John Lewis Cuts Garmin Forerunner 570 to Record-Low £400

Q: Is Garmin's record-low price for its premium watch a power move or a sign of market pressure?

It is both, but more convincingly a strategic response to market pressure. The £400 John Lewis price is clearly aggressive. It is the lowest recorded UK price for the Forerunner 570, below its usual roughly £460 level and even under last year’s £410 low. Coming during Prime Day-style discounting and marathon training season, it looks designed to drive volume, pull in new users and keep Garmin highly visible in a premium category where timing matters. That said, the wider context points to pressure as the bigger force. The smartwatch market is growing fast, but it is crowded and heavily promotional. Apple, Samsung and other fitness-watch brands are all discounting premium models while also improving health and training features. Garmin’s edge remains strong battery life, multi-band GPS, advanced training analytics and a loyal athlete base, but rivals are narrowing gaps in software, sensors and value. The Forerunner 570 itself sits in an important middle ground: premium enough to showcase Garmin’s strengths, but cheaper than top-end models such as the Forerunner 970. Cutting it to £400 broadens appeal without undermining Garmin’s flagship pricing. That makes the move look less like distress and more like tactical defense: protect share, attract serious runners, and reinforce Garmin’s ecosystem before competitors do. So this is not a panic discount. It is a calculated price cut shaped by real competitive pressure — a smart defensive move rather than a pure show of pricing power.

1 articles · Updated · T3 · Jul 6

£400 at John Lewis marks the lowest seen price for Garmin’s Forerunner 570, undercutting its previous dip to about £410 last December.
The deal lands as marathon-training season picks up, putting Garmin’s latest mid-range running watch into a more competitive range for buyers seeking advanced training features.
The 47mm watch pairs a 1.4-inch AMOLED display with multi-band GPS, Garmin’s Elevate Gen5 heart-rate sensor and metrics including Training Readiness, VO2 Max and recovery insights.
Garmin also added a speaker and microphone for calls and voice commands, while battery life is rated at up to 11 days in smartwatch mode or 18 hours in GPS mode.