Sports watches are all the rage right now. Their appeal extends from fitness fanatics to weekend walkers and everyone in between. Here are the six best sports watches on the market right now.
As the old saying goes; health is wealth. Few things are more blissful than when your mind and body are perfectly in tune, the subsequent energy and clarity positively washing into all corners of life. In modern life, it feels as if every second person is highly health conscious.
For this reason, the popularity of sports watches has risen and risen in recent years. Look around you in a public space and you’re bound to spot an immeasurable number strapped to passer-by’s wrists.
While smartwatches have GPS capabilities and can provide details around calories burnt and daily steps taken, the best sports watches possess another level of ability, able to reveal more extensive health data whilst possessing a longer reliable battery life.
Whether you’re new to the sports watch realm or looking to upgrade your existing wearable, we’ve compiled a list of the best sports watches currently available on the market.
The six best sports watches of 2024
6. Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro ($500)
Face Diameter: 45 mm
Retail Price: $600
If tend to side with Samsung in the Apple v Samsung debate then this premium watch brand should be on your radar. Essentially, it is a good all-round sports watch with a battery life that lasts for a few days without needing to recharge it – even after regularly tracking your workouts throughout the day.
The good thing about this watch is that it has a bright, easily readable screen, can also be used for everyday tasks and can easily sync with your phone. For some people, the touchscreen might be a bit too sensitive. Like with most sports watches, the GPS mode is easy to use, while it provides decent training and recovery insights that can help maximise your muscle recovery.
5. Coros Apex 2 ($349)
Face Diameter: 43 mm
Retail Price: $449
If you are looking for a more affordable GPS watch that still has a great battery life, then this model is a worthwhile option. Although it may not be the most intuitive of GPS-running watches, you can use it just as well for everything from mountain biking and trail running to horseback riding and Zumba.
One of the main benefits of this brand is that it can track distance and location better than most watches on the market. It also has a nice design that uses premium materials and provides a good level of information for a wide range of activities. The watch also has an effective low-power mode, an optical heart rate monitor feature and also allows music storage of MP3 files.
Best of all, you can enjoy plenty of hours in GPS mode without worrying about the watch’s battery running dead.
4. Polar Grit X Pro Titan
Face Diameter: 47 mm
Retail Price: $749
If you like your fitness watch to present lots of data for you, then the Polar Grit X is a terrific choice. What we love about this watch is that it is durable and very easy to read. It also has top-class satellite acquisition, so this GPS-running watch should not dip in performance during inclement weather or in remote locations.
For this reason, it’s a firm favourite with endurance athletes as it can easily take them from point A to point B without any hassles.
In keeping with most watches on the market, its sports modes are good and it also enjoys an excellent battery life. The model also provides information that is always on display and informs you about incoming phone calls.
3. Garmin Enduro 2
Face Diameter: 51 mm
Retail Price: $1499
As well as the Garmin Forerunner 55 and Garmin Fenix 7, the Enduro 2 is among the more expensive Garmin watches you can buy. However, if you believe you get what you pay for, then you should have no qualms about forking out top dollar.
One of the best sports watches on the market, it is packed with features, including the biggest face diameter of all the brands on this list. Add to this an excellent battery capacity of around 150 hours with solar watch charging and you could work out for days without worrying about your data not collecting.
Not only for serious athletes, the watch possesses an acute ability to relay fitness tracker information in a motivating and concise way, providing a gentle but assured push towards healthier lifestyle choices.
2. Suunto 9 Peak Pro Titanium
Face Diameter: 43 mm
Retail Price: $659
In our opinion, there aren’t many GPS watches better than the Suunto 9 Peak Pro. Featuring a titanium bezel in its design, this option has excellent watch tracks, world-class GPS accuracy and a very good GPS-only mode.
Unlike the more expensive Suunto Vertical, it does not have solar charging. However, it does have 95+ sports modes and navigation features, a slick silicone band and is waterproof up to 100 metres. Moreover, its screen isn’t as bright as an Apple Watch and as we know; less harsh blue light correlates with improve sleep.
1. Apple Watch Ultra
Face Diameter: 40 mm
Retail Price: $1399
If you love Apple Watches, then there is no better fitness watch to buy. It comes at a hefty fee, though makes up for this by containing all the bells and whistles fitness fanatics could possibly desire in a sports watch.
We’re talking about the fantastic Apple health app, the ability to extend battery life into weeks, multi-band GPS, Solar GPS and excellent GPS tracking. For iPhone users who can afford it, there aren’t many comparable sports watches.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a sports watch with advanced features like long battery life, dual-frequency GPS or even a global navigation satellite system, you can’t go wrong with the six options outlined above.
Ultimately though, choosing a sports watch boils down to which is the right one for you and your needs. Make sure you read reviews and thoroughly evaluate its capability before deciding on which premium watch to buy.
