20 in Fitness Trackers
Apple - Watch Series 1
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Reddit Reviews:
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Based on 1 year's data from Feb 15, 2026 How it works
Liked most:
34
3
"the accuracy of the heart rate monitor. ... I compared both with a chest band and apple tracked more closely both on a daily basis and during workouts."
"has the best wrist based heart rate sensor, both in and out of water"
"they’re state of the art for HR monitoring on the wrist."
161
37
"It’s also pretty well established that AW has the best motion tracking which shows up when you use the swim feature for distance. ... In swimming, it’s not even close. 100% of garmins worn during our pool swims are incorrect, regardless of swimmer level. ... Every single Garmin incorrectly reported swim distance vs manual counting. Freestyle 4000m in 25m pool."
"I like the apple gives me the actual normal time but gives a score on level of intensity of the work out separately"
"The later AW is best in class for non chest straps. ... For daily fitness, Apple Watch is just better IMO. ... It being the most accurate heart rate tracker not a chest strap makes it the best fitness tracker to me. ... Maybe I should say it's the best workout recorder because it records the most accurate heart rate data. ... I just really like the AW for every day fitness more so than what Coros or Garmin can provide. ... Executing a training plan I've set out for myself and recording the results. Results being the duration and heart rate data during the planned workouts. I then upload that data to Training Peaks and use Training Peaks to keep up with my training load over time. So the every day fitness part is executing and recording my workouts. ... Apple Watch is data recording. Together they are tracking my fitness."
113
8
"I unlock my computer and phone with it."
"the fact that they integrate to the Apple Watch simply cannot be understated for me, I couldn’t go back to Garmin now, it is just so much part of my life now. ... Tracking weightlifting workouts, nutrition and other stuff, analysis of the data, send messages to HomePod, changing NC automatically, sending emails …."
"it's awesome to have everything perfectly working with my iPhone, being able to reply to messages. Having everything in sync. ... small things like it being in sync with your Focus. So when my phone is set to sleep, the apple watch goes dark (optional) and gets your ready for bed. ... the reminders app being able to be displayed on a watch face, and I can see how many reminders I have left on my iPhone. ... being able to remote start my car from the watch."
14
105
"the ultra 3s battery (especially with fast charge) is now good enough for most- certainly for my iron man and ultra endeavours."
"Upgraded from the regular Apple Watch because of needing the battery life for Ironman and marathon training and have been very happy with it."
"I am so glad I have the ultra, I never have to worry about running out of battery on the course even when using the auto shot tracking and in watch gps."
29
7
"never thought apple would let any 3rd party access the data their devices collect. ... That is a game changer"
"Combined with an app like Athlytic and its sleep / stress scores become much more accurate."
"authentication apps ... doorbell camera where you can actually talk through your watch ... various email/chat apps ... todo list software"
Disliked most:
1
66
"My Apple Watch is terribly inaccurate. ... Misses laps and seems to only count part of a lap at times which in a pool is odd. ... I’m a former college swimmer and from talking to others who are efficient and take few strokes per lap it seems to be off as well for them"
"Apple Watch is hot garbage for swimming indoors. ... It’s like they designed a swim profile without ever consulting people who actually swim."
"open water was a disaster"
1
167
"The battery life is a literal joke. ... Do an activity? There goes 75% of your battery."
"Also the battery life was trash, I’d leave my new series 10 in the drawer charged and it’d be dead the next day."
"after having it die on a couple seven mile/1.5 hour runs WITH the battery freshly charged and battery saving options on"
2
41
"one day I only got 3 1/2 hours of sleep and I got a 95 sleep score on Apple lol the Garmin was correct in telling me I got shit sleep."
"my sleep was very fragmented which the Apple Watch didn’t pick up. ... The difference is the garmin should a lot of awakenings which is what I really had. This is the effect of alcohol being metabolized."
"Oura and Apple told me that I had a great sleep 10 nights in a row, which was really not the case. ... I do not trust these apps at all."
4
12
"I dont get overloaded with notifications like my apple watch"
"The constant notifications on the AW were too distracting, I feel more zen now."
"The AW is going to get in your face about instagram stories and text messages and email."
0
19
"That was a constant issue for me training in the UK, and I once missed the start of a race because I accidentally started recording a walk and couldn’t get my Apple Watch to stop that and start a run in time because the screen was wet."
"If you are in long sleeves in the rain, you need to lock the touchscreen to prevent accidental touches. But that prevents you from using the touchscreen without holding to unlock for a few seconds. So if you are doing intervals, it can be hard to end the interval quickly."
"It locks itself into water mode restricting you from using stop watch etc."
Born_Bicycle316 1.0I work at home and am not exactly an outdoorsman but I got the UW2 for the large screen and battery life and I love it. I had the Series 1 AW and have used most of them along the way. The Ultra has been my hands down favorite one.
SarcBey 1.0Running. Exercise tracking in general. Quick text replies. Checking the weather. Setting reminders. Music. AirPods are a great addition. Checking calendar. Health tracking. I def use my iPhone a ton. Have had a watch since the series 1. I love tech of all sorts so I just find it nice to wear and have. I def miss the Watch when I wear regular watches. I run without my phone but I almost NEVER don’t have my iphone on me, except for the short time that I run haha
Material-Spare-6791 0.5Went from Apple watch 1 then 3 then SE 2nd gen to Garmin to Balance 2 XT. The XT is the best watch for me. I'm not an exercise nut, but I walk, cycle some and and indoor row. I'm more interested in health metrics. The Balance 2 XT gives me real time HR, SPO2, steps all in real time on the watch face. Apple cannot do that. And then there's the excellent battery life, 8-10 days with everything on (no AOD) 24/7.
andymc1816 0.2Haha, I did the same thing about 6 months ago. I still had both so I wore the AW for a few days and got frustrated with the battery. It was 90% charged and died on a long 4 hour hike. Went home, formatted the watch, and gave it to my mom so she could replace her 5 year old AW.
Aware-Speech-2903 0.2Yes BUT I am a woman and switched because the smallest Apple Watch size looks like a phone on my wrist. I hate how the activity counter is not accurate. I hate the subscription fee. I hate how there’s really no customization options like engraving or anything compared to an Apple Watch band.
NextSuggestion7200 0.1I bought the aw1 till aw7 because I startet running I bought the forerunner 165, the battery life was cool, the body battery and hfv was very interesting so I upgraded to forerunner 570 this year… but the point is, statics like body battery etc is more or less just a rough calculation and drives me crazy sometimes :D so I think I will go back to aw some days
TheBuenasTardes 0.1Had AW 1 thru 7. Switched to Epix Gen 2 for a few years then Fenix 8. And did try the AW Ultra and Ultra 2 but sent those back. Garmin has been SO much better for battery, fitness tracking (running, cycling, etc) and not worrying about the battery while doing so. Super durable. And the flashlight on the 51mm. Chef’s kiss. I do miss *some* of the Apple integration but won’t be going back soon.
BillieEyed 0.1If you’re looking for something closer to the Whoop experience but using an Apple Watch, [Stresspal AI](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stress-tracker-stresspal-ai/id6749589149) is a solid alternative. It tracks stress throughout the day, monitors HRV, and even gives you a daily recovery score, so you get insights on how your body is handling strain and recovery without needing a separate subscription device. Pair it with the Watch’s built-in health metrics, and you get a pretty complete picture without paying for Whoop’s subscription. Plus, it comes with a 7-day free tria**l** so you can test it out before committing.
Iluvgr8tdeals 0.0If you are coming from Garmin and their amazing battery life, get the Apple Ultra or the Ultra 2. It gives you 2 days (plus or minus a few hours depending on the activity) and it will give you sufficient battery life for your hiking unless you are doing multi-day hiking expeditions in places where you can’t charge your watch. I ‘upgraded’ from an Apple Watch Series 8 after my winter cycling proved too much for the Series 8 and the battery life was simply insufficient for a 6 hour plus ride especially in the brutal cold. An Apple Watch (not the SE, the SE has sketchy battery life) is enough for most activities that last several hours. If you are doing activities that are going the 24 hour mark, get the Apple Ultra watch. For multi days, you can use your Ultra watch if you are going to be charging it at the end of the day. If you are unable or unwilling to charge the watch after the end of a day or two, stay with a Garmin. Of course, you can place your Apple Watch on low power modes and switch off notifications to preserve battery life. I straddle both ecosystems. I have a Garmin bike computer, light, radar, cadence and speed sensors and the heart rate monitor. I have Apple for the watch and everything else…
alwaysoffby0ne 0.0My brand new Apple Watch (not ultra) with 100% battery capacity died 5 miles before the finish line. So depending on your pace you may not be able to outrun the battery depletion.
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