After months of speculation, the Garmin Forerunner 955 and Forerunner 255 sports watches look likely to arrive next week. The company has posted an Instagram story teasing big news for June 1, which leaks have previously suggested as a potential release date for the two devices.
As Gadgets & Wearables (which spotted the story) notes, this date was originally suggested by a Reddit user, who claimed to have seen glimpses of an email Garmin had sent to a German distributor giving details of the two watches ahead of their launch. This report was impossible to verify, with no pictures or screengrabs of the alleged email, but certain details reported by the Reddit user have since been confirmed by other sources.
According to the email, two versions of the Forerunner 955 are incoming (solar and standard), and both will have a new touchscreen display. These points have now been confirmed: solar and standard versions of the Forerunner 55 appeared on Singaporean and US government websites earlier in May, and this week a retailer in the US accidentally leaked a set of images revealing that the new watch will indeed have touch controls.
Not so fast...
However, a June 1 release date isn't set in stone, and runners and reporters have been caught out by social media post before. Back in March Garmin used Twitter to tease an exciting announcement. Rumors of a new watch began to circulate, but eventually the surprise turned out to be the company's new Instagram account. A nice treat for runners, but not the one many had anticipated. It might seem almost cruel to do something similar now the Forerunner 955 and 255 are so hotly anticipated, but it's still a possibility.
However, June 1 is Global Running Day – an occasion that Garmin celebrated last year with the launch of the entry-level Forerunner 55. We're not holding our breath for the new multi-sports watches to arrive on Wednesday, but we're certainly crossing our fingers.
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