Garmin Forerunner 170 Music: running without a phone in the city in August
Lightweight, precise and with offline music on your wrist. We put it to the test in the summer sun.
In August, going for a run at two in the afternoon in the city is something that common sense would regard as a cry for help. The tarmac is sizzling, the air has a tangible heat to it, and after two kilometres even a streetlamp seems to offer some shade.
On my wrist I was wearing the Garmin Forerunner 170 Music. In my ears was a playlist downloaded onto the watch and streamed to my Bluetooth headphones. My smartphone had stayed at home, happy and useless. This is the true superpower of the Music model: it stores songs and podcasts from the main streaming services – subscription subject – and allows you to run without a phone.
In the scorching heat, the music doesn’t bring the temperature down, but at least it stops me from hearing my own breathing – which, in my case, is ragged. The watch connects to GPS and displays pace, distance, heart rate and training zones on a bright, easy-to-read 1.2-inch AMOLED screen. A touchscreen for when you’re out for a stroll, five buttons for when you’re working up a sweat: a wise choice, because wet fingers turn many screens into Ouija boards.
The Forerunner 170 Music brings features once reserved for more expensive models to the mid-range: Training Readiness, training status, recovery, VO2 max, Garmin Coach, barometric altimeter and Garmin Pay. The metrics are accurate and useful, and the battery life lives up to the manufacturer’s claims. Garmin claims up to ten days’ battery life in smartwatch mode.
What won us over? It’s lightweight, comfortable and responsive whilst running. The display is excellent. The Garmin Connect platform remains a control centre for those who love turning every exertion into a graph. Offline music is a real liberating feature: no phone jingling in your pocket, no armband, no notifications from the block manager. Several reviews highlight it as a good choice even for beginners looking to progress from their first 5K to a marathon.
