GarminForerunner® 255, GPS Running Smartwatch, Advanced Insights, Long-Lasting Battery, Slate Gray

As a fitness tracking watch this is an awesome introduction to the Garmin platform. We are a Garmin and Apple family with four Garmins and two Apple Watches. I use this Garmin for walking, running, cycling, stretching and general workouts. I’m very happy with this watch and the data it provides.As I said I can compare this watch to several others. Let’s start with battery life. Our Apples are on the charger every night. The Garmins all go at least a week, I average 9 days. We also have an Instinct, a 965, and a Golf. Biggest “complaint” is forgetting to charge them.My 255 connects to my Apple iPhone 15 without issue. It also connects seamlessly with my MacBook Pro, zero issues. I have and use separate HRM’s because for intense workouts I don’t think a wrist based HRM is the answer. My chest strap is much better than my watch for workouts. The 965 however is much more accurate during runs (compared against arm strap HRM) so Garmin maybe uses different HR sensors in different models? For walking and general use during the day my 255 works great!Value for $… I’d strongly recommend this watch without hesitation if you’re thinking about entering the fitness watch/smart watch world.I entered this fitness data world because of age. I have a friend who is alive because of data changes he noticed in his heart during exercise. A triple bypass later and this fit cyclist is still riding with me. At 60+ I thought this data was for younger more aggressive athletes. Not so. I am now a data nerd and train regularly partly because of it.Didn’t think it was important, in honesty didn’t know it was a thing but I now am aware of HRV, FTP, Training Status, Sleep tracking, and Watts. It’s addictive. But knowledge is power and knowledge can be healthy. I owe a 25 pound weight loss to this knowledge (and a lot of work). This watch alone won’t cause weight loss but for me it was a part of the puzzle.I really like my Garmin Forerunner 255. That said, my next one will probably be a 965, but at the price difference I’m not 100% sure the difference is justified, certainly not if this is your intro to the data! The reason I will likely “upgrade” is simply because my daughter has the 965 and I want to be able to share that (cool, we both have the same watch) with her 😉Final thought as I wrap up this review, as I said I’m getting older and as such my near vision isn’t great without readers but I can actually see the time on this watch so.. there’s that.

I upgraded to the Forerunner 255 from a Forerunner 35 that I had used for about 5 years--I liked the Fr35 even though it did not do a very good job of tracking my HR without a chest band. The Fr255 has the latest 4th generation HR monitor and the wrist-based HR tracking is really very good. The Fr255 also has many additional features that I like--much improved sleep tracking, an estimate of heart rate variability, and O2 saturation, though the latter seems a bit sporadic. It has many more features that I have not and may not fully use, but everything I use works very well. The integration with the Connect app on my phone is very well done also. The battery life appears to be at least as good as the Fr35, surprising since it does so much more--I charge it about every 3-4 days when it is still ~50% charged. In addition, the mapping of the displays has been done with an eye to readability and is very customizable. All in all, I am very pleased with this tracker.

This is my 4th Garmin watch over the years. For the price point it's a great watch. I ran for a week using this watch and my previous watch and they were both always within .01 miles of each other at the end of a run.

Years ago I got sick and tired of Garmin watch batteries failing after only a few months, and getting generally poor long term performance out of their watches. I switched to a Suunto Ambit 3 which lasted for... nearly a decade? Quite a while anyway. Then when that battery started to fail so I bought a Suunto Vertical. What an overpriced POS that turned out to be! So, lacking better ideas, I went back to a mid-priced Garmin. The 255 has been great. Battery life isn't really as long as advertised, unless I maybe have a bunch of features enabled that I don't care about but are draining the battery faster. Even so, I don't care, it lasts a couple days rather than X hours in one day, and that's good enough for me. The feature set is more than I need, it's reliable, it's easy to read in all light, the GPS tracks and HR averages are close enough for my purposes, and the charging cable actually connects and stays connected. No major complaints whatsoever.

I’ve been using the Garmin Forerunner 255 for a few months now, and I’m genuinely impressed. It strikes a great balance between advanced performance features and everyday usability. The GPS accuracy is top-notch, thanks to the dual-frequency support, and I’ve had no issues with tracking even in areas with spotty reception like wooded trails or city streets.Battery life is a huge plus—it easily lasts close to two weeks in smartwatch mode and over a day with continuous GPS. The design is lightweight and comfortable for all-day wear, including during sleep tracking, and the five-button interface is simple and responsive (though I do sometimes miss having a touchscreen).Training features are where this watch really shines. It supports multiple sports modes, heart rate variability, stress tracking, and Garmin’s “Body Battery” to gauge overall energy levels. The race predictor, morning report, and recovery time estimates are surprisingly useful. Sleep tracking is detailed and generally accurate, and syncing with the Garmin Connect app is smooth.My only minor complaint is that you need the Music version if you want onboard music storage; otherwise, you're just controlling your phone’s playback. Also, no touchscreen might be a con for some, but the physical buttons work great in sweaty or wet conditions.