Best running watches in 2022 in the market will look and taste fabulous on your wrist while presenting accurate tracking of how considerably you’ve gone and how actively you’re going.
In addition, they’ll be comfortable to read at a glance on the go and drive around when you’re running.
GPS tracking and heart rate monitoring are regular on nearly all running watches. Most of the best running watches also carry other sports, like cycling and hiking, and most are water-resistant, so they endure a rainstorm or swim workout.
Best Running Watch in 2022
Garmin Fenix 7 series
The Garmin Fenix 7 is a strict watch for outdoor adventurers. The device supports daily fitness activities such as running and swimming, and it comes with Garmin’s typical health-tracking features. Still, it’s designed for anyone who gets an adrenaline rush from scuba diving, backcountry skiing, or a multi-day hike deep in the wilderness. This watch is a beast with a weight that starts at 2 ounces for the standard Fenix 7S and beats out at 3.1 ounces for the 51mm Fenix 7X Saphire Solar addition. But the trade-off is battery life, storage, and water resistance up to 100 meters (330 feet). It’s also effortless to swap out bands. The Fenix 7 has one meaningful improvement on the Fenix 6 — a touch screen.
Coros Apex
When linked with the Coros Performance Optimization Device, which shortens to your shorts or pants, the Coros Apex will gather several metrics related to running form, including height cadence, stride length, and stride angle. This data helps you determine how to create your running form more efficiently. It’s one of the best-running watches as it also operates activity data to provide training plan recovery recommendations. The Coros Apex has tracking and navigation features that let you upload maps onto a grid with compass settings. The slightly larger Coros Apex Pro has a battery that lasts 40 hours in GPS mode, a touchscreen, and blood oxygen and pulse oximeter sensors.
Garmin Venu 2 Plus
Garmin watches aren’t just for deep athletes. The Venu 2 Plus is a modern smartwatch on par with the Apple Watch and Fitbit Versa 3 — and it’s tough enough for bike rides, power workouts, and playtime with the children. It’s a stage up from the Garmin vivoactive 4 with an AMOLED display and a stainless steel bezel. It has everything you’d hope from a Garmin watch — the ability to track all of your runs and workouts and accept live feedback on the move. Thanks to tools such as voice and call assistant, the significant distinction here are that you can ask Siri to count eggs to your shopping list mid-run or call your mum, should you desire.
Garmin Forerunner 245 Music
This lightweight device offers you everything you’d want in a running watch, from accurate tracking to music controls to the ability to construct custom workouts, for the cost of an Apple Watch. The device also delivers access to Garmin’s wide range of training metrics, which allow you to plan activities and recovery time. The Garmin Forerunner 245 Music’s display is transflective and comfortable to read, even in direct sunlight. You can pause and continue a run with the tap of a button, allowing you to keep a watch on the road or trail. The battery is long sufficient to last through a few workouts, even playing music.
Garmin Forerunner 55
The Garmin Forerunner 55 is a basic fitness watch, substituting the popular Forerunner 45 earlier this year. While it looks identical to its predecessor, Garmin made significant transformations, counting some of the more advanced training tools usually booked for their more expensive watches. The Forerunner 55 includes Garmin’s new PacePro technology, which provides you gentle speed and cadence alerts on the run. Suggested recovery times and workouts are founded on your training history, fitness levels, and recovery. It differs from similarly priced watches like the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active or the Fitbit Charge 5, which track workouts but don’t deliver custom coaching plans.
Suunto 7
Google’s Wear OS watch operating system contains hit or miss, as devices have suffered from complex setup and use and limited battery life. When it arrives at running watches, the Suunto 7 is the best. The Suunto 7 is a robust watch that can endure plenty of outdoor workouts. But as a Wear OS watch, it even has a touchscreen for everyday use. While the Suunto does have better battery vitality than the typical Wear OS watch, it’s less than most other running watches in its cost range. Switching on low-power mode or locking the screen will unfold the battery life during exercise, limiting the ability to see critical data like distance and pace. In addition, the Suunto 7 delivers a training log and recovery guidance, but it doesn’t provide recommended workouts.
Garmin Forerunner 945 LTE
It’s created for triathletes, trail runners, and other endurance sports fanatics. The Forerunner 945 delivers the identical training and recovery metrics as the Forerunner 245 and 745 while adding metrics for chasing heat and altitude, which are necessary for determining the problem of a critical workout. It also brags a battery that should be long enough to keep ultra-marathon runners on race day. The Forerunner 945 is Garmin’s LTE service’s ultimate personal safety device. Even when your mobile is nowhere to be located, this smartwatch can transmit your location to your designated contacts and tell them when there’s an emergency.
Coros Pace 2
The watch still has plenty to show, with a long-lasting battery, a custom “night mode” that makes it more comfortable to see the display during workouts after sunset, and a devoted Track Run mode designed to eradicate GPS idiosyncrasies from track workouts. The Coros Pace 2 delivers a strength training program with higher than 200 upper body, lower body, and core exercises; a “muscle heatmap” also indicates where you did most minor work. The Coros Pace 2 will deliver smartphone notifications. Still, it’s missing mobile payments, music storage, and the ability to add third-party apps, all available on higher-end devices.
Fitbit Sense
Touchscreens can be challenging to use with sweaty or gloved hands. Batteries typically don’t endure for more than a couple of days. Without an always-on display, you have to jiggle your wrist or press a button to glance at the screen. The best smartwatch for explorers is the Fitbit Sense. The Fitbit Sense proposes EDA and skin temperature readings, which aren’t available on other smartwatches, and the device also arrives with an FDA-approved ECG sensor. You can also oversee cross-training workout videos that are exclusive to Fitbit users. The battery life also hits the latest Apple and Samsung watches, which most users require to charge daily.
Polar Vantage V2
You can utilize the Polar Vantage V2 to conduct a Leg Recovery test, which authorizes you to determine how long to stay before your next hard run. Other watches deliver recovery recommendations, but metrics specific to legs are unique to the Polar Vantage V2. the Nightly Recharge feature places sleep quality in workout recovery. Filling workout data into Polar Flow lets you build training plans and share them with personal trainers or coaches to help prevent injuries.
Apple Watch Series 7
While the Apple Watch Series 7 isn’t explicitly designed to be a running watch, the running components have improved in recent years to make it a handsome, decent gadget on your wrist on easy days. The rolling mile attribute, which tells you the mile’s pace directly behind you, is excellent, and you can fix pace alerts for the watch to remind you if you’re pushing too hard or running too slow. You can’t upload technical running sessions onto the watch without third-party apps, but if you only like to set pace or distance goals, this shouldn’t concern you too much. It has a brighter, more prominent, always-on display, a QWERTY keyboard, and no extra health features. If you desire to save money, you’ll probably be able to hold the Apple Watch 6 at a discount right now.
Choosing Best Running Watch in 2022
- Appearance: Overall design and build are vital considerations if you need a running watch that becomes an everyday watch. Will it clash with a dress or blazer, or will it get grabbed on the sleeve of a sweater or shirt?
- Phone notifications: Do you want to receive WhatsApp messages and emails mid-run, or is this your worst nightmare? Many modern watches have smartwatch features, but if you’re not bothered about them, you can save money.
- Battery life: If you’re intending on running a marathon or managing out on an all-day adventure, you’ll need a watch that can hold up with you in GPS mode. It shouldn’t be complex with most Garmin running watches, but it should reconsider a Fitbit or Apple watch.
- Fit: If you’re an incredibly petite runner, you’ll require a watch that fits neatly around your wrist or a watch that has different size straps for a good fit.