Pricing and Subscriptions

Garmin offers a much wider range of products compared to Fitbit, with especially varied pricing. Garmin has numerous product ranges to choose from, with the five most popular being: Fenix, Venu, Forerunner, Instinct and Vivoactive. 

The prices for a Garmin watch depends entirely on the type it is and its features. While a Vivofit 4 will set you back just £69.99, the Fenix 8 has an eyewatering RRP of £949.99/$999.99.

Unlike Whoop, an additional subscription is not strictly necessary with a Garmin smartwatch although it is an option. Coined Connect Plus, the subscription is £6.99/$6.99 monthly or £69.99/$69.99 annually and offers AI-powered insights and enhances the tracking features found on the smartwatch.

Although there are multiple models to choose from, with cheaper options available, the price gap is less significant with the Fitbit range. While the most expensive model on offer is the Google Pixel Watch 3 with a starting RRP of £349/$399, the cheapest Fitbit Inspire 3 starts at just £84.99/$99.95.

Equally, Fitbit offers a Basic and a paid-for subscription, Premium. Starting at £7.99/$9.99 per month or £79.99/$79.99 per year, Premium promises a more in-depth look at your health and personalised tips. 

Design

Both Garmin and Fitbit offer traditional smartwatch or fitness tracker designs. For the likes of the Pixel Watch 3 or Garmin Venu 3, the wearables resemble a typical watch with a strap and a square or circular clockface. On the other hand, the displays on the likes of the Fitbit Inspire 3 sit flush with the strap, which suggests the device is intended to be less of a smartwatch and more of a fitness tracker. 

With Garmin, the Fenix and Instinct ranges offer more rugged designs as they are designed to withstand the outside elements. Plus, certain Garmin watches, like the Fenix 8 and Instinct Solar offer Solar display options, which charge the smartwatch with sun power, making them perfect choices for outdoor adventurers. 

Otherwise, all displays across Garmin and Fitbit have touchscreen watchfaces which means they can be controlled directly, without needing to use a smartphone as a remote.

Health Tracking

All Garmin and Fitbit wearables are fitted with built-in sensors that track certain health metrics like your blood pressure and sleep quality. However, the exact sensors and benefits will differ depending on the model.

While most will sport heart rate monitors, sleep trackers and modes for tracking menstrual cycles, some like the Garmin Fenix 8 and Fitbit Charge 5 now sport an ECG sensor so you can take an electrocardiogram at any time, to record the electrical activity of your heart and receive a medical-grade reading.

Plus, the likes of Forerunner 970 and Fitbit Luxe include Afib detection that will notify you if any irregularities are detected in your heart rate. 

Fitness Tracking

Much like with health, all Garmin and Fitbit wearables offer exercise and workout tracking tools, although the exact features will depend on the specific wearable.

For example, newer trackers like the Venu 3 and the most recent Forerunner series (965, 265 and 165) all benefit from Body Battery energy tracking which constantly tracks your energy levels and shows you when you should prioritise rest over working out.

Speaking of Forerunner, Garmin’s smartwatch series is designed for avid runners as they’re fitted with GPS, pace and distance data and offer personalised adaptive training plans too. 

There’s also Training Readiness which is only available on the more premium Garmin watches, like Fenix or the Forerunner 965, which monitors your health status and tells you how prepared your body is for a workout. 

Otherwise, all Fitbits are equipped with a Health Metrics dashboard and that’s without needing to subscribe to Fitbit Premium either. This dashboard details stats like your resting heart rate, body temperature, HRV and sleep quality too. 

Unlike the Apple Watch Series 10 or Apple Watch Ultra 2, at the time of writing neither Garmin nor Fitbit offer sleep apnea detection in their respective line-ups. Having said that, Garmin offers Advanced Sleep Monitoring (ASM) which tracks your sleep statistics which can be used to indirectly measure potential signs of sleep apnea.

Smartwatch Features

While some wearables, like Whoop, are designed primarily to track your health and are not intended to be used as a smartwatch, both Garmin and Fitbit offer brilliant smartwatch features. Plus, unlike the Apple Watch series which can only be paired with an iPhone, both Garmin and Fitbit lineups can be paired with both iOS and Android smartphones. 

Otherwise, both Garmin and Fitbit allow you to receive notifications, however with a Fitbit you’ll need to ensure your smartphone is nearby and connected to Bluetooth.

Phone support

As mentioned above, all Garmin and Fitbit smartwatches are compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones. However, it’s worth noting that pairing a Garmin with an Android phone does unlock some additional features. 

For example, while Garmin smartwatches will receive notifications from a paired smartphone, Android phones offer more control over notification settings and allow you to respond to messages via the watch. This, however, is a limited tool on iPhones.

Otherwise, you can still easily pair either Garmin or Fitbit smartwatches to iPhones without losing out on the tracking tools.

Verdict

Both Garmin and Fitbit offer such a vast range of fitness trackers and smartwatches that it should be easy to find one that best suits your personal needs. Generally speaking, as it offers a smaller range, if you’re looking for more of an overview into your health and fitness and don’t want to spend over £400, then a Fitbit might be a better choice for you.

However, if you’re looking for a more in-depth smartwatch, for example one specifically for tracking your runs or one with a built-in LED torch to support you during hikes and wild camping, the Garmin offers more variety. 

Our lists of the best Garmin watch and best Fitbit can help you decide which tracker will support your needs best.