Garmin Forerunner 970 running and triathlon watch review

It has been two years since Garmin introduced the previous generation of its running and triathlon series – Forerunner. Just like a watch (and sorry for the dad joke), Ronlight, Garmin’s importer in Israel, introduced the two new watches in the family this summer: the mid-range Forerunner 570 and the flagship Forerunner 970, which we tested.

The 970 is the official successor of the 965. It launched, as Garmin usually does, almost a year after the Fenix 8. As is Garmin’s habit, the new Forerunner took many features first introduced in the Fenix. Yet, there are software features launching on the 970 that will later roll out to the Fenix series in updates.

The Forerunner 970 comes in a 47mm size in three main colors: white with yellow, French gray with purple, and black with yellow. As usual, the watch body is plastic to the touch and made of reinforced polymer fibers, but this time it incorporates titanium in the bezel around the screen. The strap is silicone and combines two colors – the main color on the outside and a secondary color inside.

The move to scratch-resistant sapphire glass is the most important material change by the manufacturer. Until now, sapphire was used in the Fenix series. It’s a wonderful flagship series, but the watches are very heavy. My tendency for careless handling previously led me to scratch watch screens, so I usually chose a Fenix for its sapphire screen. Now, I can opt for a lighter watch (56 grams).

The AMOLED screen has been upgraded and is the brightest I’ve seen on a Garmin. I set it to medium brightness, and even in direct sunlight, it is perfectly clear.

The screen lights up briefly when the wrist is raised. This is its default behavior during regular use. When the wrist is lowered, the screen turns off. You can customize the activation to "always-on" (which consumes battery and affects the screen-on time when raising the wrist).

The 970 comes with customizable watch faces. The Connect IQ store has a huge number of watch faces that can be easily changed, free or paid. I’m someone who likes lots of quickly accessible information, so I currently use Black Grid by creator frinkr, which gives me at least 15 different types of custom data.

The watch has five physical buttons and a touchscreen. You can choose to use either the buttons or the touch. By default, touch is disabled during activity to prevent accidental taps. Repeated attempts to use the screen during activity require swiping to unlock it.

However, this is a highly customizable watch. You can disable the touchscreen entirely, enable it during all activities, or only for specific activities (e.g., gym). The buttons are also customizable, with seven press combinations (long press or combined with another button, allowing shortcuts for 45 actions). I personally use these shortcuts for flashlight, wallet, music, and voice notes.

Quick Glances: Swipe up from the watch face to access "quick glance" widgets, which show information in a preview list. Scroll vertically to see each widget (weather, heart rate, training status, etc.) represented as a compact “card.” Tap the card for full details. Widgets can be grouped into folders for better organization, e.g., “Sport” or “Health.”

Notification Center: Swipe down from the watch face to access notifications and messages from your phone and watch alerts. This feature allows viewing and deleting missed calls, text messages (Android only), app notifications, and more. The notification center is customizable by app. It works better than ever but doesn’t present information as seamlessly as common smartwatches.

One surprising innovation, first introduced in the Fenix 8, is the built-in LED flashlight. On paper, it sounds like a gimmick. In reality, it’s one of the most useful upgrades. Having a flashlight on my wrist is wonderful.

The flashlight offers four levels of white light or one level of red light. I recommend programming a shortcut button for quick access. Whether it’s finding keys or glasses in a dark room for an early morning run, lighting the way to a bathroom at night while camping, or simply increasing visibility to vehicles (in running settings, it can be set to flash) – this is a “why didn’t anyone think of this sooner?” feature.

For running in complete darkness, it helps illuminate the path, but I still prefer a headlamp, since the watch produces light similar to a phone flashlight and requires wrist adjustment while running. Not very convenient.

Many companies boast navigation features, but Garmin is widely regarded as the best, given its roots in navigation. Operation can be activity-specific. I relied on the system to auto-select and am pleased with navigation and reasonable battery usage.

The 970 has multi-channel GPS, connecting to multiple satellite systems simultaneously on multiple frequencies. This ensures high location accuracy even in challenging conditions like narrow canyons, dense forests, or running beside tall buildings. SatIQ technology manages this intelligently, balancing accuracy with battery savings.

A key advantage over the mid-range 570 is built-in color topographic maps – a significant upgrade for running in unfamiliar areas (urban or trail). Routes can be used or planned on the watch independently of a phone, including round trips, with turn-by-turn guidance.

Adding a route via the app unlocks advanced features, such as automatic laps (pre-set distances like every 400 meters in a stadium), suggested finish line adjustments, and estimated finish times based on training pace. You can navigate to essential sports locations, such as air pumps, bike shops, mini-markets, water stations, toilets, and more.

At the core of the Forerunner 970 is the Elevate Gen 5 optical heart rate sensor, Garmin’s most advanced generation. This is more than cosmetic – it’s redesigned with improved optics for better signal quality, handling arm movement, rapid heart rate changes, and different skin tones – challenges that troubled previous optical sensors.

It’s highly accurate, approaching chest strap measurements.

ECG measurement for detecting atrial fibrillation, available in Israel since September. This is active, requiring user initiation. Unlike passive continuous monitoring (e.g., Apple), Garmin takes a cautious approach.

Skin temperature monitoring, tracking changes related to recent exercise, sleep conditions, and health indicators, aiding cycle tracking for female athletes.

A new metric is breathing variability, identifying sleep breathing pattern changes. HRV (heart rate variability) measures slight differences between heartbeats during the night, aiding recovery and overall stress assessment.

Running efficiency measures energy expenditure.

However, good things come at a cost, and Garmin raised launch prices sharply for both Fenix and Forerunner models. Beginners or those on a budget should consider the Forerunner 570.