Best Garmin Smartwatches for customization options

customization options Decision Dashboard

Best for customization options

Garmin Forerunner 70

5.0 attribute score

Highest scored product for this attribute based on supporting review evidence.

Safest pick

Garmin Forerunner 265

4.8 attribute score

Balances the attribute score, supporting reviews, and overall product strength.

Most evidence

Garmin Forerunner 165

6 supporting reviews

Has the broadest review evidence for this attribute.

Best overall product

Garmin Forerunner 170 Music

4.3 overall score

Strongest overall product among items with scored evidence for this attribute.

#1 Garmin fēnix 7X Pro
5.0

Customization was praised for letting runners tailor screens, functions and analytics closely to their needs.

Pros: battery life, mapping and navigation

Cons: value for money, score tracking

#2 Garmin Forerunner 70
5.0

Sport profiles, data pages, widgets, and watch faces offer extensive personalization. Runners can tailor controls and information layouts in unusually fine detail.

Pros: battery life, value for money

Cons: mapping and navigation, smartwatch features

#3 Garmin Forerunner 970
5.0

Customization options were a clear strength, with settings, touchscreen behavior, sport profiles, data fields, and watch faces described as highly adjustable.

Pros: heart rate accuracy, GPS accuracy

Cons: battery life, value for money

#4 Garmin Venu 3
4.8

Customization is strong, with reviewers praising configurable data screens, buttons, swipes, widgets, watch bands, and Garmin Connect IQ options.

Pros: battery life, GPS accuracy

Cons: smartwatch features, smartphone notifications

#5 Garmin Forerunner 265
4.8

Customization was a major strength, spanning watch faces, shortcuts, data screens, workouts, and Garmin Connect settings.

Pros: battery life, value for money

Cons: mapping and navigation, smartwatch features

#6 Garmin fenix 8 Pro
4.8

Customization was a clear strength, with reviewers praising Garmin’s data-field control and flexible connectivity options.

Pros: LTE connectivity, battery life

Cons: value for money, safety features

#7 Garmin Forerunner 170
4.8

Data layouts, swappable bands, report themes, and vibration patterns give the watch a pleasing level of personalization.

Pros: value for money, battery life

Cons: mapping and navigation, materials quality

#8 Garmin Forerunner 170 Music
4.8

Watch faces, widgets, and data screens can be customized extensively, letting runners prioritize the information they actually want to see.

Pros: value for money, GPS accuracy

Cons: mapping and navigation, third-party app support

#9 Garmin Instinct 3
4.8

Customization is strong, especially for watch faces, widgets, data fields, and activity screens.

Pros: battery life, display quality

Cons: mapping and navigation, smartwatch features

#10 Garmin Forerunner 255
4.7

Customization was a standout, especially data screens, watch settings, and phone-based configuration.

Pros: GPS accuracy, battery life

Cons: smartphone notifications, mapping and navigation

#11 Garmin Forerunner 165
4.7

Customization was a strength, from watch faces and widgets to activity screens and data pages.

Pros: value for money, GPS accuracy

Cons: recovery insights, onboard music storage

#12 Garmin Forerunner 955
4.7

Customization was a major strength across watch faces, data screens, shortcuts, settings, and app-controlled configuration.

Pros: GPS accuracy, battery life

Cons: onboard music storage, charging convenience

#13 Garmin Forerunner 570
4.6

Customization was praised for watch-face colors, layouts, widgets, data fields, and Garmin’s flexible display options.

Pros: heart rate accuracy, GPS accuracy

Cons: value for money, mapping and navigation

#14 Garmin Vivoactive 6
4.6

Customization is strong where reviewed, especially the ability to put more data fields on workout screens.

Pros: battery life, comfort

Cons: heart rate accuracy, sleep tracking accuracy

#15 Garmin Tactix 8
4.6

Customization options were a strength, covering personalized dashboards, settings, bands, watch layout, and menus.

Pros: battery life, durability

Cons: value for money, band quality

#16 Garmin Instinct Crossover AMOLED
4.5

Customization was consistently praised, especially around watch faces, data layouts, and hand-related display tricks.

Pros: style and design, flashlight usefulness

Cons: value for money, mapping and navigation

#17 Garmin Enduro 3
4.5

Customization remains a Garmin strength, especially customizable data fields, stat widgets, and quick-access tools.

Pros: battery life, value for money

Cons: smartwatch features, size options

#18 Garmin Lily 2
4.5

Reviewers like the band and sport-profile flexibility, especially the standard bands and ability to keep all profiles on the watch.

Pros: battery life, style and design

Cons: sleep tracking accuracy, workout tracking variety

#19 Garmin MARQ Gen 2
4.5

Customization was a strength, especially for activity screens, sport profiles, settings, and watch faces.

Pros: display quality, battery life

Cons: value for money, smartphone notifications

#20 Garmin Forerunner 255S
4.4

Customization was a clear strength, from screen layouts and data fields to exercise settings and watch faces.

Pros: value for money, battery life

Cons: menu navigation, user interface

#21 Garmin Fenix 8
4.4

Customization remains a strength, with reviewers praising deep options for watch faces, text size, widgets, and overall functionality.

Pros: battery life, GPS accuracy

Cons: value for money, call handling

#22 Garmin Forerunner 965
4.3

Customization was a clear strength, from data screens and watch faces to app and watch settings.

Pros: battery life, GPS accuracy

Cons: smartwatch features, charging convenience

#23 Garmin Approach S70
4.3

Customization is a strength, especially watch-face data fields and widget organization that reviewers found easy to tailor.

Pros: display quality, value for money

Cons: charging convenience, smartphone notifications

#24 Garmin Vivoactive 5
4.3

Customization was praised for widgets, data pages, and workout screens, though not every watch-face data field was equally flexible.

Pros: value for money, GPS accuracy

Cons: sleep tracking accuracy, recovery insights

#25 Garmin Vivomove Style
4.3

Customization was praised for both the physical look and configurable widgets.

Pros: style and design, battery life

Cons: touchscreen responsiveness, display quality

#26 Garmin Venu Sq 2
4.1

Customization earned praise for editable dashboards, shortcuts, menus, and exercise shortcuts.

Pros: battery life, display quality

Cons: smartwatch features, style and design

#27 Garmin Venu X1
4.0

Customization was easy for controls and gestures, but watch-face choice was said to be more limited than Apple’s.

Pros: display quality, comfort

Cons: battery life, value for money

#28 Garmin Approach S50
4.0

Customization earned light praise because reviewers liked being able to adjust round settings and score-detail preferences.

Pros: value for money, comfort

Cons: fit, band quality

#29 Garmin Venu 4
4.0

Customization evidence was limited but positive, with focus modes making the watch feel more personalized and adaptable.

Pros: battery life, GPS accuracy

Cons: value for money, voice assistant quality

#30 Garmin Approach S44
3.8

Customization was mixed: reviewers liked color options, custom targets, and adjustable complexity, but disliked limited notification customization on iPhone.

Pros: display quality, value for money

Cons: smartwatch features, coaching features

#31 Garmin Lily 2 Active
3.8

Customization is mixed-to-good: notifications and data views have useful controls, but watch-face flexibility is more limited than other Garmins.

Pros: battery life, GPS accuracy

Cons: onboard music storage, mapping and navigation

#32 Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2)
3.8

Customization options are deep and compelling, but the same flexibility can add complexity.

Pros: battery life, GPS accuracy

Cons: user interface, fit

#33 Garmin Vivomove Sport
3.8

Customization was a strength for settings and widgets, but watch-face expansion was limited by lack of Connect IQ support.

Pros: value for money, style and design

Cons: battery life, display quality

#34 Garmin vivomove Trend
3.7

Customization was better than expected for complications and widgets, though one reviewer found the available watch-face customization basic.

Pros: style and design, charging convenience

Cons: battery life, charging speed

#35 Garmin Approach S62
3.3

Customization was mixed: straps and faces were appreciated, but notification tailoring, especially with iPhone, was criticized.

Pros: mapping and navigation, value for money

Cons: coaching features, smartphone notifications

#36 Garmin Bounce 2
2.7

Glances, contacts, schedules, and appearance can be adjusted, but hardware customization is weak. Fixed band choices and limited protective accessories frustrate some families.

Pros: smartwatch features, safety features

Cons: value for money, call handling