Garmin Forerunner 970 / Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro 45 mm

Garmin Forerunner 970: 47 mm · 010-02969-xx (colour options)

Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro 45 mm: The Galaxy Watch5 Pro comes only in 45 mm, in Bluetooth (SM-R920) and LTE (SM-R925) versions. The Best Buy Canada reviews belong to the LTE Black model. The Galaxy Watch5 (40/44 mm aluminium) and the Golf Edition are different products.

SpecificationGarmin Forerunner 970Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro 45 mm
Release year20252022
Announcement and saleAnnounced 15 May 2025; on Garmin.com from 21 May 2025 Garmin—
Part numbers010-02969-00, 010-02969-01, 010-02969-02

The numbers correspond to colour options; the US page does not map each number to a colour. The page image belongs to 010-02969-01, Whitestone case with Whitestone/Amp Yellow band.

Garmin
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Case47 mm; titanium bezel Garmin—
LensSapphire crystal

The Forerunner 965 used Gorilla Glass 3 DX; sapphire is more scratch-resistant.

Garmin
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DisplayAMOLED touchscreen; five-button design

Garmin calls it its brightest AMOLED yet but publishes no nit figure. Touch and buttons can be used together.

Garmin
1.4-inch (34.6 mm) 450 × 450 Super AMOLED; full-colour Always On Display; sapphire crystal

Sapphire crystal resists scratches better than mineral and aluminosilicate glass; the raised bezel around the screen protects the glass from knocks.

Samsung
FlashlightBuilt-in LED flashlight; adjustable brightness, strobe and red light

Red light disturbs night vision less in the dark.

Garmin
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Speaker and microphoneBuilt-in; call handling with a compatible phone and voice commands Garmin—
Health sensorsWrist-based heart rate (PPG); ECG app; skin temperature

The ECG app screens for signs of atrial fibrillation; it is for adults 22 and over and is not available in every region.

Garmin
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Running metricsRunning tolerance; running economy and step speed loss (with HRM 600)

Running tolerance suggests a weekly maximum distance. Running economy and step speed loss need the separately sold HRM 600 chest strap.

Garmin
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Battery typeRechargeable built-in lithium-ion Garmin—
Battery (smartwatch)Up to 15 days

With activity tracking, notifications and wrist heart rate; Garmin notes active features affect the result.

Garmin
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Battery (GNSS)GPS only 26 hours; Auto Select 23 hours; All systems + multi-band 21 hours

With music the figures are 14, 13 and 12 hours. Multi-band uses several satellite frequencies to improve accuracy in cities and valleys at the cost of more power.

Garmin
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StorageUp to 32 GB media storage

Used for music and maps; this is not RAM.

Garmin
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Water ratingSwim, 5 ATM

Withstands pressure equivalent to 50 m depth; it is not a dive watch.

Garmin
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Operating temperature-20 °C to 60 °C; charging 0–45 °C Garmin—
Wireless frequencies2.4 GHz (17 dBm maximum); 13.56 MHz NFC

13.56 MHz is the NFC band used for contactless payments.

Garmin
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MapsBuilt-in maps Garmin—
Case and colour—Titanium case with D-Buckle Sport Band; Black Titanium or Gray Titanium

The D-Buckle band uses a folding clasp so the strap sits at the same point every time, in place of a standard pin buckle.

Samsung
Processor and memory—Exynos W920 dual-core 1.18 GHz; 1.5 GB RAM, 16 GB storage Samsung
Battery and charging—590 mAh (typical); WPC-based fast wireless charging

Samsung says the battery is 60% larger than the Galaxy Watch4’s.

Samsung
Software—Launched with Wear OS 3.5 and One UI Watch 4.5; needs an Android 8.0+ phone with more than 1.5 GB of RAM

Wear OS 3 and later do not work with iPhone. Blood pressure and ECG work only in markets supported by Samsung Health Monitor and with Galaxy phones.

Samsung
Sensors—Samsung BioActive (optical heart rate, electrical heart signal, bioelectrical impedance); temperature sensor; accelerometer, barometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, light

Bioelectrical impedance analysis estimates values such as body fat and skeletal muscle; results are not for medical diagnosis.

Samsung
Connectivity—LTE (LTE model); Bluetooth 5.2; Wi-Fi 2.4 + 5 GHz; NFC; GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo Samsung
Navigation—GPX route import (Route Workout), turn-by-turn directions and Track Back

Track Back follows the recorded path in reverse to help you return to the start.

Samsung
Durability—5ATM + IP68; MIL-STD-810H

5ATM covers surface water activities such as swimming, not diving or high-pressure water. MIL-STD-810H is a set of military test methods, not a guarantee of impact resistance.

Samsung
Size and weight—45.4 × 45.4 × 10.5 mm; 46.5 g (without band) Samsung