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top 5 garmin fitness watches

Top 5 Garmin watches for 2017 – In 5 minutes

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]

forerunner 935

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
Forerunner 935 Spec Sheet

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]

forerunner 35

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]

vivosport

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
Vivosport Spec Sheet

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]

forerunner_235

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
Forerunner 235 Spec Sheet

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

fenix 5

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
Fenix 5 Spec Sheet

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™)

Vivoactive 3 – Special Mention

The new Vivoactive 3 units will likely shake this list up, but I’ll reserve full judgment for when we receive them in Australia. Suffice it to say on paper these watches look convincing covering an extensive range of activities and sharing the same metrics as a lot of the top tier watches available. Garmin have also introduced their first NFC (Near field communications) chip into this watch allowing for fast cardless transactions via ‘Garmin Pay’. The Garmin Pay feature has not been confirmed in Australia yet though the Commonwealth bank has announced it will be available through their service when the product is set to arrive in October.   

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