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One of the greatest parts of running is that it can be a blissfully simple sport. If you want, you can just lace up your favorite shoes, trot out the door, and tap out however many miles it takes to get to the cafe and back—and don’t let anyone tell you that isn’t a proper run. But sometimes, measuring data is a bit more prudent.
Say, for example, you’re training hard for a target race pace or trying to build your mileage safely. When having some deeper knowledge about your pace, distance, heart rate, and whatever other info you may need is of utmost importance, there’s no option more convenient than the trusty, time-tested running watch.
The Best Running Watches
- Best Overall: Garmin Forerunner 255 Running Watch
- Best Value: Coros Pace 2 Running Watch
- Best for Apple Users: Apple Watch Ultra Running Watch
- Best for Feature Fanatics: Garmin Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar Running Watch
- Best Mid-Range Option: Polar Pacer Pro Running Watch
What to Consider with Running Watches
How Much Training Data Do I Need?
What makes the most advanced watches on this list cost almost five times as much as the least expensive watches? The answer primarily comes down to the stats each watch can reliably, accurately track. While even the simplest watches on the market track your distance, pace, and heart rate, fancier watches can add a little more context to that data so you can better replicate your efforts in different environments.
A prime example of a more advanced feature is the “running power” metric, which uses wrist-mounted accelerometers to measure the amount of energy you’re exerting with each strike in watts.
Cyclists have long trained with power because it provides more immediate feedback about your exertion levels, whereas heart rate can take some time—often even a few minutes—to catch up as your muscles warm up. Especially when you’re training with intervals, running power can help you set a reasonable pace much more quickly, which prevents overexertion and makes your training sessions more productive.
On top of that, some of the best and most accurate watches collect redundant data you won’t ever see—enter multi-band GPS tracking. Unlike single-band trackers that only gather one satellite signal, which doom your route to zig-zagging sporadically around tall buildings, multi-band watches keep contact with several signals at one time and save the strongest at every point on your route.
In the best case, multi-band signals are so clean that you can even track which side of the street you ran on. And while that level of accuracy may not be necessary for every runner, the tiny distance discrepancies you get with single-band can add up over an hours-long run.
Intended Uses
While all the watches on this list prioritize run tracking, plenty of them function just was well on a cross-country skiing excursion, on a mountain bike ride, or as an all-day companion to your smartphone. Some can even cycle through multiple activities with features like triathlon mode.
If you’re hoping to wear your watch all day (i.e., as a watch as well as a fitness tracker), you might want to consider a sleeker design, especially if you have skinny wrists like me. A massive, 51-millimeter watch face is great if you’re trying to read a boatload of data on the fly, but it might feel bulky and out of place alongside your office attire.
We also recommend finding a watchband that doesn’t absorb too much sweat or trap sweat underneath it—opt for one made of rubber or breathable nylon, otherwise you might notice your coworkers sitting a little farther away after your lunchtime runs.
How We Selected
Our test team puts hundreds of miles on dozens of watches each year. Sitting across the price spectrum, these running watches are the models with the best balance of accuracy, feature functionality, intuitiveness, and appropriate pricing.
While some of the watches on this list aren’t the most recent models, they remain among an outstanding few that have stood the test of time and cemented themselves as some of our all-time favorite running watches (and they’ll cost you much less than more recent models that don’t do much more).
That said, we’re constantly logging miles with new watches, so we’ll keep this list up to date if a new top-performing watch enters the pantheon.
1
Best Overall
Garmin Forerunner 255 Music Running Watch
1
Best Overall
Garmin Forerunner 255 Music Running Watch
Pros
Features most of Garmin’s best tech- Half the price of the brand’s top watches
Cons
- Dimmer display
Garmin’s range of watches spans the price spectrum more broadly than almost any other brand, but the Forerunner 255 plants itself firmly in the middle as the brand’s “everything you want, nothing you don’t” option.
Consider it a mixtape of Garmin’s greatest hits—it has accurate multi-band GPS tracking, running power, and even the long-awaited triathlon mode, to name a few features. It’s also in the middle in terms of cost, so you can get a taste of top-shelf watch performance without approaching four figures.
You can also check out the Forerunner 265, a newer version of this watch with a brighter AMOLED display, but we’ve found that with better readability, the battery life suffers in the 265. If you’re willing to lose some juice so you can more easily check your stats on the fly, it could be the way to go, but the 255 is still tough to beat.
Read Full Review
Key Specs
| Connectivity | ANT+, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi |
|---|---|
| Battery Life | Up to 14 days |
2
Best Value
Coros Pace 2 Running Watch
Pros
- One of the lightest watches we’ve tested
- Simple feature set makes for excellent battery life
Cons
- Strap gets soggy and dirty rather quickly
Boasting an approachable interface that still gives you plenty of functionality in a lightweight package, the Pace 2 is our current pick for the overall best running watch under $200, even if it only limbos under that margin by a dollar.
It’s not quite as powerful or accurate as some of the fancier watches on our list, but it still provides neat features like running power and navigation, as well as a whopping 30 hours of battery with the GPS function running in the background.
Coros also recently released the Pace 3, a long-awaited update to the three-year-old platform. The improved GPS tracking and longer battery life knocks the price up to $230 and out of our sub-200 budget range, but it’s nevertheless a step up in quality if you’re willing to let go of a bit more cash.
Read Full Review
Key Specs
| Connectivity | Bluetooth |
|---|---|
| Battery Life | 30 hours in GPS mode, 20 days in watch mode |
3
Best for Apple Users
Apple Watch Ultra Running Watch
3
Best for Apple Users
Apple Watch Ultra Running Watch
Pros
- Rugged titanium frame for ultimate durability
- Better battery life and GPS accuracy than any other Apple Watch
Cons
- GPS still not as spot-on as other top watches
I’ve been using a generations-old Apple Watch for almost as long as I’ve been running, and I always loved the smartphone-grade functionality Apple managed to pack into such a tiny device. It never truly felt like a running watch, though—the Ultra, on the other hand, was made for runners first.
Accuracy was one of the biggest issues with previous Apple Watches, but the brand’s embrace of multi-band GPS tracking means the Ultra performs nearly as well as top watches from Garmin and Coros. It also has the best battery life of an Apple Watch to date, and it offers a lot more than heart rate and pace.
The Ultra 2 released just a few weeks ago, but we aren’t quite done testing it yet. Stay tuned to see what we think once we’ve put a few more miles on it.
Read Full Review
Key Specs
| Connectivity | Bluetooth, Cellular, Wi-Fi |
|---|---|
| Battery Life | Up to 60 hours |
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4
Best Mid-Range Option
Polar Pacer Pro Running Watch
Pros
- High-performance watch disguised as something cheaper
- Helpful navigation systems
Cons
- Some stats, such as cadence, aren't very accurate
Similar to Garmin’s Forerunner 200 series, the Pacer Pro’s price and quality sit comfortably in the seldom traversed vacuum between $200 and $700. And for only $110 more, it offers vastly features than the standard Pacer, another one of our top affordable watches.
It features Strava live segments, performance tests, and even turn-by-turn navigation, and it all fits in a sleek profile built for tracking your stats all through the day, running or not.
Key Specs
| Connectivity | Bluetooth, USB |
|---|---|
| Battery Life | Up to 7 days |
5
Best for Long Runs
Suunto 9 Baro Running Watch
Pros
- Five days of battery while tracking
- Great price for what you're getting
Cons
- Not the best tracker for health stats
Holy battery life, Batman! If you’re looking for a watch that can track you for five days straight, look no further than this endurance-oriented option in the Suunto 9 family. This running watch manages its 120-hour tracking time between charges by limiting its coordinate scans to once every few minutes. Then, the watch uses barometric data and movement tracking to stitch each point together on the map more coherently.
This watch is pretty stripped down otherwise, but it’s all for the sake of keeping you charger-free on your ultrarunning adventures. We recommend looking elsewhere for more comprehensive health stats, but if consistent long-term mapping is what you need, you’ll be happy with this watch.
Key Specs
| Battery Life | Up to 120 hours in GPS mode |
|---|
6
Best for Feature Fanatics
Garmin Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar Running Watch
6
Best for Feature Fanatics
Garmin Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar Running Watch
Pros
- Unparalleled GPS tracking
- Solar charging
Cons
- Might be more watch than you need
It can be difficult to decipher the Fenix’s broad range of build options, but the 7X Sapphire Solar is a tried-and-true favorite among our test editors.
It features some of Garmin’s most accurate GPS tracking to date, and its “Sapphire Solar” designation refers to the ring of solar panels on the watch face that can add more than a week between charges. Peep the flashlight built into the watch face, too.
The Fenix 7X is also incredibly feature-dense. Just look at this list of baked-in metrics Garmin offers on this watch from the get-go. Some standouts include wrist-based power, mountain bike dynamics, and even a stamina reader that tells you how much energy you likely have left—you know, like a freakin’ video game character!
If you’re willing to drop another $100, you can also try the Fenix 7X Pro, which boasts a more accurate heart rate sensor, a more readable screen, and a few more neat metrics.
Key Specs
| Connectivity | Bluetooth Smart, ANT+, Wi-Fi |
|---|---|
| Battery Life | Up to 28 days; 37 days with solar |
Adam Schram
Adam Schram is an Assistant Editor of Commerce at Runner's World, though you might see his byline on Bicycling and Popular Mechanics, too. A lover of all things outdoors, Adam's writing career comes after six years as a bike mechanic in his hometown of State College, PA. His journalism experience is steeped in cycling and running gear reviews, and he's also a published creative nonfiction and satire author. When he's not writing, riding, or running, you can catch Adam at home mixing co*cktails, watching Star Wars, or trying in vain to do the Sunday crossword. You can check out his latest work below.
Reviewed byJeff Dengate
Runner-in-Chief
Jeff is Runner-in-Chief for Runner's World, guiding the brand's shoes and gear coverage. A true shoe dog, he's spent more than a decade testing and reviewing shoes. In 2017, he ran in 285 different pairs of shoes, including a streak of 257 days wearing a different model.
