{"id":15886,"date":"2025-07-13T16:50:48","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T16:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=15886"},"modified":"2025-07-13T16:50:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T16:50:48","slug":"garmin-forerunner-970-review-a-very-extra-running-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=15886","title":{"rendered":"Garmin Forerunner 970 Review: A Very Extra Running Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"


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It has 15 new sport profiles compared to the Forerunner 965, including things like Backcountry Snowboarding, Pickleball, and even some motor sports. The list isn\u2019t as extensive as the Fenix 8, though, which can track surfing and now works as a full-on dive watch for recreational scuba and freediving. It really feels like the lack is just to differentiate between the Forerunner and Fenix lines, because a software update could do it.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the map features have been cribbed from the Fenix 8, and they\u2019re excellent. It comes with extensive topographical maps installed. The maps are colorful, bright, and easy to navigate by pinching and tapping. A new feature is Round Trip Routing, with corrections (theoretically). If you\u2019re in an unfamiliar city, you can tell the watch that you want to do a 5-mile run and it will suggest a loop for you. If you accidentally take a wrong turn or see some pretty thing you want to go check out, it will fluidly reroute you to get you back to your hotel while hitting your goal distance (within reason, of course).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s such a great idea, but I could never get it to work. If I went off the route, the whole watch would crash, and I had to power cycle it. Hopefully this is something Garmin can fix in a future software update (the updates come roughly once a month). On the upside, I found GPS performance to be accurate, even among trees, cliffs, and tall buildings.<\/p>\n

A Lot of Competition<\/h2>\n
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