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archive ❌ Best of all Triathlon Watches in 2024

13 March 2021
the5krunner

Garmin Forerunner 965Which Is The Best Triathlon Watch for 2025?

 

The Best Triathlon Watch for April 2025 is a Garmin Forerunner 955; it’s the clear winner with every feature, and retailers can now discount it. The newer but more expensive Forerunner 965 muddied the waters, but, for me, the 965 is the one I bought for triathlon, duathlon & running this year, but only because it has a slightly larger and prettier screen but the same features.

More: Garmin 955 Deals HERE

Garmin 965 Deals Here

Updated 07Apr 2025

Yes, there are better value options like Forerunner 255  for specific needs like music, thin wrists, great aesthetics, lasting for a full Ironman distance race or supporting all your sports sensors. If the price is a significant constraint, much older watches like a Garmin Fenix 5S Plus or Forerunner 935 have the same core triathlon features as the new 955/965, selling at considerably lower prices. If you have tighter budget constraints and are intrigued by running with power, the Polar Pacer Pro or Coros Pace 3 will be more to your liking. Don’t buy an older, second-hand GPS watch; the battery will be significantly degraded.

Garmin Forerunner 955Stamina
955 Solar

Thus, there is a different Best Triathlon Watch for each kind of triathlete, and it’s NOT OBVIOUS which is the best triathlon watch for everyone. So, I’ll separately cover ALL TYPES of triathletes, and I’m sure you fit into one or more of those categories.

FORM Swim Goggles Specifications

A triathlon Watch has a single mode that seamlessly records a swim followed by a bike and a run, with appropriate data displayed for each.

Each category below includes a link to my detailed reviews of every single tri-watch, my recommendations, and the best prices from my partners in your country, like REI, Amazon, and Power Meter City.

I have trained a lot with ALL of these watches.

Garmin 935 vs Forerunner 965
Garmin 935 vs Forerunner 965

Best Overall Triathlon Watch – Which is the Winner?

All things considered, the best overall triathlon watch is the Garmin Forerunner 955. It can do almost everything tri-related and more besides.

Sure, it’s expensive, and perhaps an AMOLED screen and QuickFit bands might be desirable, but you can live without those. Rest assured that virtually EVERY triathlon-related feature and kind of connectivity are included in the price. There are no nasty subscriptions to worry about (yet!). To justify the price tag, there are also many smart features, including maps, contactless payments and music. Plus, it will see you through to the cut-off time of an Ironman.

Triathlon Feature examples: proper custom multisport mode, FE-C trainer support, ANT+/BLE power meter support, running dynamics, STRYD support, daily workout suggestions, 3rd party plan support, complex structured workout execution support, custom interval mode, sufficiently rugged lightweight shell and battery life, every possible data metric on display, every key Firstbeat physiology insight, training peaks compatible, zwift compatible, strava compatible, i.e. fully triathlon compatible 😉

 

Best Triathlon Watch

Coros Pace 3 specifications comparison featured

Best Budget Triathlon Watch

The Best Budget Triathlon Watch is the Coros Pace 3 at below $/£200

Sorry that you’ve never heard of it. You will be seriously amazed by this small-format, easy-to-read watch’s wealth of techy features and connectivity. It has many features on a super-lightweight watch, but its app could be improved.

 

Best Triathlon Watch Garmin 945 Sigma id.TRI Polar Vantage
Spartan Trainer, Stratos, 935 – no winners here, old-school

Buy: Coros Pace 3 here

Best Garmin Triathlon Watch

The absolute best Garmin Triathlon Watch is 2023’s Forerunner 965 as it has all the Fenix 8/Forerunner 955 features plus a pretty screen. The trade-off you make is for a higher cost and shorter battery life.

The FR965 and the Forerunner 955 have ALMOST EVERY CONCEIVABLE triathlon features and a good battery to get you through two KONAs. You can follow training plans, link to Training Peaks or STRAVA, connect to obscure Muscle Oxygen sensors, Bluetooth or ANT+ power meters, lots of Firstbeat Physiological insights, connected smartphone features galore, play music, and show you maps.

However, the much older Garmin Forerunner 935 still represented the best bang for your buck even in 2025; turn off a battery-eating feature or two for your Ironman race, and all will be fine. I sold my 945 and re-bought a 935, which I now use solely as a back pocket sports logger alongside my FR965 on my primary wrist, but I prefer my Apple Watch for more general smart usage (non-sports). (Must Read: Apple Watch Ultra 2 – Pointless – A Critical Review)

Archive ❌ Best Of All Triathlon Watches In 2024

Garmin Forerunner 965 ❌ all the cr*p bits ❌ did I just waste my money? This review says…maybe. But it remains my go to.

Best Triathlon Watch – by Price Band

Here are lists of the best for each price category.

  • ‘Luxury’ Watch – MARQ ATHLETE 2 – needs updating; not recommended now for this category.
  • Premium Price – Garmin Fenix 8
  • Mid-Price – Garmin Forerunner 955 (965 adds a prettier screen), Suunto Race S is a fantastic value alternative.
  • Low-Price – Best Coros Pace 3: The Amazfit T-Rex 3 is a decent, cheap tri watch with many smart features – like music support, but its onboard sensors need improvement.

Archive ❌ Best Of All Triathlon Watches In 2024

 

Best Triathlon Watch Garmin Enduro
Off-road multisport options: Enduro, Vertix & Suunto 9

Best Polar Triathlon Watch

The Polar Vantage V3 has advanced structured workouts that support running power; it’s the best Polar triathlon watch. Some athletes would trust its physiology feedback more than a Garmin, but I love the V3 for the quality of the case construction, vivid AMOLED screen and the overall aesthetic appeal of the design. The cheaper Polar Vantage M3 is almost as feature-full but adds a degree of race-worthiness with its thin and lightweight construction; I’ve used these for racing. Polar’s FLOW platform is good; along with my partner, I prefer how it presents and summarises our activity data.

MY best Polar Triathlon Watch is the lighter Vantage M3.

Best Triathlon Watch Garmin 945 Sigma id.TRI Polar Vantage

 

Best Triathlon Watch Polar Vantage
V2 Shown…it’s a nice picture!

Best Suunto Triathlon Watch

Suunto RACE S is an excellent triathlon watch. It looks beautiful and has a fantastic AMOLED touchscreen. It has good GPS, clever battery life management and, like Garmin, a whole host of 3rd party apps that include STRAVA Relative Effort, Training Peaks integration and unique automatic effort lap modes (hill, loop, sprint). Suunto watches are much easier to use than Garmin with more streamlined menus; if you want a new, free feature, you download it – unlike Garmin, which comes pre-installed with many features you’ll never want or use. The Suunto app is good, too – whereas Garmin will likely continue to add features behind its paywall.

The best Suunto Triathlon Watch is the Suunto RACE S.

Archive ❌ Best Of All Triathlon Watches In 2024
Links to partners in your country: some offer discounts – especially with the loyalty schemes linked to from here with REI and Amazon

Suunto RACE running

Best Triathlon Watch – Which has the best optical Heart Rate?

The jury is still out on this due to the vagaries of oHR accuracy and how it varies from person to person and according to the environment & sport.

You will be surprised to know that the oHR sensor in the Apple Watch is the best I have experienced, followed closely by the Garmin Forerunner 965.  I can’t trust any vendor to get this tech right for everyone; even Apple has days off. Get a chest strap!

The Best optical Heart Rate Monitor in a Triathlon Watch is the Apple Watch.

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apple watch ultra 2 map footpath app

Best Multisport Watch – for Thin Wrists

See next section

Apologies for the assumption that only women have thin wrists…I HAVE THIN WRISTS

Best Triathlon Watch – for Women

 

The best female triathlon watch is the Suunto Race S. Perhaps consider the Garmin Forerunner 745, an older Forerunner 945 packed into a smaller case. Garmin also support features for women like menstrual cycle tracking and includes other features like music support and safety alerting. The 945/955/965 have those same female-specific features. Remember, you can now consider a smaller Apple Watch Series 8 41mm, which also has a triathlon mode.

The Best Triathlon Watch for Thin Wrists is the suunto Race S BUT if you also want music and a more robust case then go for the Garmin Fenix 8S.

Option: Consider the Garmin Forerunner 255s, a cheaper, small-format triathlon watch with a music option.

Suunto Race S new optical HR

 

 

Archive ❌ Best Of All Triathlon Watches In 2024

Garmin Forerunner 745
745 vs 945…same, huh?

Best Triathlon Watch – for Techiness & Features

The geeky amongst you (like me!) will buy the Garmin Forerunner 965 or, similarly, any of the Garmin Fenix 8 ranges. The techiness you will love will lie in the connectivity with any sensor, an excellent range of 3rd party CIQ apps/data fields and full integration to all the key 3rd party data platforms.

Archive ❌ Best Of All Triathlon Watches In 2024

 

Which is the Best Triathlon for Ironman

Simply put, the battery has to last until the end of the race, and the watch will probably also need to support your bike power meter, perhaps STRYD. Do NOT buy an Apple Watch Ultra unless you want to use a battery save mode – it is NOT an Ultra-capable product! With the old 935’s battery life fading as it ages, the best option is the uber-batteried Forerunner 955 Solar (not the 965). Naturally, it will support all the ANT+/BLE sensors you could dream of, deliver infeasibly large amounts of Firstbeat insights, and link to your coach via Training Peaks. Do you want the last lap normalized power on display? You got it. Do you want to know the wind direction or temperature? You got it. Do you want an app store full of Garmin sporty goodness? Yep…you got that too. You’ve got it all.

The Best Triathlon Watch for Ironman is the Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar

Archive ❌ Best Of All Triathlon Watches In 2024

Polar Vantage V2 Specifications
Polar Vantage V2

Best Multisport Watch for Beginners-with-intent

The best triathlon watch for beginners is “The Practice” or “The Training“; your current waterproof watch will be fine.

Do you want to spend some money? Oh, alright then. In 2025, this one is often at a stupidly low price of £/$/Eu99 – go for the Wahoo ELEMNT Rival; it’s EASY to use with all the unnecessary configuration stuff squirrelled away onto the excellent app; this makes the watch itself simple to use, unlike a Garmin whose watch menus are labyrinthine in complexity. As time passes, you will discover more clever triathlon features, e.g., automating transitions or working with any other Wahoo equipment you own. Many Garmin owners begrudge their watches in some way, but you will find that most Wahoo owners advocate for their watches and bike computers. There is a reason for that…the Rival looks very much like a sturdy Garmin Fenix with bits of titanium prettiness thrown in for ruggedness, and it should be a good future-proof solution as your interest in the sport develops.

The Best Triathlon Watch for Beginners is the Wahoo ELEMNT Rival, it does all you will ever NEED anyway. It’s good for life!

Other options are the excellent Polar Vantage M3 and the now-discounted Garmin Forerunner 255 (two five five).

 

Archive ❌ Best Of All Triathlon Watches In 2024
Shop Wahoo – Choice of Retailer Partners

buy Wahoo Elemnt RIVAL specifications

Best Triathlon Watch – with Maps

The availability of maps on the Forerunner 965 makes the 965 the winner in this category.

However, now the competition is starting to up their game. Apple Watch has good maps, as does Polar Vantage V3 and Suunto RACE.

A warning: a small watch format is not great for viewing maps and following routes when cycling. I recommend thinking more closely about your navigational needs and considering a dedicated bike computer. If you must get a map on your wrist, then perhaps consider the Fenix 8 51mm, which has a slightly larger screen area for that map and all the same features, but it is a larger format watch.

Archive ❌ Best Of All Triathlon Watches In 2024

 

Best Multisport Watch – for the Future

Garmin released the Forerunner 965 in 2023, which will be the leading tri-watch until replaced by the Forerunner 975 in 2025. If you want to wait, there might be a smaller version later in the year.

Apple’s Watch Series 10 (2024) might offer some interesting options for the casual triathlete, and subsequent iterations will likely be very similar. I don’t expect apple’s triathlon software features to change much over the next few years.

Polar has released its lower-end model (Vantage M3) and a new, premium Vantage 3, which won’t be replaced until 2026/7.

Suunto’s direction of travel is hard to predict. Its RACE watch is going to be hard for the company to beat. If anything, I expect they will release much more expensive watches than this one over the next year or so.

 

Archive ❌ Best Of All Triathlon Watches In 2024

Jabra Elite Active 75t | Jabra Elite 75t

Best Triathlon Watch – with Music

You can’t listen to music while you race, but can when training. During training, only Garmin seemed to have music implemented well. It can support multiple online music providers alongside triathlon functionality. The 955 is the winner of the best triathlon watch with music. Still, you can equally consider the  Fenix 8 (or Forerunner 265/255s Music) as all Garmin’s music-enabled watches support podcasts, on-watch, MP3 playback, Deezer, Spotify and Amazon Music. I doubt Apple Music will be added to Garmin. Coros now also boasts offline (non-streamed) music support, but I doubt onboard music will come to either Polar or Suunto for years…if ever.

The Best Triathlon Watch with Music AGAIN is the Garmin Forerunner 955 (or 755 or 255 Music).

The Polar Vantage V3 can control music on your phone and the latest Coros watches can store and play MP3 music files.

Archive ❌ Best Of All Triathlon Watches In 2024

Best Multisport Watch – All terrains, other disciplines

Multisports can mean much more than simply the triathlon disciplines. If you start introducing adventure multisport races, you might need support for custom multisport profiles to include Kayaking, canoeing, MTB riding, trail running, and more. Only Garmin can do that properly. Then, suppose you are looking for the rugged construction and a battery life that is verging on limitless. In that case, you are again directed back to Garmin, specifically the Garmin Enduro, complete with solar charging. The Enduro is a pro trail watch that just so happens to have all the Garmin multisport features. It can follow breadcrumb trails but does NOT otherwise have onboard maps.

HYROX adds further complexity when looking at multi-discipline watches. Garmin supports this via the excellent, independent ROXSPORT app, whereas Amazfit has a dedicated HYROX sports profile.

 

 

Archive ❌ Best Of All Triathlon Watches In 2024

Garmin Enduro
Garmin Enduro

 

buy Wahoo Elemnt RIVAL specifications
Wahoo Elemnt RIVAL

Detailed Review Links & Buy Links

Still not convinced? I’ve skirted over many issues in this ‘best of’ post. However, if you have a few hours to spare, you can read all the detailed content  I’ve written that backs these recommendations and buy at the prices at your local retailer (the link goes to retailers in your country – about 10 retailers in the USA including the discounters)

Take Out – Best Triathlon Watches 2025

2025 will likely see a new Garmin Forerunner 975 (May?), Fenix 8 Pro/Fenix 8 microLED (Q3.2025), and a new Apple Watch Ultra 3/Watch 11 (Q3.2025).

Suunto might release a new triathlon watch, but I doubt Polar or Coros will.

So, if you want the latest, greatest triathlon tech, you know what to expect. Otherwise, the watches covered in this guide all easily cover the basic needs of triathletes.

Why buy?

  • Garmin – open ecosystem, maximal connectivity, highest prices,
  • Apple – ease of use, iOS smart feature integration
  • Coros – lots of features, decent value
  • Suunto – great looks, 3rd party app store and a good and evolving ecosystem
  • Polar – Great core pro features and ease of use
  • Other brands – generally cheaper, with poor ecosystems and poor accuracy but good features.
  • Wahoo – you want something to match your Wahoo bike computer for the odd bit of running and triathlon.

 

 

 

Last Updated on 27 January 2026 by the5krunner

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9 thoughts on “archive ❌ Best of all Triathlon Watches in 2024”

  1. Hey, thanks a lot for a great breakdown, but why Fenix 6S Pro is better option for women if they like music over FR745? They both have music and battery life is exactly the same for both of them.
    (I agree with sturdiness part)

    1. I’d choose F6SPro (61g) if you want full maps, FR745 (52g) if you want lighter weight. Otherwise feature set is nearly identical. I find lighter weight equals better comfort, and they are all impressively durable.

  2. Hi, great overview as usual! Still in the presented taxonomy the category “best for running/cycling with power” is not there: which one would be the winner? (A better place to post this would have been in the “2021-best-running-watch…” article, but it seems not possible to post comments there…which watch would win in the “best for running with Stryd” category?)

    1. that’s a good question.
      it’s of interest to me but i think it’s fairly niche. I think i covered it in my best running watch
      anyway, to answer your question.
      garmin – non-native power is a massive downside
      Suunto – don’t have enough power features
      coros is very good, perhaps it could be argued to be the best. but the app lets it down for me.
      Wahoo – need to add structured power workouts then I’ll think about it some more.
      so
      Polar wins. the only downside for me with polar and running power is that if your stryd battery runs out then you will have some inflated on-the-wrist power stats to deal with. sounds minor but it annoys me, I have asked them for the ability to be able to disable wrist-power. then there’s the issue of getting the data out of flow in just the way i want it. I would use polar devices MUCH more if they natively supported dropbox. I’ve asked for that too.
      Apple watch is pretty cool. but you’re using the stryd app (other apps work with stryd data too). i cant say this wins if I’ve just criticised garmin for non-native power.

      basically: in 99% of cases people have the watch before they buy the stryd so it’s a moot recommendation.

  3. Hello,
    EIther you’ve leaked a future fw update or you’ve fumbled, but the Suunto9 does NOT have Strava live segments 🙂
    Thanks for the overview of all the key actors.
    You should emphasize a bit more on the “(features-list) size does not matter” aspect for these watches 🙂

  4. Hi guys. I am willing to purchase a new triathlon watch. Music storage is a must.
    Should I go for the 945 or wait a few months for a new release from Garmin or Suunto?

Comments are closed.