If you’re into the world of wearables, you’re likely already aware of Garmin, and their long list of GPS Fitness Watches. Garmin has been in the wearables industry since it began and even a little before then.
Forerunner 935 – Elite Triathletes [$699 RRP]
The forerunner 935 fitness watch is designed for triathletes. The device records advanced metrics for running, cycling and swimming. The prime feature is the 935’s multisport functionality; you can quickly switch between modes, immediately going from running to cycling to swimming. This is the ideal watch for athletes training for triathlon events. It will give you very accurate information on your performance and detailed metrics to optimise your training and recovery. The biggest advantage the forerunner 935 over the fenix 5 is its lightweight plastic design.
The 935 features an optical HR monitor which like most Garmin wrist-based heart rate monitors is accurate in most conditions, however, is not as accurate a Garmin HRM chest strap. The battery in smart mode: is up to 2 weeks, GPS/HR mode: 24 hours and UltraTrac Mode: up to 60 hours without wrist heart rate.
Why Buy it: A top tier watch for serious athletes looking to get the most out of their training
| Best Features | Worst |
| Light and comfortable for 24/7 use | Optical HR not consistent |
| Smart notifications | Garmin Connect is still messy |
| Perfect for multisport |
| General | |
| Lens Material | chemically strengthened glass |
| Bezel Material | fiber-reinforced polymer |
| Case material | fiber-reinforced polymer |
| QuickFit™ watch band compatible | yes (22 mm) |
| Strap material | silicone |
| Physical size | 47 x 47 x 13.9 mm |
| Weight | 49 g |
| Water rating | 5 ATM |
| Display type | sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) |
| Display size | 1.2" (30.4 mm) diameter |
| Display resolution | 240 x 240 pixels |
| Color display | Yes |
| Battery life | Smartwatch Mode: Up to 2 weeks |
| GPS/HR mode: Up to 24 hours | |
| UltraTrac™ mode: Up to 60 hours without wrist heart rate | |
| Memory/History | 64 MB |
| Clock Features | |
| Time/date | Yes |
| GPS Time Sync | Yes |
| Automatic daylight saving time | Yes |
| Alarm clock | Yes |
| Timer | Yes |
| Stopwatch | Yes |
| Sunrise/sunset times | Yes |
| Face It™ watch face creator | Yes |
| Sensors | |
| GPS | Yes |
| GLONASS | Yes |
| Garmin Elevate™ wrist heart rate monitor | Yes |
| Barometric altimeter | Yes |
| Compass | Yes |
| Gyroscope | Yes |
| Accelerometer | Yes |
| Thermometer | Yes |
| Daily Smart Features | |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth® Smart, ANT+®, Wi-Fi® |
| Connect IQ™ (downloadable watch faces, data fields, widgets and apps) | Yes |
| Smart notifications | Yes |
| Calendar | Yes |
| Weather | Yes |
| Music controls | Yes |
| Find My Phone | Yes |
| Find My Watch | Yes |
| VIRB® remote | Yes |
| Smartphone compatibility | iPhone®, Android™, Windows® |
| Compatible with Garmin Connect™ Mobile | Yes |
| Activity Tracking Features | |
| Step counter | Yes |
| Move bar (displays on device after a period of inactivity; walk for a couple of minutes to reset it) | Yes |
| Auto goal (learns your activity level and assigns a daily step goal) | Yes |
| Sleep monitoring (monitors total sleep and periods of movement or restful sleep) | Yes |
| Calories burned | Yes |
| Floors climbed | Yes |
| Distance traveled | Yes |
| Intensity minutes | Yes |
| TrueUp™ | Yes |
| Move IQ™ | Yes |
| Fitness Age | yes (in app) |
| Fitness Equipment/Gym | |
| Preloaded gym activity profiles | Indoor Rowing |
| Training, Planning and Analysis Features | |
| GPS speed and distance | Yes |
| Customizable data pages | Yes |
| Customizable activity profiles | Yes |
| Auto Pause® | Yes |
| Advanced workouts | Yes |
| Downloadable training plans | Yes |
| Auto Lap® | Yes |
| Manual lap | Yes |
| Virtual Partner | Yes |
| Configurable lap alerts | Yes |
| V02 max | Yes |
| Training Status (lets you see if you’re training effectively by tracking your training history and fitness level trend.) | Yes |
| Training Load (your total training load for the last 7 days calculated from estimated EPOC) | Yes |
| Training Effect (aerobic) | Yes |
| Training Effect (anaerobic) | Yes |
| Customizable alerts | Yes |
| Audio prompts | Yes |
| Finish time | Yes |
| Race an Activity | Yes |
| Course guidance | Yes |
| Segments (Live, Garmin) | Yes |
| LiveTrack | Yes |
| Group LiveTrack | Yes |
| Touch and/or button lock | Yes |
| Hot keys | Yes |
| Auto scroll | Yes |
| Activity history on watch | Yes |
| Heart Rate Features | |
| HR zones | Yes |
| HR alerts | Yes |
| HR calories | Yes |
| % HR max | Yes |
| % HRR | Yes |
| Recovery time | Yes |
| Auto max HR | Yes |
| HRV stress test (measures your heart rate variability while standing still, for 3 minutes, to provide you with an estimated stress level; the scale of this is 1 to 100; low scores indicate lower stress levels) | yes (with compatible accessory) |
| Records heart rate while swimming | yes (with HRM-Tri™ and HRM-Swim™) |
| HR Broadcast (broadcasts HR data over ANT+™ to paired devices) | Yes |
| Running Features | |
| Preloaded run profiles | Running, Indoor Running, Trail Running |
| GPS-based distance, time and pace | Yes |
| Running dynamics | Yes |
| Vertical oscillation and ratio (the degree of 'bounce' in your running motion and the cost-benefit ratio with stride length) | yes (with compatible accessory) |
| Ground contact time and balance (shows how much time, in the running motion, your foot is on the ground rather than in flight and lets you check your running symmetry) | yes (with compatible accessory) |
| Stride length (real time) | yes (with compatible accessory) |
| Cadence (provides real-time number of steps per minute) | Yes |
| Physiological measurements | Yes |
| Performance condition (after running 6–20 minutes, compares your real-time condition to your average fitness level) | Yes |
| Lactate threshold (through analysis of your pace and heart rate, estimates the point where your muscles start to rapidly fatigue) | yes (with compatible accessory) |
| Run workouts | Yes |
| Race predictor | Yes |
| Foot pod capable | Yes |
| Golfing Features | |
| Yardage to F/M/B (distance to front, middle and back of green) | Yes |
| Yardage to layups/doglegs | Yes |
| Measures shot distance (calculates exact yardage for shots from anywhere on course) | Automatic |
| Digital scorecard | Yes |
| Stat tracking (strokes, putts per round, greens and fairways hit) | Yes |
| Garmin AutoShot™ | Yes |
| Green View with manual pin position | Yes |
| Hazards and course targets | Yes |
| TruSwing™ compatible | Yes |
| Round timer/odometer | Yes |
| Outdoor Recreation Features | |
| Preloaded outdoor recreation profiles | Hiking, Climbing, Skiing, Snowboarding, XC Skiing, Stand Up Paddleboarding, Rowing, Jumpmaster, Tactical |
| Point-to-point navigation | Yes |
| Bread crumb trail in real time | Yes |
| Back to start | Yes |
| TracBack® | Yes |
| UltraTrac™ mode | Yes |
| Elevation profile | Yes |
| Distance to destination | Yes |
| Barometric trend indicator | Yes |
| Storm alert | Yes |
| Trail run auto climb | Yes |
| Vertical speed | Yes |
| Total ascent/descent | Yes |
| Compatible with BaseCamp™ | Yes |
| GPS coordinates | Yes |
| Projected waypoint | Yes |
| Sight 'N Go | Yes |
| Area calculation | yes (via Connect IQ™) |
| Hunt/fish calendar | yes (via Connect IQ™) |
| Sun and moon information | yes (via Connect IQ™) |
| Dual grid coordinates | Yes |
| Cycling Features | |
| Preloaded cycling profiles | Biking, Indoor Biking, Mountain Biking |
| Courses (compete against previous activities) | Yes |
| Bike lap and lap maximum power (with power sensor) | Yes |
| Race an activity | Yes |
| Time/distance alerts (triggers alarm when you reach goal) | Yes |
| Interval training | Yes |
| FTP (Functional Threshold Power) | yes (with compatible accessory) |
| Strava features (Beacon, live segments) | Yes |
| Compatible with Vector™ (power meter) | Yes |
| Power meter compatible (displays power data from compatible third-party ANT+™-enabled power meters) | Yes |
| Compatible with Varia Vision™ (head-mounted display) | Yes |
| Compatible with Varia™ radar (rear-facing radar) | Yes |
| Compatible with Varia™ lights | Yes |
| Speed and cadence sensor support (with sensor) | yes (ANT+® and Bluetooth® Smart sensors) |
| Swimming Features | |
| Preloaded swim profiles | Pool Swimming, Open Water Swimming |
| Pool swim metrics (lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories) | Yes |
| Stroke type detection (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly) | Yes |
| Pool swim workouts | Yes |
| Swim efficiency (SWOLF) | Yes |
| Advanced swim features (time/distance alerts, countdown start, advanced rest timers) | Yes |
| Open-water swim metrics (distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories) | Yes |
| Heart rate (real-time during rests, interval and sessions stats during rests, and automatic heart rate download post-swim) | yes (with HRM-Tri™ and HRM-Swim™) |
4. Forerunner 35 - Cost Effective [$299 RRP]
If you’re looking for somewhere to break into the fitness watch category, the forerunner 35 fitness watches are a perfect place to start. It’s aimed primarily at the lower end of the runner market. You won’t be overwhelmed with data like some of the other models do initially. It has basic activity tracking: distance, pace, time, calories, splits and even an optical HRM. It also delivers smartphone notifications.
Regarding design, you won’t get a touch screen like the other watches mentioned here, but it is easy to navigate the watch through the four buttons on the watch bezel. The forerunner 35 comes with GPS support but lacks GLONASS connectivity, so it’s a little slower to grab the signal. Overall though this is a great watch to go from the couch to 5K.
Why Buy it: Cost effective way to enter the fitness watch category and plenty of fitness tracking metrics.
| Best Features | Worst |
| Easy to use and learn | Slow GPS connection |
| Cost-effective | Unattractive design |
| Smart notifications |
Forerunner 35 Spec Sheet
| General | |
| Lens Material | chemically strengthened glass |
| Strap material | silicone |
| Physical size | 35.5 x 40.7 x 13.3 mm |
| Weight | 37.3 g |
| Water rating | 5 ATM |
| Display type | sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) |
| Display size | 0.93" x 0.93" (23.5 x 23.4 mm) |
| Display resolution | 128 x 128 pixels |
| Battery life | Smartwatch Mode: Up to 9 days |
| GPS mode: Up to 13 hours | |
| Memory/History | 7 activities |
| Clock Features | |
| Time/date | Yes |
| GPS Time Sync | Yes |
| Automatic daylight saving time | Yes |
| Alarm clock | Yes |
| Stopwatch | Yes |
| Sensors | |
| GPS | Yes |
| Garmin Elevate™ wrist heart rate monitor | Yes |
| Accelerometer | Yes |
| Daily Smart Features | |
| Connectivity | Yes |
| Smart notifications | Yes |
| Weather | Yes |
| Music controls | Yes |
| Find My Phone | Yes |
| Smartphone compatibility | Yes |
| Compatible with Garmin Connect™ Mobile | Yes |
| Activity Tracking Features | |
| Step counter | Yes |
| Move bar (displays on device after a period of inactivity; walk for a couple of minutes to reset it) | Yes |
| Auto goal (learns your activity level and assigns a daily step goal) | Yes |
| Sleep monitoring (monitors total sleep and periods of movement or restful sleep) | Yes |
| Calories burned | Yes |
| Distance traveled | Yes |
| Intensity minutes | Yes |
| TrueUp™ | Yes |
| Move IQ™ | Yes |
| Training, Planning and Analysis Features | |
| GPS speed and distance | Yes |
| Customizable data pages | Yes |
| Customizable activity profiles | Yes |
| Auto Pause® | Yes |
| Auto Lap® | Yes |
| Manual lap | Yes |
| V02 max | Yes |
| Audio prompts | Yes |
| LiveTrack | Yes |
| Activity history on watch | Yes |
| Heart Rate Features | |
| HR zones | Yes |
| HR alerts | Yes |
| HR calories | Yes |
| HR Broadcast (broadcasts HR data over ANT+™ to paired devices) | Yes |
| Running Features | |
| Preloaded run profiles | Yes |
| GPS-based distance, time and pace | Yes |
| Cadence (provides real-time number of steps per minute) | Yes |
| Foot pod capable | Yes |
| Cycling Features | |
| Preloaded cycling profiles | Yes |
| Time/distance alerts (triggers alarm when you reach goal) | Yes |
| Interval training | Yes |
| Speed and cadence sensor support (with sensor) | Yes |
3. Vivosport - Powerful Fitness Band [$299]
The vivosport is another watch perfect for beginners. It’s less of a fitness watch and more of a fitness band it still contains many of the most useful metrics and analytics you see in the top tier watches. The standout features are the GPS, 24/7 stress tracking, VO2 Max/Fitness level scoring and the update to 24/7 HR mode. The fitness tracker has also moved away from the clunkier design of the previous vivosmart and vivofit for a far more slimmer fit.
The new iteration hasn’t done anything groundbreaking but it’s a powerful hybrid of the vivofit and vivosmart and while not a huge upgrade (spec-wise) the new features make it a lot more useful.
Why Buy it: Slim design and comfortable 24/7 tracking
| Best Features | Worst |
| Slim Design | Very Small Display |
| 24/7 Stress and HRM | No room for music |
| VO2 Max |
| General | |
| Lens Material | chemically strengthened glass |
| Case material | fiber-reinforced polymer |
| Strap material | silicone |
| Physical size | Width: 21.0 mm |
| Thickness: 10.9 mm | |
| Small/medium fits wrists with a circumference of 122-188 mm. | |
| Large fits wrists with a circumference of 148-215 mm circumference | |
| Weight | Small/medium: 24.1 g |
| Large: 27.0 g | |
| Water rating | Swim |
| Touchscreen | Yes |
| Display type | sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) |
| Display size | 0.38" x 0.76" (9.7 mm x 19.3 mm) |
| Display resolution | 72 x 144 pixels |
| Color display | Yes |
| Battery life | GPS mode: Up to 8 hours |
| Smartwatch mode: Up to 7 days | |
| Memory/History | 7 timed activities, 14 days of activity tracking data |
| Clock Features | |
| Time/date | Yes |
| GPS Time Sync | Yes |
| Automatic daylight saving time | Yes |
| Alarm clock | Yes |
| Timer | Yes |
| Stopwatch | Yes |
| Sensors | |
| GPS | Yes |
| Garmin Elevate™ wrist heart rate monitor | Yes |
| Barometric altimeter | Yes |
| Accelerometer | Yes |
| Daily Smart Features | |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth® Smart and ANT+® |
| Smart notifications | Yes |
| Weather | Yes |
| Music controls | Yes |
| Find My Phone | Yes |
| Find My Watch | Yes |
| VIRB® remote | Yes |
| Smartphone compatibility | iPhone®, Android™, Windows® |
| Compatible with Garmin Connect™ Mobile | Yes |
| Activity Tracking Features | |
| Step counter | Yes |
| Move bar (displays on device after a period of inactivity; walk for a couple of minutes to reset it) | Yes |
| Auto goal (learns your activity level and assigns a daily step goal) | Yes |
| Sleep monitoring (monitors total sleep and periods of movement or restful sleep) | Yes |
| Calories burned | Yes |
| Floors climbed | Yes |
| Distance traveled | Yes |
| Intensity minutes | Yes |
| TrueUp™ | Yes |
| Move IQ™ | Yes |
| Fitness Age | yes (in app) |
| Fitness Equipment/Gym | |
| Preloaded gym activity profiles | Strength Training, Cardio Training |
| Automatic rep counting | Yes |
| Training, Planning and Analysis Features | |
| GPS speed and distance | Yes |
| Customizable data pages | Yes |
| Auto Pause® | Yes |
| Auto Lap® | Yes |
| V02 max | Yes |
| Customizable alerts | Yes |
| LiveTrack | Yes |
| Touch and/or button lock | Yes |
| Activity history on watch | Yes |
| Heart Rate Features | |
| HR zones | Yes |
| HR alerts | Yes |
| HR calories | Yes |
| % HR max | Yes |
| HR Broadcast (broadcasts HR data over ANT+™ to paired devices) | Yes |
| Running Features | |
| Preloaded run profiles | Running, Indoor Running |
| GPS-based distance, time and pace | Yes |
| Cycling Features | |
| Preloaded cycling profiles | Biking |
2. Forerunner 235 – Great All-rounder [$399 RRP]
The forerunner 235 is a great bang for your buck watch. The watch comes with handy running analytics, lightweight design and smart notifications making it a versatile watch useful in almost every day-to-day scenario.
The forerunner 235 has a sleek form-factor design and features 24/7 activity tracking. You can also get all your VO2 Max stats to give you an idea of your recovery between runs. Garmin has also introduced workouts via Garmin connect which is helpful in keeping everything in the one place.
The only significant issue I have with the forerunner 235 is the inaccuracy of the Optical HRM (to be fair wrist-based HRM has never been super accurate), my solution is to treat it as a guide rather than gospel. If you want super accurate readouts I would recommend using a HRM-chest strap.
Why Buy it: Lightweight and versatile; not just an advanced fitness tracker, not just a smartwatch it’s a great mid-range product at a good price.
| Best Features | Worst |
| Running analytics | Inaccurate Optical HRM |
| Workouts from Garmin connect | No room for music |
| Smart notifications |
| General | |
| Lens Material | chemically strengthened glass |
| Strap material | silicone |
| Physical size | 45 x 45 x 11.7 mm |
| Weight | 42 g |
| Water rating | 5 ATM |
| Display type | sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) |
| Display size | 1.23" (31.1 mm) diameter |
| Display resolution | 215 x 180 pixels |
| Color display | Yes |
| Battery life | Smartwatch Mode: Up to 9 days |
| GPS mode: Up to 11 hours | |
| Memory/History | 200 hours of activity data |
| Clock Features | |
| Time/date | Yes |
| GPS Time Sync | Yes |
| Automatic daylight saving time | Yes |
| Alarm clock | Yes |
| Stopwatch | Yes |
| Face It™ watch face creator | Yes |
| Sensors | |
| GPS | Yes |
| GLONASS | Yes |
| Garmin Elevate™ wrist heart rate monitor | Yes |
| Accelerometer | Yes |
| Daily Smart Features | |
| Connectivity | Yes |
| Connect IQ™ (downloadable watch faces, data fields, widgets and apps) | Yes |
| Smart notifications | Yes |
| Calendar | Yes |
| Weather | Yes |
| Music controls | Yes |
| Find My Phone | Yes |
| VIRB® remote | Yes |
| Smartphone compatibility | Yes |
| Compatible with Garmin Connect™ Mobile | Yes |
| Activity Tracking Features | |
| Step counter | Yes |
| Move bar (displays on device after a period of inactivity; walk for a couple of minutes to reset it) | Yes |
| Auto goal (learns your activity level and assigns a daily step goal) | Yes |
| Sleep monitoring (monitors total sleep and periods of movement or restful sleep) | Yes |
| Calories burned | Yes |
| Distance traveled | Yes |
| Intensity minutes | Yes |
| TrueUp™ | Yes |
| Training, Planning and Analysis Features | |
| GPS speed and distance | Yes |
| Customizable data pages | Yes |
| Customizable activity profiles | Yes |
| Auto Pause® | Yes |
| Advanced workouts | Yes |
| Downloadable training plans | Yes |
| Auto Lap® | Yes |
| Manual lap | Yes |
| V02 max | Yes |
| Training Effect (aerobic) | Yes |
| Customizable alerts | Yes |
| Audio prompts | Yes |
| Finish time | Yes |
| LiveTrack | Yes |
| Touch and/or button lock | Yes |
| Auto scroll | Yes |
| Activity history on watch | Yes |
| Heart Rate Features | |
| HR zones | Yes |
| HR alerts | Yes |
| HR calories | Yes |
| Recovery time | Yes |
| HR Broadcast (broadcasts HR data over ANT+™ to paired devices) | Yes |
| Running Features | |
| Preloaded run profiles | Yes |
| GPS-based distance, time and pace | Yes |
| Cadence (provides real-time number of steps per minute) | Yes |
| Physiological measurements | Yes |
| Run workouts | Yes |
| Race predictor | Yes |
| Foot pod capable | Yes |
| Outdoor Recreation Features | |
| Back to start | Yes |
| Distance to destination | yes (for back to start) |
| Cycling Features | |
| Preloaded cycling profiles | Yes |
| Time/distance alerts (triggers alarm when you reach goal) | Yes |
| Interval training | Yes |
| Speed and cadence sensor support (with sensor) | Yes |
1. Fenix 5 – Best in class
The Fenix 5 outperforms or matches the performance of every other watch on this list. It’s the best GPS watch available from Garmin. For those of you who want everything this watch will cover all your hiking, running, cycling, swimming and golfing needs. The fenix 5 offers great metrics that give you insights into your performance and will help guide you on areas that need improvement.
The fenix 5 demonstrates great battery life, despite the shrink in size from the fenix three you can get two weeks battery life in smartwatch mode, 24 hours in GPS mode and up to 60 hours in UltraTrac mode. The fenix 5 is bulkier and heavier than the other watches on this list, but I prefer to feel a little bit of weight on my wrist. The forerunner units, for example, are extremely lightweight with plastic bezels; the fenix five range comes with stainless steel bezels and a bit more stuffed into the watch that adds to the weight and size.
The fenix 5 is the best watch on this list simply because it does everything; it has a massive array of useful data metrics, covers a lot of sports and looks great in both business and sports environments. The only real sticking point for the fenix 5 is the price, with an RRP of $949 (Fenix 5s and Fenix 5 Sapphire Editions) and $999 for the 5X sapphire edition. That’s quite the jump from the previously mentioned models.
Why buy it: It’s the best GPS sports watch available with a huge range of available sports with metrics and analytics to match.
| Best Features | Worst |
| Huge Sports range selection | Optical HR needs improvement |
| Easy to use and customisable | No room for music |
| Robust tracking metrics | Large price tag |
CalendarYes
| General | |
| Lens Material | glass or sapphire crystal |
| Bezel Material | stainless steel |
| Case material | fiber-reinforced polymer with stainless steel rear cover |
| QuickFit™ watch band compatible | yes (22 mm) |
| Strap material | silicone or steel |
| Physical size | 47 x 47 x 15.5 mm |
| Weight | silicone band: 85 g |
| metal band: 156 g | |
| Water rating | 10 ATM |
| Display type | sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) |
| Display size | 1.2” (30.4 mm) diameter |
| Display resolution | 240 x 240 pixels |
| Color display | Yes |
| Battery life | Smartwatch mode: Up to 2 weeks |
| GPS/HR mode: Up to 24 hours | |
| UltraTrac™ mode: Up to 60 hours without wrist heart rate | |
| Memory/History | 64 MB |
| Clock Features | |
| Time/date | Yes |
| GPS Time Sync | Yes |
| Automatic daylight saving time | Yes |
| Alarm clock | Yes |
| Timer | Yes |
| Stopwatch | Yes |
| Sunrise/sunset times | Yes |
| Face It™ watch face creator | Yes |
| Sensors | |
| GPS | Yes |
| GLONASS | Yes |
| Garmin Elevate™ wrist heart rate monitor | Yes |
| Barometric altimeter | Yes |
| Compass | Yes |
| Gyroscope | Yes |
| Accelerometer | Yes |
| Thermometer | Yes |
| Daily Smart Features | |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth® Smart, ANT+®, Wi-Fi® with sapphire editions |
| Connect IQ™ (downloadable watch faces, data fields, widgets and apps) | Yes |
| Smart notifications | Yes |
| Calendar-Yes | Yes |
| Music controls | Yes |
| Find My Phone | Yes |
| Find My Watch | Yes |
| VIRB® remote | Yes |
| Smartphone compatibility | iPhone®, Android™, Windows® |
| Compatible with Garmin Connect™ Mobile | Yes |
| Boating Features | |
| Preloaded Boating Profiles | Boating |
| Activity Tracking Features | |
| Step counter | Yes |
| Move bar (displays on device after a period of inactivity; walk for a couple of minutes to reset it) | Yes |
| Auto goal (learns your activity level and assigns a daily step goal) | Yes |
| Sleep monitoring (monitors total sleep and periods of movement or restful sleep) | Yes |
| Calories burned | Yes |
| Floors climbed | Yes |
| Distance traveled | Yes |
| Intensity minutes | Yes |
| TrueUp™ | Yes |
| Move IQ™ | Yes |
| Fitness Age | yes (in app) |
| Fitness Equipment/Gym | |
| Preloaded gym activity profiles | Indoor Rowing |
| Training, Planning and Analysis Features | |
| GPS speed and distance | Yes |
| Customizable data pages | Yes |
| Customizable activity profiles | Yes |
| Auto Pause® | Yes |
| Advanced workouts | Yes |
| Downloadable training plans | Yes |
| Auto Lap® | Yes |
| Manual lap | Yes |
| Virtual Partner | Yes |
| Configurable lap alerts | Yes |
| V02 max | Yes |
| Training Status (lets you see if you’re training effectively by tracking your training history and fitness level trend.) | Yes |
| Training Load (your total training load for the last 7 days calculated from estimated EPOC) | Yes |
| Training Effect (aerobic) | Yes |
| Training Effect (anaerobic) | Yes |
| Customizable alerts | Yes |
| Audio prompts | Yes |
| Finish time | Yes |
| Race an Activity | Yes |
| Course guidance | Yes |
| Segments (Live, Garmin) | Yes |
| LiveTrack | Yes |
| Group LiveTrack | Yes |
| Touch and/or button lock | Yes |
| Hot keys | Yes |
| Auto scroll | Yes |
| Activity history on watch | Yes |
| Heart Rate Features | |
| HR zones | Yes |
| HR alerts | Yes |
| HR calories | Yes |
| % HR max | Yes |
| % HRR | Yes |
| Recovery time | Yes |
| Auto max HR | Yes |
| HRV stress test (measures your heart rate variability while standing still, for 3 minutes, to provide you with an estimated stress level; the scale of this is 1 to 100; low scores indicate lower stress levels) | yes (with compatible accessory) |
| Records heart rate while swimming | yes (with HRM-Tri™ and HRM-Swim™) |
| HR Broadcast (broadcasts HR data over ANT+™ to paired devices) | Yes |
| Running Features | |
| Preloaded run profiles | Running, Indoor Running, Trail Running |
| GPS-based distance, time and pace | Yes |
| Running dynamics | Yes |
| Vertical oscillation and ratio (the degree of 'bounce' in your running motion and the cost-benefit ratio with stride length) | yes (with compatible accessory) |
| Ground contact time and balance (shows how much time, in the running motion, your foot is on the ground rather than in flight and lets you check your running symmetry) | yes (with compatible accessory) |
| Stride length (real time) | yes (with compatible accessory) |
| Cadence (provides real-time number of steps per minute) | Yes |
| Physiological measurements | Yes |
| Performance condition (after running 6–20 minutes, compares your real-time condition to your average fitness level) | Yes |
| Lactate threshold (through analysis of your pace and heart rate, estimates the point where your muscles start to rapidly fatigue) | yes (with compatible accessory) |
| Run workouts | Yes |
| Race predictor | Yes |
| Foot pod capable | Yes |
| Golfing Features | |
| Yardage to F/M/B (distance to front, middle and back of green) | Yes |
| Yardage to layups/doglegs | Yes |
| Measures shot distance (calculates exact yardage for shots from anywhere on course) | Automatic |
| Digital scorecard | Yes |
| Stat tracking (strokes, putts per round, greens and fairways hit) | Yes |
| Garmin AutoShot™ | Yes |
| Green View with manual pin position | Yes |
| Hazards and course targets | Yes |
| TruSwing™ compatible | Yes |
| Round timer/odometer | Yes |
| Outdoor Recreation Features | |
| Preloaded outdoor recreation profiles | Hiking, Climbing, Mountain Biking, Skiing, Snowboarding, XC Skiing, Stand Up Paddleboarding, Rowing, Jumpmaster, Tactical |
| Point-to-point navigation | Yes |
| Bread crumb trail in real time | Yes |
| Back to start | Yes |
| TracBack® | Yes |
| UltraTrac™ mode | Yes |
| Elevation profile | Yes |
| Distance to destination | Yes |
| Barometric trend indicator | Yes |
| Storm alert | Yes |
| Trail run auto climb | Yes |
| Vertical speed | Yes |
| Total ascent/descent | Yes |
| Compatible with BaseCamp™ | Yes |
| GPS coordinates | Yes |
| Projected waypoint | Yes |
| Sight 'N Go | Yes |
| Area calculation | yes (via Connect IQ™) |
| Hunt/fish calendar | yes (via Connect IQ™) |
| Sun and moon information | yes (via Connect IQ™) |
| Dual grid coordinates | Yes |
| Cycling Features | |
| Preloaded cycling profiles | Biking, Indoor Biking, Mountain Biking |
| Courses | Yes |
| Bike lap and lap maximum power (with power sensor) | Yes |
| Race an activity | Yes |
| Time/distance alerts (triggers alarm when you reach goal) | Yes |
| Interval training | Yes |
| FTP (Functional Threshold Power) | yes (with compatible accessory) |
| Strava features (Beacon, live segments) | Yes |
| Compatible with Vector™ (power meter) | Yes |
| Power meter compatible (displays power data from compatible third-party ANT+™-enabled power meters) | Yes |
| Compatible with Varia Vision™ (head-mounted display) | Yes |
| Compatible with Varia™ radar (rear-facing radar) | Yes |
| Compatible with Varia™ lights | Yes |
| Speed and cadence sensor support (with sensor) | yes (ANT+® and Bluetooth® Smart sensors) |
| Swimming Features | |
| Preloaded swim profiles | Pool Swimming, Open Water Swimming |
| Pool swim metrics (lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories) | Yes |
| Stroke type detection (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly) | Yes |
| Pool swim workouts | Yes |
| Swim efficiency (SWOLF) | Yes |
| Advanced swim features (time/distance alerts, countdown start, advanced rest timers) | Yes |
| Open-water swim metrics (distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories) | Yes |
| Heart rate (real-time during rests, interval and sessions stats during rests, and automatic heart rate download post-swim) | yes (with HRM-Tri™ and HRM-Swim™) |
