Best Running Watches with Music in 2021

12 Best Running Watches with Music

If you like to train without your mobile and you are looking for a smartwatch that can store and play music either from internal memory or from an online service, you have come to the right place. We have enlisted the 12 best running watches with music that have full support for music and, in some cases, even incorporate a speaker.

To make the list even more interesting, we will limit ourselves only to sports watches for running that have music storage and support for another music platform. In the end, you will also find some recommendations so that you can choose the most suitable smartwatch according to your needs.

12 Best Running Smartwatches with Music

Fitbit Versa 3

Best Running Watches with Music 2022

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The Fitbit Versa 3 is one of the latest and most advanced smartwatches of the brand, being also one that is characterized in the market for being one of the most complete, in terms of features and functions, and one that is available as one of the best activity and sports monitors that an athlete or sportsperson can wear on their wrist, as it is a smartwatch that comes with integrated GPS and numerous modes that are extremely useful for tracking and tracking activity.

This wearable, although it does not have an internal memory dedicated to music storage, it does come with a music playback control function, so it is also ideal for running or doing any other exercise while your favorite song is playing.

Connects with Android or iOS smartphone via Bluetooth 5.0. The smartwatch also offers an average autonomy of 6 days and, if that were not enough, it comes with Google Assistant.

On the other hand, concerning other of its characteristics and main technical specifications, the Fitbit Versa 3 has an AMOLED technology screen that has a diagonal of 1.58 inches and produces a resolution of 336 x 336 pixels, NFC connectivity for contactless payments with Fitbit Pay, Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n, a heart rate monitor, a relative SpO2 sensor for measuring oxygen in the blood, 50-meter water resistance (5 ATM) and functions such as a step counter, distance traveled, monitors, sleep quality and calories burned, among others.


Apple Watch Series 6

Best Running Watch with Music

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In this compilation, the most popular and sold smartwatch in the world cannot be conspicuous by its absence, which is the Apple Watch, the one that is now presented under the Series 6 version, the latest and most advanced version of the Cupertino firm to date.

And this smartwatch, which comes with integrated GPS, is also one of the ones with the most internal storage space for music, but not only for this but also for apps and files of all kinds.

We are talking about an internal memory of 32 GB with which you can store thousands of songs to give hard to running or any other activity or sport, while you get location metrics and distance measurement and more thanks to the integrated GPS and other sensors. It also has the company’s music service, which is Apple Music.

For activity and sports tracking there are many options for obtaining both basic and advanced metrics that include the count of calories consumed, distance traveled, quality of sleep, steps taken, and more. You can monitor sports such as open and closed-water swimming, cycling, and outdoor leisure exercises.

With the Apple Watch Series 6, we also get many of today’s most advanced features and functions, such as an ECG monitor for heart rate measurement and abnormality detection such as atrial fibrillation. We also get numerous connectivity options such as NFC for payments with Apple Pay, 4G LTE connectivity, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth low consumption.

On the other hand, it has a 1.78-inch OLED retina screen, an average autonomy that can reach a day of use, water resistance of 50 meters (5 ATM), a fall detection function, emergency calls, and more.


TicWatch Pro 3

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The TicWatch 3 Pro is another great smartwatch that we have decided to include in this compilation post because it is another great model in offers independent GPS connectivity and internal music storage space, as well as having functions dedicated to monitoring activity, health, and sports.

This smartwatch, to begin with, has an internal memory of 8 GB that allows you to save hundreds of songs. But that is not all; it is also used to store apps, images, documents, and files of all kinds. In turn, it has a playback control function and is compatible with Spotify, one of the most popular and used music services in the world.

The TicWatch Pro 3, as we said, also has an integrated GPS module, so it is capable of offering quite accurate distance metrics and position calculation, both for running and for other sports and activities that include swimming and cycling. . It is, therefore, a fairly complete wrist tool for sportsmen and athletes.

It also comes with a heart rate monitor, blood oxygen level sensor, barometer, gyroscope, and accelerometer. The other thing is that it has Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity, NFC for contactless payments through Google Pay, and a 1.39-inch double screen that has a main AMOLED panel and a monochrome one for battery saving, with which it can reach maximum autonomy 45 days.

Finally, it is a smartwatch with a Wear OS operating system, it comes with Google Assistant and has IP68 grade water resistance.


Fitbit Sense

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This is currently the most advanced GPS smartwatch in the Fitbit catalog, even above the well-known Fitbit Versa 3 that we have described above, the one with which it shares a practically identical design. The Fitbit Sense is on the market as a smartwatch with an integrated GPS module that does not need a smartphone to work for measuring and tracking activities and sports such as running and hiking, among others.

It can provide health, fitness, and sports data that, in addition to running, include cycling and swimming. In turn, it provides information on steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, and steps taken. This wearable does not dispense with music playback control, but it does dispense with internal storage for it. However, it comes with a pre-installed Spotify app.

On the other hand, this smartwatch has a 1.58-inch diagonal AMOLED color and touch screen in a square format, connectivity options that include Bluetooth 5.0, NFC for payments with Fitbit Pay, Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n and GLONASS, and sensors such as a 3-axis accelerometer, gyroscope, ECG monitor, pulse oximeter for measuring the level of oxygen in the blood, ambient light, altimeter, and an EDA sensor for measuring the user’s stress level. The autonomy of this smartwatch is about 6 days on average and there is a water resistance of 50 meters.


Wear OS

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There are a handful of watches running Wear OS right now, and they all support music playback. There is a lot of variety and each smartwatch model could have different functionalities. However, thanks to the fact that Spotify and other music services are available through apps for this OS, you can benefit from the playback of playlists and songs from any Wear OS watch.

Wear OS can cause some trouble when it comes to syncing music. The best tool we know of to listen to music on a smartwatch with this operating system without too many complications is Google Play Music. Although it is a paid platform, the free version will work without problems with playing your music.

If you want to access the entire Google Play library, you will have to become a subscriber, which will give you access to more than 35 million songs and the ability to stream them from your smartwatch.

Now, it should be noted that gadgets with Wear OS are not the best watches to monitor running or other sports. We would say that one of the best, when it comes to sports functionality, is the already-described TicWatch Pro 3.

It brings a good optical sensor for the heart rate and a fairly accurate GPS sensor, as well as an app with a multitude of metrics, in addition to coming with internal storage space for music, as we had already highlighted.

As a cheaper alternative, we can mention the Ticwatch S and Ticwatch E, which also have Wear OS and support for storage and music playback. The only downsides to these Chinese smartwatches could be found in their hardware and the precision of their sensors. If you are going to use it for training occasionally then they might be good options, although if you need a more advanced GPS music watch you should take a look at other options on our list.


Garmin Forerunner 645 Music

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It is one of the best Garmin watches for running. Besides, it is the first of the company to have support for music storage and playback. The 645 Music has a huge number of running-specific features, although its GPS sensor and heart rate meter do not provide the same accuracy as other sports watches from the company.

However, it is still an excellent smartwatch to monitor races and listen to music at the same time. The Forerunner 645 Music will give you the ability to transfer your own songs from your computer to its internal memory. Besides, it has support for the Deezer and iHeart Radio music platforms.


Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music

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The Vivoactive 3 Music was introduced in June 2018 and is Garmin’s second smartwatch with comprehensive music support and the Garmin Pay payment system. The Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music has the same activity monitoring capabilities as the base model without music, so it has 15 pre-installed sports apps, incorporates a heart rate sensor, VO2 max function, age estimates based on shape physics, and an option to create custom workouts.

Besides, the new Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music can also monitor the user’s stress and physical condition, in addition to recording heart variability and sleep quality. Regarding the musical performance of the Vivoactive 3 Music, it must be said that the smartwatch incorporates a 4GB memory with support for storing up to 500 songs, although users will also have the possibility of playing music through the Deezer platform and Spotify and can even save playlists to enjoy them offline.

The bad news is that this watch is not as focused on running as the previous model, the Forerunner 645 Music. An important difference between the two watches in this section is that the Forerunner 645 Music records advanced running dynamics, giving the user useful information such as cadence, vertical oscillation, ground contact time, and contact time balance. with the ground, stride length, and vertical ratio.

Meanwhile, with the Vivoactive 3 Music, the user will have more basic data about the race since it is more of a multisport GPS watch and not a watch designed with running in mind. But if you are not a very demanding athlete, the Vivoactive 3 Music could meet your training needs.


Garmin Fenix ​​6X Pro

Best Running Smartwatch with Music 2022

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The Garmin Fenix 6X Pro is currently one of Garmin’s most advanced smartwatches, and that’s saying a lot. We are facing a model that has everything necessary for both basic and demanding users, athletes, adventurers, and even tactical purposes.

Of course, this smartwatch comes with a built-in GPS, which is assisted by GLONASS and Galileo for high location and positioning accuracy. Here we also have an internal storage space of 32 GB capacity that is used for recording activity data and storing thousands of songs for later playback without the need to connect the watch to a smartphone. However, the playback control function for the mobile has Bluetooth low consumption for synchronization and pairing with it.

Regarding the health and activity tracking functions, the Garmin Fenix ​​6X Pro has a heart rate monitor, daily stress monitor, female health, sleep quality monitor, blood oxygen level measurement function, functions such as calculation of calories consumed, steps taken, distance traveled, and monitoring of sports such as running, swimming, cycling, golf and much more.

It is another great watch to run with music, it is worth noting, and that is why we include it in this list. It is also one of the best autonomy offers: up to 80 days with the energy-saving mode activated and up to 15 hours with GPS and music. In addition to this, it comes with a 1.3-inch screen.


Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2

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One of the best smartwatches on this list, without a doubt, but also one of the best that can be found in the current market in other sections, since the characteristics and specifications that it boasts are among the best.

This has a separate GPS module, so you do not have to carry a smartphone when running or doing other activity that requires geo-positioning. In turn, thanks to the 4 GB of internal storage space it has, it can store hundreds of songs.

Of course, the Galaxy Watch Active 2 also has other activity tracking functions such as heart rate monitoring thanks to the ECG reader, sleep quality, step count, and more, as well as a Super AMOLED screen of 1.4 or 1.2 inches.


Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 (45mm)

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The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is the most direct rival to the Apple Watch Series 6 right now. It is also the most advanced smartwatch in the South Korean catalog, so there is a lot to say about it. To begin with, it is a smartwatch that does not dispense with integrated GPS, much less internal memory for music.

In this sense, there is GPS connectivity that is assisted by A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and Beidou for unmatched precision and an 8 GB internal storage space for music and apps. The watch also has playback control and can be paired with Android and iOS mobiles.

It is another good GPS model to run with music, of course, but not only for it. It is also very complete in other areas, such as health, activity, and sports monitoring. It comes with an ECG monitor, fall detection function, blood oxygen monitor, and more. In turn, being a smartwatch for runners -and different types of users-, it comes with functions such as distance traveled, steps taken and calories consumed.

On the other hand, it has Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, Wi-Fi 801.11 b / g / n, NFC for payments with Samsung Pay, and support for 3G and 4G LTE networks. It also offers an autonomy of up to 1 week and has a 2.5D circular screen with AMOLED technology of 1.4 or 1.2 inches, depending on whether the 45 or 41 mm version is chosen, respectively. Also, it features IP68-grade resistance and MIL-STD-810G military-grade resistance.


Garmin Vivoactive 4

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The Garmin Vivoactive 4 is another good smartwatch for sports thanks to the tons of functions and activity tracking features, but mainly to the GPS, it has, which is supported by the GLONASS and Galileo modules for exact precision when offering metrics and data related to the training sessions and races to be carried out.

This also has other key components that are essential when carrying out any activity such as the heart rate monitor, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, and pulse oximetry sensor. Plus, you can stay upright with GPS on and music for up to 5 hours, and it’s waterproof.


Huawei Watch GT 2

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The GPS module of the Huawei Watch GT 2 is supported by A-GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo, so it is also one of the best smartwatches available today to record the different activity and sport metrics. The 4GB of ROM memory it boasts can hold approx. about 500 songs. You won’t need a smartphone to use the standalone GPS it offers, let alone play your media list whenever you want.

This smartwatch is also not exempt from offering the typical heart rate sensor and sleep monitor, much less the measurements of other data thanks to the activity monitors that it has such as the accelerometer and gyroscope.


Conclusion

This year we already have many interesting options when it comes to buying watches with music storage. However, this functionality is still in its infancy and we will surely see better options in the future. Anyway, below we leave you with a summary of the devices that we recommend according to their price, functionality, available services, and/or operating system:

  • Cheap smartwatch with music and GPS: Huawei Watch GT 2 and Galaxy Watch Active 2.
  • GPS watch with music and advanced monitoring of running and other sports: Garmin Forerunner 645 Music, Garmin Fenix ​​6 Pro, and Vivoactive 3 Music.
  • The best GPS watch for running with Wear OS: the TicWatch Pro 3.
  • Spotify: For now, Spotify is only available on Samsung smartwatches and sports watches, Garmin watches from series such as the Fenix ​​and on Garmin’s Vivoactive 3 Music and Forerunner 645 Music, and watches with Wear OS, although without support for offline music in the latter case.
  • Music: Some of the best smartwatches for music are the Apple Watch Series 6, the Galaxy Watch 3, and the Galaxy Watch Active 2.

We hope this guide has helped you find the most suitable watch for your needs. Regardless of the smartwatch, you are going to buy, all the ones on our list will help you listen to music. Do not hesitate to leave us a comment with your opinion, doubts, suggestions, etc.


Music Services and Compatible Devices

If so far we have detailed all those smartwatches or GPS watches with music, now is the time to take a look at the music services that exist and with which brands of devices they are compatible. For example, if you are a Spotify user then there is no point in looking for watches from Garmin, Polar, or Fitbit since gadgets from these brands do not have support for the Swedish platform.

So in this list, we are going to present the music services that are currently on the market and with which devices they are compatible. Of course, it must be borne in mind that not in all cases do they have global coverage.

Spotify

The music platform Spotify mod APK currently has support for the Garmin watches of the Fenix ​​6 series, the Forerunner 645 Music, and the Vivoactive 3 Music, and for Samsung smartwatches, such as the Galaxy Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch Active 2.

In these last two, You will have the possibility to remotely control the music from your mobile phone since they have no internal storage and it is not possible to play the music offline. Finally, you can also enjoy the official Spotify application for Wear OS watches from the Play Store, although in this case there is no support for offline music playback either.

iHeartRadio

The playback of audio content via iHeartRadio is only possible on Garmin and Wear OS watches. However, it should be noted that the service only provides coverage in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

Apple Music

Unsurprisingly, full Apple Music support is only found on Apple Watch watches.

Pandora

Pandora is an online radio service that works on some Fitbit gadgets or with WearOS. However, this platform is not available outside of the United States.

Google Play Music

Enjoy through Google Play Music is possible on most Wear OS smartwatches.

Running to music outside the US

If like me you live outside of the United States, then the two best options in my opinion are Apple Music and Google Play Music, not to mention Samsung watches that bring Spotify compatibility. All these services allow offline music playback, so you won’t have to take your mobile with you when you practice running, cycling, or any other outdoor sport.