The Forerunner 70 is Garmin’s new, entry-level smart fitness watch. At $250, it’s Garmin’s cheapest Forerunner device, but does it behave like one? CNET Senior Video Producer Owen Poole swaps his premium Garmin for the Forerunner 70 to see how it stacks up.
0:00 Do You Need a Premium Smartwatch?
0:28 Unboxing and Initial Impressions of the Garmin Forerunner 70
1:13 Display Quality and Band Comfort
2:04 Initial App Setup and Feature Overview
2:46 Real-World GPS Accuracy Trail Test
4:03 Sensor Limitations: What the Forerunner 70 is Missing
4:19 Health Tracking, Software Updates, and Garmin Coach
5:39 Battery Life Comparison: Weeks vs. Days
6:23 Missing Conveniences: Garmin Pay and Music Playback
6:53 Watch Face Limitations and Final Verdict
7:12 Alternatives: Garmin Forerunner 170 vs. Fitbit Air
Credits:
Videographers – Owen Poole & Dillon Lopez
Video Editor – Owen Poole
Host/Writer – Owen Poole
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@WaqasAli-dq9wg
August 4, 2026 at 12:04 pm
Lmao 😂! Lumber One move
@ma7mgte
August 4, 2026 at 12:09 pm
Venu 3. Plenty for what I need.
@kumarashwarya2185
August 4, 2026 at 12:11 pm
CNET didn’t get paid to do that long form ad review. hahaha
@huhguun
August 4, 2026 at 12:53 pm
Very good review i must say, he should be on more
@HarlemGreatest
August 4, 2026 at 1:15 pm
Meh. I will keep my 970
@CourtOfOwl
August 4, 2026 at 1:23 pm
I wear a garmin Mk2s as my daily. An overkill but it’s also because I do scuba diving, so it doubles as a dive computer and a smart watch. I’m never upgrading because I love how the ugly display actually helps with battery life. 😂
@Outcome_Agent
August 4, 2026 at 1:49 pm
That hat brim looks super short
@kevinl8282
August 4, 2026 at 2:14 pm
Im pretty sure the 70 does not have dual band gps
@ndennan67
August 4, 2026 at 2:29 pm
@kevinl8282 definitely hasn’t got dual band GPS. Garmin always keeps the dual band GPS + All Systems GNSS for their more expensive watches it just has all systems GNSS
@hapkido2
August 4, 2026 at 2:35 pm
great review, now for watch faces you need to access Garmin connect to be able to create your personal watch face analog or digital whatever you prefer, thanks for the info….
@Divredux
August 4, 2026 at 2:57 pm
This watch does not have multi-band GPS.
@AkAk-tk1tg
August 4, 2026 at 5:38 pm
The 170 will not give you skin temperature. It too uses the elevate gen 4 sensor. You should correct that in case some female is watching this and wants the feature for cycle tracking. The temperature on the 170 is the outside temperature not skin, thought I’d clear that up.
@Hintonbro.
August 4, 2026 at 6:04 pm
Can you pleaseeeee ask Garmin why their music app is so bad?
Its awful! How could they let that happen?
@kheankimhong
August 4, 2026 at 7:25 pm
❤❤❤❤
@eirikTP
August 4, 2026 at 9:16 pm
been using my FR55 for 4yrs. i only need gps & hrm for my runs and swims + sleep. I’m not an athlete, i take all the data, accurate or not, as a general guide.