Garmin Forerunner 955

If you want all the latest features, the 9-series from Forerunner is a good place to look – here you get Garmin's top model, aimed at performance, which can be used 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, which is plastic, meaning lower weight, but naturally also a less durable watch case, compared to Fenix watches , making it ideal as a running watch .

The latest model, Garmin Forerunner 955, comes in two versions, which you can read more about here in the article.

About Garmin Forerunner 955

Garmin Forerunner 955 is the successor to Forerunner 945, and offers the full package of features. The 9-series is generally known for being Garmin's top model for running and triathlon with a clear focus on performance. Here you get a lightweight watch with lots of great top-tier features.

Additionally, Garmin Forerunner 955 now has a touchscreen, making it easier and more intuitive to navigate the watch's many features, especially when using Garmin Connect to analyze your data. This new touch screen is designed to work under all conditions, whether you are wearing gloves or it's raining and snowing. The responsive touchscreen enhances user experience and makes it quicker to access necessary data during your activities.

Garmin Forerunner 955 and Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar – the two new models

Common for the two new models is that they provide even more feedback to the user - both regarding training planning, recovery, and competitions.

One of the completely new features on 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 like sleep, HRV, stress level, and activity history. This helps to optimize your training sessions and ensure you're training at the most optimal times for your personal needs.

Another important feature in Garmin Forerunner 955 is the ability to measure VO2-max. VO2-max is a measure of the body's maximum oxygen uptake, and it's an indicator of your aerobic endurance and performance capacity. By monitoring your VO2-max, you can gain insight into how your fitness is developing over time, and better plan your training sessions to suit 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 version having built-in solar panels, which can give you up to 24% extra battery life.

News in Garmin Forerunner 955 and Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar

Here you first get an overview of the new features – below you can read more about the different points.

New multi-band GPS
New HRV status
New “Training Readiness”
New “Race-widget”
New “Morning Report”
New “Real-time Stamina”
Integrated watt data in Garmin's system
New touch screen
Updated “Training Status”
Updated “Daily Suggested Workouts”
Updated “Intervals Profile”

Multi-band GPS

Forerunner 945 could also access various satellite networks. The new in Garmin Forerunner 955 is that the watch can now access multiple of these networks simultaneously, and thus use multiple satellite networks at the same time, to increase precision in challenging environments.

HRV status

HRV stands for “Heart Rate Variability” and is essentially about the variation between your heartbeats – i.e., the time 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 similar time between your heartbeats.

The body's nervous systems can make the pulse either rise or fall. A well-rested body is more receptive to these signals. As the nervous systems are always active to a greater or lesser extent, a higher HRV can be observed if the body is rested and ready to receive 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 receive continuous updates and insights into your training readiness, sleep quality, and overall health condition. This ongoing monitoring can help you adjust your training and lifestyle to achieve better results and a more balanced everyday 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 an important factor when it comes to planning effective training sessions. By understanding and measuring your level of training readiness, you can optimize your training so that you always train at the right time and avoid overtraining. Garmin Forerunner 955 allows you to keep track of your training readiness by integrating data from HRV, sleep quality, and stress level, giving you an accurate picture of when your body is ready to perform optimally.

The watch can compare 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

Get a 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're not sufficiently recovered.

The watch uses information from both HRV, sleep quality, stress history, etc. Based on a comprehensive assessment, you get a number from 1-100 and an explanation of what it means for you.

Race-widget

Get Garmin's estimate of your finish time for competitions. Here, not only the distance is taken into account, 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 running 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 looked during the night, and from there provide a suggestion for what you might benefit from doing in your day's run.

If you have other wishes regarding the report, you can adjust its content.

Integrated watt data

Earlier models required installation of a data field or app from Connect IQ to get watt data on the watch. In Garmin Forerunner 955, it is now built into Garmin's system. To get the actual watt measurement, it requires either an HRM-Pro or a footpod.

Garmin Forerunner 955 and HRM Pro

HERRE

HERRE

HERRE

HERRE

The watch also uses multiple data sets to provide you with precise watt feedback – including pace, vertical oscillation, incline percentage, and local wind conditions.

Touch screen

To increase the functionality of the many different features, Garmin Forerunner 955 has been equipped with a touch screen. However, the watch still has the familiar physical buttons that most prefer during training.

The touch screen is particularly useful when you need to navigate the watch's built-in maps. Here you can now zoom in and out using the side buttons and move around the map using the touch screen. 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 adjust settings, even in the middle of a run or training, without having to stop and spend a lot of time.

Another fantastic feature of Garmin Forerunner 955 is its integration with Garmin Connect. This app gives you the ability to synchronize 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 for this, and they have now added another one 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 readiness for training based on sleep, recovery, and stress levels. This provides you a holistic assessment of how prepared your body is to perform and helps plan your training more effectively.

Additionally, Garmin has made adjustments to feedback to account for competitions - e.g., if tapering or after a hard run.

Daily Suggested Workouts

The watch suggests daily workouts. These are tailored to your training and recovery status. You can now see a weekly overview on the watch.

Intervals Profile

With an enhanced training experience, the watch now auto-detects running and walking, distinguishing between intervals and rest.

This gives a clearer view of your running, plus insights on walking a specific route, hill, etc.

Specifications for Garmin Forerunner 955 and Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar

Like the Garmin Forerunner 945, it includes a built-in topo map with turn-by-turn navigation and route suggestions from the watch, Garmin Pay, Garmin Music (up to 2000 songs), altitude and heat acclimation, Pulse OX sensor, interval function, optical wrist heart rate, LiveTrack, and GroupTrack.

Use the watch for various sports - including running, trail running, treadmill, triathlon, duathlon, cycling, MTB, strength training, swimming indoors and outdoors, rowing, golf, elliptical, and more, all trackable with your smartwatch.