The best smartwatches are excellent fitness gadgets. They’re built to track your activity levels, record your workouts, and show you health and recovery insights. But they also do much more. The top smartwatches around today connect to your smartphone, delivering notifications, and even phone calls, to your wrist, as well as give you quick and easy access to a range of apps, like meditation apps, timers, weather insights, and so much more.
Whether you need a workout companion or simply want a stylish-looking watch with some extra features, a smartwatch is a great piece of tech to invest in, the good news is that these days there’s a lot of choice – even a sold selection of cheap smartwatches if you’re on a budget.
We've tested and reviewed many smartwatches, including the most popular and high-end entries, like the latest Apple Watch models, including the Series 9 and Ultra 2, and Samsung smartwatches. We've also spent time with Fitbit's offerings and Wear OS watches from brands like Fossil, Ticwatch and Mobvoi, too, ensuring that there's something for everyone in our best smartwatches guide below.
Curated by
Curated by
Matt Evans
Fitness, Wellbeing and Wearables EditorMatt is TechRadar's Fitness 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: a former staffer at Men's Health magazine, he's also written for publications like Runner's World, Women's Health, Men's Fitness, LiveScience and Fit&Well.
The quick list
The best watch overall
(Image credit: Future / Matt Evans)
The best smartwatch overall
Our expert review:
OS:
watchOS 10
Compatibility:
iOS
Display:
1.9" OLED
Processor:
Apple S9
Onboard storage:
32GB
Battery:
36 hours
Charging method:
Wireless
IP rating:
Water-resistant to 100m
Connectivity:
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, LTE, Ultra Wideband
View at AppleView at TargetView at T-Mobile+
Large, bright display
+
Action button is very useful
-
Battery life, while improved, could still be better
-
Ultra Wideband only works with iPhone 15
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is the ultimate smartwatch with one of the best screens we've ever seen on a wearable, with its sumptuous Retina Display OLED commanding up to 3,000 nits of brightness. It's bigger and bulkier, than the standard Apple Watch, and has a faster S9 processor, enabling that excellent Double Tap gesture available on the Series 9 below. In all other respects, it's identical to its predecessor, the original Apple Watch Ultra.
It could still offer better battery life (despite surpassing the regular Apple Watch) but a powerful and accurate GPS is great for exploring, especially with watchOS 10's improved hiking waypoints feature, plus it's a working dive computer with the Oceanic Plus app.
During testing, we easily found this to be the most capable wearable that the brand has ever made. Unfortunately, it is limited by its reliance on Apple phones, and its high price. However, when looking at the smartwatches on this list in a vacuum, it is the best smartwatch from a technical standpoint. As you can see in the specs table below, it's got the biggest, brightest screen, it can dive the deepest underwater, and its case is comprised of ultra-hard titanium.
Read our full Apple Watch Ultra 2 review
Swipe to scroll horizontally
The best smartwatches: Specifications comparedComponentApple Watch Ultra 2Apple Watch SE 2 (40mm)Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 (40mm)Google Pixel Watch 2Ticwatch Pro 5CMF Watch Pro by NothingPrice$799 / £799 / AU$1,399$249 / £259 / AU$399£299 / £289 / AU$549$349 / £349 / AU$549$349.99 / £329.99 / AU$519.99$69 / £69 / AU$131Dimensions49 x 41 x 14 (mm) 40 x 34 x 10.7 (mm)38.8 x 40.4 x 9.0 (mm)41 x 41 x 12.3 (mm)50.1 x 48.0 x 12.2 (mm)46.9 x 39.87 x 12.89 (mm)Weight61g 27.8 grams (cellular)28.7g31g44.3g47gCase/bezelTitaniumAluminum / nylonAluminum armor, graphiteAluminum7000-series aluminum + high-strength nylon with fiberglassAluminium alloyDisplay502 x 410 px poly-silicon always-on OLED Retina Display324 x 394 retina OLED display1.3-inch, 432 x 432 px super AMOLED384 x 384 px always-on AMOLED 320 ppi466 x 466 px, always-on OLED, Corning Gorilla Glass410 x 502 px, AMOLEDGPSYes (unspecified)Yes (unspecified)GPS, GLONASS, BEIDOU, GalileoGPSGPS, Beidou, Glonass, Galileo, QZSSGPS/GLONASS/Galileo/QZSS/BeidouBattery life36 hours18 hoursUp to 40 hours24 hours80 hoursUp to 13 daysConnectionBluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi, LTEBluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi, LTEBluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi, LTEBluetooth 5.0, WiFi, 4G LTEBluetooth 5.2Bluetooth 5.3Water resistantWR100 (diveproof)WR505ATM+IP685ATM5ATMIP68The best cheap Apple Watch
(Image credit: TechRadar)
The best Apple Watch for iPhone users on a budget
Our expert review:
OS:
watchOS 10
Compatibility:
iOS
Display:
1.78" OLED
Processor:
Apple S8
Onboard storage:
32GB
Battery:
18 hours
Charging method:
Wireless
IP rating:
Water-resistant to 50m
Connectivity:
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, LTE
Check Amazon+
Light and comfortable
+
Good battery life for price
+
Packs updated features compared to older cheap Apple Watches
-
No always-on screen or ECG compared to higher-priced watches
-
Nylon back
The Apple Watch SE 2 is arguably the best Apple Watch for most people, as it’s a lot more affordable than the Apple Watch Series 9, yet has most of the core features for those models, and even the same chipset as the Series 8.
The main things it lacks are an always-on display, an ECG, and blood oxygen tracking from the 8 (although the current Apple Watch Series 9 is now being sold without blood oxygen tracking), and the Double Tap feature from the 9, but the Apple Watch SE 2 still has a wide range of health and fitness features, plus potentially life-saving additions like Car Crash Detection.
It’s also powerful, has impressive battery life for a proper smartwatch, and is very light and comfortable to wear. So it strikes a superb balance between price and performance, and is a great relatively affordable pick.
Read our full Apple Watch SE 2 review
The best Samsung watch
(Image credit: Future / Matt Evans)
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is a smart-looking watch in every sense of the word. It looks great on your wrist while offering powerful features. A larger Super AMOLED display is sharp and clear, as well as able to handle very bright outdoor scenes.
Performance-wise, it's fast although you'll reap the most benefits when paired with a Samsung smartphone. There's no iPhone support here either.
Besides SmartThings integration, the highlights here is the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6's updated chipset, the Exynos W930, and the ability to monitor your body's muscle and fat composition. It's bordering on the ultimate fitness tool with extensive sleep tracking also helping you get the most from yourself every day. Shame about that one-day battery life, though.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 review
The best Google watch
(Image credit: Future)
The Google Pixel Watch 2, like its predecessor, is an uncommonly beautiful smartwatch. It has a natural rather than a manufactured look, with a glossy face that curves to meet an equally curvaceous body. The construction is close to seamless.
Because of that curve, there's more glass facing you than on the Apple Watch Series 9, which both adds to the elegance and cunningly hides a larger-ish black bezel surrounding the screen. The battery life is slightly improved compared to the original, getting fast charge, while a new multi-path HR sensor improves workout tracking.
This is a bright, colorful, and responsive AMOLED display, considerably smaller than the Apple Watch Series 9's rectangular face, but Google does a lot with the reduced screen real estate. We never found ourselves wishing for more, except for the battery life. Although it's an improvement over the original Pixel and most Apple offerings, it's still a continual frustration at 24 hours: less than the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, and a bugbear we have with many watches on this list compared to, say, a Garmin.
Read our full Google Pixel Watch 2 review
The best Android smartwatch
(Image credit: Lloyd Coombes)
The best Wear OS smartwatch not made by Google
Our expert review:
Average Amazon review:
Compatibility:
Android, iOS
Display:
466 x 466 px, always-on OLED
Processor:
Snapdragon W5+ Gen1
Onboard storage:
32GB
Battery duration:
Up to 80 hours
Charging method:
Magnetic connecting pin
IP rating:
5ATM
Connectivity:
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2
Check Amazon+
Big battery
+
Powerful
+
Accurate fitness metrics
-
Quite expensive
The TicWatch Pro 5 is an excellent all-rounder and an outstanding Pixel Watch alternative.
It has a lot going for it. For one thing, it uses the mighty Snapdragon W5+ Gen1 processor, so performance is good in our tests. It also offers up to 80 hours of battery life, and very accurate fitness tracking metrics. Looks great on-wrist, too. Never mind the Pixel Watch, this beast could give the Samsung Galaxy 5 Pro a run for its money. With 7000-series aluminum + high-strength nylon with fiberglass, it's safe on the most rugged of trails.
The TicWatch Pro 5 is a little pricey, and doesn't come with an LTE option, a real kicker at this price point. But if you can get past that, it'll be a doughty workout companion.
Read the full TicWatch Pro 5 review
The best cheap smartwatch
(Image credit: Luke Baker)
The best cheap system-agnostic smartwatch
Our expert review:
Average Amazon review:
OS:
Nothing
Compatibility:
iOS 13 and above, Android 8.0 and above
Display:
1.96-inch 410 x 502 AMOLED
Processor:
Snapdragon Wear 4100
Onboard storage:
8GB
Battery duration:
13 days
Charging method:
Qi wireless charging
IP rating:
IP68
Connectivity:
Bluetooth 5.3, GPS
View at Amazon+
Large display
+
Great battery life
+
Very affordable
-
Some small connectivity issues
-
Overly simplistic
The CMF Watch Pro by Nothing is a very cheap, very attractive smartwatch that offers a lot for the money. It's got in-built GPS, up to 13 days of battery life, and in our review we mentioned the design was great, both in software and hardware. If you want a simplified smartwatch with a few health metrics, this is the one to get.
The downsides? With that low price point, of course, comes some missing features. It's never going to be as stacked with third-party apps or as versatile as an Apple or Samsung Galaxy watch, and you have to go through the rigmarole of manually adding contacts before calling them on the watch. The OS is pretty minimal, as one might expect from Nothing.
However, if you're looking for a cheap do-it-all watch that still looks attractive, you could certainly do a lot worse. The CMF Watch Pro is well-built, attractive and simple to use, and will certainly pick up a cult following.
Read our full CMF Watch Pro by Nothing review
How to choose the best smartwatch for you
Unfortunately, your choice of smartwatch often depends on your choice of phone, as not all wearables are compatible with competitor devices. Apple Watch only works with Apple iPhones. Samsung and Google watches, and other Wear OS devices, only work with Android devices, but you can use a Samsung watch with a Google phone and vice versa.
Fitness tracking wearables from Fitbit will work with any device and synchronize with the Fitbit app, but those devices tend to focus more sharply on fitness features, and don't offer all of the robust apps and services you'll find on other smartwatches.
Most wearables will get about a day of battery life, which will be disappointing if you're converting from a Garmin watch that lasts weeks. You can find a few watches that last longer on this list.
Finally, smartwatches can be expensive, and frankly they don't offer much value for what you pay. Before you spring for an Apple Watch Ultra, you might ask if you are really going Scuba diving this year, or if you're just going to check your text messages without disturbing your dinner mates.
The first thing to check is whether your phone is compatible with it - you can't use an Apple Watch with an Android phone, and you can't use a Google Pixel Watch with an iPhone. Beyond that, consider the battery life and the features - how often will you be happy charging it, and what do you really need out of your watch? A simpler watch can be a better pick.
The best smartwatch changes all the time, but typically you'll find an Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy smartwatch topping the list, as these tend to be packed full of high-end features and polish.
How we test smartwatches
Every smartwatch on this list has been fully and extensively reviewed by the expert team at TechRadar, so we know exactly what makes them tick.
Our review process involves using the devices as if they were our own personal wearables, ensuring every smartwatch gets fully tested in the real world. A comprehensive sweep of features takes place, and usage is varied over multiple days to give us a clear idea of how battery life performs.
Using that knowledge we've then ranked them, while also factoring in their price, performance, value, and core specs.
08 March: Reduced the number of entries and reformatted this buying guide.
A good fitness watch assures your workout is tracked and logged, providing data to help you reach your fitness goals. We tested the leading fitness trackers and GPS watches to find the best of 2024.
Support us! GearJunkie may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More
Fitness encompasses a host of activities: walking, running, golfing, climbing — all with different metrics to track. The best fitness watch or fitness tracker is one that supplements your workout regime, tracks the data, and fits with your lifestyle.
Our experts have been strapping on fitness watches of all kinds for close to a decade now, testing more than 45 of the best fitness watches and pulling together the best for every situation in this guide. These watches have been tested using standardized methods for comparing sensor accuracy, battery life, functionality, durability, and fit.
Beyond that, we’ve also taken these watches everywhere — from the summits of volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest to the depths of the canyonlands of Utah — and pushed these devices to the limit to see what breaks.
Besides our own personal testing, our resident fitness coach reached out to the clients he trains and other athletes for their insights and spent hours reading online reviews. We read spec sheets and compared them across brands and models.
Below are the best fitness watches, GPS watches, and fitness trackers based on our testing. To help you find the best fitness watch for your unique needs, we’ve included a buyer’s guide, a frequently asked questions section, and a comparison chart.
Editor’s Note: We updated our fitness watch guide on March 18, 2024, to include the Garmin fenix 7 Pro Sapphire Solar, Fitbit Charge 6, Polar Vantage V3, and Garmin vívoactive 5 — all exceptional watches for your next adventure.
Best Overall Fitness Watch
47 x 47 x 14.5 mm
73 g
Lithium-ion
57 hours; 73 hours with solar
GPS, GLONASS, Galileo
Power Sapphire, titanium
Yes
Yes
10 ATM (100m)
Impressive battery life
In-depth fitness and performance stats
Huge variety of activity profiles preset
Intuitive interface
Heavy on the wrist
Expensive
Cory Smith
Best Budget Fitness Watch
41.9 × 41.9 × 13 mm
30 g with nylon strap, 38 g with silicone band
Lithium-ion
38 hours
GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, and QZSS reception
1.2" Corning glass touchscreen and fiber-reinforced polymer
Breadcrumb
Yes
5 ATM (50m)
Extremely competitively priced
Outstanding battery life for the price
Dual-frequency GNSS reception
On-device 4GB music storage
Next-generation 5 LED heart rate monitor
Less durable nylon polymer case and mineral glass
Feels lightweight and less sturdy
Lack of training and coaching insight compared to rivals
Cory Smith
Best Mid-Tier Fitness Watch
46.1 x 46.5 x 14 mm
53 g
Lithium-ion
75 hours
GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, and QZSS reception
1.3" sapphire screen and titanium bezel
Yes
Yes
5 ATM (50m)
Impressive GPS tracking
All-encompassing activity profile suite
Great battery life
Comfortable band
Limited mapping capabilities
Dial-wheel tough to use while active
Cory Smith
Best Fitness Watch for Running
46.1 x 46.1 x 12.9 mm
47 g.
Lithium-ion
20 hours
Multi-band GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo reception
1.1-1.3" Gorilla Glass 3 and fiber-reinforced polymer
Yes
Yes
5 ATM (50m)
Dazzling AMOLED touchscreen display
Smart Garmin health stats and reports
Multi-band GNSS reception
USB-C charging
Not much third-party app support
Lacking in smartwatch features
Cory Smith
Best Fitness Watch for iPhone Users
49 x 44 x 14.4 mm
61.4 g.
Lithium-ion
12 hours
Multi-band GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou reception
Sapphire crystal and titanium
With cell service (limited without)
Yes
10 ATM (100m)
Depth of smartwatch features and downloadable apps
Ease of answering calls and texts without a phone connection
Advanced health monitoring
Large, clear display
Not incredible battery life
Heavier device
Cory Smith
Best Fitness Tracker
38 x 18.5 x 11.6mm
37 g.
Lithium-polymer
5 hours in GPS mode
GPS + GLONASS reception
1" glass, aluminum, and resin
No
No
5 ATM (50M)
GPS tracking without phone connection
Health-tracking metrics
Google apps built in
Affordable
Very basic sports tracking
Small screen
No non Google app controls
Cory Smith
Best Off-Grid Solar Fitness Watch
50 x 50 x 14.5 mm
67 g.
Lithium-ion
60 hours; unlimited with solar
Multi-band GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo reception
1.1" Power Glass and fiber-reinforced polymer
Yes
Yes
10 ATM (100m)
Utilizes multiple satellite navigation systems to offer pinpoint accuracy
Solar watch face charges the watch as you work
In-depth smart fitness features guide our workouts
The strap is removable or replaceable
Watch body is plastic
Cory Smith
Best of the Rest
43.8 x 43.8 x 13.3 mm
47 g.
Lithium-ion
21 hours
GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, and QZSS reception
1.2" Gorilla Glass DX and fiber-reinforced polymer
No
Yes
5 ATM (50m)
Customizable one-button scrolling to view health and fitness data
Programmable workouts for running, cycling, and swimming
Bright display and crisp button action make it easy to use during activities
Expensive
No multi-band GNSS satellite reception
Weak battery life for the price point
Cory Smith
49 x 49 x 13.6 mm
74 g.
Lithium-ion
90 hours in Endurance GPS mode; 140 hours with solar version
Multi-band GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, and Beidou reception
1.4" sapphire crystal and stainless steel/titanium
Yes
Yes
10 ATM (100m)
Free detailed topographic maps downloadable to the watch
Impressive battery numbers, with available solar charging
Dual-band GNSS reception
Wi-Fi connectivity
No music storage on device
Cory Smith
47 x 47 x 14.5 mm
57 g.
Lithium-polymer
Up to 61 hours
GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, and QZSS reception
1.4" Gorilla Glass and aerospace aluminum
Yes
Yes
WR50 (50m)
Outstanding battery life
Heart rate monitoring
Strava Live Segments
Expensive
Weak and delayed button action
Dull and simple app
Unintuitive interface
Cory Smith
43.6 x 43.6 x 12.6 mm
51 g.
Lithium-ion
22 hours
GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo reception
1.1-1.3" Gorilla Glass 3 and stainless steel
No, only back to start
Yes
5 ATM (50m)
Bright AMOLED display
Smart Garmin fitness plans and Body Battery readings
Smartphone voice assistant compatibility
Many different available bezels and straps
Proprietary charging connection
Some lag when awaking watch
Cory Smith
43 x 43 x 10.8 mm
64 g.
Lithium-ion
70 hours in Endurance GPS mode
GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS reception
Sapphire crystal and stainless steel/titanium
Yes
Yes
10 ATM (100m)
Vastly improved battery life
New processor is much quicker than old version
Not immune to a few lags here and there
No multi-band GNSS reception in a flagship watch
Cory Smith
42.3 x 24.3 x 12.2 mm
28 g.
Lithium-ion
18 days typical; 28 days with battery saver
Connect to smartphone GPS
1.4" tempered glass and polycarbonate
No
No
5 ATM (50m)
Affordability, intuitive, and comfortable
Accurate GPS for walking and biking
Strong catalog of workouts
Touchy screen lock
Short band
Not as rugged as other designs
Cory Smith
42.2 x 42.2 x 11.1 mm
36 g.
Lithium-ion
21 hours
GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo reception
1.2" Corning Gorilla Glass and anodized aluminum
No
No altimeter, yes compass
5 ATM (50m)
More affordable than comparative watches
Competitive training/health data for the type of watch
Smart lifestyle trackers and apps
Buttons are not very responsive
Cory Smith
There are plenty of fitness watches on the market today, but some important differences will dictate which to go with; (photo/Matthew Tangeman)GearJunkie knows fitness, and our testers know their watches. The team includes Cory Smith, an online running coach and freelance journalist with over 25 years of running and rock climbing experience. He’s an expert, from treadmills to shoes.
Our most recent fitness watch update saw contributor Ilana Newman saddled with more watches than she has wrists to put them on, putting them through the paces in southwest Colorado while trail running, backcountry skiing, and working through daily fitness regiments.
The San Juan mountains provided the perfect testing ground for this new generation of watches, and Newman is obsessed with training data and staying up to date on the newest outdoor gear.
Our experts have crafted a detailed testing regimen that aims to compare these watches on a level playing field, and it’s not uncommon to see our testers wearing three or more watches at once in order to give them a fair shake.
We compare track lengths, measure heart rate data against dedicated devices, challenge the satellite reception with difficult terrain, and run each of these watches completely dead — all in the name of winnowing out the chafe and finding the best fitness watches available today.
Beyond their personal expertise, GearJunkie has solicited the opinions of fellow runners, hikers, and climbers. When the dust settled and the final grades came in, the list above represented the best fitness watches we could drum up. But know that fitness tech is constantly improving, and new functionalities are being added daily to some of these watches. As they improve, so does our coverage, and we’ll continue to test them.
Whether the watch is tracking your progress or leading the way, these little wrist-mounted units pack a lot into a small space; (photo/Matthew Tangeman)The fitness watch market can be overwhelming. There are so many options — all of which might seem similar — it can feel as though you need a college degree to tell them apart.
While finding the best fitness watch for you does require some thought and research, this handy how-to-choose guide has all the essential information compiled so you can make the best decision for your fitness watch needs.
We go into everything from GPS reception to how training data is used to provide health and performance predictions. Each brand of watch uses slightly different data and provides different features, each of which is more or less important to consumers. We’ll spell it all out for you so you can make an informed decision that works for your specific fitness, health, and performance goals.
There are three very distinct categories of watches, each with strengths and weaknesses. Smartwatches are basically small smartphones for your wrist where you can add apps and take calls without your phone.
The most popular smartwatches are Apple and Samsung Galaxy watches. Functionally, they’re geared toward convenience and health tracking, but they tend to fall short on battery life, GPS accuracy, and workout functionally.
GPS watches such as Garmin, COROS, Suunto, and Polar are designed primarily for workouts that require GPS functionality (running, cycling, hiking, swimming, etc.). They tend to have over triple the battery life of smartwatches and are very strong with workout features, metrics, and tracking.
While most will allow text and email messages, and many provide storage for music or access to streaming apps like Spotify, they’re limited in the scope of apps you can add and will not replace your smartphone.
Fitness trackers have the least functionality and only track health and fitness metrics such as resting and variable heart rate, sleep patterns, and steps. Most will need to stay connected to a phone for features like GPS tracking.
Today’s fitness watches can track just about any activity imaginable, ranging from running to indoor rock climbing and even surfing. We’ve found that watches labeled as “outdoor” or “multisport” not only tend to be able to track the more obscure activities but also do so with more detail and granularity. As a result, this increased level of functionality tends to come with a higher price tag.
Some more entry-level watches do allow you to create new activity profiles for sports that are not built-in, but most of the time these only allow you to track the basics like heart rate, time, etc.
For example, while you could track rock climbing with the Garmin vívoactive 5, it does not have a specific profile for it, so you would only get basic data logged for that workout by using a different activity profile such as cardio. The Garmin fenix 7 Pro, however, has specific rock climbing (indoor climbing, climbing, and bouldering) activity profiles that allow you to track each route, the grade of the route, and the length of each climb.
Backcountry skiing is another specific activity that testers found lacking on some of the lower-end watches, since a session includes both uphill and downhill travel, logging it without a backcountry skiing-specific activity profile creates an inaccurate representation. Even using cross-country skiing as a substitute on the Fitbit Charge 6 did not provide the same overall picture as using a backcountry skiing profile on a watch like the Polar Vantage V3.
Depending on the brand and the activity being tracked, you will be able to see different data both during the activity and in the activity summary after completion. If the watch supports navigation, and you’re tracking an activity that involves moving, one screen will feature a map with your location.
High-end Garmin watches like the fenix 7 Pro series feature over 80 activity profiles with the ability to add more. The Polar Vantage V3 can hold up to 14 profiles on the watch and requires the Polar Flow app to edit or add more. COROS watches have about 30 activity profiles, but veer more towards technical outdoor activities instead of gym activities like Fitbit fitness trackers do.
All the watches we tested tracked common activities such as walking, running (outdoor, trail, treadmill), outdoor and indoor cycling, yoga, elliptical, general strength, and cardio sessions. If there’s a less-common sport you’d like to track, we suggest taking a look at the watch’s spec sheet to see if it’s covered.
As fitness watches have gotten better at tracking health and fitness data, companies have been able to use that data to give guidance on training. As a full-time running coach, our tester Cory Smith finds this particularly interesting.
The top reason he sees most runners struggle is because they overtrain or under-rest. Garmin and Polar seem to have the best training and coaching insights, with COROS right behind them.
Garmin, as the leader in the field for training data and even coaching through the watch interface, has a few statistics that seem to be included across their newest watches, no matter how high-end it is. Even these baseline stats can provide a good overview of training readiness and recovery.
Recovery time, for example, is included on both the vívoactive 5 and the fenix 7 Pro. Garmin’s recovery time uses data from your past workouts, including your recent and long-term training load and Vo2 max. Other data, like sleep and stress tracking can also impact recovery time. Another now-standard piece of training data for Garmin is Heart Rate Variability Status (HRV), which tracks the time in between heartbeats to determine the level of stress your body is currently under, due to training load, life, lack of sleep, and more.
Burly ski tour in the morning? Your watch will probably suggest a longer recovery time to ensure you’re 100% again; (photo/Matthew Tangeman)Garmin also uses all of the data it is constantly gathering during all-day tracking as well as activity tracking to provide workout suggestions. High-end watches, like the fenix 7 Pro or Forerunner 745, provide a specific workout each day in the Morning Report, with specific goals like “base building”, based on past activities and current training status.
There’s also the option to set up Garmin Coach on any Garmin Watch, which uses the Garmin Connect app to choose a training goal — such as training for a half marathon — and Garmin Coach will provide a training plan over an allotted time.
Polar uses similar data to provide data like Cardio Load Status which looks at short-term training load (strain) vs long-term training load (tolerance) to determine the effect of your training (detraining, maintaining, productive, or overreaching).
Health tracking is standard across fitness watches, from the most basic fitness tracker to the highest-end GPS watch.
Technology for health tracking has advanced a lot over the past few years, and certain features that used to be considered high-end are now available on just about every fitness watch, like SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation — measured through red and infrared light), and Heart Rate Variability.
Every fitness watch measures heart rate and sleep, while some, like Polar watches, measure body temperature. Additional health data such as calories and hydration are available on most watches we tested but must be tracked manually.
The Apple Watch provides heart health alerts for low or high heart rates and also allows for medication reminders. All fitness watches provide menstrual cycle tracking, and many have integrated mindfulness into their interfaces, like the Garmin vívoactive 5.
Garmin watches now also track naps, along with overnight sleep. Each brand has its own way of summarizing a night of sleep, but most use a scale of 1-100 to rate the night of sleep while also tracking time asleep and sleep cycles.
For the most part, health tracking features are also standard across brands, but each brand also has features that synthesize data in unique ways, like Garmin’s Body Battery and Fitbit’s Daily Readiness.
Garmin’s Body Battery, for example, uses data from sleep, stress, rest, and physical activity to provide a score from 1-100 for physical energy. Your Body Battery will be highest upon waking and ebbs throughout the day depending on activity and stress (measured through heart rate variability).
Some Garmin watches additionally provide insights such as “Easy Day: Your day has been easy so far and you have plenty of energy left for exercise or activity”. Other brands have similar features with different interfaces.
If navigation and mapping are important to you, you’ll have to shell out some cash. You can get some basic navigation features like waypoint markers and tracking integrated into your phone without needing to go for top-of-the-line watches. But if you’re going to be using your watch off grid and want to upload your own .gpx tracks, you’ll need to go for a higher-end Garmin, COROS, or Polar watch.
Entry-level Garmin watches like the Venu 2 and vívoactive 5 that include GPS but lack navigation often feature a back-to-start mode that allows you to use an on-screen compass to get back to where you started recording, without an on-screen map.
Watches with full GPS navigational capability and onscreen maps, like the fenix 7 Pro, Polar Vantage 3, or COROS Apex 2 Pro all allow you to download maps and .gpx tracks for navigation. They all come with basic maps installed, with the ability to add maps available through each brand’s app or website.
Garmin’s high-end watches like the fenix 7 Pro have a navigational feature called ClimbPro that shows the remaining distance for a section of uphill travel. Garmin watches also include pre-downloaded ski resort maps for 2000 ski resorts worldwide.
Garmin as well as COROS includes off-track alerts as well as turn-by-turn directions to a predetermined location.
Associated watch apps can enhance your navigation, even offering on-the-fly route creation; (photo/Erika Courtney)If you want the most smartwatch features, an Apple Watch or similar will be the way to go. But most fitness trackers and GPS watches also include an assortment of smartwatch features.
After Apple and Fitbit, Garmin has the best smartwatch features, with other brands like Polar and COROS forgoing features like contactless payment for better heart rate tracking and outdoor-focused features.
Pretty much all fitness watches sync with your phone and provide notifications for texts and other alerts — if you want. You can also turn this off if you’re in the camp who seek fewer distractions.
Many Garmin and COROS watches also feature offline music storage, while lower-end watches have compatibility with music streaming apps like Spotify and have music controls. All Garmin watches now feature Garmin Pay and have the ability to download many third-party apps for various additional features through the Garmin ConnectIQ store. Some watches, like the vívoactive 5, even allow you to respond to Android phone texts through the watch’s onscreen keyboard.
Most GPS devices are accurate within 1-3%. In our testing, all GPS-focused brands (Garmin, COROS, Polar, and Suunto) performed equally in GPS connection and accuracy. Connection time varied from 10 seconds to a couple of minutes, while distance was within the 1-3% margin.
It’s important to keep in mind that location has a lot to do with GPS connection and accuracy. Accuracy depends on multiple satellites communicating with each other freely and reporting back to the watch.
Distractions such as buildings, trees, cliffs, and clouds can affect the satellites’ ability to pinpoint the sensor in the watch. We suggest asking fellow athletes in the area where you’ll be working out to find out how their watch GPS performs.
Every watch will utilize a different selection of satellite systems, with more generally offering better fidelity; (photo/Nick Belcaster)GPS isn’t the only game in town when it comes to satellite navigation systems, and many new fitness watches are integrating other global systems to increase fidelity in their location technologies.
GLONASS is a Russian satellite navigation system that provides global positioning data in the same way that the GPS system does, and can provide more definition in high latitudes. Galileo is operated by the European Union and also offers full global coverage. The BeiDou Satellite Navigation System is operated by China and while originally only providing coverage to eastern Asia, went global in 2020. And finally, QZSS, a Japanese system, provides coverage over the Asia-Oceania regions.
Because different satellite systems have undergone multiple generations of satellites, each operates on a different frequency than the last. These older satellites are still functional and provide more data that leads to a much higher fidelity signal when combined with one another. This is multi-band GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) technology, and more and more fitness watches today are incorporating it into their builds.
Even without full-blown GPS reception, a good altitude and compass reading can assist in basic navigation; (photo/Matthew Tangeman)Most outdoor-focused fitness watches now come with barometric altimeters and compasses that support their navigational capabilities. This is where the older term ‘ABC’ watch comes from.
Barometric altimeters measure elevation through air pressure. They can also predict incoming storms and weather patterns.
Polar and Garmin both have options to set their watches to one of three settings: Automatic, Barometer, and Altimeter. ‘Barometer’ locks the watch in a mode where all changes in pressure will be considered due to weather and changes in ambient pressure, while ‘Altimeter’ considers all changes in pressure to be due to elevation change. Automatic determines the best mode for your current activity.
Pretty much all fitness watches that include GPS, even without full navigational capabilities, include a compass. This allows for back-to-start navigation and basic orientation without service.
Monitoring heart rate is one of the most basic features of any fitness watch or tracker, and pulse oximeters have become standard over the past few years. These two sensors allow users to keep track of training strain and overall health.
Each brand of watch uses a slightly different technology to analyze and interpret heart rate data, but they all use similar ways of measuring optical heart rate, known as photoplethysmography (PPG). A green light shines from the back of the watch, through your skin, and reflects off of red blood cells in your veins, measuring blood flow.
Pulse oximeters measure blood oxygen content, which is most useful at high elevations to determine adjustment to altitude and performance ability. Fitness watches use red and infrared light to estimate the percentage of oxygen in your blood. While useful especially for altitude training, watch pulse oximeters are not as reliable as fingertip pulse oximeters.
This is the most notable difference between smartwatches and GPS watches. On average, smartwatches need to be recharged every 24 to 48 hours, whereas GPS watches can last 5 to 20 days between charges.
These times are ever-increasing, thanks to the integration of solar charging on some of the more premium models. Solar charging, like with the Garmin fenix 7 Pro Solar uses a Power Sapphire lens to convert sunlight into power, extending the charge of your watch, depending on sun exposure.
A lot of factors influence how long your watch’s battery will last, including what you’re using it for. If you’re using GPS tracking (and single GPS vs. multi GNSS mode matters), your battery will die faster. Most watches advertise battery life with and without GPS.
For example, the COROS Apex 2 Pro advertises 75 hours in GPS mode (GPS + QZSS) and 45 hours with five satellite systems (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, QZSS), and 30 days for daily use without GPS tracking.
Charging time is relatively quick, with most offering a full charge in around 2 hours. If you’re like us and hate having to constantly charge yet another device, we recommend a GPS watch with a longer battery life.
Outdoor and multisport watches are often larger and heavier because of the sheer number of features (and extended battery life), so much so that they can look too big and awkward on small wrists. If you prefer a smaller size, most brands (including Garmin, COROS, and Polar) offer smaller versions of flagship models.
The physical design of watches varies across brands, with some using a 2, 4, or 5-button layout, others using a dial and buttons, and others using no buttons at all.
Garmin tends to have 2, 4, or 5 buttons on their watches. Their lower-end watches tend to have fewer plastic buttons and premium watches feature more metal buttons. Each button can be programmed as hotkeys (press and hold) to access various screens such as music controls, settings, timer, alarm, and more. In our testing, we found that the Garmin buttons feel intuitive, but the left-side buttons can be hard to reach.
Good button ergonomics can be important when you’re mid-run and want to access a different screen; (photo/Matthew Tangeman)Polar uses a similar layout of buttons to Garmin, but we found the material used for their buttons to feel less satisfying and reliable when in use.
COROS and Apple use a combination of buttons and dials. The dial is useful for looking through lists at a glance, while buttons help make choices and find more in-depth information.
Most watches have ways to lock the button use, which can be convenient when you don’t want your watch to change screens. Fitbit however, has mostly done away with buttons and uses haptic sensors on one side of the Fitbit Charge 6. Testing found this to be much less reliable compared to buttons on other watches, but it does provide a simple design.
These days, most fitness watches feature touch screens, although there are still some, like the Garmin Forerunner 745 that are button-only. But the type of screens depends on the watch and the brand.
There are two types of displays found on fitness watches — AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diodes) and MIP (Memory in Pixel). AMOLED displays are brighter and perform better in low light, but are not always great under direct sunlight. These are your smartwatch screens that look more like a smartphone. They also use up battery quickly when always on, so they usually are ‘lift’ or ‘tap’ to wake.
MIP screens look duller at first glance, with colors showing up differently than on your phone. They use reflective LCD technology that depends on ambient light for visibility. This allows them to be always on and show up brighter in bright sunlight. They use less power than an AMOLED display.
Outdoor-focused watches typically feature an MIP screen since this is the battery-friendly option and allows for better visibility outside, while smartwatches tend to have AMOLED displays. Some watches are even offered in both styles (the Garmin Epix Pro is the same as the fenix Pro, just with an AMOLED screen.)
The actual material used for a screen also matters, especially if you’re going to be using it for high-impact activities — or just tend to beat up your belongings. Sapphire glass is one material used by Garmin, Apple, and other watch brands that is incredibly crack and scratch-resistant. Another common material for fitness watch screens is mineral glass, which is cheaper but scratches more easily.
Watch bands can often be customized, and most often are available in textile or silicone versions; (photo/Matthew Tangeman)Most fitness watches come with silicone watch bands that are easy to swap out. Alternative watch bands can be found through the manufacturer, or, depending on the type of watch, can be found through third-party sites. You can choose between various textiles, rubber, or even leather watch bands depending on your needs.
Silicone is the best for active use, although some designs do need to be cleaned and dried often to avoid the build-up of sweat and grime. Textiles or leather can look nicer.
Perhaps as important as the fitness watch itself is the depth and strength of its ecosystem. An ecosystem is composed of the watch’s application, web portal, and supported third-party apps such as Strava and Spotify. To view your data, you’ll need to download an app on your phone.
As Garmin is the largest fitness watch company, it has the broadest and strongest sport-specific ecosystem. Garmin’s app and web portal, called Garmin Connect, displays just about all the performance and health metrics you need. Polar’s Flow app and web portal follow close behind Garmin, with COROS and Suunto following Polar. Amazfit’s Zepp app is a bit of an outlier, though it shows function and promise.
Price can give you a good measuring stick of the breadth of features of a watch. Entry-level fitness watches tend to focus on basic sports and tracking and cost under $200 retail. Both the Garmin Forerunner 55 and COROS Pace 3 are two of our favorite entry-level watches.
Entry-level watches are perfect for someone interested in casual fitness. More serious fitness people should expect to spend over $200. Moving up in price above $250 brings a huge difference in the look and feel of watches. Premium fitness watches fall in the $300-500 price range, with top-end watches above $500, such as the Garmin fenix 7 Pro Solar.
The COROS Pace 3 (left) is a steal at $229, and offers many of the same features as the COROS Apex 2 Pro; (photo/Matthew Tangeman)How does a fitness tracker work?
A fitness tracker’s primary purpose is tracking health data such as heart rate, sleep, steps, and calories. It uses sensors in the band or watch to monitor. Most fitness trackers need to be connected to your smartphone to access the data.
Fitbit vs. Apple Watch Ultra — Which is better?
If you have an iPhone, we would recommend the Apple Watch Ultra. It’s the bestselling smartwatch, and everyone we spoke with absolutely loves it. If you don’t have an iPhone, the Apple Watch will not work.
Fitbit is a great choice, but with Google’s recent acquisition in limbo, the future of Fitbit as we know it today is in question.
What fitness watch is the most accurate?
This is a tough question to answer. It depends on what features you’re talking about. In general, we found Apple watches to have the best health tracking, Garmin to have the best GPS tracking, and Polar to have the most accurate heart-rate monitor.