Skip to main content
MM logo white 1
MM logo red
Image description is not available

Compare Garmin smartwatches

Jasper13 NOVEMBER 2025
A sports watch on a wrist displays stats like heart rate and activity, worn by someone in sportswear while moving.

Are you looking for a smartwatch that monitors your health? Or do you mainly want to improve your sports performance? No matter what kind of watch you're looking for, Garmin has one in its range to suit your lifestyle. In this overview, we compare the most popular Garmin watches so that you can easily make the right choice.

Compare different Garmin watches

Battery lifeWater resistanceDisplaySports & functionsMusic function
vívoactive

Up to 11 days.

Suitable for swimming and showering.

AMOLED screen

Suitable for 30+ sports such as running, swimming, golf and yoga.

Yes, you can store and listen to music without a phone.

Forerunner

7 to 14 days.

Suitable for swimming, sweatproof.

LCD or AMOLED display

Optimised for runners with accurate GPS.

Yes, depending on the model, you can store and play music.

Venu

Up to 11 days.

Suitable for swimming and showering.

AMOLED screen

Good for all sports and health measurements, including GPS.

Yes, extensive music options without a phone.

fēnix

Up to 16 days.

Water resistant to a depth of 40 meters.

AMOLED screen

Focus on outdoor sports, trail running, diving and navigation.

Yes, extensive music options without a phone.

Instinct

Up to 14 days.

Water resistant and resistant to rough conditions.

Mip Screen

Excellent for outdoor sports, survival and GPS navigation.

Yes, but limited compared to other models.

Lily

Up to 5 days.

Suitable for swimming and resistant to rain.

OLED screen

Basic fitness and health functions for daily use.

No, no music function available.

To all Garmin watches

What Garmin watches are there right now?

A black Garmin sports watch displays time, date, steps, battery, and notifications on a modern round screen with colorful numbers.

Garmin Vívoactive

The Garmin vívoactive is a suitable smartwatch if you practice various sports and want to monitor your daily health. This watch has built-in GPS and automatically records your steps, heart rate, sleep, and stress. You can even choose profiles for running, cycling, swimming, yoga, golf, and more. For example, you can see how many laps you have swum, your pace per kilometre when running or your heart rate after a yoga session. You'll receive smartphone notifications and can make contactless payments thanks to Garmin Pay. The powerful battery lasts up to 11 days in smartwatch mode.

A black Garmin sports watch displays a colorful screen with time, date, greeting, and stats about weather and activity.

Garmin Forerunner

The Garmin Forerunner is specially made for runners and triathletes. The watch gives you extensive insights during your training, such as cadence, ground contact time, VO2 max, heart rate zones and recovery advice. You can download training schedules, follow interval training sessions and view race forecasts. With the high-end models, such as the Forerunner 255 or 965, you can even import and navigate routes. After interval training, you can see your exact pace, heart rate and rest times. The Forerunner is an excellent choice for running, cycling or triathlon training. Some models also offer extras such as music storage and contactless payments.

A modern smartwatch with a round display shows weather, date, time, and the message “Good Morning!” on a colorful screen.

Garmin Venu

The Venu series stands out because of its bright AMOLED colour screen and its focus on health, lifestyle and sports. You can choose from countless sports profiles, get animations on the screen for strength training, yoga and HIIT. In addition, you can see your heart rate, stress level, breathing, oxygen saturation and Body Battery (energy level). Downloading and streaming music via Spotify is also possible and the watch offers health functions such as menstrual and pregnancy tracking. After a workout, you get an overview with graphs of your heart rate, calorie consumption and even an animation of the exercises performed. The Venu is less suitable for extreme outdoor activities or endurance sports, but useful if you want a stylish all-in-one sports watch.

A Garmin Fenix watch with a round screen shows time, date, battery, steps, heart rate, notifications, and weather info in orange tones.

Garmin Fēnix

Garmin fēnix is made for outdoor enthusiasts who want to push themselves to the limit. Think hiking in the mountains with built-in topographic maps, route planning and turn-by-turn navigation, skiing with piste maps or trail running with elevation profiles. You get training load, recovery advice, VO2 max and multisport profiles. With some models, which charge via solar energy, the battery even lasts more than 2 weeks or more. The fēnix is big and robust, can take a beating and even measures your oxygen at high altitudes. Choose the fēnix if you spend a lot of time outdoors, have fanatical sports goals and navigation features are indispensable.

A black Garmin smartwatch displays time, date, battery, heart rate, temperature, steps, and altitude in bright green and yellow digits.

Garmin Instinct

The Garmin Instinct is made for those who often exercise outdoors in challenging conditions. The watch is shock, water and heat resistant (MIL-STD-810), has an accurate GPS and a battery that lasts up to 14 days. During a hike or survival trip, you see your path as a clear trail on the screen. You can also save markers, such as your camp or car. With the TrackBack feature, you'll always find your way back. The screen is black and white, and the functions are less extensive than with the Fēnix, but the Instinct is sturdy and budget friendly. For athletes who are looking for extensive training analyses, this model is less suitable.

A stylish beige Garmin smartwatch displays time, date, digital clock, steps, and an analog dial on a subtly wavy background screen.

Garmin Lily

The Garmin Lily is a stylish, compact watch focused on everyday use and basic health functions. It measures your steps, heart rate, stress and sleep and has special options for menstrual and pregnancy tracking. You get an overview of your sleep phases, daily activity and stress moments in the Garmin app. The Lily does not have built-in GPS (only via your phone) and does not support advanced sports profiles or performance data such as VO2 max or recovery time. This watch is especially suitable for those who want a subtle, elegant model for everyday use and light sports, and less so for avid athletes who expect training analyses and extensive statistics.

Our range of Garmin watches

Our advice to compare Garmin watches

There is a Garmin sports watch for everyone. If you're looking for an all-round smartwatch with many sports profiles, the vívoactive is a smart choice. Are you an avid runner or multi-sport athlete? Then go for the Forerunner. For a stylish smartwatch with a bright AMOLED screen, choose the Venu, while adventurers are better off with the Fēnix or the extra rugged Instinct. If you’re looking for simplicity and elegance, you’ll find it in the compact Lily. No matter which Garmin you choose, at MediaMarkt you’ll always find the model that supports your active lifestyle.