Best Garmin watch faces 2019: Our top picks to download
There are a lot of Garmin sports watches out there, and many operate a lot like smartwatches. By that we mean you can now download apps to them, store music and even make payments.
Another thing you can do now is tinker around with the watch face. Watches like the Fenix 6, Vivoactive 3, Forerunner 235 and new models like the Forerunner 45, Forerunner 245 and Forerunner 945 will serve you up a bunch of pre-installed faces. But if you want more from your watch face than simply telling the time, you’ll need to dive into the Connect IQ Store to find them.
Read this: Garmin Connect Badges essential guide
Along with the downloadable apps, data fields and widgets, you can also get hold of faces to put the metrics you care about most onto the screen you probably look at the most throughout the day. These are watch faces made by developers and in-house at Garmin, and the collection is growing.
With the arrival of the Connect IQ Store app, Garmin has made it more straightforward to make your own custom watch faces too.
We’ve tested a lot of Garmins here at Wareable and we’ve downloaded and played around with our fair share of watch faces in the process. So we’ve picked out some of the faves for you below.
Got a favourite you think people should know about? Tell us about it in the comments.
Movement
Movement is an official watch face made by Garmin that’s all about bringing a splash of color to your sports watch. The rainbow effect does its very best to bring some life to a display that can feel a little less vibrant when compared to an Apple or Samsung smartwatch display.
Along with the time, it’ll let you view metrics like elevation (if you watch supports it) battery status and there’s a little graphic equalizer lets you know the music is playing. In the watch face settings, which you can find in Connect IQ, you can tinker with the colors to mix things up. We think the default option is the most eye-catching though.
Compatible watches: Fenix 5 series, Fenix 3, Fenix Chronos, Marq, Vivoactive/Vivoactive 3, Forerunner 230/235/245/630/645 Music/935/945, D2 Bravo, Epix, Approach S60
Download Movement Connect IQ watch face
Ha Long Bay
One of our current new faves, the Ha Long Bay watch face will give your Garmin wearable a nice animated scene if you don’t want it filled with all of those metrics. Along with a boat that slowly moves across your face, you can see your step count along with the time, battery status and whether you’ve got a Bluetooth connection to your paired smartphone.
Compatible watches: Fenix 5 and 6 series, Fenix 3, Fenix Chronos, Marq, Vivoactive/Vivoactive HR/Vivoactive 3, Forerunner 230/235/245/630/645 Music/735XT/920XT/935/945, D2 Bravo, Epix
Download Ha Long Bay Connect IQ watch face
ActiFace
Aiming to put as much useful information in front of your eyes as possible, ActiFace shows the time and date, your activity history graph in calories and distance, plus daily goal progress, step count and notifications. It’s a big improvement on some of Garmin’s dull efforts, and certainly one for data lovers.
Compatible watches: Fenix 5 and 6 series, Fenix 3, Fenix Chronos, Vivoactive/Vivoactive HR/Vivoactive 3/Vivoactive 4, Forerunner 230/235/245/630/645 Music/735XT/920XT/935/945, D2 Bravo, Epix.
Download ActiFace Connect IQ watch face
Crystal
Winner of best new watch face at Garmin’s 2019 Connect IQ Developer awards, Crystal is a really great example of a watch face that piles on the data without making it feel like a crowded mess. There are three configurable data fields: heart rate, battery and notifications.
You can have it display whether your watch is currently connected to your phone and it also incorporates Garmin’s Move Bar. Down the side of the face, you can also assign features like battery life and your step count to complete your data fix.
Compatible watches: Fenix 5 and 6 series, Fenix 3, Fenix Chronos, Vivoactive/Vivoactive HR/Vivoactive 3/Vivoactive 4, Forerunner 230/235/630/645 Music/735XT/920XT/935/945, Approach S60
Download Crystal Connect IQ watch face
DigiSport
If you’ve seen the Nike watch face you can find on the Nike+ edition of the Apple Watch, then DigiSport will feel familiar. It pushes the time to the right, leaving room for three circular icons (large, medium and small), which can be assigned information such as steps, Bluetooth connection status and notifications.
You’ll need to pay $0.99 to unlock those additional data fields if you want to complete the look of that Nike-like watch face on your Garmin.
Compatible watches: Fenix 5 and 6 series, Fenix 3, Fenix Chronos, Vivoactive/Vivoactive HR/Vivoactive 3/Vivoactive 4, Forerunner 230/235/245/630/645 Music/735XT/920XT/935/945, Approach S60
Download DigitSport Connect IQ watch face
Lachesis (Light)
This is a watch face that’s a good fit for Garmin’s more elegant-looking devices. As well as displaying watch face staples like time and date, it uses glowing lines around the edge of the face to give you a visual indicator of your step tracking progress. It’s available in four beach-themed colours and is definitely one of the best we’ve used on the likes of the Forerunner 645 and the 945.
Compatible watches: Fenix 5 and 6 series, Vivoactive 3/4, Forerunner 645 Music, Forerunner 935/945, Approach S60, Marq
Download Lachesis Connect IQ watch face
SkyTracker
If you’re all about the weather, this is a face that does a really nice job of displaying that metrological data. As well as letting you glance at your heart rate, battery life and notifications, it’ll also place weather conditions from your current location with a sunny, rainy or even snowy icon to let you know if you need to grab yourself a jacket before you leave the house. You can also unlock extra options, which include additional colour themes, weather data and displaying seconds for the time.
Download SkyTracker Connect IQ watch face
Compatible watches: Fenix 5 and 6 series, Fenix 3, Fenix Chronos, Vivoactive/Vivoactive HR/Vivoactive 3/Vivoactive 4, Forerunner 230/235/245/630/645 Music/735XT/920XT/935, Approach S60, Garmin Marq
Gigantus
The clue is in the name with this one. If you want the time front and centre, that’s what this watch face will do. It focuses on dedicating that watch screen largely to the time, but will also display data around it like heart rate, do not disturb mode, battery life status and activity tracking information like steps and distance covered. If you want a watch face where the time dominates the screen, this is one of the best we’ve used.
Compatible watches: Fenix 5 series, Fenix 3, Fenix Chronos, Vivoactive/Vivoactive HR/Vivoactive 3, Forerunner 230/235/245/630/645 Music/735XT/920XT/935, D2 Bravo.
Download Gigantus Connect IQ watch face
Line
This watch face deals with the masses of data Garmins can churn out by simply putting a line down the screen to separate time from all that other information. It’s bit more elegantly done once it’s on your watch, dedicating the right side of the screen to calorie burn, battery life, weather and heart rate. On the left, you’ll get the time and date. All in all, it’s a nice alternative to the way other faces on the Connect IQ Store deal with all of those metrics.
Compatible watches: Fenix 5 and 6 series, Fenix 3, Fenix Chronos, Vivoactive/Vivoactive HR/Vivoactive 3/Vivoactive 4, Forerunner 230/235/245/630/645 Music/735XT/920XT/935/945, D2 Bravo.
Download Line Connect IQ watch face
Polaris (Stealth)
If you’re looking for an analogue watch face, Polaris is a space-themed option which looks quite nice on Garmin’s newer watches like the 645 Music and Vivoactive series. It’s available in four cosmic-themed colours that along with swapping numbers for watch hands will also elegantly display the date and battery life status. It keeps things simple, but that’s quite alright with us.
Compatible watches: Fenix 5 and 6 series, Vivoactive 3, Forerunner 645 Music, Forerunner 935/945, Marq
Download Polaris (Stealth) Connect IQ watch face
Simple Info Analog
This is another analogue watch face fave for those that want the look of a more traditional timepiece. You’ve got your pick of digital or performance analogue looks with the ability to customise the look and the information that can be subtly displayed. That includes the watch hand colours and how data like the date and battery status is incorporated.
The two bars on either side of the watch face can be assigned to features like step count and the move bar, and the colours of those bars change based on your progress. It looks good, and does what it promises: to keep things simple.
Download Simple Info Analog Connect IQ watch face
Compatible watches: Fenix 5 series, Fenix 3, Fenix Chronos, Vivoactive/Vivoactive HR/Vivoactive 3, Forerunner 230/235/245/630/645 Music/735XT/920XT/935, Approach S60
My Watch
A previous Connect IQ Developer award winner, My Watch throws a whole lot of data onto your wrist but uses a mix of colours, icons and meters to help you easily digest that data. It comes in two styles (dark and light) and include everything from heart rate, moon phases, your weekly intensity activity time, altitude and temperature.
The data that can be displayed will be dependent on the sensors your Garmin has onboard to churn it out. It works with a good range of Garmins too, whether you’ve got a Fenix or a Vivoactive 3.
Compatible watches: Fenix 5 series, Vivoactive 3, Forerunner 645 Music, Forerunner 935, Approach S60, D2 Delta, Descent Mk1
Download My Watch Connect IQ watch face
Duck Hunt
If you played the Nintendo classic all those years ago, then this dog appearing from the bushes will be a very familiar sight. Inspired by the 80’s game, the animated watch face strips away the metrics and focus on telling you the time and nothing else. If you don’t need your data on show all day and you loved the game, this is definitely one for you.
Compatible watches: Fenix 5 series, Vivoactive 3, Forerunner 645 Music, Forerunner 935, Forerunner 45/245/735Xt/945, Approach S60, D2 Delta, Descent Mk1
Download Duck Hunt Connect IQ watch face
Christmas Jumper
Okay, so this one is only fitting to wear in December (unless you’re a total Christmas fanatic), but this the watch face you want if you want to make your wrist feel more festive. It’s been built by Garmin and will let you pick from five patterns that bring that knitted jumper look to your watch face. Crucially, it’ll still display data like battery life, the date and step counts along with that woolly jumper.
Compatible watches: Fenix 5 series, Fenix 3, Fenix Chronos, Vivoactive/Vivoactive HR/Vivoactive 3, Forerunner 230/235/245/630/645 Music/735XT/920XT/935, Approach S60
Download Christmas Jumper Connect IQ watch face
