Garmin vs Apple Watch: Which Should You Buy in 2026?

Buy a Garmin if training is the main reason you want a watch. You'll charge it every week or two instead of every night, it works with Android as well as iPhone, and the Forerunner 265 and up give you Training Readiness, HRV Status and multi-band GPS for less than an Apple Watch Ultra. Buy an Apple Watch if you own an iPhone and want a proper smartwatch first: apps, Apple Pay, message replies and calls, with fitness tracking that's now good enough for most casual runners. Android users can stop reading here, because no Apple Watch will pair with their phone.

The watches you're actually choosing between

Apple's UK line-up is three watches: the SE 3 from £219, the Series 12 from £369 and the Ultra 4 from £749. All three need an iPhone 11 or later.

Garmin sells far more models, so we've narrowed it to the five most people cross-shop against an Apple Watch, priced from Garmin's UK store (Amazon is often cheaper).

• Forerunner 265 (£369.99): the mid-range running watch, AMOLED screen, multi-band GPS. Our Forerunner 265 review covers it in depth.
• Forerunner 570 (£429.99): the 265's successor, adding a speaker and microphone.
• Forerunner 970 (£629.99): the flagship running watch, with full maps, ECG and a torch.
• Venu 4 (£439.99): Garmin's lifestyle smartwatch with a metal case, aimed at people who train but don't race. See our Venu 4 review.
• fenix 8: the rugged multisport watch, with UK prices that vary a lot by size and screen type. Our fenix 8 review uses the 47mm AMOLED.

The price bands overlap almost completely. A Series 12 and a Forerunner 265 cost about the same, so the decision really is about what you want the watch to do.

Garmin vs Apple Watch at a glance

	Garmin (FR265, FR570, FR970, Venu 4, fenix 8)	Apple Watch (SE 3, Series 12, Ultra 4)
Price (UK store)	£369.99 to £629.99 for the Forerunners and Venu 4; fenix 8 higher	£219 to £749
Phone	iPhone or Android	iPhone 11 or later only
Smartwatch battery (claimed)	10 to 16 days depending on model	18 hours (SE 3), 24 hours (Series 12), 50 hours (Ultra 4)
GPS recording (claimed)	18 to 47 hours GPS only	7 to 18 hours outdoor workout
Multi-band GPS	All five	Ultra 4 only
Readiness score	Training Readiness on all five	Readiness app on Series 12 and Ultra 4
HRV	HRV Status (overnight, trended)	HRV in Vitals; Series 12 and Ultra 4 sample as often as every five minutes
Text replies	Android only	Yes
Third-party apps	Connect IQ store (limited)	Full App Store

Battery life: the biggest difference

This is where the comparison is least close. Garmin's Forerunner 265 spec page quotes up to 13 days in smartwatch mode and up to 20 hours of GPS-only recording for the 46mm model (the smaller 265S gets 15 days and 24 hours). The 47mm Forerunner 570 is rated at 11 days and 18 hours, the 970 at 15 days and 26 hours, and the 45mm Venu 4 at 12 days, dropping to 4 days with the always-on display. The 47mm AMOLED fenix 8 is the stamina pick of the group, with Garmin's fenix 8 spec page listing up to 16 days in smartwatch mode and 47 hours of GPS-only tracking.

Apple's own comparison page gives the SE 3 up to 18 hours of normal use, the Series 12 up to 24 hours and the Ultra 4 up to 50 hours. Outdoor workout figures are 7, 10 and 18 hours respectively. Low Power Mode stretches those to 32, 38 and 84 hours, at the cost of some features.

So the SE 3 and Series 12 go on the charger daily, while every Garmin here lasts a full week of training and sleep tracking. If you like a screen that never goes dark, use Garmin's always-on figures, which are roughly a third to half of the headline number.

A marathon is the practical test. The Series 12's 10-hour workout rating covers it comfortably; a 12-hour ultra or a long day in the hills doesn't fit, and that's where the Ultra 4 or any of the Garmins earn their place.

Training metrics: Training Readiness, HRV and load

Garmin built its reputation here, and it still has the deeper system. Every watch on our list gives you HRV Status, which compares your overnight heart rate variability with your own baseline over weeks, and Training Readiness, a morning score that blends HRV Status, sleep, recovery time and recent training load. Those feed into Training Status, daily suggested workouts and race time predictions. For anyone following a plan, it means the watch will tell you when yesterday's session hasn't been absorbed yet.

Apple has closed some of the gap. The Series 12 and Ultra 4 now have a Readiness app and a Recovery feature, and Apple says both sample HRV as often as every five minutes during the day and night, which feeds the Vitals app alongside heart rate, respiratory rate, wrist temperature and blood oxygen. All three Apple Watches have Training Load, customisable heart rate zones, custom workouts and VO2 max estimates. The SE 3 doesn't get the Readiness app.

For structured training Garmin is still ahead, because its metrics connect to each other and the readiness score shapes what the watch suggests you do. For someone who runs three times a week and wants a sensible nudge to rest, Apple's Readiness score on the Series 12 is enough.

Heart rate accuracy

There's no meaningful winner on wrist heart rate. A 2022 study in Digital Health put an Apple Watch Series 6 and a Garmin Forerunner 945 up against an ECG during a maximal exercise test in 30 healthy adults (Ho et al., 2022). Both watches had mean absolute errors of roughly 1 to 2 beats per minute across moderate and vigorous intensities, and the researchers concluded both were valid for setting exercise intensity zones. Garmin's agreement dipped slightly at the very top of vigorous effort, but not by an amount you'd notice on a run.

Those are older models, and Apple now claims the Series 12 has "the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable", which is a marketing claim we can't verify. The general rule still holds for both brands: optical sensors are good on steady runs and poor during weights, boxing or anything with a lot of wrist movement. If you train strictly by heart rate, pair either watch with a chest strap. Both connect to Bluetooth straps, and Garmins also take ANT+ ones.

GPS accuracy

Every Garmin on our list has multi-band (dual-frequency) GPS with Garmin's SatIQ mode, which switches bands automatically to save battery. Multi-band helps most where signals bounce, such as among tall buildings, under heavy tree cover or in steep valleys, and it's where cheaper watches tend to cut corners on a track.

On the Apple side only the Ultra 4 has dual-frequency GPS. The Series 12 and SE 3 use single-band L1 GPS, alongside GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou. For road running in a town that's fine. For trail running, or for anyone who checks their splits against a measured course, the Garmins and the Ultra 4 are the ones to look at.

Navigation is a separate question. The Forerunner 970 and fenix 8 carry full on-watch maps, while the 265, 570 and Venu 4 only give you a breadcrumb trail. Apple Watches lean on Apple Maps, which is good for turn-by-turn directions in town but not a substitute for Garmin's topographic mapping on a long day in the hills.

Smart features

Apple wins this section, and it isn't close. An Apple Watch runs a full App Store, answers calls, replies to messages by voice or keyboard, handles Siri requests and works with Apple Pay anywhere contactless is accepted. Cellular versions can stream music and take calls without your phone nearby.

Garmin does the basics: notifications, Garmin Pay, music storage and a Connect IQ store of watch faces and a modest selection of apps. The Venu 4, Forerunner 570, 970 and fenix 8 add a speaker and microphone for calls through your phone. The apps you'd use every day on an Apple Watch mostly don't exist for Garmin.

iPhone vs Android

If you use Android, the answer is Garmin (or another Android-friendly brand). The SE 3, Series 12 and Ultra 4 all need an iPhone 11 or later, and there's no workaround.

On an iPhone, a Garmin works well but with one real limitation. Garmin's spec pages list text replies and images in notifications as Android only, so on iOS you'll see messages on your wrist but have to pick up the phone to answer. For some people that's a deal-breaker; for others, especially those who want a watch that doesn't constantly pull them back into their phone, it's a feature.

Price and value

At the cheap end Apple wins on price. The SE 3 at £219 undercuts every Garmin on this list, and for an iPhone owner who wants a first smartwatch that tracks runs, it's a better buy than stretching to a Forerunner. Our SE 3 review covers what it leaves out.

In the middle, the Series 12 from £369 and the Forerunner 265 at £369.99 are effectively the same money. The Series 12 gets you a far better smartwatch and the ECG app; the 265 gets you around 13 times the smartwatch battery life, multi-band GPS and the stronger training system.

At the top, the Ultra 4 at £749 sits against the Forerunner 970 and fenix 8. Apple's watch has caught up on GPS and battery is now a solid two days, but the Garmins still last a week or more with heavy GPS use. If you'd save money with last year's model, our Apple Watch Ultra 3 review covers what the older Ultra still does well.

Who should buy which

• Apple Watch SE 3: iPhone owners who want a smartwatch first, on a budget.
• Apple Watch Series 12: iPhone owners who train a few times a week and don't mind charging nightly.
• Apple Watch Ultra 4: iPhone owners who hike or race and won't give up Apple's apps.
• Garmin Forerunner 265: runners on any phone who want the full training system for Series 12 money.
• Garmin Venu 4: people who train but don't race and want a smarter-looking watch with calls.
• Garmin Forerunner 970 or fenix 8: marathoners, triathletes and hikers who want maps and the longest GPS battery.

If you're still unsure which Garmin fits, our best Garmin watch guide ranks the range by use.

Our verdict

For training, Garmin is the better watch. The Forerunner 265 gives you a week or more between charges, a training system that actually changes what you do each day and multi-band GPS, for the same price as an Apple Watch Series 12, and it works whether you carry an iPhone or an Android phone.

For iPhone owners whose training is casual, the Apple Watch is the better product. The smart features are in a different league, and the Series 12's Readiness app means you no longer give up recovery guidance to get them. You'll just be charging it every night.

Check the Garmin Forerunner 265 price on Amazon Check the Apple Watch SE 3 price on Amazon

Amazon UK prices on both brands move often, so check the current figure before you buy.

Recommended reads

• Garmin Forerunner 265 review
• Garmin Venu 4 review
• Garmin fenix 8 review
• Apple Watch SE 3 review
• Best Garmin watch in the UK