Top 10 Running Watches with Music of 2021 | Garmin, COROS, Polar, & Suunto

Tune in to your determination and leave your phone at home with the Forerunner 945 or super-connected 945 LTE. This one's for all you marathoners and triathletes out there who rely on their motivational playlist and advanced training features for the win.

So what makes this watch different than the fēnix 6 Pro or the Forerunner 245? Well, it's more feature-rich than the 245, and while it has nearly all the same feature-heft as the fēnix 6 Pro, it's got a lighter and sleeker build, catering a bit more to those athletes who may want less bulk on their wrist.

First off, the 945 can store up to 1,000 songs on board—twice as much as the 245, but only half as much as the fēnix 6 Pro. Onboarding your tunes plays out in the same way as the others through services like Spotify®, Deezer, and Amazon Music.

The Forerunner 945 features are basically the same as the fēnix 6 Pro with a few exceptions. With the bulk of the fēnix 6 Pro comes more storage space (hence more song storage) and battery life. The Forerunner 945 battery life offers up to 2 weeks in smartwatch, up to 10 hours in GPS+music, and up to 36 hours in GPS mode. The 945 does not have the battery saver or expedition GPS mode of the fēnix 6 Pro.

It also does not have some of the more unique activity profiles, like for surfing, bouldering, tactical, or jumpmaster. The fēnix 6 Pro also has more advanced golf features like slope compensation and has a military grade rating.

However, something the Forerunner 945 offers that no other Garmin can is the LTE option. This is especially useful for endurance runners who are often gone for long periods of time in a variety of environments. The Garmin Forerunner 945 LTE's connectivity (requires subscription) lets you stay safe and connected with Assistance Plus, Incident Detection, and LiveTrack features.

A close second to the Forerunner 945, the Forerunner 745 has nearly all of the features of the 945 and stores up to 500 songs. So basically, if the Forerunner 245 and 945 had a baby, this would be it. It makes a marathon/triathlon watch out of the 245 for $150 more, but still comes in less $100 less than the 945 standard model.

And that's where a real appreciation of Garmin GPS smartwatches for runners comes in. They really know how to bull's-eye a sport-specific watch for every level of active lifestyle for every budget.

The Forerunner 745 has the same music storage as the 245, storing up to 500 songs on watch through services like Spotify®, Deezer, and Amazon Music. And it has nearly the same battery life: Up to 7 days in smartwatch and 6 hours in GPS+music. There's a slight difference with it comes to GPS without music mode. It gets 16 hours in regular GPS (8 hours less than the 245), but it has an UltraTrac mode that provides up to 21 hours.

Beyond these features, the 745 is nearly identical to the 945 in training and health-monitoring features, with a few exceptions, which are as follows:

• The 745 does not offer respiration rate during exercise like the 945 and the fēnix 6 Pro.
• It doesn't offer any golfing features.
• It doesn't have any preloaded maps; although it does have all the navigation features of the 945 and fēnix 6 Pro.

And that's it. The only downside to this watch, that is otherwise perfect for runners training for marathons and triathlons is the battery life, which oddly, is slightly less than the Forerunner 245.

While the Venu 2/2S does not have the most robust running features, it will dazzle you with its capacity for 650 songs on watch and its gorgeous AMOLED display. It's the perfect watch and price point for runners who are content with basic running and activity profiles and a substantial playlist of their favorite workout jams.

As with the other Garmins, you can easily stream or download music onto your Venu 2 through Spotify®, Deezer, or Amazon Music. Connect your headphones through Bluetooth and access up to 650 tunes on watch.

Runners get VO2 Max, activity profiles for running, indoor track, and treadmill. Track your progress with GPS-based distance, time, and pace, as well as cadence that provides real-time number of steps per minute. Enjoy run workouts, and the Venu 2/2S is also foot pod capable.

Additionally, enjoy golfing, cycling, and swimming features, and easy-to-follow, animated cardio, strength, yoga, Pilates, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts—and download more from the Garmin Connect app.

For health monitoring, you'll get the new Health Snapshot widget allows you to log a 2-minute session to record key stats, including heart rate, heart rate variability, Pulse Ox, respiration, and stress. Generate a report with those stats via the Garmin Connect app to share with your doctor, trainer, or friends. You also get the latest update of the Garmin Elevate heart rate sensor, which has improved the sleep tracking function.

Additionally, this smartwatch offers safety and connectivity features like LiveTrack, Incident Detection, smart notifications, and Garmin Pay—all on your wrist!

In essence, the Venu Sq Music fitness smartwatch is the Venu 2/2S without all the pizzazz. As the name implies, it offers phone-free, on-watch music—but only up to 500 songs.

Also, the Venu Sq does not have the brilliant AMOLED display of the Venu 2 series. And while it has most of the running, workout, and health features, it is without a few that a regular runner may or may not want. These include:

• Sleep score insights (although it does have advanced sleep monitoring)
• Health Snapshot
• Fitness Age (not on watch, but available in the app)
• It doesn't have the latest generation 4 Elevate heart rate monitor
• It doesn't have a barometric altimeter, so you can't get the floors climbed stat
• You will not get on-screen workout animations or on-screen muscle maps

And those are the differences. Basically, if you're looking for a running watch with music with that offers basic running features, excellent health monitoring, advanced multi-GNSS tracking, rich smartwatch features, and ample song storage—your decision will come down to added extra and price. In a nutshell, is $150 more for 250 more songs, a gorgeous AMOLED display, on-screen workouts, some health monitoring upgrades, and floors climbed worth it? It's a personal choice.

Again, another great running watch from Polar that focuses on personalized data and adaptive training—but doesn't have the onboard music storage. You can control music on your phone from the training display, the watch face, or both.

To use the music controls on the Vantage M2, you'll need to have the Polar Flow app running on your phone, and it also needs to be paired with your watch. The music controls setting becomes visible after pairing your watch with your phone via the app.

As far as running features go, this mid-range priced watch offers some high-end features like Polar Running Program, Training Load Pro, and Nightly Recharge. FitSpark training guide offers you different types of daily workouts to choose from that match your recovery, fitness level, and training history.

You'll also get advanced wrist-based heart rate, smart notifications, and access to the Polar Flow app where you can keep a running diary, analyze your stats, and make your next plan of attack!

The Polar Vantage M2 battery life gets up to 40 hours in training mode (GPS and wrist-based heart rate) or up to 7 days in smartwatch mode with continuous heart rate tracking. Multiple power saving options are available.