The Best GPS Running Watches of 2023

Whether you're a newbie or a seasoned veteran, a GPS watch is a valuable tool in any runner's toolbox. While most running watches can track your basic stats like distance, pace, and heart rate, others provide more advanced features such as a barometric altimeter or seamless triathlon activity transitions. These wearables allow for convenient running data displayed in real-time right on your wrist, so you can quickly glance at your current performance and compare it to your recent fitness or historical training. Regardless of your skill level, there is a GPS watch that can add value to any runner's arsenal. Check out our hand-selected best GPS watches for each type of runner.

Bringing loads of new features to the base model Forerunner, the Garmin Forerunner 55 GPS Watch offers an easy-to-use training tool for the straightforward runner. Highly accurate GPS tracks your location, pace, and distance, and built-in sensors record steps, heart rate, sleep, and more. Some of the most notable updates include an increased battery life from 13 to 20 hours, PacePro for staying on pace during a race, Track Mode for accurate pacing and distance around the track, suggested daily workouts, and predictive race times based on your recent training and recovery.

As with the previous version, the Forerunner 55 includes a full-color display, Garmin Coach with free training plans and adaptive guidance for the 5k, 10k, and half marathon events, as well as beneficial wellness features like Body Battery™ that provide personal training advice based on your daily energy levels. As an added benefit, the Garmin Forerunner 55 includes a safety feature, Incident Detection, which can notify and send your location to emergency contacts in case of an accident. Overall, this watch is a must-have for the no-frills runner, track athlete, and developing racer who wants to accurately track their running stats and daily energy levels.

The Garmin Forerunner 265 is a high-performance GPS watch designed for ambitious athletes who want to achieve their fitness goals. The next evolution in the Forerunner line, the Forerunner 265S is a smaller-sized watch for the smaller-wristed runner, but don't let the size fool you because this watch doesn't lack any quality. Featuring a crisp AMOLED touchscreen display with traditional button controls, the Forerunner 265 and 265S is easy to use and offers superior positioning accuracy with multi-band GNSS and SatIQ™ technology. With up to 13 days of battery life in smartwatch mode, you can track your progress and stay on top of your training without worrying about running out of power. The Garmin Forerunner 265 and 265S is equipped with a range of features to help runners maximise their training efforts, including Training and HRV status, training load, and lactate threshold analytics.

It also offers personalized training tips and suggested workouts that adapt to your performance and recovery with Garmin Coach and Garmin Connect. With the ability to download songs from popular music streaming services, the Forerunner 265 and 265S also provides phone-free listening. Additionally, the Forerunner 265 and 265S features incident detection, allowing runners to notify emergency contacts and share their location if they feel unsafe. With the Garmin Forerunner 265 and 265S, you can get a comprehensive picture of your health, wellness, and performance with HRV status and training status overview, and stay connected with smart notifications. Whether you're a runner, cyclist, or triathlete, the Garmin Forerunner 265 and 265S is the perfect training partner to help you reach your peak performance.

If you are looking for maximum performance from a watch, the Garmin Forerunner 965 will work as hard as you do. With a battery life of 23 days on smartwatch mode and 31 hours in GPS mode, along with a bright AMOLED touchscreen display, its thin, sleek body is packed full of features designed to help endurance runners and triathletes get the most out of their workouts. Using an optical heart rate monitor and blood oximeter, Garmin can provide the best training metrics to predict your performance, analyze training, estimate VO2 max, improve running form, recommend recovery time, and much more.

To minimize what you carry on a run, the Forerunner 965 includes Garmin Pay for contactless payments and music storage, so you can get into the rhythm as you go. Easily download your favorite tunes through Spotify, Amazon Music, or Deezer apps, and the watch's Bluetooth connectivity simply links to your favorite wireless headphones. Thankfully, the battery can last up to 10.5 hours while using music in GPS mode, so you don't have to sacrifice your tunes during a long run or race.