I review running watches and these are my top 3 suggestions for most people – 1v1 Video Chat & LIve Streaming & Influencer Subscription

By Nick Harris-Fry

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Garmin Forerunner 970 vs Apple Watch Ultra 2 — which should you buy?

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I wore the Garmin Forerunner 165 vs. Suunto Run for a week — here’s the winner

Our full round-up of the best running watches available contains a multitude of options to suit different people, but for me it usually boils down to three main options when I’m suggesting a watch.

Those are the top option overall when if money is no object, the greatest value running watch and the one I’d recommend for beginners. Here’s what I consider to be my top trio right now.
My top three running watches

Best overall

Garmin Forerunner 970

$749.99 at Jenson USA

$749.99 at Best Buy

$759.99 at Amazon

Garmin is the brand to beat when it comes to running watches and I think the Forerunner 970 is the top model in its range right now. It packs an incredible amount of features into its light but durable design and is a reliably accurate tracker that offers very detailed training analysis alongside some useful smarts like music storage and the best navigation tools available on a watch. If you simply want the best of the best, it’s the running watch I recommend.

Coros Pace 3

$229 at Amazon

$229 at DICK’S Sporting Goods

$229.99 at Best Buy

The Coros Pace 3 is a watch that has no right to be as affordable as it is, given the wealth of features it offers. Many of those features are traditionally the reserve of much more expensive options, such as breadcrumb navigation, accurate dual-band GPS and week-long battery life — that last one is especially remarkable given how small and lightweight the Pace 3 is. Runners of all levels will be satisfied by the features on offer here at a fraction of the price of top watches.

Best For Beginners

Garmin Forerunner 165

$218.95 at Amazon

$249.99 at Dell

$249.99 at Jenson USA

The Garmin Forerunner 165 is the ideal entry-level running watch thanks to its attractive design and easy-to-use interface, which will help you get to grips with your training data and how you can use it as you start out in the sport. It’s also good value and a watch that frequently appears in sales, and also tracks a variety of sports well along with your general daily activity, in case you end up deciding that running isn’t for you after all.

Specs compared

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Row 0 – Cell 0

Garmin Forerunner 970

Coros Pace 3

Garmin Forerunner 165

$749.99 / £629.99

$229 / £219

$249.99 /£249.99 standard; $299.99 / £289.99music

47 x 47 x 12.9mm

41.9 x 41.9 x 11.7mm

43 x 43 x 11.6mm

Display size

Display resolution

454 x 454 pixels AMOLED

240×240 pixels LCD

390×390 pixels AMOLED

Sapphire crystal

Touchscreen

56g with silicone band

39g with silicone band

Battery life

15 days watch, 26 hours GPS

15 days watch, 38 hours GPS

11 days watch, 19 hours GPS

Dual-band GPS

Water resistance

Best overall: Garmin Forerunner 970

(Image credit: Future)
The top-end of Garmin’s range is confusing, with the latest models like the Garmin Fenix 8, Enduro 3 and Forerunner 970 competing with each other and older watches like the Garmin Epix Pro, Forerunner 965 and Fenix 7 Pro.
I think it’s important to say that for the most part, these watches offer a very similar experience in terms of their features and design.
The day-to-day sports tracking on all of them is excellent, and while the latest models have a few more bells and whistles, any of those older watches is worth looking for in the sales.
However, we’re not walking about bargain-hunting right now, and the Forerunner 970 stands out from the pack of Garmins because it has all the latest features in an impressively light and slim design that I think is better for runners than the bulkier Fenix 8.

(Image credit: Future)
The design is also durable thanks to a titanium bezel and sapphire crystal screen — the latter is a key upgrade on the Forerunner 965, which I scratched— and the Forerunner 970 also has a built-in flashlight and a mic and speaker.
I’ve had the Forerunner 970 strapped to my wrist since it launched and have run a couple of hundred miles with it including several races, and the accuracy can’t be faulted. I have a lot of watches to pick from at home, and the Forerunner 970 is the one I use for my own marathon training.
It also introduced some new features for runners to Garmin’s range, including an estimate of your running economy and tolerance in terms of the training load you can handle.

(Image credit: Future)
Plus, it’s a very good-looking watch, in my opinion, with a bright AMOLED display that rivals what you get on any of the best smartwatches.
Despite this impressive screen, the battery life is still four or five days with the screen always-on when running every day, which is good — though Garmin does offer watches with much longer battery life like the Enduro 3.
Compared to the value and beginner watches I’ve picked out, the upgrades you get with a top-of-the-range device like the Forerunner 970 are a bigger, better screen, a more durable design, more training analysis features, offline maps and better navigation tools.
Best value: Coros Pace 3

(Image credit: Future)
Value can be a tricky thing to nail down with running watches, because if a watch doesn’t do what you want or need it to, it’s not good value, no matter how cheap it is.
I think the Coros Pace 3 is the watch that offers the best balance of features and price for most people, but you might find that there are others that suit you better, especially in sales.
For $230 you are getting a watch that offers dual-band GPS tracking that’s as accurate as on watches that cost over $1,000, and Coros offers the same training analysis and advice across its range, so the Pace 3 is as good as the flagship Coros Vertix 2S watch on this front.

(Image credit: Future)
While the all-plastic design of the Pace 3 might not suit everyone’s taste and it’s not as hardy as a metal, I like the small and lightweight watch, and it fits well on smaller wrists.
The Pace 3 also comes in a range of colors and with different bands — I’d get a nylon band myself, they’re more comfortable than the standard silicone one.
For such a small watch the Pace 3’s battery life is sensational. It routinely lasted me five or six days on a charge even with heavy use, and I wore it for a 50-mile ultramarathon during testing without any fear it would run out of juice during the race.

(Image credit: Future)
Part of that long battery life is down to the memory-in-pixel screen, which is not as bright as an AMOLED watch, but it’s still easy to read in all conditions.
Whether you’re a new runner or a veteran, the Pace 3 will tick all the boxes you really need from a watch, and it does so at a great price. I’ve recommended it so often it’s become a regular sight on the wrists of people at my running club.
Other watches I consider great value include the Suunto Run, an impressive entry-level AMOLED watch, and the Garmin Forerunner 965, which isn’t cheap but is more affordable than most top-end Garmins with maps, especially in sales.
Best for beginners: Garmin Forerunner 165

(Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Future)
I think one of the best things about modern running watches is the amount of guidance they can offer new runners to help them get off to a great start with the sport.
The Garmin Forerunner 165 exemplifies this through daily suggested workouts, easy-to-understand training analysis, and even full training plans for events you can follow on your wrist.
All of these can help you avoid the biggest pitfall for new runners, which is going too hard, too soon. This can risk injury or just make running feel like too much of a slog to carry on with, whereas a slow and steady introduction to the sport will hopefully create a long-lasting love for it.

(Image credit: Dan Bracaglia/Tom’s Guide)
These are features available across Garmin’s range, but the Forerunner 165 is more affordable, especially as it often features in sales now for $50 less than its MSRP.
It comes in two models, one with music and one without. The music feature allows you to store MP3 files and sync over playlists from streaming services including Spotify, so you can run without your phone and listen to audio if you like.
The lightweight plastic design is comfortable to wear 24/7 and there are some attractive colors to pick between in the Forerunner 165 range. The watch has an AMOLED screen and is stylish enough to wear outside of runs in my opinion, though I’m not necessarily a great barometer for style.

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
While I recommend the each to new runners in particular, it has enough features for more experienced runners too, which I think is important — this isn’t a watch you’ll have to ditch a year after starting running because it doesn’t do enough.
Conversely, it also offers a lot outside of running, being a great activity and sleep tracker that also with a wide range of sports modes and some handy smart features including contactless payments alongside music.
So if running doesn’t take for you, and as much as I love it, I know it isn’t a sport for everyone, the Forerunner 165 will still be a useful watch to have on your wrist.
That’s one reason I also rate the Apple Watch Series 10 as a great beginner running watch, because although it’s not as sporty as the Forerunner 165, it’s still a great tracker and has lots of appealing features outside of running too.
More from Tom’s Guide

I ran a half marathon with the Garmin Forerunner 570 vs. Garmin Forerunner 265 — here’s the winner
The best Garmin watches to have on your wrist
Garmin Fenix 8 vs Apple Watch Ultra 2 marathon test

Today’s best Garmin Forerunner 165 Music, Garmin Forerunner 970 andCoros Pace 3 deals

Garmin Forerunner 165 Music

$288.98View Deal
See all prices

Garmin Forerunner 970

$749.99View Deal
See all prices

Coros Pace 3

$229View Deal
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Nick Harris-Fry

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Senior Writer

Nick Harris-Fry is an experienced health and fitness journalist, writing professionally since 2012. He spent nine years working on the Coach magazine and website before moving to the fitness team at Tom’s Guide in 2024. Nick is a keen runner and also the founder of YouTube channel The Run Testers, which specialises in reviewing running shoes, watches, headphones and other gear.
Nick ran his first marathon in 2016 after six weeks of training for a magazine feature and subsequently became obsessed with the sport. He now has PBs of 2hr 27min for the marathon and 15min 30sec for 5K, and has run 13 marathons in total, as well as a 50-mile ultramarathon. Nick is also a qualified Run Leader in the UK.
Nick is an established expert in the health and fitness area and along with writing for many publications, including Live Science, Expert Reviews, Wareable, Coach and Get Sweat Go, he has been quoted on The Guardian and The Independent.

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