What Is The Best Garmin Watch For Fitness? – Handpicked Options

What is the best Garmin watch for fitness? That question is best answered when you precisely consider what you are looking for.

Garmin offers many watches for fitness that appeal to different sorts of athletes. It is necessary to grasp the features of each watch, as well as its pros and cons.

Keep reading to know all about that!

What Is The Best Garmin Watch For Fitness 

When you are looking to buy the best watch for your fitness life, you probably look into many different options. 

Along the way, you might’ve stumbled upon the fantastic Garmin watches. However, the brand offers too many options, right?

In that case, a good article enlightening the best Garmin watch for fitness comes in handy.

1. Garmin Venu 2

The Garmin Venu 2 provides several health stats, such as heart rate, pulse oximetry, respiration, and stress level.

In addition, you can create reports on Garmin Connect and track your progress with metrics. The Body Battery feature tells you how your body’s energy levels are and gives you the best times to exercise and rest.

In addition, stress monitoring shows whether you are having a calm, balanced, or busy day.

For women, there is a function to monitor the menstrual cycle and pregnancy, with space to record symptoms and get suggestions for exercises and nutrition.

The Garmin Venu 2 also tracks your sleep, but in an advanced way, unlike the smartphone apps we see. 

Pros

After all, considered, here are the pros that make the Venu 2 a great smartwatch for fitness:

• You can choose the best size for you (there are two available);
• AMOLED display allows for the best view of your stats;
• Advanced health tracking features;
• Microphone for voice commands;
• Great for gym workouts.

Cons

It is also fair we check if the Venu 2 has some pitfalls:

• Limited app integration;
• Not ideal for long-distance runners.

✅ Verdict

The Venu 2 is a great smartwatch for anyone who exercises regularly but doesn’t require in-depth metrics about every conceivable thing.

Even so, the number of stats you can check is more than you would find in average entry-level models.

It is safe to say the Garmin Venu 2 hits a great balance between a daily smartwatch and a sports smartwatch. Its price is also attractive. 

2. Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar

Athletes may get more insight into their overall training state and whether or not they are training effectively using indicators provided by this watch.

Those include HRV status, recent activity history, and performance.

Using accessories such as the Running Dynamics Pod, athletes can track running dynamics that help improve their overall exercising sessions.

Additionally, if coupled with a power meter, athletes can track their cycling dynamics, such as sit/stand position, power phase, and platform center offset, when using a compatible Garmin Rally power meter (sold separately). 

Triathletes and runners may take their training to the next level by having Garmin Connect automatically sync their indoor and outdoor sessions.

Pros

The Forerunner 955 is formidable, and we can sum up its many benefits here:

• Incredibly accurate GPS;
• One of the best heart rate measures among Garmin;
• Full-color maps to keep you on track;
• Lots of features for athletes;
• Designed to last.

Cons

So is everything gold about the Forerunner? Let’s check if it has any disadvantages:

• Its full potential is only achieved with additional accessories;
• Doesn’t support non-Garmin accessories.

✅ Verdict

The Forerunner 955 Solar is made for athletes. In that sense, it is not indicated if you will work out only a few hours, as you will be spending a lot.

But, on the other hand, if exercising makes up a big portion of your daily life, it is hard to ask for better when you consider its price range.

3. Garmin Vivosmart 5

The product maintains a visual aspect relatively similar to its predecessor. Still, according to what informs the brand, its screen has gained an area 66% larger.

Touchscreen support was also added, but the small physical button at the bottom of the panel remains present.

Vivosmart 5 has several features aimed at health and well-being. Its main focus is monitoring body data, such as the number of steps, calories spent, and quality of sleep.

There are also more advanced functions, such as monitoring heartbeats 24 hours a day.

In addition, it is possible to monitor stress levels, energy, and breathing rhythm.

Athletes can also view data obtained during the practice of different modalities, such as hiking, cycling, and yoga. 

Pros

Here is how we would sum up the greatest characteristic of the Vivosmart 5:

• Includes all the necessary features if you are exercising;
• Compact and lightweight;
• Gets location info when synced to the phone;
• Excellent entry-level price;
• Durable battery.

Cons

And here is what we think could drive buyers away from it:

• Black and white screen only;
• Lacks advanced functions.

✅ Verdict

You can see that the Vivosmart 5 has a look that puts it halfway between smart bands and smartwatches.

Although it lacks some native features, it compensates by syncing with the app and your phone.

So if you are on a budget but still looking for Garmin quality, the Vivosmart 5 is the best.

4. Garmin Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar 

An integrated flashlight is the obvious differential function inside the Fenix 7X. That allows you to run at night without needing to grab your phone.

The stamina feature is the latest novelty.

It is used for the watch to visually show us an estimate of the remaining “battery” in our body while we are doing a workout.

The maps are also very important in the Fenix 7 range. It is still the main claim for which most users buy this model.

While old models only included maps for the region where the watch was bought, the 7X Sapphire Solar allows you to download any maps.

Among the navigation novelties, we have the “Up Ahead” function. Such a function allows you to create personalized Points of Interest.

Pros

Here are the main reasons you should consider the Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar:

• Fast solar charging;
• Full access and interactivity with maps;
• Lots of resources to track your health;
• Incredible touchscreen;
• One of the best smartwatches for hardcore athletes.

Cons

When thinking about the cons of this smartwatch, only one thing comes to mind:

• Very expensive.

✅ Verdict

The Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar is one of the best Garmin watches you will ever find, without a doubt.

It has all that any athlete needs, and sometimes even more. However, all that razzle-dazzle comes with a price. Actually, a high price.

Because of that, the watch is only directed toward experienced athletes.

5. Instinct 2

The design of the Instinct 2 stands out for its monochrome screen, which can save a lot of battery.

It also does not have a touch screen; all commands are carried out with its buttons simply and intuitively.

But like a good sports watch, its exterior design is very robust, following the MIL-STD-810 military standard, which means it exceeds minimum levels of extreme temperatures or strong shocks.

They are waterproof up to 100 meters for 30 minutes, so they can be used while swimming or scuba diving.

It supports multiple geolocalization systems, such as GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo.

Plus, it includes sensors such as an altimeter, barometer, and compass to navigate your routes and learn about weather changes.

It also has heart rate sensors and blood oxygen levels.

Pros

So let’s condense the greatest characteristics of the Garmin Instinct 2:

• Access to multiple geolocalization systems;
• Rugged, so it is highly resistant;
• Perfect for adventures in different terrains and weather;
• Excellent price for all the features offered;
• Great battery life.

Cons

Since the Instinct is a great watch, it balances its low price with some pitfalls:

• No touch screen;
• Low-resolution screen.

✅ Verdict

Even if Instinct 2 swims against the tide in not having a touch screen, its main features make it more than enough.

It is the perfect smartwatch if you are adventuring through tough terrain, especially riding a bike.

In those situations, the watch won’t break easily if you fall at high speed or crash against natural obstacles.

What We Learned

What is the best Garmin watch for fitness? Although we can say the definite best is the Fenix 7X, some customers might want a cheaper option.

In that case, you can easily see that there are categories among the Garmin watches, each with its best model.