The 9 Best Smart Watches for Cycling (2024)

I’ve tested a lot of sports watches, including just about every well known model from the leading brands. I wore them on rides over road and trail, put a variety of their fitness tracking functions through their paces, compared sleep and recovery apps, and generally tried out pretty much everything they could do, many for weeks or even months at a time.

While cycling, I specifically looked at factors like ride and fitness tracking, battery life, screen visibility, and overall design. I also reviewed selections from past versions of this story, which were tested and picked by the Bicycling test team, as well as reviews from experts from other top publications, and customer reviews from retailers like Amazon.

The strong GPS performance and fitness tracking in Garmin’s outdoor watches make it one of my favorite brands across the board, but the fenix 7X Pro Solar stands out among its many offerings. While many brands make great smartwatches, Garmin in particular is known for its GPS accuracy as well as the accuracy of its fitness tracking. For example, I’ve personally tested Garmin’s step tracking step-for-step against the latest Fitbit platform and found the former to be almost dead-on, while the latter was far from it.

Solar charging, which tops off your battery in direct sunlight, is a perfect fit for cyclists. Worn in the sun, the watch can run for over three weeks on a single charge. Turning on GPS drops that down to just over three days, or 57 hours if you stay inside.

Its fitness tracking—whether you’re cycling, running, or training with one of the dozens of supported activities—is reliably accurate, as is the dual-frequency GPS. The maps are bright and clear. There’s even a built-in flashlight.

Throw in some solid core apps –music controls, Google Pay, etc, and you’re looking at a very, very good cycling watch.

Key Specs

Multi-sport watches can get expensive, but the Amazfit Bip 5 puts a surprising amount of fitness functionality into a reliable, sub-$100 package. With 120 sport modes—including cycling, of course—it provides an array of key metrics, and supports third-party apps cyclists prefer, including Strava.

Unsurprisingly, its functionality beyond those core fitness-tracking tools is limited. You can take calls via Bluetooth, but it lacks the robust feature-set of more expensive watches.

One thing to keep in mind: While I found it to be fairly consistent, some users have reported having issues with inconsistent tracking. Your mileage may vary, but this is far and away the cheapest cycling watch out there that I’d actually use day-to-day.

Key Specs

The Polar Vantage V3 is a great multi-sport watch, but it's especially helpful for cyclists who want more ride-specific data. Its distinctive “Fuel Wise” function monitors your training, and notifies you when to eat or drink to keep your energy up.

When paired with a power meter, the “cycling performance test” feature can show you how much power you can churn out over the course of an hour. It can also sync with Kamoot for navigation, as well as Strava and other apps for additional support. You can read it all on the V3’s big beautiful AMOLED display, which makes it easier to read crowded screens with multiple stats.

My one complaint is in the battery life department–it’s short compared to that of similar watches from Garmin and others–but you’ll have more than enough juice for daily ride, making it a small caveat on an otherwise stellar cycling companion.

Key Specs

The Garmin Venu 3 delivers outstanding smart and fitness functionality. Garmin’s smaller lifestyle watch delivers the core fundamentals we expect from the brand, including great health and fitness tracking with lots of functions and metrics, an accurate GPS, and a sleep coach with increasingly accurate tracking and sleep insights. Crucially, it lacks maps, which is a shame because they would look excellent on the watch’s 454 x 454 pixel AMOLED display.

Compared to other Garmins, the Venu 3’s apps are a little more intuitive for day-to-day life functions like calls, payments, and music. It also has a few more distinctive features like a “jet lag advisor,” which alerts you when you should rest, sleep, eat, hydrate, and perform other activities to ease travel strain..

As with most lifestyle watches, the battery situation could be better. Its 14-day lifespan is great, but the dropoff to just 26 hours at best with GPS running is steeper than I’d like. Still, this is a gorgeous balance between performance features and casual style.

Key Specs

The Garmin Instinct 2 is a top-flight adventure watch, but the upgrades in the Instinct 2X Solar really take it over the top. For just a little more than the base model, you get a bigger, more rugged model made for rugged backcountry mountain biking and double the battery life. Garmin’s superior GPS accuracy and diverse fitness features ensure you get a stellar core experience.

There are some weak spots: The maps functionality is basic, and it’s more durable exterior means extra weight and bulk. Overall, though, you’re getting strong functionality and an even stronger, wear-ready watch.

Key Specs

When you absolutely, positively must have the longest battery life possible, you need the Coros Vertix 2. This all-around adventure watch offers a slew of accurate cycling and fitness tracking options, and a battery that lasts up to two months of standard use. That drops to six days when you turn GPS on, but that’s still enough to get you through a short bikepacking trip without charging.

It also features Coros’ UltraMax GPS setting, which allows you to stretch out the watch’s battery life while using GPS, in exchange for a slight loss of tracking accuracy. Simply put, no smart watch will last longer.

Key Specs

With the Forerunner 965, Garmin again delivers outstandingly precise tracking, a vast array of fitness metrics, and a solid suite of smart functions, as well as a bright and colorful AMOLED display that’s perfect for checking routes. The built-in maps are as clear as can be, and tracking is extremely precise thanks to multi-band GPS.

The one place it really falls short is battery life, especially while you’re using GPS. It will last up to 31 hours, which will get you through a full-day’s ride, but not much more. Accepting that, the Forerunner 965 is impressive in every other way.

Key Specs

The Apple Watch 9 delivers the core fitness, cycling, and lifestyle functions we look for in a smart watch, but its best and most distinctive features revolve around safety. With crash and fall detection, a medical info display mode, and the ability to automatically call emergency services if it detects a sudden crash or fall, it’s a great watch if you have safety concerns while on the road or trail.

In classic Apple fashion, the Apple Watch 9 has a number of features that improve your experience when paired with an iPhone. iPhone 14 and iPhone 15, for example, can contact emergency services even when you don’t have cell reception.

Get back to the trailhead only to find that your battery is dead? It will hail AAA via satellite and send them to your location. Compared to the other options out there, the battery life is outright terrible, but its distinctive feature-set makes it a worthy choice all the same.

Key Specs

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is a fantastic luxury sports watch by nearly every consideration. It has a sophisticated looking design and stunning display. Its smart features are expansive, but Apple’s WatchOS makes even complicated features easy and intuitive.

In terms of fitness, it tracks above and beyond the metrics that most cyclists would want along with a range of other daily health information, all of which can be easily monitored via Apple’s excellent app.

Like the standard Apple Watch, however, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 has an achilles’ heel in its extremely short battery life. A scant 12 hours of GPS tracking should be enough for most rides, but it’s a weak showing compared to the flagship watches from other brands. If you don’t mind daily charging though, it is an undeniably luxurious, feature-rich experience.

Key Specs

What metrics can I track with my cycling watch?

Most multi-sport watches feature a cycling-specific workout mode that will track the relevant metrics you need, including ride distance, speed, calories burned, time, and elevation. Some watches offer additional third-party maps that may help you track your route.

On the health side, only some smart watches track your blood-oxygen level during exercise, or VO2 Max, which is a useful way to track your overall cardiovascular fitness.

What is the difference between Gorilla Glass and sapphire watch glass?

The glass or crystal face on a watch can be made from a range of materials, but these days the big contenders are Gorilla Glass and sapphire. Sapphire is more durable and scratch-resistant but it also tends to be significantly more expensive. Gorilla Glass is still highly durable, if more susceptible to scratching.

Should I use my cycling watch to track my heart rate?

Most smart watches provide a fairly accurate reading of your heart rate. It’s certainly good enough for most everyday fitness buffs and amateur athletes. That said, if you’re in training or need to track your heart rate for medical purposes, pairing your smart watch with a chest-strap or armband-based heart rate monitor will allow you to track yourself more accurately.