Best Garmin Smartwatches & Trackers 2023
By Linus Tan
Published Mar 2023
Whether you're a professional athlete, casual hiker, or new to the idea of health and fitness tracking, there's a Garmin watch to suit your needs. We've compiled a list of Garmin watches to help you make a choice.
Best Overall: Garmin Venu 2 Plus
✓ Bright, crisp AMOLED display
✓ Conveniently make and take calls
✓ Comprehensive health & fitness tracking
✓ Up to 9 days of battery life
Best for Running: Garmin Forerunner 955
✓ Know when you’re primed for training
✓ Full-colour, built-in maps and multi-band GPS
✓ Responsive touchscreen
✓ Up to 15 days of battery life
Best for Swimming: Garmin Forerunner 745
✓ Swim, bike, run, tri activity profiles
✓ Understand your VO2 max & training load
✓ Get daily workout suggestions
✓ Up to 7 days of battery life
Best for Style: Garmin vivomove Sport
✓ Health & wellness tracking
✓ Wide range of exercise modes
✓ Smart notifications
✓ Up to 5 days of battery life
Best for Golfing: Garmin Approach S62
✓ More than 41,000 preloaded golf courses
✓ Improve your shot with the virtual caddie
✓ Go cashless with Garmin Pay
✓ Up to 14 days of battery life
Best for Budget: Garmin vivosmart 5
✓ Heart rate tracking
✓ Sleep tracking
✓ Compatible with iOS & Android
✓ Up to 7 days of battery life
#1 Best Overall: Garmin Venu 2 Plus
Garmin Venu 2 Plus
Whether it's at work or for your daily active ventures, the versatile Garmin Venu 2 Plus covers an array of functions that assists anyone going through their day.
The Garmin Venu 2 Plus features a beautiful AMOLED display, providing an impressive resolution that allows you to view all your data at once. Although some users may find the watch a bit bulky, it is still comfortable and lightweight. Additionally, you have the option to switch to a leather strap for more formal occasions.
There are many options available to users for fitness tracking, but the Garmin Venu 2 Plus stands out by offering virtually every possible sensor. It includes a highly accurate GPS, an elevation tracer, a compass, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and more. Whether you're exercising indoors or outdoors, running, golfing, swimming, or participating in any of the 30+ activities listed, the Venu 2 Plus can handle it all.
Additionally, the Venu 2 Plus offers muscle map graphics for gym enthusiasts, allowing them to plan workouts based on their training load. Another useful feature is the Fitness Age, which analyses personal data to predict your fitness age, making it a handy tool for athletes to monitor their health and progress.
Garmin Venu 2 Plus
One of the most noteworthy features of the Venu 2 Plus is Garmin's "Body Battery," which rates your available energy on a scale of 0 to 100. This simple yet effective feature allows you to evaluate your day by examining how your sleep and rest recharge you, as well as whether activity and stress deplete your energy levels.
The standout feature of the Garmin Venu 2 Plus, compared to the regular model, is the convenience of making and taking calls directly from your wrist. In smartwatch mode, the Garmin Venu 2 Plus has a battery life of 9 days. If using GPS mode with music, the battery will last for about 8 hours before needing to be charged.
Overall, the Garmin Venu 2 Plus is an excellent fitness tracker that has a lot to offer. It has a large, high-resolution display that is easy to read and provides a lot of information at a glance.
Garmin Venu 2 Plus
Best Overall
✓ Bright, crisp AMOLED display
✓ Conveniently make and take calls
✓ Comprehensive health & fitness tracking
✓ Up to 9 days of battery life
#2 Best for Running: Garmin Forerunner 955
Garmin Forerunner 955
Featuring an always-on display, athletes on the go will appreciate glancing at data during training sessions.
The Garmin Forerunner 955 has a rugged appearance with a 1.3-inch display that uses transflective display technology, making it more visible in sunlight. It also has a touchscreen for easy navigation and physical buttons for when your hands are sweaty. There's a backlight as well, but it's only set for workouts, which becomes more useful during evening runs and swims. Although not visually appealing, the Forerunner 955 makes up for it with a 5 ATM water rating that increases its durability.
The Garmin Forerunner 955 exceeds expectations with its running functions. With this device, you can customise interval sessions based on time or distance. Additionally, you can have your pace, lap details, and heart rate data read aloud to you. Furthermore, the Garmin Forerunner 955 utilises the latest Elevate V4 Heart Rate Sensor, which enables it to deliver Heart Rate Variability (HRV) data and includes a pulse oximeter to measure oxygen saturation.
Garmin Forerunner 955
Helpful features to support your runs include a Training Load, which informs you if you're on the right track in your fitness journey or if you can take it up a notch. Additionally, the Training Status and Training Effect feature tells you if your workouts are productive and their overall impact on you. The watch also comes with map routing that includes full-colour maps, suggested routes, and the ability to set how far you want to go.
The Forerunner 955 boasts impressive battery life, lasting up to 15 days in smartwatch mode and up to 42 hours in GPS mode. Battery life is impacted when using GPS and streaming music, but you can still expect up to 8.5 hours of use.
If you are looking for an alternative, consider the Garmin Forerunner 55. It offers incredible running features at a lower price point than the Garmin Forerunner 955.
Garmin Forerunner 955
Best for Running
✓ Know when you’re primed for training
✓ Full-colour, built-in maps and multi-band GPS
✓ Responsive touchscreen
✓ Up to 15 days of battery life
#3 Best for Swimming: Garmin Forerunner 745
Garmin Forerunner 745
The Garmin Forerunner 745 is a solid choice if you're an avid swimmer.
Designed for functionality, the Forerunner 745 sits comfortably on your wrist and does not slide around during workouts, even in humid conditions. Although the display is smaller than that of typical watches, it is large enough to show information for quick glances during training sessions.
The Garmin Forerunner 745 tracks your pace, SWOLF (the combination of your stroke count and time taken in the water), stroke rate, and distance during pool swims. It can even detect your stroke type. Importantly, there's no touchscreen to lock, so you can still view the display while in the water.
Furthermore, the Forerunner 745 includes Garmin's latest Elevate heart rate monitor. This feature enables you to view your heart rate in real time, and it continuously monitors your heart rate. The monitor also sends alerts for abnormal heart rates and provides daily resting heart rate data.
Garmin Forerunner 745
The Garmin Forerunner 745 boasts a battery life of 7 days in smartwatch mode. When GPS and music are in use, the battery is estimated to last up to six hours. However, if you use the Forerunner 745 alone, it can last up to 16 hours.
While the Garmin Forerunner 745 offers a good balance of regular smartwatch and swim functions, the Garmin Swim 2 is a better option if you want to take your swim data to the next level.
Garmin Forerunner 745
Best for Swimming
✓ Swim, bike, run, tri activity profiles
✓ Understand your VO2 max & training load
✓ Get daily workout suggestions
✓ Up to 7 days of battery life
#4 Best for Golfing: Garmin Approach S62
Garmin Approach S62
The Garmin Approach S62 is a premium GPS golf watch that integrates full-colour mapping with critical shot-tracking information. It's a huge upgrade from its predecessor, the Garmin S60, with a 17% larger 1.3" colour touchscreen display and a longer battery life of up to 14 days in smartwatch mode or up to 20 hours in GPS mode.
On the golf course, the Garmin Approach S62 performs beautifully with AutoShot shot tracking functionality as well as its' unique Virtual Caddie feature. The AutoShot feature is compatible with the Approach® CT10 club tracking sensors and provides specific shot analysis.
The Virtual Caddie collects and analyses data on your handicap and average shot distance from your game to provide insight on recommended clubs you should play based on elevation changes, hazards, local wind speed and more. The Garmin Approach S62 is also capable of giving you a complete course overview on your wrist, helping you focus on the game ahead.
Garmin Approach S62
When you're not on the course, the Garmin Approach S62 also functions well as an everyday smartwatch. The Approach S62 is waterproof and comes with an array of inbuilt sensors to track your heart rate, respiration rate, oxygen saturation level as well as sleep cycles. Making it not just suited for improving your golf game, but also for improving your overall health and wellness.
On a full charge, you can get up to 20 hours of battery life and an extended 14 days if you're not using GPS.
Overall, the Garmin Approach S62 is a reliable and feature-packed smartwatch that is perfect for golf enthusiasts. It not only provides accurate and detailed information about golf courses but also offers a wide range of health and fitness features to support an active lifestyle. With its large and easy-to-read display, long battery life, and intuitive user interface, the Approach S62 is a great investment for anyone looking to improve their golf game and overall health.
Garmin Approach S62
Best for Golfing
✓ More than 41,000 preloaded golf courses
✓ Improve your shot with the virtual caddie
✓ Go cashless with Garmin Pay
✓ Up to 14 days of battery life
#5 Best for Style: Garmin vivomove Sport
Garmin vivomove Sport
The Garmin vivomove Sport is a stylish and functional hybrid smartwatch with a timeless analogue look that is perfect for those who want to stay on top of their fitness goals. With its sleek design and advanced features, the vivomove Sport is the perfect companion for any active lifestyle.
One of the standout features of the vivomove Sport is its ability to track a wide range of activities, including running, cycling, swimming, and more. This makes it an ideal choice for anyone who wants to monitor their workouts and track their progress over time.
When it comes to your health and wellness, the Garmin vivomove Sport is a great choice for keeping track of your daily activity and overall well-being. Not only does it offer step tracking and heart rate monitoring, but it also provides sleep analysis which can be incredibly helpful in identifying patterns and improving the quality of your sleep.
Garmin vivomove Sport
In addition to its health & activity tracking capabilities, the vivomove Sport also offers several other useful features. For example, it can display notifications from your smartphone, allowing you to stay connected even when you're on the go. Additionally, it has a long battery life of up to 5 days, so you can wear it all day without worrying about recharging.
Overall, the Garmin vivomove Sport is a top-of-the-line fitness watch that impresses with both its performance and style. Whether you're a seasoned athlete or just starting your fitness journey, the vivomove Sport is the perfect tool to help you reach your goals while looking classy.
Garmin vivomove Sport
Best for Style
✓ Health & wellness tracking
✓ Wide range of exercise modes
✓ Smart notifications
✓ Up to 5 days of battery life
#6 Best for Budget: Garmin vivosmart 5
Garmin vivosmart 5
The Garmin vivosmart 5 is an excellent fitness tracker that can help you keep tabs on your health and wellness. The device offers a wide range of features that make it easy to monitor your physical activity throughout the day. For example, it can track your heart rate, which is an important indicator of your overall health. By keeping tabs on your heart rate, you can get a better sense of how hard you are working during workouts and make sure that you are pushing yourself hard enough to see results.
In addition to monitoring your heart rate, the Garmin vivosmart 5 can also track your steps. This feature is particularly useful for people who are trying to increase their physical activity levels or lose weight. By tracking your steps, you can set goals for yourself and make sure that you are getting enough exercise each day.
Another great feature of the Garmin vivosmart 5 is its sleep tracking capabilities. The device can monitor your sleep patterns and provide insights into how much restful sleep you are getting each night. This information can be incredibly valuable for people who struggle with insomnia or other sleep-related issues.
Garmin vivosmart 5
In addition, the vivosmart 5 has a long battery life of 7 days, so you don't have to worry about charging it every day. It also has a sleek design that makes it comfortable to wear all day long. Furthermore, it is compatible with both Android and iOS devices, so you can easily sync your data with your smartphone.
Overall, the Garmin vivosmart 5 is a great choice for anyone who wants a simple yet comprehensive fitness tracker to keep track of their general health & fitness.
Garmin vivosmart 5
Best for Budget
✓ Heart rate tracking
✓ Sleep tracking
✓ Compatible with iOS & Android
✓ Up to 7 days of battery life
Compare Garmin Watches
Final Thoughts
Whatever Garmin watch you've decided on, rest assured that you're getting a good balance of convenience, usability and powerful features on your wrist.
Shop the full Garmin Singapore collection or check out our full range of smartwatches here on Synced.
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