Fitbit vs Garmin: Which One’s Better for Fitness?

When it comes to fitness trackers, two names have dominated the conversation for years: Fitbit and Garmin. Whether you’re aiming to hit 10,000 steps a day, train for a marathon, or just keep an eye on your heart rate, chances are you’ve considered one of these brands.

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But in 2025, the line between fitness tracker and smartwatch has blurred, and the question isn’t just “Which one counts steps better?” anymore. It’s about training features, health insights, battery life, apps, and how well your watch fits into your everyday life.

So, which brand wins when it comes to fitness first wearables: Fitbit or Garmin? Let’s break it down.

Overview: What Do Fitbit and Garmin Actually Offer?

Fitbit: Wellness Meets Simplicity

Fitbit, now under Google's wing, has evolved from basic step counters into health focused smartwatches and trackers. Their products are centred around accessibility, lifestyle integration, and user friendly health tools.

Key 2025 models include:

• Fitbit Charge 7

• Fitbit Sense 3

• Fitbit Versa 5

Their strength lies in sleep tracking, stress management, daily readiness scores, and a sleek, minimal aesthetic that fits into daily life with ease.

Garmin: Built for Performance

Garmin’s reputation is rooted in precision, durability, and a deep commitment to serious athletes. Their devices pack in detailed metrics and are ideal for anyone pushing for performance gains.

Top 2025 models include:

• Garmin Forerunner 165 / 965

• Garmin Venu 3

• Garmin Fenix 8 / Epix 3

From multi band GPS to advanced running metrics, Garmin is all about training smarter, not just harder.

Round 1: Fitness and Workout Tracking

Fitbit

Fitbit automatically detects common workouts like walking, cycling, and swimming. You’ll get helpful stats like heart rate zones, steps, calories, and Active Zone Minutes. It’s perfect for casual workouts and everyday activity tracking.

Garmin

Garmin is hands down the choice for data driven athletes. You get everything from stride length and cadence to training load and VO₂ max. It supports hundreds of sport modes and even provides recovery advice based on your sessions.

Winner: Garmin

If you're doing more than the occasional jog or spin class, Garmin gives you the edge.

Round 2: Health and Wellness Tracking

Fitbit

This is Fitbit’s strong suit. Its Sleep Score, Stress Management tools, Daily Readiness Score, and skin temperature tracking make it a wellness powerhouse. Fitbit Premium adds mindfulness sessions and personalised health reports.

Garmin

Garmin offers health tracking too, like Body Battery, sleep stage monitoring, respiration rate, and stress tracking, but it leans more analytical and less holistic in how it’s presented.

Winner: Fitbit

If you're looking for whole body wellbeing, Fitbit makes the experience more engaging and easier to understand.

Round 3: Design and Comfort

Fitbit

Fitbit devices are slim, stylish, and comfortable for all day wear. They easily blend into both fitness and fashion worlds, with interchangeable straps and minimalist screens.

Garmin

Garmin tends to go bold. Most models are chunkier and sportier, though the Venu range is trying to compete on the style front with AMOLED displays and sleeker builds.

Winner: Fitbit

If you care about how your fitness tracker looks with your outfit, Fitbit is the clear choice.

Round 4: Battery Life

Fitbit

Most Fitbit devices last around 5 to 7 days on a charge, depending on usage. The newer models have slightly improved power efficiency, but they’re still designed with regular charging in mind.

Garmin

Garmin dominates battery life. Devices like the Fenix 8 offer up to 40+ days in smartwatch mode (with solar charging), and even standard models like the Forerunner 165 go well beyond a week.

Winner: Garmin

If you want to track without constantly reaching for a charger, Garmin is the champ.

Round 5: App Experience and Ecosystem

Fitbit

The Fitbit app is intuitive, clean, and friendly for beginners. It visualises your data in clear charts and makes wellness insights digestible. Fitbit Premium unlocks extra features like deeper sleep analysis, guided workouts, and wellness reports.

Garmin

Garmin Connect is more detailed and highly customisable, offering granular data, trend analysis, and performance planning. But it's not always beginner friendly, there’s a learning curve.

Winner: Tie

Choose Fitbit if you want ease of use; go with Garmin if you love deep dive data.

Round 6: Smartwatch Features

Fitbit

The newer Fitbit Sense and Versa models offer features like Google Wallet, Google Maps, phone notifications, voice replies (Android only), and even smart assistant integration. It’s inching toward full smartwatch status.

Garmin

Garmin devices support notifications, Garmin Pay, offline Spotify playlists, and even downloadable maps on higher end models, but smart features are secondary to fitness tracking.

Winner: Fitbit

For day to day convenience, Fitbit has the smarter edge.

Final Verdict: So, Which One’s Actually Better?

Here’s the truth: neither is strictly “better”; it all depends on your priorities.

If you're new to fitness, or more focused on wellbeing, mindfulness, and easy to read health insights, Fitbit is your go to. It’s approachable, polished, and built for all day wear with smart features to match.

But if you're chasing PBs, training for races, or obsessed with improving performance, then Garmin is the more powerful tool. It tracks more, lasts longer, and provides serious insights for serious athletes.

Battery life king? Garmin.

Wellness wizard? Fitbit.

Data nerd? Garmin.

Style lover? Fitbit.

Need simplicity? Fitbit.

Want in-depth custom workouts? Garmin.

Choose the one that fits your goals, your lifestyle, and your wrist.

Final Thoughts: Fitness Has Never Been So Personal

One of the best things about wearable tech in 2025 is how personal it’s become. You don’t have to be an elite athlete to benefit from fitness insights, nor do you have to settle for basic stats if you're pushing your limits every day.

Whether you're crushing a 10K, managing your stress better, or just trying to close those rings every evening, both Fitbit and Garmin are incredible tools to help you move more, train smarter, and feel better.

So don’t overthink it, just find the one that motivates you to get moving.

— Charles Cooper, Wearables & Fitness Tech | The Tech Advisor