Best Garmin Watches For Women For Running & Other Activities

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Tom and his team mentions and reviews only those products that they find good enough after using & researching them for several weeks. By doing this we make sure that you get a well rounded review and recommendations to make the best decision for yourself.

Garmin is a well-known smartwatch brand that needs no introduction. They are revered by anyone who is into fitness, style, and sports watches. So it comes as no surprise that Garmin watches are popular among women like you.

However, selecting a Garmin is not easy because, unlike Apple or Samsung who only makes one or two watches in a year Garmin makes several.  They have a watch for everyone whether you are a runner, bodybuilder, or golfer. Moreover, they even have smartwatches for pilots.

That’s why finding out which watch has all the features you need such as music playback, GPS, health tracking, etc. can be a laborious task. Therefore, keeping all your requirements for features as well as budget in mind I have listed the best women’s Garmin watches, smartwatches, and fitness trackers. So are you ready to find out what are the best Garmin watch for ladies? If yes, then keep reading.

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Best Garmin Watch For Ladies Comparison Table

IMAGE

PRODUCT

SPECIFICATIONS

VIEW ON AMAZON

Best Women's Garmin Watch

best women's Garmin smartwatch

Garmin Lily

  • Health and wellness tracking

  • Notification sync

  • Live tracking feature

Best Garmin Smartwatch For Women

garmin female watch for sports

Garmin Fenix 7s

  • Built-in GPS for tracking your run

  • In-depth health and fitness tracking

  • Meets US military standard for build quality

Best Running Garmin Watch For Women

best garmin watch for female runner

Garmin Forerunner 245 Music

  • Built-in storage for downloading music

  • Lightweight and compact design of the watch

  • Garmin coach helps in your marathon training

Garmin Sports Watch For Women

Garmin Forerunner 945

Garmin Forerunner 965

  • Vo2 max Tracking

  • Supports multiple navigation systems

  • Women's health tracking features

Best Garmin Watches For Women

1. Garmin Forerunner 245 Music

best garmin watch for female runner

In 2021, it should not be too much to ask for a smartwatch that allows you to leave your phone behind for morning runs. Unfortunately, most watches even today either don’t have GPS or don’t support downloading music on the watch. However, that’s not the case with Garmin Forerunner 245 as this smartwatch comes with music storage along with built-in GPS.

So you can install Amazon Prime or Spotify on your smartwatch to download music offline and listen to it on the go. On a side note, you would need a premium membership of said services to play or download music on this Garmin watch. And, you can only listen to music using Bluetooth-enabled earphones. Therefore, you can go running and also take your music without carrying your phone with you.

There are two things that every runner like you wants from their smartwatch. First and foremost is a good analysis of your run. And, there are very few watches in the market that come close to Garmin when it comes to tracking your run.

This watch can accurately track your average speed, distance covered, steps per minute, max speed, minimum speed, calories burned, heart rate while running, and a plethora of other data while you are running.

Apart from running, you can also use the interval training feature for your drills if you are a professional athlete. And, you can add various other sports profiles to the watch with Garmin Connect App.

The second factor to look for in a watch is a compact and lightweight design so that wearing it won’t feel heavy or bulky on your wrist. And, you will be happy to find out Forerunner 245 Music only weighs 1.34 ounces and features a 1.2-inch display.

Talking about the battery, the watch can last for 3-4 days on a single charge so you won’t find yourself running towards a power outlet every day.

On a final note, I would say that plenty of features along with lightweight and compact design make this the perfect Garmin smartwatch for women available at a reasonable price. I have reviewed Garmin Forerunner 245 Music, you can check out my review of it here:

Note: Some users are getting watches that are made for the Asian market which receives late updates and isn’t serviceable by Garmin US. So upon receiving the watch make sure to check that your watch is the rest of the world(ROW) variant of the watch. If you receive the wrong one you can replace or reorder it again from Amazon during the return period.

The Good
  • Garmin Coach feature helps you train for a marathon
  • Incident detection feature to alert your family during an emergency
  • Notification sync
  • Advanced training analysis in the Garmin app
  • Pulse Ox to measure the blood oxygen level

The Bad
  • Button-only user interface takes getting used to
  • Sleep tracking accuracy average
  • Learning curve during initial setup
  • No Garmin Pay

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2. Garmin vivomove HR

best women's garmin watch

Not everyone prefers full-fledged smartwatches simply because they don’t want to get disturbed by continuous notifications and charge their watch every now and then. And, all they need is a reliable watch that can keep time as well as do basic fitness tracking. If you are one of them then take a look at Garmin vivomove HR.

While the looks of the watch might suggest that it’s a traditional analog watch, that’s not true. It’s an activity tracker disguised as a watch so you can track your fitness as well as your health vitals. With the watch, you can track your daily steps, calories burned, and distance covered while wearing the watch.

However, the best part is that the watch also has a tiny touchscreen display just above the 6 o’clock position. The display can show your progress toward your daily fitness goals, battery %, weather updates, heart rate, and more in real-time.

And, whenever you would be using the display the watch hands would automatically move out of your way. Hence, you will get a clear unobstructed view of information on the display.

Besides that, the watch also comes with sleep tracking that can tell how much REM sleep, deep sleep, and light sleep you are getting. It can help you identify bad bedtime habits so that you sleep better and feel charged the next day. You can also change the strap on the watch to your liking as it features a standard 20mm interchangeable strap.

Overall, I would say this is the best Garmin women’s watch for ladies who like fashionable and discreet fitness trackers. And for the price of under $150, you get an affordable hybrid smartwatch that can track your health vitals without standing out.

The Good
  • 1-week battery life on a single charge
  • Sleep and heart rate tracking
  • The watch will vibrate when it receives notifications
  • Fashionable smartwatch
  • Water-resistant up to 50m

The Bad
  • Touch display difficult to read under direct sunlight
  • No GPS

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3. Garmin Lily

best women's Garmin smartwatch

If you don’t mind flaunting your smartwatches and need a stylish smartwatch then Garmin Lily is made for you. The watch comes with a compact 34mm watch case making it the best Garmin smartwatch for women with small hands. This stylish Garmin lady’s watch would suit all your outfits and even go well with your professional work environment.

Besides its good looks, it is also a really good health and wellness tracker. The watch can track your sleep as well as fitness activities and then predict your energy level based on both the data with a feature called body battery. Along with that, this Garmin can track your heart rate accurately no matter whether you are resting or working out.

Furthermore, this Garmin female watch also has respiration tracking which can track your breathing while sleeping, exercising, or performing yoga.

Apart from that, Garmin Lily comes with hydration tracking which would keep track of your water intake throughout the day.

To get the best out of the watch you need to install the Garmin Connect app on your Android or iOS device. The app allows you to get in-depth workout analysis, and keep logs of the menstrual cycle, moods, stress and so much more.

Moreover, the watch also has a live track feature that lets your loved ones in keeping track of your location when you are outside. And, in case of an emergency, the watch can also send messages with your location to your designated emergency contacts. It can come in very handy if you are in an unsafe environment or injured.

Garmin Lily also supports notification sync so you can read your important emails, texts, and more right on the watch display. And, if you have an Android smartphone you can even reply to text messages using the watch. However, only pre-saved messages can be used for replying and you won’t be able to type your own messages.

The only shortcomings that we found are that this watch doesn’t feature an always-on display and offers an average battery life of 1-2 days.

The Good
  • Built-in GPS
  • Keep logs of your menstrual cycle
  • Notification sync
  • The gorgeous design of the watch
  • The small watch face makes it perfect for petite hands

The Bad
  • No always-on display
  • Average battery life

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4. Garmin Venu Sq 2 Music

Garmin venu 2

If you have a limited budget and looking for an affordable smartwatch from Garmin for women then Venu Sq 2 Music will be perfect for you. And, despite the affordable price, the watch doesn’t make any compromises in features, looks, or performance department. It’s an entire package for those who want a sports watch that comes with an AMOLED touchscreen display.

Unlike Garmin Lily, this smartwatch comes with an always-on display so you won’t have to use hand gestures to read the display. It also comes with a built-in GPS therefore you don’t have to carry your phone with you to track your run.

The watch also supports offline music playback through Deezer, Spotify, and Amazon Music. However, you can only listen to music through Bluetooth-enabled devices like earphones, headphones, speakers, etc. because in my test I found that this Garmin women’s watch does not have a speaker of its own.

Besides that, you can also track your yoga, indoor rowing, cycling, swimming, cardio exercises, pilates, and more sports activities through pre-installed profiles on the watch. Garmin Venu Sq 2 Music also offers animated workouts that basically tell you how to perform various exercises through animation on the watch’s screen.

Being an ANT+ compatible smartwatch, you can also connect Bluetooth and ANT+ based fitness accessories to better track your sports and fitness activities.

Moreover, the watch can also track your heart rate 24×7 no matter whether you running, working, or sleeping. While sleeping it can record all the sleep cycles you go through and inform you how much deep sleep, light sleep, or REM sleep you are getting. Using your heart rate, workout information, and last night’s sleep quality the watch can also predict how much energy you have left for the day.

Using Connect IQ Store, you can also install 3rd party apps like Uber, Starbucks, watch faces, or widgets on your watch. Overall, we would say this is one of the best feature-packed women’s Garmin watches available for around $300. It has all the features you would need such as contactless payment, AMOLED always-on display, built-in GPS, and a lot more.

The Good
  • Garmin Pay for contactless payment
  • Track sports and fitness activities
  • Notification sync
  • Supports Bluetooth and ANT+ fitness accessories
  • 3-4 days battery life on a single charge

The Bad
  • Not as in-depth sports analysis as in Forerunner series

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5. Garmin Forerunner 965

forerunner 965

If you are a professional female sports athlete and looking for a Garmin women’s smartwatch for your triathlon training then Garmin Forerunner 965 will be perfect. It offers the best combination of design, smart features, and sports tracking that any athlete would want from their smartwatch.

First and foremost, the display size of the Garmin Forerunner 965 is 1.4 inches only. This is one of the most comfortable display sizes that I recommend for any wrist size as it’s neither too big nor too small. Also, this watch features a color AMOLED display that is clearly visible and easy to read while you’re under the sun or running.

Since the watch is tailor-made for athletes, you can expect this watch to offer best-in-class sports and fitness tracking. So you can track your run, swim, workouts, cycling, and almost all of your fitness routines wearing the watch. Whether it’s tracking your swim style, swim strokes, steps per minute, automatic rep counting in the gym, cardio runs on the treadmill, or any other sport, it can track them all.

Apart from fitness tracking, you can also track your VO2 max which can help you assess your cardiovascular fitness. A higher score indicates that you would be able to perform longer at your peak performance.

The watch can also assess how much energy you have left based on your workout sessions, heart rate, respiration, and various other health data. So you would be able to avoid overworking and take proper rest to feel energized the next day.

Along with that, you can measure training load to monitor which exercises are putting the most stress on your body. It allows you to plan your workout accordingly so you don’t feel tired while working in the office.

Besides fitness tracking, Garmin Forerunner 965 also supports GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo global navigation systems. So you would be able to pinpoint your location even in some of the remotest corners. Furthermore, the watch also supports maps, therefore you would be able to get turn-by-turn directions on the watch face in real-time. And, it would ensure that you wouldn’t lose your way no matter where you are which makes it the perfect watch for hiking and outdoor activities.

What makes it the best Garmin smartwatch for women is its women’s health tracking features. It allows you to keep track of your pregnancy, and menstrual cycle, keep a logbook of mood, stress, nutrition, and more. Also, you can also add dedicated widgets on your watch screen for your pregnancy or menstrual cycle.

This watch offers a good battery life of 23 days in smartwatch mode and 31 hours in GPS mode with music playback, so the battery is one less thing to worry about. On a final note, I would say this is one of the best Garmin women’s smartwatches for sports and fitness tracking, and if budget is not an issue for you then I would recommend going with this watch.

The Good
  • Incident detection feature alerts your friends in an emergency
  • Supports third-party fitness accessories like heart rate strap
  • Garmin Pay for contactless payments
  • Supports multiple global navigation systems
  • Perfect for multisport tracking

The Bad
  • Expensive Smartwatch

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6. Garmin Fenix 7s

garmin female watch for sports

If you want your next smartwatch to have a touchscreen display and the best sport tracking features then the Garmin Fenix 7s is the watch for you. It is the flagship smartwatch lineup of Garmin which has all the looks and features that you would expect from your watch.

For runners, the watch has a feature called PacePro that creates a game plan for you during a marathon ensuring you don’t spend all your energy at the beginning of the run. You would receive guidance on whether you should be running faster or slower based on the route and distance covered, etc.

Garmin Fenix 7s can also tell you how much time it will take to recover your energy based on your respiration, stress levels, sleep quality, and other metrics.

Besides sports, you can also track your outdoor adventures like mountain biking, surfing, and skiing using the watch. Moreover, this watch can survive the toughest terrain as it meets the US military standard for shock, thermal, and water resistance.

During a hike, the watch can also track your total ascent, descent, vertical speed, distance covered, and more using the ClimbPro feature. Along with that, you can also import your maps so you don’t lose your way while exploring the wild.

Moreover, Garmin Fenix 7s can track your Pulse Ox, heart rate, and respiration rate while you are trekking on mountains and see how well you are adjusting to high pressure on mountains. It’s a very crucial feature to have as most adventurers feel dizzy and their body needs time to adjust in high-altitude locations.

Talking about health and fitness, the watch can track your heart rate, sleep, blood oxygen, breathing, and more which gives you a 360-degree view of your health. Overall, we would say the Garmin Fenix 7s has all the features that Garmin has to offer so you won’t miss any features found on any other Garmin watch for women.

The Good
  • Accurate health and fitness tracking
  • Notification sync
  • Garmin Pay for contactless payment
  • Women health tracking
  • Supports GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo navigation system

The Bad
  • Expensive watch

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7. Vivoactive 5

vivoactive 5

If you don’t want to spend $500+ on the Garmin Forerunner 965 or Garmin Fenix 7s then Garmin Vivoactive 5 would be the perfect smartwatch for you. This smartwatch offers various fitness and health tracking features at a reasonable price of around $300. Features included are:

  • Heart rate tracking
  • Pulse Ox
  • Respiration tracking
  • Stress as well as sleep tracking
  • Hydration (water intake) monitoring and more

The watch has a touch as well as button interface which can be useful to start and stop fitness activities if your hands are sweaty. And, the watch comes with a built-in sports profile for 20 activities. Moreover, based on your requirement you can remove or add a sports profile in the app using the Garmin Connect app.

While running you wouldn’t need to carry your phone as it comes with built-in GPS. Along with that, you can also take your music with you as this smartwatch supports music playback through Spotify, Amazon Music, and Deezer. And, the 1.2-inch display size makes the watch comfortable for a workout as well as sleeping.

Besides that, you also get animated workout instructions on your screen which would help you discover new exercises, mudras, and how to do them. The watch also offers a battery life of 11 days on a single charge and up to 8 hours with continuous GPS recording.

The Good
  • Good battery life of the watch
  • Comfortable to wear for prolonged usage
  • Supports local music playback
  • In-depth sports and fitness analysis in Garmin Connect app
  • Garmin Pay

The Bad
  • Not for women with larger wrists

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8. Garmin Instinct 2 Solar

garmin ladies watch

This Garmin lady’s watch offers unlimited battery life through solar charging and is a practical choice for active women, ensuring it won’t run out of power during their adventures. Moreover, its built-in sports apps cater to various workouts, accommodating women with diverse fitness routines.

Furthermore, the watch’s comprehensive health monitoring features, including heart rate, sleep, and Pulse Ox tracking, empower women to prioritize their well-being. Moreover, the smart notifications feature keeps the ladies connected on the go.

Lastly, its durability and water resistance make it a rugged companion for women who enjoy outdoor activities, ensuring it can withstand the elements and more. Overall, it is one of the best Garmin watches for women who are adrenaline junkies.

The Good
  • Unlimited battery life with solar charging
  • Diverse sport and fitness tracking options
  • Comprehensive health monitoring
  • Smart notifications and connectivity
The Bad
  • The Pulse Ox Feature is not available in all countries

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9. Garmin Swim 2

swim 2

This GPS swimming smartwatch is an ideal companion for women who are passionate about swimming. With a long-lasting battery life of up to 7 days in smartwatch mode and 72 hours in pool and heart rate tracking mode, it ensures uninterrupted tracking during extended swim sessions.

Its detailed metrics for pool and open-water swims, advanced pace monitoring, and drill logging features cater to serious swimmers. Moreover, this Garmin women’s watch offers convenient connectivity with smart notifications and access to the Garmin Connect online community for workout analysis and sharing.

Also, in our test, we found that underwater heart rate monitoring of this watch is quite accurate. Overall, it’s a valuable tool for women dedicated to improving their swimming performance and fitness.

The Good
  • Good battery life
  • Ideal for swimming
  • Smart notification
  • Accurate heart rate monitoring
The Bad
  • Small display size

Click Here to Check on Amazon

Things To Consider Before Finalizing The Best Garmin Watch For Women

Not every Garmin watch is suitable for women as some watches tend to have bigger dimensions. For women, we would recommend watches with 1.1 inches to 1.3 inches display. As watches with these display sizes are comfortable to wear 24*7 no matter whether you are working out or resting.

The second thing to consider is whether the watch has a touch screen or a non-touch user interface. The Garmin Forerunner lineup doesn’t have a touchscreen display and can only be used through buttons. This is a must-have feature if you are an athlete as it allows you to control the watch more easily. Also, the buttons of the watch make it easier to use if your hands are wet or sweaty, and while running touch screen watches are difficult to use.

Touch screen watches are recommended if you are looking for watches that are easy to operate and don’t want to have a learning curve. However, if you are a professional sports player then we would recommend the Forerunner lineup.

Also, there aren’t many smartwatches available in the market that offer in-depth sports and fitness analysis like Garmin. Therefore, if you are looking for the best sports and fitness analysis then go with the Forerunner or Fenix lineup of the Garmin watches. If you want a watch that can track your basic day-to-day workout routines then any watch on this list would suffice.

FAQs

Which Is The Best Ladies Garmin Watch?

Garmin Forerunner 965 is the best Garmin watch for ladies. It can track almost all your sports and fitness activities accurately which makes it the perfect workout companion.

Is Garmin Better Than Apple?

Using Garmin watches you can get in-depth sports and fitness analysis which Apple Watch simply can't match. Also, Garmin watches offer significantly better battery life than Apple watches. However, if third-party apps are your priority then Apple Watch takes the cake as it has all the best apps support and iOS compatibility.

Is Garmin Better Than Fitbit?

Garmin watches are perfect for athletes and outdoor adventurers whereas Fitbit targets a different audience who only want basic sports and fitness tracking. However, when it comes to sleep tracking Fitbit is better than Garmin in most if not all the cases.

Can You Text On Garmin?

Yes, but you can only select from pre-loaded quick reply messages saved on the watch. And, that too is only available for Android devices.

Is Garmin Forerunner 245 Touch Screen?

No, Garmin Forerunner 245 is a button-only smartwatch. And, that is done by Garmin intentionally so swimmers won't find their watches difficult to use with their wet hands or runners can use the watch conveniently while running.

Tom Nielson

Tom's love for watches started when his grandfather gifted him his Rolex watch when he turned 18! Being a teenager it was a big deal for him. Later when he got his first job he bought Fossil Palm Pilot back in 2003 which was a smartwatch. Since then smartwatches have come a long way and so is Tom's love for them. His experience with watches inspired him to start Wearholic and share his knowledge of wearables including watches, smartwatches, smart glasses, & smart clothing.

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