Garmin Forerunner 955 completely leaks, US price could be a pleasant surprise

Whether you call it a multisport or triathlon watch, or a plastic and cheaper version of the flagship Fenix timepieces, the upcoming Garmin Forerunner 955 is going to be a watch serious athletes should consider. And now a bunch of new details have leaked out, including a pleasant surprise when it comes to the price.

But first, let’s say that the upcoming Forerunner 955 is shaping up to be a worthy successor to the Forerunner 945, which was released in 2019, nearly three years ago. And if you’re familiar with the 945, the new 955 is easy to spot with a round case, Garmin’s signature 5-button control system, and a plastic design that makes this watch feel lighter.

The watch briefly surfaced on the website of an American retailer Beach Camera (via gadgets and wearebles) and the page with it has since been removed, but it’s the internet, so of course there’s a record. The model listed was in the “whitestone” livery, which is likely to be one of the few color options.

Garmin Forerunner 955: What Do We Know?

First of all, we do have the exact size and measurements. The Forerunner 955 measures exactly 1.8 x 1.8 x 0.6 inches, which translates to 45.7 x 45.7 x 15.2 mm. That’s still a bit on the large side when it comes to watches, but certainly not huge and at 45.7 mm it is even smaller in diameter than its 47 mm predecessor. However, it is a bit thicker at 15.2mm versus 13.7mm for the older version. Good news is that Garmin has kept the weight at just 53 grams, yet another strong indication that the plastic (or fiber-reinforced polymer if you prefer) body remains.

You also get a pretty impressive 32GB of onboard storage, which is actually double the memory you get on the Fenix 7.

What’s new is that you get a color screen that is touch-sensitive. This means you now have the choice to use the buttons or the screen, whichever works best for you. This color screen would work great with the built-in maps on this watch

Battery life should be around 15 days in smartwatch mode, 42 hours in GPS mode, and as much as 80 hours in UltraTrac mode, and it seems to use the same charging pin as before. This is a slight improvement in battery life over the last generation model, which is great to see.

Strangely, one of the images shows a “Solar Intensity” screen suggesting that there will also be a solar-powered version of the watch, but unfortunately we have no further details on that (just expect a solar model to cost a little more) .

Forerunner 955 new features

While there’s no information on new running features, one exciting upgrade coming to the 955 is a Training Readiness Score. This is calculated with data on your sleep quality, recovery, training load, heart rate variability (HRV) and more, and it’s designed to give you one metric you can take a look at and know how ready your body is for a training session.

The watch will also include a race widget with training tips, personalized training suggestions and time to complete based on weather and course details.

You have more than 30 types of workouts including triathlon, open water swimming and of course more traditional ones like running, cycling, pool swimming, etc.

Familiar features of the 745 such as NFC for payments and built-in storage for music are of course also available.

Garmin Forerunner 955: Price and Release Date

Perhaps the best surprise of the new Forerunner 955 is its price, which is expected to be $500, lower than the $550 starting price of the previous-generation watch.

Finally, the Forerunner 955 release date is expected to be early June, so it’s just around the corner.