness is a new feature introduced with Forerunner 955. It measures your body's preparedness for training based on your sleep, recovery, and stress levels. This provides a holistic assessment of how ready your body is to perform, helping you plan your workouts more effectively.
Additionally, Garmin has made feedback adjustments to account for competitions - e.g., if you are tapering or have just run a hard race.
Daily Suggested Workouts
Here you get a daily training suggestion on your watch. The day's training adapts to the training you do and your recovery status. You can now get an overview of your entire training week on the watch.
Intervals Profile
With a new and improved training experience, the watch can now automatically identify running and walking, and can distinguish between intervals and rest.
This provides better insights into how much you run, and additionally, knowledge about how much you've walked on a specific route, hill, or similar.
Specifications for Garmin Forerunner 955 and Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar
Like in Garmin Forerunner 945, besides the above features, you can also find a built-in topographic map with turn-by-turn navigation and route suggestions directly from the watch, Garmin Pay, Garmin Music (up to 2000 songs), altitude, and heat acclimation, Pulse OX sensor, interval function, optical wrist pulse, LiveTrack, and GroupTrack.
You can use the watch for many different sports – including running, trail running, treadmill, triathlon, duathlon, cycling, MTB, strength training, swimming indoors and outdoors, rowing, golf, elliptical, and many more, all of which can be monitored with your smartwatch.
Features for Garmin Forerunner 955 and Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar
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Size (mm): 46.5 x 46.5 x 14.2
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Weight:
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Garmin Forerunner 955: 50.7g
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Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: 51.6g
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Battery life:
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Watch mode: Up to 14 days
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GPS mode: Up to 30 hours
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Overall, Garmin Forerunner 955 is an exciting release, providing deeper insights into both training and recovery – ultimately helping you get the most out of your training.
