The Best Running Watches Under $250

The Suunto Run is my pick for the best affordable running watch. It has dual-band GPS, unlike the Forerunner 165. It has an AMOLED screen and can control the music playing on your phone, unlike the Coros Pace 3. When I tested it for my review, I had a hard time finding anything I didn’t like about it.

Functionally, it’s great. Aesthetically, I think it’s cute. (It also comes in black, if lime green isn’t your style.) It reads your splits in kilometers and doesn’t have many watch faces to choose from, so those are perhaps the only downsides.

Coros’s Pace 4 watch has an AMOLED screen, dual-band GPS, and I’d say it’s a pretty even match for the Suunto Run. The Pace 4 can’t control music playing on your phone, which is the only reason I didn’t give it the “best overall” crown. But it does have two great features that none of the other watches on this list has: voice pins and a voice training log.

A “voice pin” is a point you can save on a map by recording a short voice message while you run. The Pace 4 introduced a special “action button” that you can program to trigger this, and I use it all the time on trail runs to mark water sources, trail forks, and other places I might like to find again. The “voice training log” is an optional feature that you can use to record some brief notes directly from the watch after each run. The Coros app transcribes these into written notes that are attached to the workout. I have more on both these features in my review of the Pace 4.

Coros makes watches that stand up to Garmins feature-wise, but at much lower price points. The Pace 3 is an entry-level running watch that does more than the Garmin Forerunner 165, and is probably on par with a Forerunner 255 or 265. In my review I found it to be a really solid running watch, and I even traded my Garmin for a Coros for a month this summer, with mostly positive results. The Pace 3 recently dropped in price to just $199, making it an even better deal than it was at the original price of $229.

The Pace 3 does have a MIP (memory in pixel) screen though, which is both a plus and a minus. The downside is that it’s an older screen tech that doesn’t always look as bright or sharp. But the upside is that it can have an always-on display without eating into your battery life, which is really handy. MIP displays also look great in sunlight. I have a full breakdown of the pros and cons here.

Ultimately this is another great watch. It has dual-band GPS, and can play onboard MP3 files (but can’t control the music that’s playing on your phone). Coros also has a great platform called EvoLab for analyzing your running data.

Garmin’s Forerunner 255 is an older watch, but Garmins age really well. I would not hesitate to buy this watch new if you want a full-featured Garmin watch with extras like training status and the ability to link a Bluetooth power meter for cycling. The newer Garmin 165 (also on my list) doesn’t have these features. The 255 is basically a 265 (which I love) with an older display type.

I’ve written before about why the 255 is a good buy, even now that it’s a few years old. The only real downside is that it has a MIP screen—but a lot of people prefer the MIP screen, so that’s not necessarily a problem. There’s also a big plus to it being an older watch: it’s always on sale, and often available even cheaper if you get it refurbished.

The 255 may be the best value for your dollar on this whole list, depending on what the prices look like from day to day. That variation is unpredictable. As I write this, I’m seeing prices around $279, but earlier this year I bought a refurbished 255 for around $180.

Garmin’s Forerunner line of running watches has always been popular. I love my 265S, and had a great time reviewing the 570. (Both of those are outside of our $250 limit—see this explainer for how to read the model numbers.) The 165 is an entry-level model with an AMOLED screen and all the core running features discussed above. Our resident marathoner Meredith Dietz reviewed it here, and even raced with it.

If you feel like the watch you buy will be your only running or fitness watch, I’d probably skip this Garmin and get the Suunto or Coros instead, as each has an extra feature or two the 165 doesn’t. But if you can see yourself in the Garmin ecosystem going forward—or if you previously owned a Garmin—it may be worth settling in with that brand, especially if your running friends all use Garmins, as you can Garmin Share your workouts and routes. So I’m going to count the Garmin ecosystem as a plus here.

The 165 is missing some of the features that nicer Garmins have. It can’t connect to a power meter on a bike, for example, and it doesn’t have dual-band GPS. (That said, its single-band performance is still pretty darn good.) Be aware that there are two versions of the 165. The one that made this under-$250 list can’t store or play music files, but there’s a Forerunner 165 Music that can. It costs an extra $50.

As an honorable mention, the Garmin 255 is an older but nicer watch (it has a MIP screen) that sometimes dips below our $250 threshold during sales or if you count refurbished models.