Is The Garmin Forerunner 255 Touch Screen? | Button Control

No, it uses five buttons for menus and workouts, with no tap or swipe control.

You’re here for a simple detail that changes the whole feel of the watch: will you be tapping the screen, or working with buttons? On the Forerunner 255, it’s buttons. That choice affects mid-run screen changes, wet-weather use, and how confident the watch feels when you’re moving fast.

Below, you’ll get the plain answer, a practical button “map,” and a buyer’s checklist so you can decide without guessing.

Is The Garmin Forerunner 255 Touch Screen? A Straight Answer

The Forerunner 255 does not include a touchscreen layer. You won’t tap to open widgets, pinch maps, or swipe through menus. Instead, you scroll with UP and DOWN, confirm with START, return with BACK, and hold LIGHT for the controls menu.

That may sound old-school. For training, it’s often the point. Buttons keep working when your fingers are sweaty, when it’s cold, and when the screen is wet.

What “No Touch” Means In Daily Use

On a touch watch, you might jump between screens with a swipe. On the Forerunner 255, it’s a couple of button presses. The first run or two can feel slower, then muscle memory takes over.

Menus, Glances, And Settings

From the watch face, UP and DOWN move through glances. START selects. BACK returns. Long-pressing UP opens deeper menus in many places. Long-pressing LIGHT opens the shortcut ring for tools like alarms, timer, and phone find.

During A Run

Buttons shine when you’re moving. You can change data pages without hunting for a tiny on-screen target. You can hit LAP with a clean click. You can pause at a light without wondering if your tap registered.

Rain, Sweat, And Gloves

If you train in rain, do long summer runs, or wear gloves in winter, button control stays calm. No accidental touches. No “ghost swipes” from water droplets.

What Screen You Get Instead Of Touch

The Forerunner 255 uses a color, sunlight-visible MIP display. In plain words: it’s built for outdoor readability without needing high brightness all the time. Indoors, it can look more muted than AMOLED watches. Outdoors, it’s easy to glance at mid-stride.

Garmin lists the Forerunner 255 as using a sunlight-visible, transflective MIP display in its published specs. Garmin’s Forerunner 255 product page is the quickest place to confirm the display type, size, and resolution.

Backlight Basics

You turn the backlight on with LIGHT. You can tune gesture mode, timeouts, and brightness. Once set, it stays readable for early-morning runs without feeling distracting.

How The Five Buttons Work

Garmin documents the button roles in the owner’s manual: LIGHT for power/backlight and controls, UP and DOWN for scrolling, START for selecting and starting activities, BACK for returning and laps. Forerunner 255 Series Owner’s Manual overview shows the layout and what each button does.

In real use, you’ll lean on three moves:

• START: get into activities and confirm choices
• UP/DOWN: move through glances and data pages
• BACK: step out, or mark a lap during an activity

Shortcuts That Make It Feel Fast

Two long-press actions do a lot of work:

• Hold LIGHT: open the controls menu for common tools
• Hold UP: open context menus, including activity settings

Learn those, and the watch stops feeling “clicky.” It starts feeling direct.

Real-World Scenarios Where Touch Matters

Touchscreen questions usually come from a few common moments. Here’s how the Forerunner 255 handles them.

Starting A Run Fast

From the watch face: START, pick Run, START again. If Run is your default, it’s often the first item, so you’re off in seconds.

Intervals And Track Work

Buttons make interval control predictable. BACK marks laps. START pauses and resumes. UP/DOWN changes pages without your finger sliding on the display.

Scrolling Notifications

Buttons work well for short messages. Long messages take more scrolling. If your top priority is reading notifications all day, a touch-first smartwatch may feel better. If training comes first, the button approach stays out of your way.

Who Button Control Fits Best

A button-driven watch tends to fit runners who want consistency in motion. It’s also a good match if you:

• Run outdoors a lot and care about glance readability.
• Train in wet weather or sweat heavily.
• Wear gloves in colder months.
• Use structured workouts, intervals, or race pacing.

If you prefer phone-like browsing on your wrist, you’ll miss touch more.

Table: Common Tasks And The Fastest Button Path

Task	Fast Button Path	Small Habit That Helps
Start a run	START → Run → START	Keep your main sport at the top of the list.
Pause and resume	START to pause → START to resume	Press with a firm click at stoplights.
Mark a lap	BACK during activity	Use it for intervals and manual mile splits.
Change data screen	UP or DOWN	Keep your most-used pages next to each other.
Open controls	Hold LIGHT	Reorder controls so your top tools sit first.
Open activity options	Hold UP	Set alerts once, then leave them steady for a week.
View glances	UP/DOWN from watch face	Remove glances you never use to cut scrolling.
Stop and save	START → Save	Take a breath at the finish so you don’t save by accident.

Why Garmin Sticks With Buttons On Training Watches

Garmin sells plenty of touch watches, so the button-only choice is deliberate. A training watch gets pressed in messy situations: mid-interval, at a stoplight, in a crowd at a race start, with sweat dripping down your arm. A physical button gives you a clear “yes, that worked” moment you can feel, not just see.

Buttons also keep control consistent across screens. Whether you’re in a run, a strength session, or a navigation prompt, the same five shapes do the same jobs. That consistency matters when you’re tired or rushing.

Where The Button Setup Feels Better Than Touch

• Accidental input: A sleeve brushing the screen won’t change your page.
• Wet screens: Raindrops won’t act like fingers.
• Repeat actions: Lap, pause, resume, and page changes become automatic.

Where You Might Miss Touch

If you often sit and scroll through graphs, edit a lot of settings on the watch, or treat the watch as a tiny phone screen, touch feels nicer. With the Forerunner 255, most deeper edits are smoother in the phone app.

Common Button Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

New owners run into the same hiccups. Fixing them is easy once you spot the pattern.

• Too many glances: If you keep every glance, you’ll scroll forever. Trim it down.
• Too many run pages: A long page stack feels slow. Keep your first pages focused on the stats you read every mile.
• Forgetting the holds: Hold LIGHT and hold UP are the “shortcuts.” Use them daily until they stick.

Two-Minute Setup That Pays Off Every Run

You don’t need a deep setup session. Do these small changes once, then go run:

1. Reorder your activity list: Put Run at the top.
2. Set your first run page: Pace, time, distance, heart rate is a solid start.
3. Move your most-used control icons first: Timer and phone find are common picks.

After that, the watch feels like it “gets out of the way.” You spend less time fiddling and more time training.

Make Button Navigation Feel Smoother

You can make a button watch feel slow if you leave everything at default. A few tweaks change that fast.

Trim Glances

Glances are the scrollable widgets on the watch face. Fewer glances means fewer button presses. Keep what you check weekly and drop the rest.

Reorder The Controls Menu

The controls menu is your speed dial. Put timer, phone find, wallet, or music near the top, based on what you use.

Keep Run Screens Tight

Two or three run pages usually beats seven. Put pace, time, distance, and heart rate up front, then push the “nice to have” stats later.

Touch Vs Buttons: The Trade-Off

Touch tends to feel nicer for tapping through widgets and editing settings on the watch itself. Buttons tend to feel nicer for repeatable actions while you’re moving. That’s the trade.

Table: Touch Vs Buttons For Runner Priorities

Priority	Buttons Tend To Win	Touch Tends To Win
Wet-weather reliability	Less accidental input from water	Water can trigger extra swipes
Glove-friendly control	Physical clicks still work	Gloves may block taps
Intervals and lap work	Lap, pause, screen change by feel	Tap targets can be hit-or-miss while moving
Scrolling lots of widgets	Works, yet it’s more presses	Swiping feels natural
Changing settings often	Fine for small tweaks	Editing fields can feel quicker
Outdoor readability focus	MIP + buttons match that habit	AMOLED can look richer indoors

Buying Checklist: Decide Without Regret

1. Do you run in rain, heat, or cold often? If yes, buttons are a safe bet.
2. Do you want phone-like swiping on your wrist? If yes, you’ll miss touch.
3. Do you do intervals, track sessions, or structured workouts? Buttons feel steady for repeat actions.
4. Do you change lots of settings on the watch itself? If yes, touch can feel nicer.
5. Do you care most about outdoor glance readability? A MIP screen plus buttons fits that style.

Think about your worst-case run day—cold hands, wet sleeves, a hard session. If your watch still needs to behave, button control is a strong match.

Tips For Owners Who Expected Touch

If you already own the Forerunner 255 and you miss swipes, you can still make it feel smoother:

• Put your top glances near the top so you scroll less.
• Use the two “hold” shortcuts every day until they’re automatic.
• Do deeper editing in the phone app, then sync back to the watch.

After a couple of weeks, most people stop thinking about touch at all. The watch becomes something you run by feel.