Garmin Descent G1 vs Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar
🗓️ Release Year
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: 2022
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: 2022
🏃 Activity
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: The Garmin Descent G1 is a robust dive computer and outdoor GPS smartwatch designed for recreational divers and active individuals, built for durability and reliable tracking. It offers precise tracking for dive-specific metrics, alongside comprehensive tracking for steps, distance, calories burned, and active minutes. Its activity profiles cater to both underwater and topside sports, providing essential data for monitoring performance in various environments.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: The Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar is a high-performance GPS smartwatch tailored for multisport athletes, offering extensive tracking of steps, distance, calories burned, and active minutes with personalized daily goals. It incorporates advanced running dynamics, cycling metrics, and swimming data, providing comprehensive performance analysis across all disciplines, further enhanced by extended operational time via solar charging.
❤️ Health Monitoring
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: This device provides continuous wrist-based heart rate monitoring, stress tracking, and detailed sleep analysis for insights into daily well-being and recovery. The integrated Pulse Ox sensor allows for blood oxygen saturation monitoring, useful for assessing acclimatization at altitude and contributing to dive planning and safety.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: This device provides continuous heart rate monitoring, advanced physiological metrics including VO2 max estimation, training status, training load pro, and heat and altitude acclimatization. It also tracks respiration rate and Pulse Ox for blood oxygen saturation, offering deep insights into an athlete's health and recovery status, with sustained monitoring capabilities due to solar power input.
🔋 Battery Life
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: The Descent G1 offers strong battery life, providing up to 25 hours in dive mode and up to 14 days in smartwatch mode, ensuring sufficient power for multiple dives and consistent daily tracking without frequent recharging.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: A key feature distinguishing this model is its exceptional battery life, significantly extended by solar charging. It provides up to 15 days in smartwatch mode and up to 42 hours with continuous GPS tracking, with the solar capability offering potential for even longer durations depending on sun exposure, making it ideal for multi-day events and expeditions.
😴 Sleep Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: Sleep tracking on the Descent G1 monitors sleep stages and provides valuable insights into sleep quality, contributing to a better understanding of recovery essential for both athletic performance and dive readiness.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: Advanced sleep monitoring is included, meticulously tracking sleep stages (light, deep, and REM) and utilizing the Pulse Ox sensor to monitor blood oxygen levels during sleep. This provides valuable data for assessing recovery quality and informing training decisions, supported by reliable power for overnight tracking.
📍 GPS Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: Equipped with built-in GPS, the Descent G1 provides accurate outdoor activity tracking and basic mapping capabilities on the surface. This GPS functionality is also integrated into dive logging for recording entry and exit points, enhancing the utility for documenting dive locations.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: Equipped with multi-band GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo), the Forerunner 955 Solar provides superior accuracy for outdoor activity tracking, even in challenging environments, without requiring a paired smartphone. It offers detailed route navigation and mapping capabilities, with solar charging helping to maintain GPS functionality on long treks.
🏋️ Workout Modes
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: The Descent G1 supports a variety of multisport and individual workout modes, including dedicated profiles for diving (single-gas, multi-gas, freediving), swimming, running, biking, hiking, and strength training, providing relevant metrics for each activity.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: The Forerunner 955 Solar supports a vast array of multisport and individual workout modes, including running, biking, swimming, triathlon, trail running, strength training, and more, with extensive real-time statistics and customizable data screens, powered for extended workout sessions.
💫 Exercise Recognition
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: The device includes automatic exercise detection for common activities such as swimming, running, and cycling through its Move IQ feature, ensuring these basic movements are captured in your activity log alongside detailed dive data.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: The device includes automatic exercise detection for common activities like walking and running through its Move IQ feature, ensuring seamless recording of basic movements within the overall training log, even during long days of varied activity facilitated by solar power.
🍎 Compatibility
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: The Descent G1 is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones, connecting via Bluetooth for seamless data synchronization, dive log management, and smart notifications.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: The Forerunner 955 Solar is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones, connecting via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for seamless data synchronization and smart notifications, ensuring connectivity is maintained during extended periods away from traditional power sources.
📲 App Support
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: Synchronization with the comprehensive Garmin Connect app is central for topside activity and health tracking, while the Garmin Dive app is specifically designed for detailed dive log management, analysis, and sharing, providing a complete ecosystem for both fitness and diving data.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: Synchronization with the comprehensive Garmin Connect app is essential, providing in-depth analysis of all tracked data, performance metrics, training insights, and recovery recommendations. The app allows for creating and syncing detailed training plans and courses, with data readily available thanks to the watch's extended battery life.
💡 Smart Features
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: Beyond its primary focus on diving and sports, the Descent G1 includes practical smart functionalities such as on-wrist notifications for calls, texts, and calendar alerts. It also features essential utilities like a compass, barometric altimeter, and thermometer, valuable for outdoor navigation and environmental awareness.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: Beyond its extensive sports features, the Forerunner 955 Solar includes practical smart functionalities such as on-wrist notifications, Garmin Pay for contactless payments, and on-device music storage with support for streaming services, allowing for phone-free training with connectivity sustained by solar charging.
💦 Water Resistance
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: With a robust water resistance rating to 100 meters (10 ATM) and built-in dive computer functionality, the Descent G1 is specifically designed for scuba diving, freediving, and other underwater activities, providing essential dive data and safety features for recreational use.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: With a water resistance rating of 50 meters (5 ATM), the Forerunner 955 Solar is suitable for swimming and showering, making it a reliable device for tracking pool and open water swimming activities as part of a multisport training regimen, without compromising its solar capabilities.
⌚ Display Quality
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: The Descent G1 features a sunlight-readable, monochrome display with good contrast, optimized for visibility in various lighting conditions, including underwater and bright sunlight. While not a color screen, it provides clear and easy-to-read data.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: The Forerunner 955 Solar features a sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) color touchscreen display with integrated solar charging lens. This display technology offers excellent readability in direct sunlight and is power-efficient, crucial for extended outdoor activities where solar charging is most effective.
👌 Ease of Use
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: The device utilizes a user-friendly interface with a combination of buttons, designed for easy navigation and access to features both on land and underwater, prioritizing reliable operation in challenging conditions over touchscreen complexity.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: The device offers a dual interface with traditional buttons and a responsive touchscreen, providing flexible and easy navigation through menus, data screens, and mapping features during both activities and daily use, designed for reliability in various conditions.
✨ Design and Comfort
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: The Descent G1 features a rugged and durable design built for the demands of outdoor activities and diving. It maintains a comfortable fit for all-day wear and dives, balancing robust construction with practical wearability.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: The Forerunner 955 Solar features a lightweight and comfortable design with a soft silicone band, optimized for a secure fit during intense training sessions and suitable for all-day wear. The inclusion of the solar charging lens is integrated seamlessly into the design.
🩸 SpO2 Monitoring
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: An integrated Pulse Ox sensor is a key feature, allowing for monitoring blood oxygen saturation levels during sleep and at altitude, providing crucial data for assessing physiological status and contributing to dive safety considerations.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: An integrated Pulse Ox sensor allows for on-demand spot checks and continuous monitoring of blood oxygen saturation levels, particularly valuable for acclimatization at altitude, monitoring sleep quality, and assessing overall recovery, with the solar charge supporting continuous monitoring.
💖 ECG Functionality
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: It is important to note that the Garmin Descent G1 does not support ECG (Electrocardiogram) functionality.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: It is important to note that the Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar does not support ECG (Electrocardiogram) functionality.
🧘 Stress Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: The Descent G1 tracks stress levels throughout the day based on heart rate variability and offers guided breathing exercises to help users manage stress, contributing to overall well-being and focus, important for both athletic and diving performance.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: The Forerunner 955 Solar tracks stress levels throughout the day based on heart rate variability and offers guided breathing exercises to help athletes manage stress and optimize their mental recovery alongside physical training, supported by consistent power from solar charging.
🩹 Recovery Tracking
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: The Body Battery energy monitoring feature provides insights into the body's energy reserves based on activity, stress, and sleep data, helping users understand their physiological readiness for training or the need for rest. This is a key feature for optimizing recovery, essential for demanding sports and diving activities.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: The device provides advanced recovery insights, including a daily readiness score, recovery time advisor, training status, and training load focus, offering detailed guidance to help athletes understand their recovery needs and optimize their training schedule to prevent overtraining and improve performance, with these features reliably available due to extended battery life.
💳 Subscription
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: A significant benefit of the Garmin platform is that all core features and data tracked by the Descent G1, including its dive computer functionalities and access to the Garmin Connect and Garmin Dive apps, are available without an additional subscription fee, providing comprehensive value for a capable and rugged dive-focused smartwatch.
2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: A significant benefit of the Garmin platform is that all features and data tracked by the Forerunner 955 Solar are accessible through the free Garmin Connect app, requiring no additional subscription fees for core functionality or advanced training analysis, providing comprehensive value out of the box, especially considering the enhanced battery performance.
🏷️️ Price
1️⃣ Garmin Descent G1: $799.99
Check Garmin Descent G1 Price *2️⃣ Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar: $749.99
Check Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar Price ** If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you