The smart watch £100s cheaper than Apple Watch but way less known with nearly perfect reviews is £127 off

A smart watch is great for exercise but can be pricey - unless you know where to look

Smart watches are everywhere as they're great for monitoring your steps, sleep and heart rate. But getting the right one can be difficult, especially when brand leaders like Apple and Fitbit can cost £100s - so it may be time to look at brands like Garmin.

This smart watch has been called "a runner's best friend" in reviews, though it normally packs a huge £299.99 price tag. Amazon are currently running a sale on the brand, knocking 43 per cent off and bringing it down to a respectable £172. This is cheaper than Argos, which sells it at the recommended retail price.

This is quite a bit cheaper than the Apple Watch Series 8, which retails for £449 but is discounted for £399 in the Amazon sale. (It is also cheaper at John Lewis, going for £369, as well as Currys for the same price).

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The Garmin smart watch is designed with runners in mind, receiving five stars from The Guardian's tech editor. One of the biggest features is its music compatibility, being able to sync with Spotify so you can play music from your watch.

It also creates an adaptive training plans, giving warnings to say if you're over or under doing your training. It will even analyse your stride length, ground contact time balance, vertical ratio and more.

The battery life is also good, with 7 days as a smart watch and 6 hours with the GPS and music activated. The watch has received a 4.7 out of 7,772 reviews. Eighty four per cent are five star, 11 per cent are four star, two per cent are three star and three per cent are one star. There are no two star reviews.

One reviewer said: "Was very dubious about buying but I love it. Not too flash but does everything that I need it to do. I am a club runner, built for comfort not speed, I run about 40km a week." Another added: "Lightweight and comfortable. Looks a bit bulky for everyday wear. Good functions eg ability to programme intervals to any specification time, pace etc. Great battery life. I run 30-40km a week and charge once a week when it gets down to about 30%. A little tricky to navigate the buttons and menus when I first bought it but got used to."

Some of the more hesitant reviews include one that says: "Brilliant watch for tracking runs ect, great that you can have music on it as well, the only downside I have seen so far is that the sleep results are never accurate at all, so it makes me question a lot of other readings on the watch". Another added: "I've used Garmin for years. Excellent tho vastly overhyped. So cheap I bought two. Very disappointed to find recharge socket substandard. But tried my FR 45 lead and hey presto it works. My FR 25 is much better. And my bike computer lasted 10 years"

Amazon's sale also extends to other Garmin products, including a chest strap for measuring your heart rate (£79.99, down from £119.99). It has a 4.7 stars out of 2,118 ratings. They also have a bike GPS, down to £179.99 from £219.99. It has a 4.5 out of 3,913 ratings.

You can buy the Garmin smart watch on Amazon or at Argos for £299.99. For the full list of sale items see here.

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