(Image source from: Garmin)
Garmin has launched two new GPS running smartwatches called the Forerunner 70 and Forerunner 170, designed for both newcomers and experienced runners. Each watch comes with AMOLED screens, touch capabilities, and Garmin's familiar five-button design. They include features like built-in GPS, heart rate monitoring on the wrist, sleep tracking, training tools, and the ability to receive smart notifications. The Forerunner 170 includes additional sensors, Garmin Pay, and music storage on certain models. Garmin announced that these watches will be available in India by June 2026, pending regulatory approvals. Pricing details for India have not been shared yet for either smartwatch. In the United States, the Forerunner 70 and Forerunner 170 are priced at $249.99 (around Rs. 23,900) and $299.99 (about Rs. 28,700), respectively. The Forerunner 70 will come in colors like Citron, Cool Lavender, Black, and Whitestone, while the Forerunner 170 will be available in Black with yellow accents and Whitestone with blue accents. Additionally, the Forerunner 170 also offers a Music variant that allows users to store songs directly on the watch for easier listening without a phone while exercising. It will come in colors Teal Green and Red Pink.
The company stated in a news release that the Forerunner 70 and Forerunner 170 series will be on sale in India in June 2026. Both smartwatches feature a 1.2-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 390 by 390 pixels. They are made with tough glass, a strong polymer case, silicone straps, and are rated 5ATM for water resistance. Both models offer touch control alongside five physical buttons. The new devices feature built-in GPS that works with GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo satellite networks. They are capable of tracking metrics like pace, distance, and time during runs and also provide wrist-based heart rate monitoring, Pulse Ox, Body Battery, stress tracking, sleep scores, sleep coaching, HRV status, and women's health tracking. The Garmin Forerunner 70 and Forerunner 170 include features like Garmin Coach, daily workout suggestions, quick workout options, training readiness assessments, training status tracking, running power details, running dynamics, PacePro, race prediction, and recovery assistance. They also support smart notifications, LiveTrack, incident detection, and the Garmin Connect app on both Android and iPhone devices.
Garmin has added over 80 different sports settings to both devices, which include activities like running, biking, swimming in a pool, strength workouts, yoga, hiking, cricket, and many team games. The Forerunner 170 features a barometric altimeter, a compass, a gyroscope, and a thermometer, which are not found in the Forerunner 70. It also enables Garmin Pay for making contactless payments, tracks floor climbs, supports open-water swimming, provides elevation information, and works with cycling power meters. The Garmin Forerunner 70 is reported to provide a battery life of up to 13 days in smartwatch mode, around 23 hours when using GPS alone, and about 16 hours in all-system GNSS mode. It has 512MB of internal memory. Its dimensions are 42.6 x 42.6 x 11.9mm and it weighs 40g. On the other hand, the Forerunner 170 has the same size but is slightly heavier at 41g. It is estimated to offer up to 10 days of battery life in smartwatch mode, around 20 hours in GPS-only mode, and about 14 hours in all-systems GNSS mode. It includes 4GB of internal storage.
