Garmin Forerunner 970 vs RingConn Gen 2
Dead heat — 84 vs 84. Your use case is the tiebreaker.
Both are strong — the call comes down to what you prioritise:
- Garmin Forerunner 970 — You coach or train for endurance and triathlon and want maps, the full readiness and load suite, and data you can use to manage clients' weekly volume.
- RingConn Gen 2 — Buy it if you want Oura-level sleep and recovery tracking without a monthly fee and value the best battery life on the market.
Garmin Forerunner 970
The most complete Forerunner yet: a brighter AMOLED under sapphire, a flashlight, speaker and mic, ECG, a Gen 5 heart-rate sensor and new load tools such as Running Tolerance. It also costs about 135 EUR more than the 965 we reviewed, and smartwatch battery drops from 23 to 15 days.
RingConn Gen 2
The RingConn Gen 2 is the strongest no-subscription answer to Oura: class-leading battery (up to 12 days plus a ~150-day charging case), a genuinely thin, light titanium build, solid sleep and heart-rate accuracy, and no monthly fee. The app is dense and less polished than Oura's, but for anyone who resents subscriptions, it's the smart ring to beat.
Compare side-by-side
| Garmin Forerunner 97084Scorefrom€624Review → | RingConn Gen 284Scorefrom€279Review → | |
|---|---|---|
| Form factor | — | — |
| Battery life | — | — |
| Screen | — | — |
| Sleep tracking | — | — |
| Recovery / HRV | — | — |
| Subscription | — | — |
| Water resistance | — | — |
Prices are our researched reference points.
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