Pictures of the forthcoming Garmin Forerunner 955 have leaked, but at first glance you could very easily mistake it for something else.
A US retailer inadvertently leaked promotional shots of the hotly anticipated watch this week, and it looks almost identical to the Garmin Fenix 7 released earlier this year. The only immediately obvious difference is the use of resin rather than metal for the bezel and lugs, which should help keep the new watch's weight down.
As Gadgets and Wearables reports, the pictures (including 3D renders and promotional lifestyle photos) were accidentally published by electronics store Beach Camera. They were taken down rather hastily (too quickly to be cached by either Google or the Internet Archive), but not before being saved and shared by Notebookcheck.
The Forerunner 955 doesn't just have a similar case to the Fenix 7, it also seems to share the same screen. Unlike the Forerunner 945 before it, the 955 has touch controls to supplement Garmin's traditional five-button interface. Not everyone is a fan of touchscreens on sports watches, but assuming it works the same way as the company's other watches, touch controls will be deactivated by default during activities to avoid accidentally pausing or ending workout tracking, and you'll be able to turn it off entirely through the settings menu if you prefer.
It looks as though the watch will be available in at least two colors at launch. The 3D renders show a colorway called Whitestone (a slightly muted white), while the lifestyle photos show models wearing a black version.
Fitness features
The watch listed by Beach Camera measures 45.7 x 45.7 x 15.2mm, which is slightly smaller but thicker than the Forerunner 945. and although we can't yet say for certain, but judging by the models in the promotional photographs, it looks like this might be the only size available.
In terms of features, Garmin's renders show that the Forerunner 955 will be able to provide workout suggestions for runners (though we'd also expect cyclists to be covered), and will be able to display your current training status (the effect of your recent workouts on your VO2 max score). The watch will also support maps and real-time navigation, though there's no indication of whether it will come with the new Map Manager that debuted with the Fenix 7 and Epix back in January.
Beach Camera listed both regular and solar versions of the Forerunner 955, which tallies with the devices Garmin has registered with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US, and the wireless communications bureau in Singapore.
There's no mention of the LTE edition watch that briefly appeared on Garmin's Australian website earlier this year, suggesting that this model won't be available at launch. Nevertheless, the early signs are promising, and there's every possibility that the Forerunner 955 could provide to be one of the best GPS watches of 2022.
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