When it comes to improving your running, knowledge is power – and thanks to the tech that can be wrapped around the wrist of anyone with a bit of disposable income, amateur athletes now have more insight into their training than ever before. Whereas in the past even the elites had to get by with just a stopwatch and a reasonable idea of how far they were going, nowadays every runner can track their exact distance, pace, cadence, heart rate and much more.
A good running watch is far more than an everyday fitness tracker. To be worthy of the name a device should contain built-in GPS, enable you to analyse run-specific metrics and include or be able to assess training programmes.
This used to mean that even the cheapest options cost three figures, but as you’ll see below there are now a few GPS-ready options under that mark. However, you’ll probably still need to spend over a ton to get a decent set of features, and for fancier stuff like training and running form analysis you’ll be looking at $500/£400-plus.
How We Test Running Watches
Why you can trust Coach Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Coach senior writer Nick Harris-Fry writes most of the running watch reviews and is an obsessive runner, logging about 80-110km per week. This gives him ample opportunity to drain the battery and test the GPS and heart rate accuracy of watches, as well as using features like navigation, structured workouts and the training analysis on offer.
To test a watch’s heart rate accuracy, Nick checks it against the readings of a chest strap heart rate monitor. He assesses GPS accuracy by poring over GPS tracks to look for errors and running races or routes he knows (he once measured a local 2.47km loop using a wheel – well, we said he was obsessive).
The Best Running Watches
Even though it’s been superseded by the Garmin Forerunner 255, we still rate the older Forerunner 245 as better value for runners. Not only does the 245 have a lower RRP than the 255, it’s also often found in sales for well under $250/£200.
The 255 adds a triathlon mode and some other improvements, including more accurate GPS tracking, but runners will still be more than satisfied by the 245 if they can get it for $150/£150 less than the new watch.
Music is one of the qualities that puts the Forerunner 245 in a league of its own, because it is the only serious sports watch at its price to offer music storage and the ability to sync with streaming services like Spotify. The run-tracking features on the 245 Music will satisfy all but the most tech-obsessed runners. It has accurate distance and heart rate tracking, you can load workouts and breadcrumb trails to follow on your wrist, and once you’ve finished running you get info on the training effect of your workout and a rating of whether your overall training load is effective or not.
Read more in our Garmin Forerunner 245 Music review
The Pace 2 offers terrific value to runners and triathletes alike, with accurate tracking, a wealth of stats, and excellent connectivity to external sensors via ANT+ and Bluetooth, as well as a monster battery life of 30 hours of GPS. It’ll even track running power from your wrist, a feature previously seen only on high-end watches.
It’s also a very light and comfortable watch to wear for long runs, and you can load structured workouts and training plans onto the Pace 2 to follow from your wrist. What it lacks is smart features, navigation, and the slicker software and training analysis you get with Garmin and Polar devices, which is more than forgivable considering the price.
Read more in our Coros Pace 2 review
The Forerunner 55 is a serious rival to the Coros Pace 2 for the title of best entry-level watch, and it has some features that make it particularly well suited to new runners. These include guided training plans for 5K, 10K and half marathon races through Garmin Coach, advice on how long you should spend recovering after each run and, best of all if you’re not following a training plan, suggested workouts each day to help ensure your training is balanced between easy and hard running.
These features are on top of an excellent all-round running package that includes strong battery life (20 hours of GPS), customisable workouts, and accurate distance and heart rate tracking. The Forerunner 55 is also a better everyday activity and sleep tracker than its Coros rival, and its small size makes it very comfortable to wear 24/7.
Read more in our Garmin Forerunner 55 review
The Amazfit range is loaded with bargain smartwatches and the stand-out two-figure pick for runners is the GTS 2 Mini, which has built-in GPS plus an impressive AMOLED display to see all your stats on. The watch packs all the main features of the GTS 2 into a smaller frame: however, the display is less bright and detailed, and it is tempting to upgrade since the GTS 2 is often discounted since the GTS 3 has launched.
As you’d expect at this price, the run tracking experience is more basic, but the GTS 2 Mini covers all the key stats. Its smart features are also limited, lacking music storage and an app store, but you can control music playback on a connected smartphone and see notifications on the watch.
Many runners don’t just run, and if you’re a triathlete (or are considering becoming one in the future) you’ll be delighted that Garmin has added a multisport mode to its popular mid-range 2X5 line. That’s not the only update on the previous generation either: multi-band GPS promises more accurate distance and pace tracking, while heart rate variability status updates help you decide how hard to train.
The Forerunner 235 and then the 245 have been our recommendations for the best-value running watches in recent years, offering more features than entry-level watches while being much cheaper than flagship devices like the Garmin Fenix 7 or Coros Vertix 2. The Forerunner 255 is still the best running watch in the middle of the market, but the price increase on the 245 means that if you don’t plan on taking up triathlons any time soon, you might be better served by the older watch.
It’s not just triathletes who will have rejoiced at the launch of the Forerunner 255, however. People with small wrists will be delighted by the new smaller sizes option – the Forerunner 255S and 255S Music offer all the same features (bar a shorter battery life) in a smaller case.
Read more in our Garmin Forerunner 255 review
Whether you opt for the Series 8 or Ultra, the Apple Watch is the best smartwatch for running, though you will need an iPhone to use it. The Ultra has better hardware than the Series 8, with twice the battery life, an extra button you can use as a lap button, and dual-band GPS tracking, which has proved as accurate as anything else we’ve tried.
As a result, the Ultra is the sportiest Apple Watch ever while still packing in all the smarts you’d expect, including access to the unrivalled App Store, which contains many excellent running apps like WorkOutDoors if you decide the native tracking isn’t good enough for you. That native tracking has been upgraded with watchOS 9, however, and now offers more stats and a structured workout mode, so will fulfil the needs of most.
Read more in our Apple Watch Ultra review
If you’re set on tackling long runs in the wilderness, then the Fenix 7 is the watch you want on your wrist. It boasts an impressive battery life, so you won’t run out of juice halfway through your run, and has colour maps to keep you on track. The impressive ClimbPro tool analyses all the climbs and descents on your route so you can plan your effort accordingly on mountain runs.
You get more battery life from the larger Fenix 7X than the standard 7, and there are solar options in the range that can add charge to the battery using solar panels around the watch face. Whichever Fenix 7 you opt for, however, you’re getting a lot of battery: even the smallest Fenix 7S offers 37 hours of GPS-only tracking, rising to 122 hours on the Fenix 7X solar version when used in sunny conditions.
The Fenix 7 also has all the best sports tracking features Garmin offers, which is to say the best sports tracking features any device offers. You get detailed training analysis that can help you judge how well you’re acclimatising to heat or altitude, as well as suggested workouts each day to help balance your training load between easy and hard runs. The watch also has space for music, and syncs wirelessly with a Spotify Premium or Amazon Music account.
Read more in our Garmin Epix 2 review
It’s simplistic to say that the Garmin Forerunner 955 is a Garmin Fenix 7 in a lighter plastic case, with a much lower price as a result, but that does hit the nail on the head and it’s not in any way a disparaging comment about the 955. In fact, this is one of the best-value running watches available despite costing $500/£480, offering a tremendous array of features for hundreds less than you pay for those features in the Fenix 7 and Epix 2.
The features include colour maps with useful navigation features and music storage, on top of the best sports tracking on any watch and accurate multi-band GPS. The insightful training analysis has a new stand-out feature, too: Garmin’s terrific training readiness feature, which tells you how ready you are to train based on factors such as sleep, training history and heart rate variability.
Spending more on a Fenix 7 or Epix 2 will net you all of the above in a better-looking watch that uses higher-quality materials, and the Epix 2 has an especially lovely AMOLED screen – but if you’re all about the features and not appearances, the Forerunner 955 is simply the best running watch to get.
Read more in our Garmin Forerunner 955
The Pacer Pro didn’t introduce any exciting new features, but instead made waves by bringing all the key features on Polar’s top-of-the-range Vantage V2 and Grit X Pro to a cheaper watch that’s also lighter. You’re getting a full multisport watch with extensive training analysis features for $300/£259 as a result, and it’s hard to justify spending the extra on the Vantage V2 or Grit X Pro unless you much prefer their design.
Along with the great sports tracking and training analysis, the Pacer Pro also offers breadcrumb navigation and some basic smart features like weather forecasts and music controls (but not storage). It’s a great alternative to the Garmin Forerunner 255 and Coros Pace 2 if you prefer Polar’s ecosystem.
Read more in our Polar Pacer Pro review
Coros has always pushed the boundaries of expected battery life and the Vertix 2 lasts longer than any other GPS sports watch. It will last more than a month even with intensive use and offers all the features you’d expect at this price.
That includes GPS tracking using GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and Beidou satellite systems simultaneously, and you can also use multi-band tracking, though this brings the GPS battery life down from 90 hours to 50. There’s also a GPS-only mode that nets you a monster 140 hours of tracking.
The Vertix 2 is also one of the only sports watches outside Garmin’s range to offer colour maps, though there is no turn-by-turn navigation, and in general the mapping experience falls short of what you get on the Fenix range and Epix 2. The Vertix 2 does also offer music storage, though it can’t be linked to a streaming service yet.
Read more in our Coros Vertix 2 review
If you’re set on tackling long runs in the wilderness, the Fenix 7 is the watch you want on your wrist. It boasts an impressive battery life, so you won’t run out of juice halfway through your ultramarathon, and has colour maps to keep you on track. The impressive ClimbPro tool analyses all the climbs and descents on your route so you can plan your effort accordingly on mountain runs.
You get more battery life from the larger Fenix 7X than the standard 7, and there are solar options in the range that can add charge to the battery using solar panels around the watch face. Whichever Fenix 7 you opt for, though, you’re getting a lot of battery: even the smallest Fenix 7S offers 37 hours of GPS-only tracking, rising to 122 hours on the Fenix 7X solar version when used in sunny conditions. The battery life will come down if using the more accurate GPS modes, which use multiple satellite systems at once, and there is multi-band mode on the sapphire models in the range too.
The Fenix 7 also has all the best sports tracking features Garmin offers, which is also to say the best sports tracking features any device offers. You get detailed training analysis that can help you judge how well you’re acclimatising to heat or altitude, as well as suggested workouts each day to help balance your training load between easy and hard runs. The watch also has space for music, and syncs wirelessly with a Spotify Premium or Amazon Music account.
Read more in our Garmin Fenix 7 review
The Garmin Enduro 2 is essentially the Fenix 7X Plus, offering all the same excellent features as the Fenix but with even longer battery life, making it ideal for those who plan on spending days or weeks out on the trails for ultramarathon events.
Aided by the solar panels around the watch face, the battery life of the Enduro 2 can reach 46 days in smartwatch mode in sunny conditions, or 150 hours of GPS tracking. If you opt for more accurate GPS tracking modes like multi-band the battery life decreases, but you can also increase it using the Max Battery GPS mode, which allows for 264 hours of tracking (714 with solar).
Even in more accurate GPS modes the Enduro 2 will outlast most ultramarathon times, while also guiding you through the races thanks to the colour maps and exceptional navigation features on the watch – including ClimbPro to help you judge your ascents and descents during mountain events.
Read more in our Garmin Enduro 2 review
The GT Runner is one of the sportiest smartwatches we’ve tested, and it’s loaded with useful features for runners. These include extensive and useful training analysis, and the ability to create custom training plans for races, with the watch guiding you through each workout. The watch has multi-band GPS tracking, though we did find it wasn’t up to the standard set by other watches with this feature.
On the smarts side, Huawei and Android phone users will get the most from the GT Runner, which has music storage and a modest app store that does include the Petal Maps mapping app. It’s not as smart as an Apple Watch or a full Wear OS device, but it’s pretty smart, and the GT Runner also has a fantastic AMOLED screen that’s bright and easy to read in all conditions.
Read more in our Huawei Watch GT Runner review
One of the most pleasant surprises of 2022, the Amazfit T-Rex 2 is an attractive option for runners seeking a genuinely useful sports watch with a smartwatch-style screen. It’s not perfect: one flaw is that in bright sunlight it’s not always easy to read your stats quickly during a run – but it’s not that hard either, and it’s a flaw we can forgive given the value you’re getting here.
The T-Rex 2 has proper customisable data screens for your runs, plus an intervals mode, and offers multi-band GPS tracking that we found was generally extremely accurate even in tricky GPS conditions. The heart rate monitor is also pretty good, though it’s a shame you can’t pair external straps to get the best results on this front.
It’s not a proper smartwatch, with no music support or app store to call on, but it has the screen of one paired with the sports-tracking smarts and rugged exterior of an adventure watch, all at a great price.
Being frank, Android smartwatches do not impress when it comes to run tracking. Even the best options from top brands like Samsung (which runs its own watch software) and Huawei have underwhelming run tracking, so if you want top-notch sports tracking you’re usually better off with a semi-smartwatch like the Garmin Venu or Fitbit Versa 4, which don’t have well-stocked app stores.
However, the Suunto 7 comes the closest to offering a full Wear OS smartwatch experience plus good run tracking with the company’s own sports app loaded on the watch. It’s not a full Suunto sports watch experience – there are some basic omissions in the run tracking such as customisable workouts – but it is pretty solid. It’s also the best you’ll get on a smartwatch that runs Wear OS and thus has access to the Google Play app store and features like Google Pay.
The 7 also has one killer feature: heatmaps. You choose one of 15 sports – which includes both running and trail running – and a map is downloaded to the watch with the most popular running or trail running routes highlighted. It’s a nifty feature when travelling, but it can also reveal new routes where you live. You can set up your own routes to follow from your wrist with directions.
Read more in our Suunto 7 review
Running Watch Buying Advice
What are the key features of running watches?
Running watches all serve the same core purpose, which is to track your distance, pace and heart rate, and provide those stats live on your wrist. (If you’re unsure why you’d even want to know these things, here’s an explainer of how a running watch can improve your training.)
All the watches above do this job well because they have built-in GPS and heart rate monitors. However, there are big differences in the design, battery life and other features, so the best place to start when picking a watch is to consider what features are essential for you.
Here are some of the key features explained.
Battery life
Running watches usually have at least enough battery life to allow you to track a full marathon with GPS, but you can pay more for a longer-lasting battery. The largest, most expensive watches last several weeks on a charge even with regular running, while smaller running watches should still have around seven days’ life.
Smartwatches or running watches with AMOLED screens will have shorter battery life, sometimes as little as one or two days; some features will use up battery life more quickly, like playing music on the watch or using more accurate GPS modes.
All-systems-on and multi-band GPS
GPS accuracy is something many runners obsess over, and the latest running watches offer more accuracy than ever thanks to new chipsets and GPS modes. In the past watches would usually either just use GPS satellites, or offer a mix of two satellite systems like GPS + GLONASS, or GPS + Galileo. Many watches now offer all-systems-on GPS tracking, which uses up to five satellite systems at once to help avoid periods where no satellite has a fix on your position.
A further upgrade in accuracy comes from multi-band tracking, which uses two frequencies to track your position, which again reduces inaccuracy in tracking, especially in challenging conditions such as when you’re under tree cover or among high buildings.
However, not all multi-band tracking is equal. In our testing we’ve found that Garmin and Apple devices with multi-band are very accurate, but it does not really improve the tracking on the Coros, Polar and Huawei watches that use it.
Music storage
Rather than carrying your phone with you, your music can be loaded on to the watch to stream to Bluetooth running headphones. The most basic form of this is drag-and-drop storage, but it’s more convenient if the watch links to a streaming service like Spotify, since most of us don't have a large music library stored on our computers any more.
If the watch does link with a free streaming service then you will almost certainly need a premium account with that service to be able to transfer your files across to the watch to listen to offline.
Smartwatch features
Beyond music, the most useful feature for runners is contactless payments, so you can buy a drink or get a bus home in a pinch. At the moment this is an area where Apple and Android smartwatches are well ahead, since Apple Pay and Google Pay are easy to set up and accepted almost everywhere. In contrast, many high street banks, especially in the UK, don’t support Garmin Pay and Fitbit Pay yet.
Structured workouts
This feature allows you to specify the steps of a workout and then follow it on a watch. It’s especially useful for intervals as well as other types of run which require you to stay at a certain pace or heart rate zone. Some watches will also suggest a structured workout each day for you to follow based on your fitness and recent training load.
Guided training plans
Here, the watch sets a schedule of structured workouts to prepare you to run a set distance – normally 5K, 10K, a half marathon or marathon. The plan is set up in the partner app and usually customised to your ability and the time you have available to run each week.
Training analysis
This typically assesses how each run affects your fitness and whether your training as a whole is being productive. Most watches will estimate your VO2 max and judge your training load to ensure you’re not overdoing it or failing to do enough of a certain types of workouts, such as sprint intervals or easy runs. Some Garmin watches go beyond this to analyse how well you’re acclimatising to heat or altitude, and they also give you a training readiness score each day based on your recent activity, sleep and stress levels.
Maps and navigation
These turn your watch into a satnav, although the full-colour maps you may be used to are available on only a few, very expensive devices. Cheaper watches will offer breadcrumb navigation, which essentially is a line to follow on a plain background, or a pointer to help you navigate through a route, sometimes with turn-by-turn directions.
Navigation is an area where Garmin excels in particular – its best watches have colour maps and useful features like ClimbPro, which analyses the climbs and descents in your route so you can view them individually as you’re tackling them and judge your effort accordingly.
How much do running watches cost?
The best entry-level running watches cost around $110/£100 to $140/£130, though there are cheaper options that will get the basic job done. Watches in this bracket will offer reliable tracking, structured workouts, solid battery life, and even some useful training analysis and advice.
Raise your budget to $200/£180 and you’ll get longer battery life, devices with bigger and better-quality screens, more in-depth training analysis and breadcrumb navigation. You can also get music storage at this price. If you can stretch to $400/£380 you’ll have your pick of the best true smartwatches for runners.
If you have more cash than that, and the inclination to spend it on a running watch, there are some truly remarkable devices available in the high-end category. Here you’ll find features like full-colour maps (a real game-changer) and more accurate GPS modes, plus batteries that last over a month.
Why do runners use Garmin watches?
You will have noted that most of the watches on our list are made by Garmin, and if you eye up the wrists of runners in general you’ll spot more Garmins than any other brand. Garmin has been making excellent running watches for a long time, which inspires loyalty, and its current range features the most accurate and feature-rich devices on the market.
Along with nailing the essential features runners need, Garmin watches with more advanced features include the best navigation tools and most insightful training analysis available, along with some useful smart features like music storage. There are certainly excellent watches from other brands and in some categories Garmin is not the best option, but they’re always a reliable pick.
Is Coros better than Garmin?
Coros is a relatively new brand but has made great progress in producing running watches that offer a lot of features. There are some areas where Coros particularly excels, such as battery life, and value – often the equivalent Garmin watch will be more expensive than a Coros and there are some Coros watches we rate as the best option for certain runners. However, overall Garmin watches tend to offer more features and a better user experience honed by many more years of making watches, especially when it comes to high-end devices.
Is an Apple Watch or Fitbit better for running?
Fitbit’s range of smartwatches and fitness trackers do a good job of tracking the key stats of your runs, like time, distance and calories burned, but lack the depth of data and accuracy you get from the best running watches.
That was true of the Apple Watch’s native sports tracking until the watchOS 9 software update, which added several features to upgrade to tracking to meet the standard of a sports watch. However, what really sets the Apple Watch apart from Fitbit devices is the App Store, which contains several excellent run tracking apps that offer more depth in the stats and customisation on offer, plus navigation features.
Trumping anything made by Fitbit, the Apple Watch Ultra is the best running watch made by Apple – it has an extra button and multi-band GPS tracking, which aren’t available on the Apple Watch Series 8. However, one area where Fitbit has the edge is battery life: its watches last three to five days on a charge, whereas even the bigger Apple Watch Ultra needs charging every two days.
