If you were looking for the Best Garmin Watch you already know that the variety of models that you have to choose is wide, the range goes from a variety of features, designs, and prices making it overwhelming to understand which one is the best fit for your needs.
We give you a detailed review with the best models depending on your activities and needs so read below and find the best Garmin for your wrist.
Contents
Best Garmin Watch Comparison Table
| Model | Best |
|---|---|
| Garmin Vivoactive 3 | Smartwatch |
| Garmin Forerunner 735XT | Fitness Tracker |
| Garmin Forerunner 645 Music | Music |
| Garmin Forerunner 935 | Running Tracker |
| Garmin Fenix 5X | Sports Tracker |
| Garmin Fenix 3 | GPS Tracker |
| Garmin Approach X40 | Golf Tracker |
1. Garmin Vivoactive 3
Best Garmin smartwatch
Pros:
-Vastly improved design
-GPS and heart rate perform well
-Advanced workout-tracking
-Seven-day battery life
Cons:
-Just one button is tricky
-No onboard music storage
-Notifications support still basic
Released on October 2017 with the goal to be the best Garmin smartwatch and giving a wide range of smart features as well high-end fitness tracking abilities the Vivoactive 3 is one tracker for those that would like to improve their fitness level on a smart way.
Just like its direct competitors the Fitbit Ionic and the Apple Watch Series 3, this is a tracker with more than just fitness smarts on their mind. With the Vivoactive 3, Garmin is pushing not only the limits of daily exercises so you can perform the best but is also aiming to give you a full in-depth review of your exercises to get a comprehensive way to improve your levels even if you are a professional athlete.
In the looks department, the Vivoactive 3 is one of the most modern and better looking from the Vivoactive series.
With the launch of Garmin’s pay system, Garmin Pay you will have the ability to pay directly from your wrist by using the common credit and debit cards such as Visa and Master Card
This tracker is one of the best smartwatches in terms of price, high-end features and ease of use. For those who love the high-end Garmin’s like the Fenix 5 but could afford the high price range, the Vivoactive 3 offers many of the same features for half the price.
Price: $269.99
Buy it for: GPS, notifications, Garmin Pay, heart rate monitoring, battery life
In-depth: Our full Garmin Vivoactive 3 review
Buy now: from Amazon
2. Garmin Forerunner 735XT
Best Garmin Fitness Tracker
Pros:
-Robust design
-Great multi-sport support
-Good coaching and activity tracking
Cons:
-The app is difficult to navigate
-Not the best-looking watch around
The Garmin Forerunner 735XT is one of the most powerful fitness trackers ever, you can get it as a standalone watch or as a Tri Bundle, that comes along with the Garmin’s HRM Tri and HRM Swim chest straps. You will get a powerhouse with the bundle, but even the fitness tracker by itself comes packed with features that can track and improve your fitness level at the highest end.
The built-in GPS sensor is incredibly fast and will pick up the signal in less than 2 seconds, so when you want to start to get your runs or cycling going and get the most accurate and precise tracking you will not need to wait, you can get out and start to track.
Another function that works perfectly without the need of the bundle is the heart rate monitor that is also really accurate. Although if you get the chest HRM straps the stats are going to be more accurate and you will get more data and stats.
Last but not least the sleep tracking function comes with a lot of information on your sleep stages so you can understand how to get over insomnia and the different stats from your nights.
So overall the Forerunner 735XT is an outstanding fitness tracker that will help you get to the next level even if you are a pro athlete.
Price: $399
Buy it for: GPS, notifications, heart rate monitoring, and high-end fitness tracking.
Buy now: from Amazon
3. Garmin Forerunner 645 Music
Best Garmin watch for music
Similar to our first pick the Vivoactive 3, the Forerunner 645 Music is a powerful tracker that can monitor close to everything you will get tracking for walk, run, bike, swimming, row, ski, XC ski, indoor run, bike indoor, walk indoor and row indoor – you will get stats and accurate data for this and more sports.
For running, you can track an incredible amount of stat that can help improve your runs even if you are a professional athlete. You can check your cadence, stride length, ground contact time and balance, vertical oscillation and vertical ratio.
For runs and all the different sports that you can track with the Forerunner 645, you can also access to the Training Status, Training Effect and Training Load features that will help you recover between sessions.
Although this tracker is a big deal when it comes to tracking at the highest level possible and help you to improve your health and fitness levels the Forerunner 645 has one real aim and is Music!. This tracker is the first Garmin watch that can stream music right from your wrist. By itself, the tracker has the capacity to load up to 500 songs although you can use offline playlists from different apps like Deezer and iHeartRadio.
Price: $448.99.
Buy it for: GPS, music, Garmin Pay, heart rate monitoring, battery life
Buy now: from Amazon
4. Garmin Forerunner 935
Best Garmin Running Watch
Pros:
-So comfortable you barely notice it
-Attractive design
-Impressive battery life
-Multiple training functions
-Smartphone connectivity
Cons:
-Thick screen bezel
-Garmin Connect app still overwhelming
The Garmin Forerunner 935 is today’s best and more accurate running watch no the market, including everything that you might need and even more! You will have a built-in GPS, heart-rate monitor and both activity and sleep tracking to get your overall health and fitness tracking in check. But that’s not all you will also get an altimeter and compass that will give you accurate tracking for any sport that you practice and is even waterproof so you can use it with no problems for triathlons.
We test the GPS and just like most Garmin watches you will get incredibly accurate tracking and super fast satellite locks, meaning that you can access to the GPS tracking by just pressing the button with no waiting involved. This is great for example in the case that you need to track your triathlon and you want to transition between disciplines with just the press of one button, plus the menus are intuitive so you will always get your next discipline awaiting to start the track.
When it comes to Battery life there are not many trackers that can perform as well as the Forerunner 935, with 2 weeks of tracking with no need of charge is one of the most powerful battery juice that you will find, as well with GPS enabled you can get 24 hours of battery so is at least double juice that you will get with any other high-end tracker.
And that not all! you will also get the ability to paired with your phone and get notifications from your wrist. The Garmin Forerunner 935 is the most powerful tracker in the market and comes from years of Garmin experience, so you will get a cool tracker, with powerful features and a beautiful design altogether.
Price: $499.99.
Buy it for: GPS, heart rate monitoring, fitness tracking features and battery life
Buy now: from Amazon
5. Garmin Fenix 5X
Best Garmin for Sports
Pros:
-Useful built-in maps
-Excellent battery life
-Support for lots of sports
-Rugged and attractive
Cons:
-A bit heavy and bulky for some
-Garmin Connect app is still overwhelming
The Fenix 5X is the evolution of smartwatches packed with high-end features from smart to fitness you will get the best performance ever, and as you can expect is a pricey option but totally worth it. With sensors that can track close to any type of sports from regular trackings such as running, cycling and swimming, as well as different activities such as hiking, or paddle boarding.
Is also one of the most durable trackers and one of the best Garmin running watches that will last for years and by having the best technologies all together it will be a reliable companion for years to come. Featuring a rugged sapphire screen and 10 ATM ( 100 meters) of water resistance this tracker can do it all. WIth a memory-in-pixel display that will help you to easy to read all the information on the screen even with the sun on your screen, as well a battery life that can last up to 12 days and 24 hours of full GPS tracking.
There also smartphone notifications once you sync the devices. The Fenix 5x is one amazing tracker that will be a great companion for outdoors and indoors as well.
Buy it for: GPS, heart rate monitoring, swimming abilities, fitness tracking features and battery life
In-depth: Our full Garmin Fenix 5x review
Buy now: from Amazon
6. Garmin Fenix 3
Best Garmin GPS Watch
Pros:
-Excellent battery life
-Hard-wearing frame
-Versatile GPS tracking
-Quick, well-designed UI
Cons:
-Lacks golf tracking of other models
-No on-watch maps
-Big and bulky
The Fenix 3 is a big tracker that can look bulky as well you can see it on a military wrist or a manly range forest, but besides the substantial design the watch comes packed whit features and function that can track from a beginner to a professional athletes having in-depth analysis for each of your exercises and sports.
When it comes to sports you will have a wide range to choose from sport to exercises you are going to be more likely cover. You can track the basic such as running or cycling as well as more extreme sports such as cross-country skiing, climbing, trail running and more. Exercises like Indoor Cycling will need the addon from the ANT+ cadence sensors, however, you will need the bundle package that comes with ANT+ HRM if you want you heart rate track stats.
With a lot of sensors built in you will have an accelerometer, barometer, altimeter and GPS GLONASS for faster location detection. You will also get basic smartwatch functions like notification once you have a paired phone.
Price: $499.99.
Buy it for: GPS, fitness tracking features and battery life
In-depth: Our full Garmin Fenix 3 review
Buy now: from Amazon
7. Garmin X40
Best Garmin for Golf
The x40 is the coolest combination between the Vivosmart 3, the Forerunner 935 and the 735XT but with a focus on golf tracking activities.
Essentially is the best fitness tracker for golfers, featuring a powerful GPS that can collect all your courses data plus an accurate heart rate monitor. Featuring a 1-inch display that will show your progress and comes with support for 35,000 courses included, plus pin position details, shot detection, hazards, shot measuring, besides high-end fitness tracking and a good battery life.
By using the AutoShot feature the tracker is going to able to track the location of your hacks around the course, which will be fed back to Garmin Connect after your round. You will also get smart notification support to ping you when someone’s trying to get in touch while you’re out on the course.
Price: $249.99.
Buy it for: Complete golf modes, plenty of course data, sports and activity tracking modes
In-depth: Check out our in-depth Garmin Approach X40 review
Buy now: from Amazon