I’ve been testing Garmin watches for over 10 years, and one piece of advice I give almost anyone looking to buy one is to consider older models. New Garmins cost a lot of money, and older watches that have most of the same features are much more likely to appear in sales.
There is a limit to that, though, and going back two generations to a watch like the Garmin Forerunner 255 does mean that you will be missing out on a lot of new features and design upgrades.
The Forerunner 255 has been superseded by both the Garmin Forerunner 265 and Garmin Forerunner 570 in the years since its launch, but the Forerunner 255 is still available and regularly discounted. But should you still buy it? Below, I'll cover the pros and cons of the Forerunner 255 to help you make your mind up.
What you need to know about the Garmin Forerunner 255
The Garmin Forerunner 255 launched in June 2022 and comes in two sizes — 46mm for the standard 255 and 41mm for the Forerunner 255S. It originally cost $399.99 for the music version of the watch and $349.99 for the model without music.
Since its launch, Garmin has released the Forerunner 265 in 2023 and the Forerunner 570 in 2025 as newer models that sit in the middle of the brand’s range, sitting above the Forerunner 165 and below the Forerunner 970.
The Forerunner 255 is a full multisport watch with a memory-in-pixel display, which is a notable difference from the latest Garmin watches, which almost all now have AMOLED displays.
Garmin Forerunner 255: specs compared
Garmin Forerunner 255 |
Garmin Forerunner 265 |
Garmin Forerunner 570 |
Coros Pace 4 |
|
Price |
$349 (non-music); $399 (music) |
$449.99 |
$549 |
$249 |
Case size |
41mm or 46mm |
42mm or 46mm |
42mm or 47mm |
43mm |
Display |
1.1in or 1.3in MIP |
1.2in or 1.3in AMOLED |
1.2in or 1..4in AMOLED |
1.2in AMOLED |
Bezel |
Plastic |
Plastic |
Plastic with aluminum bezel |
Plastic |
Screen |
Glass |
Glass |
Glass |
Glass |
Weight |
39g (41mm); 49g (46mm) |
39g (42mm); 47g (46mm) |
42g (42m); 50g (47mm) |
40g |
Water resistance |
5ATM |
5ATM |
5ATM |
50m |
Battery life (watch mode) |
12 days (41mm) / 14 days (46mm) |
15 days (42mm); 13 days (46mm) |
10 days (42mm); 11 days (47mm) |
Up to 20 days |
Battery life (multi-band GPS) |
13 hours (41mm); 16 hours (46mm) |
15 hours (42mm); 14 hours (46mm) |
13 hours (42mm); 14 hours (47mm) |
24 hours |
Storage |
4GB |
8GB |
8GB |
4GB |
How much should the Forerunner 255 cost?
The Garmin Forerunner 255 is currently $239 at Amazon and $229 at Walmart for the non-music model, but has dropped below $200 in the past, and I’d hope it will again when big sales periods like Amazon Prime Day or Black Friday come around.
For its part, the Garmin Forerunner 265 dropped to $299 during the Black Friday sales in late 2025, and that’s a price I expect it to fall to again regularly in 2026, while the Forerunner 570 is unlikely to drop much below $449 in the near future, since its list price is $549.
What do newer models offer?
The main upgrade I noticed in testing the newer Forerunner 265 and Forerunner 570 watches is the design, and notably the AMOLED displays on the newer models. The same is true of newer rivals from other brands like the Coros Pace 4.
While some might view the MIP display on the Forerunner 255 as a plus, I prefer AMOLED sports watches myself, as the screen is brighter and clearer in all conditions, even including direct sunlight, in my experience.
Other notable new features on the 265 and 570 include training readiness, a useful stat that gives an indication of how fit to train you are that day based on factors like recent workouts, sleep, and stress.
The Forerunner 570 is the newest model in the line and has a brighter screen and a more colorful design in general than its predecessors, and it also adds a mic and speaker.
It also has Garmin’s latest Elevate Gen 5 optical heart rate sensor, which I have found in testing to be a little more accurate than the Elevate Gen 4 sensor on the Forerunner 255 and Forerunner 265. All watches offer equally good multi-band GPS tracking, though.
Music is a standard feature on the Forerunner 265 and Forerunner 570, too, and as the latest model, the Forerunner 570 could still get new features from Garmin via software updates, whereas the older watches will just get bug fixes in updates.
Is the Garmin Forerunner 255 still worth it in 2026?
The Garmin Forerunner 255 is still an accurate sports watch that will undoubtedly serve you well in tracking your workouts and daily activity, and if you prefer a MIP display over AMOLED, then it’s worth grabbing ahead of newer Garmin watches for sure.
I think the AMOLED display on newer watches is the most important upgrade, both within the Garmin line-up and with rivals like the Coros Pace 4 and Suunto Run, which are also worth considering if you’re looking at the Forerunner 255.
For me, the Forerunner 255 will only be worth getting if the price drops below $200, because the Pace 4 is $249 and the Forerunner 265 is often $299, so if the Forerunner 255 is at all similar in price, I’d get one of those newer watches ahead of it.
They have brighter screens, run a little more smoothly, and have a few compelling extra features like training readiness on the Forerunner 265.
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