The sun always shines on PB

If you need to up your fitness game this summer, pick one of these six sports watches and unlock more training gains

- Kieran Alger

HUNTING SKY AND GLOW: HOW TO CHOOSE

• The best sports watches get the basics right with accurate heart-rate tracking, fast satellite linkup and reliable GPS.

• There's a big shift to brighter AMOLED screens, but these can drain juice quickly. A watch that spends less time on the charger unlocks deeper insights.

• A rugged watch with toughened glass and a titanium casing gives you extra insurance, but might not be as comfy at night.

• If navigation is a priority, route planning with breadcrumb navigation is a given. But some watches also offer turn-by-turn navigation, offline maps and more.

• For phone-free gym soundtracks, look for a watch that has offline music storage and gets on well with streaming services like Spotify.

Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED

What's the story?

The latest incarnation of Garmin's do-it-all rugged multisport and adventure watch is getting smarter. It now packs a killer-sharp smartwatch-style AMOLED screen, better battery life, and a builtin mic and speaker to power some basic voice-activation and memo tools.

All that new firepower adds to Garmin's latest sensors to unlock the most comprehensive suite of tracking, training, recovery, health and general smarts that you'll find on a Garmin sports watch.

The three sizes (43mm, 47mm and 51mm) all sit big on the wrist, and it's built to withstand adventures with premium materials such as toughened sapphire glass and titanium.