Garmin vs Apple Watch - which fitness tracker is better?

Garmin vs Apple Watch - if you regularly exercise and are looking to boost your fitness, you may be stuck deciding between these two brands of fitness tracker. While they are very similar in many ways, there are key differences which may make one better than the other for you.

As the digital health editor at woman&home, I've tried and tested all the best fitness trackers on the market - and among my favourites are devices by Garmin and Apple. With advanced insights, unique smartwatch features, and excellent usability, it's not hard to see why.

Both the best Garmin watches and the newest Apple Watch are premium trackers but they are very different in many ways - including design, fitness tracking, smartwatch features, battery life, and more. So, choosing between the two may be difficult.

Garmin vs Apple Watch

Design

There's no doubt that the Apple Watch is one of the most pleasing fitness trackers on the eye. Regardless of which model you buy, these smartwatches have square faces with minimal screen bezels for maximum display size and sleek aluminium casings. The Apple Watch Series 10, Ultra 2, and SE - the newest Apple Watches on the market - all come in various colours and you can buy interchangeable straps to match your outfit on any given day. With some straps, it's easy to miss that someone is wearing a smartwatch at all.

Though it depends on which of the Garmin watches you buy, the brand has largely opted for a more rugged design on the basis that the watches are designed for sport performance rather than lifestyle. Take the Garmin Forerunner 165 for instance, it has a fibre-reinforced plastic casing with a thick silicone strap. The casing is thick round the edge of the screen and the watch has two larger buttons to navigate the watch manually, as well as via the touchscreen. There's no getting away from the fact that this is a fitness tracker.

However, it ultimately comes down to personal preference. For me, exercise is an important part of my life and a habit that's linked to my identity - so I don't mind people seeing a bulky fitness tracker on my wrist that insinuates I run and work out regularly. But it does mean I take it off for social and special occasions, losing out on consistent insights during this time.

If you're looking for a fitness tracker that blends into your outfit - so much so that unless you knew what it was, you wouldn't know you were wearing one - I'd suggest the Oura Ring or the WHOOP 2.0.

Winner: Apple Watch - but it comes down to personal preference

Fitness tracking

Both Garmin and Apple Watch devices have many workout modes you can choose from to track your workouts - over 30 on many devices across both brands, with popular options like running, walking, and yoga alongside more niche options like pickleball and paddle boarding.

It's very easy to start a workout on either device type in just a few touches and after your session is over, your stats will present on the screen and be sent to the app with more detailed insights. If you have a Garmin, your stats will go to the Garmin Connect app and if you have an Apple Watch, you'll see your stats in the Apple Health app.

When it comes to tracking your workouts and monitoring your fitness off the back of them, they are truly as good as each other.

However, you have to be careful which Garmin device you buy. The Garmin Venu 3 and the Garmin Vivoactive 5 are two newer devices that are excellent for any type of exercise - from running and gym workouts to swimming and yoga. They are simple to use and while they do offer advanced insights, you're not overloaded with information - unlike on devices in the Forerunner range, which are very sport-specific and have insights that may be wasted on someone not interested in running.

On any newer Garmin device, you can count your sets and reps on the strength training workout mode on the Garmin devices, whereas Apple Watch (surprisingly) doesn't offer this.

If you're looking to get 10,000 steps in, burn a certain number of calories every day, and generally move more, the Apple Watch is also a good choice. For starters, you can see your movement achievements on the home screen with three insights (calories burned, minutes of brisk activity, and time spent standing) in the form of colourful rings that meet when you reach your goal. I've found this to be very motivating in the past to get moving.

The Apple Watch also automatically recognises when you're working out - whether that's a walk, bike ride, or strength training - and prompts you to start recording your workout whereas a Garmin requires you to manually start the workout mode to record. You do, however, still get a recording of your daily step count, estimated calorie burn, and Intensity Minutes (the number of minutes you spent doing moderate to intense exercise measured in 60-second intervals) on both devices. 150 minutes and you've reached the NHS-recommended amount for the week.

Winner: Both

For running

Both watches offer basic running profiles, allowing you to differentiate between indoor treadmill, track, outdoor, and trail running in the profiles. On some Garmin devices, you can go even deeper with niche profiles like indoor track running for even deeper sport-specific insights. The same reasons that make the Garmin perhaps not the most suitable watch for regular workouts and daily movement makes it the best choice for running - and cycling and hiking for that matter too.

Though, in my view, where Garmin wins out for running is the map features. Provided you have a device with the mapping feature - such as the Garmin Instinct 2 or the Garmin Forerunner 965 - you can get turn by turn navigation and your route on your wrist in the same profile view as the rest of your live data, such as your distance and pace, so you don't have to navigate away from your workout profile to see where you're going.

The Apple Watch does have extensive running-specific information as well though - especially with watches that offer OS10, such as the Series 9 and Ultra 2. With the Apple Watch Series 9 on your wrist, you'll be able to see stats like pace and distance alongside advanced insights like cadence, string length, vertical oscillation, and ground contact time. If you're a cyclist, you'll be able to connect your watch to a power meter and use your phone as a bike computer.

Winner: Garmin

Battery life

Battery life is one area where Garmin undoubtedly wins out. It also wins out in the weigh up between Fitbit vs Garmin as well, since the battery life on Garmin models is among the very best and most reliable I've seen. While the brand say that you'll get at least five days between charges, there is actually only one watch that offers this. Most other devices offer between 10 to 14 days, depending on which Garmin you buy, with day-to-day use and a couple of GPS-enabled workouts.

Comparatively, the Apple Watch - regardless of model - needs to be charged very regularly with some users forced to charge their device every few days. Take the Apple Watch Series 9 - in low-power mode, you'll get 1.5 days (36 hours) of battery life and just 18 hours in smartwatch mode, with the view that you'll use GPS for an hour-long workout in that time. Given that these watches are most accurate when used 24/7, having to take it off to charge and plan for this so frequently is an understandable turn off. However, they do charge very quickly - in just 45 minutes to 80% for the Series 9.

The Apple Watch with the longest battery life is the Apple Watch Ultra 2 with three days (72 hours) of battery life in low-power mode and 1.5 days (36 hours) with regular use.

Naturally, the more you use GPS, the shorter the battery life between charges and this goes for both models.

Winner: Garmin

Smartwatch features

In my view, Garmin devices are fitness trackers with good smartwatch features and Apple Watches are smartwatches with advanced fitness tracking features.

The Apple Watch wins hands-down when it comes to finding a watch that'll help you out in daily life. For example, you can receive call and text notifications and answer them, control your phone's camera from metres away, use a torch light for dark conditions, speak to other Apple Watch users via Walkie-Talkie mode, control your music, pay via Apple Pay, and so much more - all from your wrist. It's why I compared the Google Pixel Watch 3 to the Apple Watch in my most recent review as the two are very similar.

The Apple Watch also has complete integration with other products in the Apple collection, so you can connect to your iPad or Home Pod as well as your iPhone, using many of the apps on your watch just as you would on your phone. The app store on the Garmin watch is very limited - almost just to running apps and cycling apps.

New to the Series 9 was the Double Tap - which allows the user to tap their thumb and index finger together to allow various actions, like stopping music, starting a timer, or answering a phone call. It's just one of the ways an Apple Watch can make your life easier and something unique to this brand.

The smartwatch features on Garmin devices are dependent on which one you choose but even the Lily 2 - which has more of a smartwatch appearance than others - you'll only find basic smartwatch features like weather reports, call and text notifications, and controls for music playback.

Winner: Apple Watch

Is Garmin better than Apple Watch?

It's difficult to say whether Garmin is better than Apple Watch as the two are so different. If you are looking to boost your fitness with running or regular workouts and have this be a priority for both the features on your watch and its appearance then Garmin will be the better option. Its rugged design may be off-putting for some but barely a consideration for others, thanks to the brand's superb health and fitness tracking features.

Also, if you are regularly hiking, swimming, or generally spending time outdoors, you'll likely appreciate something a little more hard-wearing in the design.

If you are more interested in smartwatch features but you also want to improve your fitness by tracking your workouts, then the Apple Watch is for you. It's sleek and discreet with many options for alternative straps, making it a versatile buy. However, it lacks some of the fitness tracking and health insights offers on Garmin devices.

Does Garmin watch work with Apple Health?

Yes, you can have your Garmin device send data to the Apple Health app via the Garmin Connect app. While it does mean you'll have two apps recording your health data and making suggestions, it's very easy to connect them with just one button and login to your account.

You just need to make sure that your watch is constantly linked to the Garmin Connect app.