Garmin's new Forerunner 70, 170, and 170 Music bring premium training tools under $300
Garmin has announced three new entry-tier running watches — the Forerunner 70, 170, and 170 Music — all available from May 15 starting at $249.99. The headline move isn't the hardware; it's the software. Training Readiness, Quick Workout, and Garmin Coach were previously reserved for the premium Fenix and Forerunner 900 lines and now come free on watches that cost half the price.
The watches
All three share a 1.2-inch AMOLED display, five physical buttons, built-in GPS, and access to 80-plus sport apps. Around-the-clock health monitoring covers heart rate, sleep analysis, and Body Battery — Garmin's energy-level metric. As Gizmodo puts it, these watches "steal a bunch of features" from Garmin's top-tier lineup.
The Forerunner 70 is the lightest option, with a 13-day smartwatch battery life and 5 days in always-on mode. It tracks distance, pace, and intervals, plus offers morning briefings covering sleep analysis and weather. It skips Garmin Pay and onboard music storage.
The Forerunner 70 brings Garmin's coaching tools to the entry tier for the first time.
The Forerunner 170 steps up with a barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope, and Garmin Pay support, dropping to 10 days of battery life — one day fewer than the Forerunner 165 it effectively supersedes, per 5K Runner. The deeper coaching stack includes adaptive Garmin Coach training plans and a race widget that tailors workouts to a target event date.
The Forerunner 170 Music adds 4 GB of onboard storage for offline Spotify, Deezer, and Amazon Music playlists — around 500 songs — so you can leave your phone at home and pair wireless earbuds directly to the watch.
The value case
At $249.99, the Forerunner 70 undercuts rival smartwatches with comparable health tracking, though Amazfit and Coros still hold an edge below $240 with dual-band GPS — a feature absent here. The full physiological stack (HRV Status, Training Load, VO2 Max) coming to the entry tier is the real draw, not the AMOLED screen, which Garmin has offered since 2024.
Garmin Forerunner 170 Music stores up to 500 songs offline from Spotify, Deezer, and Amazon Music.
UK pricing is confirmed at £219.99 (Forerunner 70), £259.99 (170), and £299.99 (170 Music). US prices are $249.99, $299.99, and $349.99 respectively. All three are available to pre-order now via Garmin.com and authorized retailers, with sales opening May 15.