Over the past year, I've found my best running watch, racking up over 1000 kilometres in my trainers. Out on the pavements, through woodlands, and on the treadmill at the gym, training for several half-marathons and a marathon earlier in the spring.
As woman&home's digital health editor, it's fair to say that I've had my hands on a few of the best fitness trackers during that time, meticulously logging each workout to see my progress. I've reviewed watches from the likes of Garmin, Fitbit, Huawei, Google, and Samsung, but only found three I'd recommend to anyone looking to upgrade their watch or start running in the new year.
"While your phone can definitely get the job done for tracking runs, getting a basic smartwatch can make a huge difference in how you monitor your progress – and it can be a lot easier than constantly checking your phone," she says. "Progress feels even better and more motivating when you can see it, and a good watch gives you handy insights like pace, heart rate, and recovery data."
Quick list
The Coros Pace 3 balances budget with features perfectly. Here is my favourite running watch - the one I've been wearing constantly for all of 2025. It's packed with advanced running insights (like Training Load and a Running Fitness gauge), has a long battery life, and is simple to navigate on the move. While the Coros Pace 4 has now been released, this one is under £200 in the sale. What more can you ask for?
If you're happy to spend a little more, the Garmin Forerunner 265 goes down a treat - especially as it's the best Garmin watch for runners. It's more advanced than the Coros Pace 3, making it a great option for those looking to take training seriously next year with half-marathon and marathon distances.
If you're looking to do your first 5km run or even just try a few treadmill workouts at the gym, then the Fitbit Charge 6 is ideal. Under £100 and one of the top Fitbit deals of the week, this watch connects seamlessly to your favourite gym machines and records running and other workouts with ease.
The best running watches
The best running watch overall
The Coros Pace 3 is my pick of the bunch, with hundreds of kilometres logged over the past year. To name a few, I ran a half marathon in the Peak District, the Brighton Marathon, and several London-based 10km runs with this watch - and I'd recommend to it anyone.
There are multiple running modes available, including Road, Trail, Track, and Indoor profiles that highlight specific data relevant to that mode. E.g. The Indoor mode will acknowledge that you're not moving out of one spot, so it won't offer GPS. In Trail mode, you'll get detailed elevation insights, as well as the standard distance, space, and timings data.
On the watch's homepage, you'll spot three key features that I've found have genuinely improved my running fitness and recovery: Training Load (your workout intensity and suggested intensity needed to improve fitness; Running Fitness, a prediction of your race times for 5km, 10km, half-marathon, and marathon distances; and Training Status, which reveals your trends in your training and offers tips to improve fitness.
But what I love most about the Coros range of running watches generally is how easy they are to use. Not just on your wrist, but in the app as well. Even if you're not familiar with the metrics available (like ground contact time and vertical oscillation), it doesn't matter. The app is so intuitive and full of information tidbits that explain all the data points and how they apply to you. Whether you're totally new to running or a marathon runner, you'll learn something.
The Coros Pace 4 is the latest release in the collection, and if you're not bothered about the sale and have the extra budget to spend, it's well worth buying. It has a full AMOLED screen, better battery life, and a sleeker strap design, among other feature upgrades.
Read my full Coros Pace 3 review
The best advanced running watch
While I'd recommend the Coros Pace 3 and 4 to anyone, the Garmin Forerunner 265 is certainly the answer if you're a runner asking 'which Garmin should I buy?'. For under £300, you'll get a perfect blend of advanced data insights and features, sleek design with a super bright screen, and easy usability.
Treading Readiness is the standout running metric on this watch. This is a score that combines your sleep score, HRV, recovery time, and workout data to help you plan your training for the next week. From here, you can use Garmin Coach to find running plans and specific workouts to help you reach your goals.
Along with this, you'll get some of the most advanced insights into your running form and performance, such as stride length, cadence, vertical oscillation, and ground-contact time, helping you become a better runner in just a few weeks.
The Garmin Forerunner 265 also offers phone-free music playing. Just plug in your favourite exercise headphones and you'll be able to listen to music through the likes of Spotify and Amazon Music, a feature not offered by the Coros Pace 3 or Fitbit Charge 6.
Lauren Scott, a member of the woman&home health team who also tested the Forerunner 265 described it best as "the 'Goldilocks' of Garmin's current running watch lineup - not as expensive as its rugged Fenix series, but with more data chops than the lifestyle-friendly Venu (more on Garmin Venu vs Forerunner here) series."
For more, read my full Garmin Forerunner 265 review
The best running watch for beginners
The Fitbit Charge 6 is hands-down the best Fitbit for runners and those looking to improve their fitness. Take it from me, I've tested every one on sale today. What makes this watch a little different from the others is the technology behind it as it's part of the Google family - much like the Google Pixel 4, for example.
While it's not as advanced as the Pixel 4, it's packed out with features that'll have you well on the way to running your first 5km or more. For starters, you'll be able to see your distance, pace, and timing of your workout both on your wrist and in the app. If you spring for Fitbit Premium (as I recommend), you'll benefit from similar Readiness features as the Coros Pace 3 and Garmin Forerunner 265, with an overview of how your workouts, sleep, and recovery scores are impacting your fitness.
While the other two watches thrive outdoors, with the super bright screens, in-built maps, and long battery life in GPS mode, the Fitbit Charge 6 should be a go-to if you enjoy treadmill workouts. This watch links to many popular treadmills (including Nordic Track and Peloton machines) via Bluetooth, so you'll get a live and very accurate distance readout on your watch. Even the most advanced fitness trackers struggle with this.
Read more in our Fitbit Charge 6 review
Testing the best running watches
How I tested the best running watches
In total, I tested 10 of the best running watches. While there were many near misses to this list, including the Huawei Watch Fit 4 Pro and Google Pixel Watch 3, these were the three that stood out to me for the following reasons:
- Set-up: Each of the running watches I chose was very easy to set-up and get moving with, including charging and linking to external workout apps like Runna and Strava.
- Ease of use: These three watches scored top points for being easy to navigate on the wrist with touchscreens and haptic crowns and/or buttons, but they also had excellent associated apps. These were also easy to navigate and understand.
- Price: With the cost of living crisis putting luxury items at the bottom of many of our shopping lists, I wanted to present a range of price points for those on all budgets. None have ongoing subscription costs - outside of Fitbit Premium, which is entirely optional.
- Design: Running watches are going to look like fitness trackers, rather than smartwatches. They are going to be sportier in design than the Apple Watch 10 or 11, for example. But, I still took design and appearance into consideration, looking for seamless and sleek styles with options for straps.
- Outdoor vs indoor workouts: As we see above, some of the best running watches are suited more to indoor runs, while others thrive outdoors. I did over 10 workouts in both environments with each of these watches.
How to choose the best running watch
It can be difficult to decifer between all the best running watches to decide on a favourite. Here, Steph Davis helps me outline the features to look for and think about as a priority:
- Make sure it has reliable GPS: "GPS measures the distance of the actual route you run instead of just estimating steps," Steph explains. "Precise GPS data helps you nail your pacing, lets you review your route afterwards, and see elevation changes."
- It should be easy to use: "A simple, uncluttered interface lets you quickly glance at the important metrics (like your pace and time) and focus on your form and effort, rather than getting distracted by complicated statistics," she notes.
- Prioritise a long battery life: "Choosing a watch with good battery life is essential for being able to get through your weekly runs without having to constantly remember to put it on charge. This becomes even more important as you increase the distances you cover and makes it more multi-functional if you enjoy weekend hiking," she says.
- Think about your running in six months time, not just today: I'd suggest looking into the future as you buy your running watch. While you might be a beginner now, you may want more advanced features and better GPS function in the future, especially if you're looking to enter any races. That's why the Coros Pace 3 was my pick of the bunch.
