Garmin Forerunner 55 review: Solid health & fitness smartwatch for runners

 

American activity tracker and sports watch maker Garmin recently launched in India its Forerunner 55. Aimed at runners, this smartwatch is a successor to the company's budget-oriented health and fitness tracker the Forerunner 45. Priced at Rs 20,990, the Forerunner 55 brings meaningful upgrades over the predecessor with regard to design, features and utility. So does it make a good upgrade? Let’s find out:

Design and build

The smartwatches in the Forerunner series look identical, albeit few changes here and there. That said, the Forerunner 55 does not bring any drastic design changes. There are in total of five physical buttons familiarly placed -- three on the left side and two on the right. The Forerunner 55 has a 42mm plastic case with a 1.04-inch transflective display (208 × 208 pixels resolution) on the top, surrounded by thick bezels.

The watch’s transflective display lacks the brightness, thus, suffers from sunlight legibility issues. It takes some effort to read the display under direct sunlight. Nevertheless, the display shows phone’s notifications and call alerts (require pairing and supplementary app). You can also control your phone’s music on the Forerunner 55, the reason for mentioning this is not all Garmin watches support this so it's a welcome feature. As for the sensors, they are all placed on the bottom side. This watch is 5ATM rated for water resistance – can withstand pressures equivalent to a depth of 50 meters.

The Forerunner 55 comes with silicone straps, which are flexible and comfortable to wear. Unlike the predecessor, the Forerunner 55’s straps are removable. Therefore, you can change the straps to suit your everyday attire. Adding to the convenience and comfort is the watch’s lightweight (37g) build. You can wear it all day long to track health and fitness, and at night to track your sleep, yet do not feel like you have tied anything extra to your wrist.

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