Best Garmin Watch 2025: Tested for running, cycling and gym workouts

While the Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2) previously held this spot – and with good reason – the Garmin Fenix 8 is, without a doubt, the most premium wearable that Garmin has put out yet to the point where it’ll leave you wanting for next to nothing.

Acting as an amalgamation of all the best features that Garmin has implemented over the last few years, the Fenix 8 now boasts a gorgeous AMOLED screen made popular by the Venu series, as well as a built-in flashlight that existing fans will recognise from the Enduro and Epix watches.

There are now improved smart features too, as an embedded mic and speaker allows you to record voice notes and then listen back to them on the watch itself. You can also use that mic for voice commands on the go which, while not as expansive as what you’ll get with Google Assistant or Siri on competing watches, is still handy to have.

Plus, all of these features rest on top of the full suite of Garmin’s high-end fitness tracking sensors and software, making it the ideal partner for anyone who takes their fitness routine seriously.

The one major caveat is that the Fenix 8 now carries a much higher price than any of the devices within the Fenix 7 range, with a starting price of £869.99/$999.99, which makes it quite an investment, even though it excels in its category.

Reviewer: Michael Sawh

Building upon the incredible foundations of the Garmin Forerunner 955, the 965 feels like a more premium watch overall, even if there is a higher price tag to contend with.

For starters, the big highlight feature of the Forerunner 965 is its new AMOLED display which finally brings Garmin’s mid-range wearables into the modern age. With that display, everything from running data to watch faces leap off the screen with incredible colour, and the display itself is able to get a lot brighter than the transflective display of old.

While AMOLED technology is more power-intensive, the battery doesn’t suffer greatly from the upgrade. In our testing, we were able to reach 23-days of use in ‘smartwatch’ mode, and an impressive 31-hours when maintaining an unbroken GPS connection. Those are still some impressive numbers, and just the kind of stats that marathon runners will appreciate.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much more beyond that that separates the Forerunner 965 from its predecessor, so if you own a 955 then we don’t recommend upgrading solely to benefit from that AMOLED display. The 965 is best suited for someone upgrading from a much older watch or who might be looking to buy their first serious Garmin wearable.

With that said, the 965 still benefits from all of the tracking features that made the 955 so popular in the first place. Heart rate tracking is solid, and multiband GPS offers highly accurate data when looking back at your route post-workout. It’s also worth noting that maps are now easier to read thanks to the more vibrant display.

For anyone who’s eyeing up one of the mainline smartwatches like the Apple Watch 9 or the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 – it’s the Garmin Venu 3 that’s the most easily comparable option from Garmin’s range, featuring a bit of everything which, while preventing it from excelling in one particular field, still allow it to be a great all-rounder that almost anyone can get on with.

Compared to some of Garmin’s more specialist picks, the Venu 3 actually looks like a modern smartwatch. The large 1.4-inch AMOLED touchscreen is easy to read outdoors, and its vibrant colours allow watch faces and menu screens to pop.

While the watch benefits from the same great fitness tracking features that Garmin is known for (and there are no shortage of workouts to run through either), it does go a step further in the realm of wellness, as animated widgets easily convey metrics like stress tracking and recovery progress.

To top it all off, the Garmin Venu 3 destroys Apple and Samsung when it comes to battery life, with the ability to run for up to 14-days on a single charge. Compare that with the 18-hour stint often quoted by Apple for its mainline wearables, and it’s easy to see how the Venu 3 might be a far more tempting proposition.

If you’re a frequent marathon runner or even part of the elite ultra-marathon crowd then you’ll know better than anyone that battery life for your wearables is key, and in that regard there is nothing within Garmin’s range that outlasts the Enduro 3.

This beast of a smartwatch uses a combination of wired charging and solar charging to operate for up to 90-days at a time which leaves almost every competing watch in this arena in the dust.

While the Enduro 3’s high £769.99/$899.99 asking price prevents it from being an immediate must-buy for owners of the Garmin Enduro 2, it does at least pack improved mapping support, a new heart rate sensor and more robust tracking for strength training.

The two things to bear in mind with the Enduro 3 is that unlike the Fenix 8, you don’t get the option of an AMOLED or a more old school transflective display (you’d immediately lumped with the latter), nor are there any size options available aside from the 51mm default. If you’d rather have a more compact watch with plenty of the latest trappings then the Garmin Fenix 8 will be the better buy of the two.

One consistent criticism our reviewers have mounted at Garmin wearables is that, while they’re great fitness trackers, they’re admittedly not the prettiest of devices. The majority offer utilitarian, chunky designs that focus on performance and not their looks. This has meant that some of the team with smaller wrists, and a degree of fashion sense, have often opted for other more discrete looking trackers from the likes of Fitbit.

Thankfully, Garmin has fixed this problem with the Venu 2S which is our recommended option for people who don’t want a chunky watch. Venu is Garmin’s fashion-focused line of wearables, and the 2S is the best option in the line-up that we’ve tested. Out of the box its thinner, circular design and OLED screen immediately made it feel more like a smartwatch than the other options on this list.

Though it doesn’t track the same amount of sports or metrics as the Fenix, for mid-to-entry level athletes its activity and post workout analytics are more than good enough. We found the GPS to be suitably reactive and accurate to track 5km runs and the odd cycle. Offline music and Spotify support are also welcome features that are rare on wearables at this price. The only downside is that it’s not quite as rugged as the Fenix or Enduro, so if you regularly engage in extreme sports then you’ll be better off looking elsewhere as a result.

If you’re after an entry level tracker that won’t break the bank then Garmin’s Vivosmart 5 is one of the best on the market.

The discrete band design is wonderfully comfortable to wear, and it still offers all the analytics and features an entry level runner or a gym newcomer will need. During testing we found that the watch is capable of tracking all the basic activities well, supporting indoor and outdoor running, cycling plus basic cardio and swimming.

As an added bonus, while it doesn’t have local music or Spotify support, the Vivosmart 5 can at least be used to control music being streamed from a phone. We found this feature particularly useful when treadmill running, as it saved us from having to awkwardly paw at our phone when an unwanted track made its way into the playlist.

Post-workout analytics are stripped down to make them understandable, but offer all the detail you need to make a difference. Highlights include your intensity minutes plus useful metrics like your body battery, VO2 Max estimate, and fitness age. These are rare insights for a wearable at this price. Fitbit, by comparison, hides some of them behind a paywall.

The only real compromise we noticed is that due to the lack of untethered GPS connectivity, distance tracking when running outdoors could be a little hit and miss. Without a connected GPS the wearable had a tendency to add or remove around 0.3km from our 5km runs.

While they’re known for their sports and fitness prowess, Garmin wearables aren’t particularly favoured for their aesthetic which tends to be more functional than fashionable. If you’ve been hoping for a more fashion-conscious wearable that also includes Garmin’s tracking features then look no further than the Garmin Vivomove Trend.

This hybrid smartwatch combines the watch dials of a traditional timepiece with the digital functionality of a modern wearable thanks to the touchscreen that lies beneath the aforementioned dials. When you want to scroll through the Vivomove Trend’s menus, the watch dials will simply move out of the way to give you an unobstructed view of the onboard apps.

The only major letdown here is that the amount of fitness tracking features can’t quite compete with Garmin’s high-end wearables, but the Trend does excel in the realm of wellness tracking which is just the ticket to help you keep an eye out on your stress levels throughout the day and to better pinpoint the main causes of stress.

You also get access to Garmin’s detailed sleep tracking data via the Garmin Connect app, which can go a long way towards helping you to establish better sleeping patterns and improving your recovery period after intense workouts.

As an added cherry on top, the Vivomove Trend is one of the few Garmin watches (and few smarwatches in general) to boast wireless charging, so if you have a Qi wireless charger then it’ll be compatible with the Trend right out of the box. If you’re sick of proprietary cables then this is an absolute Godsend.

It is worth mentioning that the more feature-packed Garmin Vivomove Sport is actually cheaper than the Trend and arguably a better option when it comes to fitness tracking. Still, the Trend’s unique design and wireless charging give it enough to set it apart from the crowd.

For the sheer amount of choice in the world of Garmin smartwatches, it can seem pretty daunting to anyone just starting out who wants a simple wearable that does the basics well and doesn’t cost a fortune in return. To that end, the Garmin Forerunner 165 is your best bet.

This entry-level watch takes everything that makes Garmin great and condenses it into one easy to use device that’s ideal for helping those who are just hitting their local park run for the first time and want a bit more insight into their progress.

As you might expect, the Forerunner 165 provides top notch heart rate tracking that largely managed to keep up with a dedicated chest-strap monitor in our testing. This information is then funnelled into your VO2 max score which lets you know how equipped your body is at tackling cardiovascular activity.

The watch can connect to GPS independently of a smartphone, so if you want to keep tabs on your route and see which areas are giving you the most trouble then you can do exactly that, all while your phone is on charge at home.

Unlike Garmin’s affordable watches of old, the Forerunner 165 features more modern tech in the display area, opting for an AMOLED panel. Not only does this make watch faces and bits of information pop on-screen, but it’s all incredibly easy to read both indoors and outdoors, so you won’t have to worry about squinting.

As a final cherry on top, the Forerunner 165 doesn’t skimp on the battery life, with the ability to get up to 11-days of use on a single charge. That’s not bad for a device that, at £249.99/$249.99, is much cheaper than the majority of Garmin watches.

The only major annoyance is that if you want to enjoy music playback offline, you’ll need to plump up for the pricier ‘Music’ version which sits at £289.99/$299.99. Still, while it’s bested by similarly priced Apple Watches and Galaxy Watches where smart features are concerned, the Forerunner 165 still dominates in battery life and fitness tracking accuracy.