Sunday Runday
On this weekly column, Android Central Wearables Editor Michael Hicks talks concerning the world of wearables, apps, and health tech associated to operating and well being, in his quest to get quicker and healthier.
The Garmin Forerunner 570 and 970 are costlier than their predecessors. Different 2025 Garmin watches skimped on new options to maintain costs low, so I am pleased Garmin did not maintain again on its Forerunners. Nevertheless it’s additionally change into clearer that Garmin does not really feel a must compete with different manufacturers’ options — solely in opposition to itself.
The bounce between the $599 Forerunner 965 and $749 Forerunner 970 is critical. You get the most recent Elevate v5 technology for higher HR accuracy, ECGs and pores and skin temperature readings, flashlight, mic & speaker for calling and instructions, sapphire crystal safety, and new metrics like operating tolerance.
Or should you’re weighing the $549 Forerunner 270 in opposition to the $449 Forerunner 265, you additionally get the gen5 HR accuracy increase, doubled display brightness on a bigger show, the identical mic & speaker, and pores and skin temperature with warmth acclimation.
The Intuition 3 and Vivoactive 6 caught to last-gen HR sensors, treading water on {hardware} in order that Garmin may hold them of their fastened value ranges. I feared Garmin would do the identical with its Forerunners, making us wait till 2027 for actual adjustments.
That is why I am excited for the Forerunner 970, but in addition feeling pissed off at how Garmin holds again mid-tier watches just like the Forerunner 570.
As costs rise, held-back options are tougher to just accept
The $499 Intuition 3 did not have offline maps regardless of being an “journey” watch, whereas cheaper rival watches just like the $349 COROS PACE Professional and Suunto Race S did. I complained on the time, however Garmin hadn’t given it cupboard space for maps, prioritizing a light-weight CPU for battery life.
The $549 Forerunner 570 does have cupboard space for maps, and no want to carry again the processor. There isn’t any logistical motive it should not assist maps; even when they are not pre-downloaded like on the 970, Garmin may allow you to obtain a particular area’s topo knowledge, a minimum of.
The one actual rationalization is that their absence makes folks extra prone to pay for the 970.
The identical applies to the 570 well being sensors. I clearly admire the improved HR accuracy and pores and skin temperature. However each different gen5 watch has ECGs, together with the $449 Venu 3. And out of doors of Garmin, ECGs are the norm, from mainstream watches to health rivals just like the COROS APEX and Polar Vantage collection.
However Garmin ignores the context of its rivals; the one competitor that issues is the Forerunner 970. That should stand out, so the 570 misses out. Coronary heart well being warnings change into a $750 bargaining chip.
It is a common-enough technique for Garmin. With the superb Forerunner 165, you possibly can’t see your coaching load though it clearly calculates load within the background to find out your VO2 Max, restoration time, and day by day recommended exercises with anaerobic or low cardio focuses. Blocking that knowledge upsells you to the Forerunner 265.
I accepted that synthetic function block as a result of the 165 prices $249, and coaching load continues to be pretty area of interest. However Garmin watch costs hold creeping up. It is tougher to swallow blocked options when these mid-tier fashions value far more than a Galaxy or Apple Watch.
With Garmin watches, each element has a price ticket
Smartwatch “tiers” are widespread sufficient today, and each firm needs to upsell you. However they’re additionally selective about which options are price-locked as a result of they know it will look dangerous if a competitor gives one thing for a lot much less.
You clearly pay extra for metal or titanium casing, or different {hardware} boosts like higher battery life. However in any other case, they squeeze most options into the mainline mannequin whereas sticking to the identical pricing yearly (other than the occasional inflationary increase).
With Garmin, each new function to modernize its watches comes with a value bump. MIP-to-AMOLED show swaps for the Forerunner and Intuition lineups value tacked on one other $50–100 to the same old value. On the Fenix 8, collectively including AMOLED, higher sensors, and a mic & speaker added $200 to the worth.
You will not discover dual-band GPS on any watch $300 or much less, nor offline maps on any sub-$600 watch. And though Garmin’s Gen5 HR sensors got here out in 2023, it is going to hold utilizing the Gen4 sensors on “cheaper” fashions just like the $500 Intuition 3 right now.
I do not know the way a lot the elements value Garmin, but it surely needs us to know that it will cross that value onto us.
Different elements like tariff considerations bump up pricing, too. However Garmin’s 2025 technique establishes a transparent Garmin precedent: As soon as a watch prices a sure value, you should not anticipate new {hardware} at that value, nor options already established on the flagship tier.
The subsequent model will both value the identical however make minimal upgrades, or add new instruments and price far more.
Garmin treats any new function as a possibility to ask athletes for more cash in trade for extra worth. And it may possibly do that as a result of it does not really feel as a lot stress to cost its health watches competitively as different manufacturers.
Garmin customers like its ecosystem an excessive amount of — or are too invested in it — to depart. And so Garmin accepts the damaging press round Join+ paywalled options and price-locks the best new options as a result of its loyal prospects pays $750 or extra for them, even when they grumble about it.
Should you suppose the Forerunner 970 and 570 are too costly, then a minimum of you recognize the last-gen Garmin watches are nonetheless accessible — and discounted for Memorial Day, so a Forerunner 965 prices $50 lower than the 570.
In any other case, we have now to just accept this new regular with new Garmin watches.
