Apple - Watch Ultra 1

I use my AWU1 without cellular (and don’t take my iPhone)with me everyday for my fitness regime, during the week I typically freestyle it (don’t follow a map), I just sync my watch when I get home via my home internet connection to upload my stats. On the weekends, if I am hiking and need turn by turn navigation or access to an OS map, I still do not need to take my iPhone with me (although I have my rucksack so always do), I will set up my activity the day before and sync the route and full map to my watch so I can use it offline, GPS plots my exact position and movement on the map during the activity not cellular. If I was to get into difficulty and need assistance I would use one of the AWU’s, non-dependant cellular features to request help / show my location via satellite rather than needing cellular. I absolutely love my AWU1 but do not see the need for a cellular connection. The apps I use daily for my workouts are RunKeeper and at the weekend, Footpath Elite (and RunKeeper).

I have an ultra 1. Only gripe is the battery life. It has Strava, lap pacing etc. I’m with you. Going to run this baby into the ground until I go buy another fitness watch.

I generally prefer Apple stuff and when the Ultra 1 prices were reduced I bought a refurb one. I could still live without any sort of watch, but I do like the health tracking features, Apple Pay, and other info widgets. Calling someone from your watch can be a fun party trick too. I'd resisted getting a watch for over 20 years ... the Ultra 1 broke me because it finally offered the kind of baseline battery stamina my lifestyle demands (I'm from a generation who is used to watch batteries lasting for a decade, or allowing self-winding, or kinetic charging etc)

I came very very close to getting their solar charging watch. But ultimately I preferred getting by with the 1.5 day battery stamina of AW Ultra 1 on sale.

Get an Ultra lol. They advertise 36 hours. I’ve been wearing my ultra gen 1 since they came out and battery is still awesome as far as Apple Watches go anyways.

You stated an Apple Watch could never last a 100 mile race. This is AWU1 on the lowest power mode. No charging. 34h

Bare bones mode with HR belt

I have semi-recently made the switch from an Apple Watch Ultra 1 to a Garmin Forerunner 965, and my Garmin is leagues better than the Apple. If you don't want to spend 600, that's perfectly ok. [Everything on this list will likely suit your needs pretty well](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/c/sports-fitness/swimming-smartwatches/)

I like it too but it does not stay on if I push off really hard (my Speedo and Arena racing goggles do), let alone start off the block. I have to push off slowly when using those goggles. Still, much more accurate than Garmin or Apple watch.

If your pool is under 25 y, and you are on Apple ecosystem, Apple Watch. If your pool is longer than 25 y, go with Apple Watch (if on Apple), or Garmin. Garmin is worse at tracking swim in a shorter pool than Apple, hence my comment.

I do, although I mainly use it to count laps because I am too lazy to do that myself. For endurance swim, I use it to guide my workload by heart rate. What is lacking in its native app is an auto-rest timer on display.

If your pool is shorter than aground 20 m, I find Apple Watch to be more accurate than Garmin for lap time (in auto rest mode). Calories, I do take too much notice of either of them as I know roughly what I burn in exercise, but they are around 20% off from each other for me, which is not that big in the big picture of things as I do not track calories (more of a technical interest than anything else). Major differences: Garmin shows you the rest time during your swim. Apple Watch offers no option to do that even in the latest version, unless I missed something. With Garmin, kickboard sets need manual recording with Drill Mode. Apple Watch does it automatically in most cases.

I have swum 6 hours continuously with Apple Watch. No problem at all. Tracking accuracy was probably only about 1% off, if that. No problem with waterproofing at all. Anything after Apple Watch 2 are designed so that you can swim with them. Make sure to enter the pool length correctly, and avoid changing stroke type mid-length and avoid rapid deceleration mid-length (it can mess up the length count). As for the calories, they are guidance/rough estimates on any device. Make sure you enter your weight and height accurately, or it can be wildly off.

Finis smart goggles + Apple Watch Ultra/Garmin Epix Gen 2. AW and Garmin are inaccurate for sprints timing (they often start the count late or stop the count late...), Finis is much more accurate but does not do HR. AW does not have a rest counter on display, whereas Garmin does. Not really a setup needed for normal fitness swimming though.

This is the video you should check out, I’d be honestly surprised if most people in the sub have not heard of this guy. He is a data scientist and tests so many different devices against the gold standard for whatever is being tested, sleep, HRV, temperature etc. according to his sleep tests the best Garmin watch is the Vivo love sport and it performs worse at then most Apple Watches, worse than whoop 3 and is basically as accurate as the Oura ring 3. It really depends on what you’re looking to track, but overall Apple watch is best of the best, specifically se2 and maybe Ultra or series 9. https://youtu.be/YVhmzxpw5Gg?si=1x1RkpTwQy2OxlbA

I wear an Ultra. So I don’t need to carry a phone. Ever.

Exactly this. With my Ultra I don’t need to carry a phone. A watch isn’t smart if it needs a giant phone.

It is way more accurate than most runners need. If you do want or need more accuracy you need dedicated accessories or devices. Like a chest strap. Anecdotally, Apple has edged ahead of Garmin in most metrics. But that’s the way of Apple. Slow and steady with incremental improvements. Apple is the tortoise in this race.

Right? It’s actually amazing to have all this tech in a tiny device strapped to your wrist. Lots of people only dwell on things that aren’t there. But the things that are there? Pretty cool: You can call your mom with it or have it tell you which way to turn so you don’t get lost. It will call 911 for you if are moving and get stopped fast enough that your brain noped out. It will warn you if have afib or sleep apnea. It’s a jukebox. You can play a game on it while waiting in line. It will tell you when to turn off the quinoa pot. It nags you if you’ve sat on your ass too long. Mine nags me if I start to get dehydrated. Because it has its own friggin App Store. Oh yeah . . . you don’t have to drag a big slab of iPhone everywhere you go. And it will do all this 24/7 for some years. It’s really hard to break. Plus all the athletic/health data you actually need as a layman. For $800. This is by far the best device Apple has built yet for my personal use case. My phone might sit on the counter in the same place for a day or two. But my Ultra is all over the place.

Same on this. Had my ultra since release day and loved it. Tried Whoop for a year in combo just to see, but once I realize Athlytic was getting better and my Whoop felt like a chore to not lose the battery, I ditched the sub before it was even up.

This guys results never line up with people like dcrainmaker and desfit who actually use the watches how they are supposed to be used. I think people dont realise that sensors just need to be fit for purpose , after than it's makes no real difference to what you get out of wearing the watch, that comes down to other things like features and battery life. I currently wearing an apple watch ultra , before that an epix2 before that Samsung watches and other Garmin's , honestly the sensor accuracy differences between them have little impact on anything for most people. That said I would rather it be more accurate than less , need to at least keep up with your direct competition.

I would keep the AWU you already have for running and workouts and add a Series 10 (titanium is my preference) for daily use and sleep tracking. I’ve always kept either two Apple Watches (one old one and current one) or and Apple Watch and Garmin and never have any battery issues. One watch is always charging. Apple makes it so easy to switch between watches and resale values are so low it makes sense to always hang on to an old one.

Also, I think the AWU coupled with a Nike Sport Loop makes the weight/bulkiness of the AWU more tolerable. But the S10 titanium is perfect for daily wear (except that it lacks the Modular Ultra watch face, which is the best watch face Apple has designed IMHO).

Getting an ultra helps a bit, but even then, you still really need to have a daily charging routine because it’s not like getting 2, maybe 3 days out of it is that different. Hitting 24 hours consistently is great, which the ultra can do, but until it hits 7 days consistently, it’s still kinda eh

I use the Ultra currently and previously had a series 4. I love it. I think the main issue with the Apple Watch is battery life, specifically for 70.3 and Ironman. The Ultra and Ultra 2 can handle that distance but I doubt a regular series could. And when you are spending Ultra money you can also buy a Fenix 7, Epix or 965 for basically the same money which has better battery and better integration with things like ANT+, plus some software stuff like body battery. Durability is also a consideration for bike crashes, salty swims etc. My Ultra has held up well but my series developed several scratches in the year I had it.

I’m picking up my first ring next week and currently use an Apple Watch Ultra for my workouts. I used to run/ride with a Garmin but hate carrying my phone when I workout and the cellular on the AWU solves that problem.

It took one injury while running and a long cold limp home to help me make the switch from a Garmin to AW with LTE.

This is an excellent breakdown and is helping to sway me to buy a Ring 4. I used to run/ride with a Garmin but hated to carry a phone, that pushed me to an AWU w/ cellular after an injury and no way to call my wife. I can’t stand sleeping in my apple watch and work night shift so I’m trying to get better view of my horrible sleep schedule and how to improve it. Overall I can use the Apple Watch for all things fitness and Ring 4 to tie in everything else.

Why it’s worse: charging is something you remember daily if you want sleep tracking.

My awu is a pain in the ass to keep charged. If you use it for gps activity tracking every day you’re not getting 2 days

The whoop has better battery life. I have both a whoop and a AWU. I’ve had an Apple Watch since the first gen. Battery life is not its strong point.

Moved from Garmin to Apple when I got the Apple Watch Ultra. No regrets at all. Left behind the Fenix 6x pro, Garmin scales, chest strap, foot pod, tempe and bike sensors. I’ve owned Fenix watches of every model back to the 3HR. I prefer Apple Watch to the Garmin watches. The hardware and software works flawlessly. The metrics are decent. And the health data is better than Garmin. Fitness is about on par with Garmin. Whereas Garmin hardware is good, if a little dated, but the software is poor. Often glitchy, clunky and slow to modernise. Apple health absolutely hammers Garmin Connect. And another benefit to Apple is it talks to most things. It accepts and shares data, no issue and without having to mess around. Hardware at my gym, my blood pressure monitor, my non-Apple scales - whatever I want. And it just works, first time, every time. Add to the mix my AirPod pro 2 and how easily they connect to my watch on mobile data without having to take my phone - game changer when running, walking or in the gym and leaving my phone at home or in the locker. Live maps on Apple, way better than Garmin. I can use data on the go and navigating the map is a lot easier and quicker. All the features I used on the Fenix I’ve added to my watch. Including the elusive body battery. And I get better metrics for sleep, heart rate and other data. And the ecg is decent too. All apps work with it where as I was limited with Garmin. Genuinely, I don’t miss a thing about Garmin. Apple Watch Ultra is a Garmin beater. Garmin got a bit stale and unreliable. Unfriendly with other systems and apps. Apple have got the right idea and if they keep going down the same path, they’re going to cause Garmin some problems in the coming years unless Garmin do some firing and hiring in their research and development team.

Absolutely, yes. Apple Watch - the best smart watch that’s very good at fitness tracking and health tracking. Garmin - a decent fitness tracker that’s a poor smart watch. Garmin’s decent hardware is always let down by its incredibly dated and poorly managed software. Whether that be the OS and UI on the watch or the connect software - it’s clunky and often has problems. It doesn’t talk nicely to other services and devices a lot of the time and the hardware team and very much let down by the programmers. Having moved over from Garmin to Apple Watch Ultra, there’s no regrets here at all.

If you consider sleep tracking important, AWU beats everything out there.

This is my perspective as someone who uses Whoop and wears an SMP or a Speedy that I rotate according to how I feel. Also, I've tried Oura, and liked it, but it wasn't for me. And I have an AW Ultra that I use when running and hiking, and this is after a few years of using a Garmin Fenix. Most people think of Whoop as simply a fitness tracker, which it is, but it is much more. What seperates Whoop from other things is how it shows you the impact of your behaviors. Yes, I think Whoop was less than honest about their upgrade policy with the new 5.0 and MG release, but I still can't find anything like it. The "magic" of Whoop is that it allows you to pre-select certain behaviors that will appear in a daily journal. Each morning you take 30 seconds to check yes or no on these items, e.g. Did you consume added sugar yesterday? Did you eat a late meal? There are endless options. As times goes on, Whoop continues to show you how these behaviors are impacting your sleep so that you discover how far before bed you should stop eating, or what's the latest time of the day you can drink caffeine without it impacting your sleep (even though you may think it doesn't because you fall asleep quickly). I'm not trying to sound like an advertisement for Whoop, but I think most people evaluate Whoop without knowing what it really does. So when I run or hike I use my Ultra for reasons that don't overlap with Whoop. But the rest of the day, when wearing my SMP or Speedy, or when I sleep, I wear Whoop because it is providing overall health insights that I find valuable and have led to lifestyle changes that I may not have made otherwise--even as a person in great shape who works out six days a week.

I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. I hear this sentiment all the time, but my AW (both older one and a brand new ultra) are consistently recording about 10% over on laps. Usually I will swim 100 yards and take a rest then sets of 200 with a 1-2 min break between. I almost always have an extra lap recorded with each break. I have started to pause after each 200, but this isn’t ideal 25 yard pool, free, touch turns. About 1:40/100

Not a hard core trainer, but I had s imple Fitbit that lasted like a month, but because of that I had no "routine" to charge it and I'd often find myself with a dead fitbit and when I was finally thinking about it and in a position to charge, I'd then have to go searching for the adapter, (which was awkward and often didn't clip in correctly, so I'd wake up to a still dead fitbit. Vs my AWU which I drop on my charger stand after a wake up while I go do my morning ritual in teh bathroom, get dressed, etc. By the time I'me ready to head downstairs is fully charged, and its just part of my morning ritual. I have an Ultra so on teh days I can't it makes it through day two no issue TLDR - I actually find the routine of daily charging easier.

Apple watch Ultra works great. I think Surfr recently also improved their support for Garmin (which was not as good previously). You need to have the right band. The Ocean band is secure

Honestly? Obviously an Apple fanboy. Thing is, the awu is a great smartwatch. As a sports watch for real athletes it falls way short. My Suunto for instance tells me my CTL and ATL (how your training is going), gives you AI based coaching, offers more than 3x GPS recording time, offers various plug ins to undertake all manner of training from Cooper Tests to ultra marathon intensity scores and on and on it goes, all for one price, which is way less than half the cost of a product that needs additional apps to make it useful. Yes the awu is a step up for an Apple Watch but they’re years behind in fitness features. You need to be objective and not just ingest everything Apple is telling you.

I’ve been using training load feature - it’s rubbish and suitable only for kids. Of no use at all. No idea why people hype these features up as they’re so far behind real sports watches. Guess I’ll stick with Training Peaks..

OHR is fine but you need to wear it a little higher up from your wrist bone. Doing this I found the HR to be pretty good. Sleep tracking has been excellent. Better than my Apple Watch Ultra by a mile. Body battery = resources in Suunto. Same tech as used by Garmin and wearing my Garmin and the Race S gives the same results for me. Build quality is exceptional. This is my third Suunto and they’re the only watches I won’t sell on. Suunto app is fantastic with a ton of data and metrics.

FWIW I saw a huge jump in accuracy going from an S3 to AWU with dual-frequency GPS

I nave with Komoot, but record the actual ride with Apple fitness on my AWU. I record hikes, walks, strength training, indoor rowing, etc. all within Apple fitness. The one exception is snowboarding: Apple fitness doesn’t record a GPS track for the snowboarding activity, and I want to know what runs I’ve hit, so I record that directly on Strava.

Apple Watch Ultra. Syncs well with the rest of my ecosystem. Touch screen is terrible for swimming- but it gives me an excuse not to swim anyways!

I’ve had Apple Watch since the Series 2 (currently wearing an Ultra 2) and Garmin since the Vivoactive HR (currently wearing an Epix 2 Pro). For most of that time I’ve worn both devices (in my “I’m not crazy” defence for the first part of that time I was doing graduate research on wearable tech). I have a husky, so I’m out on local trails a lot for hours at a time. I trail run but have zero ambition to go further than 50k distances. I enjoy camping (usually no more than 3 nights). When I finally decided it was time to cut down to a single device the Apple Watch Ultra won. I do have to charge it when I’m on camping trips but that doesn’t bother me at all. I have a small portable battery with the Apple Watch mag charging dock built in. (It weighs 94 grams and is smaller than a Snickers bar. Charges the Ultra 2x.) Aside from multi night camping trips I’ve never once had a problem where I ran out of battery, including all day runs. The handful of apps I pay for on my Watch plus the cost of the Ultra itself doesn’t come close to the price of the new Fenix 8 (you can literally buy several models of MacBook for less than a Fenix 8). The only time I miss the Garmin is when I’m falling asleep listening to podcasts. Having a physical button to skip ahead through ads without opening my eyes was nice. For a long time I was really fixated on “muh data!” with the Garmin. There are a lot of fun metrics and charts which for whatever reason are a delight to look at. But when I started thinking about it, a lot of them are estimates based on estimates. And even if I assume they are accurate, they’re not meaningful to me. Is it fun to see my Hill Score go up? Absolutely! I even bought an incline sensor for my treadmill so I could have that “elevation” data factored in. But is that actionable in any way? Nope. It’s functionally useless to me.

Apple Watch + spigen case, haven’t had any issues over many years!

As an ultra runner with both a Garmin Fenix and AW, Garmin is by far superior for fitness and running metrics, but it’s the only time I wear it. For the rest of the day, I’m wearing my Apple Watch. I think for casual athletes, Apple is fine, but all the hardcore mountain & trail athletes, serious runners, and triathletes I know are all using Garmins or Coros.

As a fellow ‘elite’ runner, I agree with you in that AWU is getting more and more attractive as an alternative option - I was thrilled when they entered the game not only as an avid Apple-user, but in terms of having more competition for brands like Garmin that dominate the space and had gotten pretty stagnant over the last few watch iterations. However, Apple’s still sorely lacking in battery life (ultra runners like me could never realistically use an AWU), integrated/native GPS navigation (especially one that doesn’t destroy the battery), accessories for better accuracy and more data like the HRM-pro, and an app that’s geared for serious athletes who want all of the data. Trust me, I would love nothing more than to just have one watch, but for me Apple’s just not quite there yet (and as a woman, the ultra is also just way too big and bulky for my wrists, especially for things like sleep tracking) Excited to see how the next edition develops though! Planning on buying my husband, who is more of a recreation athlete, the new black Ultra for Christmas :) (also in the process of trading in my 8 for a new 10 haha)

It’s honestly why I’d probably keep my ‘old’ 10 at that point if I ever get an Ultra and just use it for sleeping since the 8 I have now doesn’t bother me at night - unless the future AWU3 has a way thinner profile (unlikely due to battery needs)

I don't see a whole lot of other Apple Watches at Ironman events, but I've had various models since 2019. The Ultra has the battery life to get through everything up to a 70.3 with plenty of juice to spare. (I've actually done a full with one as well, which required a little bit of help to get through the 140 miles.) I can link the watch to the power meter on my bike, and my data has always been accurate on my rides and runs. I have the cellular model, and it's a great peace of mind to go out and leave my phone at home. I know if something comes up, I can call my wife for rescue on my watch. Only real complaint is the lack of structured workouts with swims. For bike rides and runs, I can import workouts from TrainingPeaks. But swimming in general leaves a lot to be desired compared to what Garmin offers.

I don't see a whole lot of other Apple Watches at Ironman events, but I've had various models since 2019. The Ultra has the battery life to get through everything up to a 70.3 with plenty of juice to spare. (I've actually done a full with one as well, which required a little bit of help to get through the 140 miles.) I can link the watch to the power meter on my bike, and my data has always been accurate on my rides and runs. I have the cellular model, and it's a great peace of mind to go out and leave my phone at home. I know if something comes up, I can call my wife for rescue on my watch. Only real complaint is the lack of structured workouts with swims. For bike rides and runs, I can import workouts from TrainingPeaks. But swimming in general leaves a lot to be desired compared to what Garmin offers.

I have experience with Garmin and Apple. Go back and forth to between the 2… I wish I was just ok with wearing my Garmin while exercising then Apple the rest of the day but that would render most of Garmins metrics useless since it’s not getting the whole picture by measuring 24/7. The fact is with 3rd party support the AWU can do everything the Garmin can do only limited by battery. And then the Apple Watch can do so much more beyond fitness & tracking. I really like Garmin connect and the monthly challenges, they encourage me to run/bike/walk and many other things. Apple challenges and rings are such a joke. I hate that you can change the ring goals to whatever you want, to me that takes the challenge away. Also the stand ring is pointless to anyone that trains daily and is active. I’ve been using my AWU lately and then syncing data over to Garmin connect via rungap app and that works pretty good, just not as seamless.

Every single time. Calories, yards, time are pretty much all I use/ need

It didn’t always; the enhancement came a couple years ago.

I’ve been using one for the past 4 years; first the 6 and then the Ultra. No significant problem with front crawl or keyboard, but I have had trouble with accurate reading on backstroke.

I have been using an Apple Watch for the last four years. I started with an Apple Watch 6, and upgraded to the ultra a couple of years ago. For my swims, the ultra provides no advantage, so if you’re going to get an Apple Watch, just get the regular one and you should be fine.

I have an Apple Watch with LTE. I do receive calls while I’m swimming, though I must say I don’t ever take them!

Apple Watch Ultra. Tracks pool lengths and time and I’ve found it to work for most strokes.

I’ve been using it for swimming over the last six years, about 300 times a year, and it works well for me. I can count on one hand the number of times that it has glitched.

I have both a AWU and a fenix 5s and I have almost the opposit feeling on all of them. * prefer the garmin UI and in particular mechanical buttons when doing sports or being wet. * faces and quality feeling is the same for me. Prefer garmin notifications to the AWU ones. * my banks (not us) were easier to connect to garmin pay than apple pay. * you can’t compare battery life if you try to be anything close to fair. Perhaps if I maximize battedrain for the garmin and minimize it for the Apple watch theyll be on par? * activity tracking (running and cycling) are superior on garmin both during the activity and when reviewing the stats afterwards. Etc etc. Just goes to show that people value different things.

Chasing the summit has a video where he does an ultra marathon with an Apple Watch Ultra the battery last 16 hours.

As someone who had every single Apple Watch between the series 3 and the Ultra 1....it's not a real sports watch, don't try to make it one. Get the best Garmin watch you can. It's the gold standard among runners and cyclists and its compatibility with a wide variety of apps, sensors, and devices is unparalleled.

I could write a book about this topic, you have no idea how much time I've spent playing with both my Apple Watch Ultra and Garmin Fenix 8 and their respective software apps (Health and Connect). I own both. Long story short, neither are perfect. Here's my opinion per your categories: * Daily activity (steps, calories, heart rate) - Apple wins here. The HR sensor on the Apple Watch is just better. Apple Health does a MUCH better job of aggregating activities and accurately accounting for calories. * Sleep tracking. Garmin wins here, no question. Why? Battery life of the Fenix means I don't have to charge it overnight and therefore much more likely to wear it to sleep. I get 20 days of battery on my Fenix, and I ride my bike every single day. * Recovery metrics (Body Battery, HRV, etc.). Garmin superior here. * VO2Max and training guidance. Garmin blows away Apple. Apple does a poor job of tracking Vo2Max and doesn't have distinct running and cycling vo2 max like Garmin does. In fact, Apple Health won't even estimate your vo2 max unless you go for an outdoors run...it completely ignores any other activity including cycling. Clarity of data and presentation: Apple is just better. They understand UI and navigation, Garmin is piss-poor at this. Other apps to track: Yes, Strava. To me it is a ecosystem-agnostic tool that does a great job of tracking my long-term performance. Subscription not required but IMHO its worth it. Summary: the Garmin hardware is better, more premium-feeling, and its screens and metrics are tuned more for athletes. Apple's software (Health) is 100x better than Garmin's awful Connect, it also does a better job of tracking things like medications, and non-fitness related health aspects. The good news is that Garmin workouts/inputs captured on Garmin devices can feed to Apple Health as well as Connect so you can get the best of both worlds. The biggest drawback to Apple is that its ecosystem is much more closed, it doesn't like to share Apple Watch HR data for example, and it's really more of a smartwatch (still) than a true fitness watch like the Fenix, but Apple is definitely closing the gap each year.

Garmin isn’t for you since the stuff you want so bad you’re already getting from the ultra. I have both watches and no the ultra is not better than the 8 in the fit and finish department. I prefer the 8 over the ultra 2. If you’re gonna compare the battery at least compare it to the 47 which will smoke the ultra. I’m selling my ultra because I got tired of charging it every other day. Now with 51mm I can go almost 2 weeks and yes I always have the AOD on at all times.

It’s all about the battery for me. My wife loves her Apple Watch Ultra but I can’t figure out why the damn thing is so expensive when it essentially has to be charged every 36 hrs.

I like the Ultra + Woo app.  While I have the Ocean band I prefer the Solo band for kiting and swimming. Personal preference OP. Being able to phone for help is nice third layer of safety in some of the spots I go.

J'ai une Apple Watch Ultra, une Garmin Instinct 2 Solar, une Suunto Vertical et eu un Fenix 6 Pro Solar! L'Apple Watch Ultra avec son magnifique écran, son titane et son interface très aboutie n'arrive pas à la cheville des 3 autres montres question sport, incluant la Garmin Instinct 3 avec son écran LCD des années 80's c'est pour dire! Quand j'entends que l'AWU rivalise avec une Fenix 8 c'est soit de la mauvaise foi d'Apple Fan soit des personnes qui ne pratiquent pas de sport, bien sur en utilisation montre connectée l'AWU est géniale mais un peu chère pour cette utilisation non ? Question autonomie, je recharge mon AWU tous les deux jours et je ne fais rien avec, quelques notifications, le SPO2 la nuit, écran éteint, pas de musique. 2 jours pour juste surveiller mon rythme cardiaque, mon O2 la nuit et quelques notifications on ne peut pas dire qu'Apple s'est foulé question optimisation d'autonomie. Pour le sport environ entre une et deux heures par jour avec GPS j'utilise mes autres tocantes, je reçois aussi mes notifications, j'ai des métriques à gogo et je recharge tous les 10 ou 12 jours pour la Suunto et 15 jours la Garmin. Conclusion des mes comparaisons : L'AWU est superbe, un écran magnifique, une interconnectivité avec l'iPhone parfaite (bien sur), une qualité de construction irréprochable, des capteurs précis il faut le dire mais c'est vraiment tout! j'ai eu beau me forcer à l'utiliser en sport, randonnée, marche et musculation en ce qui me concerne c'est trop compliqué, il faut des applis tierces pour arriver à juste essayer de se rapprocher des applis natives Garmin ou Suunto et je reste sur ma fin à chaque fois. Il faut penser à recharger tous les jours (si sport) bref.... je suis désolé mais APPLE est à des années lumière de Garmin et même Suunto en utilisation sportive.

Apple Watch Ultra wearing. Love it and it seems to match up with machine data

Apple Watch Ultra certified to 100m. I have not personally tested that claim.

I first had AWU and the Athlytic. Trying Whoop 4.0 right now and I don’t seem to understand why would I switch, it is very similar with no subscription w AW

I think it is worth it.  I have an Apple Watch Ultra, a Garmin forerunner 265, and COROS Pace 3 and have _enjoyed them all_.  I prefer the Garmin because I do not view it as a smart watch, which requires extra "management effort (charging, planning notifications and complexity) and I think Garmin as a platform and experience are more mature when compared to COROS. I think all three of those companies have watch features that work great for motivating people to stay healthy and motivated.  Hope my perspective helps 👍

When I was researching which fitness watch to buy, everything I read said that I should get a Garmin if I'm really serious about fitness. Now that I've tried both, I have to say that I totally disagree for one big reason: cellular. The ability to go out for a run, walk, bike ride or hike with *only* my Apple Watch Ultra makes the watch, IMO, the best fitness watch on the market. (I say specifically the Ultra because of the better battery). I go out for runs about five days a week. One or two of those days I do trail runs. For safety reasons, I want to have some sort of cellular connection. But Garmin expects me to bring my phone with me? No thanks. I *love* the freedom of running without a phone. I know Garmin comes with some features built in that Apple doesn't have, but I've been able to replicate many of them with third party apps. But there's one things Garmin can't do... and that's cellular! Edit: Also I realize that this post probably won't be an "unpopular opinion" in this subreddit, but it would be in a lot of others. Hence the title.

Good point on the UI. I think the only thing Garmin has that I'm jealous of is (1) better battery and (2) more physical buttons that actually do stuff.

Rumor has it the U3 *could* be announced in September. I would wait at this point to see what happens. If it's not announced this year though, I wouldn't wait *another* year for the U3. I have the U2 and it's fantastic. Most people will tell you it's no different than the U1 but for me it's worth the upgrade just to be able to use Siri without my phone or an internet connection. But if you don't care about that, then you can buy a used U1 for a great discount

Because of this i am wearing na Apple Watch Ultra on my left wrist for the smartwatch functions And an Garmin Watch on my right wrist for the best health metrics. The garmin measures your heart every sec. 24/7 where the Apple Watch does this every 5 minutes for a few seconds. Also does the Garmin measures stress, that Apple can’t. And also the body battery feature is One of my favorite.

Accuracy of the apple watch is significantly lower - theres a third party, peer reviewed journal article somewhere that says as much. I can confirm, I’ve had an Apple Watch Ultra and whoop for 2+ years.

I'm going to be the person who would question why you need a different watch for tracking fitness when your current watch does the job. Does the Apple Watch not have lap pacing? I've only ever had Apple Watches (currently on the Ultra) but reckon I'd probably be able to get away with just the regular Apple watch. I know a fair few people with Garmin watches but for general running / cycling they seem to have feature parity? I run and cycle long distances and never had a problem, it connects to my chest HRM, and even if I run it parallel to my cycle computer it basically gives me the exact same data. The only thing I can think your Apple Watch won't do is the recovery / load tracking but that's already available in the WatchOS beta for Sept / Oct release.

If it’s battery life during activities that’s the issue then using a chest mounted HR monitor really helps - I think optical HR monitoring on the wrist takes a lot of energy. Obviously day to day it’s far from the other fitness focused watches but I don’t mind because I like the other features. I’m probably going to run this one until it can’t get me through my longest activities then get whatever ultra is available then.

I have 10 months left on a 2Y subscription + $150 invested in 4.0 bands + $40 for a spare charger. I considered 5.0 for the $49 upgrade fee (thought it was going to be free when I signed up) and another $49 for a non-black band. Then realized that's effectively $10/mo more out of pocket for the 14 day battery life... And another year for $240 ($20/mo feels quite steep for these metrics now). I'll stick with the 4.0 (\~3 day battery currently) until my subscription runs out and go over to Apple Watch Ultra. Regrettable.

On par if not better than Garmin. Apple really made progress in the running department, many pros athletes are actually using it. 

Previously I used the Apple Watch Ultra with the MySwimPro app (one of the best apps I’ve ever used). Now use the Form Goggles v2 which are also awesome.

Apple ultra for fitness, running and sleeping. It really is amazing at what it does.

Ultra works wonders for me, and I am a  serious track runner

The thing to understand is Apple Health, which is the name of the app that collects Apple Watch data. You setup Strava to import data from Apple Health. Once done, just use Strava for run tracking and Apple Watch for data collection. I had a Garmin Forerunner 935 before my Apple Watch Ultra. The Ultra is better all the way around. There’s nothing the Garmin did better except battery life. I get almost 2 days out of the Ultra which is sufficient. My wife just bought a newest model Apple Watch and it lasts all day even with tracking her at the gym and during dog walks. You can track a 5:30 marathon with a five year old Apple Watch if you put it in low power mode.

But nobody say what garmin works with messages better of do it APW with same iPhone. I switched APW to Fenix namely this reason. I dont miss any whats app call or telegram call or messages from it with fenix. But AWU at all is very very good thing, especially if calls and messages from all messengers not matter for you (I apologize in advance for my English)

Just dont fall for Apple Watch Ultra. It’s a beautiful watch but it is not a sports watch.

I bought it couple of months ago, it is not a sports watch. I have had Garmin Fenix 3 for some 7-8 years and I think in some ways it is still superior to Ultra. Until it can mark a lap/segment manually while swimming, I don’t think it can be considered a sports watch. It can’t show the training segment goal (like in which target HR zone you should be). You can’t customize screens so that you don’t have to scroll between 3 screens via touch screen while running/cycling. Hopefully new WatchOS solves some of these pains, but right now it is not a serious sports watch.

If Garmin is just a sports watch, why doesn’t it stick to MIP displays with a cheaper price? MIP is obviously a much better option, widely recognized by most serious sports users. Why incorporate features like AMOLED, a touch screen, waiting on LTE, and Garmin Pay? It doesn’t really make sense, as a SPORTS WATCH, does it? I'm not going to lie either, I was a loyal Garmin Fenix user for over a decade, starting with the Fenix 1, 3, 5, and the last one of Epix Pro Gen 2. Now, I’ve switched to an AWU, and with the release of the Fenix 8, I doubt I’ll ever go back to Garmin. It’s true that the AW lagged behind Garmin in terms of sports functionality a decade ago, but things have changed dramatically since then. Every point made by OP is valid, as a SPORTS USER! In simple terms, Garmin seems to be stuck in the past, and while Garmin and its users may claim it’s a "sport watch," they don’t acknowledge that this has led to a growing divide with competitors like Apple. Last but not least, battery! That's the only thing Apple insists on, and Garmin can take pride in, even equipped with an AMOLED screen. With Epix Pro Gen2, 47mm, always on, all activities and GPS, 5 days guaranteed, which AWU can never reach.

I had an AW Ultra and currently have a Tactix AMOLED. One is a toy, one is a tool.

Im using Apple Watch Ultra

Mas isso não novidade o garmin sempre foi um aborto tipo ms dos quando comparado com o Apple Watch Ultra , entendo ser comprado por quem ou não sabe trabalhar com um awu ou acha que é mais desportivo ter o que os outros tem , menus horríveis , vários softwares  para quê, até agora o look horrível , sinceramente acho que nem com este 8 convence quem tem um ultra . O awu faz coisas fantásticas  , já tive corus vertix , suunto ambit 1,2,3 ,vector ,x10 etc etc inclusive garmin 310xt e nada se aproxima do awu.

I can only speak for runners and from my limited knowledge within my group of running friends. They all have their coaches who would plan their running schedule for them. No one really uses all the training load or coaching stuff that Garmin has. Are you going to relax and do recovery runs instead of following your training plan just because your Garmin told you you had a bad sleep? Most of us are no. We rather just get it done with. I dunno is it similar for other more serious runners? They all use it the same way my Apple Watch Ultra is capable of, like custom workouts setup, track mode, and Stryd pod integration, which Apple Watch 1 issue I dislike is unable to see GPS and Stryd data metrics at the same time. Maybe the battery life is the biggest plus for Garmin; otherwise, I myself am struggling for a reason to get a 965 to replace my AWU1.

I've been swimming with an Apple watch for years. It has done me well; I currently have the Apple Watch Ultra, because I also scuba with it. My daughter swims competitively, and uses the Apple Watch SE. It has also worked well for her. Those are the two extremes of the pricing spectrum, and when it comes to tracking the swim, they function the same. We both use the built-in Apple Fitness for tracking. It does well except in very specific scenarios, eg, if I do a set with fins and my stroke count is halved, the distance might not be correct for those laps.

As someone who owned the following devices in order: Forerunner 745, AWU, Forerunner 965 and recently ordered the AWU2, my opninion is as follows: Garmin only beets AW in 2 points: battery life( by alot, like 10+ days on the 965) and the off the shelf fitness experience) With third party apps the second point becomes irrelevant. So it’s basically battery life vs smartwatch. As someone who works out between 4 - 6 times a week and is a tech enthusiast AWU is the better choice. I can‘t speak for the standard AW even though i believe as long as you don‘t plan on multi hour activities the AW would still take it. Edit: Since a lot of people asked about my favourite apps, here we go. There are only two since I try to not overcomplicate things. 1) Workoutdoors By far the best training app I used across any device. Takes some time to get familiar with but lets you customize screens for any activity you can imagine. 10/10 would download again. 2) Athlytic Gives you all the information about training load, fatigue etc. I would say it mimics Garmins metrics quiet nicely. 7/10 since it is a monthly subscription. Also I believe that as a hobby athlete the data is nice but listening to my body is far more reliable then the fatigue metrics. And reps, pace and/or distance are still the best values to measure progress.

I swim with my Apple Watch Ultra all the time. It vibrates for the phone but I’m not going way underwater.

I have an Apple Watch Ultra. It’s better, but still not accurate. I’d rate it around 80%. This is why i still count strokes/laps in my head.

Glad I cancelled. Enjoyable device, but needs to be a fraction of its current price, not more. Wearing my Apple Watch Ultra has been close enough, once I found the right band (titanium Milanese loop).

I think the battery life is the main issue of the AW. Fitness features are constantly improving but the fact that it’s also a “mini” iPhone means a high battery consumption. The Ultra is only a bit better in that department but is bulky and expensive

I think the battery life is the main issue of the AW. Fitness features are constantly improving but the fact that it’s also a “mini” iPhone means a high battery consumption. The Ultra is only a bit better in that department but is bulky and expensive

Agreed. I own an Apple Watch Ultra, a garmin instinct, an aura ring and a whoop. There is no perfect fitness tracker, they all have pros and cons. People who give a black and white “x is better than y” always get a raised eyebrow from me.

The lesson I’ve learned this year from moving to Coros is - incredibly - an Apple Watch with Strong app is light years ahead of the ‘sport’ watches for strength training. Or 5x5 app. This kind of blows my mind 😂🤷‍♂️

I agree, I have an Epix Pro and an AWU, I wear my AWU 98% of the time, I only wear my Epix for big adventures when I need off the grid comprehensive mapping with GPX files. The AWU is more dynamic and adaptable.

Ich habe die gleiche Erfahrung gemacht. Alle schreien immer wie toll die Akkulaufzeit an der Garmin ist. Vergleich AWu mit EPIX pro 2: Oxygen an, Always on display an, Ich höre bei jeder Laufeinheit Musik. Dual Band an, kein SatIQ. Die Garmin zeigt mir jedes Mal nach dem Aufladen 14 Tage an. Prima. Erfahrung: Nach 3-4 Tagen ist die Uhr schon unter 20%. Die Apple Watch Ultra hält rund 2-3 Tage. Ich lade aber sowieso jeden Tag nach dem Aufstehen, bis ich das Haus verlassen. Das sind meist rund 30 Minuten. Dazu kommt, dass die AWU die Möglichkeit hat, zu telefonieren. Apple Pay, Garmin Pay ist wohl eher ein Witz. Und auch die sonstigen Funktionen braucht man gar nicht erwähnen. Der Unterschied der Batterielaufzeit ist wirklich nicht so groß, wie hier immer behauptet wird.

Been using my Apple Ultra with Athlytic along with my whoop in comparison for the last 4-5months just incase whoop pulled this with the upgrade. Athlytic largely gets you all the data whoop does so they just made very easy mentally for me to cancel

Look at some YT tests, it's one of the most accurate watches out there. Looks great and the battery handles full distance IM. Also perfect if you own an iPhone, only downside is the price

Why do you need manual laps? I swim with it and it does the laps very acvurately for me. When jogging/cycling you can switch between screens and some of them have the zones as well and you can set your default zones. The only thing is the customization yeah, but that's an overall issue with apple products, but they're doing it more and more customizable on the iPhone and I believe the watch is not far behind

I use the Apple Watch Ultra but I also have a Garmin Epix 2, both of them work fine: * Garmin: * Health and fitness metrics: Garmin will give you a lot of metrics (maybe too many if you are not training a lot) (Body battery, HRV, stress levels...) * Physical buttons: works better with sweat and rain than a tactile screen. * Haptics: very useful for running series. * Battery: 10x the battery of an Apple Watch * Android: if you do not have an iphone this the one to go * Apple: * Apple Ecosystem: works great with your Iphone, Airpods, Apple Pay etc * Health and fitness metrics: with the new update it gives you some metrics that will determine how tired you are, how was your sleep etc (for me these are more than enough)

I have used both Apple and Garmin, I prefer the Apple and I know this makes me opposite of most but Garmin is lacking in sleep accuracy, the HR during activities is questionable (recommend a HR strap for good data) and a lot of the features they have for heath and wellness are more gimmicks than actual relevant data. With the plethora of apps you can choose from with apple you can customize the data you want to receive. You would be giving up battery life but with the new Ultra I get 3 days, I was using the FR265 where I was only getting 5 so it really wasn't a huge difference for me.

I would add that apple measures heart rate continuously during all activities.

I’m in a very similar position and thought I’d weigh in with the discussion. I too have a SMP300 seaweed (great choice OP) and I also have a Tudor BB41 Monochrome. I daily an Apple Watch Ultra (I work in a GMP environment meaning no jewellery other than a plain wedding band) which I typically keep in a pocket when moving around GMP areas (still tracks steps - unsure how accurate). Once I’ve closed my move ring, I celebrate by putting on something a bit smarter. So this motivates me to use the gym or hit 10k steps early in the day to wear my nicer pieces for longer. Your mileage will vary with this of course. Some days I can run before 9am and close my rings. Some days I close them at 9pm and only get an hour or two wear of my nicer timepieces. Edit: I’ve considered a whoop but there’s been a bit of controversy with them recently regarding “free lifetime upgrades” and then a fee to update from 4.0 to 5.0. Also, I do like the badges / awards on the Apple Watch and I am unsure how the whoop would work in a pocket, or maybe if have to try the bicep strap when in GMP areas. https://preview.redd.it/8aw988xhmr3f1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d1d643ae8484091f7557a7e22ab17a26052255e

I have the Apple Watch Ultra and it records kick drills just fine for me.

I’m going into my 3rd year with the AW Ultra and it’s been great. I wouldn’t go back to a regular AW. Nor do I feel like I’m missing anything I need compared to Garmin, Coros, etc. The lack of dedicated lap button and precision start was a huge pain point on the regular AW. The better battery life and GPS is also nice. But as a runner, the lap button is the real deal differentiator. It’s a pain taking splits on a touchscreen otherwise.

I tried the Watch Ultra and I'm sad to say I didn't like it as much as my Garmin Fenix 7x sapphire. So I'm selling the Ultra and sticking with Garmin. 1. Battery life 2. Quality/durability of the watch 3. Accuracy 4. Flashlight 5. Overall feel on my wrist

Try a used Apple Watch 7 first. See if you use the features of the watch enough. Buy extra chargers , since u have to charge it daily. The Apple Watch 8, 9, ultra and ultra 2 is not going to be massively different from the 7. When you are frustrated with daily charging or charging every 2 days, then u will be ready for ur first Garmin. May I suggest the forerunner series 165, 265 , 965. Software is well supported for 4-6 years easily. Battery life is 7-10 days from new, and even if u use it frequently, since you are only charging it every 7-10 days, ur battery health is going to be good and the decay won’t be as much as the Apple Watch. 5 yrs later your battery life will degrade to 4-7 days -> still double or triple that of a brand new Apple Watch battery life.

I have the Ultra… as a gift. It might be overkill for my/your needs but “we” got it to monitor my heart/AFib. It actually woke me up in the middle of the night last week because my HR was below 40 **(33!)** for ten minutes. You can add tennis 🎾 to the fitness tracker.

Look at what Garmin offers. I’ve gone back and forth between Apple and Garmin, including the Apple Watch Ultra, and Apple just hasn’t caught up to Garmin for fitness tracking. The compatibility with their other accessories for cycling like power meter pedals and computers is great. Might now have a need now but you’ll be thankful later. Apple battery life is also terrible. My wife has an Apple Watch and forgot the charger for a 2 day trip so we had to stop and buy one. Even an overnight trip would have been too much for Apple to handle. My Garmin goes for a month.

I used my Apple Watch Ultra for a race last weekend and with automatic transitions enabled, it never transitioned from T2 to run, showed it being in T2 the entire run. I am going to try manual transitions next time unless anyone has a suggestion as to what went wrong?

I used the ultra for two years and switched to Coros- data wise apple was great and accurate for what I needed. As always is said, it was battery life that lost me. With much better battery life, I probably would have stayed with the ultra.

Apple Watch Ultra + Bevel is the only thing I’ve found that’s close. Garmin is a great fitness tracker with great battery life. But, from my experience a lot of the metrics like training readiness have an impact from your sleep. But, after about 4 months of testing the Sleep Tracking is noticeably worse than both AW and Whoop. Which in turn makes some of the metrics feel like bullshit. All great devices but I think for accuracy and versatility AWU/Bevel. If you want a smaller form factor with pretty accurate data/sensors Whoop is a good pivot.

Apple Watch Ultra for timers. Had zero problems.

AW Ultra is enough for any sport if you are hobby sportsman and if you are okay with battery. Why you want to change? And to question: first of all you must choose between AMOLED and MIP. I recommend Fenix 7 PRO, 8, Instinct 3 or Forerunner 955.

You can try this:  https://testflight.apple.com/join/UsxwxjJh Swimming Lap Tracker It works best with ultra but uses rotation of the crown on non ultra watch.

Firstly you need to set it up to use action button in Watch settings. Then you need to launch the app with the action button, press start swim, and then a tap on action button should register a lap. If you don’t launch the app with the action button it doesn’t work sometimes in the app to count laps. Also, the timings are a bit unreliable. This is assuming you have ultra watch (Apple doesn’t allow third party apps to use the hardware buttons in non ultra watches) And thinking of adding a stop button but currently using pause resume which is pressing 2 buttons at once

This is what I am thinking especially since the ultra now tracks strain, waiting for WWDC in case they release a new one. Just don’t like the whole screen thing. But whoop has become a joke.

I'm a non serious track runner that got an ultra on the cheap cheap. I love it. The track feature is awesome.

I have the Apple Watch Ultra and had Series before it (including the 4). I recently did a 70.3 after forgetting to charge it the night before and still ended up with 55% battery life remaining. I wouldn't trust a Series to last for a 70.3. I think the best point that you make is in regards to "already having the Apple Watch" or at least how the watch fits in with the rest of your life. If I wanted a watch solely for an Ironman, it would be a Garmin, but for the rest of everything I do, the Apple Watch Ultra makes more sense. Even for training, the ecosystem on the Apple Watch gives me apps and connectivity that are lacking on other watches, which make it worthwhile. Especially useful are the FindMy and Focus modes for when my wife is trying to reach me.

I have the Apple Watch ultra too, and the gen three ring. I use my Apple Watch a lot more and I sleep with it on. You don’t care about fitness tracking which is perfectly understandable, but personally, I do prefer the Apple Watch because I like getting notifications and stuff. But it seems like the rain would do most of the stuff you wanted to do and it would’ve better battery life. It might be less accurate to be fair, but I don’t notice massive differences in the sleep tracking data from my ring and from my Apple Watch.

Just to play devil’s advocate - w/ the Apple Watch Ultra I’m down to about 50% a day (with all features-including always on display turned on, so you can probs get even longer) so plugging it for about a 10 min shower per day keeps me charged without really thinking about it. You can get a pretty good deal on an ultra if you go refurbished too. Tracking can be really good if you use an HRV tracking app like CHIPR

I hear you - the charge on those is sick. Just stating how somebody can make it work w/the slightly longer charge on the Ultra (relative to other Apple Watches(

Everybody’s motivation level varies so much. For me the Garmin is to collect, analyze data so I can run faster during the races. 255 is an excellent runners watch that can grow with you all the way to marathons. But if you want it just for occasional training and are more into smartwatch like features, Apple does an excellent job there. With Garmin, you get excellent battery life, great support for running and other sports but not much else. I ran with a Garmin and Apple Ultra at the same time so I don’t have to carry the phone. Good luck in your decision

It will be even better once the OS update comes with actual fitness tracking

Training load/Sleep stress

Similar here. Picked up the fenix 8 the other day. Selling both AWU and fenix 7SS. The fenix 8's mic and speaker, and diving functionality actually replaces three of my devices. I have a dive watch, but will hang on to that for redundancy.

Sorry to say this but none of that is true. You can easily customize the screens and get exactly the infos you need. You can easily see in which zone you currently are and you can also set specific goals for your next workout and the Apple watch will inform you perfectly during your workout wether you’re hitting your goals or not. And the lack of manual zoning for different swim styles is imho not needed, because your watch recognizes your swimming style for every lap separately and sets it as segments automatically. And with the current version, it can even remove the need for a cycling computer.

Sure! Here’s a tutorial on how to setup custom workouts. I use it mostly to set specific paces (especially for PRs), so the watch will tell me exactly whether I’m on time or not. But there are many more customizing-functions: [YouTube tutorial to setup custom workouts](https://youtu.be/J2f6vK0ebxs?si=KZlwK00-sh83CAxQ) And here is the support guide to setup custom data screens: [Custom data Screens](https://support.apple.com/en-sg/guide/watch/apd72879df4d/watchos) If you still have your Apple Watch Ultra, I would definitely recommend trying it. I definitely prefer it over the Garmin stuff. Only downside is the battery, but I just have a magnetic tripple charger next to my bed where iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch can charge, which makes it very convenient (at least to me).

My AWU can get close enough to a Garmin with WorkOurDoors app to satisfy my needs - mid-pack runner who peaks at 50k for now. There’s no Garmin that can come close to AWU for all the other stuff. Wallet, car key, door key, garage door opener, calls/text, music, podcasts. If I can get my lazy ass to the longer distances, I’ll need to get a Garmin solely for the battery life. Not sure it would last for a 50 miler, and not a chance it’ll last for 100.

I use both. AWU hr data, garmin marq with garmin he strap. Cadence, hr, pace are virtually the same, AWU a bit more conservative

I use the default workout app. Lately i use Watchletic, as it downloads trainings from the training app Trenara, the latter is insanely good. I use both watches as I have both. Awu for music, lte and afib, during exercice i prefer garmin (workout page is very readable). Music on garmin is a pain

Well, it is not necessary, but definitely it helps. I’d recommend you to buy at least some basic Garmin Forerunner - it doesn’t cost much, has a decent battery life and is light. Regarding AW, for marathon, you should buy ultra, which is a lot of money. Whoops is more an add-on than running tracker. It’s not very comfortable to run with a phone and the watch shows live metrics, which is very useful. So yes, you should.

All of my family have apple watches. The fall detect works well but can give false positives but you just tell it you didn’t fall and that you are ok - assuming that you are indeed ok. Also, you can just tell Siri to call 911. That is why I got them for my husband and in the first place. Also, I am a medic and moved to the ultra version because it will last thru a full shift and has a bit bigger face so easier to compute med doses on it and do other fx. It is more pricey but IMO, worth it.

All of my family have apple watches. The fall detect works well but can give false positives but you just tell it you didn’t fall and that you are ok - assuming that you are indeed ok. Also, you can just tell Siri to call 911. That is why I got them for my husband and in the first place. Also, I am a medic and moved to the ultra version because it will last thru a full shift and has a bit bigger face so easier to compute med doses on it and do other fx. It is more pricey but IMO, worth it.

Apple watch ultra is a solid device and the Fenix 8 is not a better deal unless you want some very specific uses, care about battery, which you do not seem to. So yeah if you don't like the watch feel or if you don't think it gives you anything relevant, enduring Garmin software is not worth it. Better to return it and keep the Apple.

I use my Apple Watch Ulta to track runs, I have a bike computer & power meter pedals so don’t need a watch for that activity and swimming with just goggles and the clock at the pool would be fine. So basically use my watch for just runs, I couldn’t structure my bike workouts without power data. I know my Apple Watch kind of sucks on run data though, cadence is correct 0% of the time and pace/distance is normally close outside and always off by a bit inside.

Other than the Fennix 7, nothing Garmin has compares with the sensor quality Apple has in the latest models. It was around the 8 that Apple surpassed Garmin with fitness tracking accuracy and with the Ultra and 19 or 10 they surpassed it with location accuracy as well. Garmin will still win with battery life and I’ll rather keep my watch for the QOL benefits, for me it’s mainly unlocking my Mac, the odd payment and some other health metrics that I specifically use the watch for. I’ll answer a call if I’m too lazy to walk back to my phone. The eSIM support is handy for me to be able to leave my phone at home without the safety hit of being completely offline. I have tested the fall detection already, obviously not intentionally, not sure if Garmin has something like that, but it would the also require a phone to be of any real use in an emergency. I’ll be upgrading my ultra next year if the rumoured Blood pressure and sugar monitoring come out. I am hypertensive so that would be very useful to track if it gets worse

I got the ultra pretty much exclusively for a lap button, hated double tapping the screen or doing the two button thing.

It monitors HRV but doesn't interpret it.

Same for me man, always lose count after a few laps when I get lost in my thoughts while swimming. I prefer Apple Watches as they are more comfortable to use but my god, the Ultra is a UNIT and definitely not comfortable to wear. Using the Swim 2 is horror as it doesn't have a touchscreen and you always have to sync for a minute with your phone to see your activities. If money isn't an issue, I'd go for the best Apple Watch with the best strap.

I think the lines are being blurred a bit now with Apple’s upcoming WatchOS11. Lots of the same features that Garmin has had are now native to the Apple Watch without the use of apps. Obviously battery life will be a huge talking point but other than that, I see the Apple Watch Ultra being a far better all around watch tbh.

Basically any modern smartwatch will do this. Your axes of choice are ecosystem, battery life, and price. The basic Apple Watch will do what you want, but because you’re using the GPS, the battery will be dead mid-day. I do not recommend any Apple Watch but the Ultra for an athlete or active person because of the awful battery life. If you want something cheaper than the Ultra, I’d look at the Coros Pace and cheaper Garmin Forerunner options. They’ll both cost about half and are really good products with roughly 5-10x battery life vs the basic Apple Watch.

Oh wow I didn’t know the Ultra 2 also had that issue. Honestly after getting a garmin watch, I don’t think I can go back.

I used a regular and Apple Watch Ultra for a while. The charging actually didn’t bother me at all. I would charge when I showered and it was fine for the day and night. The thing that bothered me was the lack of buttons. It’s a lot harder to start/stop/lap workouts. The metrics that Garmin gives you are also great, though I understand you can now get them on an Apple Watch and through third-party apps.

Yes, I’ve switched between using an AWU and Garmin. If it’s me doing 200m repeats, yeah, I don’t care about the drift at all. But I can see where serious sprinters do care.

Whoop isn’t the best from any standpoint, except arguably charging. I would argue Apple Watch is the best for the gym if for no other reason than the diversity of apps available - the default workout app is great but you also have Strong, FitBod, and countless others with a huge variety of features and user experiences.

I am an AWU → Garmin Fenix convert and have done pretty extensive testing with both, and against dedicated sensors. I have found for basically all metrics where the watch sensors are the source, the Apple Watch is more accurate when compared against the Garmin watch, although dedicated sensors are more accurate than both. I haven’t tried the Garmin chest strap or dynamics pod, but I have compared to a Polar H10 for HR and a Stryd pod for running dynamics. It’s always H10/Stryd > Apple Watch > Garmin. The discrepancy is much higher for HR than running dynamics. I think it is straight up irresponsible to rely on wrist-based HR is you’re using HR as a part of training, but the running dynamics from both watches are more than good enough for most people.

I stopped wearing my apple watch ultra with climbing. The calorie tracker is pretty useless. But most of all i needed to wear a wrist widget because of injuries 😂

I use the Apple Watch Ultra. The only annoying thing is it's centered on Movement so steps are a bit hidden and take some time to find. I'm not sure why this is but I suppose a more wholistic view of movement works, too. I had a fancy Garmin watch before and found it more accurate and somehow cooler, but since I'm already part of the Apple ecosystem I opted for the AWU to better connect with my myriad of apps and utilities. The interesting thing is I have a general sense of how many steps I take, so the need to hit certain targets is not as pressing if that makes sense. It's like calorie counting in a way, you can do it for a while, and then you should have a good sense if you're going over, under, or around maintenance without needing to plug away at certain inputs and analyze corresponding outputs.

Especially for outdoors stuff, i tried the apple watch ultra for diving, it’s ok but you can’t use it at all once in the water, with the descent i can use all the functions no problem. Not to mention i can use it with gloves etc etc. The vibration motor though feels totally primitive compared to apple’s 😅

There's a setting on the apple watch so that if you press the crown and the side button at the same time it will pause the run. I typically use healthfit to export apple workouts to other apps like strava. I've never had a problem with battery (unless running for over 4 hours maybe), but switched to the ultra last year which could probably last for a much much longer run.

There's a setting on the apple watch so that if you press the crown and the side button at the same time it will pause the run. I typically use healthfit to export apple workouts to other apps like strava. I've never had a problem with battery (unless running for over 4 hours maybe), but switched to the ultra last year which could probably last for a much much longer run.

I started with an Apple Watch, then an Ultra, then switched to Garmin. The main reason was the sports I was involved in. It was much easier to gather all the data with a number of equipment such as heart rate monitors, power meters, etc. In terms of data, if you don’t intend to use anything apart from what the Apple Watch offers, then I think that’s fine. I kinda miss the Apple watch for its quasi-phone feel, but I learned to move on already. Garmin is a sports watch first device. If you intend to use other devices on top of Apple Watch, you may find your data all over the place.

I started with an Apple Watch, then an Ultra, then switched to Garmin. The main reason was the sports I was involved in. It was much easier to gather all the data with a number of equipment such as heart rate monitors, power meters, etc. In terms of data, if you don’t intend to use anything apart from what the Apple Watch offers, then I think that’s fine. I kinda miss the Apple watch for its quasi-phone feel, but I learned to move on already. Garmin is a sports watch first device. If you intend to use other devices on top of Apple Watch, you may find your data all over the place.

Great review, enjoyed the read and given me new t think about before I make a decision. I own a AWU and have been strongly considering swapping to the fenix8 but just haven’t been able to pull the trigger yet, I’m too reliant on some of the Apple smartwatch features that I use day to day but I feel let down by the lack of native fitness and maps on the AWU. I really want the Garmin maps for hiking and fitness tracking/ coaching. My last Garmin was the Fenix 3 which was a great sports watch for its time.

Apple Ultra works perfectly for me

They do but it's not great. I've been reasonably impressed with WorkOutDoors on the Apple Watch. The various screens are very customizable so you can see what you want and even adjust the size of the text displayed. It exports to Strava and Apple Fitness. It's the best option I've found to have elevation displayed.

Apple Watch Ultra works awesome.

Apple Ultra. It’s a do it all watch. Connects easily with Strava.

I have small wrists. I like the bigger face especially while riding. They stand out too. When I see a small Apple on someone‘s wrist, they look out of scale. Ultra is cool, but each to their own.

My Apple Watch connected to Strava

I have owned both and would rate the AWU a 9/10 smartwatch and 6/10 fitness tracker. I would rate my old Epix a 4/10 smartwatch and 8/10 fitness tracker. The other big distinguisher is battery life, which is much better on garmin, about 2 times as long when settings are roughly equal. In terms of smart watch, the AWU has many more “smart” watch capabilities than the garmin and a lot of features integrating and playing off of my iPhone. The garmin has a few unique features I didn’t or rarely used and was functionally just a notification pass through. In terms of fitness tracking, garmin has better and more customizable day to day passive features like body battery and walk/workout goals, as well as tracking apps. For example native multi sport (triathlon) tracking, and gps tracking for any sport (the fact that my AWU doesn’t gps track things like cross country skiing and paddle boarding is maddening).

Sort of, haven’t found a good replacement for body battery in particular. Yes for triathlon tracking but if I’m paying $1000+ for a watch, I don’t want to pay more money for apps to make it work. Same could be said for garmin too but you’re a lot more limited in options as development is an order of magnitude behind Apple. For the record I settled on AWU and think it’s the better option all around for me anyway.

Not sure about this. Counts fine for me doing tumbles. But lacks ability to manually add drill like kick which it doesn’t count.

Yeah I have the ultra too. Probably don’t kick fast enough!

Yes. The AW (at least the AWU) is a better fitness tracker than Garmin is a smartwatch. That's it. That's the tweet. The longer version is: Garmin's smartwatch features are super super limited. The AWU, particularly with a couple third party apps (even with their subscriptions, the AWU is still substantially cheaper than the Fenix 8, for example) is almost 100% on par with a top end Garmin for tracking.

my apple watch uses something else too because if i don’t finish a length (e.g., can’t tell how close i am to the wall doing backstroke and stand up) it’ll log 23 yards or something instead of 25 yards

I have an Ultra so that may be the difference. But mine also does mess up the tracking. Especially kickboard it’ll log one lap and miss the other three. The lap count will be very off occasionally even though it has the yardage right and I put in the pool length. Last week I did one pull and one breaststroke kick to get under the lane line and it marked my last lap as half breaststroke and half freestyle. Very weird that it’s so accurate sometimes and so inaccurate others.

Apple Watch Ultra. Rugged enough for the gym workouts simple enough for everyday wear.

The Apple Watch Ultra (or any Apple Watch) is actually much better for weightlifting: Get a 3rd party app such as Hevy, and it will be night and days ! You will be able to easily create perfect workouts, start a workout from your watch and do it funky from the watch or even jump to the phone mid workout to adjust if you want, everything is synced live during your workout. Then the workout saved in apple health kit and you will have all weightlifting information in the app as well, much more info than what you would have in Garmin connect.

I would agree with you on that. I had Garmin fenixes for years, Garmin Epix pro, Apple Watch Ultra, amazfit trex 3 (current watch) and just got a whoop. Imo for weightlifting nothing beats the Apple Watch (ultra or not doesn’t matter) due to all the different apps available. I was using Hevy and the ability to do a live workout between the watch and the phone at the same time was dope: want to change exercice or do more complex changes during your sessions, you simply edit the workout on the phone. But if you want to do just a 5lbs increment on your lift, you can do it from the watch directly live. Only thing I am eager to test with whoop, which is a important part my decision to do the free trial for a month, is to see muscle strain and how it work in tandem with the cardio based strain. Whoop is the only wearable to do that ( but it seems you can do it with Bevel now)

I use Apple Watch for swimming. And it works pretty good - reliable and precise in measurements

An Apple Watch with cellular meets the requirements you set out. The ultra would be the best for this, and you may be able to find an ultra 1 or used one less than $500.

My Apple Watch Ultra does everything great for my needs (bike+, lots of outdoor hikes, syncing with Apple TV for stretching, yoga, etc.), but I’m no longer a competitive athlete. I’m just a dude in his 50s trying to stay healthy/happy/active etc. I think if you’re doing things more seriously than I am look into Garmin, otherwise Apple definitely works and syncs well in my experience.

1. AW is a better smart watch 2. It’s insanely accurate. Anecdotal but HR is closer to what my polar h10 is reading compared to my garmin. 3. Swimming, while initially I thought garmin was more accurate, AW is way more accurate. I recently did a long swim in a 50m pool, 200 lengths, counting manually. AW: 200. Garmin 965:196. 4. Apps. No comparison. There’s an app for everything. Between WorkOutDoors and Athlytic, I don’t miss any garmin features. 5. Simplicity: AW is just easy to use. I got my parents a couple of watches and they haven’t needed to call me ONCE. I had got them Fitbit’s a couple of years ago to track activities and I had more calls about that than I do the AW 6. Ecosystem. 7. Fall detection, a fib, walkie talkie, cellular and find my.

AWU working fine for my ironman training. I’d say Garmin is better with battery life and being able to use multiple buttons to control everything on screen. I also don’t find it to be as accurate as the AW, especially for swimming.

Just finished my first 70.3 with an AW. It’s amazing. Contrary to what most people think, garmins are just not that accurate. Not even in the top 10. Shocking but true.

I have a 965 and Apple Watch Ultra. In terms of swimming. Apple Watch is much better in terms of hr accuracy and split detection. But garmin has better ecosystem

Worth it to me Upgraded from Apple ultra Worth it or not varies by person But useful yes

Yep, buttons all the way. I switched last month from AWU to Epix Pro. Unfortunately, Garmin has no clue when I fall asleep and that skews all data like body battery and other metrics like training readiness. The battery life and the buttons make up for it :).

The AW was nailing pretty well when I was falling asleep. It has a good accelerometer algorithm that detects when you fall asleep. Your respiration rate goes down, your heart rate goes down, you have little to no wrist/body movement, and it marks that moment as the sleep start time. On my Epix Pro, even if I put the watch myself to sleep mode, it says that I went to sleep 3-4 hours after that moment. So, I basically put it into sleep mode at 10pm and next morning it says I fell asleep at 3am in the morning and that I only had 3 hours of sleep. This leads to a poor readiness score and a crappy body battery. As the data analysts say "garbage in, garbage out". I stopped placing too much thought into these numbers. I only focus on my HRV and how I feel that morning to determine if I should go train or not.

I’ve used a Garmin Fenix, Garmin Swim 2, and Apple Watch for swimming and by far the garmins were superior. My Apple Watch would die after about half an hour in open water, regardless of water temp, and was always inaccurate with my laps and interval times in the pool. The swim 2 and fenix work much better.

For a time i wore an apple watch with cell service and i got all my notifications as usual while doing a swim workout

I never use the autorest feature on garmin and my splits are spot on. I ditched the apple watch because there was no manual lap reset option.

IMHO Apple does fitness tracking better than Garmin. Esp. sleep tracking is more accurate, plus you get ECG on most Apple Watches. In the US, blood oxygen tracking is currently disabled for new Apple Watches. Btw. I am wearing both, Garmin and Apple (I like redundancy for marathons, plus my Apple Watch has LTE, while my Forerunner does not)

I have a cellular Apple Iwatch and swim 80 laps at least 3 times a week. Never had any issues and also use it for running every day. Planning to upgrade to latest Iwatch next month.

I’ve used an Apple Watch for a few years now. One of the selling points at the time was that it could (attempt to) track heart rate while swimming which not all garmins could at the time. It’s also fairly good at detecting swim strokes and detailing your workout in blocks. All you have to do is set the swimming pool length. It detects when you turn, whether flip turn or touch and go, and takes that as one full length. It can try to approximate fractional distances or open water swims with GPS, but I’ve gotten some “creative” routes recorded with just GPS data. Newer watches may be better. Also I went extra and got the cellular watch so that I could take just the watch while cycling and leave the phone at home. There are plenty of cellular watches available but this in conjunction with good swim features sold me. Not sure if attaching the cell device to your android is possible though. Cell-less versions should work just fine with an iPad though.

Use 2 watches. I do that with an Apple Watch with cellular on one and Garmin on the other, the phone stays at home.

I use it for my workout. Its great, it has also greatly improved over new versions for tracking the meters better. I would never consider switching, most likely will get a new one in a year or 2. I also use it in open sea training.

I also went from apple, to garmin… then back to apple. I loved the body battery features and stress level features of the garmin in addition to the recovery estimates… but the garmin is really slow, its bulky, I missed being able to answer texts, change my music when working out, Apple Pay, etc. with the Apple Watch. I honestly regret buying the garmin but I do see how people would love it. It’s just not for me.

The expensive ones aren't any more accurate than the cheap ones, but they do last longer. I'm on my third Apple Watch and likely will never switch to anything else, so take my advice with all the weight of a single grain of salt.

Apple Watch every time. Allows me to control my iPhone on the floor or outside if I want to switch tracks or start stop my timer. No issues so far.

AW is a better watch. Garmin is a slightly better sports tracker, but only barely, and lacks a lot of features the AW has. Neither is incredibly accurate, so I would just pick the better watch.

I can’t stand my Apple Watch. It always turns off during my workouts and counting “exercise minutes” is literally pointless. I bought an Ultra 2 because I wanted to have the best shot at success with it and that thing is a POS for health tracking. The whoop is so much more comfortable and consistent at tracking with better data analytics. I have the 5.0 and the band is fine. Idk what everyone is complaining about. Is it something you would wear to dress up an expensive outfit? No, but that’s not really what it is intended for. Personally, I would wear it with a suit without thinking twice because I don’t really care what other people think.

I'm on a Samsung smartwatch with my Pixel but I am also sorta eyeing switching to iOS. You can get used Galaxy or Pixel watches cheap or if you're just using it to track swimming Samsung makes a cheap fitness tracker for like $70 but that's compatible with only Android. Cross compatible trackers I think there's Amazon and Garmin but if you're planning on switching I think you'll get a better experience with an apple watch

I have an infrared sauna that goes to 170 degrees. I wear my Apple Watch in it all the time to track my heart rate, because I workout in the sauna

Depends on what type of fitness that you do. If you’re just working out casually, apple watch may suffice but if you want to see more detail/data or get more “nerdy” regarding your fitness i think a Garmin forerunner (55 or 255) may suit you better.

I compare my apple watch logs with my pedometer. Ultimately, the device that exists for that single function will be more accurate.

To be honest I just use my AW for structured running workouts and for cycling as well. If I need some data if you started a cycling workout your phone can display them so I use this method, I mount my phone on the bike. Garmin and other sport watches offer a wide variety of sports related features so you have to decide whether you need those. For me it was also important that I can use my watch as an everyday watch so I kept the AW.

there are third party data analysis options available. and yes, i agree, if you're a serious athlete, it's where AW falls short. actually, if you do lifting or climbing or, hell, even rowing, the oura is uncomfortable - and in some cases, actively dangerous (you sure as hell should not climb with a ring on)

Tried whoop, Fitbit, and now am on Apple Watch. I loved whoop but I couldn’t justify the monthly subscription. So if money isn’t an issue, I recommend whoop. Fitbit sucked. At least for me it did. Loving my Apple Watch the most. It’s easier to see how my heart rate is going and it keeps me motivated during the day outside of working out. Plus it has the find my phone feature which helps my flakey ass.

Apple Watch with the MySwimPro (https://www.myswimpro.com/) app. Super cool workouts with splits, super accurate for metrics.. Catches multiple stroke types, works for flipturns. Nothing more I could ask for tbh.

I just use an Apple Watch because I like it for out of the pool too. Does all I need it to do is

If you have an Apple Watch, you can program it to intervals for an outdoor run!

You can do repeats up to 99! It’s really easy. I do 90/30 and it took me less than two minutes to get it set up.

Apple Watch is fine if you have one. The modern apple watches are pretty good, and the GPS models will do everything you need, with great accuracy. You need to remember to lock them out (use the water button) to prevent errant screen taps by clothing or just sweat dripping. Battery life is fine on Apple Watch, unless it gets old and the battery needs to be replaced (which only the store can do), and should easily last you an 8 hour workout. But it won't last much longer than that. Without workouts battery life on Apple Watch is around 1 day, that's it. You have to charge every night. Garmin is better if you want a dedicated running or workout watch. Garmin will have much, much longer battery life (depending on model an usage, between a week and a month), a more focused interface, and physical buttons to perform certain activities.

Nice summary! I wish I could test the MG, but as it stands my order 12 days ago isn’t even worked on yet! I can only imagine how long it takes to even ship. However, I won’t extend my membership after this anyway, unless they cut down the yearly price *significantly* AND I end up being in love with the MG afterall. I am finally okay just using my Apple Watch and the PeakWatch app. I guess I kind of have to thank Whoop for cutting me loose from my whoop data addiction 😄🫶🏻

I find that the Apple Watch , or at least mine, often adds a length for kick sets.

My Apple Watch paused my work out 10 miles into a half marathon race. Went out that same day and got a garmin. I like the physical buttons the garmin has. Multi-week battery life is amazing. The only things I miss is the phone locator (the one on garmin isn’t that good) and replying to text messages from my watch.

If you're in the apple ecosystem, get an apple watch.

BUTTONS I had a 245 that broke a couple years back, and while I waited to get a new one I borrowed my wife's old apple watch, and hated every minute of using it due to the touch screen for everything interface. Now I've got a nice sleek 965 my dad gifted me last year and it's so nice. Love the AMOLED screen.

It's a good device for the price but if i has an iphone i would take an AW

I think AW has better GPS tracking than Garmin - I have Garmin and a friend I ran a HM had AW - I had to run an extra 300 meters to complete the same distance- Garmin was cutting off the corners on turns!!

I'd agree, OP may find the Apple Watch better for their use at the moment. Garmin's HRV is shit though. I would not ever suggest that it's a deal breaking feature that would make someone ever want to get a Garmin over something else. Apple Watch apps can take them far though. Bevel and Athlytic can get users chronic and acute load details, which I would argue is a much better feature to have than the HRV feature on a Garmin watch.

Apple Watch. I cover it with a sweat band to protect it when climbing. I use an app called pinnacle so I can track the boulder levels I climb. I’ve benn climbing 3+ years and I’ve never caught the wrist band on anything.

I feel naked without it lmao. I swim long distance usually I start with half hour straight (I use the timer) and then I see how much yards I swam. It’s so helpful keeps track of my splits as well

I swim in a 25 yard pool and for me the Apple Watch is very accurate with freestyle and breastroke. The other strokes tho not so much. It also doesn’t record if u just do a kicking workout. Overall, I just do freestyle and breastroke so for me it’s great

Ooooh no way. I gotta get me one ty. That just changed the game for me

I have the third generation. Maybe it can do it I just never knew about the update

Tbh when I had an Apple Watch I’d just click strength training and do my workout.

I don't believe any wearable fitness tracker is good for CrossFit, mainly because calculating the strain on your body from the weightlifting type activities based on your heart rate is not going to be very good. Most of them have a way to manually enter exercises you are doing, which is a cumbersome effort especially when you're doing something fast paced like CrossFit, that's more like something you do sitting on a bench between sets head down on your phone. Some you can go back after the fact and enter the lifts, but I'm not really sure how accurate that is anyway. If you're just interested in tracking your heart rate then one is as good as another, probably. They all differ a little in their data. My beef with Apple Watch personally was you have to explicitly start the workout most of the time and if you don't you don't get data. Also AW only can be worn on the wrist which gets in the way for multiple CF moves and gear. I went with one I can wear on my bicep.

It’s really unfortunate that WHOOP has decided to take this route — not updating devices for existing subscribers with active plans. For example, I cancelled my subscription yesterday and don’t plan to renew it. It’s disappointing to see this approach from WHOOP. And I especially feel bad for people who just subscribed. Like my boss, for instance — I recommended WHOOP to him, he purchased a yearly subscription, and received his new device only three weeks ago. Now, every time he opens the WHOOP app, he’ll get a reminder that a new device is available — but to get it, he’ll have to pay an extra fee. Sadly, this will be the case for all new users who joined at the last minute. They’ll constantly be getting follow-up prompts: “You’re not using WHOOP to its full potential,” or “Discover more – upgrade, subscribe, pay extra.” As for me, I’ll stick with Apple Watch, a one-time purchase, paired with an app like Athletic, which costs significantly less. I’m confident this combination will cover 90% of my needs. And if one day I feel that I’m missing something, I’ll just buy an Oura ring — and even then, it’ll still cost less than WHOOP.

The issue is that he is checking just the hardware accuracy, not the whole ecosystem (hardware+software). Whoop app is incredible. What is the alternative for AW?

On top of that, AW sensor actually works kind of funny. It measures your HR just 1 time per minute, while Whoop does it 100 times per second. Therefore, if you have a spike in heart rate you can derive much more related info about it, while AW could lose this whole event altogether.

Mine randomly adds laps, especially at the beginning of my swim. I’ve recalibrated and fiddled with the settings, but can’t find a consistent fix. It’s annoying

I have both. Apple Watch does not record VO2max data for my daily exercise, which is “Nordic Walking with poles”. The ring does record it although for some unknown reason that data is not copied over to the Apple health app! Another reason for having both is sleep tracking. The ring gives several days worth of battery life. The watch only a day and a half. (For data collection other than VO2max I take the Watch off overnight putting it into low power mode.) I have found that using the ring and its app my sleep have improved significantly.

I went through exactly the same scenario recently. Here's the brief version of what I found. Apple Watch Alone: Does an excellent job of recording sessions, but the data display during the workout is limited and doesn't include some fields I want. Personally I found the display slightly difficult to read. It was also quite frustrating that when transferred to Training Peaks the workout was broken up into 25yd pool lengths rather than the actual sets I swam. Apple + swim.com: This one works really well. I'm still not thrilled with the data display, but it is more useful than AW alone. Recording accuracy is excellent. The only issue that I had was the quality of the downloaded data into Training Peaks. No matter how I did it (and I took a number of different approaches) the HR data was wonky. Garmin (I'm using the 955, but they're all essentially the same): Data display is fully customizable so I can show exactly what I want and the rest timer display is useful. Note that the 955 has the older MIP display rather than the AMOLED that is all the rage now. The MIP is absolutely my preference as it is far easier to read in/at the pool and the rest timer screen is much clearer. Data transfer to Training Peaks is perfect. I don't use the auto-set feature on Garmin as it is far too sensitive of motion during rest, plus it's really unreliable if the rest interval is less than 20s (which most of mine are). I had one session where a descending set of 100s was recorded as one 800 since the rest was only about 15sec between. Now I have auto-lap off and hit the lap button when I push off at the start of a lap and again when I touch the wall at the end to start the rest timer. The watch does an excellent job of recording pool lengths and overall lap distance. I started out by trying to program the workout into the watch and then have the watch run it, but this proved to be cumbersome. First off, there's no truly clean way to get my coach's workout into the watch directly so there was always some manual intervention required. Second, if the watch mis-counted something or I needed to re-start a set the process was extremely frustrating in the pool. Now I just write the workout on a post-it with pencil and stick that to my water bottle. I just use the watch to record the workout. I'm currently using the Garmin to record swim workouts and it's working very well for me.

It’s OK, but the workout builder is kind of cumbersome to use. Lots of tapping, then turning dials, then tapping. Just a poorly conceived user interface. The issue I have with all of them is that you become a slave to the watch in the pool. Need an extra 10s rest? Well you had better hurry up and pause the watch because if you let it get into the next interval then it’s a total pain to back up. I had one workout where it was a series of 25yd sprints with short rest in between. The Apple Watch got totally confused and double-counted laps so it was having me finish the set in half the time. There was no easy way to get out of that so I ended up pausing the watch and finishing the set without recording. It’s so much easier just to write the workout down and let the watch record it. Plus I find that the act of writing it down commits it to memory. I’ve settled on Garmin as it just works better with Training Peaks and that’s a key feature for me. I do wish it was smarter about auto-lap but it has been 100% accurate hitting the lap button after every lap. To be clear when I say lap I don’t mean length of the pool I mean collection of lengths (eg 50s, 100s, etc)

It has some form of auto detecting activity but it logs the time of the activity not the break down like zones and intensity like when you start the work out option manually. I would not replace the Apple Watch because the Apple Watch will track intensity, length, location, and more automatically when it detects work out where the ultra human will not. Also working out with weights will be asking for trouble with the ultra human ring. Where the ultra human shines is - stress detection - sleep details (also much better comfort to wear at night with longer battery) - caffeine time recommendation - auto detect sun exposure - recovery score - a more reliable Vo2Max daily update where Apple Watch measure whenever it feels like it sometimes takes weeks to even tell me anything. I use both at the same time and I feel I get substantially more accurate information together than apart.

Are you going to train seriously for anything? If yes, Garmin din bagsak mo eventually. Kulang kulang stats ng Apple Watch when I started training seriously for a marathon.

Amongst 12 runners in my group, 3 have appl watches sitting Ina drawer, all of them use Garmins except me. It's just designed so well in not only tracking but the way data is presented. I love my Apple Watch but I preferred the way Fitbit presented the data to me.

Apple watch is a great fitness watch with some modifications. I had a Garmin Fenix for 4 years and its a great watch, certainly better looking than an AW (imo). But it fell short in a few areas Sleep tracking - its heavy and I would remove it in the middle of the night. Sports where you can’t have something on your wrist. For me, this was Climbing and Jiu-jitsu. So I had to get polar verity sense to track those sports. And polar didnt sync with Garmin Connect that well. Music - needed your phone near by. So still running with a phone. Enter the AW… Lightweight makes it forgettable. Bicep band accessories convert it into a HR tracker off your wrist super fast. Music, even without cellular I can download playlists and podcasts from my phone to the watch. To make it a great fitness watch: Create a focus mode to not receive calls/texts while working out ( personal preference) Buy HealthFit $6, like Apple health on steroids, syncs all your activities into a single app and gives you rest, recovery, training effort based on your workouts and sleep. Honestly the only app that I would say is required, but the next ones are super nice. Buy Autosleep $5, terrible UI but great tracker and more stats than you’ll ever need. Buy WorkOutdoors $5, another steroid app that makes the Workout app seem like a Fischer-price toy. So for the price of the watch and <$20 for one time purchases, you have a powerhouse fitness platform.

Well Apple Watch has lumi health and rewards that you can earn back the cost of your watch and more.

It’s meant to motivate you. Cumulative over time. It’s not a lot but not little either. We are the only country that paired up with Apple on this, so make sure to take advantage. I didn’t even get a new Apple Watch tbh. Got a used one off Carousell. Just make sure it’s not tied to Apple ID by accident or stolen. The extension of the Apple watch if you’re an iPhone user is unmatched. Paying for public transport is way more convenient with an Apple Watch.

My Apple Watch works just fine

I personally like to track my workouts as well as my sleep. I wear an Apple Watch to bed, then workout first thing in the morning (after getting the kiddos off to school). After the gym/shower, I put the Apple Watch back on the charger and put on one of my Omegas and wear it throughout the day (work, etc). At the end of the day, I put my Omega in my watch winder box and put the Apple Watch back on before bed. Rinse and repeat…

It completely depends on how you want to use NRC. If you want to do Training Plans and listen to Audio Guided Runs, your only options are an Apple Watch or an Android watch with Wear OS, as those are the only wrist devices that run NRC natively. If you just want to record runs and view your data in NRC *afterwards*, you could also include Garmin or COROS devices in your search, as they have the ability to sync to NRC, but not run the app natively.

Used apple watch. You might need to charge it every evening but it's your best bet. You really don't want to buy a cheap fitness watch.

I wear my Apple Watch every time I climb, I have scraped it, but one of my friends wears a sweat band over it to protect it.

Apple Watch, most precise health tracking. Garmin is better for sports as has better gps tracking and sports features

My Apple Watch is incredibly accurate for high-level training. I have started using the Phlex app, which gets it even more accurate. But I still just print out my workouts and slap them on a kick board with some water. I don’t like the idea of my watch guiding me through the workout because I might make changes on the fly or add some rest when I need it and I don’t want to have to fuss with the watch just to do that.

Swim - Apple Watch Cycle - Wahoo Element & Wahoo HR Cycle Indoors - Kickr and Zwift Run - Apple Watch Thinking of switching to Garmin though depending what the next Apple Watch Ultras have as features…I feel they focus too much on the recreation and apps rather than fitness.

The “rumour” is that the next one will have features for hiking and trails…and if that’s the case I may stick. But else-wise I’d prefer a sport watch from a sport watch company.

Garmin Forerunner does a great job. I like the Apple Watch, but the battery life kills me. With my Garmin, I can use it to track swims, runs, and bike ride and I still only need to charge it once a week.

I guess I'm the odd one out here- I tried using my Apple Watch when swimming, but found it doesn't sit tight enough on my wrist to be effective. I've since started using the Form 2 goggles & find them much more effective (and motivating!). I don't really track my activities, it's more important to me that I make it to the gym at least twice a week than that I keep track of what I'm doing once I get there, but I live a pretty active lifestyle.

Honestly, an Apple Watch.

This is often an underrated factor in why people choose Apple devices. It started with me choosing a Mac computer because it was just better and I don't play games. Then I have to use iPhone to get all continuity features. Then when I need a Bluetooth TWS I have to use Airpods Pro 2 because even if a "better" TWS exists, I'd lose auto switching if I switch. And I can't use another fitness tracker because as far as I know, Apple Watch is the only one that can ping my phone when I misplace it.

As far as fitness is concerned, i've been very happy with AW. My only complaint is the support for cycling, the data tracking randomly stops and every now and then I don't get any sort of elevation/speed/GPS data for some of my cycling workouts. It doesn't bother me, but it's very peculiar and it might bother some people that are meticulous in their tracking.

I wear my Apple Watch for swim/exercise/sleep tracking but don’t feel I really consciously change my habit based on the data. Just more investing than anything.

AW does support power meters, but does not seem to actually use the data from the power meter directly for calories burned. My AW always says I burned about 40-50% more cycling than my wahoo does, despite both being connected to the same power meter and both showing same power data.

Down voted but you're right. My partner tried an apple watch and couldn't even track his sleep because the battery died so quickly. I brought him a Garmin amd he's never looked back.

I use Apple Watch

I just got the Garmin Forerunner 265 and absolutely love it. I got rid of my Apple watch and won’t go back. I’ve had it for about a month now and while the NRC integration is only in sharing the stats, all of the other metrics, and battery life, far surpass the Apple Watch as a fitness tool Imo.

Try the WorkOutDoors app on the Apple Watch. It’s pretty great. That’s what I used and just uploaded directly to Strava from there. I would recommend either an Apple Watch, a Garmin, or a Coros. You need a real fitness watch to do marathon training tracking.

G shock. I m considering getting one. A real watch with tracking features. Have an apple watch. Biggest cons - one more thing to charge everyday - whatever pros they have, I dont want another screen on my wrist. - notifications, sometimes useful but not worth it - looks and feel, the novelty fades very quickly. Doesn’t even compare to wearing an actual watch. Tldr. Be a man, get a real watch.

Hi! Yes, I swim with my Apple Watch and use it for all my workouts. However, I’m currently considering switching to Garmin for the longer battery life. In general, I’d say Apple Watches are very popular among people who aren’t super serious about training but still work out regularly.

Another for Apple Watch.. works well for me once I fixed the wrist settings

Same. I think I’m in my 4th year and I don’t see the benefit of upgrading aside from the longer battery life and this age thing. Big deal. EKG I have with my Apple Watch and I don’t even use it. If they could get the step counter to work properly, I’d be happy.

I got my Apple Watch to track my swimming. I've found I love it for daily life but I think it's great for swimming. I love the splits feature.

I’ve been using my Apple watch paired with the Peloton app. I got the bike during the pandemic, and it got me into outdoor cycling, but I also use the yoga and strength training classes a lot so I like having all my fitness metrics in one app. The only downside is it needs GPS and data to function, which usually isn’t a huge issue, but I’ve gone on some remote rides in dead zones where it doesn’t work.

I think to each his/her own. I started with an Apple watch but the golf app was laughable at the time, so I got a garmin for golf and used the Apple watch for everything else. But when my bank stopped supporting Apple pay and I started running and biking and swimming, I decided to upgrade my garmin and stopped using the Apple watch because garmin features were better AND it was just really annoying that I had to charge the apple watch every single day. With the Garmin I only really have to charge it max once a week and so I get good sleep data with it too which I could never get with the Apple Watch consistently because it had to be charged all the time. I really enjoy the virtual caddy function which Garmin has. I agree that the Apple watch looks better, but that’s not the reason I bought the Garmin, though honestly it looks pretty good and other than like a black tie event, I feel like I can wear my garmin watch all the time. I am thinking of upgrading from Garmin S70 approach golf watch to something that looks a bit nicer and am definitely considering getting the Fenix 8 as it seems it has the same golf features plus additional sports features my watch doesn’t have. I just watched the Apple keynote. Seems a lot of the newer golf apps are similar to garmin. Cannot say if they are better/worse. Apple claims the new watch can charge 80% in 30min so that sounds promising, but I am 99% sure I’d still have to charge it every day regardless and that to me is a dealbreaker. I wear airpods too, but always have my phone with me so I’ve never had a problem. Look, If you want something that has a friendly UI and nice design so you can wear it even to nice events with general overall sports features, and you’re ok charging it everyday, get the Apple. If you’re sporty and want something durable to deal with harsh outdoor conditions and prefer to wear the watch on 24/7 to also track sleep so you need better battery life, get the garmin.

Have a regular peloton bike (not a bike+). I tried an Apple Watch and an oura ring. Best thing I’ve done is buy a regular Garmin forerunner + hrm strap for the best output capture. The hrm can be synced to the device for real heart rate during exercises.

Do you use a branded smart phone, tablet or laptop is so google will already have your data. As to fitness trackers Fitbit are best but they are changing to google wear or something like that. And either Samsung watch or Apple Watch are far superior in build and use for health and fitness tracking in all fairness.

I came from daily wearing a Fitbit luxe and added a Garmin 735 for run tracking. I became disillusioned with the google ecosystem as they don’t share data with apple and wanted to force me to sign up for a google account. I simply don’t trust google with my data in general. Garmin freely shares your data, but has other issues. Apple Watch has objectively the best HR and sleep tracking sensors available. Add music on the watch with large capacity, and the fact that Garmin doesn’t offer the right combination of features for me, and I was pushed toward AW. All I really want is a fitness tracker with good recovery metrics (sleep, fatigue, etc.) and Garmin’s sleep tracking is crap. Their body battery system only works with one device- I can’t do a ride with another Garmin device and have it count toward body battery without wearing the Garmin watch at the same time…. Apple has athlytic as well as fatigue integration soon. Anyways, the combination of features and lack thereof is what pushed me this way.

I second this, garmin seems like the best Although.. I use a Apple Watch

Apple Watch, bar none, is best smart watch sold today when you are already in the Apple ecosystem. The way notifications, complications, the optional cellular, crash detection, incredible screen and myriad of other features work is heads and shoulders above all the alternatives from Garmin and Fitbit... it's the best SMARTwatch. Notice I said nothing about fitness and health tracking. There is no question Apple Watch lagged for years (and still does) the advanced features and metrics found on modern fitness watches like Garmin, Polar, and Coros (Fitbit has never been advanced and Apple had them beat early). Despite this many people felt Apple had \*enough\* of the most important features that its fitness capabilities were "good enough" to accept so they could get the best Smartwatch on the market. In the last 3 years of watchOS revisions Apple has steadily started catching Garmin and others on more advanced features like running power, cycling power, triathlon support, and now this year begin to catch up with running and hiking mapping. Garmin still has many very, very niche features that Apple doesn't and may never have, but the number of people who need them are vanishingly small and growing smaller as Apple adds features. Also it has to be said, Apple has had the best watch sensors bar none in the industry, the accuracy of the optical heart recognition and sleep sensing is well ahead of Garmin, Polar and others so while the watch still does "less" what it does do is actually more accurate, which is the most important part anyway. Bottom line? The Apple Watch has long been and remains the best daily smartwatch for the 22-23 hours you aren't working out and a good fitness watch when you are. As each year goes by the watch is becoming closer to a great fitness watch and making the number of people for whom the Garmin's of the world are a better fit smaller and smaller.

Calorie burning will never be accurate if the wheelchair user doesn’t have fully innervated muscles. The formulas are based on able bodied formulas. You might get an idea for how many “calories” are burned for you in a more abstract way, but I wouldn’t rely on it for calculating calories you want to then eat back, etc. The Apple Watch is great for not nagging you to walk more, you can change to the wheelchair mode (tells you to push instead of stand).

Fitbit is surprisingly good. Outstanding battery life. Apple watch, but get the app WorkOutdoors and use that.  It's less than 10 bucks.  No subscription.  Watch videos on YouTube about it. Here's one.  You don't need the ultra to use it. https://youtu.be/0CO4Nqn1PVQ Garmin is highly recommended for athletes but I've never used it so can't compare.

Apple Watch is probably the best for HR currently but is out if you are not in the walled iPhone garden. Also note that a lot might come with how are you wearing the watch. Samsung Galaxy 7 is being launched in like one week and apparently is a huge lot faster than 6 (like 2-4 times faster). Battery life remains to be seen but Watch 6 like latest normal Apple Watch models were "charge daily devices" (with AoD and most of stuff you normally want to use on). If you want 2-3 days then look at the "huge" models (but wait at least one week to learn how things are with the new Samsung Watch 7 Ultra or whatever will be called). If you want more battery life you can look at Garmin Venu 3 (or 3s for a smaller watch) and the much less expensive (but apparently better on HR) [Huawei Watch Fit 3, see my mini-review](https://old.reddit.com/r/smartwatch/comments/1db9i4s/quick_minireview_of_huawei_watch_fit_3_vs_huawei/).

This is the same reason I've been considering Whoop for the longest time. But I just don't think I can commit to the lifetime subscription cost. Currently wearing a Charge6 and it's been fine for now. I came from Apple Watch, but found it too uncomfortable wearing that and a mechanical watch.

I have had the gen4 for a couple weeks and really like it. I wore a whoop for many years but got tired of wearing a strap. I have a specific need for data again so I went with the Oura. I wear it instead of my wedding ring and so far it’s great. I also use my apple watch with it for workout where I like to see data and zones easily without my phone. Anything in particular people are complaining about? I have had tons of wearables and it’s solid.

I use the Garmin Instinct 2 and really happy with the tracking and training guidance it provides. Being able to customize the screens I see during my swim is something that I really like. Previously, I used an Apple watch for track my swims, and that was pretty accurate too, but because it was all touch interface I would end up accidentally pausing or ending my workout without intending to. Also, I realise now that Apple’s insights don’t even come close to the detailed analysis and guidance I get with Garmin.

I do since yesterday. Its a gamechanger. Tracking training progress makes it so much easier to visualize your progress. (and i like numbers, they do funny things to my brain)

I wear an Apple Watch (I forget what model) and it works great for me! I track all the important things: time, distance/GPS, heart rate. Plus I can build interval workouts into it. Battery is fine if you turn off cellular, but that’s not a problem either because you still get GPS and can have your songs downloaded to the watch itself.

Playing devil's advocate, Garmin and Coros are much better sport watches, but AW is a better smartwatch. So if you're looking for text messages, Siri integration, emails, NFC payments, notifications etc..AW is going to do a better job. So how to make an AW more bearable to use as a sports watch; use apps like WorkOutdoors and HealthFit that sort of emulate Garmin features. You can build intervals, set routes, get HR or pace notifications. HealthFit gives you a better visual health data while bridging data over to Strava. Create workout shortcuts that plays your music, start your workout and puts you in a focus mode. The Apple fitness app is catching up...but at a molasses pace. The rate its going, its going to be years before you get the level of customization the third party apps provide. Even with third party apps, AW feels a bit clunky to juggle multiple apps to get the functionality of a Garmin. Personally I'd like a Garmin for Christmas for my running, but the rest of the day, I prefer an AW. Also another thing to note, AW sucks running in the rain. Physical buttons is something you really miss when you realize the screen doesn't work when you're soaked in water.

Love my apple watch, use it for every game and it is pretty great. (I turn it around to face the inside of my wrist so my goalie glove doesn't hold down the crown, and since doing that it's been more accurate, too)

I’ll piggy-back on this excellent review, since I generally agree with it. Sleep: I have both the ring and pay for Sleepcycle on the watch and find the ring to be more accurate than the watch but also on the conservative side — I don’t feel like I’m getting credit for sleeping when I should but it’s hard to know since human memory is not accurate either. Data: You can download your data if you want and there’s a lot of it. Advice/coaching: turning data into things you can do differently is probably a lot of their R&D and it is annoying because it can’t be turned off, nor can you streamline what data you’re shown to reduce obsessive thinking but the language choices are surprisingly not off putting Vs Apple Watch: Agreed on it being okay for exercise but short of the watch, which seems more accurate and easier to use. If you just want a vague sense of your activity level it’s good. Ring best for sleep, watch best for exercise

Given that the AW doesn’t measure HRV often at all through the day, body battery is a total guess with all of them. I wouldnt bother focusing on that metric with the AW.

It’s not false. You’re expecting people to enable a function reserved for people diagnosed with afib. Apple even says that it’s for people diagnosed with afib. The average person won’t know to do this. This is a “hack”, not a normal feature. The Apple Watch doesn’t measure HRV all day long, it’s not a feature. Even with afib on it measures sporadically

Had a charge 5 for over 3 years. Battery was still lasting a week but felt the last half of the battery was dying a bit faster than before. The charge did pretty much everything I really cared about for just day to day stuff. I have an Apple Watch but the short battery life just kills it for me for every day but I will use it if I’m going somewhere. Was mostly happy with the charge 5 as a simple fitness tracker, biggest complaint was comparing the heart rate on it vs Apple Watch or polar monitor the charge way overestimated once I was at about 70% max heart rate. I had heard the 6 had a better algorithm for heart rate and they had a ok sale for Black Friday so I figured I’d grab one. So far so good, need to do a head to head with my old one and see if the heart rate is different. I didn’t abuse my 5 but didn’t baby it either. Wore it most every day for over 3 years and the biggest issue I had was having to reset it to get it to sync again but that seemed to have gotten better recently to. I know I see people saying theirs didn’t last a year but I can’t say that was my experience.

The majority of people just assume that Garmin is the better fitness tracker because that’s what seems to be the general consensus to the masses. I think it’s total baloney. Apple has been proven to be as good as, if not better in wrist based heart rate and sleep monitoring. Apple has brought numerous improvements to their workout app, especially for running (pacer and heart rate screen I’m looking at you) and they are a huge amount of apps to give you different UI and software experiences. Watch GPS accuracy Garmin may have the upper hand for a total accuracy but really, does that affect training? You still did the work who cares if the map line is a few metres out in some spots. And half the time Apple Watch users actually use the iPhone GPS which is better because bigger antenna anyway. “Oh but Garmin has the body battery etc” - For anyone serious about fitness and conditioning I think they’d have better intuition themselves then to rely on some software telling them what they should do today. Body battery and stress monitoring are not accurate enough to be relied on, despite anecdotal evidence you’ll hear from those people who probably got 5 hours sleep after a hard training day and then commended their Garmin body battery for telling them to take a rest day. “Omg my Garmin just knows, you know”. With training load coming to Apple, just use that - pure quantitative data, baby. But if you want to consider why Garmin is objectively better, then look at battery life. Still annoys me that I gotta charge AW all the time. And subjectively- how much better are round watches! TLDR Apple is a great smart watch and a great fitness tracker. Garmin is a shit smart watch and a great fitness tracker.

I agree that the Apple Watch's battery life is a weakness. My approach is to charge it while I am showering and getting ready in the morning. I charge it to ~80-85% and it easily lasts until the next morning.

Me and my wife used to have Apple Watches but when we ran together we noticed a wide difference in distances on our watches for doing the same route. Like one watch would say 4 miles while the other would say 2.4 miles for doing an approximately 4 mile run. Additionally during summer months when I was doing workouts, I got tired of my watch face being sweaty and making it difficult to start/stop during intervals. Navigating the touch screen was less than ideal when sweaty so the Garmin has actual buttons to mark laps, start/stop runs, and so forth.

Everyone is going to say Garmin… if you already have an Apple Watch or really like the smart features of it, it will still work great and integrates with a lot of running apps

Apple Watch is great. Shows the swolf also which is useful for efficiency. Downside is it won’t actually stop the timer if you’re resting. So pause it by pressing both buttons simultaneously.

I loved going to Apple Watch after having a Fitbit. It actually was a big game changer for me because I’m very closing all the rings motivated haha. It is different than Fitbit but I like it better. I use it with the Peloton app and the Lifesum app. I like how it does the rings (and how the details are all laid out) and how easy it is to start/log a random exercise. I also feel it’s more accurate than a Fitbit. I no longer have “swim” exercises whenever I do laundry lol. I vote give it a try! But also, you do you. :) 

Can’t speak for 4 but I’ve really enjoyed 3. I can honestly say It’s really helped me improve my overall well-being over the last 3 years. I use my Apple Watch specially for tracking performance metrics during workouts (and for work notifications when I’m away from my computer).

Yes! It’s very likely. I had an Apple Watch several years ago and it would pause basically as soon as I started a workout. So frustrating. It was the worst of the three fitness trackers I’ve had.

I do recommend an Apple Watch if you have an iPhone/airpods. It’s v convenient to pair with your phone and track your steps etc (10k steps a day for fat loss), weightlifting tracking mode (do note that all watches have some level of inaccuracy in calorie tracking) but it’s still nice You can pair your workout music etc and use it for other purposes like Apple Pay etc so that’s a plus also Battery life lasts a day so you might have to charge it when you sleep + wearing watch while asleep is uncomfortable for me so I wouldn’t recommend it for sleep tracking

The Apple Watch SE has been great for me. I did switch to a different watch, but if all I cared about was swimming the Apple Watch would always be my personal favorite.

I’d love to get a proper running/multisport watch, but I couldn’t change my AW for anything else because there’s so many non-fitness related features I’d miss. I have thought about getting a sports watch in addition to my AW, but I’d need to wear it 24/7 in order to get relevant data, and I’m not going to be wearing two watches all the time.

Yep! I use it for every single activity and utilize its health features heavily.

My partner also wanted me to start wearing a heart rate/fitness tracker but I couldn't stomach putting my Apple Watch back on, so I bought an Oura ring. The Whoop fitness tracker also seems like a good alternative to a smart watch. For a fitness tracker it is 100% best practice to wear it 24-7 for at least the first few months - but if you don't want to do that, workout + sleep is a good compromise that should still create plenty of data for your health apps to analyze.

Usually mine’s accurate, but it sometimes misses laps or counts extras, and if I’m doing kick only, it misses a few.

I do triathlons, so similar training, and battery life is only big factor - I can do a 3-4hr bike ride with AW, or Olympic distance Tri, but battery wouldn’t last a whole Ironman. I actually think swim tracking (front crawl) with AW is better / more accurate than garmin. Looking at both traces uploaded to Strava of others and comparing distances over measured courses (buoy marked loops on reservoirs). This was a big differentiator for me. One thing I’d like on AW is more flex on planned workouts, eg programmable interval sets with rest periods. Supposedly coming to swimming this update, would be really helpful with my training. This is something Garmin does well. I currently use a phone app for this which suffices, but I’d rather have it all on my watch.

I use it for counting laps which it is pretty good at, and I will admit that I feel sad when I don't close my activity circles (although I'm trying to not be so hard on myself). I recently received a set of Form googles, so I've added those to my daily data addiction. Notably, the calorie counts on the Form goggles are much lower than on the Apple Watch; I'm pretty skeptical about both of those anyway. (for reference, I'm 62, male, swim 3x/week averaging 1500-2000 m per session). Hope this information helps you

I use my Apple Watch for swimming - it’s great as the fitness app can track your pace and can tell what stroke you’re swimming. I also use ‘my swim pro’ which is a swimming workout app you can connect to your watch - creates sets, tracks pace, suggests improvements.

I’ve used mine for years. It’s not going to ruin it as it’s designed for swimming. I also use mine for day to day use.

I run the Apple Watch to pull a average heart rate for the session but use the finis goggles for timing sets etc, import the finis data into Strava and add the average HR data manually

My wife does marathons and ultras and switched both of us from apple to garmin. The Apple Watch is better for all the other stuff (music, home control, navigation). For anything sports related, the Garmin is far superior.

I wore no watch for a long time. No problems or hitting wrists on anything that I noticed. Was gifted an Apple Watch. Wore it climbing once. Didn’t catch band at all, but afterward noticed a large single scratch along the center of the face. Never wore it climbing again.

I'm an recent amputee and started getting fat. Ditched the apple watch for garmin and i am much more active now and have lost 55 lbs. I just love the data the watch gives me and enjoy not having to charge it much. Started with the forerunner 965, traded for a epix pro 2 51mm sapphire then just sold that and got the fenix 8 amoled 51mm sapphire. They aren't cheap but I find it worth it for me and won't have to upgrade for a while.

I dropped the whoop for : Apple Watch + Athlytic app.

I have an Apple Watch and it works very well. Usually accurate to within 0-150m over 2.5-3km practices. No trouble with it tracking kick sets for me. I wouldn’t count on it for tracking split times. I never find them accurate. Tbf it’s hard to figure that out depending on which arm moves first or touches first or when your feet hit the wall on a turn. Total practice time and total meters along with a breakdown of the total by stroke/kick is great though.

Apple Watch is a better activity tracker but oura is better for all around health. If you care about your streaming heart rate or monitoring your heart rate during your workout, the Apple Watch or Garmin is better than oura. I use my Apple Watch when I work out but I never really take off my ring so I can see metrics like resilience and HRV (and watch them improve as my fitness does!)

While I agree and have gone this route, my last watch went 3.5 years before the battery started not even lasting a day. Also, you require an iphone for it to work. YMMV

I used a Whoop for a while but went back to an Apple Watch. Whoop has a lot of metrics and I liked that it could go days without a charge, but I like all the other stuff the watch does - like show me the time. 😉 I also didn’t want to wear both. I know that’s an option some choose to go with. Edit to add: I don’t really *need* it for CF. I mostly like to keep an eye on my heart rate, primarily because I find it interesting to watch my perceived exertion vs. where my heart rate is at. I also get a kick out of seeing what the watch says vs. the C2 rower for calories - they usually are very close!

I have been using Garmin for a couple of months now instead of my Apple Watch. I honestly don’t miss my Apple Watch.

If you’re doing more steady state stuff I think Samsung is totally fine. If you’re doing high intensity stuff then Apple Watch or Garmin are the way to go

I have limited experience with both. Garmin (Swim) was not as good as AW for counting laps without flip turns. I killed an AW by swimming in a saltwater pool though.

I use my Apple Watch in the sauna up to 190F for 20 minutes top.

I started running with an apple watch and eventually switched to garmin and I would never go back.

You will be paying for a whole bunch a shit you don’t use if you buy Garmin. Just get an Apple Watch or Samsung.

I’ve gone to the ultrahuman as a daily wearer, however I use my Apple Watch for tracking workouts. I find the ring uncomfortable when gripping dumbbells. I still love my Apple Watches, don’t plan on getting rid of them anytime soon, but this has given me the flexibility to wear my other watches while being able to track stress/sleep/recovery.

I switched from Fitbit to Apple Watch 3 years ago. I know I wasn’t using all the features Fit Bit has to offer, but I like the Apple Watch better because: -I can share my fitness data with friends. This has been great for some of my long distance friendships to help us stay in touch and to motivate each other. We love sending each other the cheesy messages they offer to send after a friend completes a workout -I can text/call/get emails/all phone notifications on my watch. Personally this has made my job so much easier and I look at my phone a lot less -completing my “rings” for the day is great motivation and makes me feel accomplished. Forget about the blue standing one though, it’s useless. -Apple Watch sends me notifications about my “trends” changing which has been really motivating, just as motivating as seeing a progress photo. Like my resting heart rate decreasing, my average time walking a mile, etc -I can pause, skip, like or replay a song from Spotify on my watch instead of picking up my phone while working out -it pairs with apps like couch 2 5k -I like the charts and work out data thats available to see after -the “take a photo” button is helpful for taking certain progress photos Honestly there’s more reasons but can’t think of them. I was bummed to lose the 10k steps celebration but now I have an app that helps me track step counts

I use the Apple Watch and a bike computer and my apple watch is way more accurate and reliable

Apple Watches aren’t particularly crazy, and they’re state of the art for HR monitoring on the wrist. You can get them for dirt cheap and turn the other notifications off if that isn’t your jam.

I’ve had an Apple Watch and used it for lifting and running. Liked it very much but it died… don’t swim with it in salty water… Now a Garmin forerunner 265, also for the same sports. Like them both, different but they do the job. For the criteria you’re mentioning, I think the Apple Watch is a better choice since you’re already in that ecosystem (I’m too) and besides sports, it’s a great device.

Nope. My old Apple Watch for hikes (altimeter) and workouts. But the ring is better for everything else.

I use the [swim.com](http://swim.com) app on Apple Watch. It’s better than the built in workout App.

Apple Watch and strava. Used to use runkeeper way back in the day.

The Apple Watch is good enough for me. Over 2000 yards it might be 50 yards off. When I use the kickboard, I have to huge arm swings to make sure it registers. I don’t use any analyzing apps.

Apple Watch for daily usage and strava app on the watch for distance and HR when rowing m. Doesn’t do stroke rate and doesn’t pause when sitting still, so the split time for the workout is always off. Apple Watch just added native “outdoor rowing” to the workout app. I haven’t tried it yet. Native workout app “indoor rowing” is way low on calorie burn imo. That’s my experience so far.

As a few others also noted, the Apple Watch works really well.

Apple Watch is good only if you rely on 3rd party Apps (Hevy or Strong for example) or even if you pay a subscription to something like that, but just by itself (the Strenght workout on AW) it's worst than Garmin, as it will only give you the timer and heart rate, it won't count reps, track weight or give you the option to see and edit your workouts when you're done.

It’s particularly sensitive to being set to the correct wrist. Have you checked this? I swim with my Apple Watch all the time. It works great

If you have an iPhone, i suggest Apple Watch since it has many other uses. For my experience, also old models work very well to get path/time data.

If you are a beginner runner you may be better off getting a coros pace 3, it is cheaper and has all of what you need. I started off with an Apple Watch as I got is as a smart watch and then became a runner, for me garmin was the better choice since it has great smart watch capabilities but much better running metrics and battery life than the AW. But it is because having Spotify and Apple/garmin pay were super important for me. If all you want is to run I would go with a coros.

I actually did have a Fitbit before I had an AW. I gave away my Fitbit because I was tired of getting friend requests from random men I didn’t know. None of that happens on my AW. And it fits into my Apple ecosystem nicely.

AW + Stryd has been my setup for years - 100% worth it. I also have no desire for a Garmin because it just seems too unnecessarily complicated.

Yes, I always use my Apple Watch while swimming.

Been using it for over a year and I think in all that time it’s missed two lengths. Form goggles on the other hand miscount about 75% of my swims by 1-2 lengths.

I used an Apple Watch for years until it died. Decided to replace it with the garmin venu and I’ve been happy with it. Did the whoop for a bit and didn’t like not having a watch face.

I'm an Apple Watch person, have been for years. I love it, and with the new sleep features, warnings, etc I like it even more. If being too connected is a concern, just remember, you can disable all the warnings and notifications you don't want. I only have messages come in from my wife and kids and most apps are shut off notifications so it's not vibrating my wrist all the time.

Umm I like mine. I had to use HOA dollars so I bought it. Here’s my take: I’m a poor sleeper and I already knew that. I wanted to see what the ring said about it for someone reason and of course it confirms but like so what. Now I am reminded about my poor sleep. It’s also a very poor fitness tracker so far. I’ve had an Apple Watch and a Fitbit and both were much much better I’m still wearing it but I for me I’ll just buy another fitness tracker. After a week of sleep results I’ve seen my patterns and that’s about all I wanted to know

I have an Apple Watch and use Nike Run Club app. Haven’t had any issues with my battery on any of my long runs or marathon

I've had mine since 2021 and I love it. It does have it's moments but overall it has helped me to provide data to my doctor. I do wear an apple watch on my opposite wrist primarily for day time activity tracking and I use the ring all day but primarily for the night time data.

That sucks. My Apple Watch tracks laps better than my garmin 965

Apple Watch. I use the direct connection to Apple Fitness on the bike+ and the Peloton App on the Tread. It automatically connects when it detects a workout.

Another vote for Apple Watch.

I like the Ultrahuman for just my sleep score. I use my Apple Watch for everything else, including fitness.

One more pro is that in this life full of distractions - Whoop doesn’t keep going off all day with notifications from apps and people. Really helps stay focus and does it job as effective. My apple watch keeps going off every now and them distracting me both during workouts as well as during office!

I wear my Apple Watch when I swim, but not to analyze my stroke. I use it to count and time my laps to push myself to go a little farther/a little faster. I could count laps in my head or move my water bottle to track laps, but with the watch I can just zone out for most of my swim and I like that. That said, I’m annoyed when it doesn’t give me credit for half of my one-armed fly drills. :-)

Garmin is full of navigation features apple don’t have my last apple watch did not even have xc skiing.

The Apple Watch rings keep me pretty motivated to do at least 60 minutes of walking a day. I’m pretty active but def have those days where I’m a couch potato and the watch minimizes that

Apple Watch is pretty good, sometimes misses kicking sets but is always within 50m of an average 3k workout. My coach sends my workouts via training peaks which integrates to the Apple Watch fitness app. I have used swim.com on the Apple Watch and it works great also

Mine misses laps when I do drills more often than not. It’s +\- one lap. So to play it safe I always swim till an even ten number. Doesn’t care for the paddle board(correct name?) drills the most

I had an Apple and switched to garmin, I like the garmin way better. More accurate for my bike rides and HR. The battery life is way better too

I use my Apple Watch

Yepp, done haemorrhaging money. Moving to the apple watch, quantifiedscientist on yt has proven accuracy is miles ahead anyway

If WhatsApp and Spotify got upgrades my AW experience would improve a LOT!

Apple Watch allows me to run with out a phone and still be able to listen to music, receive phone calls and text as needed. Garmin can do that.

I tend to mostly see Garmin and Apple Watches in my boat house. Garmins have a solid built-in support for on-water rowing workouts and a relatively long battery life. However, if you want to use your watch as a general smartwatch, I personally prefer the Apple Watch. While the built-in support for rowing workouts isn't ideal, there are several third-party apps that provide the same high-quality data as a speed coach would right on your wrist. As the developer of PocketCox, one such app for the Apple Watch, I must admit I'm biased. But if you have the chance to borrow someone else's watch and compare the data a Garmin provides to the data an Apple Watch provides, I suggest you see which one works best for you.

I came from a Garmin watch. My 645 forerunner broke and I wanted to try apple for a change (as I'm deep in the Apple system anyway). I'll immediately say any Garmin is better for running, but I like my Apple watch better for just about anything else. I do greatly miss the battery life of my Garmin tho

I’m loving it. It gives you understandable insights, analyzing your data., tips etc. other wearables provides similar info but not in the same user friendly way. Eg I have an Apple Watch that use to track my workouts but in terms of sleeping only tells the time you slept and the phases. Oura tells you if your sleep was repairing, if you had movement during your sleep, advise on the best time for you to go to sleep…

There’s a YouTube channel called ‘The Quantified Scientist’; he goes into depth on all trackers & their accuracy. I’m currently using an Apple Watch.

Apple Watch does count strokes. It’s the number after the / in your auto sets and splits. In your screenshot you can see 52 for the first 825, 53 for the next 125 and 57 for the last 950. You can see a lap by lap breakdown in the splits. It’s very obvious when you do a kick set as it is 0.

Check out Oura ring as well. I’d say it’s between that and the whoop as you’ve already pointed out. I’m that guy from time to time who wears both an Apple Watch and Seamaster.

I’ll start swimming without a coach and I need something to help me tracking distance, recording time and to show me the sets and reps. I swam with an Apple Watch of a friend, and it recorded my training session perfectly! **Even the laps when I just used the kickboard (no arm movement) was recorded correctly.** The downsides with the Apple devices for me are battery life (AW’s is horrible) and I would avoid being locked into Apples ecosystem. My budget allows me to get the Forerunner 255 or something cheaper. My Apple alternative is the Apple Watch SE 2. I saw some people complaining that the Garmin don’t track well the laps, but I question myself if the case is that these people are just very bad swimmers.

When I tried yesterday with the AW, it even counted some very bad simple turns correctly.

I love my Apple Watch for lap counting. I do 100 laps straight every morning and it used to be a nightmare to try to count it. Can’t say a garmin or another might not be just as good but I’m in the Apple ecosystem and it works great. I’ve been considering getting some water-proof audio like you. My big turnoff to that is that I believe there is some value in just turning off the world for 45 minutes. The other minor thing is that I would get into a groove and certainly slow down. The big pro is that I would love to just knock out 45 minutes or an hour and listen to my favorite podcasts and really bump up my distance because of the distraction as opposed to me just searching for how close I am to 100 laps.

Can’t speak to the Fitbit, but I’m generally happy with my Apple Watch

The HRV obsession of the recovery score was a key reason to not extend/renew. It makes no sense. Now trying Apple Watch + my gen 2 Oura .. and also not happy. I liked having everything in one place, only one device, without screen, that I can use for sports. Oura doesn't go well with weights/kettlebells, and I dont long rings that much. Close to going back, honestly.

I got an Apple Watch. Started playing and got an Apple watch to keep track of everything, couple it with Hockey Tracker and you're golden. Make sure you get the AppleCare (monthly) on it, you never know if it's going to take a hard hit.

Which version of the Apple Watch do you have? Mine does count kicking, and the last version I had did also. It was an update a few years (about 3 I think) ago.

I am on Apple Watch and actually considering changing to Venu 3. The thing is that Apple Watch resting heart rate, hrv and sleep tracking are atrocious. Sensors are the best for single measurements, but interpretation of the data is the worst.

I hated wearing a garmin all the time because it just felt aesthetically unpleasing. I sold mine and usually use an Apple Watch but I did buy a coros pace 3 for a relatively low price that I wear for long training and long races it my Apple Watch battery won’t last. Not for everyone but turns out I did need a smart watch and a sport watch.

I have an apple watch and it's phenomenal. A much higher price point, but the activity tracker and goals has made a big difference in my weight loss goals.

Same deal here - big Apple Watch user but wanted more insights on sleep. Looking at oura for sleep insights and analysis (health) vs that of fitness

I am afraid there is no Garmin that currently can do that. I run with apple watch on my other wrist as a phone. If you are on Android then pixel watch or a Samsung watch.

I had Apple Watch and didn’t really like it and I think whoop is better. Never had a garmin so Can’t speak to that. My freind has an aura ring and it looked the same as whoop with all the same stats and if I was a girl I would prob just get that bc it’s lower profile😭😭 but I just don’t wanna wear a ring around Edit but also whoop is def more health and wellness focused then fitness and training. But if you do the same lifts every week and only change every 6 weeks like I do it’s easy and I log them each week and just change the numbers real quick and the workouts are already saved.

I recently got the FR265. My Apple Watch screen cracked and I was tired of having to charge every night. I gotta say, I’ll never look back - garmin has been legit for everything so far. I do a lot of running and biking. The stats they provide like lactate threshold and FTP outperforms the Apple Watch by miles. It suggests the next days workouts and tracks my body fatigue levels to let me know when I should ease off. With that said, I decided not to track gym/weight lifting sessions on it because I have to push a button after each set. Too much work. The Apple Watch was better for that because I could set it to weight training and it’d just record the entire 60 minute session. But overall the fr265 is great! I’m still learning all about the features. Edit: also, the Apple Watch just gives average pace whilst this one gives me my real time pace all the time. Game changer

I use on a daily basis the walkie talkie feature, calendar, reminders, Siri, HomeKit, find my phone, and app to unlock my Tesla on my watch. And I can leave my phone in the car on runs and stream music and take an emergency call if needed. I hear so many people say garmins are better but there’s so many things I would lose. The battery life is my only issue so I’m really hoping Apple releases a new watch with improved battery in September.

Same. It’s so nice to not have to haul around my phone on my runs and I can stream music and take a call if needed. My only issue is the battery.. six mile runs is about all I can do with it. Holding out for a September Apple release for the the X.

Garmin is a superior sportswatch and the Apple Watch is a better smartwatch. If your interest is more for sports tracking, get a Garmin and vice versa for an Apple Watch. But if you like me and care more about sport tracking but need to have cellular on your watch, the Apple Watch is the only way to go. Hate going for runs with my phone but need to stay connected, saved my ass a few times

Both are fine. I would put the Apple Watch as slightly more accurate given it has dual band GPS versus the single on the 165. Personally I think the metrics on many higher end Garmin watches are overboard so this 165 might be ideal for your needs. Apple metrics are very accurate, i’m just not so fond of the touchscreen and button arrangement for runners. And of course the battery isn’t as long as 165.

I can confirm my Apple Watch overheats and shuts down at any temps above 170. Fit Bit seems to handle it. I stopped wearing mine, I was doing it out of curiosity to see how high my HR would get based on temps.

i dont know why it was asked about initially, but im happy to share why i need one! i use my apple watch, by the way. i primarily use my own lyra, but regardless, i would be hard pressed to take it off. especially as i can change the watch band to a once piece slip on. no edges. that said: i have a medical bracelet. i wear my bracelet next to my watch, because i / others can see certain data on the screen always that wouldnt be on my phone screen. additionally, my watch and phone can unlock each other. the other reason is that all of my doctors can see the same exact data, in the same exact format and i dont run the risk of forgetting to jot something down. (i wouldnt be in the air if i was unsafe or at any risk that would come from being there, versus being at target, for example. also, my cardiologist, autonomic neurologist, sports medicine team, and so on are aware and encouraging of this.)

Agreed. If you’re planning to get the Apple Watch anyway, it works incredible well and smoothly. I don’t remember how much fiddling with settings it took, but I’ve never had to worry about it. As someone else mentioned, I used to have a Fitbit that would double count the steps for a workout. Only mildly related: With any wrist based device, crocheting always counts as steps and sometimes triggers the “it looks like you’re working out” prompt. A few other activities can do it as well but with crochet it’s pretty much guaranteed for me lol

I use my garmin edge for cycling and my Apple Watch’s built in workout app for everything else.

Thanks for the great write up! I am one that is also frustrated with WearOS in a sense none of them do well for fitness focused people :( . I want to like it but im always drawn back to Garmin. I also use apple phones so i have an apple watch as well which is pretty good at fitness. I love garmin for fitness but lacks anything smart really even their latest watches. (cant voice to text translate a reply to a message) Is there some reason WearOS doesnt allow HR straps to connect that would fix alot of the fitness data for me. I mean come on even apple allows my HR strap to pair with apple watch

I just use my Apple Watch and the Atlon app, it’s designed to track movements automatically

Apple Watch with Strava app is fine.

Right? I knew the Apple Watch was better, but I was surprised how much better. Probably will switch to apple next phone I get, Samsung just hasn’t been impressing me much lately and my s20 sd slot is what kept me with them this long.

I use Apple Watch with data so I can listen to podcasts/ music. I use Apple workout to track my runs, Apple Health linked to Strava. I also use custom workouts for speed workouts. Set up warm up, speed repeat distances with pace range, recovery, etc. Battery doesn’t last as long as running watches but I enjoy the features and mine lasts through my long runs (although, I don’t listen to anything on those).

My Apple Watch seems to lock as if I’ve taken it off waaayyyyyyy more frequently now with my forearm/hand tattoo. I’ve been wondering if the ink could be part of that.

I was willing to live with the cost and all its issues - dealbreaker for me was lack of VO2 and continuous HRM and Afib. AW has everything and so do the rings etc.

I had a garmin when I was doing a ton of distance/trail running and apple was just introducing watches. I don’t do that anymore, my garmin is way out of date and I’m pretty imbedded in apples ecosystem. The lowered amount of fitness I’m doing is absolutely fine with an Apple Watch.

I use my Apple Watch and My Swim Pro app to count laps, get splits, and stroke count. Plus design workouts, set intervals, etc.

That’s right. I’m using my Apple Watch at the gym for strength training because I feel it’s closer to accuracy comparatively and it’s much safer not to have something interfere your full hand grip. For work (&sleep) I prefer wearing the UH ring and rocking a mechanical watch

By work I meant I generally wear it for constant tracking of all the various parameters at work. I use the ring instead of an Apple Watch to track my HR, steps and walking I do at the office. Not just that, I prefer a normal watch on the outfits I wear to the office. A ring would work out in your case if you ask me if none of the calling, message notifications matter to you. Forgetting to charge is also an issue in the ring. I just make it a point to top up the battery every time I go to a shower so that bit of battery at least gets me through that day and night.

I just use the Apple Watch. I find this more usually the remaining 23 hours a day when I’m not working out. 

My Apple Watch is not great about recording kick board laps. Not sure if other watches are better.

I swim with my regular Apple Watch all the time in the gym pool and I can know when a call comes through. Answering it is sometimes a different story but I can tell who is calling, so if it were the school I can hop out of the water.

AW will automatically detect intervals you preset before the workout. If you have to manually do laps, Ultra has a new side button that can do it.

Agree with all but the auto detection. It’s very good.

I swim for health and fun and I love it to keep track of my laps and my heart rate. Even if it’s not perfect I don’t need it to be. I have an Apple Watch and it fits into my everyday life so it’s not something that’s single purpose. I like Apple Pay since don’t really carry my wallet on me but in my backpack and I also don’t have my phone on me so I can still play music on my runs or workouts.

I used my Apple Watch, but I used the IntervalTimer App. Worked really well.

Mine’s pretty accurate but it doesn’t pick up lengths I do with a kick board.

I've got an AW and 955. As others have said, AW is a smart watch Garmin is a fitness watch. Do you need battery life for long runs/rides? Garmin Do you need cell service/text/calls? Apple I wear my AW most of the time because its got my work calendar on it plus I get texts etc. I also use it for swimming, surfing, and sports where I don't want to bring my phone because I need cell service. I had an emergency surfing about 5 yrs ago and got an apple watch with cell service immediately after. This is one area garmin fails. I wear my 955 for my runs and workouts. I find it track HR much better - no drops. If you are wearing a chest strap then they would both be the same for that. I prefer garmin for sleep tracking as well. Pretty sure bike power meters wont play nice with AW either. As far as health stats, I actually use healthfit for both AW and Garmin which gives me more than either of them.

Am I the only one where my Apple Watch (all 3 I’ve owned) call a length a lap? Drives me nuts.

I keep saying that and all those tied whoop users keep saying there's no need for an update technology and then it keeps being asked so its funny to watch that bipolarity 😆 regarding alternatives i would say garmin singe you going to use a band anyway to sleep then a watch dont make difference and is way better in general use and better in sports I would say if you have ios then apple watch If you dont like to sleep with eatch then you need to go to a ring or withings sleep matress or some really expensive 8sleep Those are the alternatives i remeber

I use it for every swim. I'm only doing 1500m of breaststroke but like to be able to compare time to previous swims. It's a great way to monitor progress.

Agreed, the health measurements of apple watch are just too good.

When I first started climbing I wore my Apple Watch with the hope of tracking overall fitness, took it off pretty much immediately and never wore it again. Too much risk of scraping it /banging it on the wall

I use the Apple Watch in my own 32ft outdoor pool and it’s absolute trash at tracking my laps even with the pool length set properly. It consistently tracks less than I do, I wouldn’t recommend.

Yep, I have swam with it about 8 miles a week for over a year and I love it. Zero issues.

I love my Apple Watch so much. I got it “renewed” (refurbished) for cheap on Amazon. It’s been great for a year now, zero issues.

Love my Apple Watch: perfectly tracks lap count, splits, stroke style, heart rate, etc. I don’t have to do anything but select “pool swim” as my workout, and go. It’s amazing. Love love love it.

Apple Watch is very accurate once calibrated over a few weeks of use. It is waterproof for swimming, and uses water lock. No reason to get something else “water proof” unless you plan to dive deep.

Buy an Apple Watch instead. You'll get a smartwatch AND a training device. The Garmin is only good for training and looks clunky and ugly the rest of the day.

I'd honestly rather not swim than go to the pool having forgotten my apple watch because if it's not recording my data I fear it doesn't count. Same for training at the gym. I'm dependent on this lil gadget that makes me feel like Kim Possible. I still count my lengths in my head but like the safety net of my watch to make sure I'm not losing track and it's fun to follow my data and changes over time.

Unless you need the battery life for long events like Ironman or ultras, Apple Watches are better fitness watches than garmins are smartwatches. If you really value the smartwatch portion, you could easily get a used, low ish end garmin or coros for <$200 and use it for your couple of big events a year, and use the Apple Watch the other 360 days.

I use it always!

I shake my head at the fact that in 2024 garmin can make a smartwatch that has anywhere from a two week to 4 weeks battery life and with more bells and whistles than Apple. But all Apple can only give you 2 days battery life max. What a damn shame. Apple is robbing people blind. Hell, I would be happy with one week of battery life.

Garmin has watches with amoled display that give you 16 days battery life. Room for everything? Garmin watches give you way more options than Apple Watches and make room for everything. All that with 16 days of battery life. Apple Watches are suppose me to have these better processors that are power efficient. Yet year after year, it’s still the same 1-2 days max of battery life

I have both watches. I wouldn’t say the Apple watches ‘clearly’ does more. Sure with other apple devices ices it integrates better. But that’s pretty much it.

I wore an Apple Watch while training for the Boston Marathon, running 60+ miles. Battery life is really a non-issue—the quick charge is very effective and so if you just drop it on a charger for 30-45 min while you get ready in the morning you’ll be fine. What was most annoying was lack of buttons. Wet clothing or raindrops triggering unintended touches is a major annoyance and the only option is to lock the touchscreen, which is annoying in its own way. Obviously you lose the Garmin training data side of things, which is a mixed bag. A lot of that stuff doesn’t really add much besides another thing to obsess over.

The bad review bias is strong because we happy customers don't have a need to spam reviews. I've had my 4 for couple of weeks now and I'm extremely happy with my product. I had the Gen 2 before this but the battery was so worn out after years of use that it was basically useless, so I decided to upgrade. The problem I had with the Gen 2 was that it was one size too large and it had hard time tracking my sleep reliably. With the 4 I decided to go with as small as possible. The first 4 days I was sceptical did I buy too small and I had to remove it from my finger time to time just because an unpleasant feeling. I did not had any actual physical symptoms. After I got used to it I don't feel it at all and it tracks everything perfectly. The battery in the 4 is simply amazing. I get like 6-7 days of battery. I have my charger at my desk so I just pop it in every once in a while when I remember. I think the battery size depends slightly on the ring size so just for the information I have size 10. I love the automatic activity tracking! It might not be as accurate in calories as my Apple Watch but it does detect all my activities correctly automatically and that's the most important thing for me. In Apple Watch I have to activate the activity in advance and with Oura I just simply confirm the activities afterwards when I remember. That's amazing feature! The stress meter is very eye opening for me and it gives me clues on what actually stresses me out and what helps me recover. I love my Oura 4 and I would buy it straight away again if it gets lost or breaks.

Well I've had my Apple Watch for 4 years and I still get solid 30 hours of battery. It means it still needs to be charged every night. To me 8 hours of battery in Apple Watch indicates that something is wrong with it.

I've had an Apple Watch and switched to the Coros Pace Pro. If you're only going to use the watch for crossfit and exclude any sort of running then I would say skip the pace pro. A lot of the stats is catered towards running/runners

Yes, wouldn’t be without it.

Same about me. I get the hype about AW and I\`m very comfortable with them as Iphone extension, but garmin with it\`s battery life and training programs get training expirience so much forward. I fucked up so much with forgetting to charge my AW and missing my swim/run session.

Apple Watch right now but eventually I’ll go back to the Garmin life

If you plan to wear it daily and you are inside apple’s ecosystem then it’s a no brainer for the apple watch

You can use strava I think to sync your swim workouts but it’s more focused for running and cycling, when I had the apple watch I just used the ios stock one and I think it does enough.

I use garmin and I love it. I used to have an Apple Watch for me it was the look. I can’t stand the square Apple Watch look but… Apple Watch is a smartwatch that can do some fitness tracking and garmin is a fitness tracker that can do some smartwatch

I use a sweatband over top of my Apple Watch. If I’m snatching I may turn it inside out as well. May not be perfect as I’ve definitely hit the face with the bell but so far so good.

I think the sleep tracking is pretty good. It usually makes me feel better about my sleep, actually. I often have a negative perception of my sleep, and sometimes the watch convinces me I slept longer\\better than I thought I did. lol It does provide some measures of cardio fitness measured in VO2 Max, lots of heartrate related measurements, respiratory rates, physical effort measured in METs, it does track calories and "active calories". I am not sure how accurate the measurements are, but I think they are accurate to themselves (ie if your trend is going up or down that is probably accurate). It also can count steps but that feature seems to not be emphasized. I had to use a third party app called Duffy to get a step complication on my watch face. This did allow me to replace my Fitbit. The steps counted were very close to the Fitbit's numbers when I was wearing them both. The watch definitely helps me. It tracks your progress each day (standing hours, exercise minutes, and active calories). You configure goals for yourself and the watch will periodically remind you. And if you don't make your goal, you have it forever marked against you on the calendar. This kind of pushes me to do the bare minimum to close my rings every day I can, lol. I definitely exercised more today than I wanted to (and more than I would have if I didn't have the watch) just to get the damn move ring closed. It works for me.

I go into the sauna with my apple watch so I can track my heart rate. My time in the sauna ends once my heart rate hits a certain level which I find to be much more helpful versus a set time. I'm guessing your watch will be fine in there as well.

Apple Watch for sure. I used my whoop for a while and the HR was wildly inaccurate. I could be sweating and tired on a high resistance portion on the bike and my HR would only show zone1-2….. I find my HR accuracy with my Apple Watch.

Apple Watch will do fine for a long time - only got a Garmin last year. However once you go to only having to charge your watch once every two weeks you just can’t go back to Apple. I have a Garmin Fenix (on the $$$ side) but I wear it every day as my normal watch too and have had zero issues making the switch. However there’s heaps in the range, I love accuracy, maps, long battery and lots and lots of data so I can overthink every run - so Fenix it is! The forerunners are great and the vivoactives are a good mid range model. There’s other brands like Suunto, Polar etc. For true accuracy on any wrist watch you may need a chest monitor. But if you really like your Apple Watch I found it pretty good unless you’re somewhere with not much reception

The swim workout on apple watch kind of sucks. I use the swim.com app instead. It kind of sucks too, but I feel it tracks my laps in the pool a little more accurately. I use the apple open water swim for open water swims. It just does a gps track. Nothing extra.

Had a Fitbit. It didn’t have heart rate alarms or integration with Apple Health. Had a heart attack. Received the Apple Watch after that and have been wearing one ever since.

I have had many Fitbits, an Apple Watch and a Garmin Venu 3. The Fitbits have gone downhill since Google bought them and they usually break right when the warranty is over. So I can no longer recommend although I have owned at least 10 Fitbits over the years. I own an Apple Watch and never use it. It shows my calorie burn insanely high (I am talking several hundred calories high each day). And it has to be charged every day which is a pain. I've had my Garmin Venu 3 about an a year and a half. I like it a lot. It is not super complex but does what I want. Like all fitness tracker/watches it tend to over estimate calories a bit as did all of them. But it is closest to accurate.

Ive tried a few and here’s my feedback. Apple watch: it’s a smart watch not a fitness watch. It has improved recently (the latest models should be significantly more accurate than the one I had 4+ years ago) however for me personally it’s the distraction element that I do not like. I do not need another screen. Fitbit; data is ok for a beginner, but definitely not great or accurate for someone training 5-6x a week and combining cardio, sports, weights etc. Whoops: no screen which is a major + for me. Can wear it on wrist, bicep or underwear. Really good measurement of sleep and calculation of sleep/down time based on your daily activity. That helps a lot plan your sleep and have better recovery and as a consequence, perform great in the following day. I am quite curious to try Oura and Garmin (even though I’d hate to go back to screen wearables) maybe i’ll get one of them next year but so far, Whoop is 100% the best Fitness tracker out there imo. In addition, I’ve realized that in all High End resorts that I’ve been in the past 3 years, people wear 2 things: a rolex or a whoop 😂 so as a Henry I guess that’s a good indicator.

I personally only wanted 1 watch and didn’t want to exercise with my phone. Apple Watch was a no-brainer. While limited compared to non-Apple fitness devices, its heart rate and gps are excellent. For long-distance endurance sports, the most sophisticated fitness watch is worthless if I can’t call, text, or share my location with others. In addition, i believe many amateur athletes begin relying on technology long before they understand their bodies’ rhythms and limits.

I literally leave my phone at home because the watch can call and text. No illusions.

I prefer the cool 'tech' style of the apple device, the Garmin products are way better but they look like a Texas Instruments calculator on your wrist and they feel a bit cheap - despite being anything but.

Do you have any details on what isn't accurate on the Garmins compared to other products? I had an apple watch for years but switched to a Forerunner 965 and have been very happy; didn't notice any accuracy differences. I can't even name 10 competitors in the smart watch market so I'm not sure if that's an exaggeration?

Only thing keeping me on whoop at this point is I like sleep tracking, but don’t like sleeping with my Apple Watch on..

I use it every swim. I also stopped using the apple fitness app for swimming because it gives inaccurate pace times. I installed the Swim.com app and it’s great, EXCEPT, it doesn’t pick up any kicking sets. If you can mimic the swim.com app, but toss in kicking, it would be the best.

Thing that blows me way about my AW is it’s ability to know what stroke you’re doing. My watch is about 98.5% or better on tracking yardage.

I’ve been using Apple Watches for almost 5 years, 3-4 hours a week in the pool. Waterproofing is flawless Accuracy: The delta in my self reported yards (on the USMS tracking app) vs my watch is like 1.15% this year. Occasionally the watch misses one kicking lap in a 300 yard set or maybe if I’m swimming with fins or doing drills. Rarely misses anything w/ straight freestyle or other strokes My biggest beef with the watch is how it refers to kick sets as “kickboard”. Did Apple ask a single swimmer what to call this???

Apple does track splits automatically but it’s not super accurate. If you’re resting more than 5 seconds between repeats the sets are reasonably accurate. Total yardage is in the 99% accurate range for me

Current version of Apple Watch does record kick sets

Stroke recognition is pretty amazing I think. I’ve noticed errors lately on butterfly more often. Maybe my stroke is degrading and Apple is telling me I can’t acknowledge that crap as butterfly…

It is slightly less accurate than when tracking freestyle, but Im happy to have the feature.

I’m not missing the point at all. My watch gives me a pretty good record of my workout. I don’t use it at all DURING workouts— the pace clock is the right tool then obviously. Ive never used a Garmin but Apple is designed to be locked out during the actual workout. But for a good sense of what I have done over the course of the week, my watch is more than accurate enough (and mine is pretty consistently 98-99% over any given time frame— agree that it’s most vulnerable to errors on kick sets and some of my coaches favorite drills really mess it up) I can’t recall ever being off my more than 25y in a workout of up to 3500y) It frankly never occurred to me that anyone would use it in lieu of a pace clock. That’s crazy

Garmin >>>> Apple. I tried on Apple and didn’t like app on watch and the constant talking. Also screen harder to read. Garmin was easier and more customizable data screens

Garmin or Apple, you can get a solid run tracking watching from China for 40-50$ I think the Xiaomi Smart band is what Dr Mike uses and they're like 40$ and do adequate work. If you love apple and don't mind charging your watch every night, get the apple watch. If not Garmin.

I have RingConn and an Apple Watch. I use both daily. The watch has the most data. I utilize the ring for sleep tracking (I don’t sleep with watch). Watch is used for more stuff. Apple Pay, weather, timers, messages and more. Both are beneficial.

I have an Apple Watch and it doesn’t do everything I need. I’ve heard good things about garmin, but i don’t think any watch will do what we need straight out of the box. That’s why visible has a market. The trick is to make sure that whatever watch you choose can be compatible with other apps. I have symptom shark as well and it tells my HR but it says “oh yeah your HR went to XX ten mins ago”…no, I need something that will alert me now. TBH, no matter what app you choose there aren’t a ton that do exactly what we need for an illness like ours. Maybe one day they’ll create a wearable just for ME/CFS and other energy limiting illnesses like long covid. There’s millions of people with this so there’s a market for sure.

I went from Apple Watch to FR265s. I didn’t love my Apple Watch, it on my gave basic tracking features and battery died quickly, but the communication/phone functionality was definitely better. I much prefer the 265s to get more in depth training stats and love that it’s not as easily connected to my phone so I don’t have a mini phone on my wrist and get a break lol

The Apple Watch uses Apple Health, so that’s exactly what you want. I have no issues at all with the WW app syncing to the activity my Apple Watch measures.

For me, I don’t like to be ripped of. I’m not a junkie that must have the product. I don’t like the feeling of getting played because I “must have a thing”. I get on fine without it and use an Apple watch, which has the added benefit of unlocking my devices, apple pay, gps and voice control of my house 🤷 But no judgement. Get what suits your life 🫶

Just to add, I still have my Apple Watch and use it for exercise tracking as I think that’s the main thing the Oura doesn’t do as well. It still has some functionality so you could manage it all through it, but my Apple Watch and Strava sync into it anyway so I still use those alongside

I have both Garmin 945 and Apple Watch and they both get really close. Have doublechecked them against a polar device on my temple and all three were comparable.

I did the same thing. Got the apple watch once I cancelled and I charge it before bed every night and it lasts the entire day. That's the only thing Whoop will now have on apple watch. The charging.

Absolutely, but having the screen isn't all that bad. It is useful. You can also set notifications to a minimum if you don't like distractions. You can also set focus's which is great. It's also a significantly less burden on the wallet over time.

But only slightly. Heart rate is much more accurate on Apple Watch. That may change with 5.0 hardware/software update. But Apple Watch isn't a bad product at all. When you factor in the cost, I believe you get more bang for your buck with Apple Watch.

Good news is you can program your watch by either (or both) focus's and notifications. The watch isn't the same as whoop. But it gives you all of the same features depending on which subscriptions you have. They are all significantly less than whoop though. I frequently golf and was drawn to whoop years ago and I loved it. I learned a ton on what is good and what is bad for me. I cancelled shortly after the 4.0 drop because I already learned everything there is to know. But I still wanted the data. I just couldn't fathom spending an annual subscription that was as much as the Apple Watch itself when I didn't see Whoop trending in the right direction. Whoop 3.0 was it's peak. Once they started selling eye masks and new bands at a rate of 300% more than it was in the blink of an eye, I was out. I use; Bevel = $50/year Heart Analyzer = $9/one time fee HeartWatch = $6/one time fee AutoSleep = $6/one time fee Heart Analyzer and HeartWatch both offer V02 Max, Bevel will probably offer this in the future. All of the above offer HRV. AutoSleep measures HRV during sleep and upon waking (Breathe app is recommended which is free) The others track HRV through SDNN and RMSSD. Whoop tracks it more often, however you still get multiple readings per day with the other apps and can manually trigger it using the Breathe app. Bevel is the highest cost but also provides you: * Recovery score * Stress score * Energy bank * Sleep score * Sleep recommendations * Strain score * Strength builder * Journal * Lifestyle impact analysis * Training zones * complication/widgets for the watch Autosleep: * Automatic sleep detection * Plethora of sleep metrics and analysis * Sleep bank * Smart alarm

Same as you. My charge 6 just died on me one fine day. Considered Garmin Lily and Apple Watch, finally went with Apple simple because there’s more support where I live. The biggest learning curve was how frequently Apple Watches need to be charged.

I use my Apple Watch and Seconds Pro.

I use mine to count laps as well

I started with Fitbit but switched to an Apple Watch and I love it. I have a friend who has a Samsung watch and loved it but she switched to Apple Watch also and loves it. I think it also depends on preference and what your are looking for in a fitness tracker. I would think it’s a toss up between Apple Watch and Samsung Watch.

Compared to my 4 year old Apple Watch it‘s really slow. And the UI is terrible.

I switched back to Apple Watch after a week 😜

Apple Watch is already in the post

I wanted the most accurate sleep tracking and, according to the Quantified Scientist, Apple watches are the best.

I use the smartwod app on my phone to set the interval. Plays over my music + counts down to start/stop. I just use my Apple Watch to track distance but have been debating on switching back to Garmin for more accurate miles.

Mine stopped syncing last week, exactly 1 year and a week after I bought it.. Got a brand new Apple watch in the black friday sale..

I bought an Apple Watch hoping it would serve as a smart and sports watch. Not satisfied with the sports function. All my friends have Garmin or something else and their km/h measuring and battery life is much better. Not familiar with the Apple Watch Ultra though.

If Apple Watch could last a 70.3 and moreso a full IM, I'd actually prefer it over Garmin. The UI is better and easier to understand, plus I get to wear it whole day as a normal watch since it kinda suits what I wear at work. The functionality which is also customizable is also exceptional and the resulting data (HR, distance, etc.) is the same with Garmin. Plus, I do use an iPhone and airpods. I used to run using the apple watch and then pair it with my airpods - i loved that I get to listen to music without bringing my phone, and a voice which says if im over HR target range or if my run/rest interval is done.

I’m using a Apple Watch and I love using the function to use spotify offline so I can listen to music without my phone. Is this also possible with a Garmin Watch?

Apple Watch is the obvious answer

My Apple watch closely matches the heart rate given by hospital equipment, but my skin is very pale, which makes optical sensors work much better. If you happen to also be pale, there's a good chance that a high quality Android-based watch will work similarly well. Not a very helpful suggestion if you're not on the pasty side, sorry! Best of luck with your recovery!

You'll get basically all the tracking (Apple will surely have blood pressure monitoring if Whoop does). And if you like the Whoop app's style of Strain, Sleep, journalling etc.. you can get an app like Bevel or Athlytic for a couple of bucks a month. Personally I'll be ditching my Whoop due to this pricing and using my Apple Watch with Bevel.

Apple Watch does not collect 24/7 second by second hr and Hrv data which Garmin does That’s a main flaw for me on the Apple Watch + battery life is a pain in the ass :/

I like the simplicity of the coros pace pro. I dont get overloaded with notifications like my apple watch and the battery life is amazing.

I can make a series watch last for an Olympic distance on low power mode. Even then I still need to charge to get through the rest of the day. My Garmin 955 will last for a complete Ironman with 65% of the battery left. I still sometimes use my Apple Watch for shorter runs or bike rides if I forget to change it out, but the Garmin is my go to training watch.

Both my partner and I love our Apple Watches but they are horrendously bad at tracking accuracy and would terminally underestimate distance by around 5-10%. For some reason my partner’s would only record her heart rate for around 20% of a workout. Tried all the usual (tightening wrist band, re-pairing etc) but they just don’t work as a fitness tool. It’s a real shame because as a smart watch they are amazing (especially leaving your phone at home with the cellular models), but as a training tool, my 8 year old Forerunner 235 is a better option than my 1 year old Apple Watch.

I have used Apple Watch for a year and have been very happy with it. Prior to that I had a Fitbit, which was brilliant tracking workouts but not so much climbing. I use my Apple to track all my workouts in the gym and indoor and outdoor climbing. It’s accurate and easy to use.

The Apple Watch really just felt like a second phone on my wrist with a few fitness tracking features. I didn’t need to see that I got a Gmail notification on my wrist and my phone at the same time. The constant clearing of notifications from my phone and watch was really annoying. After turning off all of those features to make it more fitness focused, I thought why am I paying for this when I could spend around the same amount of money and get more features that I want with the garmin? So I am keeping the garmin over the Apple Watch.

Ugh - tried to use my Apple Watch to push heart rate to garmin for calculations / metrics - no go … third party apps can “display” but garmin cannot ingest the data to interpret/compute. What gets me is that Apple is so slow to make a viable alternative yet it’s got a stranglehold on the wearables market. Annoying.

I wear my Apple watch every time. It has normal wear and tear, nothing crazy. I don’t do dynos (yet) which is the only thing I can think of that is not currently contributing to my watch condition.

Exactly this. When you use a Garmin you can tell it was clearly built for purpose (endurance sports), and Apple Watch is clearly not. Just different uses and different uses.

I have always used my Apple Watches to track sleep. The newer ones charge quickly so it’s never been a problem, plus the newer ones charge ultra last multiple days.

I did Apple Watch forever but got tired of being “so connected” Moved to whoop a few months ago. It’s ok… not sure I love it or really understand everything it’s telling me, but it does the trick

I’m just getting back into swimming after like 25yrs and have been using my Apple Watch paired with the swim.com app on it and my phone(free). I really like that it syncs with my Apple health. I can ideally load my workout onto it, it’s fairly accurate in knowing how much of a rest I take etc.

I switched from Garmin to AW. I found HealthFit, which is free. If you’re a runner, HealthFit is a must. Other than that, I rely on Apple for everything else.

I can run on trails without my phone and the GPS still gives me accurate distance/pace. It's just a better engineered product specific to athletes (runners, bikers, swimmers, etc). The Apple Watches spans across so many features that it doesn't do the core things a runner needs from a watch as good as a Garmin (coming from a 800-1500 middle distance runner). If your a sprinter I guess an apple watch will do bc all ya need is a timer.

I use Apple Watch to play music on left wrist, and Suunto Race S on right wrist for run. It was supposed to be a transition period thing from AW to Suunto, but I am kinda getting used to two watches now lol.

I have Apple and it’s the worst thing ever. It locks itself into water mode restricting you from using stop watch etc.

That must have been a long time ago… I have used Apple Watches for about 6 years, and it’s always identified the stroke!

At the moment I’m comparing my Apple Watch with a Garmin Fenix 6x Pro that I bought recently. On most swims the Garmin will record a distance about 20-25% higher than the Apple Watch. There are a few swims that I do that I can easily verify the distance on a map (eg where we swim along a river from one bridge to another) and for those, the Apple Watch normally gets the distance about right, so I think generally the Garmin overestimates distance. I don’t see why the watches should give different distance though - like someone else commented, GPS is easily accurate enough to measure distances like this to within a few feet. Both watches might be trying to measure some kind of “effective distance”, eg swimming 1 mile upstream should count for more than 1 mile downstream, but I’ve never seen that written down anywhere. If you really care how far you’ve swum, record your swim with a watch, but then manually measure the GPS track on a real map.

I wear a whoop on a bicep band and swap out my SMP for an Apple Watch when I go to the gym

If you're already in the Apple ecosystem then an Apple Watch will be good choice that's pretty straightforward to use. A Garmin Instinct2 is also a good, relatively low cost option, but you'll need to use the free Garmin Connect app on your iPhone to view your exercise data. The Garmin is more complicated to set up.

PS, battery life is 1-2 days on the Apple Watch and up to 28 days on the Garmin

This! I had a Whoop and Apple Watch at the same time. I was out swimming and the Apple Watch screen came off and was flapping in the water. Never bothered to get a new one, I don’t need a watch, I want a fitness/health device and screens are just a failure point.

Depends on your phone and budget. The Apple watch will still be the best casual smartwatch for iPhone users. If you're a hard-core runner/outdoors person, go for Garmin. Apple watch price ranges from 16K to 55K. Samsung users will best benefit from Galaxy Watch. Prices range from 16K to 41K.

I just the Apple fitness app with my Apple watch. Does everything I want it to do and more.

I've had Fitbit, Galaxy Watch, and Apple Watch. Of the three, Apple Watch has been the best and most accurate. It was also the easiest to connect and synch. Apple Fitness seamlessly integrates with Apple Health, and Apple Health easily integrates with WW. The only issue I've had, I've had with all three, is I get points for activity AND steps...and the activity is what created the steps. Not a big deal since I don't use the points. YO!!! WW Devs!!! Please turn the ability to stop tracking activity points back on, THANK YOU!

I use my Apple Watch and the [Swim.com](http://Swim.com) app to count my laps every morning at the pool.

I have an Apple Watch but I’ve recently started working in the medical field and wearing a watch increases infection risks. I rather have slightly worse accuracy than catch an infection because gloves don’t cover watches well.

As a long time user, I may just upgrade my Apple Watch and cancel whoop . This is getting ridiculous and for that price + some extra cash get a new Apple Watch.

Apple Watch. I bought a very cheap screen cover that cracks almost immediately, but I can usually keep it on for a few months before replacing it. I like having the watch to track heart rate and calorie burn. However inaccurate these might be, I find them useful to gauge my sessions in the gym. I do not wear my watch when I climb outside.

Fitbit is the least reliable. Apple Watch is ok. If it’s really important to you, get a real running watch. Even an entry level model will be better. Or stick with the Apple Watch. It’s not terrible, just not super accurate and the battery life leaves a lot to be desired.

I wear my Apple Watch with Strava running. It’s a bit scratched up, my strap would come off very easily in the case of a snag, I’d be wary which straps I use especially outdoor climbing to reduce degloving risk 🤢

Yes they are pretty rubbish for swimming. I just switched to a Garmin Fenix which hopefully will be better. The Apple Watch managed lap counting ok for me but open water was a disaster and the rest of its counting (calories etc) was also well off by the looks of it. Your does sound even more broken than just being rubbish though. It should be able to count laps fairly accurately, I think most of them can do that ok.

My Apple Watch adds a lap here and there.

I use my Apple Watch to track the run, and the RunIntervals app to give me run/walk alerts

I do really short intervals (:30/1:00) so programming that for a long run would be terrible. And I don’t always catch the haptic alerts from my watch. Audio alerts work better, and I run with my phone anyway.

This. People act like AW can’t offer all the same data and more

Althugh you can get an app for all those features if you want on AW

Apple Watch with screen protector and it works great for me.

I also have an AmazeFit and like it. It last a way long than my Apple Watch ever did. I have several pairs of Tozo headphones that are great, so I’d trust that brand. I’m not an audiophile though, just casual need to hear podcasts and music headphones user.

Same. I swim with it 3-4 times a week and take couple of saunas on those days. I usually mostly palm it while sitting in the sauna to shield it from some of the löyly.

Well. Yes and no. I swim multiple times a week and go from the pool to sauna and back without removing my Apple Watch. Obviously would not wear my watch if only for sauna.

I use it every time, mostly for counting laps.

I use my apple watch. I bought it for the heart rate monitor and afib detection before I started Chemotherapy since a lot of the chemo drugs really do a number on your heart. Now I use it mostly to track my burn throughout the day.

Try the Apple Watch you already have. You’ll like it enough or not.

If you’re an apple person, apple watch is the answer.

There’s an app called Work Outdoors on Apple Watch. Works well for me.

That’s what I did a few years ago. My Apple Watch +Athlytic. I was an early adopter of whoop 3.0 and a day 1 4.0 but spending hundreds a year wasn’t worth it anymore if I’m always wearing Apple Watch. It’s like $30 a year for Athlytic and tells me everything I need to know

I’ve run with AW for about 5 years including marathon blocks up to 60 mpw. No complaints. No battery issues…will easily last a full marathon and the rest of the day. Some HR accuracy issues early on, but seems to have been solved by playing with bands and placement. Personally I don’t mind double-tapping the screen to lap during track work.

This. Much to my dismay; no Garmin around has this offering so I literally look like an ass with a watch on each arm but it serves two purposes: 1. Apple Watch - able to call / text during long runs. More useful than you could ever imagine. Especially for emergencies / time overruns etc 2. My Garmin - my preferred device for my running metrics.

I have an apple watch. When I flare, my resting heart rate is about 15 beats faster per minute than when I am healthy.

Only ever used an Apple Watch, had a Fitbit charge 2 before that but that always needed phone to be connected for GPS etc. I think the Apple Watch is very accurate

I found that the Apple Watch goes a bit funky if you pause the timer after intervals . Usually you get that Apple Watch kind of tacks on a “lap” that is blank in distance , with a time on it . Occasionally if I do a lap where I extend my dolphins quite a bit , it triggers the watch to say I was doing butterfly rather than freestyle . The other time it goes funky is when I start swimming at the start of a session without activating the watch at all (ie : I am just warming up ) . Once I try to start a timer it actually begins part way through an interval , and records the warm up as no distance .

I can do this with the workout app in my Apple Watch, just set the activity to pacing or create a manual workout. If you’re not satisfied with that maybe NRC could work?

I have Apple Watch and whoop. I recommend Apple Watch all the way!!

I depend on my watch for counting lengths and time for determining pace. Previously I used to swim without it, but having used it for more than a year I find it a great help in the pool.

I have both and have tried swimming with both  Apple is terrible for swimming. Doesn’t even have a rest timer. Get Garmin. The only reason I use the Apple is as a key for my Tesla when surfing and because I can call 911 when I’m surfing

Garmin isn’t always accurate, but Apple doesn’t even make an effort in my experience. It doesn’t detect rest intervals at all, and the yardage is off in the way that you described because it tries to be too precise. In comparison, the Garmin is smart enough to know that my distance is always gonna be a multiple of 25 yards. My swimming style is a slow graceful gliding so I can understand how it might not detect that I have stopped and thinks I’m still going sometimes.  Either way if I need a really precise number I wouldn’t use auto rest timer from any brand. I would manually do it. The Garmin is good enough to keep track of my weekly mileage though.

I have had my Oura 4 for about two weeks. I’ve only had to charge it twice! I haven’t had any issues with the physical quality either. I’ve used an Apple watch for tracking for about a year. All of my data from Oura is super comparable. I feel like the sleep is much more accurate, I love the temperature tracking / integration with Natural Cycles, and I LOVE how it adjusts your activity goal based on other data. For sizing, I chose an 8. It was the size that could fit on my index finger tightly, middle finger comfortably, and room to move to my ring finger if I was super swollen.

The Apple Watch probably is more accurate but has significantly less frequency when not in workout mode. Still, the Apple Watch can replace a Whoop but the Whoop can’t replace an Apple Watch.

I used to have an Apple Watch but got rid of it for accuracy reasons for running marathons. Had to buy a Garmin to get accurate km splits and accurate instant pace. I use my Garmin also for swimming now. If it’s a decision between Garmin and Apple and you want accurate and reliable data I would go with Garmin every time. Also consider if you ever want to do open water swimming as many watches do pool swimming only and that doesn’t work at all well in open water. Good luck with your whatever you decide.

Same here. Literally the same story. Apple Watch shat the bed, bought a Fenix 7X and it’s been a life changing upgrade. 8 months in, dropped about 12/13kg, ran a few half marathons, gym 5/6 days a week. Good stuff!!

I started with Apple Watch. Once I got serious about running I switched to garmin. Garmin syncs up with NRC so all runs get uploaded there.

I use mine every single time. What is your app idea? I mostly ask because I can’t think of anything I want my Apple Watch to do for swimming that it doesn’t already do.

If you have an iPhone I wouldn’t even consider anything but Apple Watch or gamin Apple Watch never fails at counting laps and has the best wrist based heart rate sensor, both in and out of water

Inversely, I never had more than more than one lap difference between Apple Watch and real measurement

If you got an iPhone : Apple Watch, or garmin as a second choice Otherwise : garmin all the way Apple Watch is the most accurate both for distance, heart rate, does automatic stroke detection, and you can upload your workouts to it which makes it easy to follow during your swim Garmin does all these too, but less accurately for swimming at least

What I do, just to have a weekly goal, is track all food in MacroFactor. And then, with my Apple Watch, I have a goal to burn 3500 workout calories, tracked in the streaks app. It really started helping me to keep the two separate worth the two different systems/apps, rather than combining them like other food tracker apps do. I can manage my calorie intake much more accurately this way and not feel the need to eat extra

Pairing a Bluetooth heart rate strap with the Apple Watch will improve its battery life during workouts since it can turn off the optical hear rate sensor. Disabling the always on display can make a noticeable difference as well.

I have an Apple Watch. It syncs with your Apple health app very well. I’ve been extremely happy with it. It even can accurately assess that I am doing a workout. I had a Fitbit, garmin and now Apple Watch and so far apple watch has been the best

Personally I turned off most of the “smart” features of my Apple Watch last year. I found 95% of it was just some garbage spam notification from a social platform or some other app vying for my attention, like having a 2 year old with me everywhere I go grabbing at my wrist. Once I disabled them all, at that point my watch just became a health tracker with the ability to pay for things (and occasionally tell me the time). Garmin watches are superior to apple in that regard, so it made sense to switch. Also, and this is purely subjective, I think the garmin epix and Fenix line look infinitely better than apple stuff. The chunky bezels and circular shape make it look like an actually fashionable watch instead of a toy screen on my wrist

How accurate is the GPS, especially when running through woods or on overcast days? I've found Apple watches and even lower end Garmins don't handle position tracking very well in those conditions. Sometimes they'll be as much as a half mile off for a several mile run. That's the only time I can't fault the Fenix series watches, the GPS is nearly flawless. The only thing I've found more accurate is a handheld.

I tried Whoop and Apple Watch. In general, I think it might just be around your WOD habits. I find myself more focused on the tasks and technique needed and/or strategy when not using a tracker. Plus, if you use any kind of grips or wrist wraps it’s not efficient to get all that together. My 2 cents: get a WOD tracker app like BTWB and log your reps, weights and workouts. It’s oddly not perfect but, if you want some sort of tracking going that’s good. TLDR: whoop is expensive and will tell you that you are exhausted when you are obviously exhausted (listen to your body). apple watch is expensive and I was sceptical of the durability when using various weight types.

My main gripe about Apple Watch and multisport training is the lack of structured swim training support (and given the fact that pool swimming is quite monotonous, it's the area where I find the structured training on your wrist to be the most useful). When I'm swimming with my Garmin, I get into the pool, open Swimming activity, accept the workout that pops up automatically (because it was pushed there from the training calendar), start the activity and simply switch off my mind - the watch will buzz when the interval is done and it's time to either do the next interval or take a break and recover (and show it on my wrist as well). With Apple Watch I need to be constantly aware of my workout, mentally count how much is left in the interval and what I need to do next.

Apple Watch. Works great for what I need

I use an Apple Watch. My last one cost $400 and lasted 4+ years. It was honestly still fine after 4 years, but the battery life was struggling a bit. I was able to trade it in for $70 credit when getting the new version.

Swimming is the one sport my Apple Watch was better at than my Coros. Never missed a lap, even detected kickboard sets, where on a Coros or Garmin those don’t register at all.

I’ve had regular Apple Watch and decided to come back to running. It was decent for that, had all the data, but didn’t have extras like recovery times, hrv and quite a lite others, including daily training recommendations and health summaries. Probably achievable with 3rd party apps, but I grew out of it quickly because of battery life. 15k run with audio streaming was almost killing battery, while Garmin uses like 10-11% for the same thing, with AOD on. On AW I didn’t used AOD because of battery. So it might be fine at the beginning but when you switch to longer distances you will face the wall because of battery life. Also Garmin has a top notch portal Garmin connect accessible via website as well where you can go through your workouts and health summaries easily

Apple Watch is quite suboptimal for OWS - it doesn’t track distance accurately whenever you’re not doing a freestyle strike (eg, breast) - this is actually confirmed on the Apple Support site - and it’s wildly inconsistent on distance when swimming the same route. Additionally, the touch screen often doesn’t work when coming out of the water. I’m looking for a replacement for my own Apple Watch for my OWS swimming in SF Bay…

I trust my Apple Watch for counting laps far more than I trust myself to count.

if you are an ios user; apple watch is a no brainer but if you want a long lasting fitness watch go for garmin

Hard disagree on the watch. The Apple Watch is essential to my day to day. I’ve been using it every day since it initially launched back in like 2015. I use it for keeping me off the phone because I get my notifications on my wrist, controlling my music and Podcasts, tracking my exercise, setting reminders, doing shopping lists, setting timers to keep my kids on track, keeping me focused, and of course telling the time. When I don’t have my Apple Watch, I definitely feel less productive. The Ring however, I have absolutely no idea what purpose it serves.

I have an Apple Watch but I wish I had a Garmin. 😥

Nike Run Club app and it’s training program on my Apple Watch. Sometimes it’s slow to update the phone app, but overall very happy with it.

Apple Watch. Works well for me

It’s never missed a lap for me, even though I’ve heard this reported for others. I always touch the wall with my hand wearing the watch though. Someone said to do that

I’ve swam maybe 100 times with Apple Watch. It’s been off maybe twice, by one lap. Dunno what to tell you though

Track your swim workouts using the built-in Apple Fitness app on Apple Watch, then analyze performance data with SwimNow.

TBH at this point it is much better investing it on a Garmin, apple watch or an aura ring and that's from my perspective only I am about 80% sure I wont resub and wont upgrade

Love my Apple Watch for tracking. It is waterproof and has survived the many many hot yoga classes I have practiced in and taught over the last couple of years. I like that I can track different types of workouts in the same gym visit(sometimes I’ll start with some yoga and then move on to some strength training and then finish with some type of cardio) and see the overall accumulation of the workout benefits. Lots of other cool features on it but I’m not trying to sell you on it.. just saying it’s a great option for tracking those yoga sessions 🥰

Yes for metrics, but not sensors, Garmin & Coros aren’t even close in that regard. The new update will also include training load & structured swim workouts, which historically you could just fill the gap with 3rd party apps. Don’t get me wrong, I have both a Garmin and AWU, I prefer my Apple Watch though.

Apple Watch vs Polar H10 carries an R score of .99-1 during most outdoor activities, so no actually it’s not BS. Blood oxygen sensor is much better as well. Apple Watch allows you to stream music without your phone, dual band GPS, structured workouts, running power. But yeah, god forbid it doesn’t give you a body battery score

I often do multi day hiking so having watch tracking gps and navigating all time is really big plus when i do not need to take care of charging it. Also a LED is very handy outdoors. As for fitness i know on apple watch i can have multitude of apps but that’s the part of the problem because then I miss consistent ux and data for all my activities and trainings presented in same way on. AW is definitely better as smart watch but i have no use of using sophisticated apps on my watch. The only stuff i do is to control my home automation which i can on Garmin as well.

apple watch was dying before i could finish 16 miles :/ garmin is the way to go!

If I needed optimum training I’d use a garmin. My Apple watch does a lot of generally useful stuff for me and so I tolerate its less-than-ideal running features. NRC is fussy and glitchy, but I can usually coerce it to work w the watch. Spotify is similarly cranky on the watch, but I blame Apple for that

I’ve had a couple of AW’s and 3 Garmins. They all tracked laps pretty well. The AW automatically detects kick sets whereas the Garmin needs you to log them in drill mode.

Sadly apple watch barely has battery for one day even the premium models

For swimming I find Apple Watch the best in tracking literally never missed a lap. For training load garmin is really good they have really good stats. Whoop is overhyped and expensive plus it’s a basically subscription every month till cancelled, no functionality if u stop paying, and it’s rubbish at tracking workouts basically any weighted workout u need to manually input and only good thing about it is sleep coach

Fake news! 😉 I charge mine when I shower every day. That’s all it needs to stay fully charged day-to-day. Yes, you caaaaan charge it during the night, but there’s no reason to. Edit: Mine is going on 4 years old and still only needs shower-time charging.