Customer reviews from Garmin
Garmin - Forerunner 170 GPS Smartwatch 43 mm Fiber-Reinforced polymer - Black/Amp Yellow - (2026)
Average customer rating
4.5
(13 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 13 reviews
5 Stars
9
4 Stars
2
3 Stars
1
2 Stars
1
1 Star
0
Customer Reviews for Garmin - Forerunner 170 GPS Smartwatch 43 mm Fiber-Reinforced polymer - Black/Amp Yellow - (2026)
Customer Rating
5
Has been great for tracking my running
on July 13, 2026
Posted by: jelmer
I want to put, at the top, my largest "complaint" and that is the battery does not come even close to the 10 day estimate for how I have been using the watch. This is not enough for me to remove a full star. This would be a 9/10, but it's out of 5 so I'm giving all five stars. The tl;dr is I am quite happy with this watch.
I've had the watch for two weeks now and have been wearing it basically 24 hours a day. I've charged it 3 times in that time period with the watch going down to about 20% battery before charging. Realistically I am getting 4-5 days on the battery life, not 10. But I don't find that to be any kind of problem as the watch charges from 20% to full in only about 1.5 hours.
I bought this watch primarily for the run distance functions. I run or hike every day and wanted to keep track of how far I am running and how fast as I set a goal for a 5k as an incentive to get in better shape as I move into my 40s. On that front the watch is excellent. The GPS is remarkably accurate. It takes about 1-2 minutes to become "GPS ready" at the beginning of a run, walk, or hike and has not lost sync for me yet after I have started exercising.
The watch syncs exercises to the app where you can view multiple different metrics for your workout. I like that you can add notes to workouts so you can go back and see why one may have been slower than others (had to stop and pet a dog). There will also be a GPS map of where you ran, the distance down to the 100th of a mile, and other features like tracking what gear you used.
I am a firefighter/EMS worker. One of the features that I did not buy the watch for, but I have really appreciated, is being able to send notifications from my phone to my watch. I have resisted getting a smartwatch because I see people whose notifications vibrate on their watch and they instantly turn into a robot and stare at their phone. I really really didn't want to be that person. This watch (maybe they all do, I only have had this one) allows you to customize which phone notifications are sent to the watch. I turned off all notifications, with the exception of the emergency alerts. This allows me to keep my notification volume setting low which allows me to feel less tethered to my phone. I greatly appreciate this feature.
To circle back to the battery life "issue." I use the watch to track my runs, walks, and hikes. When using the watch like this, the display stays on. There is likely a way to turn off the watch face during an exercise, but I haven't found it yet, because I haven't looked. I like the watch on when I am running so I can quickly glance at my distance and time. I also am using the pulse ox setting at night while sleeping. I think if I turn that setting off the battery life will extend by a noticeable amount.
I am going backpacking into the Montana wilderness in a couple days. I am curious how the watch will function in the back country. Will hikes sync to the app on my phone when there is no cell service? How does the battery hold up on a 4 day, 3 night backpacking trip? Are the distance measurements as accurate outside of cell range and not synced to a phone as frequently? I'll edit the answers to the end of this review.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
4
Great Watch
on July 11, 2026
Posted by: EmmyK1985
The watch is nice. Getting adjusted to it after having a Fitbit for many years. So many more buttons. Not as intuitive. I appreciate the tracking on a higher level. The link to Strava is much improved and far more reliable. Wish fabric watch bands were available.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
A good replacement
on July 8, 2026
Posted by: SacCharlie
I got the 170 to replace my 1 yr old fr165. It is better in that it has elevation & stairs and different way to view my data. The part that holds the end of the watch band from flopping around has a detent to keep it in place (a small but welcome feature). Battery life i slightly better. The newer software will hopefully get me new features in the future.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
health/fitness tracking
on July 1, 2026
Posted by: Ryno2980
After doing research and comparing models, it does/operates just as expected. I am pleased so far and look forward to using it and looking at the data as it unlocks as I wear it longer.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
50
on June 26, 2026
Posted by: Juno
Awesome watch love it! I would recommend this watch
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
Great watch for tracking health and exercise
on June 25, 2026
Posted by: Fina- Freedom
Have used the watch for 3 weeks now. I bought it because my previous Garmin watch finally stopped working after 20+years. If has many new features which help me manage my health (sleep), and my level of exercise. It is very intuitive in tracking my habits. I am very pleased with the Forerunner 170.
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
My honest review
on June 16, 2026
Posted by: BretKindaRuns
I did not think I would want to upgrade from the fenix 3 to this new tech! However, now I’m addicted to my VO2 max and sleep score so much that my wife complains and tells me she’s going to throw the thing out the window; she wears an Apple Watch. She doesn’t get it, but we love them anyways. I never realized how much of a tub I was until I unlocked a new algorithm called training readiness, but here we are. Would I go back? Absolutely not, but I’m pretty certain my chase for the perfect sleep score is causing my sleep score to be decrease
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin
Customer Rating
5
Lots of data!
on June 12, 2026
Posted by: CocoK95
Purchased about a month ago, so far I really like it. It offers a lot of detailed information about your work outs and various workouts/coaching programs to help improve. Have experienced a little bit of connectivity issues where it shows connected to my phone and notifications are on, but it randomly stops receiving notifications for periods of time - but I am not sure if this is an issue on my phone end or even some type of operator error. The watch seems to function as expected!
Written by a customer while visiting Garmin