Attempting out the Garmin Forerunner 255 Music for the primary time is curious—as a result of you need to navigate by way of options and menus through 5 buttons. Garmin does and not using a touchscreen and thus achieves an ultra-long battery lifetime of as much as 14 days. How nicely the Forerunner 255 Music performs and what you need to do with out may be learn on this NextPit overview.
Good
- All-around profitable health smartwatch idea
- Excellent battery lifetime of as much as 14 days
- Music characteristic convinces in apply
- Various evaluation knowledge within the Garmin app
- Compatibility with a number of sensors and Garmin equipment
Unhealthy
- Working idea over heads awkward
- Neither ECG nor blood strain measurement is feasible
- Few sensible capabilities
- No wi-fi charging, proprietary charging cable
Quick conclusion & purchase
Should you place plenty of worth on health when buying a smartwatch, the Garmin Forerunner 255 Music is a very good selection. Due to versatile monitoring capabilities, GPS, and the connection to the Garmin ecosystem, you get a very complete document of your very important knowledge. The disadvantages embrace a sophisticated operation and not using a touchscreen, an equally difficult Garmin app, and an absence of wi-fi charging.
If you wish to purchase the Forerunner 255 Music, you need to funds $399.99 based on the beneficial retail value. This makes it significantly dearer than its predecessor and 40 {dollars} dearer than the variant with out the music playback possibility. You will discover out how a lot the value has dropped for the reason that launch within the value comparability factor under.
Design and operation
The Garmin Forerunner 255 Music is obtainable in an ordinary variant with a case measurement of 45 millimeters and in a smaller S model with a diameter of 41 millimeters. The usual mannequin we examined includes a 1.3-inch MIP show that exhibits monitoring data, menus and extra. It’s operated through 5 buttons which can be recessed underneath a bezel made from fiber-reinforced polymer.
What I favored:
- Excessive-quality workmanship.
What I disliked:
- Awkward operation.
- Show isn’t all the time simple to learn.
Overlook what you beforehand knew about smartwatch operation! As a result of Garmin defies all conventions in its Forerunner sequence and does and not using a touchscreen. As a substitute, the 1.3-inch show makes use of a expertise that could be a bit harking back to e-ink and has the good title “MIP”. Reminiscence-in-pixel shows are extraordinarily energy-efficient, can show colours, and present content material sufficiently easily. As a downside, the shows don’t emit any gentle, which implies you need to activate the backlight through a button within the night hours.
You may activate the backlight in each menu through the higher button on the left. And so we already come to an issue with the Forerunner 255 Music. It’s operated through three buttons on the left aspect and two on the correct. There is a temporary introduction whenever you put the smartwatch on, and then you definitely’re just about left by yourself.
On the house display screen, you activate the sunshine on the left and navigate up and down by way of data screens. On the correct, you activate varied exercises through the higher display screen and the decrease button loses its operate as a “again button”. Holding down the sunshine button takes you to a fast menu, which you need to use to entry Garmin Pay, the settings, or the connection to your telephone, for instance. The center button takes you to a different settings menu and the underside one to the music management.
After you have memorized that, you may overlook all that once more whenever you begin a exercise. As a result of right here the “up” button out of the blue takes you to the music management. Inconsistencies like which can be widespread in Garmin’s menu system, which makes the operation actually difficult and awkward.
Since Garmin restricts the chance to make settings through the app, you need to wrestle with complicated controls. Regardless of a sure studying curve, the operation isn’t actually enjoyable. Particularly since different smartwatches provide intuitive setting choices with options like rotating bezels or 3D crowns, which might additionally work independently of a touchscreen.
Nonetheless, what Garmin does nicely in its virtually $399 watch is the workmanship. With Gorilla Glass 3, high-quality polymer, and 5 ATM water safety, the Forerunner seems prefer it was made of 1 piece. I didn’t fear in any respect in regards to the watch swallowing water within the bathe.
Working system: Garmin’s personal manner
Garmin makes use of its personal working system on the Forerunner 255 Music. It comes with two companion apps in your smartphone and the proprietary fee resolution Garmin Pay.
What I favored:
- Nice knowledge within the Garmin Join app.
- A lot of free content material within the IQ app.
What I disliked:
- Join app is kind of chaotic.
Even in 2022, Garmin depends on proprietary software program options for its health gadgets. Curiously, there isn’t any actual title for the OS—the smartwatch solely exhibits me model quantity 12.27. The proprietary resolution implies that the software program is exactly tailored to the 1.3-inch show and button operation.
Nonetheless, if you wish to use the smartwatch’s full vary of capabilities, you need to set up two apps—Garmin Join and Garmin IQ. Whilst you can alter some settings and think about the quite a few health knowledge within the first one, the second takes care of app administration.
The number of obtainable apps—except watch faces—isn’t actually intensive. Nonetheless, you would not have to plan for added prices for the set up of apps and new watch faces. The utmost variety of installable apps on the 255 Music is 15, and the remaining 4 gigabytes of storage are reserved in your music.
Sensors & Health
Garmin equips its Forerunner 255 Music with a coronary heart fee monitor, a pulse oximeter for measuring the blood oxygen content material, a temperature gauge in addition to an altimeter, GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and a movement sensor. NFC, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi are additionally on board. Though the characteristic set could be very lush, some capabilities are ignored in comparison with different fashions.
What I favored:
- Very complete and seamless health monitoring.
- Exact dual-band GPS.
- WLAN and Bluetooth for connecting headphones.
- Connectivity to Huawei equipment.
What I disliked:
- Different producers provide blood strain measurement in addition to digital ECG.
- Computerized monitoring probably not dependable.
- Annoying alarms whereas operating.
Garmin as soon as once more exhibits itself to be a nerd relating to health monitoring. I am not fairly as skilled as ex-fitness coach Stefan, however I run often and have already lugged numerous health trackers and smartwatches by way of Berlin. In apply, the Forerunner 255 Music shines with uncomplicated dealing with throughout sports activities, plenty of options for a lot of completely different sports activities, and detailed knowledge.
You begin your required exercise through the higher proper button. For biking, jogging, and different sports activities, a bar exhibits you whether or not the GPS sign is ample for monitoring your route. By default, Garmin notifies you with a shrill alarm through linked headphones that you’ve accomplished one other kilometer. Within the settings, you too can choose which data the watch ought to announce to you. This is a bonus over watches that recite an eternally lengthy monologue with pointless data each kilometer.
Due to the built-in GPS, you may depart your smartphone at residence. Twin-band GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo make sure that your velocity, route, and altitude data are dependable and exact. Auto-laps, interval coaching, coaching plan creation, morning reviews, restoration time suggestions, digital races, and different health options (more on the Garmin homepage) spherical out the bundle. Should you’re actually critical about your every day train, you are in good fingers.
What Garmin may do higher on this regard are the auto-training begins. Whereas multi-workouts let you observe a number of sports activities in succession, for instance in triathlons, the auto-training is slightly unintelligent. When biking, for instance, the run monitoring often jumped on.
Nonetheless, Garmin concentrates on health options and does with out the well being capabilities that different producers provide. You will not discover a tough measurement of the blood strain or the recording of a digital ECG within the Forerunner 255 Music regardless of the upscale price ticket. Right here you need to attain for the Galaxy Watch 5 (Pro), the Apple Watch Series 8, or the Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro.
This fitness-first focus is supported by the truth that Garmin gives an intensive ecosystem of further sensors for stride size, extra detailed coronary heart fee measurement, steadiness, and far more. It is a distinctive promoting level that you could take full benefit of with the Forerunner 255 Music.
After sports activities, the smartwatch helps you with suggestions and details about your restoration phases. The Forerunner 255 Music calculates your sports activities age and physique battery out of your restoration part, your sleep rating, a 100-point scale that evaluates varied sleep knowledge, and different knowledge. For the reason that “Eat, Sleep, Exercise, Repeat” mantras propagated in social media may be fairly dangerous, these capabilities give you necessary help for a wholesome every day routine.
I notably like Garmin’s sleep monitoring with its detailed data on sleep phases, wakefulness and restlessness, and data on blood oxygen ranges. Nonetheless, the 45-millimeter watch takes fairly a little bit of getting used to whereas sleeping.
Battery and sensible options
Garmin makes up for the compromises that you need to settle for when utilizing the gadget and not using a touchscreen with battery life. In keeping with the producer—and in addition in apply—the Forerunner 255 Music lasts as much as 14 days. You’ll have to do with out wi-fi charging, and there may be additionally a slightly cumbersome proprietary charging cable. Garmin gives a bit too little when it comes to sensible options.
What I disliked:
- Excellent battery life.
- Stable charging time.
- Cool, if a bit cumbersome, music characteristic.
What I disliked:
- No wi-fi charging.
- Unattractive charging cable.
- Too few sensible choices.
Garmin additionally focuses on health relating to the battery and sensible options. As a result of with a socket independence of as much as 14 days, you may take pleasure in a carefree life-style that isn’t obtainable in different smartwatches. The Forerunner 255 Music will not be a burden in your wrist that you need to handle each night. That is one motive why I personally do and not using a smartwatch in on a regular basis life.
With everlasting coronary heart fee and blood oxygen measurement, night sleep monitoring, and a few exercises, the runtime drops to 10 days. Nonetheless an excellent worth, which provides you a very full document of your very important and health knowledge after just a few months of use. Nonetheless, the shortage of wi-fi charging and the slightly inelegant proprietary charging resolution are annoying for a $400 smartwatch.
The place different producers use magnets that follow the smartwatch, you need to plug a cable into the again right here. You may take this over from earlier gaming smartwatches, however the USB-A port on the different finish appears a bit antiquated in 2022.
Music mannequin notably unbiased throughout sports activities
The Music mannequin we examined provides inside music storage and compatibility for varied streaming apps for an additional $40 in comparison with the essential model. For this check, I needed to subscribe to a premium subscription at Spotify to get music on the watch. Alternatively, you too can use Deezer, Amazon Music, and another much less in style providers. Or you may switch music out of your PC to the watch through the charging cable—in case you nonetheless have digital music in your exhausting drive in 2022. The music is then performed again through linked Bluetooth headphones.
The opposite sensible options look a bit meager. Curiously, there isn’t any music management for linked smartphones—and you can not reply to notifications. Garmin additionally advertises turn-by-turn navigation, however the GarminIQ app solely gives unknown navigation apps in addition to Komoot, that are far inferior to suppliers like Google or Apple.
You may also use Garmin Pay with a appropriate bank card. In any other case, the app retailer solely gives watch faces, sensible residence apps from Sonos and Samsung, and apps from unbiased builders. Different smartwatches provide extra right here.
Ultimate verdict
At a value of slightly below 400 {dollars} (€400), Garmin presents the Forerunner 255 Music as an alternative choice to the Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch, Pixel Watch, and others. Nonetheless, after just a few weeks on the wrist, it turns into more and more clear that Garmin goes its personal manner. We now have to reward the corporate’s braveness to actually design a health smartwatch as a health gadget.
The monitoring options, the design, the sensible capabilities—all the pieces is designed to accompany a sporty every day routine. With an ultra-long battery life, an always-on show, exact GPS, intensive evaluation knowledge, and an ecosystem of health equipment, solely Garmin itself really gives options to the Forerunner 255 Music. For instance, the predecessor Forerunner 245 Music, gives a much less exact GPS and slightly below half the battery life.
What’s actually annoying in regards to the Forerunner 255 Music is the cumbersome operation and not using a touchscreen or artistic enter choices like bezels or 3D crowns. The newest Forerunner mannequin additionally lags behind when it comes to sensible options, particularly music management and notification response choices.
Garmin must also implement wi-fi charging within the subsequent mannequin, however in any other case, there are hardly any drawbacks if you wish to afford a $400 health smartwatch. Spectacular!
