Setting the pace: the best Garmin watches of 2024

The Garmin Venu 3 is the closest that any Garmin device comes to being a fully-fledged smartwatch. As a result, this is the Garmin device does everything well, whether you’re buying it for serious fitness tracking or more casual purposes. It’s also one of the best-looking Garmin devices currently available. While some Garmin devices are very clearly designed with sports in mind, this watch won’t look out of place, whether you’re gearing up for an intense workout or cocktails. 

It’s much more than a (very) pretty watchface, however. The Venu 3 packs in a wealth of health and fitness tracking tools, including a sleep coach, Garmin’s excellent Body Battery tool, Morning Report, and even tools to explain how a workout will affect your body, and how long it will take to recover. There’s also the usual heart rate, sleep, steps, and calorie monitoring. Built-in GPS makes this incredibly accurate for tracking runs and bike rides, training plans developed by experts, running metrics, and even a wheelchair mode for tracking pushes, rather than steps.

The Venu 3 also has a built-in mic and speaker, allowing you to take calls on your wrist via a connected smartphone. You can also listen to downloaded music from Spotify, Amazon, and Deezer. In short, it’s a brilliant device, perfect for a wide range of users.

If you’re unsure about whether to go for a smartwatch or fitness tracker, or maybe you’re just embarking on your fitness journey, then the Garmin Vivosmart 5 is a great, affordable way to dip your toe into the water. And it’s considerably cheaper than most Garmin devices, with an RRP of £129.99, and often available for less.  

It’s a fitness tracker rather than a watch, which means it has a much smaller and slimmer profile. The screen is black and white but clear and easy to read. And there are plenty of health and fitness metrics to take advantage of: heart rate, blood oxygen, sleep, stress, steps and calories are all tracked, while you still get features such as Body Battery and Fitness Age. It will buzz to alert you to phone calls and other notifications, but it isn’t a replacement for your phone. And it also relies on connected GPS, which means it’s a little less accurate than a Garmin with GPS built-in.  

This isn’t a device that will appeal to those who want the best of everything. But, if you’re looking for a comprehensive fitness tracker that doesn’t cost loads, but still gives you access to plenty of insights into your health and fitness, it’s a great choice.

If you enjoy going off the beaten track, you’ll probably need a device that can withstand some harder conditions. Garmin’s Instinct 2X Solar edition is the best Garmin for the job. The ‘X’ is the largest model in the instinct range, bringing a bigger screen, a built-in flashlight and multi-band GPS for extra accuracy when you’re in the middle of nowhere. 

You won’t need to worry about the battery. In smartwatch mode, Garmin says this watch will deliver a frankly ridiculous 40 days (about 1 and a half months) between charges, while the solar charging lens means it can – potentially - be unlimited. It produces 50 per cent more energy than the standard Instinct 2 Solar edition. This also means up to 145 hours (about 6 days) of battery life while using GPS.

It also has plenty of tools for outdoor adventures: Trackback routing helps you navigate the same route back to your starting point, and reference points mean you can easily find your way back to a designated spot, such as your car. There are some helpful safety and tracking features, as well as a host of other health and activity tracking metrics. These include daily suggested workouts, obstacle course tracking, recovery time, and the usual heart, sleep and other data you would expect to see. 

The screen isn’t as sharp as the best AMOLED displays on some Garmin devices, and it lacks full map support that you’ll find on some other Garmin watches, such as the Fenix 7. But its rugged design and stellar battery are seriously impressive.

The Forerunner 265 is the updated version of the Forerunner 255, which we also love. It’s a superb mid-range running watch that is suitable for beginner and intermediate fitness fans, offering all the usual Garmin health and fitness tracking metrics that you should expect.  

The display is a gorgeous AMOLED touchscreen that is easy to read and simple to use—it's a significant update over the Forerunner 255. It still keeps the impressive battery life of its predecessor, offering up to 15 days (about 2 weeks) between charges in smartwatch mode and 24 hours in GPS mode (depending on which model you get). Talking of GPS, the multi-band GPS on this watch is seriously impressive and highly accurate.  

In addition to the usual health tracking, there are plenty of running-focused tools to help you smash your PB: these include race-adaptive training plans to tailor your training for your next event, running metrics such as cadence, stride length and ground contact time, running power, and pace guidance. 

With an RRP of £429, this certainly isn’t a bargain. But you’re getting an exceptionally polished package, perfect for supporting most runners, unless you absolutely need maps.

If you like the look of the Forerunner 265, but aren't so keen on the price tag, then the Garmin Forerunner 255 is definitely worth considering. It has almost all the same features as the newer model, and is available for much less. while the RRP is £299.99, we've seen it available for much closer to £200, making this an absolute bargain.

The single biggest difference between the Forerunner 255 and the 265 is the absence of the AMOLED display, which is significantly better than the memory-in-pixel display you'll get on the 255. But leaving that aside, the Forerunner 255 offers loads of health and fitness tracking metrics, which will likely be more than enough for most people.

Sleep, heart rate, blood oxygen and stress are all monitored by this watch, while Body Battery, Fitness Age, and VO2 Max scores are all available too. The built-in GPS is very accurate, and as we wrote in our Garmin Forerunner 255 review, we love the Garmin Connect app.

Like the Forerunner 265, it still doesn't offer many smartwatch features. And the screen is a little on the dull side. But if you aren't fussed about the screen, or just want to save some pennies, you could do a lot worse than the Forerunner 255.

For the technological capabilities of Garmin's Venu 2 at a much lower price, the Venu Sq 2 is the definitive answer. With a squared-off, contoured design similar to the Apple Watch, this modern aesthetic might not be for everyone—but it still has its appeal. It is sleek, comfortable, and has pretty much all the same features as the Venu 2—bar the barometric altimeter and an internal gyroscope, which, while useful for hands-free interaction, isn't all that important.

The Garmin Venu Sq 2 contains everything you'll need to begin your illustrious fitness journey - inside and outside of the gym. Planning a hike? Get access to the latest GPS mapping so you don't encounter any unexpected roadblocks or well-hidden impassable streams. Trying to really feel the burn? Use one of the many pre-built cardio routines to set yourself an exercise challenge perfectly suited to your ability. The Garmin Venu Sq 2 is quite simply an excellent all-around smartwatch for both the general day-to-day or for those most intense, extreme workouts.

If money is no object, and style is a major factor, then the Garmin MARQ Athlete is the ultra-premium device that we think is prettier than any other Garmin watch. It also offers a comprehensive suite of fitness and health tracking metrics, so it’s just as good at tracking your activity as many less glamorous Garmin devices. 

The beautiful AMOLED screen uses sapphire crystal for extra durability alongside a titanium case. It’s also waterproof to 100 metres. The bezel displays your VO2 Max and your recovery time at a glance, while the battery lasts up to 16 days (about 2 and a half weeks), or six days if you have the display on all the time. 

The MARQ Athlete watch has all the features you’d expect from a high-end Garmin watch – the usual heart, sleep and other health-tracking metrics are all here. But there are also animated workouts on the watch, and lots of running-focused tools as well, including running power, a race widget, Garmin Coach, PacePro to keep you on pace, real-time stamina data, and much more. There’s even a jet lag adviser to help you minimise the effects of long-distance travel. 

With an RRP of £1599.99, this watch clearly isn’t for everyone. But if style matters, and you can afford it, it’s one of the best-looking smartwatches around.

Whether you’re a marathon runner, ultramarathon runner, trail runner, or just want to smash your personal best at your local park run, a watch that gives you all the insights you could want is a valuable companion. In our view, the Garmin Epix Pro (2nd Gen) is the current best choice to put on your wrist. 

Like most of the devices on our shortlist, the Epix Pro has many health and fitness metrics to help keep you in top condition. But it also adds some extra features, such as your Endurance score and Hill score, which are valuable insights if you’re training for a long-distance event. Hill score lets you know how you cope with – you've guessed it – running up a hill. You can get insights into how good you are on steep ascents or your endurance on longer climbs.  

You can also access and use full-colour maps, which look great on the superb AMOLED screen. Battery life is no slouch, either. You can get up to 16 days (about 2 and a half weeks) in smartwatch mode and up to 42 hours (about 2 days) in GPS mode—plenty for all but the most extreme outdoor events.  

If you’re new to running, this might be a little overwhelming – a lot of data is available on this watch. The £739.99 RRP also puts it towards the top end of the price scale. But if you’re a seasoned runner who wants more support or insight into your training, this is about as good as it gets.

The Garmin Forerunner 965 is an update on the Forerunner 955 – itself an excellent multi-sports watch. The Forerunner 965 offers all the health and fitness tracking metrics of its predecessor and comes with the bonus of a beautiful AMOLED screen. The display is clear and very bright, making it much easier to read in sunny conditions, as well as making maps clearer. 

It has all the usual training and recovery insights you’d hope to see, multi-band GPS for extremely accurate location tracking, and more than 30 different sports modes, including triathlon and biathlon tracking modes. There’s also onboard music playback, offline maps, a flashlight feature, and smart notifications for emails, texts and other alerts.  

The Forerunner 965 also has outstanding battery life – up to 23 days (about 3 and a half weeks) in smartwatch mode, and eight-and-a-half hours if you turn on all the GNSS tracking systems and play music as well. 

Despite being an outstanding watch for triathletes and runners, it does come in only one size. The Forerunner 265 we highlighted earlier is a suitable alternative for those who prefer something a little smaller. The RRP of £599.99 again means this won’t be for everyone, but if you can afford it, it’s an excellent choice.

If you are just getting started with running and want something to give you some help along the way without paying the premium prices of some of the Garmin watches we’ve already listed, consider the Garmin Forerunner 55. As the lower number implies, it isn’t as sophisticated as the Forerunner 265 or the Forerunner 965. But the benefit is that it makes it more accessible for beginners, and considerably cheaper, with an RRP of £179.99. 

Yes, you’ll miss out on some advanced training features such as Endurance score and Hill score, for example. But for a beginner, these are arguably unnecessary. More important are features such as Garmin Coach, PacePro (which uses GPS to give you pace guidance), cadence alerts, and recovery advice. All of these are included alongside common metrics such as heart rate, sleep, and step tracking. GPS is accurate, and the Garmin Coach provides structured training plans for 5K, 10K and half-marathon runs, to help you find your feet. 

The screen isn’t as good as some of the best watches, and you can’t use it to listen to music as you go. But, at the sub-£200 price, this is an excellent entry-level device, that’s perfect for beginners.