GPS smartwatches have seriously improved over recent years and with the general growth of running, there are more watches out there than ever before. So, to find out what the best GPS watch for runners are, and to stop you having to ask Geoff down the pub what he thinks, we’ve compiled a list to get you tracking your runs and all essential data you need, no matter what budget you’re playing with.
Best GPS Watch for Road Running
Garmin Forerunner 245 music
This is a great all-around GPS watch at a mid-range price. At 43mm wide and weighing 38.5 g, this GPS watch is impressively lightweight and yet it packs all the features you need in a road running watch and many more.
It has a nice five-button design which is easy to operate in all weather conditions. It comes with a beautiful color display, a wrist-based heart rate sensor, and smartphone notification compatibility (both Android and iPhone).
It can store up to 500 songs and can sync directly with music streaming services (like Spotify).
The 245 has advanced training features and running dynamics for detailed feedback on your runs. That’s in part thanks to all the sensors it comes with: such as a compass and a pulse oximeter to track your blood oxygen. This allows for a much more in-depth heart rate analysis. For example, it can monitor your VO2 max and adjust your training accordingly.
It is also compatible with Garmin Coach if you like free training plans and getting advice from Garmin’s expert coaches.
It can track many more activities than running, including swimming (water-rated 5 ATM).
Garmin added a nice safety feature that automatically detects incidents during your activities and sends your geolocation to up to three chosen emergency contacts. That means that if you crash and are unconscious, the watch is able to alert someone by itself. All you need is to pair it via Bluetooth with a smartphone with a data plan. This is essential for anyone who trains in the mountains for example. Additional safety measures include Assistance, LiveTrack and Live Event Sharing (so friends and family can follow you).
One of the features we love most is Body Battery™. It rates your energy reserves at any time during the day using a number from 0-100. It does so by tracking things like heart-rate variability (HRV) sleep, stress or physical activity.
The battery life is quite impressive with up to 7 days in Smartwatch Mode, up to 24 hours in GPS mode without music and up to 6 hours in GPS mode with music.
All in all it is an impressive watch packed with a ton of useful features and the perfect companion for a run.
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Also consider: Polar Vantage M
The Polar Vantage M is only our runner-up because while it has a similar price point to the 245 (if you exclude the music option), it does not include many of its smart features. However it still offers really great value for the money and a big battery life.
However, it offers very reliable GPS and heart rate measurements and advanced sports and performance tracking. For example, it can assess your training load, measure your sleep and estimate your VO2 max.
It comes with GPS and GLONASS sensors. The “next-level” wrist heart rate sensor is the only one on the market that combines both optical sensor and bio-impedance technology, to overcome erratic readings caused by movement.
It is compatible with multisports and even triathlon but it will mainly appeal to runners.
So if performance tracking is all you are after, this watch might be perfect for you.
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Budget Pick: Garmin Forerunner 45
At 199.99, the little sister of the 245 is an impressively well-rounded entry-level GPS smartwatch. It is a lightweight and packs all the basic features you need to track your running.
It shares many of the core features of the 245: a similar easy-to-operate five-button design, all the great safety features (automatic incident detection and assistance), it supports GLONASS and Galileo on top of GPS, it’s compatible with Garmin Coach and it also displays the neat Body Battery™.
Although it does not offer onboard music, you can pair it with your phone to control the music.
The 45 offers a battery of up to 7 days in smartwatch mode and 13 hours in GPS mode. That’s the same battery life as its Forerunner 35 predecessor but while boasting a full-color display.
As long as you are happy with everyday wellness/heart-rate/stress tracking and basic training data, this watch has everything you need. It truly offer a very competitive quality/price ratio.
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Best GPS Watch for Trail
Garmin Fenix 5X
Garmin’s Fenix 5X is a rugged multisport watch that supports a variety of outdoor activities. It touts a beautiful sapphire crystal display covering a fiber-reinforced polymer body with a stainless steel back. A truly premium design.
It comes with a long list of sensors including a barometric altimeter, gyroscope, and compass, the most important ones for trail running. It also comes with multi-satellite support (GLONASS and Galileo on top of GPS). All of this allows for comprehensive navigation and tracking. There are several navigation features that make it convenient for runners to get all the info they need at a glance. And the maps are full-colored. We loved the back-to-start navigation feature.
The battery life is really good with 12 days in smartwatch mode, up to 20 hours in GPS/HR mode, and up to 35 hours in UltraTrac™ mode.
It comes with every single training, planning and analysis feature and metric you could think of to evaluate your training, training load, performance indicators. Some of the features are really convenient for trail runners: cadence, stride length, ground contact time and balance, vertical oscillation and vertical ratio.
If you’re interested to learn more, we have a more in-depth review here.
If you have the money, then this is one of the best outdoor tracker out there. Otherwise you might want to check out our Budget Pick.
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Best Sport Smartwatch
What if you don’t feel like spending hundreds of pounds/dollars on something you will only use a few times a week? Then maybe you just want a smartwatch that you can wear every day and that can also come with you on your runs or any other activity you have in mind. Well, we have some great options for you too!
Apple Watch
There is no doubt about, the Apple Watch is one of the best smartwatches out there. And it is a solid fitness tracker. We were impressed by how reliable it is.
It comes with a GPS sensor and Apple has packed a whole lot of smart and useful features in a small, lightweight package.
It tracks a nice amount of health and fitness data which is all conveniently centralized in the beautiful iPhone Health app. It monitors stress, calories burned, heart rate and more. It alerts you if it detects something of concern with your heart rate. Other safety features include fall detection and Emergency SOS. It automatically detects workouts which is nice.
It also tracks cadence and rolling mile pace (your current mile pace) and can send you pace alerts. We like that last one a lot: the watch will vibrate to let you know when you’re behind or ahead of your set pace.
Check out our article on the Best Fitness Apps for Apple Watch >>
It is water-resistant to 50 meters and can track 15+ sports including swimming and yoga.
And you can stream music or even podcasts right from Apple Music to make your runs less boring. Speaking of which, there’s a cool little feature called Activity Competitions, with which you can challenge your friends to beat your activity level over 7 days. It’s a pretty cool way to get motivated (or injured?).
Note that there is a version called Apple Watch Nike+ targeted specifically at runners. But even the regular version is a solid, all-around sports watch.
If you already have an iPhone or are comfortable with Apple products, there is no reason to look further, this watch will serve you well. It really is a solid option for all runners.
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These were all the best GPS watches out there so hopefully, our guide helped you find the right watch for you. Leave us a comment if you have questions, happy running!
