Best Running Watch with Music: Which Ones Actually Sync Spotify

For most runners the answer is the Garmin Forerunner 265: 8 GB of storage, offline sync from Spotify, Amazon Music or Deezer, and the mid-range Garmin training tools in an AMOLED case. If you want the cheapest Garmin that does real streaming-service sync, it is the Forerunner 170 Music. If you run an iPhone and want a phone on your wrist, it is the Apple Watch Series 12.

Two kinds of "has music"

This distinction decides the whole page, and most roundups skip it.

1. Offline streaming-service sync. You have a Spotify, Amazon Music or Deezer subscription, you pick a playlist in the watch app, and it downloads to the watch. New playlist every week, no effort. This is what Garmin and Apple do.
2. Your own files, by cable. The watch has storage and a media player, and you plug it into a computer and copy MP3s across. This is what Suunto does — and as DC Rainmaker puts it, Suunto has no streaming integration at all because of licensing, so you are loading personal MP3, FLAC, WAV or AAC files. His verdict on the feature is blunt: "Music without streaming services in 2025 is largely useless."

If you have not owned an MP3 file since about 2012, option two is not a feature, it is a project. Rank accordingly — which is exactly why the Suunto Run 2 sits last here despite having the most raw storage.

Which watches sync Spotify offline

Garmin's own page on music storage confirms the approach across its ranges: sync your own songs, or connect a premium Spotify, Deezer or Amazon Music account and download playlists, with YouTube Music available on select models. In the Forerunner line that covers the 170 Music, 265, 570, 965 and 970 — every Garmin on this page.

The Apple Watch Series 12 syncs Apple Music offline and has 64 GB of storage plus a speaker. The COROS PACE 4 lists offline music with 4 GB, meaning your own files. The Suunto Run 2 is files-only.

One trap worth naming: the base Garmin Forerunner 165 has no music at all. Music is a separate $299 "Music" edition. If you are shopping the entry Garmins, check which variant you are looking at.

How much storage you need

Less than you think, and it breaks down cleanly:

• 4 GB (Forerunner 170 Music, PACE 4, base Suunto Run 2): roughly a few hundred songs. Enough for two or three downloaded playlists that you rotate.
• 8 GB (Forerunner 265, 570): comfortable. You can keep a long-run playlist, a podcast backlog and something for the gym without pruning.
• 32 GB (Forerunner 965, 970): shared with preloaded maps on these models, so it is not all music. Generous either way.
• 64 GB (Apple Watch Series 12, top Suunto Run 2): more than any runner needs for audio.

Storage is rarely the deciding factor. Whether the watch talks to your streaming service is.

What music costs in battery

This is the number nobody checks before buying, and Garmin publishes it plainly.

Playing music roughly cuts GPS running time by half to two thirds. For any marathon that is still fine — seven hours covers essentially every finisher. Where it matters is if you were counting on charging once a week: with music on, you will be charging a lot more often.

The watches compared

You still need headphones

Obvious, and still the most common disappointment. A watch with music has no speaker you would run to (the Forerunner 570 and Apple Watch do have speakers, for calls, not for your playlist). You need Bluetooth headphones paired to the watch, not to your phone.

Pair them once, at home, before your first phone-free run. Every brand's pairing flow is fiddly, and doing it in a car park in the dark is not the moment.

For road running, pick an open-ear pair rather than a sealed in-ear bud: nothing goes into the canal, so traffic still reaches you. Our best headphones for running outdoors ranks three Shokz pairs on battery, water rating and weight.

Which one, by level

• Couch-to-5K: the Forerunner 170 Music. It is Garmin's beginner watch with the running coach plans, and the 4 GB plus Wi-Fi is enough to leave the phone at home from your first week.
• 5K and 10K: the Forerunner 265. The best all-round balance of music, training tools and screen on this page.
• Half marathon: the Forerunner 265 or 570. The 570's extra two hours of music playback and its speaker are the differences you will notice.
• Marathon: the Forerunner 970 or 965. Up to 14 hours of GPS with music on the 970 means you never think about it, and 32 GB holds maps as well as playlists. See our marathon GPS watch page.

How to choose a running watch with music

1. Check it supports your service, not just "music". Garmin syncs Spotify, Deezer and Amazon Music offline. Apple syncs Apple Music. Suunto and COROS take your own files. That is the whole decision for most people.
2. Read the battery figure with music ON. Garmin publishes both. Playback cuts GPS running time by half to two thirds.
3. Confirm the exact variant. "Forerunner 165" and "Forerunner 165 Music" are different watches at different prices, and only one plays music.
4. Don't pay for storage you won't fill. 8 GB is comfortable for any runner. 32 GB and 64 GB are for maps and for people who want everything offline.
5. Budget for headphones. If you do not already own Bluetooth headphones you like running in, that is part of the cost of this decision.

Common mistakes

• Assuming "4 GB storage" means Spotify. On the Suunto Run 2 it means MP3s you copy across by cable. DC Rainmaker is direct about why: Suunto has no path to streaming-service licensing.
• Buying music and then still carrying the phone. The point is to leave it behind. If you carry it anyway for safety, you may not need the feature at all — see our how to carry your phone page.
• Expecting music to survive an ultra-length day. Up to 7 hours on a Forerunner 265 with music is plenty for a marathon and not for much beyond it.
• Forgetting the watch needs Wi-Fi to sync. Playlists download over Wi-Fi, not over Bluetooth from your phone. If your watch has no Wi-Fi, it has no practical streaming sync.