Garmin Forerunner 955 leaks in full, US price might be a pleasant surprise

But first, let's say that the upcoming Forerunner 955 shapes up as a worthy successor to the Forerunner 945, released in 2019, nearly three years ago. And if you are familiar with the 945, the new 955 is easy to recognize with a round case, the typical 5-button Garmin control system, and a plastic design that helps this watch feel lighter.

The watch has surfaced briefly at a US retailer Beach Camera's website (via Gadgets and Wearebles) and the page with it has since been taken down, but it's the Internet, so of course there is a record. The model listed was in the "whitestone" colorway, which will likely be one of a few color options.

First, we do have the exact size and dimensions. The Forerunner 955 measures exactly 1.8 x 1.8 x 0.6 inches, which translates to 45.7 x 45.7 x 15.2mm. That is still a bit on the bigger side when it comes to watches, but definitely not gigantic, and at 45.7mm it is actually smaller in diameter than its 47mm predecessor. It is however, a bit thicker at 15.2mm vs 13.7mm for the older version.

Good news is that Garmin has kept the weight at merely 53 grams, yet another strong indication that the plastic (or fibre-reinforced polymer if you prefer) body remains.

You are also getting a pretty impressive 32GB of on board storage, which actually is double the memory you get on say the Fenix 7.

New is that you will get a full-color screen that will be touch enabled. This means you will now have the choice to use either the buttons or the screen, whatever works best for you. This color screen would work great with the built-in maps on this watch 

Battery life should be around 15 days in smartwatch mode, 42 hours in GPS mode and as long as 80 hours in UltraTrac mode, and it seems to use the same charging pin as before. This is a slight improvement in battery life over the last gen model, which is great to see.

Curiously, one of the images shows a "Solar Intensity" screen which suggests that there will be a solar-powered version of the watch too, but unfortunately we have no further details on that (do expect a solar model to cost a bit more).

While there is no info on new running features, one exciting upgrade coming to the 955 is a Training Readiness Score. This is calculated with data on your sleep quality, recovery, trainnig load, heart rate variability (HRV) and more, and it is designed to give you one metric that you can just glance at and know how ready your body is for a training session.

The watch will also feature a race widget with training tips, personalized workout suggestions and time to complete based on weather and course details.

You will have over 30 types of workouts including triathlon, open water swimming and of course more traditional ones like running, cycling, pool swim, etc.

Familiar features from the 745 like NFC for payments and built-in storage for music are naturally available too.

The best surprise from the new Forerunner 955 might just be the price, which is expected to be $500, down from the $550 starting price of the previous generation watch.

Finally, the Forerunner 955 release date is expected to be in early June, so it's right around the corner.