One of the great joys of running is its simplicity – just pull on a pair of trainers and away you go. However, a good running watch can add an extra dimension to the sport, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced athlete.
The right watch will inspire, entertain, guide, and even coach you to become a better runner. In this list you’ll find running watches that boast all of these abilities and more, at a range of prices to suit every budget.
How to buy the best running watch for you
How much do I need to spend?
If you want a running watch with in-built GPS - allowing it to accurately and independently record the routes and lengths of your runs - then you’re looking at a minimum of around £120. If your budget is tight, however, you can pay under £50 for a simpler fitness tracker that connects to the GPS receiver in your phone - or you can get one that simply uses an accelerometer to estimate how far you’ve run.
Stepping up to the £150 to £300 range gets you some a good set of features and ergonomic comfort, and most runners will find what they need in this mid-range bracket. If you need oodles of battery life, advanced training features or a versatile smartwatch, you’ll find the tracker for you in the £300 to £600 price range.
What are the most important features?
GPS is absolutely key to a dedicated running watch; if you go for a cheaper fitness tracker, the accuracy of the accelerometer is crucial. The ability to monitor your heart-rate while running is another popular feature, especially you want the tracker to create guided running workouts based on your personal fitness levels.
Battery life is also vital – check how long the watch lasts with the most accurate GPS setting engaged. Around eight hours of GPS will get most people through a week’s training, but smartwatches tend to have less juice. Top-end running watches can provide up to 24 hours of continuous GPS usage on a single charge, which translate to a couple of weeks of all-round use.
What other features should I look out for?
The ability to create and follow structured workouts on a watch is useful for many runners, especially if you’re following a training plan which switches between long steady efforts and interval sprint sessions. Many watches go beyond GPS tracking with navigational capabilities – these range from a simple back-to-start pointer to full turn-by-turn directions.
More advanced watches will give also provide greater insight into your training – such as the effect each workout had on your fitness, a VO2 max estimation, and how long you should spend recovering before your next run.
Another feature to look for is Bluetooth and/or ANT+ connectivity. This lets the watch use data from external sensors, such as a foot pod or a heart-rate strap, which will always be more accurate than a wrist-borne tracker.
Finally, if you’re already committed to a particular running app - be it Strava, Nike+ Run Club, MapMyRun, Runkeeper or any of the other million that exist - you’ll naturally want to check that your running watch is able to upload your workout data to that app.
The best running watches to buy
1. Garmin Forerunner 235: Best all-round running watch
Price when reviewed:£215 - Buy Now from Amazon
Take a glance at the wrist of any runner you come across and there’s a good chance they’ll be wearing the Garmin Forerunner 235. That’s because it hits the perfect sweet spot of price and features, offering everything most runners will ever need in terms of tracking – including heart-rate tracking, customisable workouts, and training plans you can download to the watch.
The screen is large and bright, which is especially handy when using the back-to-start navigational feature to get home, and the battery lasts for 11 hours when using GPS. The Forerunner 235 will also show smart notifications for email, texts and calls, and tracks everyday stats like steps and calories, so it will keep you on your toes even if you're not running. If the price feels a bit steep, you can also get the cheaper 230 - which lacks heart-rate monitoring - for around £190.
Key Specs – Battery Life: 11 hours GPS, 9 days watch mode; In-Built GPS: Yes; Waterproof: Yes; Heart-Rate Tracking: Yes; Bluetooth/ANT+: ANT+
2. Polar M430: Best running watch for beginners
Price when reviewed:£198 - Buy Now from Amazon
High-end, feature-packed watches can be daunting for beginners. Not so the Polar M430, which has all the important features – GPS, impressively accurate heart-rate tracking, customisable workouts – but is still very simple to use.
By connecting to the Polar Flow website and app, you can also download Polar’s training plans, either to help you prepare for a specific event or just to improve your running in general. These plans contain a variety of heart-rate based workouts which you follow from the M430, and will see both your PBs and risk of injury come down.
The battery life gives you a merely respectable eight hours of GPS, and the overall design is probably too sporty to serve as an everyday timepiece, but the M430 is ideal for inexperienced runners who want a wearable to guide them through their training.
Key Specs – Battery Life: 8 hours GPS, 20 hours watch mode; In-Built GPS: Yes; Waterproof: Yes; Heart-Rate Tracking: Yes; Bluetooth/ANT+: Bluetooth
3. Misfit Ray: Best budget running watch
Price when reviewed:£38 - Buy Now from Amazon
The bargain-priced Misfit Ray doesn’t have its own GPS receiver, nor will it make any attempt to track your time, distance, pace or anything else while you’re running. What it does provide is style, absolute ease of use, and an impressively accurate estimate of how far you’ve run.
With a battery life of four months and automatic activity detection, the Ray is a great pick for those who aren’t overly concerned with the fine details of their running, but just want an idea of how far they went, and how many calories they burned.
Key Specs – Battery Life: 4 months (non-rechargeable); In-Built GPS: No; Waterproof: Yes; Heart-Rate Tracking: No; Bluetooth/ANT+: No
4. Fitbit Alta: Best running watch under £100
Price when reviewed:£94 - Buy Now from Amazon
Fitbit isn’t a leading name in the high-end tracker market, but the affordable Alta is an excellent choice - even though it is GPS-less. It uses Fitbit’s impressive SmartTrack technology to automatically recognise runs and label them as such in the activity summary in the app, tracking distance and calories with the accelerometer. If you don’t mind carrying your phone with you as you run, the Fitbit app will also log your route, for more accurate detail – you get a map, distance and pace from the phone, plus steps from the Alta, with all data synced together into one activity on the app. A model with heart-rate tracking is available too, for around £20 more.
Key Specs – Battery Life: 5 days; In-Built GPS: No (Connected GPS with phone); Waterproof: No; Heart-Rate Tracking: No; ; Bluetooth/ANT+: No
5. TomTom Spark/Runner 3 Cardio: Best-value GPS running watch
Price when reviewed: £170 - Buy Now from Amazon
Known as both the Runner and Spark 3 (depending on where you buy it), this TomTom wearable comes in various guises, from a basic GPS watch to a version that adds in both heart-rate monitoring and a personal music player. If you don't want heart-rate monitoring, or already have a chest strap, you can find the basic version online for as little as £100, but £170 for a full GPS watch with heart-rate tracking is still a great deal.
All your key running stats are displayed on multiple screens that can be tailored to your preferences. You can set up custom workouts and follow quickstart sessions based on your existing fitness. This is measured both in terms of VO2 max and a “fitness age”. Battery life is quoted at nine hours with both the GPS and heart-rate monitor activated, or 25 days of straightforward watch duties. To be honest we find that optimistic, but you should get a good week’s use out of a charge, including a few workouts.
Key Specs – Battery Life: 9 hours GPS, 10-14 days watch mode; In-Built GPS: Yes; Waterproof: Yes; Heart-Rate Tracking: Yes; Bluetooth/ANT+: Bluetooth
6. Apple Watch Series 3 GPS + Cellular: Best smartwatch for runners
Price when reviewed:£399 - Buy now at Apple
There are certainly cheaper smartwatches, but the Apple Watch boasts excellent support for all the most popular running apps, including Strava, Nike+ Run Club and Runkeeper. It also works with more stat-heavy options like iSmoothRun, matching most of the features of a dedicated running watch, such as structured workouts and customisable in-run data screens.
You can save around £100 if you go for the older Series 2, which is still waterproof and features built-in GPS, but the latest Apple Watch model adds cellular connectivity, to truly free you from your phone. Being able to stream music, check emails, buy drinks and snacks and take calls while on the go without a phone will come in very handy for many runners, and you’ll still get through the day without having to charge the watch.
The only catch is that, of course, you need an iPhone to pair it with. For Android users the Huawei Watch 2 Sport 4G offer similar freedom from the phone, as well as a dedicated running coach feature.
Key Specs – Battery Life: Up to 18 hours; In-Built GPS: Yes; Waterproof: Yes; Heart-Rate Tracking: Yes; Bluetooth/ANT+: Bluetooth
7. Garmin Forerunner 935: Best running watch when money is no object
Price when reviewed: £470 - Buy now at Garmin
Mid-range running watches are so versatile that you might wonder what could justify the price of a top-end watch like the Forerunner 935. But there’s an awful lot here to appeal to beginner and advanced runners alike.
That starts with a massive 24 hours of GPS-enabled battery life, which in practice means you’ll only need to charge the 935 once every couple of weeks. The navigation features let you design routes on the Garmin website, or quickly generate a run on the fly from the Garmin Connect app: simply pick a direction and the app will do the rest. It’s great for those who tired of plodding the same pavements every week.
Advanced runners will also enjoy the extensive analysis on offer. The 935 details the training effect – both anaerobic and aerobic – of each run, and shows the overall state of your training, so you can see whether you’re overreaching, maintaining or peaking. On top of that, Garmin updates the software regularly to add even more features.
Despite all of this, the design is lightweight and pleasantly understated, so it also makes an excellent everyday watch and sleep tracker. Alternatively, you could go for the Garmin Fenix 5, which offers the same features in a smarter but bulkier body.
Key Specs – Battery Life: 24 hours GPS, 2 weeks watch mode; In-Built GPS: Yes; Waterproof: Yes; Heart-Rate Tracking: Yes; Bluetooth/ANT+: Bluetooth & ANT+