Two years ago I got myself my first Garmin watch, the Forerunner 255S. I bought it at a heavy discount when the 265 was released. I didn't want to spend too much money on my first Garmin as it's always a bit of a gamble switching ecosystems like that.
I was quite happy with my FR 255 but over the past few weeks it started having some issues. Coincidentally Garmin just released the new Forerunner 570 and after some usual waffling I decided to treat myself to an upgrade and got the 42mm version in black.
I've only had my 570 for about 20 hours so I can't really give a full review, but I suck at those anyway. I do however want to share some initial impressions in no particular order.
- The watch is very lightweight. This is exactly what I want as my wrists are small and during a run you don't want to have a rock attached to your arm. Not sure about the difference compared to the 255S though.
- The screen is absolutely beautiful. The colors really pop off, and the resolution isn't quite retina but it's close enough for my eyes. The 255S had a MIP screen and although outside in direct sunlight it was superior to AMOLED, the colors always looked dull and washed out to me.
- I am a little worried about the screen getting scratched since it ever so slightly protrudes past the bezel. But I'm not willing to put a screen protector on so I'll just have to live with the inevitable scratches.
- I have to get used to no longer having an always-on display. Yes, it can be enabled on the 570 but I don't want to trade battery life.
- I get about 10-11 days on a full charge according to the watch itself. Of course I haven't tested this yet, but these numbers are usually pretty accurate. That's only a 10% decrease compared to the 255S which I think is totally fine for my use. Not an issue, despite people making a really big deal out of it.
- The HR sensor on the bottom of the device is way larger than I expected. It's also a little bit more flat though, which is good.
- The first hour or so of using the 570 I experienced some lag in the UI. This has since been resolved and everything is quite snappy now. Maybe it needed some time to cache my data.
- The vibration motor is a lot stronger which is helpful for silent alarms.
- I never thought I'd say this, but I think having a touchscreen is a nice addition. You can disable touch during workouts if you like.
- The side buttons are much more clicky compared to the 255S. They're also made out of metal instead of plastic.
- Because of the bright colors and the touchscreen, this watch feels way more like a smartwatch.
- There's a ton of UI and UX improvements compared to the 255S which make navigating all the menus a lot easier.
That's about it, hope it's helpful in some way. I won't do a full review as I don't think I'm qualified for that. Let me know which Garmin watch you use and what you think of it.