One of the best GPS working watches for 2025

Whether or not you’re an off-the-cuff jogger or a critical path runner, having the fitting GPS watch in your wrist could make all of the distinction. One of the best GPS working watches do extra than simply observe your tempo — they provide real-time metrics, superior coaching options that will help you hit your objectives and, in fact, GPS monitoring for exact distance measurements. Some fashions go even additional, with offline maps for navigation, sleep monitoring for restoration insights and good options like notifications and contactless funds.

For many who want further sturdiness and lasting battery life, higher-end sport watches — like a few of the finest Garmin watches — are constructed to deal with intense exercises, harsh climate and lengthy runs. In the event you're coaching for a marathon, triathlon or simply need a multisport choice that may sustain along with your life-style, these watches have the tech to help you.

With so many choices obtainable, from entry-level fashions to one of the best working watches filled with superior working metrics, it may be tough to seek out the fitting match. That’s why we’ve rounded up our prime picks that will help you select the proper GPS watch in your coaching wants.

Greatest GPS working watches for 2025

Different GPS working watches we examined

Polar Pacer Professional

The Polar Pacer Pro seemed and felt fairly just like our prime choose, and it mapped my outside runs precisely. Nevertheless, Polar’s companion app is leagues behind Garmin’s with a complicated interface and a design that feels very a lot caught up to now. It’s additionally $100 costlier than our prime choose.

Amazfit Cheetah Professional

The Amazfit Cheetah Pro tracked my outside runs precisely and Zepp’s companion app has a training characteristic very similar to Garmin’s adaptive coaching plans that may define a routine so that you can full in preparation for a race or to realize a selected objective. My greatest situation with it was that its touchscreen wasn’t very responsive — it took a number of exhausting faucets on the show to wake it, and sometimes the raise-to-wake characteristic didn’t work, leaving me looking at a darkish display screen.

What to think about earlier than shopping for a GPS working watch

GPS velocity and accuracy

An important factor for a GPS working watch to have is quick, correct GPS monitoring. That may appear apparent, nevertheless it’s fairly straightforward to get distracted by all the different good options most of those units have. Since most of them could be worn all day lengthy as normal sport watches, there’s quite a lot of (probably pointless) fluff that appears good on paper however received’t imply a lot if the core function if the system is left unfulfilled. To that finish, I paid specific consideration to how lengthy it took every system’s built-in GPS monitoring to seize my location earlier than a run, if it ever misplaced my spot and the accuracy of the generated maps. Additionally, the system ought to be good sufficient to allow you to begin monitoring a run whereas the GPS seems to be in your location.

Exercise profiles and trackable metrics

You might not be capable of suss out GPS accuracy simply by a spec sheet (that’s the place this information can assist), however you possibly can verify for options like supported exercise profiles. That’s one thing you’ll wish to look into, even when your one and solely exercise is working. Verify to verify one of the best working watches you’re contemplating help all of the sorts of working actions you love to do (outside runs, treadmill runs, and so on) and some other exercises you might wish to observe with it.

Most health wearables right now aren’t one-trick ponies; you’ll discover a wholesome variety of trackable train modes on any sport watch value its salt. That mentioned, the variety of exercise profiles could be straight proportional to a tool’s worth: the higher-end the product, likelihood is the extra particular, exact exercises it could possibly monitor.

In the same vein, you’ll wish to verify the trackable metrics of any watch you’re contemplating before you purchase. Since we’re speaking about one of the best GPS working watches, most will be capable of observe the fundamentals like distance, coronary heart price and tempo, and people are naked minimums. Some watches can monitor extra stats like velocity, cadence, stride size, superior working dynamics, cardio and anaerobic coaching impact, depth minutes and extra. In the event you’re already a critical runner who trains for a number of races annually, or in case you're a path runner who wants elevation and navigation options, you’ll wish to dig into the spec sheet of the watch you’re contemplating to verify it could possibly observe your whole most important metrics.

Measurement and weight

It’s value testing a watch’s case dimension and weight earlier than going all-in on one. GPS working watches, and normal smartwatches as nicely, can have a number of completely different sizes to select from so that you’ll wish to be sure to’re getting one of the best match in your wrist. I’ve a smaller wrist, so I are inclined to keep away from extra-large instances (something over 42mm or so), particularly if I intend on carrying the system all day lengthy as my major timepiece. Weight, then again, is rather less controllable, however usually smaller case sizes will prevent a number of grams in general weight.

For many who want sturdiness, notably path runners or these tackling excessive circumstances, units like Garmin watches supply rugged builds that may deal with tough terrain, influence, and excessive climate.

Battery life

Not like common smartwatches, GPS working watches have two varieties of battery life you’ll want to think about: with GPS turned on and in “smartwatch” mode. The previous is extra vital than the latter as a result of most GPS working watches have stellar battery life when used simply as a wise timepiece. You’ll be able to count on to get a number of days on a single cost, with some surviving greater than two weeks (with all day and night time put on) earlier than they want a recharge.

Battery life with GPS turned on will likely be a lot shorter by comparability, however any GPS working watch value its salt ought to offer you no less than 10-15 hours of life with the GPS getting used constantly. The extra you’re keen to spend, the upper that quantity usually will get, with some GPS working watches lasting for 40 hours whereas monitoring your location.

This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/best-gps-running-watch-141513957.html?src=rss

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