2 years ago
492
(Pocket-lint) - Garmin offers the astir broad array of smartwatches, GPS sports watches and trackers successful the fittingness world.
Whether you're a hardened athlete, caller to tracking your enactment oregon beryllium determination successful the middle, determination truly is simply a Garmin ticker for each benignant of user.
The lone occupation with this wide-reaching portfolio is that it tin go rather tricky to constrictive down which Garmin is champion for your needs - and, of course, your budget. That's wherever this usher comes in.
We've tested, reviewed and rated beauteous overmuch each Garmin ticker successful bid to springiness you a snapshot of what's connected offer. You tin cheque retired our afloat Garmin reviews for the in-depth communicative connected each device, but this is simply a large spot to constrictive down your options and get acquainted with the lineup.
How to take the close Garmin watch
Before you tin truly cognize which Garmin instrumentality is close for you, it's important to recognize who each scope is aimed at.
- Fenix - Premium multisport watches for those who privation the champion of everything
- Venu - Garmin's smartwatch line, providing an alternate to the Apple Watch and others
- Forerunner - Top-tier GPS sports watches with a absorption connected catering for runners
- Vivoactive - Everyday fittingness watches that are champion for gaining basal insights into each kinds of activity
- Vivomove - Hybrid watches that tin way enactment discreetly
- Instinct - Rugged GPS ticker designed for the outdoors
Naturally, Garmin has plentifulness much devices for circumstantial sports - specified arsenic its Approach play wearables, the Swim, Epix and Descent series' oregon the Vivo fittingness bands - but the supra are the astir communal models we would recommend. If you are looking for thing specific, the chances are beardown that Garmin has a tracker for the job.
What is the champion Garmin watch?
Within the galore families of Garmin devices are aggregate generations, antithetic lawsuit sizes and modular oregon premium versions. This makes the task of ranking the apical Garmin watches adjacent much difficult, since, often, older models of premium lines (like the Fenix oregon Forerunner) are inactive exceptional picks.
In fact, for those who person a unsmooth thought of what Garmin instrumentality they're suited to, it's sometimes worthy considering the last-gen model. These often property precise well, since Garmin supports discontinued devices with bundle updates, and tin travel with a useful terms discount.
To assistance support things elemental and applicable for you here, though, our ratings mostly bespeak the existent harvest of Garmin products.
- Garmin Venu 2 / 2S / 2 Plus
- Garmin Fenix 6 / 6S / 6X / 6 Pro / Solar
- Garmin Forerunner 55
- Garmin Forerunner 945 / 945 LTE
- Garmin Vivoactive 4 / 4S
- Garmin Venu Sq
- Garmin Forerunner 245 / 245 Music
- Garmin Instinct Solar
- Garmin Vivomove
- Garmin Enduro
Pocket-lint
Garmin Venu 2 / 2S / 2 Plus
squirrel_widget_4543279
The Venu 2 household is our existent prime for the apical Garmin ticker to consider, with each exemplary offering a superb blend of indispensable features and a cleanable plan that tin rival immoderate smartwatch successful the industry.
Though the 43mm Venu 2 Plus is the latest summation to the lineup, we've lumped it successful with the older 45mm Venu 2 and 40mm Venu 2S due to the fact that the differences are comparatively minor. Unlike the important leap successful show betwixt the archetypal Venu and the 2nd generation, the Plus exemplary simply adds the built-in microphone and talker for calls, texts and dependable adjunct exchanges.
For some, it'll beryllium an indispensable upgrade - and worthy the other currency - but, for most, we fishy the Venu 2 and 2S are the amended options to consider.
Whichever you choose, you'll person the beauteous AMOLED touchscreen, with a broad array of fittingness tracking and wellness features astatine your fingertips. There's besides enactment for Garmin Pay, downloadable euphony from Spotify, Deezer oregon Amazon Music and, of course, entree to the delights of Garmin Connect.
Simply, if you request a sporty smartwatch, this enactment of devices is precise hard to beat.
Pocket-lint
Garmin Fenix 6 / 6S / 6X / 6 Pro / Solar
squirrel_widget_167642
The Garmin Fenix 6 comes successful many, galore forms - the regular 6 (47mm), 6S (42mm), 6X (51mm) and 6 Pro (47mm, with Wi-Fi, euphony and mapping). Each size saltation is besides disposable successful a Solar version, which adds to the already-mammoth artillery life.
Our apical proposal from the lineup is the Fenix 6 Pro, since it provides the champion blend of features and worth for money. Really, though, you can't suffer here. We'd accidental the hardest portion of choosing betwixt the Fenix 6 scope is discovering which lawsuit size is the close acceptable for your wrist successful regular use.
There are flimsy variations betwixt models, but, roughly, you're capable to person astir 14 days of artillery life, 10ATM waterproofing, GPS, bosom rate, altitude, barometer and somesthesia sensors. Each offers stellar sports tracking performance, from regular steps to tracking multi-day events, and combines this with customisation, casual strap alteration and compatibility with the wider Garmin system.
All the information is analysed, with feedback fixed to assistance amended grooming show and recovery, arsenic good arsenic regular accent and slumber efficiency. Mobile payments are besides supported.
Though it's apt to beryllium overkill for astir users, those who walk tons of clip successful the outdoors, partake successful aggregate sports oregon privation the precise highest of tracking show volition emotion the Fenix 6 range.
Pocket-lint
Garmin Forerunner 55
squirrel_widget_4956541
The Forerunner 55 whitethorn beryllium an entry-level model, but it inactive provides an highly affluent acquisition for beginners. For those who are conscionable getting started with tracking their runs, determination truly is thing better.
It's decidedly much constricted extracurricular of tally tracking than the much premium models successful the family, which are capable to grow to precocious tracking for different sports and activities, but features similar suggested workouts, Garmin's ain PacePro feature, cadence alerts, betterment proposal and the adaptive grooming plans disposable done Garmin Coach volition assistance usher you towards that caller idiosyncratic best.
It besides features a artillery beingness that tin past for 20 hours erstwhile tracking via GPS, and astir 2 weeks successful mean use.
Pocket-lint
Garmin Forerunner 945 / 945 LTE
squirrel_widget_160764
The Forerunner 945 is present a small agelong successful the tooth, but the ticker is inactive an exceptional prime for triathletes and superior exercisers. Essentially, it offers everything that the 935 did and fills successful the gaps.
So, arsenic good arsenic being capable to way a wide assortment of sports accurately and with elaborate feedback, this procreation adds enactment for Garmin Pay and offline music.
The second means you tin link your headphones via Bluetooth and perceive to your favourite songs from services similar Spotify, Amazon Music oregon Deezer.
There's a tiny bump successful the terms implicit the erstwhile generation, but it besides adds full-colour offline mapping and exigency telephone functions to alert radical if you person a occupation connected your thrust oregon run.
There's present an LTE version, too, which, speech from keeping you connected and providing enactment for LiveTrack and more, besides features Garmin's fourth-gen optical bosom complaint sensor.
Pocket-lint
Garmin Vivoactive 4
squirrel_widget_168722
With the emergence of the Venu watches implicit the past fewer years, the Vivoactive scope has been cannibalised slightly.
With that said, there's inactive a spot for it - and the Vivoactive 4 is simply a precise beardown enactment for those who privation a fitness-first instrumentality with a spot much of a smartwatch-like design.
With the Vivoactive 4, there's a prime of sizes - 42 oregon 45mm - but, thankfully, there's lone 1 mentation of this tracker. With the 3rd generation, determination was a mentation with euphony and 1 without, and Garmin has simplified things by bundling successful enactment from the off.
It besides packs successful Garmin Pay, and, dissimilar astir of the company's devices, has a touchscreen. The show can't lucifer the prime of the Venu 2 range, but that's wherefore it's cheaper.
Pocket-lint
Garmin Venu Sq
squirrel_widget_2681821
This is simply a spot of a left-field enactment from Garmin, but, considering astir of its devices travel the aforesaid plan language, it's a invited one. The Venu 2 scope already provides an fantabulous alternate to the high-end Apple Watch models, and this entry-level, quadrate exemplary is simply a existent rival to the cheaper Apple models, similar the SE and Series 3.
It offers each of Garmin's manner features, similar automatic enactment detection, 24/7 bosom complaint tracking, steps and slumber tracking. There's besides built-in GPS, which not each lower-priced devices feature, and a assortment of tracking modes mean it's capable to log your sports grooming and performance.
Paired with six days of realistic artillery beingness and offering smartphone notifications, it's a bully Garmin for those wanting thing that is simply a small smaller and subtle. There's a Music Edition, arsenic well, if you privation offline music, but this costs a small more.
Pocket-lint
Garmin Forerunner 245
squirrel_widget_160772
If the Forerunner 945 models are somewhat retired of your fund (or requirement), heading further down the scope is simply a harmless bet.
While Garmin has the Forerunner 745 arsenic a bully upper-midpoint successful the lineup - and this is decidedly worthy considering - we deliberation the Forerunner 245 watches are much charismatic for exercisers wanting somewhat much than the basics.
You get a precise bully enactment tracking experience, with smartwatch-like notifications, wellness features and slumber monitoring each involved, too.
If you opt for the 245 Music version, you'll besides beryllium capable to brace Bluetooth headphones and entree offline euphony from the likes of Spotify. And, providing you person your telephone connected to the watch, you tin besides entree the information relation - alerting idiosyncratic if you person a problem.
Pocket-lint
Garmin Instinct Solar
squirrel_widget_168746
The Instinct Solar is different improvement based connected the aforesaid premise arsenic Garmin's different long-lasting, all-tracking watches, but it's designed to beryllium somewhat much rugged.
While the Fenix usually takes up this position, the Instinct meets Mil-Std 810G protection, proofed to 100m and besides being daze resistant. It besides offers 14 days of artillery that tin beryllium topped up passim clip successful the sun.
It's a small chunkier than immoderate different Garmin devices, but, astatine its heart, it volition springiness you the aforesaid GPS, bosom complaint and enactment tracking. The downside to this accent connected tracking is the deficiency of smartwatch features - there's nary Garmin Pay oregon euphony support, for lawsuit - but determination are different watches to research if that's connected your wishlist.
Pocket-lint
Garmin Vivomove HR
squirrel_widget_142155
The Vivomove is simply a somewhat antithetic attack from Garmin, stepping distant from sports devices into thing much classically styled. The designs successful this household are hybrids, giving you a regular ticker look with carnal timepiece hands and a hidden show that tin beryllium accessed done a tap.
It started with the Vivomove HR, but there's present a Vivomove Luxe and Vivomove Style - each are akin successful approach, but disagree somewhat successful design. If you're not truly looking for a instrumentality that volition travel you connected runs, but 1 that volition way your regular activity, past the Vivomove household is apt to beryllium the ticker for you.
Despite the subdued looks, it volition inactive way a afloat scope of enactment data, reporting backmost connected however progressive you've been and syncing with Garmin Connect connected your telephone and giving you notifications.
- Garmin Vivomove HR preview: Hybrid smartwatch with hidden touchscreen and bosom complaint monitoring
Pocket-lint
Garmin Enduro
squirrel_widget_4167672
The Garmin Enduro comes successful astatine the apical of the range, gathering connected the offering of the Fenix 6 Solar models with a flimsy summation successful the show and assemblage size, portion besides moving to a wider, cloth strap.
The existent gains present are successful artillery life, with the Enduro designed for ultra-endurance athletes, adding successful immoderate way moving features and promising 50 days of artillery beingness successful smartwatch mode - much than 3x that of the Fenix Solar. Garmin goes further, saying that it tin past a afloat twelvemonth successful artillery saver mode, with star charging boosting the battery.
Otherwise, it offers each the features and extortion you get from the Fenix, with the prime of premium bezel materials.
Writing by Conor Allison.
English (US) ·