Garmin and Apple are both trusted brands known for making high-quality, user-friendly personal tech products. But when it comes to smartwatches, does one brand clearly reign supreme?
To find out, the BestReviews Testing Lab put watches from both to the test in real-world scenarios to see how they stacked up. We spent weeks wearing the watches daily and overnight to test their various features, apps and data-tracking abilities.
Our favorite Apple Watches, the Series 9 and the Ultra 2, proved to be design-forward, comfortable and user-friendly with a minimalist aesthetic appropriate for the office, school or gym. The Garmin Vivoactive 5 and Venu 3, on the other hand, are better choices for dedicated athletes, especially those training for endurance events. What they lack in style and sleekness they make up for in GPS accuracy, data insights and fitness tracking.
Before you invest in a new smartwatch, here’s everything you should know about how Garmin and Apple products compare.
Apple simply does some things better than Garmin — and vice versa. Here are the top benefits for each brand’s products.
After testing watches from both brands, here are a few areas of improvement.
We’ve tested many Garmin smartwatch models, including several designed specifically for golfers. Our favorite models for the average user and athlete are the Vivoactive 5 and the more advanced Venu 3.
Display Type: AMOLED | Battery Life: Up to 11 days | Connectivity: Bluetooth, ANT+ and Wi-Fi | Compatibility: iOS and Android
The Vivoactive 5 is a well-outfitted smartwatch for endurance athletes and weekend warriors. It comes with more than 30 sports modes that cover everything from swimming to pickleball. The built-in sensors capture accurate health data, including heart rate, HRV, respiratory rate, blood oxygen saturation and walking and running cadence. The watch assesses your data to provide individual insights, including a daily “body battery” and “sleep score,” which athletes training for a specific event or goal may find helpful.
The Vivoactive 5 has a bright, full-color AMOLED display and a generous battery life. During testing, the battery lasted well over a week, including several GPS-tracked runs. The additional fitness and training features are especially helpful for endurance athletes. You can set up a training calendar, including building interval workouts, using the intuitive Garmin Connect app on your smartphone or on the web, and send it to your watch to guide you on the roads. This is helpful if you want to run intervals of a specific distance without using a track.
Outside the fitness features, the watch syncs seamlessly to iOS and Android phones to send messages, email and other app notifications to your wrist (you can also turn these off). The interface is bright and clear, but it took us some time to fully figure out how to navigate it during testing. We preferred looking at our post-run data, including maps, speed, cadence and topography, on the Garmin Connect app rather than on the watch face.
Display Type: AMOLED | Battery Life: Up to 14 days | Connectivity: Bluetooth, ANT+ and Wi-Fi | Compatibility: iOS and Android
The Venu 3 is a high-end Garmin smartwatch outfitted with a wide range of fitness and workout settings and data collection. The watch has a slightly more sleek and less sporty look than other Garmin options. It’s substantial and solid-feeling, and, after spending some time with it, we’re confident that it’s built to last, even with regular use by serious endurance athletes.
Though it’s bulkier than the Apple Watches, the Venu 3 is among the more stylish of Garmin’s smartwatch offerings. It has a bright, highly legible and easy-to-read AMOLED display that feels as smooth and elevated as the Apple Watch — it also integrates seamlessly with the Apple ecosystem, including offering access to Siri.
The interface is easier to navigate than the Vivoactive, and the touch screen is appropriately responsive. The 14-day battery life can’t be beat, and the GPS is as accurate as we expect from any Garmin model.
We’ve also tested a number of Apple Watches over the years. Our current favorites are the rugged Apple Watch Ultra 2 and the Apple Watch Series 9.
Display Type: Retina | Battery Life: 36 hr (72 hr in low-power mode) | Operating System: watchOS 10 | Processor: Apple S-series | Storage Capacity: 32GB
The Ultra 2 watch from Apple really wowed us when we tested it. It’s a high-tech smartwatch with all the sleekness and coolness you expect from Apple but with the high-tech sensors and fitness-minded features of a smartwatch geared toward endurance sports.
The Ultra 2 is larger than other Apple watches to accommodate the sizable battery. It therefore has a bigger, clearer retina display that’s easier to read and interact with on the move. The watch is built with additional waterproofing, up to 100 meters, which is a plus for divers, swimmers and triathletes who spend a lot of time in the pool.
The Ultra has the longest battery life of any Apple Watch, but at up to 72 hours, it doesn’t compete with the Garmin watches’ week-long life. This watch comes with every bell and whistle you could want for health and fitness tracking, including temperature sensing, an altimeter and accelerometer, plus an ambient noise sensor and ECG.
Display Type: Retina | Battery Life: 18 hr | Operating System: watchOS 10 | Processor: S9 SiP with 64‑bit dual‑core | Storage Capacity: 64GB
If you’re searching for a great-looking and easy-to-use smartwatch at a lower price point than the Ultra 2, the Apple Watch Series 9 offers many of the same features with a pared-down profile.
During testing, we loved that it connects seamlessly with other Apple products, including a precise Find My Phone feature that locates your device within feet. For health tracking, the Series 9 can detect an abnormal heart rate, track sleep and body temperature, and has dozens of sport modes for accurate calorie data and tracking.
The watch, which comes in two face sizes (41 or 45 millimeters), has built-in GPS and can be used to make calls and send messages when connected to your iPhone via Wi-Fi, or from anywhere if you add the watch to your cellular data plan. It can also help you stay organized and more connected by providing to-the-wrist notifications from iMessage, email, calendar and other apps — but those notifications are easy to customize if you’d rather not be bothered.
If you’re looking for a great smartwatch that meets your needs in terms of functionality, looks and usability, here are the main differences between Apple Watch and Garmin models.
Both Garmin and Apple smartwatches are constructed with high-quality, durable materials. One of our testers has owned an Apple Watch SE and a Garmin Forerunner for years and has used them both to track running, cycling and swimming while training for several marathons and triathlons. She found the Apple Watch screen to be slightly more delicate; for instance, it got scratched during a weight-lifting session at the gym. The Garmin screen, on the other hand, is stronger and harder to damage, though the plastic case may be more prone to dings and scratches.
The Apple Watch Series 9 and SE have alumium housing and are water resistant up to 50 meters. The more heavy-duty Ultra 2 has titanium housing and is water resistant up to 100 meters. Very lightweight, the Series 9 weighs just 31.9 grams, while the Ultra 2 weighs nearly double that at 61.4 grams.
The Garmin Vivoactive 5 and Venu 3 are both water resistant up to 50 meters and have an anodized aluminum bezel and fiber-reinforced polymer case. The Vivoactive 5 weighs 36 grams (with the default strap) and the Venu 3 weighs 47 grams.
As a regular iPhone user, our tester has never had connectivity issues with any Garmin or Apple Watch product. Apple Watches in particular integrate cleanly with other Apple products, including Beats headphones, AirPods and Macbooks (the Apple Watch can unlock your Macbook, for example). Our tester also loves being able to control music or podcasts from her wrist, so she doesn’t have to keep her phone with her at all times.
Garmin watches also sync well with Apple products, you just need to download the Garmin Connect app on your phone. The web app is easily accessible from any computer. The Venu 3 works with Siri and can be used like an Apple Watch to control music.
As for navigation and GPS, our tester finds that Garmin products are more precise than Apple. During marathon training, her Apple Watch was consistently a few meters off per mile, which added up to almost a mile difference over the course of a 26.2-mile run. The Garmin watches she has tested, however, are very accurate to course mile markers. While running with both watches on a standardized track, she also found the Garmin devices more accurate.
That said, for the average wearer or hobby jogger, the accuracy of the Apple Watch shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. You can also run GPS navigation via Apple Maps from your phone on an Apple Watch, which is handy if you’re cycling or walking and don’t want to be glued to your phone.
The battery life of Apple Watches really doesn’t compare to those of the Garmin products. In our tests, we found that you’ll likely have to charge any Apple Watch model daily, though the Ultra 2 can hold a charge for up to 72 hours in low-power mode. Activities like GPS tracking, using the always-on display and playing music will drain the battery faster. Both the Series 9 and the Ultra 2 have fast-charging capabilities.
The Garmin Vivoactive 5 maintained a charge for over a week during testing, and the Garmin Venu 3 can last up to two weeks with minimal GPS usage.
Both watches provide in-depth personal insights on health and fitness, especially if worn 24/7. Because the Apple Watch needs more frequent charging, however, it’s harder to wear all the time.
Both Garmin and Apple products have accurate heart-rate tracking, which they use to provide an HRV measurement. The watches also track skin temperature and blood oxygen levels. The Garmin Venu 3 and both Apple watches have built-in ECGs.
Garmin does more to translate your health data into coached insights, which become more accurate and useful the longer you wear the watch. You’ll get a daily “body battery” score, which is calculated based on your sleep and recent activity, as well as a sleep score and a health snapshot that reflects your stress, cardio ability and overall well-being.
The Apple Watch SE starts at $249 (available on Amazon). The slightly more updated Apple Watch Series 9 retails for $399 (available on Amazon and Best Buy), and the most rugged and tech-heavy Apple Watch Ultra 2 starts at $799 (available at Amazon and Best Buy).
Garmin smartwatches for adults start around $200 for the Forerunner 55 (available at Amazon), and go up to $2,100 for the most heavy-duty and tactical MARQ collection gen 2 (available at Best Buy). There are several great models built for runners and similar athletes, such as the Vivoactive 5 for $300 (available at Amazon) and the stylish Venu 3 for $450 (available at Amazon and Best Buy).
Garmin and Apple both make excellent smartwatches that will last for years. The best model for you comes down to personal preference and needs. If you’re an endurance athlete looking for the most dialed-in GPS data and training insights, the Garmin Vivoactive 5 or slightly upgraded Venu 3 will have you covered.
On the other hand, if style and user-friendly functionality are your priorities, the Apple Watch Series 9 is a great-looking, comfortable smartwatch for everyday wear that also offers GPS and health data tracking. Or, if you’re willing to spend a little more for the best of both worlds, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is a teched-out, highly durable, though slightly bulky option that’s more water-resistant and built for higher-intensity athletes.
Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.
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