Why I Think This Garmin Forerunner 255 Is an Unbelievable Deal

The Garmin Forerunner 255 is on sale right now for $229.99, its lowest price ever. That’s about half the price of the Forerunner 265 ($449.99), which is the current generation (and my personal favorite running watch). The two watches have nearly identical features—I’ll explain the differences below—making the 255 an incredible bargain. 

The differences between the Forerunner 255 and the 265

The numbered models can get confusing, but I promise you’ll be able to follow along. Just remember that the 255 is the slightly older one that’s on a big sale right now, and the 265 is the newer version. 

The newer 265 is my favorite running watch. You can read my review here: it has a ton of great features for runners. Some are concrete and functional: physical buttons, lots of options for data screens, and a dual-band GPS for extra location accuracy. Others are more software-y but still arguably useful: training status, daily suggested workouts. The battery also lasts between one and two weeks, depending on how many workouts you do. 

The 255 has all of these same features. The only features that are meaningfully different between the 255 and 265 are: 

• The 255 has the older, always-on MIP screen, while the 265 has a smartphone-style AMOLED screen.

• The 255 doesn’t have a touchscreen. You’ll use the UP and DOWN buttons on the left side to scroll through options. 

• The 255 can’t store music, unless you buy the 255 Music version.

• The 255 doesn’t have Training Readiness, but it does have Training Status. (Personally, I never use Training Readiness, so this isn’t much of a loss. You can always look at your HRV trend, which the watch also reports, if you want a sense of how recovered you are each morning.) 

For the detailed list of every minor feature that’s different between the two, you can check out this comparison page on Garmin’s site. 

Which Forerunner 255 version you should get

There are four versions of this watch, compared to two versions of the 265. Three of them are on sale.

• The regular Forerunner 255 is the larger size (45.6 mm) and does not have music storage. 

• The Forerunner 255S is the smaller size (41 mm) and also does not have music storage.

• The Forerunner 255 Music is the larger size (45.6 mm) and does have music storage, so you can play tunes from the watch while leaving your phone at home.

• The Forerunner 255S Music is the smaller size (41 mm) with music storage. I’m not seeing any discounts on this one, so it still costs $100 more than its non-music counterpart—enough that you may want to look at the Forerunner 265S instead. 

Personally, I always have my phone with me when I run, so I’ve never found the standalone music feature very helpful. If you think you might use it, though, it’s normally a $50 upgrade, but currently only a $20 upgrade on the larger size of the watch.

To help you decide, the photo above shows the difference in screens between the AMOLED 265S (left) and MIP 255 (right). It also shows the size difference between the smaller and larger models; the 265S on the left is 41.7 mm, very close to the 255S at 41 mm.

How old is the 255, anyway? 

The 255 is only one year older than the 265. They were released in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Before that, Forerunner releases tended to be three to four years apart. The quick turnaround between the 255 and 265 makes sense when you realize they’re basically the same watch with a different display.

So I wouldn’t expect a 255 to feel outdated anytime soon. The main question you need to ask yourself is: How do I feel about an MIP screen? I’ve written more about the difference between MIP and AMOLED here. MIP screens don’t light up, although they have a backlight that can come on automatically when you raise your wrist. At rest, they are “always on,” in the sense that they’re always displaying something, so you’ll never look down at a blank screen. They’re also brightly reflective in sunlight. 

AMOLED screens are more like a smartphone screen, with glowing pixels, and watches typically turn off the display when you’re not using it to save energy. (You can enable an always-on setting, but it eats battery.) That said, the overall battery life on both watches is similar on default settings—14 days not counting activities for the 255, and 13 days for the 265. 

Some people prefer the MIP screens, and if that includes you, this is a no-brainer: snag the 255. You can even get a refurbished version for $179.99, which makes this one of the cheapest Garmin watches in any line.