Garmin Forerunner 170 Review: Accurate Where It Counts

Garmin has renewed its entry-level running watch with the Forerunner 170. For this new model the North American maker has worked in small touches: a slightly different case and a few modest software additions. Its predecessor, after all, already had a great deal going for it.

Between the 165, launched in 2024, and this freshly released 170, the changes are slight. The specification is close to identical, which inevitably prompts the question of what the renewal actually brings, and whether it was needed at all. The Forerunner 170 comes in two versions: one without internal storage, and one fitted with 4 GB of memory for music. It is the first of the two that went through the recorded test.

Put simply, the Forerunner 170 uses the same plastic case as its smaller sibling, the Forerunner 70. The format is fairly substantial at 42.6 x 42.6 x 11.9 mm, and even a little heavy for its category at 41 g. By way of comparison, the Forerunner 165 had a case that was slightly wider but a touch thinner, at 43 x 43 x 11.6 mm. Nothing very different, then. The watch sits in the middle of the market: neither the most discreet nor the most imposing, and it should suit most wrists.

The finish, on the other hand, is a little disappointing. The combination of a plastic case, in fibre-reinforced polymer, and a chemically strengthened glass feels modest, and the absence of sapphire glass suggests greater exposure to scratches.

At the front sits a fine 1.2-inch OLED display showing 390 x 390 pixels, matching the dimensions and definition of the Forerunner 70. It is well made, responsive to touch, wakes quickly on a wrist raise and stays perfectly legible in bright sunshine as well as in the dark.

The Forerunner 170 is rated to a water resistance of 50 m, or 5 ATM. That figure should not be taken literally: in practice it means the watch can be worn in the shower or while swimming, whereas abrupt pressure changes, as encountered with jet skiing, surfing or diving, risk damaging the case. Among the sensors, note the addition of a barometric altimeter, which the Forerunner 70 does without.

Anyone who has already worn a Garmin watch will find no surprises: the Forerunner 170 is handled exactly like its sisters and cousins. There are the maker's usual five buttons, coupled with a touchscreen.

Starting with the physical navigation, the top right button confirms. A press from the home screen leads to the physical activities menu, and pressing that button three times in succession is enough to start recording a chosen sport. The bottom right button goes back, the top left button wakes the screen, and the two remaining buttons, in the centre and at the bottom left, are used to move through the menus.

The touchscreen completes the arrangement. From the main display, a downward swipe brings up notifications, while the opposite movement leads to the various widgets that collate the data gathered by the watch, along with the weather and the diary. The touchscreen can of course also be used within the menus to navigate or confirm. Overall the interface is fluid and reasonably clear, even if it remains fairly austere compared with what Apple, Samsung or Huawei offer.

As a sports watch, it does not carry a great many lifestyle features, but there are some. Garmin Pay is present for contactless payment from the wrist, a function absent from the Forerunner 70, along with the installation of third-party apps such as WhatsApp or Google Maps, and music storage on the Music version with its 4 GB of memory. There is no speaker or microphone for taking calls, no eSIM and no ECG sensor.

Where the Forerunner 170 does separate itself from its predecessor is in software additions. True to habit, Garmin gradually trickles features down from its most upmarket watches to its more accessible models. This one inherits the training readiness score and training status. Training readiness combines the intensity of recent sessions, sleep quality and overall activity level into a score from 0 to 100.

Training status shows a phase label — progression, stagnation or overreaching — derived from training load relative to VO2 Max.

These indicators are figures reported by the watch. This review makes no claim about health, fitness or injury risk.

The Forerunner 170 synchronises with the Connect app, available on iOS and Android, which is as well made as ever. It allows every piece of data gathered by the watch to be followed, along with the many values calculated by Garmin's algorithms, and it organises the readings and calculated trends over time. The app also has a social element for following the outings of friends within the Garmin community or unlocking badges as activities accumulate. Finally, Connect handles configuration of the watch through a wide range of personalisation options.

The Forerunner 170 carries GPS, a heart rate monitor, a pulse oximeter, a barometric altimeter, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a compass and a thermometer: a complete set for the essentials of sports tracking.

The GPS is not multi-band, but it produces realistic traces both in town and in open country. Nothing to report on that front.

The heart rate sensor is likewise of high quality, producing meaningful heart rate curves whatever the situation. During a steady-paced run, the watch displayed data very close to that gathered by the Polar H10 chest strap used as a reference.

Variations in intensity do not trouble it either: one minute on, one minute off intervals proved faithful to reality. Even sessions of 15-second efforts separated by 45 seconds of rest remained legible, with each peak clearly marked. The Forerunner 170 therefore turns in a flawless performance on measurement, which is rare enough in this part of the market to be worth underlining.

Despite intensive use, with an hour of daily physical activity tracked along with sleep, heart rate and notification delivery, the Forerunner 170 lasted just under eight days. The always-on display mode was not enabled during that period. A full recharge takes around 1 h 19 min using Garmin's proprietary charging cable.

There is room to debate the merit of launching a new generation with a specification so close to the last. On paper, the differences against the Forerunner 165 are hardly numerous. In the end, though, the specification sheet was the wrong place to look for them. This 170 corrects the main failing of its predecessor, whose heart rate tracking left something to be desired, giving up a few days of battery life in the process. That is a sensible trade-off, and it makes the watch more complete, delivering an experience that is uncommon in this part of the market. On its own segment, the Forerunner 170 will be difficult to challenge.