Fitbit vs Garmin: Which ecosystem is right for you?

Since the beginning of the Fitbit vs Garmin debate, things have changed a lot. Fitbit’s trackers have essentially cornered the affordable fitness tracker market (at least in the US), while Garmin devices are major leaders in the GPS fitness watch space. Google also acquired Fitbit, and the company’s stable now includes the Google Pixel Watch line, fully-featured smartwatches running on Wear OS. Let’s dig in.

Fitbit vs Garmin: Fitness trackers

Fitbit still supports multiple fitness trackers. Garmin has slowed this part of its product portfolio, at least until recently.

Fitbit fitness trackers

• Fitbit Charge 6 ($159.95 at Amazon): The Fitbit Charge 6 is the company’s flagship fitness tracker. It boasts a color AMOLED display, integration with popular Google apps, and many advanced features, like SpO2 and skin temperature tracking, that feature on higher-end smartwatches.
• Fitbit Luxe ($99 at Amazon): The Fitbit Luxe is Fitbit’s best-looking fitness tracker. It offers basic activity tracking similar to the Inspire line but comes with a much better-quality case and plenty of customization options.
• Fitbit Inspire 3 ($99.95 at Amazon): The Fitbit Inspire 3 is Fitbit’s budget fitness tracker. It offers great value for basic activity tracking and features a beautiful, always-on display as well as continuous SpO2 monitoring.
• Fitbit Ace LTE ($229.95 at Amazon): The Fitbit Ace LTE is Fitbit’s latest fitness tracker for kids. It boasts a gamified fitness tracking experience centered around Fitbit Arcade, plus useful safety tools for parents like location tracking.

Garmin fitness trackers

• Garmin vivosmart 5 ($150): The vivosmart 5 is Garmin’s latest activity tracker. It features a 66% larger display than its predecessor, plus connected GPS functionality and many of Garmin’s top tracking tools.
• Garmin vivosport ($239 at Amazon): The Garmin vivosport is a few years old at this point, but it’s the company’s most powerful fitness tracker. It has a built-in GPS and a heart rate sensor. It’s accurate, water-resistant, and it’s pretty cheap because it’s been on the market since 2017.
• Garmin vivofit 4 ($76 at Amazon): The vivofit 4 is also a couple of years old, but it’s still a solid cheap fitness tracker. It has a one-year battery life, an always-on display, and it’s water-resistant. We wish it had ANT+ HR sensor support (its predecessor did) and slightly better activity-tracking capabilities.
• Garmin vivofit Jr. 3 ($90): The vivofit Jr. 3 is a kid-friendly fitness tracker from Garmin. It has a bigger display for showing additional activity information and fun designs from Marvel and Disney.

What if you want something more powerful than the devices listed above? Something with a bigger screen? Luckily, both companies have you covered.

Fitbit vs Garmin: Smartwatches and sport watches

Fitbit is very limited in the smartwatch market. Though the brand technically has two Fitbit-branded lineups, the watches offer a watered-down experience compared to other brands. Google has also essentially shuttered the lineups for future development. However, the Google Pixel Watch line is also part of Fitbit’s stable and includes one of the best Fitbit devices you can buy. Smartwatches and sports watches are Garmin’s bread and butter. We cover the company’s main lineups below, but there are plenty more devices on the Garmin website.

Top Fitbit smartwatches and sports watches

• Google Pixel Watch 3 ($349.99 at Amazon): Though not purely a Fitbit device, the Google Pixel Watch 3 features extensive Fitbit integration and is available for purchase from Fitbit.com. The latest model in the lineup, the third generation offers a ton of upgrades and new features and even comes in two case sizes. The powerful smartwatch runs Wear OS 5 and boasts more smartwatch features than any other in this list.
• Google Pixel Watch 2 ($349.99 at Amazon): Though not as refined as the newest model, the second generation improved some of the first model’s shortcomings to offer a better user experience. It can now be found at a discounted price thanks to the arrival of the Pixel Watch 3.
• Fitbit Sense 2 ($299.95 at Amazon): The Sense 2 is officially Fitbit’s top branded smartwatch, with an EDA sensor for stress tracking, an ECG monitor, and a skin temperature sensor to show early signs of illness. However, we found the device underwhelming during our review period, having dropped key smartwatch features offered by the previous generation.
• Fitbit Versa 4 ($199 at Amazon): Not interested in the EDA, ECG, and skin temperature sensors? The Versa line offers a similar smartwatch experience to the Sense lineup but drops advanced health sensors in favor of a lower price tag. However, like the Sense 2, we found the Versa 4 underperforms compared to the Versa 3 and drops some major selling points previously found on the lineup.

Garmin smartwatches and sports watches

• Garmin Venu 3: ($449.99 at Amazon): Arguably the best smartwatch Garmin has ever made, the Venu 3 packs even more features into the already great lineup for a well-rounded health and fitness tracking device. It’s attractive, available in two sizes, and offers fantastic battery life.
• Garmin vivoactive 5 ($299.99 at Amazon): Essentially a pared-down Venu 3, the vivoactive 5 boasts an AMOLED display and a variety of health and fitness tracking features for considerably less.
• Garmin Venu Sq 2 ($249.99 at Amazon): Garmin’s square-shaped, mid-range smartwatch, the Venu Sq 2 features a colorful AMOLED display, accurate health and fitness sensors, and great battery life.
• Garmin vivomove 3 and 3S ($199 at Amazon): Garmin’s hybrid smartwatch, the vivomove received a significant upgrade in 2019. The Garmin vivomove 3 and 3S now have Garmin Pay support and pulse oximeter sensors and bring back the hidden displays underneath the watch face.
• Garmin Forerunner 55, 265, 645, 745, and 965 (Forerunners on Amazon): If you’re a runner, look no further than the Garmin Forerunner lineup. Depending on your budget, the Forerunner 55, 265, 645, 745, or 965 will have something to suit your needs.
• Garmin Fenix 7 Pro series: A fantastic follow-up to the Fenix 7 series ($855 at Amazon), the Pro lineup is available in a variety of sizes, all offering solar charging, multi-band GNSS, and high-end multisport training tools. It’s the best pick for dedicated athletes who want endless battery life.
• Garmin Instinct 2X Solar ($449 at Amazon): The oversized follow-up to the Instinct 2 (below) this model offers noteworthy upgrades, including even better solar power capabilities and the line’s first-ever LED flashlight.
• Garmin Instinct 2 ($295 at Amazon): The Garmin Instinct 2 line is for those who don’t need a smartwatch or a big display but still want something that’ll track excursions in the great outdoors. There’s even a solar-powered model that essentially never runs out of battery.
• Garmin Lily 2 ($249.99 at Garmin): Garmin’s fitness tracker for women is small, light, and comfortable. It’s light on the features, but we found it to perform well overall.

Fitbit vs Garmin: Activity and health tracking

No matter which ecosystem you choose, these devices will track the basics: steps taken, calories burned, and sleep. They’ll also track your distance traveled, but only those with GPS (will give you accurate distance metrics. The devices that feature built-in GPS will also give you precise pace, cadence, and elevation details. The rest all have connected GPS, allowing you to track accurate distance and pace metrics if you bring your phone with you on a run. Unfortunately, neither the Garmin vivofit 4 nor the Fitbit Inspire have any GPS functionality.

All devices listed above will track your total time asleep and sleep stages, including how often you spend in REM, light, and deep sleep and how much time you’re awake throughout the night. Fitbit devices will give you a 30-day average of your sleeping habits (compared to Garmin’s seven-day average) and a benchmark to compare against other people your age. A few years ago, if you asked us which company had better sleep trackers, we would have answered Fitbit. However, Garmin introduced advanced sleep monitoring in mid-2018, and both companies are now at roughly the same level, give or take a few features.

Newer devices like the Venu line, vivoactive 5, and vivosmart 5 all have pulse oximeters (SpO2) built-in, which will track your blood-oxygen saturation levels throughout the day and night. The Fitbit Sense 2, Sense, Versa 4, and Versa 3 have SpO2 monitors for automatic SpO2 tracking. Other Fitbits lhave SpO2 sensors which are only utilized for additional Sleep Score details. Additionally, some Garmin devices track respiration rate (or breathing rate).

Both ecosystems also offer stress tracking, but each company’s approach differs. For most Fitbit devices, you get a Relax feature, which walks you through a series of guided breathing exercises to help you calm down if you’re too stressed. Fitbit’s devices use the heart rate sensor to help you follow along during breathing exercises. A few Fitbit devices have EDA sensors, which track your body’s electrodermal activity, reflecting your stress levels. Likewise, several Garmin wearables feature all-day stress tracking based on your heart rate variability. This lets you see when you’re the most or least stressed throughout the day — a valuable metric for those who notice (or don’t notice) patterns in their mood. Garmin offers guided breathing exercises on a few of its devices, but it doesn’t utilize the heart rate monitor to help you follow along.

Both ecosystems provide their own versions of menstrual cycle tracking for women. Fitbit’s version is called female health tracking and allows those who menstruate to track their periods, fertile windows, ovulation days, and female health symptoms. Garmin’s feature is called menstrual cycle tracking. It lets users log period start and end dates, track physical and emotional symptoms, make personal notes, and more. Garmin makes it a point to remind users that this feature is for all users, whether their cycle is regular, irregular, or transitioning into menopause. The company’s devices can even track users’ pregnancies, too.

Garmin should be your choice if you’re a Type 1 or Type 2 diabetic. An official Dexcom app in Connect IQ allows people with diabetes to track their blood glucose levels, trend direction, and three-hour history right on their compatible smartwatches.

Both companies provide some on-device, guided workouts. Only a few on-screen workouts are available on the Sense 2, Sense, Versa 4, Versa 3, Versa 2, Versa, and Ionic. Still, more can be added if you’re a Fitbit Premium subscriber (more on that later). Garmin’s newer watches support animated, on-device workouts. Cardio, strength, yoga, and Pilates workouts are available on-device, and more are available to download through Garmin Connect.

Fitbit vs Garmin: Smart features

Garmin and Fitbit devices support smartphone notifications on Android and iOS, but only Android users can reply to and delete messages from their wearables. The newer Sense 2 and Versa 4 no longer offer Google Assistant but still feature Amazon Alexa. The Google Pixel Watch line features Google Assistant built-in. The Garmin Venu 2 Plus and Venu 3 offer voice assistant support. However, since Garmin doesn’t have its own voice assistant, the watch activates your phone’s default assistant.

Most Garmin watches also support onboard music storage. In the past, some Fitbit devices offered onboard music support, but it has since been dropped. As mentioned, Versa 4 and Sense 2 lack support for third-party apps. Google Pixel Watch line users, however, can still access music apps through the Google Play Store. Finally, contactless payment support is available on most Garmin and Fitbit devices.

Fitbit vs Garmin: Companion apps

Your decision to choose Fitbit or Garmin will most likely depend on which fitness product you want. However, it’s important to keep smartphone companion apps in mind. After all, this is where you’ll check up on performance stats, daily and weekly activity metrics, and more.

The Fitbit app is the most user-friendly option of the two. In September 2023, the app received a visual refresh that simplified navigation and data organization. Now, the Fitbit app features a Today tab, Coach tab, and You tab. The customizable Today tab allows users to select which stats they want front and center to make it easier to focus on their personal goals. The Coach tab houses workout content as well as trend reports and highlights.

The Garmin Connect app has improved a lot over the past few years. The main screen on Garmin Connect displays your daily activity metrics, and clicking on each one gives you more information and your history. However, it’s way more information-dense than Fitbit’s app, which may be a good or bad thing depending on what type of user you are. We like how much info Garmin’s app provides, but we’ve also been using Garmin devices for years, so we’re accustomed to it.

On top of its already information-dense home screen, Garmin Connect has a slide-out menu that lets you see activity, health, performance stats, custom workouts, insights, and more. This is an overflow menu for things Garmin couldn’t fit in the bottom tab.

Garmin’s app displays more post-workout information, while Fitbit’s is geared toward beginners or people who want a simple overview of their daily activity. We’d suggest going with Garmin if you need every fitness metric available. Both ecosystems also have websites that display even more of your activity metrics than what’s provided in either app.

Dozens of third-party smartphone apps integrate with Fitbit’s app — including MyFitnessPal, MapMyRun, Weight Watchers, and more — so all your Fitbit data will automatically sync with your favorite health and fitness applications.

Garmin’s ecosystem also integrates with many popular third-party apps, and there are a fair amount of third-party apps available for download on Garmin’s watches and fitness trackers. These can be found in the Garmin Connect IQ app (yes, there’s an entirely different smartphone app just for downloading third-party apps).

Premium features

Fitbit offers a subscription service called Fitbit Premium, which runs for $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year. Membership provides access to guided workout programs, advanced health and fitness insights, advanced sleep tools, and additional content. You can sign up for a free trial of Fitbit Premium at the link below.

Garmin offers a lot of these things for free. Garmin Coach training plans help you train for a 5K, 10K, or half marathon with the help of professional runners. These come free with the purchase of many Garmin watches.

Fitbit vs Garmin: Which ecosystem is right for you?

So, which ecosystem is better? Unfortunately, there’s no definitive answer to the Fitbit vs Garmin debate. It all depends on the type of user you are and what you need from your wearable. Below are the winners we’d choose for each specific user category.

• Runners/triathletes: Garmin
• Cyclists: Garmin
• Swimmers: Garmin
• Golfers: Garmin
• Outdoor enthusiasts: Garmin
• Casual exercisers: Fitbit
• Users new to tracking: Fitbit
  
• Users interested in sleep tracking: Fitbit
• Users interested in basic overall wellness: Fitbit

It’s hard not to steer more casual users — the folks who want a better idea of their daily activity — towards Fitbit. The companion app is easier to understand, and for the most part, Fitbit devices are stellar activity trackers. The ecosystem doesn’t offer incredibly dense training or recovery data and won’t overwhelm anyone new to tracking.

That’s not to say Garmin should be counted out for more casual users, either. A few Garmin devices make great entry-level devices if you need a Fitbit alternative, but they can also be pricey. Garmin shines in its GPS watches. There’s something in Garmin’s lineup for all types of advanced users, and Garmin’s app gives you as much information — graphs, charts, you name it — as it possibly can after every workout. If you want to go all-in on fitness tracking and need those minute details, we’d suggest Garmin.

The Pixel Watch lineup, on the other hand, is a different animal. Google’s smartwatches aren’t without shortcomings (namely battery life), but the newest model is a promising device. For the most robust smartwatch experience plus Fitbit integration, the Pixel Watch 3 is your best bet. Its the best Wear OS watch available.

Whichever ecosystem you choose, we think you’ll be just fine. Both Fitbit and Garmin offer a wide range of devices that should have no problem suiting most people’s needs.