Garmin Forerunner 955 vs Forerunner 945

Garmin has launched the Forerunner 955 smartwatch last week. The new Forerunner 955 smartwatch follows up on the Forerunner 945 series watches. We look at the critical or significant differences between the Forerunner 955 and Forerunner 945 series of Garmin watches. We also think that this may be the best time for you to get a Forerunner 945 because it is being sold at discounted rates.

Physical Specifications

Forerunner 955 is slightly thicker and bigger than a Forerunner 945.

Forerunner 955 is 14.4 mm thick. Forerunner 945 is 13.7 mm thick.
Forerunner 955 weighs 52 g; Forerunner 945 weighs 50 g.
Both the Forerunners have a round display screen. Forerunner 955 has a watch size of 46.5 mm and Forerunner 945 has a watch size of 47 mm.
The size of the display screen of Forerunner 955 is 1.3″ or 33 mm. The size of the display screen of Forerunner 945 is 1.2″ or 30.4 mm.
Forerunner 955 has a display resolution of 260 x 260 pixels. Forerunner 945 has a display resolution of 240 x 240 pixels.
Both watches continue to work on the MIP screen or the memory-in-pixel screen. We feel that Garmin Forerunner 955 could have been launched with an AMOLED screen. For a watch worth $499.99, an AMOLED screen has become a base necessity these days. Unfortunately, the Forerunner 955 series has to continue on the MIP screen.

In terms of physical size and specifications, there is not much to choose between a Forerunner 955 or the Forerunner 945 smartwatch.

Touchscreen

The touchscreen feature becomes a part of the Forerunner 955 series smartwatch. Forerunner 945 did not have a touchscreen. In keeping with the latest trends, the touchscreen feature has been launched on the Fenix 7 series as well. And, now the latest Forerunner 955 series also comes with touchscreen support.

The good thing about the touchscreen feature is that you can turn it off as well. During workout sessions, many athletes prefer to turn off the touchscreen feature.

Media Storage

In terms of media storage, the Forerunner 955 can store up to 2000 songs. Forerunner 945 can store up to 1000 songs on the device. The storage of Forerunner 955 is 32 GB. The media storage capacity of the Forerunner 955 is double of the Forerunner 945 watch.

Operating Temperature Range

Surprisingly, the Forerunner 955 comes with an improved operating temperature range.

Forerunner 955 can operate between -20-60 degrees Celsius.
Forerunner 945 can operate between -20-45 degrees Celsius.

A higher temperature limit of 60 degrees on the Forerunner 955 watch is a significant improvement over the Forerunner 945 series smartwatch.

Battery

There has been a marginal improvement in battery backup of Forerunner 955.

Smartwatch mode – Forerunner 955 offers 15 days of backup; Forerunner 945 offers 2 weeks or 14 days of backup.
GPS Mode – Forerunner 955 offers 42 hours of backup; Forerunner 945 offers 36 hours of backup.
GPS Mode with Music – Forerunner 955 offers 10.5 hours of backup and Forerunner 945 offers 10 hours of backup time.

At best, the incremental backup of Forerunner 955 is not massive.

Multi-frequency Positioning Sensor

The multi-point GNSS sensor has been added to the Forerunner 955. It improves GPS accuracy and is a valuable addition for cross-country runners. Multi-point GNSS also offers reliable GPS accuracy and signals in dense cities.

You can enable the All + Multi-band GPS setting on the Forerunner 955 smartwatch to take advantage of the multi-point frequency sensor. Here is what Garmin has to state about the multi-band GPS:

“Enables multiple satellite systems on multiple frequency bands. Multi-band systems use multiple frequency bands and allow for more consistent track logs, improved positioning, improved multi-path errors, and fewer atmospheric errors when using the watch in challenging environments.”

Spectator Messaging Safety feature

Spectator messaging becomes a part of the Forerunner 955 smartwatch. It is already available on the Forerunner 945 LTE model. However, the Forerunner 945 does not have this feature. Spectator messaging allows you to share your coordinates on a real-time basis. Here is what Garmin has to say about the spectator messaging feature.

Spectator messaging is a feature that allows your LiveTrack followers to send you audio and text messages during your run activity. You can set up this feature in the LiveTrack settings of the Garmin Connect™ app. To receive audio messages, you must have Bluetooth^® headphones connected to your Forerunner device.

Miscellaneous features

There have been feature-rich improvements on the Forerunner 955 over a Forerunner 945. We list these incremental changes below.

The following health monitoring features have been added to the Forerunner 955 smartwatches:

Fitness Age
Relaxation reminders
Health snapshot

The following Daily Smart features have been added to the Forerunner 955 smartwatches:

On-device Connect IQ™ Store
Realtime settings sync with Garmin Connect™ mobile
Battery saver mode

The following additional profiles have been added to the Gym activities:

HIIT workouts
On-screen workout muscle maps
Fitness activities of bouldering and indoor climbing have been added to the Forerunner 955

The following additional profiles have been added to the Cycling activities:

Road Biking, Gravel Biking, Bike Commuting, Bike Touring, eBiking, eMountain Biking, Cyclocross

The following additional profiles have been added to the running activities:

Ultra running mode has been added to Forerunner 955.
Running power feature has been added.
Course- and weather-specific race predictor has been added to the running activities.

Apart from these differences, the Garmin Forerunner 955 also carries a lot of additions in the training profiles.

Costs

In terms of costs, a Forerunner 955 is costlier than a Forerunner 945. There is a price difference of $100 between the Forerunner 955 and Forerunner 945 smartwatch models.

Summary

For the price difference of $100, I will prefer a Forerunner 955 over Forerunner 945 for the following 3 improvements:

Storage or internal memory on Forerunner 955 is double of that on a Forerunner 945.
Spectator messaging is a very useful feature to have for trail runners or cross-country walkers.
The multi-frequency position sensor on the Forerunner 955 will definitely improve GPS signals and offer more accurate GPS data for the watch owner.

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Helen Kurt

Helen Kurt is a geeky nerd who loves to cover the wearables space. She has over 5 years of experience in the smartwatch domain. You can reach her on email at [email protected].