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The Garmin Forerunner 70 is the entry-level running watch in Garmin’s line-up, replacing the Forerunner 55 and sitting just below the Garmin Forerunner 170, which was released at the same time.
It’s a very capable sports watch for runners of all levels and brings some of Garmin’s top training analysis features to a more affordable watch with a lightweight design and a bright AMOLED screen.
If you don’t need Garmin’s smart features the Forerunner 70 is one of the best running watches you can get for its price, and it’s a stern rival to the Coros Pace 4 for the title of best value watch overall.
Kieran and Nick from the Run Testers team have been using the Forerunner 70 for several weeks, testing it alongside the Forerunner 170 and comparing it to rival options like the Coros Pace 4 and Garmin Forerunner 165.
Design & Key Stats
- Price: £219/$249
- Size: 42.6 x 42.6 x 11.9mm
- Weight: 40g
- Display: 1.2in AMOLED
- Case material: Plastic
- Screen material: Glass
- Water resistance: 5 ATM
- Battery life (watch, raise to wake): Up to 10 days
- Battery life (all-systems GPS, always-on): 16 hours
- Storage: 4GB
Garmin Forerunner 70 review
What’s New?
The Garmin Forerunner 70 is a major update on the Forerunner 55 and brings the design of Garmin’s entry-level Forerunner into line with the rest of the line-up. It’s a five-button AMOLED watch with the same user interface as the Forerunner 570 and Forerunner 970, including new software tools like the brand’s Sports Scores and Battery widgets.
It offers Garmin Training Readiness and Training Status features to this price point for the first time, and also introduces a new Quick Workout tool for runners that sets up a workout for you to follow based on the intensity you want to work at and time you have available.
The Forerunner 70 has the same features as the more expensive Forerunner 170 bar a few sensors and smart features. The Forerunner 170 has NFC payments, an altimeter, compass and barometer, support for cycling power meters, and music storage (only on the Forerunner 170 Music model).
The Run Test: Likes
The Forerunner 70 is light and comfortable to wear 24/7, and the five buttons make it easy to navigate its menus during and outside of workouts. It fits slender wrists well and the screen is bright and clear to read in all conditions, despite being smaller than the display on pricier Garmin watches.
One of the biggest additions to the watch is more extensive training analysis than you get on the Forerunner 55 and Forerunner 165. Training Readiness is a useful stat for assessing the state of your body at a given moment, while Training Status contains all the info you need on your acute and chronic training load. This is a watch that will satisfy serious runners as well as being beginner-friendly.
Garmin has not put its most accurate multi-band GPS tracking mode on the Forerunner 70, or its latest heart rate sensor, but the Forerunner 70 still proved accurate for us on both fronts, matching up with multi-band watches well in our runs. You do get multi-band on rival watches at this price though.
Speaking of the price, it’s good value and in line with other entry-level running watches like the Pace 4 and Suunto Run. If the Forerunner 70 follows the usual trend with Garmin watches of being reduced regularly after a few months, it could drop below £200/$200, which would be excellent value for such a capable device.
Finally, while the battery life isn’t incredibly long, we got 4.5 days of use out of the Forerunner 70 with the screen always-on, running each day, which is pretty good for a small AMOLED watch and longer than the battery life on the Forerunner 170.
Check out more of the best Garmin running watches
The Run Test: Dislikes
The smart features you don’t get on the Forerunner 70 that are on the Forerunner 170 might not be missed by everyone, but they are a key selling point for Garmin vs other sports watch brands in general. Coros, Polar and Suunto don’t offer watches with NFC payments and the ability to link with streaming services, so the fact the Forerunner 70 also doesn’t removes one advantage Garmin has versus its main competitors.
Also missing is the barometric altimeter you do get on other devices at this price, like the Coros Pace 4, and indeed the pricier Forerunner 170. This will mean your elevation stats and graphs won’t be as smooth and accurate, because the Forerunner 70 relies on GPS data for elevation.
It’s also a shame there’s no multi-band GPS on the Forerunner 70. It’s proved accurate in our testing, but for long-term use we’d like the peace of mind you get from having multi-band, which can be useful especially when running in cities under tall buildings.
We’re all about running ourselves, but can still see it’s also a shame that the Forerunner 70 doesn’t have a triathlon mode, which is available on other affordable running watches.
There are a few other missing features on the Forerunner 70 and Forerunner 170 too, like maps and a built-in flashlight. We didn’t expect to see them on Garmin’s cheapest watches, but it would have been a nice surprise. You do get breadcrumb navigation though.
Verdict And Alternatives
The Garmin Forerunner 70 is an excellent and affordable running watch that offers a better value alternative to the Forerunner 170 if you don’t need the smart features available on the pricier model.
It’s a big upgrade on the Forerunner 55, though the Forerunner 165 remains a strong alternative for those who would rather have smart features like music storage over the extra training analysis on the Forerunner 70.
The biggest competition from other brands comes from the Coros Pace 4, which is a full multi-sport watch with multi-band GPS and longer battery life. It also has an altimeter, and probably offers more value to most runners at the same price as the Forerunner 70, though we do prefer the design and user interface of the Garmin.
We’re delighted to see Garmin focus on it more affordable watches to kick off its 2026 launches and even though there are a few things missing on the Forerunner 70 we’d have love to see on the watch, it’s still an excellent option for new and experienced runners alike.