Apple Watch Series 12 vs Garmin Forerunner 170
Our pick: Garmin Forerunner 170 takes it — 85 vs 84.
Both are strong — the call comes down to what you prioritise:
- Apple Watch Series 12 — You're on a Series 9 or older and want the most accurate wrist heart rate Apple has made, plus a readiness score you can use to steer clients' training, with no subscription.
- Garmin Forerunner 170 — You coach runners or endurance clients and want Garmin's readiness and load metrics on a first 'real' training watch, without the €500 tier.
Apple Watch Series 12
The new Health Sensing System is the real upgrade: heart rate every five seconds, far more frequent HRV and a daily Readiness score, with testers finding it close to a chest strap. Battery is still rated at 24 hours and the design is unchanged, so Series 11 owners can skip it.
Garmin Forerunner 170
A software-led upgrade on the 165: Training Readiness, Training Status, running power and dynamics and Garmin Pay arrive at the entry price, on the same AMOLED and sensor. Street prices have settled near where the 165 was, but battery is a touch shorter and GPS is still single-band.
Compare side-by-side
| Apple Watch Series 1284Scorefrom€434Review → | Garmin Forerunner 17085Scorefrom€250.56Review → | |
|---|---|---|
| Form factor | — | — |
| Battery life | — | — |
| Screen | — | — |
| Sleep tracking | — | — |
| Recovery / HRV | — | — |
| Subscription | — | — |
| Water resistance | — | — |
Prices are our researched reference points.
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