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The 10 Best Apple Watch Alternatives of 2023

The Top 10 Apple Watch Alternatives | Best Garmin Watches for iPhone Users for Every Budget

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Get a gorgeous smartwatch in 2022 ! It may not be the ultimate Garmin, but the iOS-compatible Venu GPS watch is definitely the ultimate deal—only on PlayBetter.com!

Find the Best Apple Watch Alternative for Your iPhone

It's no secret—at PlayBetter we are partial to Garmin watches. This is because Garmin's huge variety of sport- and health- savvy smartwatches aligns closely with our mission: to provide products that can help elevate whatever you do! Plus, they create high-quality devices for every budget.

So, we wanted to give you this quick list of the best Apple Watch alternatives from Garmin since all their watches are created to work seamlessly with the your iPhone.

Go ahead and take a run through this list of GPS smartwatches to see what each option offers in terms of fitness/health/smart features, battery life, size, style, more advanced sport profiles and training tools, and, of course, price!

We'll begin with the more affordable Garmin watches and then finish up with more advanced alternatives to Apple Watches.


Best Alternatives to Apple Watch | Table of Contents


Garmin vívomove Sport Hybrid Smartwatch

vívomove Sport Quick Specs

Case Size/Weight:  40 x 40 x 11.0 mm / 33.8 g

Display Size/Type: 0.34" x 0.73" (8.6 mm x 18.5 mm) / OLED touchscreen

Battery Life:

Smartwatch mode: up to 5 days
Watch mode: up to 1 additional day

GPS: Not built in; connected GPS with smartphone

Maps & Navigation: None

Saftety features: Livetrack, Incident Detection during select activities, Incident Detection alert on phone for wearables, Assistance

Water Resistant: Yes

Available Colors: Black with Slate Accents, Ivory with Peach Gold Accents, Cocao with Peach Gold Accents, Cool Mint with Silver Accents

Price: $179.99

The Garmin vívomove Sport hybrid smartwatch is your best budget alternative to an Apple Watch. It combines the traditional look of an analog watch with the essential smart features you need to keep step with your busy life. When you tap or swipe, real watch hands move to reveal a hidden touchscreen display. Elevate that style with smart functions including iPhone notifications, control music, track your fitness with Garmin's wrist-based heart monitor, and GPS from your paired smartphone, and use a very robust suite of health and wellness tools to know what's going on while you're on the go and sleeping.


Garmin Venu Fitness Watch—EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT!

Venu Quick Specs

Case Size/Weight: 43.2 x 43.2 x 12.4 mm / 46.3 g

Display Size/Type: 1.2" (30.4mm) diameter color touchscreen with AMOLED display

Battery Life:

Smartwatch Mode: Up to 5 days
GPS Mode: Up to 20 hours

GPS: Built-in multi-GNSS (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS)

Maps & Navigation: No maps or breadcrumb navigation; Back to Start features using compass

Saftety features: Livetrack, Incident Detection during select activities, Assistance

Water Resistant: Yes

Available Colors: Light Sand/Rose Gold, Black/Slate

Price: $229.99

Get an EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT on the Garmin Venu—previously a $400 watch—on PlayBetter.com right now. Along with the eye-catching AMOLED display, you’ll also get Garmin’s full suite of health and wellness features, wrist-based heart rate, GPS tracking, smart notifications, safety features, activity tracking, 20+ sport profiles, really cool on-screen workout animations, and more—all ready to pair with your iPhone.

The Venu smartwatch is the perfect alternative to an Apple Watch for iPhone users who like a sport- and style-savvy watch on their wrist.


Garmin Venu Sq 2 / Venu Sq 2 Music Fitness Watch

Venu Sq 2 Music Quick Specs

Case Size/Weight: 40.6 x 37.0 x 11.5 mm / 38.0 g

Display Size/Type: 1.41" (35.9 mm) diagonal AMOLED color touchscreen

Battery Life:

Smartwatch Mode: Up to 11 days
GPS Mode: Up to 26 hours

GPS: Built-in multi-GNSS (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS)

Maps & Navigation: No maps or breadcrumb navigation; Back to \start feature using compass

Saftety features: Livetrack, Incident Detection during select activities, Assistance

Water Resistant: Yes

Available Colors:

Music: Slate/Black, Peach Gold/Ivory, Cream Gold/French Gray
Non-Music: Slate/Shadow Gray, Cream Gold/White, Metallic Mint/Cool Mint

Price: Non-Music—$249.99; Music—$299.99

Not only does it look like an Apple Watch, this iPhone-compatible Venu Sq 2 Music fitness watch can store up to 500 of your favorite songs on it for phone-free listening. Featuring a bright AMOLED display, this GPS smartwatch combines daily style with health monitoring and fitness features that will keep you in tune with your mind and body. With 25 preloaded sports apps for indoor or outdoor activities, including running, cardio, strength, HIIT, and more. Plus, this fitness GPS watch will deliver smart notifications right to your wrist.


Garmin Approach S42 Golf GPS Smartwatch

Approach S42 Quick Specs

Case Size/Weight: 43.4 x 43.4 x 11.7 mm / 43 g

Display Size/Type: 1.2" (30.4mm) sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) touchscreen

Battery Life:

Smartwatch Mode: Up to 10 days
GPS Mode: Up to 15 hours

GPS: Built-in GPS

Maps & Navigation: No maps or breadcrumb navigation

Saftety features: None

Water Resistant: Yes

Available Colors: Light Sand/Rose Gold, Black/Gunmetal, White/Polished Silver

Price: $229.99

Get a smartwatch you can wear on and off the course with a Garmin Approach S42. This smartwatch offers the features, function, and style of an expensive golf GPS watch at a mid-range price—and it's designed to pair with your iPhone. Enjoy sophisticated golf features, activity tracking, running and cycling features, smart notifications, and a 10-day battery life that puts any Apple Watch to shame.


Garmin Forerunner 255/255S (with or without music)

Forerunner 255/255S Quick Specs

Case Size/Weight:

FR 255: 45.6 x 45.6 x 12.9 mm / 49 g
FR 255S: 41 x 41 x 12.4 mm / 39 g

Display Size/Type:

FR 255: 1.3” sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP)
FR 255S: 1.1” sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP)

Battery Life:

FR 255
Smartwatch Mode: Up to 14 days
GPS Mode: Up to 30 hours
FR 255S
Smartwatch Mode: Up to 12 days

GPS Mode: Up to 26 hours

GPS: Built-in multi-frequency positioning (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS)

Maps & Navigation: Real-time bread crumb trail, point to point navigation, back to start, TracBack®, up ahead; No maps

Saftety features: Livetrack, Live Event Sharing, Incident Detection during select activities, Incident Detection alert on phone for wearables, Assistance

Water Resistant: Yes

Available Colors:

FR 255: Tidal Blue, Slate Gray, Whitestone (Music), Black (Music)
FR 255S: Light Pink, Powder Gray, Whitestone (Music), Black (Music)

Price: No Music—$349.99, Music—$399.99

Get inspired to run at a higher level with the iPhone-compatible Forerunner 255/255S GPS watch. This Garmin watch provides training status, running power, multi-band GPS, and daily suggested workouts that adapt to your performance and goals. Plus, other new features—such as race widget—help plan your race-day strategy, and morning report with HRV status reveals your overall health alongside the day ahead. Elevate your workouts with this advanced running watch jam-packed with smart features, more than 30 activity profiles—even for triathlon—and a battery life that’ll beat any Apple Watch any day of the week.


Garmin Venu 2 Plus Fitness Smartwatch

Venu 2 Plus Quick Specs

Case Size/Weight: 43.6 x 43.6 x 12.6 mm / 51 g

Display Size/Type: 1.3” AMOLED color touchscreen

Battery Life:

Smartwatch Mode: Up to 9 days
GPS Mode: Up to 24 hours

GPS: Built-in multi-frequency positioning (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS)

Maps & Navigation: No maps or breadcrumb navigation; Back to start features using compass

Saftety features: Livetrack, Incident Detection during select activities, Incident Detection alert on phone for wearables, Assistance

Water Resistant: Yes

Available Colors: Silver/Powder Gray, Slate/Black, Cream Gold/Ivory

Price: $449.99

The perfect fitness watch for iPhone users who want to do more, track more, and know more about their health and wellness—right from the wrist. The Venu 2 Plus can make and take calls and texts on your watch—so you can keep your phone in your pocket. This Garmin watch has an excellent quality built-in speaker and mic, allowing you to use your smartphone’s voice assistant. Plus, you’ll get all Garmin’s 24/7 health-monitoring, 25+ built-in sports apps, more than ample battery life, and on-watch music storage. It’s the fitness smartwatch that perfectly blends sporty and savvy features in a wearable for active lifestyles.


Premium Multisport GPS Watch Comparison

Garmin Forerunner 955/955 Solar Running & Triathlon Watch

Forerunner 955/955 Solar Quick Specs

Case Size/Weight: 46.5 x 46.5 x 14.4 mm / 52 g

Display Size/Type: 1.3” transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) color touchscreen

Battery Life:

Smartwatch Mode: Up to 15 days/20 days with solar (solar editions only)
GPS Mode: Up to 40 hours/49 hours with solar (solar editions only)

GPS: Built-in multi-frequency positioning (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS)

Maps & Navigation: Preloaded topo maps, preloaded road and trail maps, real-time bread crumb trail, point to point navigation, back to start, TracBack®, up ahead

Saftety features: Livetrack, Group Livetrack, Spectator Messaging, Live Event Sharing, Incident Detection during select activities, Incident Detection alert on phone for wearables, Assistance

Water Resistant: Yes

Available Colors: Black (solar and non-solar), White (solar and non-solar)

Price: $499.99 (non-solar), $599.99 (solar)

For running iPhone users, the Forerunner 955/955 Solar premium GPS smartwatch has all the training, maps, performance, health, and smart features that the most expensive Garmin multisport watches have. And it's a solid alternative to an Apple Watch.

The new race widget provides training tips, course details, and completion time predictions. With morning report, get an overview of sleep, recovery, training, and more—as well as a picture of your overall health with heart rate variability (HRV) status (This device is intended to give an estimate of your activity and metrics). Plus, new multi-band GPS and full-color, built-in maps will have you navigating with confidence. And with traditional buttons and a touch display, it has never been easier to tap into training status and know whether you’re training productively, peaking, or strained.


Garmin fēnix 7/7S/7X Rugged Multisport GPS Watch

fēnix 7/7S/7X Quick Specs

Case Size/Weight (titanium in Sapphire Solar edition is lighter):

fēnix 7: 47 x 47 x 14.5 mm / 73–79 g
fēnix 7S: 42 x 42 x 14.1 mm / 58–63 g
fēnix 7X: 51 x 51 x 14.9 mm / 89–96 g

Display Size/Type:

fēnix 7: 1.3” transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) color touchscreen
fēnix 7S: 1.2” transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) color touchscreen
fēnix 7X: 1.4” transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) color touchscreen

Battery Life:

fēnix 7:
Smartwatch Mode: Up to 18 days/22 days with solar
GPS Mode: Up to 57 hours/73 hours with solar
fēnix 7S:
Smartwatch Mode: Up to 11 days/14 days with solar

GPS Mode: Up to 37 hours/46 hours with solar
fēnix 7X:
Smartwatch Mode: Up to 28 days/37 days with solar

GPS Mode: Up to 89 hours/122 hours with solar

GPS: Built-in multi-frequency positioning (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS)

Maps & Navigation: Preloaded topo maps, preloaded road and trail maps, preloaded ski resort maps, real-time bread crumb trail, point to point navigation, back to start, TracBack®, up ahead

Saftety features: Livetrack, Group Livetrack, Live Event Sharing, Incident Detection during select activities, Assistance

Water Resistant: Yes

Available Colors: Check out the product page to see all 16 watches and their colors

Price: $699.99–$999.99

If chasing challenges and crushing goals is what you do, you'll love the iPhone-compatible fēnix 7 multisport GPS watch that is built as tough as you. With cutting-edge training features, sports apps, 24/7 health and wellness monitoring, and more, this Garmin watch is a legit choice for the serious marathon runner or triathlete. Use trusted button controls or the new touchscreen to get the features you need. Gain performance insights and metrics that’ll help you manage your exertion and build stamina. Optimize recovery and overall wellness by monitoring heart rate, respiration, stress, sleep and more. GPS and outdoor navigation sensors guide during those outings off the beaten path. And for those tamer days, enjoy connected features like smart notifications, the most music storage of any GPS watch, and Garmin Pay contactless payments. From performance features to durability to battery life—the Garmin fēnix 7 is an excellent Apple Watch alternative.


Garmin epix 2 Premium GPS Smartwatch

epix (Gen 2) Quick Specs

Case Size/Weight: 47 x 47 x 14.5 mm / 76 g

Display Size/Type: 1.3” AMOLED color touchscreen

Battery Life:

Smartwatch Mode: Up to 16 days
GPS Mode: Up to 42 hours

GPS: Built-in multi-frequency positioning (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS)

Maps & Navigation: Preloaded topo maps (Sapphire edition only), preloaded road and trail maps (Sapphire edition only), preloaded ski resort maps, real-time bread crumb trail, point to point navigation, back to start, TracBack®, up ahead

Saftety features: Livetrack, Group Livetrack, Live Event Sharing, Incident Detection during select activities, Assistance

Water Resistant: Yes

Available Colors: Slate Steel, White Titanium (Sapphire), Black Titanium (Sapphire)

Price: $899.99 (Standard), $999.99 (Sapphire)

A Garmin epix (Gen 2) with stunning AMOLED display is a gorgeous alternative to an Apple Watch. With this premium active smartwatch, get advanced training tools, up to 16 days of battery life in smartwatch mode, and a vibrant eye-catching watch face on your wrist. Train how you want with 30+ built-in sports apps and take it further with performance metrics and Garmin Coach training plans. Plus, conveniently download TopoActive mapping via Wi-Fi® connectivity—or get it preloaded on Sapphire editions. Additionally, Sapphire editions support multi-band GNSS technology for stronger, better, more accurate positioning in challenging environments. Get all of Garmin’s best smart features and health monitoring, along with up to 2,000 songs on watch for phone-free listening. The epix 2 is the perfect GPS watch for iPhone users who want eye-catching style and fine technology on their wrist.


Garmin Enduro 2 Ultra GPS Watch

Enduro 2 Quick Specs

Case Size/Weight: 51 x 51 x 15.6 mm / 70 g

Display Size/Type: 1.4” transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) color touchscreen

Battery Life:

Smartwatch Mode: Up to 34 days/46 days with solar
GPS Mode: Up to 110 hours/150 hours with solar

GPS: Built-in multi-frequency positioning (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS)

Maps & Navigation: Preloaded topo maps, preloaded road and trail maps, preloaded ski resort maps, real-time bread crumb trail, point to point navigation, back to start, TracBack®, up ahead, NextFork™ navigation

Saftety features: Livetrack, Group Livetrack, Live Event Sharing, Incident Detection during select activities, Incident Detection alert on phone for wearables, Assistance

Water Resistant: Yes

Available Colors: Black

Price: $1,099.99

The Garmin Enduro 2 is the ultraperformance multisport GPS watch that can go farther than any Apple Watch—including the Ultra. Solar power on this puppy provides battery life of up to 150 hours in GPS mode with solar charging. AutoSelect mode uses SatIQ™ technology to dynamically determine the GPS mode necessary to maximize battery life without compromising positional accuracy. The rugged, lightweight design won’t slow you down, and the light UltraFit band offers a secure, comfortable fit during all activities. TopoActive and ski maps will help you find your way, while a variety of built-in sports apps as well as endurance, stamina, and other performance metrics will help take your training to the next level. Use traditional button controls or the new touchscreen interface to access selections. Enduro 2 includes an Adventure Racing World Series-approved adventure racing app. Plus, its advanced features, including the NextFork™ map guide, grade-adjusted pace, and automatic rest timer for ultra runs, will help you prepare to go the distance. A superbright LED flashlight (twice as bright as the fēnix® 7X multisport GPS watch) will even guide you in the dark. If you want “all the things” in an iPhone-compatible GPS watch, this is it!