Garmin's Forerunner 70 looks like an entry-level running watch on paper, but its menus hide a handful of tools normally reserved for the brand's more expensive models. Anyone who just picked one up, or switched over from an older Forerunner 55, can unlock a lot more value by digging into five specific settings.
Why This "Budget" Watch Packs More Than Expected
The Forerunner 70 arrived this summer alongside the Forerunner 170, positioned as the replacement for the popular Forerunner 55. Together with the 570 and 970, Garmin now sells four AMOLED-screen running watches spanning entry level to premium, each running similar software covering everything from daily activity logging to an onboard calculator. The 70 sits at the bottom of that lineup price-wise, and while rival watches at the same price might outperform it in some areas, Garmin still built in several advanced tools usually found on costlier devices. Someone expecting a simple reskin of the 55 will find a genuinely different watch underneath.
Remap Buttons to Act Like Hotkeys
The 70 skips the assignable quick-press hotkeys found on pricier Forerunners, but its buttons aren't fixed either. Holding the Up button opens Watch Settings, then System, then Shortcuts, where each button (or button combination) can be assigned a new function from a preset list. A particularly useful swap is putting Do Not Disturb, or Silent Mode, on the Down button. Reaching it the standard way, holding LIGHT, opening Controls, tapping the icon, takes several extra taps, which is annoying mid-run when a notification buzzes in. It's also worth trimming down the data screens shown during a run while adjusting settings inside the Garmin Connect app.
Skip Manual Planning With Quick Workouts
Rather than building a session field by field, the Quick Workout tool lets a runner just choose a duration and intensity, and the watch assembles the workout using recent fitness data. Because it pulls in the current Training Readiness score, the same "45 minutes, moderate" request can produce a different session two days running, depending on actual recovery rather than a fixed plan. That makes it a quicker way to match a workout to the body's real state on a given day. The run/walk structured options built into this feature are aimed squarely at beginners or runners easing back in after time off. To build one: pick Run as the activity, scroll to Training, choose Quick Workout, set an intensity (easy, moderate, hard, or very hard) and a duration (30, 45, or 60 minutes), then press the upper-right button to confirm.
Ultra Run Tools Bring Trail-Race Features to Everyday Runs
Unlike the Forerunner 55, the 70 supports uploading custom routes, and buried inside it are several tools normally built for ultra trail races, including cutoff times for a course. There's also an "Up Ahead" display that surfaces upcoming aid stations or other waypoints on a loaded route; the watch skips detailed mapping but still calculates the actual distance remaining to the next point. The rest timer is worth turning on even outside of trail racing. It suits anyone preparing for their first race who wants to rehearse exactly how long they pause at a water or fuel stop, and it can double as a way to stay disciplined about a hydration plan on long runs. These tools only appear once "Ultra Run" is added to the list of activity types. From there, pressing START on an Ultra Run and opening Ultra Run Settings leads to a Lap Key option with three modes: Lap, which records and displays lap details on a press; Rest Only, which starts a rest timer on a press and ends it on the next press; and Lap plus Rest, which records a lap and starts a rest timer together, then closes the rest period and logs another lap on the following press.
Use Record Only Mode as a Digital Breadcrumb Trail
The 70 lacks the full color mapping found on Garmin's higher-end watches, but Record Only mode quietly plots a breadcrumb trail of everywhere the watch has been, without draining the battery the way turn-by-turn navigation would. Anyone who loses their bearings can follow that trail back the way they came. A related setting worth enabling before heading out on an unfamiliar route is Find My Phone. It's genuinely useful but tucked away: holding the LIGHT button and scrolling to the phone-with-question-mark icon lets the watch ping a connected phone with sound and vibration, even if the phone is on silent, offering reassurance if it slips out of a pocket or belt during a run.
Protect Battery Health Between Long Runs
On familiar routes, switching off Always-On GPS helps preserve battery health over time. Watch batteries respond to charging habits much like muscles respond to training load: repeated full charge cycles wear them down faster. During an ordinary week, capping charge levels around 80 percent, rather than topping off to 100 percent every single time, helps the battery hold up longer.
