Garmin might be mixing up its usual release rhythm for the next generation of its premium running watch line.
That’s if a newly surfaced extended warranty application on Garmin’s Taiwanese site is to be believed, at least. In it, a Forerunner 970 is name-checked, as shown below, indicating that it could launch before the much-anticipated Forerunner 975.
That’s not just unexpected—it’s potentially a shake-up in the brand’s flagship GPS watch strategy.
It’s now been over two years since the Forerunner 965 hit our wrists, and 2025 has already seen its fair share of speculative smoke signals about what’s next. The consensus—up until now—was that the Forerunner 975 would land first as Garmin’s next major running-focused device.
Yet, if the 970 leapfrogs it to market, we could see a surprise shift in naming conventions or a new two-tiered rollout strategy.
The most likely theory? The 970 could be a slightly pared-down version of the 975, and live alongside each other just as the Forerunner 255 and 265 have over the last couple of years. If so, the 970 could feature fewer premium features, a lower price tag, and just enough features to up-sell serious runners from something like the 265 or 965.
Of course, this could also be Garmin playing 4D chess with product marketing. Or it’s just a placeholder name. Or a typo. At this point, your guess is as good as anyone else’s—especially given that Garmin has now removed the application in question.
For now, we wait. But with this much smoke, it feels like Garmin’s gearing up to sprint into its next-gen running watch era (pun intended, sorry).
