Is The Garmin Forerunner 570 Actually Worth The Price?

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Hate to break it to you, but if your Strava feed currently looks like a battlefield of personal bests, run club meetups, and hyper-specific posts about zone-two cardio, you have been indoctrinated into the current running cult.

Yep, folks, both you and I are living in the golden age of being a runner. We’ve got all the gear from running vests and glasses through to Garmins and gels, to help us survive our daily trots.

And if you’ve stepped outside in the last six months, you’ve probably noticed every second person in a matching activewear set is wearing a giant, glowing circle on their wrist. Enter the Garmin Forerunner 570 — the latest wrist-bound tech that’s currently holding the run club community in an absolute chokehold.

At $999, it’s definitely an investment. But is it actually worth swapping out your trusty watch — in my case, the Garmin Venu 2S — or are we all just paying top dollar to have another fitness device tell us we slept like absolute trash?

Here is the no-BS breakdown on why runners are obsessed with the Garmin Forerunner 570, and whether you actually need one.

The Forerunner series used to look like something your dad wore while training for an ultra-marathon in 2008. But the 570 got a serious glow-up.

The facelift

Garmin gave it a bright-as-hell AMOLED touchscreen (so you can actually see your stats in blinding Aussie sunlight) wrapped in a chic aluminium bezel. Plus, they dropped it in a few cute colourways, including a raspberry and a neon amp yellow — meaning you can coordinate it with your non-activewear wardrobe.

Plus, you can answer calls, dictate texts, or listen to audio prompts directly from the watch mid-run, if that’s a feature you need.

The data

It basically acts as a tiny, passive-aggressive personal trainer on your wrist. With features like ‘Training Readiness, ‘ you can look at your sleep quality, heart rate variability (HRV), and recent mileage to tell you if you should crush an 8k or literally just lay on the couch.

Just when you thought the ‘morning report’ was enough, it pops up with an evening report before bed to tell you how much sleep you need to recover from today’s chaos.

The mapping accuracy

It uses multi-band GPS with SatIQ, meaning it won’t suddenly claim you ran across a river or through a 10-story apartment building just because you were near tall structures. So all your Strava kudos are tracked and earned with accuracy.

The PacePro feature

The feature runners really love is the 570’s PacePro. If you’ve ever sprinted out of the gates at a sub-five pace, only to completely blow up by kilometre two, the 570’s PacePro feature is about to become your best friend.

Basically, instead of constantly doing mental math while oxygen-deprived, PacePro gives you grade-adjusted pace guidance in real time. If you’re running a hilly course, it literally tells you to slow down on the uphills, and gives you permission to open up the taps on the downhills — adjusting your split goals on the fly based on elevation.

It’s essentially like wearing a tiny pacer on your wrist who buzzes the second you start running too fast (or too slow). I found it super handy when running the Gold Coast Marathon recently — it paced me so well that I finished feeling like I actually had fuel left in the tank.

The Verdict

If you’re actively training for a race, trying to nail your pacing, or simply want a full sports science lab glued to your arm, the Forerunner 570 proves itself worth every single penny. I’ve been wearing mine for a few months now, and I’ve found the pacer and the data have already helped improve my running.

That said, if you’re not deep into running, but still want a Garmin on your wrist, the Venu is a great alternative (and slightly cheaper too). The Venu is more of a wellness-focused watch — it gives you all the essential body battery, stress, and sleep insights without bombarding you with intense race-day metrics.

You can shop the Garmin Forerunner 570 ($999) here.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, my watch just told me that I need to move more, which feels a bit targeted.

Lead Image: Garmin Instagram / LaylahLifts / jasmcnair