You don’t need to be training for the New York Marathon to benefit from a GPS running watch that understands your fitness level. Most people just want to run a few miles without guessing their pace, track progress over time and maybe figure out why some runs feel easier than others. The Garmin Forerunner 55 handles all of that without the overwhelming feature bloat of flagship models, and Amazon just dropped it to an all-time low of $169, down from its usual $199 price.
The core appeal lies in how this watch removes the mental load from running: You lace up, press start and the GPS tracks your route while the optical heart rate sensor monitors your effort level. After the run, you get clear feedback on distance covered, average pace per mile, heart rate zones throughout the workout, and total elevation gain if you tackled any hills. This data accumulates over weeks and months and reveals patterns that help you understand what’s actually improving versus what just feels different on any given day.
Smartwatch battery life usually means charging every night or every other day, and turn your fitness tracker into another device competing for outlet space. The Forerunner 55 runs for two full weeks in normal smartwatch mode, displaying time, notifications and daily stats without needing a charge. Switch to GPS mode for tracking runs and you get 20 hours of continuous recording which is enough for multiple marathons back-to-back if you were so inclined.
PacePro is worthy of coverage because it answers a common race-morning headache for runners. It can be set with a desired finish time for a certain distance, after which it works out precisely what your pace through every part of a course must be. If it’s a hilly course, it even makes automatic adjustments for you, urging you to ease off on ascents and accelerate on downhills in order to reach your total time target.
Each day’s recommendations come on to the watch screen in the morning from Garmin’s algorithms based on your last few sessions of training, your current level of fitness, and your recovery condition. It’s not boilerplate “run 3 miles today” recommendations. The system may suggest interval sessions if you’ve been running continuously through the week, for example, or recommend a gentle recovery jog if yesterday’s tempo run was especially strenuous. Each recommendation includes bespoke aims for duration, pace, and heart rate ranges, which is basically like your own coach that is tailored to how your body is reacting to training.
The activity library goes well beyond running: There is cycling, track running, virtual treadmill run, pool swim, Pilates, HIIT, breathwork with specific tracking modes that retain suitable metrics for that specific type of activity. Pool swim mode automatically tracks strokes and number of laps while HIIT tracks work as well as intervals of rest. The watch can therefore be worn through the whole calendar year even as running becomes secondary through seasons or when cross-training is dictated due to injuries.
Wellness features run continuously in the background and tracks stress levels through heart rate variability, monitoring respiration rate throughout the day, and calculates your fitness age based on activity patterns and VO2 max estimates. The Body Battery metric deserves special mention because it quantifies energy levels on a 0-100 scale, helping you understand when you’re actually recovered enough for hard training versus when you should take it easy.
The Connect IQ Store opens up customization so that you can switch up the watch face, add data fields that expose exactly the measurements you are concerned with when running, and third-party apps that increase functionality. You can add a weather app, load training plans from specific coaches, or load in data pages that are optimized for triathlon training in case your interests are elsewhere than running.
At $169, that’s cheaper than most fashion smartwatches with a fraction of the fitness tracking ability.
