The 6 Unparalleled GPS tracking for Tracking Every Adventure

Garmin’s range of watches spans the price spectrum more broadly than almost any other brand, but the Forerunner 265 plants itself firmly in the middle as the brand’s “everything you want, nothing you don’t” option.

Consider it a mixtape of Garmin’s greatest hits—it has accurate multi-band GPS tracking, a running power estimate (displayed in watts like you’d see on an exercise bike), and even a long-awaited triathlon mode, to name a few features. It’s also in the middle in terms of cost, so you can get a taste of top-shelf watch performance without approaching four figures.

Admittedly, it took us a moment to warm up to this watch during testing because we loved its predecessor, the 255, so much. Functionally, they’re pretty similar, and the 255’s battery can actually outlast the 265’s by a few days. But there’s no denying that having a brighter screen is nice for getting glances at your stats under the sun. It’s also worth noting that the 255 is being phased out and likely won’t be available much longer (though you can still check its stock if you are interested in that.

Runner’s World contributor Nick Hilden put the Pace 3 head-to-head with Garmin’s Forerunner 965 in our Summer Running Gear, and it came out the winner on almost all fronts. Why is that? Hilden cites the wide, wide range of training metrics the Pace measures just as well as its Garmin counterpart for nearly a third of the price.

Sure, it measures the basics just fine. But it can also give you detailed analyses of your running power (estimated output in watts), ground contact time, and left/right strength balance, all of which we’ve struggled to find or make work on other watches near this price point.

The only knock Hilden could truly give this watch was its screen, which lags slightly after touch inputs and isn’t particularly bright. We can’t say we mind, though, considering how many extras are running under the hood—we weren’t trying to read most of that data mid-run anyway.

It can be difficult to decipher the Fēnix’s broad range of build options, but the 7X Sapphire Solar is a tried-and-true favorite among our test editors.

It features some of Garmin’s most accurate GPS tracking to date, and its “Sapphire Solar” designation refers to the ring of solar panels on the watch face that can add more than a week of runtime between charges. Peep the flashlight built into the watch face, too, which Dengate suggests is one of his favorite add-ons for all-day use.

The Fēnix 7X is also incredibly feature-dense. Just look at this list of baked-in metrics Garmin offers on this watch from the get-go. Some standouts include wrist-based power, mountain bike dynamics, and even a stamina reader that tells you how much energy you likely have left—you know, like a freakin’ video game character.

If you’re willing to drop another $100, you can also try the Fēnix 7X Pro, which boasts a more accurate heart rate sensor, a more readable screen, and a few more neat metrics.

For much of its lifespan, Garmin’s Forerunner 200 line served as the brand’s entry-level watch for newcomers, minimalists, and the budget-minded. That said, as each update has stacked more and more trickle-down tech into the latest 200s, the price has risen substantially to match.

The 165 returns us to the basics—and lops $200 off the 265’s price tag—while continuing to provide solid run tracking and a handful of other health metric essentials. Does it have multi-band GPS? No, but it’s still accurate enough for Dengate to consider it one of his current favorites.

“If I had to buy one watch right now with my own money, it would be the 165,” Dengate said. “It’s a lot like what the 200s used to be. It has everything the majority of runners will ever need, just fewer sport modes.”

To be clear, the 165 still features 25 sport modes, including running and cycling, but it doesn’t have quite as wide an array as, say, the Fēnix, which has over 100. But if you’re just trying to track your runs, we wager you don’t need profiles for lacrosse or horseback riding built in there anyway. We are bummed that there’s no triathlon mode, but you can still access each individual activity pretty quickly.

I’ve been using a generations-old Apple Watch for almost as long as I’ve been running, and I always loved the smartphone-grade functionality Apple managed to pack into such a tiny device. It never truly felt like a running watch, though. The Ultra, on the other hand, was made for runners first thanks to its impressively accurate GPS and health metric tracking. And this second iteration kicked things up a notch by adding TrainingPeaks integration.

Dengate has high hopes for this update’s future, especially given its ability to sync workouts and coaching data directly from TrainingPeaks to the watch’s Workouts app. To him, this detail will be crucial in Apple’s efforts to draw serious athletes to the Ultra.

“On the surface, the integration doesn’t seem like much,” Dengate said. “The workouts function just like any other custom workout you could create on your own. Now, you don’t have to create them on your own, on the watch. But, even more so, this is exciting because TrainingPeaks has long been the domain of serious runners and cyclists.”

Accuracy was one of the biggest issues with previous Apple Watches, but the brand’s embrace of multi-band GPS tracking means the Ultra 2 performs nearly as well as top watches from Garmin and Coros. It also has the best battery life of an Apple Watch to date, meaning you can rock this watch as both a workout tracker and an all-day accessory without having to charge it more than once a week.

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If you’re looking for a watch that can track you for five days straight, look no further than this endurance-oriented option in the Suunto 9 family. This running watch manages its 120-hour tracking time between charges by limiting its coordinate scans to once every few minutes. Then, the watch uses barometric data and movement tracking to stitch each point together on the map more coherently.

Pat Heine, our video producer and resident ultrarunner, has put his Suunto through the wringer on multi-day excursions on multiple continents. We tracked his progress from the office just fine.

This watch is pretty stripped down otherwise, but it’s all for the sake of keeping you as charger-free as possible on your ultrarunning excursions. We recommend looking elsewhere for more comprehensive health stats, as we had a harder time finding those metric readouts in Suunto’s software compared to Garmin’s. But if consistent long-term mapping is what you need, you’ll be happy with the outline you get when you upload your files post-run.