Garmin Beta Program now open for Forerunner 955 and 255 smartwatches

Garmin is opening up its Beta Program for owners of the Garmin Forerunner 255 and Garmin Forerunner 955 smartwatches. On the Garmin Beta Forum, these two models have been added to the list of devices, suggesting that they will soon be included in the software trialling scheme.

The Beta Program allows customers to try new features as the company tests them before a general release. Garmin has not officially announced which features will be included in the new Alpha software for the 955 and 255 watches. DC Rainmaker reports that the SatIQ tool is coming to both watches, improving the battery life of the gadgets by automatically switching on and off Multiband GNSS mode. Widget Glances and Categorization are also rumored to be in the pipeline.

The latest firmware update to the Forerunner 955 was software version 11.12, which rolled out last month. The update included improvements to audio dialect selection and touch handling and various other bug fixes. Released earlier this year, the Garmin Forerunner 955 has a 1.3-inch transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) display with 260 x 260 px resolution. The standard model of the smartwatch has up to 15 days of battery life and 32 GB of storage.

The Garmin Forerunner 255 is another new release from the brand, a cheaper alternative to the 955 model. This Garmin watch has up to 14 days of battery life, with a heart rate monitor and a 46 mm case. You can sign up for the Beta Program via Garmin Connect.

Buy the Garmin Forerunner 55 on Amazon