Best Garmin Watch For Running

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AdamSchram is an Assistant Editor of Commerce at Runner's World, though you might see his byline on Bicycling and Popular Mechanics, too. A lover of all things outdoors, Adam's writing career comes after six years as a bike mechanic in his hometown of State College, PA. His journalism experience is steeped in cycling and running gear reviews, and he's also a published creative nonfiction and satire author. When he's not writing, riding, or running, you can catch Adam at home mixing cocktails, watching Star Wars, or trying in vain to do the Sunday crossword. You can check out his latest work below.

Jeff is Runner-in-Chief for Runner's World, guiding the brand's shoes and gear coverage. A true shoe dog, he's spent more than a decade testing and reviewing shoes. In 2017, he ran in 285 different pairs of shoes, including a streak of 257 days wearing a different model.

Jeff is Runner-in-Chief for Runner's World, guiding the brand's shoes and gear coverage. A true shoe dog, he's spent more than a decade testing and reviewing shoes. In 2017, he ran in 285 different pairs of shoes, including a streak of 257 days wearing a different model.

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Garmin still leads the way with additional smarts like contactless payments, WiFi syncing and offline music. All welcome extras at this cheaper end of the running watch spectrum. And if you want a happily reliable, largely fully featured run tracker, in a compact, comfortable package, this is a good value option.

GPS is quick to triangulate, battery life is decent (just over an hour of running knocked off around 5% battery), and there are pre-loaded workouts available. Alternatively, you can create your own in the Garmin Connect app, much like with the Apple Watch. You can also configure alerts for heart rate, pace, time, distance, cadence and calories.

The wrist strap is soft and comfortable, and the watch itself is very light, especially compared with an Apple Watch. The battery life is also decent, lasting around a week in smartwatch mode. When it does finally need plugging in, it takes only a short while to become fully charged again.

A 53-time marathon finisher, 14-time ultramarathoner (including a top 100 position in the Marathon des Sables) and cofounder of The Run Testers, a YouTube running gear reviews channel, Kieran has been testing the latest running gear for more than a decade. A sub-3 marathon runner, you'll find him covering everything from virtual reality and smart scales to the latest health trackers. Kieran is also passionate about using the latest technology to hack his health in search of marginal gains and you'll always find him with a running watch on either wrist.

Garmin is a brand that needs no introduction. With their sleek designs, accurate tracking capabilities, and impressive data analysis features, Garmin watches have become the go-to choice for runners of all levels.

Understanding the features of this entry level watch, will also help you better understand any upgrades that appear in more advanced watches. Checkout my in-depth review of the Garmin 55 to see all the basics you should expect in your Garmin running watch and what they mean (i.e. what is training status, Live Tracking or treadmill calibration).

I would 100% prefer this model over a standard Apple Watch for giving you more accurate HR data, GPS and general information. And with the Venu 2Plus, you can indeed receive and make phone calls just like from your Apple Watch. Or you can snag the Venu Sq which is their only square model of a running watch to give you that Apple look.

When you want a running watch that looks like a 10 and has the brains of a 10, this is your clear cut winner. The Fenix can do it all from running to deep sea diving to skydiving, right alongside giving you phone notifications, pay from your watch and a decent multi-color display.

Night and day difference, but again I think the less colorful non-touch screen is part of the longer battery and durability. You can adjust the screen brightness, but assume brighter will take more battery and it will still not look like the above watches.

While this is not a triathlon blog and I will not pretend to know all the things you need, I have done my fair share of swimming and biking over the years. I also owned on of the early models of this watch the 935 and it was a stellar watch. So I feel confident speaking to the features and quality for triathletes.

More and more Garmin is making most models in their S version, which means small. It fits better on a smaller wrist and I can attest to this when you see me wearing the Enduro next to the Venu 2s.

A clear and easy-to-read display is important for tracking your progress during a run. Pretty much all Garmin watches will have high-resolution screens, adjustable brightness levels, and easy-to-navigate menus.

That being said, all the watches also pair with a chest strap via Bluetooth or ANT+ so you can get the gold standard of readings. I also appreciate that they now have 24/7 HR tracking to help you monitor resting HR.

Garmin watches come with a variety of data tracking and analysis features, including heart rate monitoring, VO2 max tracking, and custom workout creation. Consider which metrics are most important to you and choose a watch that offers the features you need.

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The best Garmin watches are now some of the most advanced ways to track sports training, fitness levels, racing performance, and even stress and sleep. In short these are lifestyle trackers with sports-specific smarts aimed at getting you fitter, faster and generally better at your sport of choice.

Since Apple started making waves in this market with the Apple Watch Ultra series, Garmin has started adding OLED screens to its watches like in the Forerunner 965 and the premium Marq range, which offer even more lifestyle tracking options and third-party app potential. Even the beginner-friendly Garmin Forerunner 165 has a nice bright screen these days, but the old digital watch-style MIP ones, in my opinion, still very much have a place.

So while this brand features many times in our best running watches guide it also manages to feature in the best cheap running watch options, meaning there should be an ideal wearable for most needs. And if you want the best deal check out our Garmin promo codes to help make a saving.

This guide offers the best Garmin watches from premium running and lifestyle trackers to budget picks and those with music and Garmin Pay onboard, so you can train without needing to carry a phone. Whatever your needs and budget, we've got a Garmin watch for you below.

Matt is TechRadar's Fitness, Wellbeing and Wearables Editor, which means he's an expert on workouts, smartwatches, and all things fitness tech. Matt's spent years covering the health and fitness beat, is a regular Garmin user, and has personally tested many of the watches below.","strapline":"Written by"}), " -0-10/js/person.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); Written byWritten byMatt EvansFitness, Wellbeing and Wearables EditorMatt is TechRadar's Fitness, Wellbeing and Wearables Editor, which means he's an expert on workouts, smartwatches, and all things fitness tech. Matt's spent years covering the health and fitness beat, is a regular Garmin user, and has personally tested many of the watches below.

The Garmin Venu 3 tops our list because it does everything so well for both lifestyle and fitness considerations. Perfect for everyone from hardcore triathletes to casual fitness enthusiasts looking for an Apple Watch replacement.

The Garmin Vivoactive 5 is the best cheap Garmin Watch. It's not as cheap as the Vivosmart 5 band, but it packs a load of workout profiles and a gorgeous AMOLED screen. It will do a great job of recording your workouts.

The Garmin Forerunner 265 is an amazing watch for people serious about their running. With the Training Readiness score, advanced metrics, and gorgeous AMOLED screen, it's perfect regardless of whether you love the tarmac or the trail.

The Garmin Instinct 2 is an amazing, tough-as-nails trail running companion. Exceptional battery life, workout suggestions, recovery guidance and a shockproof resin case are a few of its standout features.

If the Garmin Instinct 2 is the best outdoor watch for most people, the Enduro 2 is the best outdoor watch for elite athletes. Designed for serious orienteers, triathletes, and endurance runners, this watch is a monster.

The Garmin Fenix 7 Pro is one of the most advanced multi-sport watches around, meaning it's perfect for swimming, cycling, running, orienteering, and more. Topographical maps in navigation mode and biometric tracking are some standout features, along with an LED safety torch.

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