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While some devices claim to be best for women only due to having a pink band, we at ACTIVE know women need and want more from their fitness wearables. As an industry leader in fitness trackers, Garmin knows this as well and creates devices that are expertly designed with advanced features on the entire line of smartwatches, fitness trackers, and performance wearables.
Best Garmin Watches for Women - Our Top Picks
- Best Overall: Garmin Vivomove Sport
- Best Multisport Watch: Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar
- Best Watch for Battery Life: Garmin Instinct Solar
- Best Fitness Tracker: Garmin Fenix 7
- Best Small Watch: Garmin Lily
- Best Performance Watch: Garmin Venu 2S
- Best Watch for Music Lovers: Garmin Forerunner 255
Whether you just signed up at a gym for the first time, intend on taking more daily steps, or have race podium goals, choosing the right Garmin device can make a big impact on achieving those active plans. With so many flashy, functional Garmin fitness trackers, how do you know which will best fit your needs? Here's our ACTIVE Reviews Team breakdown to help guide you to the best fit for your fitness goals.
Why Trust Us?
ACTIVE.com’s editorial team relies on the knowledge and experience of fitness and wellness experts including competitive athletes, coaches, physical therapists, nutritionists, and certified trainers. This helps us ensure the products we feature are of the highest standard. Collectively, the team has spent countless hours researching equipment, gear, and recovery tools in order to create the most accurate, authentic content for our readers. Customer satisfaction is also a key part of our review process, which is why we only feature products that are highly rated.
Best Overall - Garmin Vivomove Sport
SPECS
- Display size: 0.34" x 0.73" (8.6 mm x 18.5 mm)
- Water resistance: 5 ATM
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Weight:
- Case only: 19.0 g
- With silicone strap: 33.8 g
- Battery life:
- Smartwatch mode: up to 5 days
- Watch mode: up to 1 additional day
Why We Picked It
The Garmin Vivomove Sport is the "little black dress" of activity watches. It is sleek, stylish, and smoothly goes from the office to the gym to dinner out. Of course, it does more than just look good; this watch was ultimately designed to make wellness a priority. It has features that prioritize your well-being such as stress tracking, breath work, women’s health tracking, hydration monitoring, and advanced sleep tracking. This device goes beyond fitness tracking and acts almost like a personal coach helping you to be more in tune with and knowledgeable about your body.
Beyond looks and wellness, the Vivomove boasts the additional function of safety. This watch has the ability to notify contacts of your location with built-in incident detection, giving you more security and confidence when jogging alone or walking from the gym to the car.
What We Like
- Small and sleek
- Touchscreen
- Wellness metrics
- Great for daily wear
What We Don't Like
- Limited activity storage
- Basic sport metrics
- Can only respond to texts with Android
Best Multisport Watch - Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar
SPECS
- Display size: 1.3" (33 mm) diameter
- Water resistance: 5 ATM
- Weight: 53 g
-
Battery life:
- Smartwatch Mode: Up to 15 days, 20 with solar
- GPS/HR mode: Up to 42 hours, 49 with solar
- UltraTrac™ mode: Up to 80 hours, 110 with solar
Why We Picked It
More than a third of triathletes are women and that percentage is rising every year. If your goal is to be a multisport swim, bike, and run athlete in 2023, the Garmin Forerunner 955 is an ideal choice to help get the most from your triathlon training. Sure, this watch has advanced analytics on training, recovery insights, long battery life, Bluetooth uploads, and multiple activity profiles for cross-training or leisure activities, but the real star of a multisport watch is the ability to seamlessly track a brick workout. That’s right, with the press of a button, you can go from one discipline to another and even monitor your transition times to shave off precious competition seconds.
Let's be honest, most multi-sporters have lives outside of training for fitness and competitions. The Garmin Forerunner 955 has the ability to swap out wristbands for any occasion—neon yellow for night runs to high-end metal or leather for date night. Beyond style, this watch allows you to display women's health tracking right on your wrist display, allowing you to track menstruation or pregnancy as easily as tracking heart rate.
What We Like
- Built-in advanced GPS and elevation metrics
- Ability to use solar charging
- Battery lasts for weeks
- Wrist heart rate technology
What We Don't Like
- Native running power features need an additional kit
- Can feel a bit big, depending on your wrist size
BUY: Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar
Best Watch for Battery Life - Garmin Instinct Solar
SPECS
- Display size: 0.9" x 0.9" (23 x 23 mm)
- Water resistance: 10 ATM
- Weight: 53 g
-
Battery life:
- Smartwatch: Up to 24 days/54 days with solar
- Battery Saver Watch Mode: Up to 56 days/Unlimited with solar
- GPS: Up to 30 hrs/38 hrs with solar
- Max Battery GPS Mode: Up to 70 hrs/145 hrs with solar
- Expedition GPS Activity: Up to 28 days/68 days with solar
Why We Picked It
OK, we get it, "best for battery life" might be a bit of a boring title for an award, but there is a select group of athletes to whom this speaks loudly. Those who have had a panic attack when the low battery warning flashes halfway through an adventure will appreciate this watch. While it is an expensive feature, solar charging will allow ultra-adventurous athletes to spend all day outside running, riding, trekking, or skiing without the worry of running low on juice. The Garmin Instinct Solar watch can also pair with satellite communication and back to start routing if you get turned around in the middle of an epic exploration.
Besides the battery charging by solar power as you go, this watch was designed with endurance in mind. It is built to be durable, colorful, scratch-resistant, and water-resistant, with wrist heart rate, stress tracking, and oxygen absorption data.
What We Like
- Durable
- Battery life up to 54 days
- Solar charging
- Accurate in difficult environments
What We Don't Like
- Bulky
- Heavier than other models at 53g
Best Fitness Tracker - Garmin Fenix 7
SPECS
- Display size: 1.3" (33.02 mm) diameter
- Water resistance: 10 ATM
- Weight: 79 g (case only: 56 g)
-
Battery life:
- Smartwatch: Up to 18 days
- Battery Saver Watch Mode: Up to 57 days
- GPS Only: Up to 57 hrs
- All Satellite Systems: Up to 40 hrs
- All Satellite Systems + Music: Up to 10 hrs
- Max Battery GPS: Up to 136 hrs
- Expedition GPS: Up to 40 days
Why We Picked It
We love that this watch offers something for everyone, making it a clear choice for the best overall watch. For the professional athlete, it offers advanced, dynamic features to get the most accurate tracking of your training. A few impressive features include altitude-adjusted VO2max, recovery tracking, race pace guidance, interval counters, real-time exertion trackers, and specific metrics for surfing, mountain biking, and trail running. The Garmin Fenix 7 uses training history to suggest daily workouts and predict future race times. The innovative PacePro technology will even guide you step by step to your goal finish.
This watch wins best overall due to the wide array of fitness features, solar charging capability, music storage capacity, multiple face sizes to comfortably fit each wrist size, and stylish array of sleek band-face combinations to stand out from the crowd. The Garmin Fenix 7 is the watch to advance your athletic performance and make your training partners jealous.
What We Like
- Stunning, easy-to-read display
- Music storage
- Multiple face sizes
- Advanced fitness metrics
- RacePro technology
What We Don't Like
- Expensive
- Many style options are out of stock
Best Small Watch - Garmin Lily
SPECS
- Display size: 1.00" x 0.84" (25.4 mm x 21.3 mm)
- Water resistance: 5 ATM
- Weight: 24 g
- Battery life: up to 5 days
Why We Picked It
At just 34 mm, this watch is small but mighty. It is able to measure seven different activity types along with wellness metrics like calories, steps, heart rate, stress, and menstrual cycle. Thanks to smart notifications, you’ll never miss out on staying connected while being active.
With the patterned lens that hides sport metrics when not in use, the Garmin Lily looks more like a high-end bracelet than a sports watch—a great feature for women who aren’t into the athleisure fashion trend. Those looking to get more into fitness in 2022 can pair the stylish watch with the Garmin Connect App and Garmin Coach.
What We Like
- Small, modern design
- Touchscreen
- Morning report summary
- Text responses
What We Don't Like
- Grayscale display
- No built-in GPS
- Texting only compatible with Android
Best Performance Watch - Garmin Venu 2S
SPECS
- Display size: 1.1" (27.9 mm) diameter
- Water resistance: 5 ATM
- Weight: 38.2 g
-
Battery life:
- Smartwatch mode: Up to 10 days
- Battery saver smartwatch mode: Up to 11 days
- GPS mode with music: Up to 7 hours
- GPS mode without music: Up to 19 hours
Why We Picked It
The Garmin Venu 2S is designed for performance, both physical and technological, making it great for the busy professional looking to be more active without sacrificing connectivity. This smartwatch is essentially a personal assistant with smart notifications ensuring you never miss an important call, text, or email, and voice assist allows for making calls or responding to messages directly from your watch. The Garmin pay feature allows you to make purchases directly from the watch.
Wishing you had a personal coach who could follow you around suggesting the best workouts and telling you when to push harder or take a break? This is the Garmin watch for you. Get animated, easy-to-follow workout moves shown on-screen to help improve your form and strength.
The advanced performance metrics and an array of activity modes keep track of your performance regardless of preferred activity while the tracking of breathing, stress, hydration, and sleep allows you to manage your lifestyle and achieve a healthy balance. With all the performance the watch has to offer, the Venu 2S is not overwhelming; the dynamic color display makes it easy to view health and performance data without needing a degree in statistics.
What We Like
- Dynamic display
- Smartphone compatible for calls and texts
- Animated on-screen workouts
- Stores music
What We Don't Like
- Current 5+ week delay in shipping
- 8-hr battery life if using all features
- Voice response only available with Android
Best Watch for Music Lovers - Garmin Forerunner 255 Music
SPECS
- Display size: 1.3" (33 mm) diameter
- Water resistance: 5 ATM
- Weight: 49 g
-
Battery life:
- Smartwatch Mode: Up to 14 days
- GPS mode with music: Up to 6.5 hrs
- GPS mode without music: Up to 25 hrs
Why We Picked It
The Garmin Forerunner 255 is so much more than an activity tracker. Its sleek and subtle design combined with versatile capabilities makes it great for anyone with a busy lifestyle. The music edition stores 500 songs for music on the go without the need for your phone. Track your position, heart rate, pulse, and oxygen level all while you groove to the music.
This is also one of the more affordable Garmin watches, so you can find a watch that offers everything you need without breaking the bank. Beginners also like the preloaded featured workouts.
What We Like
- Sleek and stylish
- Free pairing with Garmin Connect and Garmin Coach
- Easy to use
- Stores music
What We Don't Like
- Larger sizes, round face only available in more expensive premium models
- Voice functionality with premium models only
BUY: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music
Why Should You Consider a Garmin Watch?
The benefits of a Garmin watch are plentiful; accurate GPS, sport-specific training metrics, music storage, women’s health tracking, calorie tracking, hydration monitoring, stress management, sleep optimization, style, and more. However advanced the individual watch features are, Garmin watches are more than watches. Garmin is a well-established, well-respected name in the activity tracker and athletic world. When you buy a Garmin watch, you do not just get a watch, you get proven performance metrics, cutting-edge technology, Garmin Connect App, warranty, replacement options, and responsive customer service support.
What to Consider When Buying Your Garmin Watch
As shown in this article, each Garmin device has a unique specialty. When trying to choose the right watch, it’s important to look for the set of features that best align with your goals.
Weight and Size
Nothing should be “one size fits all," even for the wrist. Garmin understands that fit and feel are important parts of selecting a smartwatch. Many Garmin watches come with the option to select various watch face sizes and band options to dial in what feels good on your wrist. Watch weights range from 24-70+ grams, which might not seem like much, but miles into a run, lighter might feel much better.
Sport Specifics
Every watch can track the basics of your fitness, but some devices only do the basics while others act as a personal performance lab. From basics like pace, time, and distance to advanced running metrics, terrain-specific tracking, training loads, and race predictions, each watch boasts a unique set of extensive sport-specific data. Explore the data that is important to you and buy accordingly.
Battery Life
If plugging your watch in daily seems like a simple task, you might not need to worry if your watch can last 6 hours or 6 weeks on one charge. However, for the adventurous explorer, having a long battery life or solar charge capacity can be a game-changer.
Connectivity
We've all gotten so accustomed to having the world at our fingertips thanks to smartphones. For some, leaving that behind is not an option. From needing to respond to work calls on the go, getting text updates from child caregivers, or improving personal safety, having the ability to use your watch as a smart device can provide peace of mind while on the go.
FAQs About Garmin Watches
Are Garmin watches worth it?
Absolutely. Garmin watches are designed with every type of athlete in mind; the wide product range ensures there is a smartwatch to fit each budget, style, and activity.
Can Garmin watches make phone calls?
Yes, the new Garmin Venu 2 Plus has a built-in microphone allowing you to respond to phone calls and texts directly from the device when paired with a compatible smartphone.
What features do Garmin watches have that other smartwatches do not have?
Garmin is a leader in performance wearables due to the integration and innovation of enhanced metrics such as wrist heart rate, sleep tracking, built-in GPS, altimeter, barometer, text notifications, female health-tracking, mobile payments, solar charging, music storage, advanced running assessments, and many more unique features.
Are Garmin watches compatible with iPhones?
Yes. As long as the iPhone is running iOS7 or higher, you can pair your Garmin device to your iPhone via the downloadable app Garmin Connect. Some features such as voice response text are only compatible with Android at this time.