Garmin Forerunner 55
$ BudgetTrending Down$166.80
tldr; Entry Garmin for serious runners. GPS excellent, training plans included. No music but battery lasts weeks.
$166.80 on AmazonSentiment Breakdown
39%Positive
Positive
39%Neutral
53%Negative
8%Based on 92 Reddit opinions
Strengths & Weaknesses
Scores based on sentiment analysis of topic-related comments
Key Features
- Easy-to-use running watch monitors heart rate (this is not a medical device) at the wrist and uses GPS to track how far, how fast and where you’ve run.Special Feature:Bluetooth.
- Battery life: up to 2 weeks in smartwatch mode; up to 20 hours in GPS mode
- Plan your race day strategy with the PacePro feature (not compatible with on-device courses), which offers GPS-based pace guidance for a selected course or distance
- Run your best with helpful training tools, including race time predictions and finish time estimates
- Track all the ways you move with built-in activity profiles for running, cycling, track run, virtual run, pool swim, Pilates, HIIT, breathwork and more
- Tune in to your body with advanced wellness features, such as intensity minutes, fitness age, all-day respiration and more
- Customize your watch with free watch faces, data fields, apps and widgets from the Connect IQ Store (requires Garmin Connect app and Connect IQ app loaded on a compatible smartphone)
- Take the guesswork out of training with suggested workouts of varying intensities based on your training history, fitness level and recovery time
Sentiment Over Time
Historical Price Data
Garmin Forerunner 55
Garmin Forerunner 55
All-time low: $137.99(2026-01)
What Redditors Actually Say
What Redditors Say
Best praise vs top criticism for Garmin Forerunner 55
Best Praise
+3 pts“Get a garmin and don’t even worry about the charging .. I use forerunner 55 it’s a good watch with some nice features like notifications for text calendar integrations , sleep tracking find my phone (iPhone and android) but I turn off all notifications and just use it to track sleep, steps and put timers and alarms. 15 days and it has 26 percent remaining. I think it can go to 20 days easily. I don’t miss anything from my Apple Watch as I’m not a power user and I don’t text from my watch nor do I take calls from it. I don’t need a fib or sleep apnea tracking not do I need spo2. I think people forget that you can just wake up and know how you feel, the watch doesn’t need to tell you. Most of the people buy these expensive watches are not athletes not even someone who just loves to workout as a serious hobby. ”
r/Smartwatch
ViewTop Criticism
+4 pts“A lot depends on what you want out of it - but would also say that I think you probably aren't female based on your profile (but could be wrong) in which case would drop the Lily 2 variants (if want a hybrid then the instinct crossover is much more masculine and offers a lot more than the lily or could look at the vivomove series). Would also scratch the vivosmart as old and missing loads of features the others currently offer -and would say the same about the FR55. Would probably also drop out the inspire 3 due to its more basic nature (more a health/fitness tracker than smartwatch - technically so is the charge 6 but does offer more along smarwatch lines than tracker lines so fine to consider it more of smartwatch than tracker). And again would skip the FR945lte (as old, plus lte only usable for live track functionality - if you want lte for garmin then fenix 8 pro is the only garmin option --- none for fitbit unless you have an android phone and then get the pixel watch 3 or 4 lte versions). Do you want to make take/calls - then fitbit sense / vera; and garmin venu 3 / 4 / x1; fenix 8 series (and its variants) and FR570 and FR970 Do you want nfc pay - fitbit uses google wallet / garmin uses garmin pay and isn't as well supported as google wallet - but check on garmin pay support site to confirm what banks/financial services support it in your country (in most there is usually 1 digital financial service that is quick, easy and free to set up and use i.e. Curve/Revolt in most of Europe if you normal bank isn't supported. Do you want offline music as only the garmin's offer - fitbit doesn't. Do you want offline maps - Venu x1, fenix 7 (not worth it unless significantly cheaper than F7P - note that the epix 2 is the amoled version of the fenix 7), fenix 7 pro (not worth it unless significantly cheaper than F8), F8 variants; FR970 (and its prior gen FR965 (amoled) or FR955 (mip).). Fitbit health to match garmin health include fitbit premium sub for 2-3 years - then compare cost of products. If you want detailed fitness and training metrics and analytics then garmin - especially the F7 / F8 / FR265 /955/965/570/970. Venu / vivoactive are more health and lifestyle watches, and while they don't have the same level of training features, metrics and analytics than the Fenix/Forerunner/Instinct series offer - they do offer way more in this regards than fitbit does - so if that is important then would say venu/vivoactive over fitbit.”
r/Smartwatch
View13 more quotes available below
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Garmin Forerunner 55 worth buying?
Entry Garmin for serious runners. GPS excellent, training plans included. No music but battery lasts weeks.
What do Redditors love about the Garmin Forerunner 55?
Redditors highlight: 🏃 Training plan integration. 📍 Accurate GPS tracking. 🔋 2-week battery life.
What are the downsides of the Garmin Forerunner 55?
Some criticisms include: "I’m returning a Garmen Forerunner 55 tomorrow due to I can’t hear it alert me, I can’t always feel the vibration alert because it’s almost non existent. I’m hearing impaired but have excellent vision ..."
How accurate are these ratings?
Our sentiment analysis is approximately 80-85% accurate compared to manual review. Products with more mentions (Garmin Forerunner 55 has 92) tend to have more reliable scores.
92 Reddit opinions analyzed • Last updated 4/4/2026