Best watch faces for Garmin Forerunner 970
The Forerunner 970 is Garmin’s racing flagship — a bright sapphire AMOLED screen, maps, a flashlight and the newest running metrics. It deserves a face that puts real data front and centre. Here are the picks, running live in your browser.
Our picks for the Forerunner 970
№21989 Sport LCD
A retro multisport dashboard — VO2 Max, training status, heart rate and a big 7-segment LCD time.
№34Nine
Four quarter-arc gauges at the cardinals, a ghost “9” behind the big time, seven swappable fields. Built alongside the fēnix 9.
№4Active Face
A data-maximalist cockpit — HR, distance, calories, floors, altitude, a step-goal ring and a live Body Battery graph.
№5Progress Arcs
Body Battery, Calories and Steps as three glowing gradient arches over a dark dial.
№6Lumen
Big centered time, nine accent colors, five swappable data slots. Clean, bright, configurable.
All of these install from the Connect IQ Store and sync in seconds — the install guide walks you through it.
Where the 970 sits
The Forerunner 970 is the 2025 flagship above the Forerunner 570: sapphire glass over the AMOLED screen, ECG, multiband GPS, full maps and a flashlight. It shares its platform with the rest of the AMOLED Forerunner family, so everything on the Forerunner 965 page fits here too — and every face above lists the 970 in its device table.
What to look for in a Forerunner 970 watch face
- Training data you actually read. Racers glance at heart rate, recovery and load — dashboards like Domestique and 1989 Sport LCD put them first.
- Always-on, but smart. The AMOLED 970 looks superb always-on, but the best faces dim and simplify at rest. More in always-on explained.
- Race-week battery. A face is on screen all day — see do watch faces drain battery? so nothing eats into a long weekend.
- Legibility mid-effort. Big numerals beat decoration at kilometre 35 — that’s why every pick here keeps the time and key fields large.
On another Forerunner? See the whole family guide, or jump straight to the 965 and 570 pages.
Forerunner 970 watch faces — FAQ
Are there free watch faces for the Forerunner 970?
Yes. The 970 runs Connect IQ, so free faces work on it — many faces on this site are free, including Altura and Active Face.
Do Forerunner 965 watch faces work on the 970?
Yes — the 970 continues the AMOLED Forerunner line, and faces built for the 965 list the 970 too. Every face on this page supports both.
Does the Forerunner 970 have an AMOLED screen?
Yes — a bright AMOLED display under sapphire glass, so colourful data-rich faces look their best and a battery-smart always-on barely costs you. More in AMOLED vs MIP.