The 7 Best Garmin Smartwatches

You might be glad of the Epix Gen 2’s built-in heart rate monitor once you get over the price of this model. It’s certainly not a viable choice for the casual buyer. However, once you take a look under the hood, you can see that your hard-earned cash has been put to good use. You’ll find an exhaustive list of functions here, giving you complete control over every facet of your daily life.

Use your Epix Gen 2 for 24/7 health monitoring coverage; heart and breath rate data are collated throughout the day and night to calculate your stress level core. Daily fluid intakes can be logged too, so you can ensure that you’re staying properly hydrated, and hydration goals can be automatically set to make sure that vital fluids are replaced after strenuous exercise.

In-built sports apps can keep you motivated to achieve personal goals, and you can access multiple global navigation satellite systems such as GPS and Galileo, so you can plot your routes with pinpoint accuracy. This Sapphire edition can also gain access to additional satellite frequencies so that you won’t lose coverage in areas with a weaker signal.

The VO2 Max function will adjust your training schedule to account for any external or environmental factors, such as altitude or heat so that you can gain a realistic indicator of how you’re likely to perform in such conditions. And TopoActive terrain maps make sure that you never stray off course, no matter your preferred choice of outdoor pursuit.

With smartwatch mode, you can expect a battery life of up to 16 days. Naturally, this is lessened in GPS mode, where battery life runs up to about 42 hours if GPS is engaged for the duration.

The Epix Gen 2 has a list of features as huge as its price tag, but for serious outdoor enthusiasts and explorers who want to track every aspect of their body’s performance, you won’t find better.

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A smaller-sized Garmin smartwatch for those who prefer something a little less clunky on their wrist, the Fenix 7S is no less the specimen for being more diminutive. You’ll still have access to 24/7 health monitoring with this model, including that all-important stress and sleep tracking.

It comes with over 30 sports apps pre-loaded, so there’s really no excuse for not staying active. Real-time stamina tracking keeps you on the course, and advanced performance metrics give you essential feedback for making any corrective tweaks to your training schedule.

Built-in sensors make this a perfect travel companion to take into the great outdoors too. Take advantage of the 3-axis compass, gyroscope, or barometric altimeter to master your own navigation, while TopoActive maps let you plan your route with mathematical accuracy.

With multi-GNSS support, music storage and Garmin Pay all part and parcel of this device as well, there’s everything you need for that active life of exploration. Smartwatch mode gives you plenty of juice for up to 11 days, while GPS mode gives you a battery life of 37 hours.

Proof if ever it was needed, that sometimes the best things do come in small packages.

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Perfect for the runners and sportspeople amongst you, the Venu 2 Plus has a sleek design that looks the part. Its health monitoring features can be used to track your body battery level, stress level, sleep score, and fitness age. It has more than 25 built-in sports apps for a variety of activities such as running, HIIT, and swimming.

Use preloaded workouts or create your own using the Garmin Connect app on your smartphone and use Garmin Coach to shape adaptive training plans for when you want to step things up a notch or two.

There are safety features such as incident detection and assistance, to give you a helping hand should anything happen while you’re out training. This smart feature can send an alert with your live location to your emergency contact, giving you peace of mind in the event of a fall or injury.

You can download up to 650 songs onto this device from your favorite music streaming platforms so that you can push yourself that little bit harder with the aid of some motivational anthems.

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A solid choice of smartwatch with superhero trimmings, this Legacy Series Captain America model comes with a full app experience built around The First Avenger. Themed watch faces, badges, and avatars can all be claimed and used via the app, to give an extra motivational boost to Marvel enthusiasts.

This smartwatch measures 45 millimeters in diameter and has a battery life that runs up to seven days in smartwatch mode. Body battery monitoring and a host of other wellness tracking tools are included, as well as the usual smart notifications, music storage, and contactless payment features you would expect.

As a robust fitness tracker, this Garmin smartwatch is big and tough—just like Steve Rogers. It might not have the same complexity of features as some of Garmin’s other un-themed watches, but it certainly has the chops to handle your training schedule and monitor your wellness vitals.

It can do this all day, in fact.

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Slim on the wrist and with an always-on display, the Forerunner 255 Music is a GPS-running smartwatch that’s built to be light and comfortable, and unobtrusive while exercising. Its battery lasts for up to 14 days in smartwatch mode or 30 hours in GPS mode, and there are 46 and 41-millimeter versions available.

It has a morning report feature that will summarize your sleep from the previous night and provide you with a daily workout suggestion when you wake. Daily suggested workouts adapt and change according to your own personal performance, and will factor in recovery times and so on, to ensure you’re still being pushed, just not harder than you can handle.

Free adaptive training plans can be provided via Garmin Coach for a variety of distances, which include 5 and 10K runs, as well as half-marathons. Performance evaluation is provided after each workout, and this consistency of feedback can be a real asset in fine-tuning that performance and molding yourself to reach those goals.

Chuck in the capacity to store up to 500 songs on your Forerunner to keep you in the zone, and you have the ideal training buddy. Perfect for anybody who likes to be on the move all the time, this smartwatch will help you maintain your focus and keep pushing those limits.

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With its elegant rose gold and white stylings, the Garmin Venu 2S is ideal for anyone who wants a fitness smartwatch that also doubles as an attractive accessory piece. This version is packaged with a Playbetter portable charger and a tempered glass protective cover for your watch face.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that this watch is all style and no substance though. It comes with 25 pre-loaded indoor and GPS sports apps, so you can keep fit whether you’re walking, running, swimming, or cycling.

It provides all-day health monitoring which includes a daily health ‘snapshot’, covering things like body battery levels, sleep scores, stress tracking, and more. And built-in workouts offer you additional routines for cardio, yoga, Pilates, and HIIT.

All-in-all, the Venu 2S offers a comprehensive fitness package, with plenty of variety. And its OLED display is the icing on the cake, presenting your vitals to you with beautiful, crystal-clear clarity.

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Pretty in pink (or one of the three other available colors), the Garmin Vivoactive 4S smartwatch could be the perfect choice for maintaining a happy and healthy body and mind. Its Pulse Ox feature allows you to monitor your respiration, heart levels, energy levels, menstrual cycle, and more. You can even keep track of your blood oxygen saturation!

You can use this watch to provide you with relaxation reminders or alert you when it’s time to rehydrate. When it’s time to kick things into action, you’ll find 20 preloaded sports apps to help you choose the right workout for you. On-screen animated cardio, strength, yoga, and Pilates workouts are available, with even more that can be downloaded from the Garmin Connect app.

Battery life is around seven days in smartwatch mode or up to five hours in GPS mode. So, while you might not want to rely on the Vivoactive 4S too much if you’re planning on heading into the wilderness, you can rely on it for everything else, and especially where your fitness is concerned.

An attractive and affordable option for anyone craving a Garmin smartwatch but somewhat constricted by their budget, the Vivoactive 4S provides more than enough options for health, wellness, and fitness tracking.

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