An excellent mid-point in the Forerunner range—but not without issue.
The Garmin Forerunner 570 is a superb running watch that's now an even better fit for triathletes, with core tracking accuracy that's second to none and a playful, improved design that's more practical outdoors. However, another significant price hike, fierce internal and external competition, and some baffling feature omissions make it a confusing proposition. The 570 comes recommended, but there are plenty of running watches that represent better value.
Pros
- Superb, bright AMOLED display
- Excellent GPS and HR accuracy
- Lightweight and fun design
Cons
- Significant price increase over its predecessor
- No offline maps or ECG
- A step back in daily-use battery life
In many ways, the Forerunner 570 suffers from the classic middle child syndrome. Unlike its predecessor, this latest iteration is squeezed between a top-value, entry-level Forerunner 165 and a significantly improved premium offering above it.
Back in 2023, the Forerunner 265 was a straightforward recommendation for any serious runner who didn’t require pro-level maps, perfectly striking the perfect balance between advanced features and value. In the time since, though, feature sets have evolved from rivals to include the likes of on-wrist mapping as standard, and the chasm between this mid-point and its sibling, the Forerunner 970, has grown.
That’s not to say the 570 isn’t one of the top running watches on the market—it is. After a month of testing, it’s clear the hardware is a step up. The new design language is more fun, the screen is more easily viewable in all conditions, and the Elevate Gen 5 sensor brings improvement in accuracy.
But Garmin has made a few key decisions around pricing that cast a shadow over the upgrades. Key features are also missing, while the competition—much of it from Garmin itself—has become incredibly fierce. It leaves the Forerunner 570 in a strange no man’s land: a fantastic running watch that, unlike last time, is a complicated recommendation.
Price and competition
The most notable issue of the 570 is its price. Launching at $549.99, it’s a big leap from the 265’s $449.99 launch price, which itself was a $100 bump from the Forerunner 255 from 2022.
This pushes it uncomfortably close to older but more feature-rich Garmin devices, such as the outgoing and still widely available Forerunner 965, which can often be found discounted and includes an excellent mapping experience.
The competition from outside Garmin’s walls is also strong. In the last year, we’ve been impressed by the Coros Pace Pro, Polar Vantage M3, and Suunto Race in our testing. All of those devices are compelling, map-equipped alternatives that are more affordable.
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While Garmin could argue its ecosystem and the quality of its training analysis are superior (and I would agree in that hypothetical scenario I, myself, have created), the value isn’t as clear-cut as last time out.
Design and display: Have a bit of fun with it
While the price is confusing, the design is a clear winner. Garmin has retired the ‘S’ model, but still offers the 570 in two sizes: 42mm (with a 1.2-inch display) and 47mm (with a 1.4-inch display, pictured below). Choosing the latter means you can get the same large, immersive screen as the top-tier Forerunner 970, but we opted for the smaller one on this occasion to test the floor of the generation’s battery life.
The look is sportier and more playful than previous generations. My test unit’s ‘rhubarb’ bezel and translucent strap feel fresh and fun. It’s a departure from Garmin’s typically dry aesthetic, and I’m here for it. The aluminum bezel feels surprisingly durable, as well; after a month of gym sessions and kicking around in my bag between uses, it has remained pristine, which is more than I can say for the scratched-up titanium finish on my 970 (and 965).
The star of the show, again, is the AMOLED display. It’s noticeably brighter and more vivid than the 265’s already-excellent screen, making it incredibly easy to read in harsh sunlight. Was it an area crying out for improvement? Not really, but it’s a welcome luxury.
Interestingly, some design cues have been swapped with the more expensive sibling. The 570 now has the flat-edged screen previously on the 965 (while the new 970 has adopted the sloped edges of the 265). It’s a minor shuffle, but it shows a flip of the Forerunner design language—for reasons unknown, of course.
Playful design, but not much practical change
However, some premium features are conspicuously absent. There’s no handy LED flashlight, which was an expected omission to protect the 970.
More baffling is the lack of ECG, a feature present on Garmin’s own cheaper Venu 3 and standard on almost all competing watches at this price. While it might not be a dealbreaker for most, its absence feels like Garmin is deliberately holding features back to protect its tiered system, which can feel a little ungenerous on a $550 watch.
It’s hard to know whether the 570’s architecture simply doesn’t allow for ECG to function, but, typically, this has been a given on devices with the Elevate Gen 5 sensor (as I’ve explored in the complete guide to Garmin’s ECG app).
Sports tracking: GPS, heart rate, and new features
When it comes to its primary job—tracking your workouts—the Forerunner 570 is predictably brilliant. GPS accuracy, featuring the option to employ the gold-standard Multi-Band setting, remains flawless and comparable to its closest competitor, Apple.
In all my running workouts over the last month, it tracked within 0.01 miles of the more expensive 970 (which is no surprise, given they share the same internals here) and within 0.05 miles of the Apple Watch Ultra 2.
The heart rate from tough interval sessions and steady-paced runs alike was also very aligned with Garmin’s most advanced chest strap, the HRM 600. Unlike on the 970, there’s no room for Running Economy or Step Speed Loss with an HRM 600 hooked up; however, the general performance was comparable in everything but latency.
As shown in the comparisons below, the average/maximum BPM figures for sessions was never out by more than a couple of beats compared to the chest strap.
As shown, the 570’s Running Dynamics do stray slightly from the chest strap. This is pretty common in wrist vs. chest readings of running form. For example, ground contact time often registers a tad (specifically, around 20-30ms longer) than the strap.
The same is true when measuring vertical ratio, which is slightly harsher (and, based on its limited position on the body, less accurate) from the wrist.
Sports tracking: The bigger picture
Garmin has also broadened the 570’s horizons, adding more profiles for sports like cycling and, crucially, a full suite of triathlon and multi-sport features. This includes access to the new adaptive Garmin Coach plans for triathlons, making it a highly capable device for multi-sport types.
However, this is where the 570’s most significant weakness lies: the lack of maps. For a $550 watch aimed at runners who may also tackle the occasional trails, ultras, or outdoor cycle/swim (profiles for which are included), the decision to omit routable, offline maps is hard to understand.
You can still load a breadcrumb trail to follow, but it’s a world away from the rich, detailed topographic maps on the 970 or, indeed, on cheaper watches from Coros and Suunto. It’s the single biggest reason to question buying this watch, aside from the price.
However, you do get some useful new software tweaks, such as a feature that prompts you to end if you forget to press stop right at the finish line of a race (and then automatically crops it), and a more advanced race time predictor that shows how your training is impacting your potential.
Health and sleep tracking
With that aforementioned lack of ECG—again, pretty hard to understand—the Forerunner 570 gets just one key health-tracking upgrade: a skin temperature sensor. Like other compatible devices, this works overnight to add another layer of data to Garmin’s already comprehensive sleep and recovery analysis. It’s a nice-to-have that quietly works in the background, but certainly not game-changing.
As with HR and GPS, the general tracking experience here remains thoroughly recommendable. Sleep tracking is less complete and accurate compared to brands at the top of this area, such as Oura, but it remains accurate enough to inform features like Training Readiness and general wellbeing. Like I’ve often said about Garmin’s sleep tracking, it’s not one to really guide you through an illness, but it does know when you’re good to push that bit extra and when you should take a rest day.
That former situation actually happened during my test of the 570. It catastrophically failed to pick up on my flu/cold symptoms (which lasted well over a week), while the Oura Ring 4 (and, to a lesser extent, the Whoop MG) was able to pick up on my illness via Symptom Radar and suggest I stick on Rest Mode (and also prompt me when I was ready to go again).
It feels like Garmin—whose strength is in calculations—should be doing better in this area, but, as I alluded to with ECG, it’s not the end of the world on a running-focused watch.
Smart features
The more meaningful upgrades for most people, I suspect, come in the smarts department—and the Forerunner 570 gets a significant smartwatch-style upgrade with the addition of a microphone and speaker. This enables users to take calls from their wrist (when connected to a phone) and use the voice assistant.
While I’m personally not clamoring for phone calls on my running watch or the ability to play Spotify without headphones, it brings the 570 in line with the market standard and is a feature that should be here at this price.
You also get the new Evening Report, a simple but smart feature that bookends the popular Morning Report. It provides a summary of your day, a preview of tomorrow’s scheduled workout from your Garmin Coach plan, and your recommended sleep time. It’s a small, thoughtful addition that helps frame your recovery and preparation.
The user interface has also been refreshed to match the newer Fenix and 970 models, with options for larger fonts and a more integrated feel between the smartwatch and sports features. It’s clean, responsive, and easy to navigate, thanks to the combination of the five classic buttons and the sleek touchscreen.
Battery life
Like the 970, this area is somewhat complex. On paper, battery life in smartwatch mode has taken a step back from the 265, likely due to that brighter screen. The 47mm model drops from a claimed 13 days to 11 days, and the smaller 42mm model sees a more significant drop from 15 days to 10.
In my real-world testing of the 42mm model with the always-on display enabled, I was only getting around three days of use, including daily runs and gym sessions. That’s a far cry from the Garmin standard many of us are used to, and the four days I received from the 265. You can, of course, extend this significantly by switching to raise-to-wake.
Curiously, when it comes to GPS battery life with music playing, the 570 has actually improved by a couple of hours over the 265. But for pure GPS tracking in the most accurate Multi-Band mode, the numbers are identical to the last generation at 14 hours for the larger model. It’s a mixed bag, but the overall trend for daily use is a slight regression.
Final thoughts: A summary of our Forerunner 570 testing
The Garmin Forerunner 570 is, in isolation, a fantastic sports watch. The hardware is beautiful, the screen is excellent, and the accuracy of its core GPS and heart rate sensors is impeccable. For the dedicated runner or triathlete who wants a premium-feeling watch with top-tier training analysis, the 570 delivers.
But devices don’t exist in a vacuum. The Forerunner 265 was so easy to recommend because its place in the market (and Garmin’s own Forerunner lineup) was clear. The 570, by contrast, feels lost. The price hike isn’t justified by the feature upgrades, especially when the crucial addition of maps is still reserved for more expensive models.
It makes the watch a very difficult sell when excellent, map-equipped alternatives from other brands are cheaper, and Garmin’s own Forerunner 965 offers a more complete package for a similar, if not lower, street price.
This isn’t a bad watch; it’s a great watch with a slightly curious price and position in the market.
