The new Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses were one of the standout announcements of Meta Connect 2025, especially for athletes wanting to find tech to help push them on their runs, bike rides, ski sessions, and other supported sports.
That’s because these specs can sync with your Garmin device to gather real-time stats that can be relayed to you completely hands-free – such as you asking “Hey Meta, what’s my heart rate?” or “Hey Meta, what’s my pace like?” – and you can also sync up your device to automatically capture milestones from your run to then share on your social media platform of choice (including Strava if you want the ultimate kudos).
Unfortunately these features are only accessible on compatible Garmin devices. Until now it’s not been 100% clear which watches and bike computers will support them, which led to me getting my hands on a Garmin Instinct 3 to help with my upcoming Vanguard review, only to find it's not as compatible as the Garmin website had led me to believe.
Thankfully I now know the full lineup, and can share it with you so you can dodge the mistakes I made. What's more, there’s a solid selection of options from across Garmin’s range of tech with varying price points for all budgets.
Which Garmin devices are compatible?
Smartwatches
- D2 Mach 1, D2 Mach 1 Pro
- Enduro 2, Enduro 3
- Epix Gen 2, Epix Pro Gen 2
- Fenix 7, Fenix 7S Pro, Fenix 7X Pro, Fenix 8, Fenix 8 Pro, Fenix E
- Forerunner 165, Forerunner 265, Forerunner 265S, Forerunner 570, Forerunner 965, Forerunner 970
- Marq (Gen 2) Adventurer, Marq (Gen 2) Athlete, Marq (Gen 2) Aviator, Marq (Gen 2) Captain, Marq (Gen 2) Carbon Edition, Marq (Gen 2) Commander, Marq (Gen 2) Golfer
- Quatix 7, Quatix 7 Pro, Quatix 7X
- Tactic 7, Tactix 8, Tactix 8 Solar
- Venu 3, Venu 3S, Venu 4, Venu X1
- Vivoactive 6, Vivoactive 6
Bike computer
- Edge 540, Edge 550, Edge 840, Edge 850, Edge 1040, Edge 1050, Edge MTB
This info comes via the Meta AI app.
You might see on Garmin and Oakley’s website that some other Garmin devices are technically compatible with these new Oakley specs, but that’s only for recording health and fitness data in the Garmin Connect app so that you can personalize photos with your stats later.
For real time updates and automatic capture – the really useful stuff – you’ll need to make sure you have one of the above, or a later Garmin device model that supports downloading third party software. Specifically here you’ll need to be able to install the Meta AI Connect IQ app.
Which Garmin should I buy?
If you don’t yet have a Garmin watch and want to get one alongside your Oakley Meta Vanguard specs, which should it be?
Well the number one pick in our guide to the best Garmin watches is the Garmin Venu X1. This four-and-a-half star rated fitness tracker tops our list because it’s superb for both fitness and lifestyle uses – meaning it’ll be an excellent companion for a hardcore triathlete looking to PB on their next Ironman, or the more casual enthusiast who likes to jog once a fortnight.
If you’re after something more premium, then our go-to is the Garmin Fenix 8. It’s pricey, but it does also come with a lot of premium features including advanced GPS, a new heart rate sensor, and 16 days of battery life. It even has a dive mode.
We haven’t tested the Fenix 8 Pro at the time of writing, but it has a few upgrades worth considering thanks to new tools like LTE connectivity and satellite communication. It is, however, also more expensive.
At the lower end of the price spectrum is the Garmin Forerunner 165 which is our favorite budget Garmin watch – and is supported by the new Meta AI app. While it doesn’t have the bells and whistles seasoned athletes will be after it still has plenty to offer especially for its more affordable price tag.
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