Garmin Forerunner 55, GPS Running Watch with Daily Suggested Workouts, Up to 2 weeks of Battery Life, Aqua

The Garmin Forerunner 55 is an excellent entry-level GPS running watch that punches well above its price point. Designed for beginner to intermediate runners, it offers accurate GPS tracking, heart rate monitoring, and essential training features without overwhelming users with complexity.Key Features:Built-in GPS: Fast and accurate tracking of pace, distance, and route.Daily Suggested Workouts: Personalized training guidance based on your fitness level.Heart Rate Monitoring: Tracks 24/7, even during sleep.Battery Life: Up to 2 weeks in smartwatch mode and 20 hours in GPS mode—fantastic for long training weeks.Lightweight Design: Comfortable enough for all-day wear.Pros:User-friendly interface, great for beginners.Impressive battery life.Great value for the features included.Offers safety tracking (like LiveTrack) for peace of mind.Cons:No music storage or contactless payments.Limited advanced metrics for elite athletes.Verdict:If you're new to running or want a reliable, no-fuss GPS watch, the Forerunner 55 is a standout choice. It delivers just what you need—accuracy, motivation, and ease of use—at a budget-friendly price.

An excellent watch so far that provides accurate measures (especially for GPS) and has built-in capabilities to preserve battery life, especially when not in use. Light, comfortable, and a great watch either for starter athletes or athletes who don't need very advanced features. I am hoping to update this in the next few years to see if its durability holds up.

Best investment I’ve made on Amazon. The look, size, feel, and screen clarity are all amazing. I ran the Dallas BMW marathon with this watch and the functionality of knowing my mile pace and what my heart rate is while running was super important to me. When it comes to functionality, this watch is great for working out, tracking your steps, or viewing your heart rate/stress levels (especially at work). There is hardly any lag time when it comes to update and syncing with my phone. I highly recommend this watch for anybody just starting out in running or working out.

*** I've been using this watch for 3-years (& 1-month) now. It still works great and I still have zero regrets! I even got one of my sons to buy the same model. ***-------------------------------Original 11-month review:Thanks to this watch, I was able to drop the 20+ pounds I put on during my post-covid depression. It got me moving again and whereas the original daunting number of 10k steps in a day made me nervous, I now walk around 23k steps daily without even thinking about it. The challenges on the app have helped me move from my former weight loss goals to my present toning ones and suffice it to say, all of this has helped tremendously with my mental health as well.As for the watch features, I was looking at all sorts of brands and all kinds of models and settled on this one and never looked back. I needed a time teller, a pedometer and a heart rate monitor, in no specific order. I received all of those and more with this wrist decor. Not only does the watch look nice and feel weightless on my skin when adjusted correctly, but it works so well at everything it was made to.The heart rate monitor is very accurate when compared with other heart rate monitoring devices. The watch is simple to clean although I was afraid of damaging something whilst attempting to clear out the 'gunk' around the plug-in site. I didn't purchase the watch for the sleep related feature but it is an interesting bonus. After roughly 9-10 months of continuous 24-hour use, I finally started noticing it act up during my treadmill workouts. My heart rate would drop to 0 and at one point I saw it jump to 248. Since I wasn't dead or dying during any of these times, I thought I'd start turning it off at night and I haven't noticed the issue since. It could have just been an error that required an update but like I said, I didn't buy for the sleep feature anyhow.The battery life is pretty good I'd say. When I told my husband one day that I should 'charge my watch tonight because it's been a couple weeks' he was really surprised. I keep track on my exercise calendar whenever I feel the need to plug in, which I do during the night so it doesn't interrupt my steps during the day. I normally charge once it hits somewhere in the 10-19 percentile. This takes (me specifically) about two weeks to accomplish, with roughly an hour and a half, minimum, of recorded activities at least five days a week and the watch otherwise just being turned on consistently. Of course, there are extra outings that warrant using the start button once in a while and yet I still find my charge schedule to remain the same.You can choose from a variety of watch faces that come standard but I definitely have enjoyed looking through the Garmin store at other options. The background I've used for quite some time now shows the moon in its current phase and as a lifetime star gazer, this is a face I was more than happy to throw money at. I spent just a few dollars and received something around 10 different looks, several animated such as plants or flowers that grow or open as you complete your steps for the day- amazing, if you like that sort of thing, turns out I do.Overall, I love my watch and I hope it lasts me a good, long time but if and when it finally dies from time cancer, I'll be sure to replace it with another Garmin!