The Garmin Forerunner 170 was found to be extremely accurate during my treadmill test despite packing Garmin's older heart rate sensing technology

Date:
Sun, 21 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Description:
Garmin Forerunner 170 Music vs Polar H10: here are the results

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter I'm currently testing the
Garmin Forerunner 170 Music to see if it merits inclusion in our best Garmin watch list. It's a recent release and stands as the successor to the
excellent Garmin Forerunner 165, positioned as one of Garmin's cheaper watches, costing $299 / 259.99 / AU$479 for the version without music storage and $349.99 / 299.99 / AU$549 for the version with music storage.

As a more affordable device (for Garmin, anyway), it's made some concessions during construction, such as a cheaper plastic body without a metal bezel or back, and an older heart rate monitor, Garmin's Elevate V4 model. The more accurate Elevate V5 is reserved for more expensive watches, such as the
Garmin Fenix 8 . This did concern me. The Elevate V4 is getting a little long in the tooth, and I wanted to make sure the Forerunner 170 Music was still up to snuff in the accuracy stakes. After all, what's the point of a running watch that isn't accurate? Latest Videos From Watch full video here:

To find out whether it was accurate, I ran on the treadmill for 25 minutes while wearing both the Garmin Forerunner 170 and the Polar H10 electrical heart rate monitor , which I wore across my chest. The H10 is considered the gold standard of heart rate measurement, far more accurate than the Garmin Forerunner 170, and is my go-to when testing wearables.

Here are the results: You may like Garmin Forerunner 70 vs Garmin Forerunner 170 and 170 Music: I've compared all the specs and features of these 'easy to use' running watches Garmin reveals its Garmin Forerunner 70 and Garmin Forerunner 170 'easy-to-use' running watches The best running watch for 2026: Watches for every level of runner Garmin Forerunner 170 Music vs Polar H10: accuracy test Swipe to scroll horizontally

Testing unit

Average heart rate

Maximum heart rate

Calories burned

Garmin Forerunner 170 Music

150bpm

182bpm

316

Polar H10 chest strap

154bpm

181bpm

344 Image 1 of 2 Garmin Forerunner 170 Music readings (Image credit: Future) Polar H10 readings from the same workout (Image credit: Future) As you can see, they're actually very close together in the heart rate categories, which is very encouraging. The Polar H10 chest strap read 154 bpm (beats per
minute) as the 'average' heart rate across the workout, and 182 bpm as the maximum.

The Garmin Forerunner 170 Music recorded similar data, with a 150 bpm average and 182 bpm maximum. Both measurements were within 5 bpm of the Polar, a very acceptable margin of error. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from
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Calories were a little different, but not by much. The Polar H10 recorded 344 calories burned, while the Garmin Forerunner recorded 316. This is under 10%, and other factors come into play here, such as the Garmin watch's accelerometer, which the Polar doesn't have heart rate is only part of the story.

Based on these readings and the last few days of testing, I'm happy to say that the Garmin Forerunner 170 Music has proven very accurate so far. Stay tuned for my full review. The best Garmin watches for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

Read our full guide to the best Garmin watches 1. Best overall: Garmin Venu
4 2. Best premium: Garmin Fenix 8 3. Best budget: Garmin Vivoactive 6 Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

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