Garmin 970 and HRM600 review: Is this the best running watch and heart-rate monitor combo?
This is the top of Garmin's Forerunner range. The screen and its titanium bezel are elegant and eye-catching. At a recent running event, others crowded around me, cooing at the 970. It has Garmin's brightest AMOLED screen yet, which pops and fizzes with colour.
Pair the 970 with Garmin's new, highly advanced HRM 600 chest strap, and you get a staggering amount of running and sports data. From your vertical oscillation to your running economy (a brand new feature, which covers perhaps the most important metric for marathon-running), to umpteen other data points down to the hyper-granular, it is a dream come true for the data-obsessive runner. All this information is helpfully packaged up to give you things to work with, rather than just numbers to boggle at.
That said, is there a limit to how much data you can usefully absorb? For example, the watch and HRM strap can tell you about your Step-Speed Loss (a feature new to Garmin with this pair). If your score is not great, it gives you advice. In this case, that's run 'lightly and smoothly'. That's good advice, but did I need to know my Step-Speed Loss to find that out? Or is there a risk that your watch floods you with data that obscures the basic principles of running training (the link between mileage and speed, doing different kinds of sessions, and so on)? The counter-argument is that the watch need not obscure those lessons; it just gives you more information. And there's something undeniably fun and gamified about this data and the way it's presented.
If you're paying well over £600 for a sports watch, though, you want all the bells and whistles. That's what the 970 delivers. It can take and make calls thanks to its microphone and speaker, it can pay for things through Garmin Pay, and it has an incredibly handy flashlight (genuinely much more useful — and frequently used — than you would guess at first). It tracks and scores your sleep, it measures your training readiness, and it computes your running tolerance (a very useful feature: this tells you how far you can run over a total of seven days without pushing yourself beyond your limits). It can even run an ECG on you, though this is presented with a forest of disclaimers, pointing out you should go to your doctor if you're concerned. The battery life drew some concern when announced — up to 15 days in smartwatch mode, down from up to 23 days in the Forerunner 965 — but in my testing, I didn't find it a problem. That might be because my previous experience was with a sports watch that needed charging every other day, but bluntly, it just wasn't an issue.
What this watch — and Garmin — really is aiming at is to give you the most personalised experience possible. All those features and data points make that more feasible than ever. It's packaged up elegantly, too. Each morning and night, you receive reports about the day ahead or the day you've had (not a new feature of the 970, but as ever with this watch, beautifully presented).
Every tracking metric is used to inform suggestions for the watch about what's possible for you personally in terms of running or exercising. On top of this, the 970's key differentiating factor with other Forerunner watches is its maps (this is true for all Forerunners in the 9xx range). These are accurate and come in full colour. They make hitting the trails or navigating a new city as easy as can be.
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The Independent
3 days ago
- The Independent
I wore the Garmin vivoactive 6 for two months – it's great, but not ideal for everyone
To cut a long story short, I'm a fan of the Garmin vívoactive 6. As someone who rarely wore watches growing up, I like how the slimline design sits inconspicuously on the wrist – it's so light I often forget I'm wearing it – and having up to 11 days of battery life means I'm far less likely to be caught out than with my usual Apple Watch. The round face doesn't derail your style choices, I can record pretty much any sport I try my hand at thanks to the 80-plus tracking modes, and the general health insights around sleep and stress offer actionable insights to help me tweak my weekly routine for the better. It can't match the Apple Watch for apps and smartwatch features, the Whoop for lifestyle insights, or even more specialist Garmin wearables for run-tracking. But as a more affordable jack of all trades, it's excellent value for money for generalists like myself. I don't have a sub-three hour marathon time, nor has anyone ever paid me to play any sport. I can lift weights that are heavy for some and a warm-up for others, while my Hyrox time is good-not-great. But I love moving and make a point of doing it in as many ways as possible. This is where the vívoactive 6 excels. Whether I decide to climb a mountain with friends, pick up a padel racket or hit the water for some paddleboarding, there's an option for that. The only area I felt it missed the mark somewhat was during my gym sessions. My general workouts contain a CrossFit-inspired blend of strength training, Olympic lifting, gymnastics and HIIT-style workouts. On the Apple Watch, I liked that I could hit go on a 'functional fitness' workout at the start of my session and let it run until the end. With the vívoactive 6, I had to record my strength training and HIIT workouts separately. The strength training tracking also tries to automatically count reps and sets, although I found this wasn't too helpful for me. When I have my head down during a lifting session, I prefer to focus on the exercise at hand without looking at my watch all too often. As you might expect from a Garmin, the running features are very solid – if not quite on par with the likes of the brand's fenix and forerunner lines due to a lack of barometric altimeter to track elevation, and the use of the brand's last generation heart rate monitor. You can create custom interval sessions fairly easily on the app, setting target times and paces; there is a virtual coach available for a range of distances at no extra cost via the Garmin Coach feature; it provides race-day pacing strategies; and you receive in-depth running metrics on factors such as cadence, ground contact time and stride length. However, perhaps unexpectedly for a Garmin, it was the non-exercise features I enjoyed the most. Where Apple challenges you to 'close your rings' by completing a daily step, move (active calories) and stand goal, Garmin scores your sleep and body battery out of 100 to dissuade you from 2am social media spirals. A snackable morning report reveals your sleep quality and how long you spent in each sleep stage (deep, light, REM, awake) then provides actionable advice on how to approach your day – this includes how much sleep you should aim for the following night, and the 'recovery hours' needed before your body is back to feeling its best after hard workouts. The app also has an 'at a glance' section showing your heart rate, intensity minutes, steps, estimated daily calorie burn, heart rate variability status, stress, fitness age (calculated using factors such as BMI, levels of vigorous exercise and resting heart rate) and VO2 max. Several of these are presented on colour-coded graphs to signify whether your results are poor, fair, good, excellent or superior, and the app provides guidance on how you can improve them. The sum of these parts is actionable takeaways I was able to use to improve my health and performance, which in my eyes is exactly what a fitness tracker is for. You don't get premium features like an ECG, skin temperature sensor, Garmin's latest sensor technology or multi-band GPS, so data might not be quite as accurate as the likes of the most recent fenix and venu models. But for the vívoactive's target audience – the everyday exerciser – these features are likely surplus to requirements. I did find the Garmin Connect app a little less user-friendly than the Apple Fitness app at first. Being an iPhone user, the latter's bright colours and blocky, almost childlike, designs came naturally to me, while the Garmin app was a bit more wordy and officious. But after a few weeks of wear, I was navigating the Garmin platform with relative ease.
NBC News
08-07-2025
- NBC News
The best Amazon Prime Day smartwatch deals: Save on Apple, Garmin and Samsung
Amazon Prime Day is here, offering discounts on smartwatches during the four-day sale, exclusive to Prime members. You can also find deals on vacuums, gift cards, sneakers and more. I frequently cover shopping events like Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday as a writer for NBC Select, so I know how to find deals that are actually worth buying. I'm also the team's tech reporter, and I test smartwatches, smart rings and fitness trackers regularly. I spent weeks combing through thousands of discounts to find the best Prime Day smartwatch deals — each one I recommend below is highly rated, at least 20% off and at its lowest price in at least three months. I'll frequently update this list throughout Prime Day. Best Prime Day smartwatch deals This is the lowest price I've seen for this Garmin running watch at 42% off. It has dual-band GPS and up to 14 days of battery life. Many of the brand's signature features are also available like daily suggested workouts, Garmin Coaching, running dynamics, race day pacing and multisport workouts. It launched in 2022, and while it's been superseded by 2023's Forerunner 265 and 2025's Forerunner 570, both those models are over double the price of this deal. This is one of the best smartwatches an iPhone owner can get. Its large, square, always-on display is bright and responsive, it can accurately track health, sleep and exercise, it syncs seamlessly with Apple apps and offers notifications, weather, contactless payments and more. You can learn more in my Apple Watch Series 10 review. The Fitbit Charge 6 is one of my favorite fitness trackers for beginners, and it's matching the lowest price we've seen at under $100. It's slim, lightweight and simple to use. It has basic health, sleep and fitness tracking data that anyone can understand with a few minutes of use. You can learn more in my Fitbit Charge 6 review. This is my favorite smartwatch for anyone with an Android phone. It has intuitive and in-depth fitness tracking through Fitbit (Google bought the company in 2021), with automatic workout detection and advanced safety tools. New to this model is a brighter screen, two size options, daily readiness scores, custom running tools and more. This is Apple's most premium watch at the best price we've seen. It has the brightest screen, most durable materials, and longest battery life of all Apple's watches (up to 36 hours). Plus it has dual-band GPS that can lead to more accurate data for outdoor walks, runs, hikes and bike rides. The Garmin Lily series has some of the brand's thinnest, sleekest watches. The difference between other Lily models and the Lily 2 Active is that it has built-in GPS, which means more accurate stats and pace for outdoor walks and runs. It comes with a silicone band and gets up to nine days of battery life between charges. Anyone with a Samsung Galaxy phone should consider this latest Samsung Galaxy Watch, as it's a great companion device that adds health, fitness and sleep tracking to your toolkit. The Watch 7 adds Galaxy AI, sleep apnea detection and more precise heart rate tracking compared to the previous model. Originally released in 2022, the Venu Sq 2 is a great value for the features, especially if you value long battery life and fitness tracking. It has a 1.4-inch screen, a little smaller than the Apple Watch SE, and gets up to 11 days of battery life. While it doesn't have many of Garmin's more advanced fitness features, it still supports over 25 exercise types, Garmin Coach plans, sleep, stress and health tracking. While the Garmin Fenix 8 is the latest model, this Fenix 7 is steeply discounted and is an excellent smartwatch for anyone seeking premium material design and extra-long battery life. It uses durable materials like sapphire crystal glass on the display and a titanium bezel, plus it has a built-in flashlight and solar charging. It gets up to 22 days of battery life, far more than most competitors. How I found the best Prime Day smartwatch deals All of my recommendations above are based on previous reviews and reporting I've done testing wearables for NBC Select. I also included products the NBC Select staff tested, including Wellness Award winners. I ran each deal through price trackers like CamelCamelCamel to ensure products are at their lowest price in at least three months. All the products I recommend are highly rated with at least a 4.0-star average rating from hundreds of reviews. Why trust NBC Select? I'm a reporter for NBC Select who covers fitness and technology, and I've covered deals and sales for years. To round up the best discounts on smartwatches during Prime Day, I found highly rated products at their lowest price in at least three months.
Evening Standard
26-06-2025
- Evening Standard
Garmin 970 and HRM600 review: Is this the best running watch and heart-rate monitor combo?
Under a smooth, ink-black surface of Sapphire glass, the Garmin Forerunner 970 quietly ticks away. I glance down, the screen comes to life. With a flick of my index finger, I can find out almost anything I want about myself, in what must be one of the most personalised sports watch experiences to date. This is the top of Garmin's Forerunner range. The screen and its titanium bezel are elegant and eye-catching. At a recent running event, others crowded around me, cooing at the 970. It has Garmin's brightest AMOLED screen yet, which pops and fizzes with colour. Pair the 970 with Garmin's new, highly advanced HRM 600 chest strap, and you get a staggering amount of running and sports data. From your vertical oscillation to your running economy (a brand new feature, which covers perhaps the most important metric for marathon-running), to umpteen other data points down to the hyper-granular, it is a dream come true for the data-obsessive runner. All this information is helpfully packaged up to give you things to work with, rather than just numbers to boggle at. That said, is there a limit to how much data you can usefully absorb? For example, the watch and HRM strap can tell you about your Step-Speed Loss (a feature new to Garmin with this pair). If your score is not great, it gives you advice. In this case, that's run 'lightly and smoothly'. That's good advice, but did I need to know my Step-Speed Loss to find that out? Or is there a risk that your watch floods you with data that obscures the basic principles of running training (the link between mileage and speed, doing different kinds of sessions, and so on)? The counter-argument is that the watch need not obscure those lessons; it just gives you more information. And there's something undeniably fun and gamified about this data and the way it's presented. If you're paying well over £600 for a sports watch, though, you want all the bells and whistles. That's what the 970 delivers. It can take and make calls thanks to its microphone and speaker, it can pay for things through Garmin Pay, and it has an incredibly handy flashlight (genuinely much more useful — and frequently used — than you would guess at first). It tracks and scores your sleep, it measures your training readiness, and it computes your running tolerance (a very useful feature: this tells you how far you can run over a total of seven days without pushing yourself beyond your limits). It can even run an ECG on you, though this is presented with a forest of disclaimers, pointing out you should go to your doctor if you're concerned. The battery life drew some concern when announced — up to 15 days in smartwatch mode, down from up to 23 days in the Forerunner 965 — but in my testing, I didn't find it a problem. That might be because my previous experience was with a sports watch that needed charging every other day, but bluntly, it just wasn't an issue. What this watch — and Garmin — really is aiming at is to give you the most personalised experience possible. All those features and data points make that more feasible than ever. It's packaged up elegantly, too. Each morning and night, you receive reports about the day ahead or the day you've had (not a new feature of the 970, but as ever with this watch, beautifully presented). Every tracking metric is used to inform suggestions for the watch about what's possible for you personally in terms of running or exercising. On top of this, the 970's key differentiating factor with other Forerunner watches is its maps (this is true for all Forerunners in the 9xx range). These are accurate and come in full colour. They make hitting the trails or navigating a new city as easy as can be.
