Jun 15 min read

Comparison Of The Best Garmin Watches For Runners

Updated: Nov 5

Being a seasoned runner and having gone through a fair few running watches, I came to find the Garmin collection as my go-to. From the ability to track my running, trail running, cycling, swimming, and all other sorts of workouts to the ability to track my recovery- Garmin has always been reliable. My first watch was the Garmin Forerunner 110 when I turned 14, I have upgraded twice since then (the Garmin Forerunner 245 music and the Garmin Forerunner 965).

In this article I will use my experience with Garmin watches to compare which one is the best for your personal needs and goals. This will not be one big sale but rather I try to educate you on what to look for in a running watch and will try to compare the best Garmin Forerunner watches for your individual needs whether you are a beginner, advanced, or into trail running, cross-training or general fitness.

Did you know that between 75 and 90% of runners now wear a watch to track their activities?

You may also like: Best Half Tights For Running.

Garmin watches comparison

Best overall

Garmin Forerunner 965

Kickstarting this Garmin watch comparison with the big one- The Forerunner 965.

Now, this watch comes with a pretty hefty price tag, and unless you are taking your running super seriously, use all the analytics for your runs, need the 23-day long battery life, or use this as an everyday watch as well- then probably move on the next Garmin I am going to compare to this and see if that one would suit you.

However, if you are looking for the cream of the crop, the best of the best, the unbeatable- then this is the watch for you.

I have personally run with this watch since it was released a little over a year ago. I had never been more excited for a running watch and this lived up to the hype. I put it through my usual 70 miles weeks and used it constantly, I realised I had lost the charger nearly 2 weeks into having the watch. It still hadn't died.

Things I liked about this watch:

The battery life
The accurate analytics
The accuracy of the GPS even through trees and round loops
The way girls' heads turn when they see it on my wrist
Ability to use Garmin pay
Watch telling me how recovered/ready for a session I am

Garmin Forerunner 965 Specs:

Sleep score/insights
23-day battery life
Built-in mapping
Daily suggested workouts
Tracking blood oxygen levels
Garmin Pay
Multi-band GPS
Music Storage
Training readiness (lets you know how recovered you are)
Training status (fitness levels + whether you are improving/recovery/de-training/peaking)
AMOLED watch display
Touchscreen
5ATM water rating

Garmin Forerunner 965

£600 from Garmin

£557 from Amazon

Best for beginners

Garmin Forerunner 55

Now, just because this is labeled as the best for beginners, don't make the mistake of thinking that you can't use this if you are more serious about your running. It will track your runs accurately, it will offer some feedback, and can even act as a smartwatch. Many really good runners I know used this watch and stuck with it for years. However, to compare the Garmin Forerunner 965 to the Garmin Forerunner 55 is like comparing Mo Farah's Olympic Golds to my Parkrun win the other week (subtle boast), but it all depends on your personal needs and goals as to which one you opt for.

The great thing about this for beginners is that this watch now gives you workout suggestions, this can help guide you through your training so that you can improve your running. It also provides you with your recovery time, so you know how long you need to rest before getting to your next session.

The Garmin Forerunner 55 is amazing when you compare it to even the best Fitbit when it comes to anything such as GPS accuracy, this is still a proper running watch and at a very good price. You will always be able to rely on this watch to give you an accurate representation of the pace you are running.

Things I like about this watch:

Suggested workouts
Recovery time
GPS accuracy

Garmin Forerunner 55 Specs:

Up to 2 weeks battery life
Suggested workouts for beginners
5ATM water rating
Sun-light visible watch display

Garmin Forerunner 55

£180 from Garmin

£160 from Amazon

Best for trail running

Garmin Instinct 2 Solar

Now, to compare this Garmin to the previous 2 watches is slightly difficult because this is a very different kind of watch, used for a slightly different purpose. But, the main thing that this watch has over every other watch- including your boss's fancy Rolex- is durability.

This watch is waterproof to 100m, has a scratch-resistant face, thermal and shock resistant, and has a polymer-toughened case. If the Nokia Brick were a watch, then it would be this, however, this watch still has iPhone-like capabilities.

But, one feature I want to mention is incident detection (and no I do not know how on Earth a watch can do this), this feature really explains that this is a trail-running watch. Also, with similar safety features such as live-tracking it is easy to see why this is our pick for the best Trail running watch.

If you have been reading this blog with an eager eye, you might be wondering why I have not yet mentioned the battery life of this watch. This is because it is infinite (as long as it's sunny), this watch is the cheapest Garmin watch to feature solar charging to date. So, now when it's sunny you can be happy getting some Vitamin D, a tan, and some charge on your watch.

Garmin Instinct 2 Solar Specs:

28-day battery life (unlimited with solar)
30-hour battery life when using GPS (48 hours with solar)
10ATM water rating
Vo2 max estimates
Training Status
Training load
Post-run training effect readings
Recovery time
Body battery
Sleep score-analysis
Stress tracking
Menstrual cycle tracking

Now, you might be thinking this sounds better than the when compared to the Garmin 965, but when a watch is made for trail running it is significantly chunkier and heavier. Also, the running metrics and analysis you get will not be quite as accurate when you compare it to the Garmin 965. However, for the price this watch is mind-blowing.

Garmin Instinct 2 solar

£300 from Garmin

£290 from Amazon

Best running smart watch

Garmin Venu 3

Now, this watch comes with a much sexier design, in my opinion, this watch is suited to a lot more occasions when I think to compare to any other Garmin running watch.

This watch still boasts very good battery life, accurate GPS tracking, and workout suggestions. This watch is still very suitable for your daily running goals and can help you reach your potential. However, there are features missing that you would have found if you compared to the other 3 previous Garmin watches. You will not find a training readiness score, proper running analytics, recovery time, or race predictions, and your workout suggestions are not based on the training you have done and what the watch thinks you need to do to improve.

But, if these are features you are not interested in or do not think you need these to improve and also want a watch to wear day to day, then I would recommend the Garmin Venu 3.

Garmin Venu 3 Specs: