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The Garmin Forerunner 970 is the best running watch you can get right now, in our opinion, as long as its high price doesn’t put you off. It packs all of Garmin’s top features into a good-looking watch that’s more affordable than the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro, and much lighter.
Unless you want more of a smartwatch like the Apple Watch Ultra 3, or a cheaper running watch like the Coros Pace 4, the Forerunner 970 is hard to beat.
Three of the Run Tester team have been using the Forerunner 970 for over six months and we’ll run through our long-term likes and dislikes with the watch below, and compare it to other great running watches in the verdict.
Design & Key Stats
- Price: £629.99 / $749.99
- Size: 47 x 47 x 12.9mm
- Weight: 56g
- Display: 1.4in AMOLED
- Case material: Titanium bezel with plastic case
- Screen material: Sapphire crystal
- Water resistance: 5 ATM
- Battery life (watch, raise to wake): 15 days
- Battery life (dual-band GPS, always-on): 21 hours
- Storage: 32GB
Garmin Forerunner 970 review
What’s New?
The Forerunner 970 is a substantial update on the Forerunner 965, with upgrades to both the hardware and software on the device. On the design side, you now have a larger titanium bezel and a sapphire crystal screen to make the 970 more durable, and it also has a built-in flashlight.
There’s also a new heart rate sensor on board, as well as a speaker and mic, and the AMOLED display has been upgraded to be brighter than the one on the Forerunner 965.
Key software upgrades for runners include new training analysis metrics like running tolerance and, when used with a Garmin HRM 600 chest strap, running economy measurements.
The Run Test: Likes
The Garmin Forerunner 970 has everything runners need and then a lot more on top. We’re big fans of the upgraded design, because we all scratched the glass display on the Forerunner 965 during testing, so the harder sapphire crystal on the 970 is welcome.
Garmin has added a flashlight to most of its new releases in 2025 and we’re pleased to see it on the Forerunner 970. It’s another reason we might opt for the Fenix or Epix models instead of the Forerunner 965 in the past, so having the torch on the 970 is great.
Throughout all of our testing the Forerunner 970 has delivered impeccable GPS accuracy, and the heart rate accuracy on the watch has been good as well, though we often pair it with the HRM 600 chest strap anyway to get access to the running economy stats from the watch.
Those economy insights are interesting, but actually the new running tolerance stat is the more useful update to the training analysis on the 970. This assigns a mileage value to the intensity of your runs, so you can judge your overall load each week accurately, because harder runs add more load to your body than easy ones.
We also like the design of the Forerunner 970, which is very sleek and good-looking enough to wear all the time. It’s a lot lighter and thinner than the Fenix 8 and Fenix 8 Pro, so the 970 is more comfortable to wear 24/7, and its upgraded AMOLED display is very bright in all conditions,
On top of the excellent tracking and analysis features, the Forerunner 970 also offers all of Garmin’s top navigation tools, and some useful smart features like music storage and NFC payments.
Check out more of the best Garmin running watches
The Run Test: Dislikes
While we like the sleeker design of the Forerunner 970 for running, some might prefer the more rugged look and build of the Fenix line of watches, especially if you’re regularly heading onto wilder trails than we tend to tackle.
The battery life of the Forerunner 970 is also not outstanding, which is mainly down to the brighter AMOLED display. We had to charge it every four or five days when the screen was set to always-on and running every day
It’s also a lot more expensive than the Forerunner 965, especially when you consider that the 965 is now in sales regularly. The Forerunner 970 is a better watch, but the 965 is still excellent and offers better value.
Over long-term testing we’ve also noticed that the Forerunner 970 can be quite laggy at times, when saving or loading activities, or when panning around the maps screen. It’s not a major problem, but a faster processor would be welcome on the next model of the watch.
Finally, given the high cost, the extra money you have to spend on the Garmin HRM 600 chest strap (£150/$170) to unlock some features is unwelcome. That said, the Forerunner 970 works with any chest strap if you’re not fussed about running economy, and its optical sensor has been pretty reliable for us in testing too.
Verdict And Alternatives
The Garmin Forerunner 970 is our favourite running watch right now, and there’s no clearer way to show how much we love it than the fact that Nick, Kieran and Mike all still wear it as their main watch, well after finishing our testing.
If you need a more rugged design and want extra connectivity features when heading off the grid, then the Fenix 8 Pro might be worth upgrading too, but it will cost you substantially more.
The Forerunner 965 offers a cheaper alternative that has most of the same key running and navigation features as the Forerunner 970. It’s the best cheaper alternative to the watch, though the Coros Pace Pro is another strong option as a lightweight watch with maps.
Garmin Forerunner 970 vs Garmin Fenix 8
The Garmin Forerunner 970 is lighter and more comfortable to wear and has all the same sports features as the Fenix 8. Its design is not as durable or as good-looking, but the titanium bezel and sapphire display on the Forerunner 970 will be hardy enough of most runners, and it fits thin wrists a lot better than the Fenix.
Garmin Forerunner 970 vs Apple Watch Ultra 3
These are both great running watches. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 offers a more premium and rugged design and better smart features than the Forerunner 970, including LTE and satellite connectivity and access to the App store. For its part, the Forerunner 970 has better sports tracking, training analysis, navigation features and battery life, and it’s a little cheaper.
Garmin Forerunner 970 vs Garmin Forerunner 570
The Forerunner 570 was announced at the same time as the Forerunner 970. It’s the successor to the Forerunner 265 and sits at a cheaper price point than the 970. It has a less durable design and is lacking some key features like maps and the new running tolerance and economy stats. It’s a good running watch with a great design, but the Forerunner 970 is a big upgrade in our opinion.