Garmin Forerunner 975: What to Expect from the New Running Watch
Garmin hasn't officially confirmed the Forerunner 975, but rumours already point to a solar-charging edition and calls straight from your wrist. Here's everything we know.
Garmin's Forerunner 970 arrived in May 2025 as the most expensive running watch the company had ever made. Barely a year later, talk has already turned to the next generation — the Forerunner 975. There's no official announcement yet, so most specifications remain at the rumour stage, but the direction is clear.
What the current generation already offers
To understand what to expect, it helps to look at the confirmed Forerunner 970: a 1.4-inch AMOLED display (454×454 pixels), sapphire crystal, ECG for detecting atrial fibrillation, a built-in LED flashlight, a skin-temperature sensor and the new Elevate Gen 5 heart-rate sensor. Battery life reaches up to 15 days in smartwatch mode and around 26 hours with GPS. That's the baseline the 975 will build on.
What might change (rumours)
- A solar-charging version. Perhaps the biggest talking point is a separate Solar edition that extends battery life in daylight. Garmin offered exactly that before (the 955 Solar, predecessor to the Forerunner 965), so a return would make sense. In our catalogue the Forerunner 975 already appears in two versions — standard and Solar.
- Calls from the wrist. According to unofficial reports, the 975 could gain a speaker and microphone like the Fenix 8, letting you answer calls and use a voice assistant.
- A brighter display. There's talk of an even brighter AMOLED, and some sources speculate about MicroLED — for now, that's guesswork.
- A bigger battery. Garmin is expected to try to win back the days of runtime the 970 lost compared with the 965.
Who it's for
The Forerunner 975 will target serious runners, triathletes and endurance enthusiasts who need accurate GPS, detailed training analytics and long battery life. It's not an everyday smartwatch for a beginner — the Apple Watch Ultra 3 or simpler models in our smartwatches section will be more accessible. You'll find other Garmin models in the Garmin watches listing.
Price and release
No official date has been set; rumours point to the second half of 2026. Since the 970 cost around $749, the 975 will likely land at a similar price or higher, with the Solar version costing more still. The price has not yet been announced.
