Best Treadmill for Garmin Products (Fenix 5X, Fenix 3, and VivoSmart)

You may want to look at ZWIFT with their new running function. You could get a foot pod or running pod and use a CABLE to broadcast the ANT+ information to your mobile phone in real time while running the ZWIFT app while on virtually any treadmill. The ZWIFT app creates a virtual environment with other runners and bikers (representing real people working out at the exact same time in the same virtual world).

The CABLE device (North Pole Engineering) takes ANT+ device output and converts it to Bluetooth Low Energy so phones and tablets can easily use it in Apps like ZWIFT.

As for Garmin integration - your Fenix will capture heart rate, foot pod or running pod and generate stats for you. ZWIFT will create some challenges and entertain you and maybe have you compete against other runners since whatever speed you are running will be fed to ZWIFT and that will in real-time make your person move through the virtual streets.

You would see the watch output (actually the miles, pace, time) on the ZWIFT screen (phone, tablet or computer). The treadmill just controls your speed.

You can calibrate your watch to the treadmill after running at least a mile - there is an option when you end the workout (think it is either more or ... or something like that gives you the option to calibrate before saving your workout. It would ask you the treadmill mileage you just ran and then calibrate the watch to match that given your stride length given how many strides you take .... it does it automatically by varying how much distance each stride provides on the watch.

You upload to Garmin Connect after the workout is complete, however ZWIFT is capturing your workout real-time. You can broadcast your heart rate to the CABLE and ZWIFT will pick that up as well. Strava will calculate a suffer score based on the heart rate if you connect that app to Garmin connect.

No need to get a different treadmill - better get an App that takes advantage of your Garmin equipment and use the treadmill to generate whatever pace/speed you want to run. You can add inclines but that is not picked up by Garmin or Zwift. ZWIFT actually has inclines in their virtual worlds - it decreases your virtual speed in those cases where you are climbing. Wish it could interact with a treadmill to increase grade on the treadmill to match - probably asking too much. It does do this with some bike trainers though.

Thanks Chloe... We currently do not have a treadmill. I should have been more clear that we are looking at latest and greatest things we should be looking for and recommendations.

3) and 4) are something the watch enables, regardless of treadmill. Fenix 5 offers calibration, all watches with Indoor Running profile allow upload to Garmin connect.

2) is not possible as far as I know -- Garmin watches do not broadcast statistics during a run so it's not possible to show watch output on a treadmill.

1) is a very loose term -- what do you mean by "integration"?

In my opinion you should be looking at the treadmills that offer best performance overall and assume all modern Garmin watches will be able to give you accurate enough statistics for your treadmill runs.