Garmin is an American brand specialized in GPS navigation systems. It has recently started to produce modern watches. This year, it has even launched its range of connected watches. You can find a wide choice between running watches, GPS, or those dedicated to cardio monitoring. The brand also offers many designs. So, this buying guide is at your disposal to help you find the Garmin watch that will fit you perfectly.
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The Garmin Vivoactive 4 watch is the perfect accessory for tracking your daily progress. It accompanies you in the realization of your objectives in health and sport.
240 £ on BoulangerTake full advantage of the Garmin Vivoactive 4 watch with its 1.3-inch touchscreen display with 260 x 260 pixel resolution. It offers a tracking of more than 20 sports integrated. This watch also records distance, pace, position, etc. of your outdoor runs. If you're used to listening to music during your workout, know that you can enjoy your playlists without the presence of your phone. Going out with cash in your pocket is not very safe these days, to make your life even easier, this Garmin watch has a contactless payment solution.
This watch allows you to know your metabolism. Indeed, with the Vivoactive 4, you can track your health, energy level, stress level, hydration level, breathing and even your menstrual cycle. You won't get lost with the built-in GPS even if you've forgotten your phone.
The Garmin Forerunner 45S watch is specially designed for runners. With its elegant and light design, it is easy to wear on the wrist during the day or night.
123 £ on DartyMake the most of your running workouts with the Garmin Forerunner 45S watch and Garmin Coach training programs. It comes with wrist cardio and GPS to collect data on your pace, distance, intervals and location. Stay connected with its connected features such as Smart Notifications (text and call notifications), music control on your phone and automatic uploads to the Garmin Connect™ online community.
In addition to coaching you, this watch from Garmin also keeps you safe and tracked. In case of an incident, it automatically sends your location in real time to your emergency contacts. It stays available for up to 7 days straight in smartwatch mode and 13 hours with GPS mode enabled.
This is a multi-sport GPS watch designed to keep up with the fast pace of its user. Easy to use, it comes with a robust design and a color screen.
400 £ on BoulangerWith the Garmin Fenix 6 watch, you can receive messages, alerts and notifications directly on your wrist from your smartphone. It tracks you for 14 days in connected mode, 36 hours in GPS mode and 28 days in GPS expedition mode. This watch calculates your efforts using the improved optical heart rate technology that measures the intensity of your sports activities as well as the variability of your heart rate.
You can also track your energy with this watch. In fact, have all the data you need to understand your body. Heart rate, stress and sleep are all evaluated to show you when you should rest or engage in activity.
It is a watch with advanced features that can provide you with important data about the state of your health and your body.
280 £ on BoulangerGarmin is always improving its products, this new one for example was designed to strengthen your body, but also your mind. It has the ability to help you get back in shape while offering a healthier lifestyle. It is important to know that simply playing sports without monitoring is a waste of time. Why is that? Because overdoing it doesn't make for a healthier life and not doing it at all can make the body less lively. To know the ideal fit for your body, take care to know yourself: your heart rate, your sleep, your energy and stress levels, and even your body's pulse oxygen saturation. Fortunately, this watch comes with features that can give you all this data.
Since it is a connected watch, you can receive call and text notifications directly on the watch without having your smartphone with you. Boost your body with the 25 built-in sports in rhythm with your favorite music that is stored directly on the watch.
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The best entry-level Garmin watch
The best high-end Garmin watch
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| THE CHOICE OF THE REDACTION | CHEAP | TOP OF THE RANGE | UNAVOIDABLE | |
In accordance with our commitment, this buying guide does not contain any sponsored products. |
8/10 |
7/10 |
9/10 |
8/10 |
| OUR SELECTION |
Garmin Vivoactive 4
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Garmin Forerunner 45S
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Garmin Fenix 6
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Garmin Venu 2
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The Garmin Vivoactive 4 watch is the perfect accessory for tracking your daily progress. It accompanies you in the realization of your objectives in health and sport.
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The Garmin Forerunner 45S watch is specially designed for runners. With its elegant and light design, it is easy to wear on the wrist during the day or night.
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This is a multi-sport GPS watch designed to keep up with the fast pace of its user. Easy to use, it comes with a robust design and a color screen.
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It is a watch with advanced features that can provide you with important data about the state of your health and your body.
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Waterproofing
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5 ATM
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5 ATM
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10 ATM
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5 ATM
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Sport type
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20 built-in sports
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Running
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Multisport
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25 built-in sports
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Autonomy
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up to 8 days
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up to 7 days
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up to 28 days
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up to 11 days
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Compatibility
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Android and iOS
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Android and iOS
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Android and iOS
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Android and iOS
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Screen
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1.3 inch 260 x 260 pixels
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1.04 inch 208 × 208 pixels
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1.3 inch 260 x 260 pixels
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1.3 inch 416 x 416 pixels
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Garmin was founded by two American engineers Gary Burrell and Min H. Kao in 1989. At the time, they held positions in the U.S. Army, where they developed navigation assistants. Their company was initially called ProNav. It was not until 1991 that it was named Garmin. A combination of the names of the two founders.
Before the name change, the company had already produced the first GPS receiver for the marine industry in 1990. A revolutionary product that received more than 5,000 orders. But what would propel Garmin to the top were the GPS navigators designed for expeditionaries in the 2000s. In 1991, the company also made a name for itself with its portable GPS receivers. So many achievements that will allow the company to turn to other horizons.
Indeed, Garmin broadened its horizons by launching into the manufacture of navigation systems for cars. This is how the Nùvi, StreetPilot and Drive ranges were born.
After the departure of Gary Burrell in 2003, Garmin will focus on the design and marketing of GPS watches. These products are highly appreciated by amateurs and will further enhance the reputation of the brand.
Over the years, Garmin has built a great reputation in the market of GPS watches. Thus, it draws up a large arsenal of collection to its account. These different collections are mainly oriented towards sports consumers. Forerunner, Fenix, Vivoactive, Vivofit ... These ranges have all their particularities and are intended for specific profiles of sportsmen.
Overall, Garmin watches all have functions such as a fitness index or VO2Max, a lactic threshold, a performance indicator, connected functions, the Garmin Connect and Connect IQ. For the heart rate indicator, it allows you to monitor, measure and record heart rates. This functionality is available via the sensors on the back of the watch or by using a heart rate belt (sold with the watch). However, the amount of data recorded varies depending on the type of belt used (Textile Classic, HRM Swin, HRM Run or HRM Tri). Note also that not all Garmin watches are compatible with these accessories.
Like any self-respecting connected watch, Garmin also integrates a GPS, with a few differences. Some of its watch models have Glonass technology. This offers a better rendering of satellite positioning. Unfortunately, it tends to consume a lot of energy when used. Especially since watches with this technology are more expensive than conventional GPS models.
This Elevate technology makes it possible to do without wearing a belt during sports activities. To do this, you must wear the watch at all times to allow it to record the information it needs.
The only drawback is that the quality of the data recorded is lower compared to models with belts.
The connected watches of the Garmin brand have everything to please, given the many advantages in terms of functionality and new technologies that they have. The different ranges offer each user the essentials for their sporting career, or even more, depending on their needs. And despite some negative points regarding incompatibility between them and some energy-consuming features, the other functions easily fill in these gaps. It should also be noted that the more important the functions, the more expensive the watch.
The Garmin watch was originally designed for a sporty audience but today it is suitable for everyone. The Garmin watch is not only used to keep track of the time but also to monitor your physical condition and to stay connected to your phone even during a jogging session.
Admittedly, a Garmin watch is less bulky than a smartphone, but it can get in the way during a workout that includes the use of arms.
At first glance, the Garmin bracelet looks like a smaller version of the watch. It is a sports accessory, it provides more comfort to wear and not cumbersome for the practice of all sports activities.
It provides all the necessary data during training or even a competition. But, its capacity remains limited. In terms of connectivity, you will only have to make do with notifications.
If you need an accessory capable of providing you with data on your health, physical, sleep, food or even social activity, the Garmin watch is at your disposal
If you prefer comfort in addition to some information on your physical activities, think of the bracelet.
The first thing we think of when we talk about a connected watch is always its functionality. Most connected watches have an application that can be linked to a smartphone or a tablet. The functionalities of a watch depend on its ability to perform the tasks you ask it to do.
Some watches have multiple features that allow you to see how far technology has come. Measuring heart rate, number of steps, distance traveled, or even linking smartphone and tablet with the watch is within reach of everyone. So you can receive your notifications or listen to music directly from your Garmin watch without any hassle. Make sure you choose the watch that meets all your expectations.
Connected watches, as the name suggests, are made to make people's daily lives easier. Facilitating the daily life means being in constant relation with the person to be able to intervene in any circumstance and at any time. The Garmin watch must then be able to make the person who puts it on his wrist feel comfortable.
The watch must have an easy to use and comfortable management operation interface. But not all watches are comfortable. This ranges from the fabric the watch is made of to the connectivity rate of the device. So, make sure you choose the Garmin watch that you feel most comfortable with.
The devices that are called smartwatches from Garmin are not made for every type and generation of smartphone. As proof, many people have wasted a lot of time trying to connect their Android or iPhone with a Garmin smartwatch.
Your current smartphone should be one of the major factors that can tip your balance towards a particular Garmin watch. Indeed, before you buy a connected watch, make sure you know whether or not the smartwatch of your choice can connect to your device so that you can use it with peace of mind.
The design does not only depend on whether you are a man or a woman. It's mostly a matter of taste, style and "feel". To put it simply, you need to have a clear idea of what watch best reflects your personality and the style you want to make it look like on the outside.
If you are a man, for example, a watch with a pit design like an electronic watch would be the best option. This is the design that most represents masculinity. For women, on the contrary, light and thin watches are more suitable. As far as the color is concerned, just choose your favorite color.
The last, but not least, criterion to consider remains the autonomy. A connected watch is similar to a cell phone or a smartphone. Indeed, it is a rechargeable device that can be used as long as its battery allows. Thus, the autonomy of the smartwatch simply depends on the capacity of its battery.
As far as durability is concerned, it still depends on the battery. In fact, every battery is made to last a certain amount of time. For a battery to last a long time, it should not require too much recharging. To put it simply, the more autonomous the watch, the more durable it is.
Its history
Garmin was founded in October 1989. In the beginning, Dr. Min Kao and Gary Burrell worked on the integration of GPS or Global Positioning System technology into navigation devices. These devices are mainly intended to attract customers in various markets. Thus, little by little, a navigation system can be found even in a car and in a watch.
Its place in the market
The Garmin brand is now one of the leading brands in terms of connected devices and GPS. It puts forward products of superior quality. It has made a name for itself in the automotive, aviation, marine, outdoor and sports sectors. Garmin has won its customers over with its attractive, high-quality and competitively priced products.
The Garmin Difference
The Garmin brand offers essential products, cutting-edge technology, incredible functionality and ease of use. As a result, their customers appreciate their exceptional use to create differentiation. Their culture is based on honesty, integrity and respect for associates, customers and business partners.
Sleep tracking
The Garmin watch is accompanied by a kind of software capable of calculating your sleep hours. In addition, you can even schedule your sleep times by putting a kind of alarm clock directly attached to your handle.
Stay connected even while hiking
Do you usually go hiking with your friends or family? You like camping or walking in the forest? The Garmin watch is totally adapted to support the trip and you can have call or message notifications. It is also possible to share your exploits on social networks with the watch.
Improve your health
The Garmin watch, in addition to monitoring your sleep, analyzes your daily life and recommends a better option for a healthy lifestyle. It provides important information such as calories lost and gained. It also informs you of the number of steps taken in a day.
You do not risk getting lost
Garmin watches are in most cases accompanied by GPS. Very practical especially to program its routes during the hikes. Enjoy your walk and come back safe and sound.
Practical
Instead of carrying your smartphone everywhere, just connect it to the Garmin watch. It's easy and convenient to wear. Some are even able to find your phone with just the touch of a button.
You can customize the home button shortcut
You can instantly launch your favorite smartwatch application. This consists of doubling the app icon to put a shortcut on the home screen of your smartwatch. It is also possible to assign essential actions to the watch.
Change the watch background
Originally, connected watches follow the wallpaper of the device it is connected with. However, a large part has a default wallpaper, often black in color. To change it, all you have to do is go into the settings and proceed to replace the picture.
Import music and photos
Most modern smartwatches themselves have internal storage in which you can place music or small images. You can then access and play them even if you're offline or the watch isn't linked to a smartphone.
Beware of water
Not all Garmin watches are water resistant. In fact, in a range where every type of person can find something to suit them when it comes to smartwatches, not all people need a waterproof one. Thus, be careful to check that it is possible to dip it in water.
Avoid getting two alerts every time
It can be distressing and burdensome to receive two notifications at the same time with every alert, whether it is messages or reminders. You can disable this feature in the settings. You can also simply mute your phone.
Garmin watches normally have a bluetooth connection. But this method is not very advisable if you need the watch for professional reasons. So, it is better that you download the Garmin Connect application and follow the instructions.Garmin watches normally have a bluetooth connection. But this method is not very recommended if you need the watch for business reasons. So, it is better that you download the Garmin Connect app and follow the directions.
As for a smartphone or tablet, changing the time or time zone is the easiest thing ever. All you have to do is go into the settings and follow the directions.
First, you need to make sure the watch is charged or has enough charge to start. Then, you just press the power button continuously and it's done.
Iphone devices have, for the most part, a bluetooth connection to be able to connect to devices like wireless headphones or smartwatches. So pairing is almost child's play. Alternatively, you can directly download the Garmin Connect app for more speed.
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