A $100 discount makes this a great choice over the Fenix 8 for pure runners—provided you budget for the chest strap
If you are a runner looking for the absolute best training tool money can buy, the Garmin Forerunner 970 is the pinnacle of the market right now—and Amazon has given it the first significant price slash since it released earlier this year.
The retailer has dropped the price by $100, bringing it to its lowest-ever price of $649.99. This is still plenty of outlay for a top Garmin watch, but it crucially places it in a sweet spot in the lineup; for our money, this deal makes it a far more attractive proposition than the Fenix 8 for runners.
I’ve worn both the Fenix 8 and the Forerunner 970 extensively this year, and the latter is a far better option for comfort in daily wear and pure running. It’s significantly lighter and slimmer, vanishing on the wrist in a way the Fenix never does.
Yet Garmin hasn’t nerfed the specs: you still get the vibrant AMOLED display, the essential built-in flashlight (a lifesaver for winter training), and, crucially, a sapphire crystal lens as standard, addressing durability concerns from previous Forerunners.
The hidden cost you need to know about
At this discounted price, the 970 is roughly $150-$200 cheaper than a comparable Fenix 8 deal on Amazon for Cyber Monday.
However, as we stated in our full 970 review earlier this year, there is a hidden catch to the watch.
To unlock the 970’s most advanced new features—specifically, Running Economy and Step Speed Loss—you have to pair it with the Garmin HRM-600 chest strap ($149.99).
These metrics offer incredible insight into your efficiency and form breakdown, but the strap is an additional investment.
Even with that added cost, I argue this package is superior for runners. The 970 combined with the HRM-600 gives you a lighter watch and deeper data than a standalone Fenix 8—and this $100 saving makes shelling out for extra insights a bit more palatable.
