Men’s Fitness verdict

Garmin’s premium multisports watch toughens up, gets brighter and adds new training and running metrics to make it a more complete package but at a higher price than the previous model.
Pros
  • Great tracking performance for runs and more
  • Surprisingly useful LED flashlight
  • New metrics for runners
Cons
  • New running metrics require additional accessory
  • Battery drop from the Forerunner 965

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I’ve had pretty much every new Garmin watch strapped to my wrist over the past decade, so I’m well-aware of what the Forerunner 900 series is all about. The Garmin 970 a watch you wear if you want the best Garmin has to offer in tracking your runs, dishing out detailed performance metrics and also guide you to make better decisions about your training.

Runner might be in the name and mainly who the Forerunner 970 is built for, but if you’re dipping your toes into multisports events like triathlons or want something to take for a swim, it’s got you covered there too.

After going colour with its predecessor the 965, the 970 is taking that display and turning the brightness up to 11. A new speaker and microphone equals less time screen tapping and swiping and more time focusing on the training job in hand. New metrics for runners want to do a better job of making sure you’re not overdoing it in a training block or on the comeback from injury. That’s all while making sure you’re not grabbing the charging cable as regularly as you would do with an Apple Watch.

Those new features improvements come at a higher cost than the 965 and while the extra spend is tough to stomach, what you’re getting in return is a slick sports watch performer.

Design

I’ve recently spent time out at Garmin’s Kansas headquarters and having sat in front of its industrial design team, the remit with the 970 is clear; to make things a bit more fun and inspired by the kit and shoes you whip on when going for a run.

The white and yellow colourway I have is just the right side of bold without feeling like it’s creeping into tacky territory. We’re now getting translucent bands that are all silicone and easy to clip off if you want to put something less sporty in its place.

A titanium bezel gives it a clean, premium sheen and surrounds a touchscreen that’s the brightest Garmin has ever slapped onto one of its watches. I’m glad that the screen protection has been upgraded to sapphire crystal as my Forerunner 965 acquired two identical scratches picked up from taking it for a swim in the sea.

The 47mm-sized case thankfully doesn’t feel too hulking on my pretty skinny wrist, though given Garmin has launched smaller versions of other watch lines, it might have been nice to do the same for the 900 series.

Sitting at the top of the case is a new LED flashlight that I wrote off as gimmicky when Garmin started adding it to its watches. Once you realise how bright and convenient it is to use instead of reaching for your phone’s flashlight, it’s life changing on those night-time runs or scrambling around in your bedroom without turning on the big light.

Features

This is Garmin’s premium sports watch, so it’s no surprise to find it packed to the rafters with features. It’s taking all of the good stuff from its more expensive Fenix watch line and putting it inside of a more compact and less overtly rugged design.

That includes the latest multiband GPS positioning technology that helps to lock onto a GPS signal more reliably in environments that typically wreak havoc on it. Think cycling or running around a city with tall buildings or taking your workouts off-road into densely wooded terrain.

Garmin has upgraded its heart-rate sensor so that along with offering a more accurate view of your effort, it can now also take ECG heart rate measurements like an Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch for added health tracking powers.

For runners, there’s new metrics in the shape of running economy and running tolerance. Both want to help you think more about the time you spend hitting the track and your weekly volume. Think of these metrics influencing how efficiently you run and making sure you’re not putting yourself at risk of injury. If you often get in a big panic on race day, you can upload your race route to the watch and it’ll trim your tracked run to match the actual course if you forget to hit the stop button when you cross the finish line.

The Garmin 970 also has a new microphone and speaker to perform hands-free tricks like telling your watch to open the triathlon tracking mode, intercept a call from your phone (when connected to your phone) or set an alarm for a horribly early morning swim session.

Performance

The Garmin 970 doesn’t put a foot wrong when it’s time to turn to it for what Garmin does best. Runs, swims, bike rides or just prompting you to consider taking a rest day, it’s more than up to the task. Trying to navigate and find your way around the watch is made easier now by putting sports and non-sports tracking modes all in one place.

A heatwave where the sun is shining brightly is an ideal opportunity to see how punchy the display is, even if it means making compromises with the battery life you’ll enjoy. It’s a drop from the Forerunner 965, especially if keeping that screen on day and night. If you can live without that screen shining brightly at all times, it comfortably lasts a week away from the charger.

The multiband GPS mode didn’t falter in outdoor environments ripe for causing a signal nuisance and it was a similar story tracking heart rate, even when upping the intensity with more explosive workout sessions.

Making the most of the new running metrics requires investing some training time before they start to become useful. It does also require Garmin’s new HRM-600 heart rate monitor chest strap to unlock them, which brings added expense to an already very expensive training companion.

It took a good few weeks of outdoor runs on flat routes to start to learn how efficient (or inefficient) a runner I was. Understanding running tolerance was a little easier to get to grips with. As I was upping my mileage after injury, I could glance at the widget on the watch to see that I was maybe upping the running time too quickly and decided to ease off. 

It’s great to see that strength training is now more of a focus for Garmn and while its delivery still needs some work on the tracking of reps and movements, being able to build plans that can be sent over to the watch and see muscle heat maps to know when you’re neglecting leg day are steps in the right direction.

A vibrant, colourful screen also makes for a good experience when you want to put the best built-in mapping on a watch to good use. Those maps are already loaded up and whether you just want a better sense of your surroundings, need to jog your memory of the quickest route home or like the idea of being automatically re-routed when you need to unexpectedly veer off course, there’s few that can beat the 970 on that front.