Forerunner 170

Garmin Forerunner 170 is a watch from 2026, sitting in the mid-range band at an indicative $299.

It reads 18 of the 33 signals this comparison tracks. Full coverage of activity. Nothing at all from body composition. Rarer readings it does take: Body Battery.

By sensor class: 10 at high accuracy and 3 at consumer grade. That grade is my classification of the hardware, not a lab test. Those readings come from an optical heart rate sensor, an optical blood oxygen sensor, a GPS receiver, a barometer and an accelerometer. Blood oxygen is a spot reading you take yourself, not a continuous one.

Its 10 days per charge are the 59th longest of the 76 devices of its kind here that publish a figure. The AMOLED screen can stay always on. Built-in GPS. Rated 5ATM / 50m, fine for swimming. It weighs 42 g. On top of the tracking it also handles contactless payments. Case size 43mm. No subscription is required.

May 2026 successor to the Forerunner 165, same measured signals as the Forerunner 265. A Music version adds 4 GB of storage.