The Best Running Watches (2024) for needs and budget

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It’s really cool, but it can be hard to figure out which one will work best for your needs. The best running watches are a great way to learn more about your endurance sports, especially running, but also cycling, swimming, and other sports.

There are a lot of features on these high-performance fitness tools that can help you beat your personal bests. These features include virtual pacers, suggested workouts, route creation with GPS, and the usual heart rate, time, and pace information you get while running.

The best running watches can take your workout to the next level by giving you a detailed breakdown of every step you take and what your body does while you’re pounding the pavement. A lot of us want to know exactly how we’re doing when we work out.

Best Running Watches

Garmin Forerunner 255 Music

Specifications:

Heart Rate Monitor	Yes
Color Screen	Yes
Battery Life	Up to 14 days
Operating System	Garmin
Offline Media Storage	4GB
Display Size	1.1-inch or 1.3-inch
Sizes	41mm or 46mm

The Garmin Forerunner 255 Music is both our best sports watch and our best running watches. The device also gives you access to Garmin’s wide range of training metrics, which help you not only plan your workouts but also your recovery time.

During our tests, the transflective display on the Garmin Forerunner 255 Music was easy to read, even in bright sunlight. Plus, you can stop and start a run with the touch of a button, so you can keep your eyes on the road or trail instead of your watch.

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Garmin Vivoactive 4

Specifications:

Shape Surface	Circular, Flat
Weight	50 g
Changeable Straps	Yes
Body Material	Stainless Steel

Is it a smartwatch, a GPS watch for running, or a style watch? It includes all three. This is the first Garmin watch that looks like it was made for a runner who cares about design. It goes up against devices like the Apple Watch and Android Wear.

Sure, it’s not as powerful as some of the other phones on this list, but if you’re looking for the best bang for your buck, it’s hard to beat. It has a good look and a lot of features for a good price. As you might expect, it has all the Garmin smarts, like all the best running watches.

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Venu 2 Plus

Specifications:

Operating System	Garmin OS, works with Android and iOS
Resolution	416×416
Always-on mode	Optional
Bezel	Stainless steel

Runners who don’t want to go out on the road without their phones will love the call feature. With the third button set aside as a shortcut that you can customize, you can set it up so that you can make a quick outgoing call and feel safe while running.

This best running watches is a hit because it can do a lot of different things. For runners, it has all the bells and whistles that will make training and keeping track of health fun. But it does more for runners than most lifestyle watches can.

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Apple Watch Series 8

Specifications:

Size	1.9 inches
Resolution	484 x 396 pixels, 329 PPI
Technology	OLED
System chip	Apple S8
GPU	PowerVR

The Apple Watch Series 8 isn’t a big step up from the best running watches. The only real new features are temperature sensors that help track fertility and crash detection. Still, that’s not always a bad thing because the product line is so much better than what its competitors can do.

It has its own version of the App Store with hundreds of Apple Watch apps, and you can use third-party running apps like Strava. It also has a big, bright screen and a tonne of different straps to choose from. In fact, its battery life is the main problem.

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COROS PACE 2

Specifications:

Display Size	1.2 in. 240 x 240 (64 colors)
Display Type	Always-On Memory LCD
Screen Material	Corning® Glass
Physical Size	20mm

The Coros Pace 2 might not have as many lifestyle features as some Garmins watch, but it does have great running features. Its predecessor, the Pace, was a good watch, but the Pace 2 made all the important things better, like the battery life and accuracy of the sensors, without making you pay more.

The Coros Pace 2’s screen is best running watches. It is clear, bright, and a pleasure to look at. Even though the screen is bright, it doesn’t drain the battery. In GPS mode, the Pace 2 can go for up to 30 hours on two charges, which is very impressive.

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Garmin Enduro

Specifications:

Display Size	1.4″ / 35.6 mm
Display Type	MIP LCD
Screen Resolution	280 x 280
Storage Capacity	64 MB

Garmin has best running watches in the running world for making watches that work well and can do a lot of different things. The Enduro lives up to this reputation, in our opinion. This running watch has a lot to offer, even though it looks and feels pretty big on the wrist.

If battery life is important to you, the Garmin Enduro has a GPS mode that lasts up to 80 hours and can even charge itself from the sun. This running watch doesn’t let you download music, which isn’t great if you run better when you listen to good music.

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Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar

Specifications:

Display	1.3-inch diameter 260×260-pixel resolution
Materials	Fiber-reinforced polymer case material
Storage	32GB internal storage for up to 2000 songs
Water resistance	5 ATM

If you go to our best running watches or best fitness tracker guides, you’ll see that the Garmin Fenix 7 is the best “top end” option we recommend for serious athletes. But if you don’t want a tracker for extreme sports or are only interested in running, the Forerunner 955 is a better choice.

Even though it costs less than the basic Fenix 7, it has a lot of the same features and a few that its more expensive sibling doesn’t have. In our tests, this made it just as good, if not better, for runners. First of all, the device is a lot smaller than the Fenix.

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Amazfit GTS 2 Mini

Specifications:

Dial Shape	Rectangle
Strap Material	Silicone
Size	Regular
Interchangeable Strap	Yes

There are a lot of cheap smartwatches in the Amazfit line, but the GTS 2 Mini is the best running watches one for runners. It has built-in GPS and a great AMOLED display where you can see all your stats. The watch has all the main features of the GTS 2 in a smaller package.

At this price, you’d expect the run tracking to be more basic, but the GTS 2 Mini has all the important stats. It also doesn’t have much in the way of smart features. For example, it doesn’t have a place to store music or an app store. However, you can control music playback on a connected phone and see notifications on the watch.

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FAQs

What watch do marathon runners wear?

The Garmin Forerunner 235 is a great all-around watch that can be used to train for a marathon and keep track of other activities. Garmin has a good reputation for making the best GPS devices and smart algorithms that map your runs accurately.

Is it worth getting a running watch?

One of the best things a runner can buy is a running watch. They let runners accurately track their progress, improve the quality of their training, get rid of the need to carry a phone, and look stylish, among many other things.

What does a running watch do?

GPS running watches use global positioning technology to accurately record your route so you can later look at your pace, cadence, and elevation to improve your training. They also do everything a fitness tracker does.