Garmin’s newest premium running watches, the Forerunner 55 and the Forerunner 945 LTE, offer several useful features for novice and expert runners alike, including from 12 hours to 2 weeks of battery life, depending on the modes being used and a suite of health monitoring options. Both watches now also provide an added layer of security with Garmin’s Incident Detection and Assistance program. Incident Detection and Assistance is a feature that allows the Forerunner 55 and 945 LTE to automatically detect possible incidents and send your name and location to all emergency contacts that have been previously set up in the Garmin Connect app. This is not a substitute for calling emergency services directly, as it does require that the watch have LTE services enabled or have a Bluetooth connection to a device with available service and GPS enabled. The recipients’ devices also have to be turned on and able to receive text messages or emails, but it could provide an added layer of protection during a run. Both the Forerunner 55 and Forerunner 945 LTE can run for up to two weeks in Smartwatch Mode on a single charge. With GPS enabled, the Forerunner 55 should stay on for approximately 20 hours while the Forerunner 945 LTE can function anywhere from seven hours to 35 hours, depending on whether or not Livetrack or music are enabled. The Forerunner 945 LTE’s main draw over the Forerunner 55 is its somewhat larger list of features that include pulse ox blood oxygen saturation spot-checking, sleep score and insights, added sensors like a barometric altimeter and thermometer, and smart features such as LTE and Wi-Fi connectivity. Both watches are available now, with the Forerunner 55 priced at $199.99 and the Forerunner 945 LTE at $649.99.
