The Garmin Forerunner 970 is not just a smartwatch—it’s a full-fledged performance tool designed for runners, triathletes, and data-driven fitness enthusiasts. With its sleek AMOLED screen, built-in ECG, and dynamic training features, it offers far more than your average GPS watch. But that also means a lot of menus, metrics, and toggles to get used to. Whether you’re brand new to Garmin or upgrading from the 965 or Fenix 7 series, this guide will show you exactly how to get the most from every button press, screen swipe, and sensor.
This isn’t a review—it’s your all-in-one how-to guide. We’ll walk through everything from setting up watch faces and widgets, to understanding sleep and HRV data, to customizing sport profiles and offline maps. You’ll learn how to use Garmin’s Morning and Evening Reports, interpret your training readiness, and sync music or use Garmin Pay on the go.
No subscription is required—everything here works without Garmin Connect Plus. We’ll also show you what features require accessories, like the new HRM-Fit 600 strap for step-speed loss and running economy. From configuring your display and buttons to pairing headphones, this is the beginner’s guide that fills in all the gaps the manual doesn’t.
Let’s start with the hardware you’re wearing.
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Hardware Basics:
On the back of the Forerunner 970, you’ll find Garmin’s Gen 5 optical heart rate sensor. This enables continuous heart rate monitoring, ECG functionality, and skin temperature tracking—all from the wrist. The watch includes a 1.4-inch AMOLED display with crisp brightness, even in direct sunlight. You get five physical buttons—two on the right, three on the left—and full touchscreen support for swipes and taps.
The top-left button acts as both the light and control shortcut. Pressing it quickly turns on the screen light; a long press opens the quick settings menu. The top-right button serves as the main action or confirmation key—starting workouts or selecting menu options. The lower-right button is your back or escape key, while the middle and bottom-left buttons scroll up and down.
You can fully operate the Forerunner 970 using just buttons, just touch, or a mix of both. That flexibility is perfect for wet conditions or when wearing gloves. The aluminum bezel and fiber-reinforced polymer case keep the watch lightweight but durable, making it comfortable enough to wear 24/7—even while sleeping. Charging is via Garmin’s proprietary cable, and the device supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and ANT+ for syncing and sensor pairing.
Watch Faces and Widgets:
Customization starts with your watch face. The Forerunner 970 includes a range of stock faces, and you can download many more from the Garmin Connect IQ store—most of which are free. Long-press the watch face, choose a style, then tap the top-right button to customize the displayed data. You can adjust elements like steps, recovery time, battery, sunrise/sunset, and more.
For data lovers, you can turn your watch into a dashboard. Or, for minimalists, go with a clean clock-only face. You can even upload custom images for a more personal look. Once selected, you can tweak fonts, layouts, and color schemes through the on-watch interface or the Garmin Connect app.
Scroll down from the main screen to access widget glances. These are bite-sized insights into your activity, heart rate, training readiness, and more. Tapping any glance opens a full widget screen. You can reorder, delete, or group widgets into folders (e.g., “Health,” “Performance,” “Daily Use”) for faster access. Want your steps widget at the top? Just long-press and move it. Garmin even supports third-party widgets via Connect IQ, making your watch face and widget layout deeply customizable.
Notifications and Focus Modes:
The Forerunner 970 delivers smart notifications straight from your phone—texts, emails, calls, and app alerts. Android users can reply to messages, but iPhone users can only view and clear them due to iOS restrictions. Notifications are cleared on both devices when dismissed on the watch.
You can swipe down to access them or review them from the widget glances. Garmin also includes Focus Modes, similar to Do Not Disturb profiles. These adjust alerts, tones, and screen behavior based on activity—sleeping, working out, or resting.
Each mode can be configured with voice alerts, auto-lights, or silence settings. Focus Modes auto-activate based on schedule or detected activity. It’s a great way to avoid distractions during runs or wind down before bed.
Sleep Tracking and Breathing Variation:
Sleep tracking is fully automatic on the 970 and surprisingly accurate for a wrist-worn device. It identifies time asleep, sleep stages, and wake-ups without needing to press anything. Nap detection is included, though it’s more accurate if you’re lying flat. Sleep scores summarize your rest into an easy-to-read value with supporting insights.
When PulseOx is enabled, the watch can measure your blood oxygen levels during sleep. Breathing variation, derived from this data, highlights changes in respiratory patterns. Garmin can’t label this “sleep apnea” due to regulations, but it gives a helpful non-medical warning flag. The watch also dims itself in sleep mode, keeping the screen dark while preserving tracking accuracy.
Heart Rate Variability (HRV):
HRV tracking monitors the variability between your heartbeats throughout the night. This data helps assess your overall recovery and stress levels. Garmin visualizes HRV as a green tunnel—your normal range—and tells you if you’re balanced or outside that range. The Forerunner 970 needs about 19 days of sleep data to establish a reliable HRV baseline.
Once set, you can view nightly values, 7-day averages, and trends over time. A lower-than-usual HRV may indicate fatigue or potential illness. Higher HRV generally means better recovery—though everyone’s baseline differs. Garmin does a solid job of explaining HRV changes in context, helping users avoid overtraining. This data feeds into Training Readiness and Stress widgets too.
Morning & Evening Reports:
Every morning, the Forerunner 970 greets you with a Morning Report showing sleep stats, weather, body battery, calendar events, and workout plans. You can customize what shows up in this report from the settings menu. Around 90 minutes before your scheduled bedtime, the Evening Report appears, summarizing your day’s training, sleep coach suggestions, and next-day forecasts.
Both reports remain visible until dismissed manually. They’re one of Garmin’s most loved features, especially for daily planning. Unlike older Daily Summary features, these feel more purposeful and data-rich. You can fully disable or adjust them if needed. Together, they bookend your day with actionable insights, reinforcing healthy routines and consistent recovery awareness.
ECG Functionality:
The Forerunner 970 includes medically certified ECG functionality, enabled by the Gen 5 heart rate sensor and metallic bezel electrodes. It allows users to perform a 30-second test to detect signs of AFib (atrial fibrillation). You initiate ECG tests manually; the device does not perform passive, background scans like the Apple Watch.
The data collected is displayed in the Garmin Connect app, and you can export it as a PDF to share with your physician. The onboarding process emphasizes that it won’t detect heart attacks and must not be treated as a diagnostic tool. ECG results are available immediately after completion. This feature meets FDA and EU medical certification standards. While powerful, it’s still designed for situational checks—not 24/7 monitoring.
AMOLED Display and Settings:
The Forerunner 970’s 1.4-inch AMOLED screen is a standout feature, offering vibrant colors and high contrast for easy viewing indoors or out. You can choose between gesture-based activation or an always-on display mode. Gesture mode keeps the screen off until you raise your wrist, saving battery life.
Always-on keeps a dimmed version visible at all times, which brightens with movement. The display also includes ambient light sensors and skin detection, auto-dimming when the watch is resting face-down. Text size is adjustable for better readability, with options to enlarge or shrink fonts throughout the interface. You’ll also find a Red Shift mode that changes the display to red hues at night to reduce eye strain.
Display settings are accessible through the “Watch Settings” menu. The AMOLED panel is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass and supports smooth swipe gestures for fast navigation. It balances beauty with practicality, giving premium clarity without sacrificing control.
Voice/Speaker/Mic/Calling Features:
The Forerunner 970 features a built-in speaker and microphone, enabling Bluetooth calling and voice assistant support. You can take or place calls directly from the watch, provided your phone is nearby. The mic and speaker quality are noticeably improved over older Garmin models like the Fenix 7 or Venu 2.
You can activate Siri, Google Assistant, or Bixby depending on your paired smartphone. Voice replies for notifications are available on Android. You can assign shortcuts—like holding the top-right button—to trigger your preferred voice assistant instantly. While the 970 doesn’t support dictation for quick notes like the Fenix 8’s voice memo feature, it covers core calling functions well.
Call logs, contact lists, and a dialer interface are included for easy access. Audio prompts during workouts (like lap summaries or pace alerts) also come through the speaker. It’s a major upgrade for runners who want quick interactions without grabbing their phone.
Sports Modes and Features:
With over 80 built-in sport profiles, the Forerunner 970 caters to nearly every athlete. Popular options like running, cycling, swimming, strength training, and yoga are available, along with niche ones like HIIT, skiing, paddleboarding, and pickleball. New profiles added in the 970 include team sports and functional fitness categories, offering better tracking for casual or group activities.
Each sport profile is deeply customizable—you can set unique data fields, auto-laps, alerts, and heart rate zones. Some profiles (like skiing or open water swimming) include sport-specific metrics such as vertical descent or stroke rate. Structured workouts can be added from Garmin Coach, TrainingPeaks, or created manually in Garmin Connect.
Training suggestions evolve daily based on performance, recovery, and race targets. During a workout, you can scroll through multiple data screens, pause/resume, or even resume later for multi-day treks. Garmin also enables auto-detection for strength exercises and rep counts in supported profiles.
GPS and Navigation:
The Forerunner 970 uses a multi-band GNSS system for exceptional GPS accuracy—even in cities or dense woods. Default GPS mode is Auto Select, which smartly switches between modes for battery efficiency and precision. You can manually toggle to GPS-only, All Systems, or All + Multi-Band modes depending on your environment.
ClimbPro is included and auto-detects hills during running, cycling, or hiking, showing real-time gradient, elevation remaining, and climb length. Navigation features are accessible from the “Navigate” menu within any activity profile. You can import GPX files or create routes using Garmin Connect, Strava, or Komoot.
The watch supports turn-by-turn directions, route reversal, and on-the-fly rerouting if you veer off course. Full-color topo and road maps are preloaded for your region, and additional global maps can be added via Garmin Express. Garmin’s Round-Trip Routing and Popularity Routing tools help plan local routes based on heatmaps. Offline guidance is smooth and works without phone pairing.
Comparisons:
NFC Payments (Garmin Pay):
Garmin Pay on the Forerunner 970 allows you to make secure, contactless payments right from your wrist. Setup is done via the Garmin Connect app, where you link compatible Visa or Mastercard accounts from supported banks. To pay, long-press the top-left button, select Wallet, enter your passcode, and tap your watch near a payment terminal.
Garmin’s supported banks list is expanding but may still be limited depending on your country. U.S. and major European banks are mostly supported, while smaller international issuers vary.
Once enabled, payments work without your phone nearby. It’s especially useful during runs when you leave your wallet behind. You can store multiple cards and choose between them on the watch. Transactions are protected by tokenization and device-specific encryption.
Offline Music:
The Forerunner 970 supports offline music storage from Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, and local MP3 files. You’ll need to connect to Wi-Fi and authorize your account through the Garmin Connect app. Once linked, you can select playlists, albums, or podcasts for download. Wi-Fi ensures faster transfer speeds—Bluetooth-only syncing would be too slow.
After downloading, music is stored directly on the watch’s internal memory. You can pair Bluetooth headphones through the audio settings to enjoy music during workouts without your phone. Playback is controlled on the watch, with options to skip, repeat, or shuffle tracks.
Garmin will auto-update playlists whenever you charge and connect to Wi-Fi again. Volume and output device (speaker or headphones) are also adjustable. The onboard speaker works too, but is best for indoor listening or quick demos. Garmin’s music experience isn’t quite as seamless as Apple’s, but it’s practical and freedom-enhancing.
Training Features:
Garmin’s adaptive training engine tailors daily workouts based on your performance, recovery, and goals. Whether you’re targeting a 10K, triathlon, or general fitness, Garmin Coach can generate full programs for you. You can import workouts from third-party platforms like TrainingPeaks or manually build them in Garmin Connect.
Suggested workouts change based on how hard you trained the previous day, your HRV, and sleep score. The calendar auto-adjusts based on your rest needs or skipped sessions. Add a race to your schedule and the watch will adapt your plan around it. You’ll also see recommended training load targets, helping balance high- and low-intensity efforts.
Recovery time estimates appear post-workout, offering rest windows based on stress levels. The Training Readiness widget consolidates this data and gives you a daily score to guide effort. You also get in-depth summaries post-exercise, breaking down zone time, pace, elevation, and more.
Running Features:
The Forerunner 970 is packed with advanced running metrics, including cadence, stride length, ground contact time (with compatible straps), and more. You can load race courses and use the new Timing Gates feature, which snaps pace data to real-world mile/kilometer markers for better accuracy.
Projected Finish Times show your estimated race outcome based on fitness and recent workouts. When following a course, the watch now offers an option to auto-trim your run if you forget to stop it at the finish line. Data fields during a run are fully customizable, and you can switch between different layouts mid-run.
Garmin also offers real-time stamina, race predictor charts, and workout pacing suggestions. Hill Splitter and ClimbPro enhance trail and elevation runs with detailed ascent feedback. You can scroll through structured intervals, live heart rate zones, and lap summaries while training. Running dynamics expand further with accessories like the HRM-Pro or HRM-Fit 600.
Step Speed Loss and Running Economy:
Exclusive to the Forerunner 970 (and upcoming models), Step Speed Loss is a new metric that evaluates the impact shock lost during each foot strike. It requires the new HRM-Fit 600 strap, which captures this biomechanical data in real-time. The watch tracks how much speed you lose due to inefficiencies or ground impact—ideal for refining form over time.
This metric directly feeds into Garmin’s Running Economy score, another new feature. Running Economy measures how efficiently you maintain speed relative to energy output, helping you identify improvements or fatigue. It takes 5–7 runs with the HRM-Fit 600 to generate your economy baseline.
Over time, you’ll get a dynamic score that changes with terrain, fatigue, and recovery status. Lower step speed loss and higher economy indicate better form and endurance potential. These insights are visible mid-run or post-workout and sync with Garmin Connect for long-term tracking. It’s a valuable tool for serious runners aiming to minimize wasted effort.
Battery Life and Power Management:
The Forerunner 970 delivers strong battery life despite its AMOLED display. You can expect around 23–26 hours in full GPS mode and up to 7–10 days in smartwatch mode with gesture-based display. Using always-on display and PulseOx will drain power faster. Garmin’s “Auto Select” GPS setting helps preserve battery by dynamically adjusting GNSS accuracy based on your environment.
The watch also includes Battery Saver and Power Manager profiles to fine-tune settings like brightness, background activity, and sensors. UltraTrac mode offers the longest life but reduces accuracy—best reserved for emergencies. Charging is done with Garmin’s proprietary USB cable and takes around 1.5–2 hours for a full top-up. You’ll get battery estimates per sport mode before starting activities.
Sensors and Heart Rate Broadcasting:
The 970 supports Bluetooth and ANT+ sensor pairing, allowing connections to heart rate straps, cycling sensors, foot pods, and power meters. Garmin’s HRM-Fit 600 unlocks advanced running metrics like step speed loss and running economy. The watch can broadcast heart rate data in real-time over Bluetooth or ANT+ to apps like Zwift, Peloton, or gym equipment.
You can activate broadcasting from the controls menu or within a workout profile. Broadcasting without recording doesn’t log training load—so dual record if you want to track recovery accurately. You can also pair multiple sensors of the same type. Sensor management is handled through the Watch Settings > Connectivity > Sensors menu.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Beautiful AMOLED always-on display
- Medically certified ECG support
- Deep training tools and adaptive workouts
- Accurate multi-band GPS with offline maps
- Garmin Pay, offline Spotify, and Bluetooth calling
- HRV, skin temp, and sleep tracking all included
Cons
- Advanced running metrics require $170 HRM-Fit 600 strap
- No voice memo feature like on Fenix 8
- Garmin Pay still lacks bank support in some regions
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Conclusion:
The Garmin Forerunner 970 is easily one of the most comprehensive GPS smartwatches Garmin has ever built—designed for users who demand not just performance metrics, but full lifestyle integration. From ECG monitoring and HRV tracking to adaptive training plans and advanced navigation tools, it leaves very few boxes unchecked. Whether you’re a competitive runner, triathlete, or tech-savvy fitness enthusiast, this device is equipped to keep pace with your goals.
The vibrant AMOLED screen, speaker/mic functionality, offline music playback, and Garmin Pay make it ideal for daily wear, not just workouts. While some of the most elite metrics require the HRM-Fit 600, the core experience is still packed with value. Sleep tracking, training readiness, ClimbPro, and Morning/Evening Reports all work out of the box.
More importantly, Garmin has refined the interface to make its many features more approachable. This guide helps bridge the gap between overwhelming and empowering. If you’ve made it this far, you’re well on your way to mastering your Forerunner 970. Use what fits your goals today—and grow into the rest over time. For those who train with purpose and want insights that actually improve performance, the 970 is an investment that keeps on giving. Buy Garmin Forerunner 970 on Amazon now!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Does the Garmin Forerunner 970 support ECG?
Yes, it features a certified ECG that detects signs of AFib and allows PDF export for physicians.
Can the Garmin 970 make phone calls?
Yes, via Bluetooth. You can make and receive calls when your phone is nearby.
Does the Forerunner 970 play music without a phone?
Absolutely. It supports offline music from Spotify, Amazon, and MP3 files stored directly on the watch.
How long does the battery last on the Garmin 970?
Expect 23–26 hours in GPS mode, and around a week in regular smartwatch use with moderate settings.
What’s new in the Forerunner 970 compared to the 965?
New features include ECG, skin temperature, running economy, step speed loss tracking, and a built-in flashlight.
Can I use Garmin Pay internationally?
Yes, but your bank must be supported. Availability varies by region and card issuer.
