Garmin announced the Forerunner 55, an easy-to-use GPS smartwatch designed for people of all skill levels — especially those new to running — to track their stats and achieve their fitness goals. With the simple press of a button, users can start their run or walk and track their time, distance, speed, pace and heart rate data right from their wrist. The Forerunner 55 also offers detailed running data, daily suggested workouts, additional built-in sports apps and more. Garmin unveiled the Forerunner 55 in conjunction with Global Running Day, an annual celebration of the sport of running that encourages beginners to make a life-changing commitment to running.

The details

The Forerunner 55 helps runners of all skill levels achieve their fitness goals:

• Built-in GPS tracks how far, how fast and where a user runs
• Wrist-based heart rate provides data all day and night
• All-day activity tracking counts steps, calories, sleep and more
• Daily suggested workouts take the guesswork out of training by offering personalized run workouts tailored to the runner’s training history, fitness level and recovery time
• Garmin Coach training plans offer on-screen guidance from expert coaches and free 5K, 10K or half marathon training plans that adapt based on a runner’s goals
• Safety features let runners send a message with their location to family and friends

The Forerunner 55 also offers several advanced running features, including:

• PacePro provides guidance to help runners tailor their efforts to a selected course or distance
• The finish time estimator lets athletes select a run distance and view their estimated finish time right from the wrist
• Cadence alerts let runners know when they’ve gone outside their target cadence range, helping to improve their running form
• For those looking to switch up their workout routine, the Forerunner 55 features several built-in activity profiles, including track or virtual running, pool swimming, Pilates, HIIT and more
• Following a workout, the built-in recovery time will let athletes know how long to rest before their next big effort

Featuring a wide array of health and wellness features from Garmin Firstbeat Analytics, the Forerunner 55 is intended to be worn 24/7. Athletes can track their stress and set relaxation reminders to do short breathing exercises, use the Body Battery energy monitor to track energy levels to find the best times for activity and rest, and gain insights into when and how intensity minutes are earned throughout the day. Additionally, women can track their menstrual cycle or pregnancy and log symptoms, receive exercise and nutrition education and more through the Garmin Connect app.

Furthermore, the Forerunner 55 will also automatically upload activities to Garmin Connect and allow athletes to download custom watch faces, data fields and apps from the Connect IQ Store.

On the record

“We know there are runners of all skill levels who prefer a simplified running watch,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales. “With that in mind, the Forerunner 55 presents informative and digestible data in a way that can help people reach their running goals, while also encouraging them to live a healthy lifestyle.”

Availability

The Garming Forerunner 55 features up to 2 weeks of battery life in smartwatch mode and up to 20 hours in GPS mode. It is available now in black, white or aqua and has a suggested retail price of $199.99.